There was a Doctor

[setsuled]

Now that my internet's up and working, I've finally remembered to watch Doctor Who. I was very busy for the past couple weeks but it says something that I totally forgot about it. The two episodes I missed, "Lux" and "The Well", weren't bad, and "The Well" was even really good.

"Lux" apparently had the lowest ratings in the show's history, according to Wikipedia, though I think they're only counting the revived era. It features Alan Cumming voicing an animated character come to life. It was cute, certainly a better mid-20th century episode than the Beatles episode last season. The costumes were great.



But while I can appreciate camp, it was really nice to get an episode that wasn't campy with "The Well". The understated horror of some creature lurking behind someone was really effective and recalled some of the best episodes from Davies and Moffat's heydays. As such, though, it doesn't hit the level of revelation those classic episodes had. Or even "Wild Blue Yonder". Would it have been more effective with David Tennant in the lead? Ncuti Gatwa is good but not on the level of Tennant or any of the first four Doctors since the show was revived in 2005. I think a lot of the problem may be also that there's no hint of romantic chemistry between Doctor and companion, which was also a key problem in the Jodie Whittaker era.

Varada Sethu is good as the new companion, Belinda Chandra, though her role on Andor is more interesting and she's barely been in that one so far. I liked the reaction shots of Gatwa when he confronted the mysterious alien. The look of pure horror on his face was was perfect. I liked how the show never gave us a clear shot of it.

Doctor Who is available on the BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Disney+ everywhere else.