"The Robot Revolution"

Doctor Who returns for its 20th year on air in the 21st Century with another bright and breezy opener. Whilst it's not as light as "Space Babies", the brightness of the design matches the broad strokes of the story. Russell T Davies again throws us directly into the life of an ordinary human being who is about to have their life turned upside down. The strange thing is that, were in not for RTD's name on the credits, one could be forgiven for thinking that this was straight out of the Moffat era. Timey-wimeyness is at the heart of the story with a near paradox being the crux of the twist near the end.

However, if one looks closer, this clearly builds on what Moffat added to the programme, whilst being still the work of RTD. There is a reason as to why we are given very little of Belinda as a regular human being, namely that she is not really built up as the companion at all. In the story, after setting up the initial premise, Belinda actually re-enters events in the middle. Usually, the Doctor enters a situation, identifies the enemy and has to win the trust of everyone else, including the new companion. Here, this has been done, with Belinda entering the story where the Doctor is helping the rebels, with the help of his new companion Sasha 55 (winningly played by Evelyn Miller).  Amusingly, this means that population already trust the Doctor, but not Belinda, by the time she enters. However, Sasha is tragically lost, meaning that Belinda has to step up. 

There is, however, more going on than setting up a season in a breezy fashion. RTD makes sure to address his worries about society – in this case,  the directions that gender politics might be headed. There is a lot that the story has to say about toxic masculinity and the fact that  Alan Budd might seem like a nice, sweet guy, emphasises how rampant misogyny can hide anywhere and his fate is both amusing and apt, reduced to his component gametes. Jonny Green makes Alan both chilling and sympathetic in an excellent performance.

Peter Hoar helms a very bold production. The look has hints of Tintin and Dan Dare and the defeat of the villain made me think of The Prisoner, for some reason. However, it has to be said, the effect of the disintegrator ray is chilling, dead cat or no dead cat. As Belinda is de-facto, rather than de jure as companion, she is more of a POV character than even Rose was in her début. Varada Sethu works wonders in the role making Belinda instantly likeable. The Doctor is very nearly peripheral, but Gatwa never lets the camera forget who the star is.

This new season starts with something that seems to distil the very essence of the programme into a very intoxicating dram.

NEXT: "Lux"