Disney and the BBC really don’t want spoilers revealed about tonight’s debut of the latest season of Doctor Who. All right, but I’m here to tell you that you’re going to hear some of the worst music ever in these opening episodes of Ncuti Gatwa’s hopefully long reign as the famous Lord of Time.
Aside from the timeout and the absent granddaughters, that’s the point.
Since Rwandan-born Gatwa’s debut in December last year, his Doctor Who has already flipped many scripts on what the Tardis traveling Doctor is and should be. Yes, the Fifteenth Doctor is the first black and first openly queer incarnation of the Gallifreyan since the iconic British series debuted in 1963, as well as the first non-British-born person to play the Time Lord. Both depictions are long overdue and wonderful, but the real thing about them Doctor Who is how much joy it radiates.
Jinkx Monsoon as Maestro
This bubbly point is made clear in the (sort of) Beatles co-starrer “Devil’s Chord,” one of two episodes arriving on Disney+ on May 10 at 4:00 p.m. PT, as the Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) take on the powerful maestro (played by RuPaul Drag Race Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon brings fun and some boogie woogie back to a dank world.
Following are some years & years, A very British scandal And It’s a sinRussell T. Davis has returned as showrunner to the iconic franchise he revived in 2005. With the added cash and the cash of a Mouse House partnership and platform, the result matches Davies’ talent for ushering in a bit of alternative nuclear winter, a dash of Beckett, a central Fab Four, lots of babies, some singing and dancing and an ambitious narrative structure.
Having become acquainted with the series with Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor and having made many trips to the famous BBC quarry as a stand-in for an alien landscape, I can judge the production value of this Disney-expanded 14Th The series is a main character in its own right for the few episodes I’ve seen so far. Historically, the greater visual depth and range has the added benefit of floodlighting Doctor Who has done so little over the decades and how deftly Davies, Gatwa, Gibson and their team manage it without losing the show’s charm and intelligence.
(LR) Millie Gibson – Ruby Sunday (Official Music Video)
With all this if you are a dedicated one Doctor Who Fan, I’m warning you now: The Davies-penned first episode of this new series of Space Babies really helps introduce the series to a huge new audience, in theory, via Disney+. That said, what we have at the beginning is essentially a complete origin story, incorporating the good doctor’s generations, regenerations and lore for the uninitiated. Which is perfectly fine for getting this iteration from A to B early and off the launch pad.
Furthermore, when we get to the second of the two episodes arriving on Disney+ on Friday, and John, Paul, George and Ringo, as well as the main villain Maestro, show up, you have a chance to navigate what is suddenly a very difficult, very different kind of timeline .
In a further nod to the BBC’s new deep pocket partnership with Disney Doctor Who, You might notice Enlightenment lessons Alum Gatwa’s “Doctor” is a little more family-friendly, or definitely more family-friendly, than previous interpretations from the last 20 years. Christopher Eccleston, Peter Capaldi and the first incarnation of David Tennant clearly had some very, very dark stories that bordered on horror in their manifestations.
That’s still the case now Doctor Who, so there is certainly still evil and sinister in the Fifteenth Time Lord’s timeline. At the same time, this doctor who will see it Andor‘s Varada Sethu aboard the Tardis as the second companion next season exists in a universe that’s just a lot brighter and bolder – which is in some ways a welcome throwback to Jon Pertwee’s wide Me-Decade lapels in the Third Doctor 1970 – 1974 stay.
Three Doctors stood out for me in both the 1963 to 1989 series and the 2005 revival. The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, who was my little OG and because you never forget your first. The Twelfth Doctor, Capaldi, who was just so devilishly snarky. The Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, who not only broke Whovia’s glass ceiling but was simply astonishing in her measured intensity.
It’s early days, which may be a misnomer when talking about a Time Lord, but it looks like the favorite trio is becoming a quartet.
Gatwa’s Doctor is exuberant, throws himself into the fray with pride, and has a sense of his personal and global heritage. It’s a big part of his time, but interestingly not from this place. In the pantheon of small picture series created in the 1960s Star Trek it has always been about equality and justice. Doctor Whoon the other hand, has turned more toward the messiness of life and the power of curiosity and resilience.
The latter values may be out of fashion at this point in time of the 21 dumpster firest Century, but they may have found new life in a more emotionally engaged Time Lord, able to express himself not only across the galaxy and throughout history, but also with the ever-popular traits of a ready wink, a nod, and a smile.
Title: Doctor Who
Network: Disney+ (US)/BBC (UK)
Premiere date: May 10, 2024 (premiere of two episodes, new episodes every week until June 21, 2024 on Disney+)/11. May 2024 (UK)
Showrunner/Writer/Executive Producer: Russell T Davies
Directors: Mark Tonderai, Julie Anne Robinson, Ben Chessell, Dylan Holmes Williams
EPs: Russell T Davies, Phil Collinson, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner and Jane Trante
Pour: Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, Jinkx Monsoon, Jonathan Groff, Indira Varma, Paul Forman, Anita Dobson and Michelle Denise Greenidge
Evaluation: TV-PG