The Robot Revolution is a display, in microcosm, of Doctor Who buckling under the weight of Davies' writing. More-so than the recent finale that was popularly decried on this basis, this is the foremost display of his motifs, models and tendencies working against one another, resulting in an internally-conflicted relay of subsequent whiplashes.

A shred of an idea presents itself in (the admittedly delightfully-named) Missbelindachandra One as "Planet of the incels;" a canvas on which an infantile, toxic boyfriend gets to paint out his fantasies. That being said, how this setting situates itself in that description remains elusive throughout the episode. The misogyny by which Alan is characterised is virtually absent from the world presented to the audience - at best, the titular robots are exclusively masculine-coded, but flashbacks indicate that this was the case before his arrival. The broad strokes of power fantasy and autocracy, instead, are the only representations of incel 'ideology,' as it were; by that logic, one could simply waive off any number of planets in Who, from Skaro to Vortis, as planet of the incels.

Whilst it could be suggested that Davies' critique of incels is limited strictly to the nightmarish romance of being with one - Missbelindachandra One experiencing, as per another grating line, coercive control on a planetary scale - the cold open depicts this romance purely under the lens of awkward comedy. Tonally, this is apt, but perhaps indicates a lack of foresight when the exhausting twist that the AI Generator is, instead, the AL Generator, is played in earnest; as if Davies suddenly realises that his episode did not have a sufficient hook by its end, or that these romances are frightfully real and, in most cases, incredibly damaging. However, the groundwork for this to be portrayed in a sincere, dignified light simply is not present; one could argue that Belinda's fraught concerns that the events which occur on Missbelindachandra One are her responsibility are imitative of said lasting, incredible damage, but the apparent necessity to magnify this dilemma to the scale of sci-fi warfare inevitably paints the grounded, human experience of such as inadequate. With such an unstable foundation as that which is seen in the cold open, it is left mystifying as to whether the twist was always intended, or impromptu; regardless, both options are woefully inconsiderate.

Furthermore, with the premise being ripped straight from the childlike imagination - what young audience member would not want a tacky star certificate to mean they own a planet of their own? - the episode, like much of this era, seems caught between an earnest child audience, and a frantically online one. If Davies intended to have the episode depict incels and their beliefs, in any extent, these two audiences could have been mediated; in the current day, it would be especially helpful for young viewers to be didactically taught about the alt-right, so to prevent boys especially from going down the rancid pipeline. However, as again, there is very little of said beliefs depicted in the setting, further disorienting the episode in regard to whom it is intended for.

What prevents much of these valuable, crucial depictions which the episode needs to operate is the typical modus operandi for Davies' introductory stories for new companions. In the cases of Rose, Smith and Jones, The Runaway Bride and later, more apparently of Partners in Crime, and The Church on Ruby Road, the companion encounters the Doctor as they are pursuing their own narrative, until the companion becomes embroiled in events directly in a typically accidental fashion. Similarly, Belinda is not involved in the six months the Doctor spends on Missbelindachandra One, and whilst this works satisfyingly to the end of Fifteen's revolutionary characterisation (which I richly appreciate, as seen in Boom), the setting is seen toward the end of the robot regime, preventing further representation of it that would accommodate for the prior criticisms. The typical endearment of this narrative model is also depreciated, by the constant motif of destiny which seems to precede Belinda's lifetime on the programme, making any charm of happenstance non-void.

The Robot Revolution is far removed from the sum of its ending twist, which illuminates the runtime preceding it as not considered and internally-conflicted, by matters of audience and the mode in which Davies writes, resulting in a deeply dissatisfying start to the season ahead.