Doctor Who: Star Babies and Beatles

The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) begin their adventures with the Doctor sweeping Ruby away, first way back in time to see the dinosaurs but then to the future randomly landing on a baby farm, a space station used to bolster population on an Earth colony planet.  But something isn’t right, as usual, the pair are separated from the Tardis by a fierce monster and all the adults seem to be missing from the station, instead, the babies are running things.  For six years the children have been alone and have not aged.  The Doctor and Ruby must figure out what the monster is, how to beat it and get the children to a nearby refugee world.  After all, has been settled, the Doctor asks Ruby if she would join him on his continuing travels as he explores the universe as he doesn’t want to be alone.  Their next outing, Ruby asks to see the Beatles record their first album, and of course, the musically inclined Doctor thinks this to be a brilliant idea.  The only problem is, once they get there, they discover that all music has been removed from the world which will lead to its ultimate destruction and possibly the annihilation of all life in the universe.  Who would have the power to do something like that?  The Maestro (Jinx Monsoon), the child of the Toymaker and the embodiment of all music. At first, the Doctor seems to have met his match, as the Toymaker and his legions wield godlike power, but learning how Maestro was brought into our world, he figures out how to send her back and with the help of the Beatles, he might just succeed.  The episode of course wraps up with a big showstopping musical number.

Ncuti Gatwa is the first black actor to take the role of the Time Lord and the first to not have been born within the United Kingdom, and the first to identify as queer. The newest season’s first two official episodes, not counting the Christmas Special, were available for streaming on Disney+ on May 10^th, 2024.  For those that don’t know much about Doctor Who, the Doctor is a renegade Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who has the ability to regenerate when they are about to die.  The new Doctor will have a completely different appearance and personality from his predecessors.  Gallifrey and all the other Time Lords have been destroyed and so the Doctor is the last of his kind, he is also not originally from Gallifrey, his actual origins are unknown at this time.  The Doctor normally travels space and time in his ship called the T.A.R.D.I.S. which stands for “Time And Relative Dimensions In Space”, which takes the form of an old 1960s British police box and is larger inside than it is outside. There have been 14 actors who have played the doctor as the main characters within the series, with David Tennant playing both the 10^th and 14^th incarnations.  This does not count Michael Jayston who played the Valeyard in 1986, who was a darker evil alternate future version of the character; John Hurt, who played the War Doctor; or Jo Martin who is revealed to have been an earlier incarnation from before the original William Hartnell character in 1963.

I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who since the early 80s when I discovered the show on PBS (in the old days that is where we had to watch it in the U.S.). I have continued to support the show and have enjoyed every actor, some more than others, who have played the part.  Everyone will have a favorite and for different reasons.  I was highly anticipating the return of the series with Ncuti in the lead position, especially after the Christmas Special.  But I was highly disappointed by the two first episodes that were released, not because of his or Millie’s performances, but because of the story and the scripts.  Particularly kicking off the series with the episode “Space Babies” which just didn’t feel like it had any real substance and instead tried to hype up the humor with body fluid jokes.  In addition, whatever they used to make the babies mouths move to try to simulate talking seemed off.  I think most of all, the episode just couldn’t find its rhythm.  I enjoyed the second episode, “The Devil’s Chord” much more.  At first, I didn’t care for how over the top The Maestro was, but her performance grew on me and looking back on it, she made a great opponent who was fun, crazy, and meant to be a bit over the top.  The problem I had with both episodes really, is we didn’t get to see the Doctor use his vast intellect to solve the problems, and although I love the energy and the lust for life that this new Doctor has, I feel it lacks a bit of quirkiness although that will come with time. I want to see the multiple levels of emotions and character complexity that the Doctor needs and possess, which seemed to be missing in these first two adventures.  One ray of hope was the previews shown for the third episode yet to be released, which seems a bit more dramatic and in line with the serious storylines the Doctor usually faces. One other disappointment, not specifically related to a single episode, is that the Doctor will not have a signature outfit that he wears, instead, he will wear something different each episode, this is a big departure from the previous incarnations who all had a very specific style. I will say, I do love how they have incorporated music into both the Christmas Special, where Ncuti and Millie need to sing a song to the Goblin King, and the final dance number in “The Devil’s Chord”, both Ncuti and Millie seem to be very musically inclined, and I enjoy a good song!