We did not expect that!

One moment we're watching the old Doccy Who on telly and then BAM: he and Belinda walk right out of our screen!

Next thing you know we're all having tea together whilst listening to an incongruous rendition of Amy Pond's theme. I think we should start to question whether Russell T Davies is himself part of this pantheon of his, because that's a bizzare invasion of our privacy. 🤨

Lizzie's thoughts: I'd give it a 7/10. I loved meeting the Doctor, but that doesn't make up for the ending getting spoiled part way through. It was no Blink.

Robyn's thoughts: Like Lizzie said, this episode was quite... obvious? Of course Ring-a-Ding never going outside was going to be relevant to the solution. I think they've noticably dumbed down the Doctor since Fourteen left. #RIPDoctorWho

Hassan's thoughts: Bit silly, it's puppets that want to be boys, not cartoons!!! I fear they'll never achieve the heights of Blink again. Man, I adore Blink.

Conclusion: We love the Doctor so much - we just don't understand why the episode changed to a still image of the Doctor Who logo for five minutes. ❤️❤️

- Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn xxxxxxx

EDIT:

We're still here? AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!! ❤️‍🔥

Season Two (Series 15); Episode Two - “Lux” by Russell T. Davies

Why am I still watching Doctor Who? My review of The Robot Revolution was basically 1000 words of me saying why I’ve fallen out of love with the show and yet here I am, sat down for episode two. Well, I’m not completely done with Season Two/Series Fifteen yet, still waiting hopefully for another 73 Yards or Legend of Ruby Sunday. Now, Lux certainly piqued my interest, with its intriguing concept and neat visual style, but I had a sneaking suspicion it would end up being another Devil’s Chord: a unique idea with a weak execution. And you know what? I think I hit the nail on the head.

15 people have gone missing from the Palazzo Picturehouse, and now the old projectionist sits alone at night, playing movies to an absent audience. But where have the missing people gone? And what does it have to do with cartoon character Mr Ring-a-Ding?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

If there is one consistent positive I give to Modern Who, it’s the visual effects. So let's get the elephant out of the room: we have to talk about the titular Lux. Easily, our antagonist is the best thing about this episode. For one, the effects bringing him to life could be the greatest visual effect Doctor Who’s ever put to screen, and I am not saying that lightly; this looks f**king incredible. On top of that, we have Alan Cumming giving a spellbinding performance that lends the character a wonderful amount of gravitas, making him seem an actual threat. Plus, I liked the reveal that he was another member of the pantheon and it’s interesting to see RTD keep playing with what is undeniably a cool idea. My one grip is I don’t really get what the giggle is; like, I thought that was just the Toymaker’s thing, why is it now the call sign for every pantheon god?

Other than our villain, I did appreciate the originality of Lux after I felt The Robot Revolution dipped hard into derivativeness. For one, the setting of Miami Dade county was great as I am a firm believer we should visit some places other than England once in a while and it really reminded me of the 1960s setting of The Impossible Astronaut. Not only that, but it was well realised with a fantastic production behind it.

Obviously, there’s also the meta qualities this episode plays with, having the Doctor and Belinda getting sent into film stock and becoming animated. I definitely enjoyed what the episode was going for here and I like Russell playing with experimental formats but only a few ideas really worked for me, mostly in the realms of space with the characters flipping through frames and escaping by stopping the film and igniting it. However, we also have a few moments that really don’t land for me. This episode struggles a lot with execution; it has tons of ideas but doesn’t really follow through on most of them. For one, I like the idea of our travellers becoming animated and having to revert to live action by gaining character depth - that’s a wonderfully meta idea that is painful in this era of all things and shock horror, the scene is the characters just explaining their emotional arcs to the other person, removing all subtlety and, ironically, depth from the scene.

And then there’s the bit where the Doctor and Belinda break into our world and have tea with some Doctor Who fans. Now, on the tin, this is a great idea (that has been done better before) but I just can’t bring myself to love this moment. The fans we meet are far too eccentric and feel more like caricatures than characters and it just leaves this whole section too hokey to feel like a love letter to the audience and too unsubtle to be any kind of commentary, just causing the scene to feel like an intrusion. It also doesn’t help that Russell does that thing again. You know, the one where he forces in an emotional moment with characters we don’t know. I have to repeat this: Russell. You. Cannot. Do. Emotional. Beats. With. Characters. We’ve. Known. For. Five. Minutes. It doesn’t work and you keep doing it. In the end, what could’ve been a really cool moment just left me sighing.

As for the rest of the episode, I said before that Lux feels like a second Devil’s Chord and I stand by that fact - mid 20th century setting, dealing with a form of media and a pantheon god; hell, we even get the same costume change shot from Devil’s Cord. I will say though, the conclusion is a lot better here, using the flammability of film stock to pull an Inglourious Basterds and drowning a god of light in light, which feels like a better version of Death killing death from Empire of Death. Certainly a lot better than John Lennon appearing to play a single note and end the episode.

However, Lux is most definitely imperfect. As I said before, it fails to follow through on its ideas and the emotional beats are practically unbearable but these are more problems with this whole run. And the more I think about it, the more I think these episodes rarely have individual problems and are much more about the general direction RTD is taking the show. For one, the dialogue is something that is really grating on me and here it is especially terrible. Russell does this thing where you can really tell when he’s setting something up because he’ll just have a character force the topic into a completely different conversation, like the repeated exposition dump of what happened to Gallifrey, which he screwed up last season too. Russell mate, you did this in Gridlock perfectly, at least just do that again. I don’t know, everything feels so scripted and forced, characters will just openly explain their mental state in overly convenient ways and all subtlety seems to have gone out the window. It all lacks some genuine quality, none of these sound like real conversations actual people would have.

And before I wrap up this review, I have to address something that’s really disappointing me. I think I can see where Belinda’s character is going. Now, it’s only been two episodes, I could be wrong, but RTD’s not exactly a difficult person to read. I like the idea of a companion who’s antagonistic towards the Doctor, I really do, we’ve had far too many giddy playmates recently. But whilst Belinda might be characterised as not putting up with the Doctor, it only really surfaces when the show wants it to and the rest of the time, she is identical to every other companion. RTD either needs to up the animosity or stop treating Belinda like what she isn’t because I can already picture the forced moments of isolated arguments already and I’m beginning to dread them.

Again, Lux is par for the course that Modern Who is on. It looks stunning, it has its fun moments, but is lacking any kind of depth. A brilliant antagonist and some fun ideas that don’t always come through don’t make Lux for me and I find myself with another episode I can’t help but feel lukewarm on. It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s not very good.

6/10

Pros:

+ The visual effects on Mr. Ring-a-Ding might be the best in the show’s history

+ Well realised and original setting

+ Interesting use of meta mechanics

+ Good conclusion with sound logic

Cons:

- Unbearably hammy and forced dialogue

- Keeps doing painfully awful emotional beats

- Belinda is becoming less promising the more the series progresses

- A lot of its ideas lack proper execution

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“LUX: A CINEMATIC CREEPSHOW WITH CARTOONISH CHILLS AND META MAYHEM”

Lux opens with a bang—perhaps the most striking, cinematic, and genuinely eerie first act in the series since it returned. Set in a nostalgic 1950s Miami cinema, the cold open is a masterpiece in atmosphere and tension, as the story transitions from retro Americana charm to creeping horror. The mysterious picturehouse, the chained-up entrance with flowers laid for the dead, and the brilliant twist of having the cartoon villain literally step off the screen all serve to perfectly tee up Mr Ring-a-Ding—one of the most imaginative and unsettling antagonists modern Doctor Who has introduced.

With hand-drawn animation that evokes Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam, and a disarmingly jovial yet chilling performance by Alan Cumming, Mr Ring-a-Ding is a standout creation. He’s goofy, grotesque, and grotesquely goofy, shifting from slapstick menace to pantheon-level threat, all while crooning a disturbingly catchy theme tune. His evolution from two-dimensional cartoon to 3D monster is a brilliant visual metaphor for the story’s themes of emotional depth and humanity—and one of the most technically impressive things Doctor Who has ever pulled off.

SEGREGATION, GRIEF, AND GROWING HUMANITY

At the heart of Lux lies an emotionally charged and thematically rich narrative. The Doctor and Belinda, both people of colour, are thrust into the reality of America’s 1950s segregation, experiencing the prejudice of the time first-hand. The episode doesn’t centre its plot on race, but it does use the context to reflect on broader themes of identity and belonging. One of the most poignant scenes takes place in a segregated diner, where a grieving white mother turns against the very people trying to help her because of the colour of their skin. It’s a quietly powerful moment, highlighting how recent and raw these issues are.

Meanwhile, Belinda’s background as a nurse finally gets to shine—she instinctively helps tend to the Doctor’s injuries, only to be shocked by the excess bigeneration energy that allows him to heal himself. Her continued insistence on returning home also threads through the narrative, though she’s increasingly swept into the Doctor’s world, and perhaps a little too quickly loses her reluctance established earlier in the series.

The supporting cast is strong, even if some, like projectionist Mr Pye, could’ve used more screen time. His story—a man haunted by grief, manipulated by Lux with promises of reuniting with his late wife—culminates in a gorgeously realised scene where the two dance, and she slowly turns from black-and-white to colour. His decision to destroy the film reels and free Lux’s victims provides one of the episode’s most touching moments.

LIGHT, LAUGHTER, AND LORE

The mythology of the Pantheon deepens as Mr Ring-a-Ding is revealed to be none other than Lux Imperator, the God of Light. His method of trapping people in reels of film and feeding on the light of nuclear war cleverly links to both Cold War fears and the destruction of old media—a sly nod to the BBC’s own history with junked Doctor Who episodes. The theme of light is present throughout—from Lux being born of moonlight and projector bulbs to his final destruction via exposure to sunlight. It’s as clever as it is cheeky.

And then there’s that fascinating metaphor about escaping animation by gaining emotional depth—literally going from flat drawings to complex, three-dimensional beings through confession and vulnerability. When the Doctor admits his sorrow over Gallifrey, and Belinda shares her own fears, it becomes a moment of profound emotional honesty wrapped in a gloriously mad concept.

MEETING THE FANS AND BREAKING THE FRAME

Then the episode dives deep into metafiction, daring to break the fourth wall. The scene where the Doctor and Belinda meet Doctor Who fans inside a TV screen is likely to split viewers. The fans—complete with fezzes, scarves, and knowing references—are affectionate caricatures, and the writing here is full of love and wit. There's even a gag about leaks that makes it clear RTD is poking gentle fun at the real-world fandom. But while the sequence offers a sweet emotional crescendo, where the fans say they’ll vanish once the Doctor leaves but will always love him, it also halts the plot’s momentum. It’s clever and heartfelt, yes, but just a little long, and some viewers might wish for more time exploring the TV realm rather than this respectful pause.

Still, the framing of the fans as part of Lux’s fictional trap cleverly sidesteps full-on real-world crossover. These aren’t “real” fans—they’re characters created by Lux to distract and unsettle the Doctor, keeping the meta narrative just safely within fiction.

A CLEVERLY LIT CLIMAX

Thankfully, the episode snaps back into gear with a thrilling climax. With the Doctor drained of energy, it’s up to Belinda and Mr Pye to take action. Lux, a creature of pure light, is finally defeated not through shadow or trickery, but via sheer exposure to natural sunlight. This poetic irony—light defeating light—is underscored by the visual metaphor of overexposed film stock, and it doubles as a nod to Doctor Who's real-life history of lost episodes.

Lux’s apocalyptic ambition to feed off nuclear energy ties everything neatly into a Cold War backdrop, anchoring the surreal story in very real fears. And once Lux is vanquished, the return of the missing people to their families delivers a beautifully cathartic close—topped off by another teasing appearance from Mrs Flood, keeping us all guessing about the show’s impending climax on May 24th.

As a final treat, the mid-credits scene brings back the fans for a brief, bittersweet farewell—or perhaps a setup for their return in the finale? Either way, it’s a reminder that this show still knows how to surprise, delight, and pull at the heartstrings all at once.

📝VERDICT: 10/10

Lux is a tour de force of ambition, style, and emotional depth. Its inspired blend of retro horror, animated fantasy, and metafictional reflection delivers one of the boldest and most inventive Doctor Who episodes in years. A few pacing stumbles aside, this is a dazzling showcase of what the series can achieve when it dares to colour outside the lines. Mr Ring-a-Ding is an instant classic, the visuals are groundbreaking, and the themes resonate long after the lights come up.

I absolutely adore classic and revival who, but as much as I love them, the CGI doesn't always hold up decades on.

The Five Doctors is a story that I think is brilliant, balancing the fanservice, multiple doctors, multiple enemies, lore reveals, brilliantly, with being able to tell a spectacular story, but the one thing that always sticks in my mind when I watch it back with friends, is the time scoop. A silly little triangle floats down on screen, and we get a freeze frame of our characters. It's utterly hilarious how it doesn't hold up, and while I love it, it does take you out of the story a little.

Lux, in contrast, is a story I think we'll be looking back at in 40+ years and be astounded at. Every second Mr Ring-a-Ding is on screen just works. The cold open especially is one of the absolute bests in the show's history, Mr Ring-a-Ding crawling from the screen is spectacular, and really does just show the scale of the villian, you can't not be hooked.

As for the rest of the story itself, I think it's a wonderful blend of Scooby Doo (as the characters themselves point out), and The Giggle. A god-like being trapped in a closed down cinema with a caretaker at night, where 15 people have gone missing, that being using their powers, trapping The Doctor and the companion in a world relating to that medium, it's so so good, I can't help but love it.

I do think the 4th-wall break, while fun, did somewhat bring the episode's pacing to a screeching halt, and used up time that could've been devoted to better fleshing out the ending. I do enjoy Lux's defeat, and I think it's an interesting twist on the way the rest of the pantheon we've encountered so far have been defeated, but I do think that explaining the actual mechanics of it a little more might've helped the story somewhat. The missing 15 suddenly returning as well felt like an obvious ending, but the actual mechanics of how they did aren't really explained. It makes emotional sense, which is what I think should always be prioritised, but less so on the logic front.

As a final note, I do also have to give credit though to the side cast. Everything we get with them in just brilliant. They're no Silence in the Library or Under the Lake, but they've all got very clear characters and motivations, they're entertaining to watch, and none of them are forgettable.

Very impressive animation overall, and a pretty solid story.  I like how the 1950s was portrayed pretty honestly - with some time spent on the period's gross flaws around segregation, but also acknowledging these people are human and still care for one another.  Mr. Ring-A-Ding was impressive as a villain in how he looked, but also in how production made him both silly and scary.  I love the scene where he was talking about how learning about perspective is slowing him down as he has to climb what are now giant steps to him - this episode is full of humour and ideas like that and it really works well.  I maybe didn't respond as strongly to this one as others, but I still very much enjoyed it and had a good time.

I like how RTD is still featuring godly characters for the Doctor to go up against.  They are fun villains who add a new dynamic with the Doctor we don't often see.  However, it does feel like RTD has no means of ending these kind of stories in any satisfying way.  The Toymaker, Maestro, and Sutekh all had pretty disappointing endings, and Lux hits that trend hard.  He literally just floats away in space at the end of the story and that's that.  It's a deeply and profoundly lame way to end an otherwise fun and fine story.

Still, along the way we get a lot of good character work with Belinda and 15, which makes a big difference in a positive way.  I really like the scene where our protagonists become a 2D, simple animation, and have to "give themselves depth."  That's some really fun and memorable writing which definitely helps make up for that lame ending.