This episode is one I was really looking forward to, due to the involvement of Loki Season 1's director Kate Herron. Loki Season 1 is the closest the MCU has ever gotten to Doctor Who, and is a great piece of television, so there was clearly a lot of potential there for a great Doctor Who adventure. The resulting episode is about as brilliant as I had envisioned.

With the previous five episodes having been devoid of alien monsters, it's refreshing to have a story like Rogue that feels more like traditional Doctor Who. The Chudlhurs are a very fun concept, concerning extra-terrestrial bird people who simply just want to cosplay Bridgerton. It's not the kind of alien threat we have seen before, other than the fact they are shapeshifters, and they feel straight from the pages of RTD1.

Rogue himself is definitely the star attraction of this episode though, and Jonathan Groff is great in his first appearance. He displays plenty of chemistry with Ncuti Gatwa, and I wouldn't mind seeing him return (which probably will happen, given that Rogue asks the Doctor to 'find him'. Their romance all happens too fast, however. I have no issue with the Doctor developing feelings for a man, but the build-up is all very sudden, particularly as the episode all takes place within one night, and yet the Doctor is already prepared to spend the rest of his life travelling the universe with him.

The Susan Twist cameo is also disappointing. She doesn't really appear this week, other than as a portrait. I was expecting from the cast list that she'd be a talking portrait similar to the ones from Harry Potter, but she's just a basic portrait.

One thing I am glad to see is the Doctor continuing his trend of singing in a few episodes. Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory suits his Doctor very well, as he feels very much like a Gene Wilder Doctor. It makes me hope even more for a proper Doctor Who musical episode, like it had seemed we were going to get with The Devil's Chord before that episode released. Millie Gibson continues to shine as Ruby Sunday. Her enthusiasm for Bridgerton is very amusing throughout the episode, and she proves herself as more than capable to join the Doctor on his adventures, when she 'engages battle mode' with the psychic earrings against the Chuldhur who was going to kill her. I hope Ruby stays in the show beyond next year's series.

Overall, I'd rate Rogue a solid 8/10. It's a brilliant piece of traditional Doctor Who, with some unique monsters and great chemistry between Ncuti Gatwa and Jonathan Groff. It's just a shame that this week's Susan Twist appearance was so lacking.