This is a very, very good Black Mirror-esque story that tackles the issues of the selfishness of vapidity and hedonism, the perils of over-reliance on technology, the possible future colonization of Mars - as, likely the only ones who could afford to go are the wealthy - toxic positivity, xenophobia and the self-destructive nature of it.
I think the most insidious part of the story is, even as a modern consumer, I didn’t notice that all the members of Finetime were white, until the very end, because I am so used to seeing media populated only by white people, that it didn’t stand out until the episode pointed out that that, exactly that, is horrible, it genuinely made me feel like I was living in the past.
Now, this is something I feel is very much worth discussing, just on its own merits, but also because the show is Doctor Who. Yes, it is true that Doctor Who, in the sci-fi vein, has always been more progressive than its contemporaries, but even still, the show did quite famously make use of yellow-, brown- and blackface in the past, as well as hiring actual people of colour to play supporting parts without any speaking lines – as having lines of any kind demand more money – while having the white actors play the people of colour with speaking roles (See stories like Marco Polo for example).
So, the fact that it is Doctor Who making these comments on racism in society and how that is reflected in media and vice versa, is incredibly powerful, sold, beautifully by Ncuti’s most powerful scene yet.
Never has The Doctor been able to so personally tackle the issue of racism, and I am overjoyed that it is being done, now that it can, and done so well as this story.
Russel continues to prove that he has matured as a writer and that he can still dish out meaningful and thought-provoking social commentary like a person half his age.
And on the fangirl side of things, I am so happy that we have gotten a run of now four incredibly powerful and well-written stories in a row, they always make re-watches such a joy - like with the incredible run in series 3 from Human Nature, episode 8, to The Last of the Time Lords, episode 13.
9.3/10