I think this episode is a little underrated.  It's an episode that appears to just be the usual old fogey shallow complaints about youth culture - the type of content that has been created for all of human history - yet I think it hides a much smarter satire more on the level of something like Black Mirror.  Maybe I'm just a big dumb-dumb and I really can only speak from my privileged perspective, but I really resonated with that twist at the end.  Not only was it a surprise to me, but it's one that reflects everything we had seen in the episode up until that point and re-frames just about everything about the racist main character and her racist friends.  I really loved the Doctor's reaction to being rejected because of its race.  That felt powerful and is a nice moment in what turns out to be a rare thing with this Doctor, where I actually connected with his character.  It's funny, I think, from a character perspective, the Fifteenth Doctor's personality struggles to break through out of a lot of his stories, but here, in an episode he's barely in, he really gets to shine in that memorable moment at the end.

Anyways, it's a really cool episode overall, that I've only come to appreciate more over time.  Ricky September is just such a fun name for a character, and the absolute dreamboat we stan in my household.  Dot and Bubble overall was a nice surprise and a great treat that stands out in what is already a pretty strong season of television overall.  The whole Season might not be the best overall, but it does have amazing episodes like this one that really help make it stand out from the average season of Doctor Who.

A razor-edged political commentary that pulls no punches on social media bubbles and entrenched social racism. Stunningly well-crafted with character beats that seem silly, camp, or even bordering on reasonable upon first viewing that take on a much more sinister tone when the truth has been revealed.

adore how they used the slightly washed out lighting and pastel colours to emphasis how pale and blue eyed the fine timers actually were. this was a skilful use of cinematography to reinforce the theme of racism without clunking up the dialogue

It's testament to a great performance from Callie Cook, for how much I hate Lindy.

Finetime is brilliantly developed and explored, feeling almost natural evolvement of many ideas already seen and explored.

Rewatched 2025-04-07 (⭐⭐⭐½)