Doctor Who: Dot and Bubble - REVIEW

[@GT3NB]

This series has quickly week by week comfortably slotted into the line of RTD’s other series for me, among the best. It is creative, bold, dark and wonderful. Every episode is its own tapestry. Its own colours, ideas, themes, settings, narratives. Probably the most thematically diverse series there’s been, which is some feat for only 8 episodes. I fully expect Rogue to be a lovely classic historical, and the finale to join RTD’s other 10/10 finales full of heart, emotion and ambition, which would render it a top 3 or 5 at least series for me.

[@KaylMacLaren]

Went from "ha-ha, aren't social media bubbles stupid!" to almost flat-out horror. I knew she was vapid and unlikable, but the "twist at the end" caught me unawares. And I missed the racism at first. I knew she and her friends rejected the Doctor as "other", but it wasn't until I rewatched it that I noticed Ruby's reactions. I was floored. So floored, I didn't believe it was so blatant at first. I went back through the bubble images looking for brown people, thinking "surely...surely they can't mean *that*". But they absolutely did, and I was floored again. A lot of the episodes so far this season seem to really benefit from at least one rewatch. There are subtle cues hiding behind the in-your-face parts of the stories.

[@ogpandamonium]

Very rewatchable series

[@Rumple108]

For me It felt like Ricky was a stand in for the doctor

[@deaderontheinside6871]

I love that the episode decided to comment on racism in a modern context. It would have been easy to have The Doctor and Ruby go back in time, and 'someone does a racism, wasn't the past bad'. Instead, we got 'this is still happening and how it's going to grow if you let it', which was a far more interesting take.

[@Scaramanga1]

In my head canon, the Dot had developed a sense of irony and thus wanted to highlight how gullible and unintelligent the people there were, so it used the slugs instead of just killing them

[@DrBagPhD]

It was quickly mentioned in the episode that the AI wanted to avoid suspicion and it makes sense to me- why strangle someone in public when you can just grow a gun that won't (or shouldn't) be traced back to you.

[@Zozette27]

My view of why the dots use the slugs to kill rather than just kill quickly themselves - is the dots do it for the sheer fun of it. The dots don’t want these annoying beings to have a quick, easy death.

[@TaeSunWoo]

This man’s gonna eff around and get invited to someone’s cookout

[@stevefield6176]

Narratively kicked in the nuts twice. Loved it. Am I weird? Lol

[@pamelawelch5955]

LOVED your review! Loved even more the insight into you as a person, as a writer, as a thinker! Not surprising to me that as a writer you could maybe see better than some others the artistry of this episode! Looking forward to reading more of your stuff!

[@TheChosenChimp]

Thank you.🙂🙂

[@MrRosebeing]

Brilliant, well-thought out, eloquent review of probably the best episode in this series so far, for me.

[@worldgame7754]

Late to this one. Fantastic review Chimp. Loved the heel joke! Great speech about the future and racism. Worthy of the Doctor himself. Very true growing up in 80’s and 90’s the future was far off. My own feelings about this one, whilst a hard hitting message, I feel this could have been done better in a different story. Few to many questions left over such as if the dot was sentient and wanted to kill humans then why not do it, why did it need the slugs?? Enjoyable none the less.

[@DrBagPhD]

Incidentally, a happy pride to all of you at home! Thanks CC

[@neilgodwin6531]

Dr Bag? Doctor Pee's colleague for those with a colostomy? 😮😊

[@DrBagPhD]

​@@neilgodwin6531Haha it's actually a Payday: The Heist reference!

[@ogpandamonium]

"I didn't see doctor dump anywhere in this episo-" Also this video was really good! I liked how it was all your thoughtsrather than a story recap with thoughts interspersed!

[@stevedoggart2805]

I loved this ep. Stunning, original, and shocking. Just what the Dr ordered.

[@stephenreed2093]

I enjoyedthe episode, but what didn’t make sense to me was that if these are rich kids, why do they lives such tiny, basic lives? Shutting people into a digital life seems like something an oppressive government might do to poor people, to distract them from their lack of real opportunities.

[@FillThisinLater]

It's just a metaphor. It's pulling double duty on being the in-group bubble as well as the inherent problems of living life through the lens of social media which is a thing people actually do

[@WastedPo]

Really great review, and excellent discussion at the end.

[@TheChosenChimp]

Thank you. Glad you liked it.🙂🙂

[@smallthoughts513]

Ricky September is a bit of a one eyed man among the blind. He reads and knows but he is hardly more knowledgeable than others. She says "this turns out to be the best day ever" Ricky doesn't understand how she can say that given everyone is dying. He might be racist but he doesn't make that his central character trait. But he is a pleaser and willing to coddle their bubble and change his name for them. This is an element of issue of racism. I love your insights here @chosenchimp but I think you missed Susan twist didn't just play our guest lead's "mummy" but plays "mummy" to all of the fine timers. Another element of this comment on racism. A founder is revered. So what appear despicable pampered wealthy youth are part of a dystopia regime racially homogenic. Great review. Thanks.

[@ogpandamonium]

Oh she's everyone's "mummy"? I didn't notice that, that's really interesting!

[@davidallan1098]

I thought this episode was excellent and I didn't see the twists coming at all. After a rocky start with Space Babies, which did worry me a little the series has really gone from strength to strength so far.

[@mark_da_it_guy]

One of most insightful and thoughtful reviews of this episode I’ve seen. The only change I would have made would be for Lindy to not turn heal on Ricky. It made her irredeemable. It’s easier to say only the unredeemable people can hold racist views. We know people who are seemingly good people can hold racist values.

[@ThetaSigma-vu1sk]

But she wasn't meant to be a good person. This entire episode is a dig at the upper class, how they live in their own bubbles and ignore the realities of the outside world and how all they care about is themselves and that they're fine with stabbing each other in the back for their own personal gain

[@Jenn-mc5sw]

Ricky September is meant to be the likeable, well-rounded doctor-version person that we all know and love but sadly is also racist as shown by how uncomfortable he is when talking with the doctor once the doctor gives him detailed instructions for how to get to safety. He repeats Lindy’s phrase of calling the doctor condescending stating “he studies code so yeah I already know”. It’s a rude comment directed at someone trying to help him. Ricky is the “likeable” liberal racist.

[@Mazz3D]

Please assume we all know wrestling terminology, it makes me giggle 🤭

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great review

[@philippotter4849]

Its all down to the trickster 0

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great essay

[@eirikiruiner6618]

Great review. Really good «fictional» story in the end there!

[@PaulRichards-vz4pl]

I’m not keen on the Doctor behaving in such a human way. With him saying things like Babes and Sweetheart doesn’t sound at all like the Doctor. Russell T Davis never understood the Doctor as he always humanises him. Gatwa needs better writers. The Doctor didn’t react so emotional over his home world being destroyed so I think here his reaction to the airheads is out of place. It’s kind of ironic that RTD talks about discrimination when his main Bad Wolf team are full of white privileged people. He’s also said in the past that he prefers young actors playing the Doctor! (Hardly inclusive) I do think this episode is the best of a bad bunch but not superb. RTD is using ideas from the novel The Machine Stops and Black Mirror etc…I find it ironic that RTD who blocks people on Instagram for questioning his stance on Davros etc..is telling us a story about people in their own bubble and hostile to those of different opinions.

[@CHIGGY118]

Well said.

[@ThetaSigma-vu1sk]

The first Doctor called people "dear", "young man" and "young lady". 15 calling people babes and sweetheart is just that, but more modern. The Doctor's reaction to these people here is done out pure frustration and anger, so of course he's going to act those emotions out. I find it hilarious that you think RTD saying he prefers young actors is bad, but I doubt you'll feel the same about people who prefer older actors.

[@PaulRichards-vz4pl]

@@ThetaSigma-vu1sk No I just want a better balance. The original creators didn’t want the character to be about good looks and sex appeal as they didn’t want a typical generic heroic type. The Doctor was usually someone who didn’t fit into human society and seemed out of place. We should have an older Doctor and then younger Doctor and back to older again. A contrast rather than only having one actor over 50 in the modern era. RTD claims to be about inclusivity but this isn’t the case when he discriminates on grounds of age. Having Gatwa’s Doctor so emotional so frequently is just odd. It’s as if RTD treats the character like he’s just a human. If RTD wanted to get behind his main actor 100% then he’d have not had the bi-generation with a previous Doctor still hanging about. Scrapping the regeneration in favour of turning the Doctor into a tapeworm shows incredible arrogance that he thinks he can do better than the original concept. When he brought Doctor Who back he made the Doctor more emotional and so never really understood what made this character so unique. There’s plenty of good looking flirtatious central science fiction characters out there.

[@ThetaSigma-vu1sk]

@@PaulRichards-vz4pl What's wrong with the Doctor actually showing emotion? Frankly, after thousands of years of bottling his emotions up and finally taking time to take care of himself, the man's allowed to show his emotion rather than bottling it all up again. It's been overdone. Let the show show its audience that showing emotion doesn't make you weak, it's perfectly healthy and should be encouraged. The Doctor showing emotion doesn't make him less of a hero. He's still the cleverest person in every room, he still owns the room he's in with his presence. But no, because he shows emotion, it means he's not the hero anymore. Is he just weak and a coward? And the original creators also intended for the Doctor to be a human from the future, look how quickly that changed. One of the main reasons Peter Davison was cast was because he was young and attractive, he was hired to be a heartthrob and JNT even wanted him as a gay icon. So there and then, the idea that the Doctor mustn't be attractive and not a sexual or romantic icon was thrown out the window. They also wanted the Doctor to be an old grandfather, does that mean the Doctor must be played by white men? And seriously, doing something new with regeneration makes him arrogant? For the love of God, does that mean Robert Holmes is arrogant for giving the Doctor a second heart despite it being said before he only has one heartbeat? If changing something makes someone arrogant, then the whole of humanity is arrogant.

[@PaulRichards-vz4pl]

@@ThetaSigma-vu1sk Did the Classic Doctors hit on a 20 year old? He’s thousands of years old and has a superior intellect compared to humans. I think RTD did damage the character by making act too human and flirting with people. Peter Capaldi understood that the Doctor shouldn’t be behaving in such a human way. Why can’t we have at least one eccentric alien hero without him being dragged down to such human levels? It’s destroyed the unique qualities of the Doctor. I have no problem with the Doctor being played by a black man as I thought Adrian Lester would have made a far better Doctor. Peter Davison was good looking but not to the extent of having a buff body. He also sounded intelligent and classy. Gatwa sounds like a love island contestant. He’s very good at playing Gatwa but certainly not the Doctor. If RTD ends up casting yet another young good looking actor after Gatwa if it survives its abysmal ratings then you’ll know how shallow he is. Age discrimination ok with you then? Sexualisation of the Doctor ok with you? Remember Peter Davison never ever flirted with anyone and John Nathan Turner said there must be no hanky panky onboard the Tardis as this is a family show and a science fiction series not a soap opera. RTD’s hypocrisy is off the scale when he and his privileged white middle class team at Bad Wolf think they can educate us about racism. My cousins in Canada are black and they tell me that they are disappointed in the black stereotypes that RTD seems to be playing into. Unlike you I’m not an RTD fantastic nor am I one of his acolytes.

[@neilgodwin6531]

I missed the racism. I was tired, admittedly. I thought it was just unwillingness to travel to an unknown place with a stranger / alien who seemed to be hostile to everything she had grown up with. I certainly wouldn't run off with a total stranger who just appeared in a "magic box" and said "come inside this this tiny box". Regardless of their skin colour

[@XanderHarris1023]

Give it a rewatch and you'll be amazed at the subtle lines of dialog that you missed.