As a follow-up to the Doctor Who season opener, Lux hits most of the right notes and some bum ones. There’s comedy, a funny/ slightly terrifying villain, and some rather thinly-sketched characters from showrunner Russell T Davies. Also, the return of Anita Dobson as the ominous Mrs Flood. What’s her deal?
All to be revealed – as is the significance of the date of May 24, 2025. The Tardis keeps refusing to land on that day, so Belinda is stuck with the Doctor. Even worse, nobody has thought about heading to, say, May 23 instead and going from there. Oh well.
This is Belinda’s (Varada Sethu) first proper trip in the Tardis, and the show duly gives her the shock and awe character moment as she steps out of the front doors and into a different reality.
It’s always lovely to see, and Ncuti Gatwa’s exuberance – “This is the fun bit, honey!” – never gets old. Their destination this episode is Miami, 1952, and the show wastes no time in reminding us that this was the height of segregation in America.
“We’re breaking the law just by being in here,” Gatwa’s Doctor tells a horrified Belinda when they step inside a diner – but apart from being nodded to a few times, the rest of the episode swerves the real-life implications of the time period they’re in, in favour of a jaunt inside a deserted cinema and full-throated paean to old-school cartoons.
The big bad this episode is a fun one: a sentient cartoon named Mr Ring-a-ding-ding who is somehow given life by the light of the moon. Naturally, he’s evil, and he’s also partial to a little song and dance.
What does he want? Why, to conquer the world, of course – and it soon becomes apparent that Mr Ring-a-ding-ding is none other than Lux, one of the Harbingers sent to announce the arrival of the Pantheon of Discord. That’s about all we learn, though. “I’m a two dimensional character!” he snarks at one point. “You can’t expect backstory.”
Either way, he’s a menace, and he’s also a heads-up that something very big and bad is on the horizon.
Fortunately, Belinda is more than capable of holding her own here. She’s also a pleasing breath of fresh air when it comes to companion behaviour: she doesn’t recklessly charge into danger. “Oh my god, you actually want to investigate that creepy old cinema,” she exclaims at one point. “You’re Scooby Doo!”
Not that her very sensible misgivings do her much good. As she and the Doctor battle it out with Lux, they find themselves trapped in numerous alternate dimensions, one of which renders them as actual cartoon characters. This is a fun touch, though the fact that they have to talk about sad things in order to ‘gain dimensions’ and become 3D again feels a bit forced.
Then, in an exceedingly meta twist, they’re catapulted out of the TV and into an alternate world in which Doctor Who is a TV show (imagine!) and they have their first encounter with Whovians. It’s a funny touch from Davies – especially the fact that those fans cite ‘Blink’ as their favourite episode, rather than anything the show has done recently – but rapidly becomes strained in the extreme.
“We are a bit annoying, I know that,” one fan declares at one point. “But we don’t care!”
Laughs aside, this does come across slightly as Davies poking fun at Who’s own fanbase – which feels rather like kicking a puppy. Combine that with the show’s rather-too-convenient ending and what you have is a sugary-sweet pill that leaves a bit of a bitter aftertaste.
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