Dot and Bubble takes social commentary in Physician Who to all new heights, dropping Physician Who on a social-media dominated world the place the idea of the actual monsters is explored, and solely a lot might be completed to save lots of them. I beloved 73 Yards final week – an ambiguous folks horror, and it exhibits that Who has turn into extra of an anthology this week, with Russell T. Davies dipping his toes into the messy waters of the idea of all the time on-line. Welcome to Finetime – chances are you’ll not like what you discover.
Lindy Pepper-Bean is our protagonist, an alien rich-kid, with all the children performed by actors who look so much older than their precise age, deliberate casting selection, as a lot as her deliberate casting selection for a buddy group is all white, with no room for variety. Callie Cooke performs the immersive; 80s-stylised character with gutso and enthusiasm, however is so reliant on her know-how that she loses the power to stroll with out it. It’s apparent that issues are usually not all as they appear with this alien paradise – Lindy retains ready for updates from her mom from the motherworld, and house slugs are consistently consuming her mates one-by-one. It’s counting down a ticking clock till it reaches their house on the surname – and Lindy is aware of her time could also be numbered.
However can The Physician and Ruby save the day? And can – extra importantly, they need to? Quite a lot of the episode explores the idea of whether or not everybody deserves to be saved it doesn’t matter what they’re, and Cooke’s parody of the always-online Lindy is so super her line supply of the place she hasn’t had a hug earlier than and it’s a factor that they do now could be so well-executed it’s exhausting to not love. Cooke makes you care about her naivety at the beginning and also you need The Physician and Ruby to rescue her – nevertheless it’s a testomony to her performing that there’s something not fairly proper about her from the beginning, proper from when she dismisses The Physician however is extra welcoming of Ruby; and immediately takes extra of a liking to the standard hero-archtype of Ricky September, the charming and immediate match for every part she has idealised – performed splendidly by Tom Rhys Harris. It’s exhausting to not suppose Ricky is a Physician-in-waiting – however intentionally created by Russell to suit Lindy’s concepts. “Lindy Pepper-Bean, I’ll get you out of right here, I promise” he states, and this noble mirror picture of The Physician additional clashes with Linda’s capacity to belief him. Ordinarily this could’ve been a Physician-saving the day second of happiness and hope – however right here; Dot and Bubble skirts round that.
However when the finale comes, and are available it does – their friendship can’t final, and we be taught with a shocking revelation that Charlie Brooker couldn’t match even in his greatest days of writing, that Ricky’s surname is forward of Lindy’s within the alphabet, and regardless of their match made in heaven, Linda is keen to throw him below the bus for her personal survival; determined as she is. When you didn’t hate Cooke earlier than, you do now – and when she walks into The Physician and Ruby’s awaiting arms – its with the realisation that it doesn’t matter what The Physician can do, he can’t save them – as a result of the Finetimers don’t need to be saved, their spiritual viewpoint stands in the best way of every part that The Physician believes, they usually – believing themselves to be superior (remind you of anybody?) – head into the land that may by no means be tamed to attempt to tame it no matter The Physician’s pleas to come back with them.
It is a super scene for Ncuti Gatwa and reportedly one of many first that he filmed. Who has a historical past of capturing scenes out of order however one casualty of because of this the majority of those Physician-lite episodes have been a sufferer of circumstance – we beforehand used to have one a season in a 13 episode run; nevertheless it seems like we’ve barely had any time to know Fifteen, having arrived fully-formed out of Fourteen, we don’t really feel like we’ve grown with him, gotten the prospect to be taught who he’s – and with the fixed time jumps we don’t even get the bonding of Ruby and The Physician’s relationship both. However what this episode lacks in character constructing for The Physician it permits the doomed colonists to betray the Finetimers’ ideological ambitions – and if something, Dot and Bubble ought to have caught with its authentic title – Monsters, Monsters In every single place – as a result of it’s an ideal distillation of those themes.
Gibson, in a quick position, turns Ruby into somebody able to competing with Gatwa’s appeal when each are pining, like with Lindy, over Ricky September. It’s a masterful little bit of chemistry between these two in such the brief moments after they’re not even on display screen collectively it reminds you the way little screentime they’ve really shared this season – and if something I’d prefer to see extra of them on the identical web page for the again half, as a result of make no mistake, we’re very a lot within the again half now. It seems like Who could also be over simply because it began – however warts and all, this will likely find yourself being one of many stronger episodes of the sequence all the identical.
VERDICT: 8/10
