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 😆

Kinda hard to rate this one. The story is fine and a great start for what was almost a great comic series.

We have a glimpse of the expansion of this side of Doctor Who lore, getting deeper into what was up with Miranda Dawkins. The comic even alludes to some events from the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels. Sadly, we have no end to this comic series, so it's worth reading more for curiosity's sake than anything else.

Doctor Who spin-offs are always welcome, so it's really a shame this was so abruptly interrupted.

As the title implies, this story is just a big party. You'll have lots of references scattered everywhere (from Simpsons and X Files to Captain Britain and Star Trek), no real danger on it or anything like that. On some pages, it's almost like a Where's Wally board, where you have to pinpoint every character hidden on it. That said, this is not a bad thing at all!

The story also gives some nods to Doctor Who's own history. It's the first appearance of The Nicholas Briggs Doctor and his companion Ria in any official Doctor Who Material. Until this moment, these characters were only in the Audio Visuals, which are not licensed by the BBC, but have a big impact on Doctor Who as a whole. The Audio Visuals stories are basically a proto-Big FInish, so having them interact with the current TARDIS team is a very sweet touch.

The interactions of the two Doctors, Ace and Ria are on point. The Doctors are very happy to see each other and the companions have that sweet bickering with their respective Doctors, which is always fun to see.

In summary, Party Animals is a sweet short story that will get you giggling and that's enough.
Cheers and Happy Birthday Bonjaxx! 🍻

• The Doctor explaining (or failing to explain) crazy concepts to the companion
• The Master allying himself with the Daleks
• Good use of time travel (as in the "I anticipated your journey back in time" moments)
• Regeneration scene(s)
• and even a twist that brings an unknown element to something already established in the lore
  (as is the case here of the Doctor going beyond the regeneration limit, which back then was something we didn't know how it would happen or what effects it would have - for all intents and purposes, in this reality, when the regeneration limit is exceeded, the Doctor regenerates into a gender-inverted body apparently).