Rogue Doctor Who Review | 2024 Series 1 Reaction

[@rupertbath2748]

You have my sympathy, 10 years ago I lost my best friend and the other seemed to drop like flies and found myself going to another funeral each month and I know how draining that as it went on for two years. Hang on in there cos I know how tough it is and there are some deaths we never fully get over. Keep making your contents as you have a sincerity you don't get in many reviewers and listening to you feels like I'm in the company of a fan and friend.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Thank you so much for this lovely message. It is draining, and it's caused a lot of problems, not least with work (I work for myself, so motivation is important and when it's low it can completely stop me being productive). Thankfully, I'm starting to pull myself out of that a little and return to the real world. I'm so appreciative of people who like my content. You hope that they will. You never demand it of people, but you still hope they will. Thank you :)

[@uniquesimulacrum]

Maybe I did get this wrong but my understanding was, that the triangle portal thing had a weight limit. So I imagined that because rogue stepped on it, it temporarly didn't function properly and he was able to push Ruby away because of that.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Well, the computer specifically said exchange. It had some sort of limit but I don't remember exactly what being made clear... I think this goes to what I was saying in the video about polish. The ability for that ending to happen shouldn't be in question at all.

[@uniquesimulacrum]

@@BeyondTheSofa Agreed 👍

[@thehandoflenin]

The mid-season jump in viewing figures was due to the FA Cup final which was on before Dr Who. I suspect the real viewing figures are around 2m.

[@tmarasenior5618]

I'm sorry your having a hard time this week, I hope you feel more yourself soon. I loved this episode, Rogue kind of reminds me a little of River Song, a male version of her charactter and I loved her so I love Rogue and I hope we see him again. It was so sweet of Rogue to sacrifice himself to save Ruby so the Doctor could have his best friend and so he didn't have to choose.

[@oathy03]

Never say sorry, This is the channel you run you create content as I said previously its lovely seeing a proper rundown of the episode. Next week Is Dad's Birthday we lost him through horrendous circumstances still awaiting the inquest, He should be still alive he needed an Ambulance to take him 1 mile from the hospital to the Helipad to remove a clot in his neck it moved into his Brain and he died the most horrific death over 48 hrs, The Air ambulance Crew were with him for 3 hours, 8 hours later the Ambulance arrived by this point he was blind and in a vegetative state. We will never recover and now the police are involved its ripped us apart. The Nightmares are back and had about 3 hours sleep all week. I understand totally what you described. The episode again I agree so much you could see all the pieces were there but let down with how they put it together, I do think Rogue is being lined up as the Capt Jack/ Riversong replacement. The OMG Gay kiss. When I was growing up as a Gay teenager the only Gay characters were in EE or ended up being Murder Victims or films ending with them being broken hearted so when the same mob shout about the BBC Ramming it down people';s throats *Not sure that's the best choice of words!. I never found the Yaz/Doctor relationship real. They saw what X was talking and hoping added it to the show it came from no where but it always felt more like a lovely friendship than a romance. The bloated Cast never helped Yaz would often be background. I loved his ship, I think given the right script he could work but he was missing that charisma Capt Jack and Riversong have, People seem to forget how many of the Doctors Capt Jack Kissed even admitting to Martha he loved him. The setting was perfect Millie again I just love her she's up there as one of my best companions since 2005. I really didn't like the JW companions again this was down to so many and not giving them the chance to develop. Next week looks WOW, Susan Twist looks like she went off with the Borg then played some World of Warcraft!! LOL One final thing I do think the show is suffering from not only 8 episodes but only 44 minutes runtime. It's going to be over and given they are filming the Christmas special now I doubt we are going to see any footage. Freezeframe the very spooky Susan and pretty certain that's Mars behind her. This episode I call a Run and romp episode but seeing as there's only 8 can it afford these type at the moment ?

[@lcflngn]

Yes. My dad died 9 yrs ago, and I’m not over it, and I never will be over it. Death is the absolute worst, what the hell. 100% feel your grief. Only thing that helped me along the way was discovering friends had been through the same thing. I had no idea! Not a club I ever knew existed or wanted to be a member of, but once I was, it made things at least normal & not completely insane. Will never not be not a Doctor Who fan. Loved this ep especially. Yay for Battle Mode, I need that! Lovely review, thx!

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Yes. I liked the Battle Mode thing as well :) You know, I always feel selfish when talking about Dad's death. It always feels like there is someone else who has it worse and that I shouldn't keep bringing it up... So, it really helps to know that there are people who are further down the road and are still grieving. It's good to know you're not alone and that you're not 'wrong' for feeling how you do. Thank you for your kind words :)

[@WhoTaku]

They said the trap could only hold 6, once Rogue stepped on it the number became 7, so Rogue pushed Ruby away before one of the Chaulders(I think that's what they were called?) could escape.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

How did he push her away if she was stuck fast?

[@WhoTaku]

@@BeyondTheSofa Because him stepping on the trap made it 7, in theory anyone could have escaped since the trap could only hold 6, but pushing Ruby brought the number back to 6.

[@oscarshedwick4862]

I will say that there was a max of 6 people the trap could hold before breaking so with roguge making it 7 the trap could have not been effective but rogue pushed ruby out making it 6 again

[@debshaw680]

I actually loved this episode. I think it’s my favorite so far. Maybe give it another watch in a few days.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

I think I certainly need to give it some space and then have another go with it. I might finish out the season and then rewatch the whole thing again.

[@dougsims4242]

Nice review and a lovely tribute to William Russell. I too felt it very deeply. I discovered Doctor Who via my Grandfather in 1963 so this loss was magnified. I also agree with your comments regarding lack of engagement of kids and new viewers generally.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and personal connection to Doctor Who. It's touching to hear how your journey with the show began with your Grandfather. His legacy and the memories you shared through Doctor Who will always be a special part of your life. Take care.

[@snarevandamm]

really love your content fella - hope you come out the other side of everything going one right now. this wa the best episode oof the series so far but i felt it was doctor who-lite still. doesnt have tension, stakes are fairly 1 dimensional and feels like things need to settle in and find a footing.

[@AuroraButterflyx]

So sorry for your loss of your father. Rip to the amazing William Russell. So good to hear what he has done in his life and he will be fondly remembered. It's just so sad that only Carol is the only living 1st companion 😢 This episode is good, it's my 2nd least favourite episode, but that's only because the other episodes are more my cup of tea and are pretty high stakes. Idk I am not the biggest fan of this episode's era and the whole Bridgeton gag got old quickly. This is a good episode don't get me wrong, it just doesn't hold up to the other episode or as mind-blowing, but I don't think it bad thing as I this is not meant to be as high stakes to the other episodes in the season (apart from Rogue being the big thing in the episode). I do see people going back to this episode for years to come as it's a very Doctor Who episode (imo). I like the relationship between Rogue and Doctor, so I hope he comes back soon. Overall I give it a 7 or 6.5. Not awful but nothing mind-blowing, which I wasn't expecting in this episode.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

It is a shame that we only have Carol left from the original Tardis team, and thank you for your kind words about my father. I agree that this episode hasn't held up to the others in the series. For me, it's sitting about on-par with Space Babies, not a horrible episode but, like you said, nothing mind-blowing. I said in another comment that the relationship between The Doctor and Rogue lasted less than some one-night-stands... I think that adds to the disconnect I'm feeling, but that's not really a fair criticism of the episode overall, since that must have been a function of the episode's running time. I do agree that the Brigerton gag got old quickly.

[@AuroraButterflyx]

​@@BeyondTheSofa Yeah fair enough. I liked where it was going with doctor and Rogue. It is just a shame that it ended so quickly and Doctor already had strong feelings for him. Suppose that small interaction had bigger impact on him than we left to believe. Yeah, i agree with you that it's the very similar Ranking with space babies, just slighty higher, but I did like the fun of space babies and i still had fun with the episode. Not every episode is going to be a massive hit so its fine for this episode to be ranked low. I very excited for next week and finale episodes, looks like susan is going to be a massive deal, looks like innocent women getting caught up in this mess or complete opposite. Excited to finally find get answers and how Russell has sprinkled in all the mystery, because he is pretty good at it.

[@spitzsobe]

He was able tosave Ruby because although deadlocked, it was set for 6 and Rogue made 7 so he had just enough time to knock Ruby out before the trap had time to adjust for 7

[@RickReasonnz]

Yeah.... It's one of those things that just 'happen' because it makes the story happen. Eh, just roll with it!

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Except the computer specifically says "Matter Exchange".

[@Sammelwuetiger]

​@@BeyondTheSofa "Matter exchange. Trap locked at six" First he pushed the fifth shapeshifter into the trap. From this moment on he had some time to make his decision. Enough time until the trap locked at six instead of five. Enough time to jump in and in exchange push Ruby out.

[@RickReasonnz]

The one thing I can say about this, is that we needed MORE of this type of episode. Finally we have a good episode where we see the Doctor and companion engage with a fun story, working out a mystery, and have a bit of an adventure. We've had far too many split stories, with limited exposure to the Doctor. Now, it's not an outstanding showing, but at least we can get some Doctor and Ruby adventure. Great costumes and makeup with the aliens, too!

[@BeyondTheSofa]

I agree that the show needs more episodes where we have that mystery element and it's great to see more of the Doctor. I should have mentioned the production values because they are really good. They do outstrip everything that previous series have been able to do, and that is something I hope they can keep going.

[@spitzsobe]

It was an alright episode, even though it was very predictable. When the Doctor said dont use battle mode, i knew it'd have an important call back, I never felt Ruby was in any Danger knowing the next 2 episodes are all about her, and that girl with her was also an alien. How does someone into Dungeons and Dragons not know about cosplay? I think the Homoerotic overtone was wayyyy overboard for the Doctor on a first date (soo promiscuous now) I mean it took awhile for his and Rivers romance to blossom, this is Doctor Who, not Torchwood. And I thought the contemporary music (Billie Eilish's Bad Boy in first ballroom scene was wierd) but i did like the call back to Kylie Minogue (Can't get you out of my head) I'll give it a 7/10.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

The contemporary music thing is, I think, a reference to something Bridgerton does, so I get why they did that. That relationship did happen far too quickly. That's probably more to do with the limitations of the episode than anything else, but it does add to any frustrations one might have with the episode.

[@bexrex97]

Did they just go, yeah everyone loves Bridgerton right now lets use that as a theme? Idk, I know that's common but again it's very obvious with the line where its actually said by Ruby

[@thehandoflenin]

I'm one of those toxic fans! Please can i have Dr Who back, and none of this junk. we only ask for the real Dr Who to stand up, stop crying, and actually do something Dr like. Has no-one has noticed the Dr actually has rescued zero persons. Oh, and good written stories not RTD fantasies.

[@jordanne229]

I loved this episode i thought it was great!

[@Domgo-d1w]

After being a fan for over fifty years, today is the day I let the Doctor go and also everything attached with it. Goodbye guys, it's been great. 😢

[@UnholyKaos96]

I really HATE this new doctor who episode. Every episode has gotten better and better just for them to drop a episode about cosplaying aliens who wouldn't have even heard of cosplay. If they have heard of it they are also time travelers but that wasn't even mentioned. There was waaay too much focus on "the doctor is gay now" rather than the aliens, the plot, the plan to beat them. The doctor was even about to just abandon hope with Ruby and just move on with a new companion before even trying to find a solution to saving her. This was not an episode of doctor who, this was an episode of Downtown Abbey

[@leonais1]

This was an appallingly bad episode. The writers spent five minutes showing us dangerous aliens who hide in amongst the populace and instantly kill unsuspecting people with surprise, then the writers spent thirty minutes showing us silly costumed aliens running around like clueluess Scooby Doo villians. This wasn't an episode of Downton Abbey as I'm assuming Downton Abbey is well written.

[@jak9940]

I think this episode is a huge and beautiful middle finger to the "toxic" part of the fanbase. It has every single "PC" cliché that they are usually complaining about: non-white characters in a historical setting, gay romance, romance with the Doctor himself, feminism, etc, but on top of that, they wirters made them the villains. Creatures that want to control the fate of the main characters without actually understanding them. Genius

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Yes, but I'd hardly call the episode genius. I don't disagree that you could read this as "a huge and beautiful middle finger to the "toxic" part of the fanbase." I would hope that wasn't a consideration when the writers were creating the episode because I feel that would take away from what was a nicely realised relationship between Rogue and The Doctor. I've said this to producers in the past (this was 20-odd years ago too, so this has been going on a while), if you write things just to annoy people you don't like, you're basically proving their point. I want Doctor Who to be better than that and to tell stories because they are good stories to tell. I think... At least, I hope that's what they've done here.

[@jak9940]

@@BeyondTheSofa yeah, reading through my original comment and rewatching the episode i should clarify some things (not a native speaker, so i often don't really know the intensity of the expressions or just outright misuse them), i think the middle finger was great not to annoy, but to show the fanbase a mirror of what they're like. How the toxic part of it ultimately destroys a community by wanting to shape it to their own liking. I did not felt like it took away from the drama of the Doctor, Ruby and Rouge, I think you can have two fully thought out plotlines in one episode, and i think they have handled it well here. Also, I do not think the episode itself was genius, just the reaction from the writers about the (i think outrageously high) amount of hate the show has been receiving in recent times.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Yes, there are certainly parallels to those wanting to shape communities to their own ends.

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great review nice tribute to William Russell also this ain’t the best episode

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Thank you ever so much :)

[@ftumschk]

Having enjoyed the RTD2 era so far, I found _Rogue_ a bit of a nothing-burger. Like you, I felt there were rough edges to the script, and it didn't feel much like Doctor Who. Oddly enough, I get a similar feeling from Black Orchid; another period drama/mystery which just happens to have the Doctor and Companion(s) in it. That said, I did watch the episode very early this morning, so I'll give it another go later today.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

It's entirely possible that it was the time of watching that's had an effect on the enjoyment. I see where you're getting the connection with Black Orchid from. Ironically, I quite like Black Orchid.

[@ftumschk]

@@BeyondTheSofa I like Black Orchid, too, but I've always seen it as a generic period whodunnit with the Doctor and co crowbarred in.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Yes, very much so :) I would love to see something similar again, but I think too many people would expect there to be an alien in things.

[@bexrex97]

Doesnt know what cosplay is... What What Idk how to react to that moment😂

[@polgarauk5606]

I like you am not a fan of period dramas, never watched any. I found the episode meh. It was ok just nothing special and nothing I felt 'changed the Doctors life' maybe something will come back to bite him from it, maybe Rogue is the one who waits? Probably my dislike of period stuff has affected my view one this episode but for me so far it is me least favourite episode of the season so far and one I would probably not rewatch much. RIP William Russell you will be missed 😢

[@BeyondTheSofa]

I agree. It was such a small event in the Doctor's life for it to be life changing. I mean, there are one-night-stands that have lasted longer. I'll probably try and rewatch this before next week. Sometimes giving it a bit of space changes how you feel about something. We'll see.

[@roguecomics4775]

It ends with a cancelation.

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Like I've said in the pervious videos, neither you nor I know what metrics the BBC is using to determine the success of the show. It certainly isn't headline viewing figures as it never has been. The question is really one of funding and whether it's performing well enough on Disney+. We can't know that, largely because Disney don't release their figures.

[@thehandoflenin]

Disney never release figures, but there are figures for streaming shows in minutes watched. Some people have done some maths and subscriber numbers and minutes watch. Unfortunately Dr Who has not reached the top 10 for viewing minutes so we can only go on what's above...

[@HiDesert004]

Garbage show!

[@FludeVsLife]

I discovered your channel a month or so ago? And you do such brilliant reviews, you’ve quickly become my favourite DW reviewer. Keep up the good work!

[@BeyondTheSofa]

Wow, thank you! That's ever so kind of you. I'm so pleased you're enjoying the videos :)

[@stevealdous2043]

Good review. I totally agree with your reservations on this episode, which for me is the weakest of the current run. It was sloppily written and the direction was off at times. The frivolous tone sucked out any suspense and the twist finale was underwhelming.

[@UnholyKaos96]

I didn't look forward to this one too... how right we were 😅

[@mikihorvath6274]

This episode, at the beginning, was very brilliantly written, the first conversation between the Doctor and Rogue was really good, even Ruby’s storyline was great. And I was really invested in the “Doctor-Rogue relationship”, but soon I got bored in the melodramatic cliches. I think this part of the script would have worked so much better as in Torchwood, between Jack Harkness and Jack Harkness in the episode Captain Jack Harkness. Also, Ruby’s storyline with Emily was ruined by revealing Emily is a chuldur, she was a very intriguing character and this felt too rushed. By the way, talking about things that were rushed, the ending. ???IF ITS DEADLOCKED HOW CAN WE JUST JUMP INTO IT??? Finishing Words: The best thing in this episode was the next time trailer. 7/10 Rest In Peace: William Russel

[@BeyondTheSofa]

I agree, that first conversation was a highlight. I think Ruby needed to get into danger somehow, it didn't have to be Emily, but that did mean we got the setup for the ending, which was quite nice.

[@AuroraButterflyx]

I think the reason Rogue was able to go through as it's his technology, maybe he had the power for him to be able to go through it and didn't tell the doctor that he can do it. That my hypothesis for it.