A promising start to the series!

While not perfect (what Doctor Who story is? Rhetorical question btw…), The Robot Revolution is a strong start to Series 15.

Varada Sethu instantly shines in her role as Belinda, and she works great with Ncuti. Belinda’s ability to see through the Doctor’s charms and realise that he’s a dangerous person to be around is also a great aspect of characterisation and always something I like to see in a companion. I hope this continues to be explored in the other episodes.

The visuals in this episode were absolutely stunning, particularly the lighting, robots and set designs. I was enjoying just taking it all in most of the time.

The scene where the two diplomas explode was also gorgeous. I LOVE experimental choices like this, and it was also a cool way to explore the Doctor’s abilities as a Time Lord, saving Belinda from also becoming, well, a sperm and an egg 😶.

Like always with RTD’s writing there are some rocky patches. The man tries to tackle a number of current issues and falls flat on pretty much all of them. Coercive control, incels, AI, even eugenics. To me it felt like RTD was just naming things we know are issues, but not actually addressing them much beyond that. I would have liked a more in depth exploration, ie. why is AI generation bad, rather than just inferring it is. Also, as a creative I understand why we should be wary of AI, but I feel like the majority of people don’t, so I’m sure it would’ve just gone over their heads.

On the other hand, I felt like RTD spelled out some things a bit too much. For example, when the Doctor was explaining to Belinda that the robots couldn’t hear every ninth word. We didn’t need a super cut of him saying this spliced together. Have a bit more faith in your audience, Russell! But maybe I’m being hypocritical in saying this 😅

Overall I enjoyed the episode and I’m excited to see what the rest of Series 15 will bring!