Doctor Who ?.01 and ?.02, “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord”

[vivdunstan]

Using the fab numbering from selenak, since this series is variously series 40, 14 and officially is being treated as series 1! We watched episode 1 last night, and both were extremely disappointed. Far far too much exposition, and just cringe worthy throughout. I don’t think it was the space babies that was the problem, but more the pacing, shortage of plot, and pantomime humour. I rated it 1/10 on Gallifrey Base, which I virtually never ever do. Tonight we watched the 1960s Beatles set episode and that was much much better. I loved the music theme and the 60s setting. Maestro was fantastic - well done to the actress. Nice resolution too. Some bits were overlong mid episode, with pacing issues. But overall enjoyed. And a continuing mystery, with the tea lady ... Oh and it was marvellous to see legendary 70s costume designer (on Doctor Who and Blake’s 7) June Hudson in a cameo role. Rating 8/10 from me I think. Certainly not lower, probably not higher. I am looking forward to next week, from another sometime showrunner. Oh and forgot to say: Ncuti and Millie are a fantastic pairing.

Comments

[a_cubed]

The TV databases that I use for my Kodi installation are treating this as season 14.

[vivdunstan]

Yup, it's varying around the world, though the BBC/Bad Wolf production team are making it very clear in their output that they regard it as a new Season 1. Seemingly due to the tie up with Disney. But how broadcasters handle it will vary. In the UK it's already a bit of a mess on things like iPlayer and Sky streaming etc because the new series (and 2023 specials) is being categorised separately from the earlier Who era. So it's all a bit of a hodge podge. But hey, at least we can see it. I guess on Disney+ they are hoping to launch it as a fresh new thing without people asking where the previous years were. Shades of "The Madness of George III" there.