So, get this : there's a girl who's been gifted a star by her boyfriend, and this girl goes on, breaks with the boy, becomes a nurse and has annoying roommates (don't we all) until, of course, robots break her door and announce her she's the queen of a planet lit by the star that belongs to her. Except the planet isn't a paradise and the Al Generator is actually directing the robots' actions towards the humans, which means controlling them - although there's a bug : robots can only hear eight words out of nine. Cue to the rebellion and some Doctor-esque timey-wimey stuff. The Al Generator was actually - surprise! - the nurse's boyfriend and a big incel, transported here by accident, who decided to order the robots around like he was in a video game. More timey-wimey stuff, and the nurse doesn't go home.
At this point, we start wondering where the Doctor is. It's The Belinda Episode, I get it : presenting Belinda to the public as the new companion (and we'll get to that in a moment). But I do think the episode lacked Gatwa's presence - and presented the Doctor as a massive creep. I mean, who steals someone's DNA? (the answer is: the Doctor, obviously, but Belinda's concern is valid) Who follows someone at work, steals their adress from workfiles and follows them home?
Let's admit it : Belinda is cute - Varada Sethu is a good actress, interpreting very well Belinda's confusion and her very human reaction of being simply fed up with everyone patronizing her while she's being transported by force in a place she doesn't understand nor wants to be in. She's also kind, conscientious and empathic - all good qualities. She's not a wet towel, either : she actually tells the Doctor no and she speaks for herself. She does show a certain lack of thoughtfulness - really, was setting the sci-fi Roomba to find them the best action to take? She could have... gotten out? - and a rather worrying tendency to take the blame, which, I get it, I do, but if she's to share the TARDIS with the Doctor, the amount of guilt alone will fuel the engines without any problem. But I'm getting out of track here.
Belinda's problem (keeping her cringe ex out of this) is that she's not nearly developed enough. But then, there's a whole season to develop her, so that's absolutely alright! I feel like the Companion Episode works better in the middle of the season, when we've learnt to know them, but there, it's a very personal take.
The other problem of Belinda, of course, is that Russell T. Davies seems to have run out of ideas for his female characters.
Don't get me wrong : she's sweet, and I do hope she'll become her own character, because right know she feels like a strange mix between Martha and Clara, which... I do love both but they've got nothing to do with the new series, you know? The nurse thing is straight Martha, and - come on, you've seen her face in another planet, it screams Clara Oswald everywhere. And we do need new storylines and new characters. I get that it's difficult for a show that old to find new stories, but it shouldn't be some weird mashup of previous characters. (even Ruby, as wonderful as she was, could feel at times like Rose Tyler - which is probably why I liked her so much, now that I come to think of it). Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with Varada Sethu, who was really good both in Boom and The Robot Revolution. It's, as it was in last Christmas' episode, a problem of writing. But there's still hope for the season and for a Belinda they will actually take the time to develop. Because, come on, a companion who doesn't want to be a companion? A kind nurse who is probably sarcastic as heck? She could be an absolute delight.

But let's talk about the episode.
There's so much to say about this episode.
It is rather cringe. I know incel culture is deeply toxic and everything (I'm a girl spending time online and IRL, so, yeah) but, frankly, compared to the elegance Dot and Bubble used in its very concept and its cleverness, The Robot Revolution seems on-the-nose and cringey. You see it coming, your mother sees it coming, your blind and deaf neighbour sees it coming - you know what I mean. It lacks subtlety.
Quite frankly, there's not enough Doctor and, for the little time he has on screen, he manages to be shady, creepy and rather worrying. And not in ye ol' "the Doctor is someting else" way (which, I feel like we're sleeping on an eldritch Doctor) but in a new, "I wouldn't want him to walk with me in a dark street" way. It's so blatantly uncool it's not really funny anymore - like, dude, we just don't steal people's stuff, be it their DNA or their adress.
The Missbelindachandrakinds simply didn't have any personality. Once again, I get it, these people have maybe five minutes of speech - but goddammit, any fanfiction writer knows to give them little mannerisms and ways to make them unique! They are basically "the Interface", "the Wounded" and "the Head of the Rebellion", which is a tad too caricatural. We used to have nuance. (what I'm saying here is - Davies is repeating himself)
So Sasha 55 is important to the Doctor. Yes? But also we don't really know who she is? I'm not asking for her entire backstory, her hopes and dreams - just for a little uniqueness, something that would make her Sasha 55 and not a random character who dies in the first twenty minutes. I feel like that's something we lack in the last episodes.

Look, the episode leaves room for improvement (thank the Lord, because Allan and his treatment are literally the cringiest - what do you mean he got reverted to a foetus and was then crushed by sci-fi Roomba?). The sets are pretty spotless - thanks to this season's budget - and we've got real quality actors. And, of course, the episode itself isn't that bad, it's just not good. I personally want to see where they're taking this. A destroyed Earth seems interesting (and I'll be honest, this dinosaur skeleton in the trailer had me hooked). But I want actual characters.

Till then, I'll be waiting (and watching the seasons I didn't have time for with my brother)
Toodle-pip!
Signing off,
Pandhawk's sister (gotta find myself an alias if I'm keeping up with this review thing)

(Hum, hum, PS from Pandhawk : I give 1 or maybe even 0.5 stars but my sister want to give 2 so I give 2 stars to this story. But so you know.)