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.)

This episode is absolutely perfect! To create a strong series opener, especially for Doctor Who, it's essential to include several key elements, such as introducing the companion, their first meeting with the Doctor, and the entry into the TARDIS. This episode accomplishes all of these aspects remarkably well. After watching it twice, I can confidently say that I didn't notice any major flaws until some more dedicated fans pointed them out. The issues mentioned were only minor and wouldn't disrupt the viewing experience. Overall, this episode strikes an ideal balance of mystery, comedy, and action, making it enjoyable for casual viewers.

Really enjoyable introduction to Belinda. I look forward to seeing more of her and I absolutely adore Scoot the polish bot

A great companion introduction!

The Robot Revolution has a simple narrative and a cool use of time travel without necessarily using the TARDIS for it.

It's an episode where the villain himself doesn't make a big difference to the grand scheme of things, but it serves two purposes:

• To slightly adress both the problems with AI, how it lacks real analysis and how simplistic are its interpretation of each task they are given, and the Incel rising and how self-entitled this kind of people are.
• It serves to get Belinda's introduction in motion, setting the ground for us to see her personality and how she deals with her role of companion.

The episode also presents some hooks that will be explored later in the season, such as the relation between Belinda and Mundy Flynn and the constant appearance of Mrs. Flood (What's her deal after all? What's with all the 4th wall breaking? We're about to find out I hope)

Compared to the beginning of season 1 of Ncuti as the Doctor with Space Babies, The Robot Revolution was quite an evolution! Not only is he more comfortable in the role, but the story is more entertaining and well-executed overall.

I can't wait to get to know more about Belinda, she has everything to be a companion that will stay in both my hearts.

Honorable mentions:
- POLISH POLISH ROBOT I LOVE YOU
- So, we get a new Doctor that first has a blonde companion, than a slightly older companion that stays only for a Christmas special (and which I hope becomes a regular later) and than a companion that works in a hospital and is portrayed by an actress who played a different character in the previous season and both these characters are blood related? Hmmmm we're all seeing your patterns, RTD 😆

Now this is the Doctor Who episode I have been waiting for! Instantly better than most of last season for me except for maybe Rogue.

This era for me certainly still struggles with how it writes the more character-driven facets of its stories. For example - Sasha 55 has maybe 4 or 5 lines and dies fairly early on in the episode leading to The Doctor crying over the 6 months that they'd known each other and been working together. Unfortunately, this moment just has no emotional connection to the audience - having the same style of character introduction for Sasha as we had for Anita in Joy to the World would have made this moment so much more powerful and felt that the tears were more meaningful. I also think that the flashbacks to Alan being a bit of a dick at the climax of the episode is a super lazy way of writing that aspect in - would have been much better to have more of that scene in the initial parts of the episode (or peppered in throughout to build towards the ending).

I think the humor on this episode was incredible. Both my boyfriend and I could not stop giggling throughout this episode! The missbelinachantrajokes were well used and not overdone. I have been quoting "polish polish" all week.

By far, the highlight has to be Varada Sethu - I am loving Belinda already. I always felt that the instant best friends dynamic that Ruby and 15 had just didn't work at all - there were several points in the last season where the plot dynamic and emotional tension of the episode was reliant on Ruby trusting the Doctor. And there just wasn't a good reason why she should - he's an alien, they've just met - there really needed to be an exploration of Ruby getting to trust the Doctor that was just missing. Belinda, on the other hand, starts out not trusting the Doctor at all - I can already see the potential for the character arc and character development that is possible this season which I am rather excited about.

Overall, this episode was pretty good, compared to what I was expecting going in. Still some issues with the episode, but I genuinely enjoyed watching this one, which is more than I can say for most of the previous season. I'm keen to see where the rest of this season goes!