Ron: Hello and welcome to a new episode of Stereo Geeks.
Today, we're talking about Doctor Who.
I'm Ron.
Mon: And I'm Mon.
Doctor Who, 2023.
We've got a new doctor in the house.
See what I did there.
Played by Ncuti Gatwa, and his new companion, Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.
So in 2024, we're getting the full season for the new doctor.
We start with Space Babies, episode one.
This is actually the second episode of Ncuti Gatwa as the doctor in the lead.
He was introduced in The Giggle.
Let's not even try and figure out seasons, series, who's the doctor, which number.
I'm not gonna try and figure that out.
Let's just get into it.
We have watched the first two episodes of this season.
We're not gonna reveal any spoilers.
We're just gonna talk about what the episodes were kind of about, how we felt about it, if we're excited for the rest of the season.
So episode one is called Space Babies.
It starts off literally moments after the end of episode zero, which was the Christmas special called The Church on Ruby Road.
There's a theme of babies, which obviously isn't the most interesting for us, but it makes sense because both Ruby and the Doctor are orphans.
This Doctor, I would say, number 15, I believe, is his number.
He remembers a lot more about his life, and I'm wondering if that's because he was split from 14.
13 spent her first few episodes getting her bearings, but 15 is in full flow.
Yeah, Ncuti Gatwa, he's really taken to this role.
He's a very young Doctor as well, but I think he is delightful.
He's so charming, so energetic.
He has this huge smile and two very big hearts.
Well, not him, the Doctor.
Absolutely.
Ncuti Gatwa is very charming.
He's very fun.
And he's playing this Doctor as a kind of free spirit, somebody who's enjoying a life with no strings attached.
So let's get into the episode.
It's kind of Doctor Who-ish, so it's a bit weird.
Honestly, for us, we grew up on Star Trek.
So Doctor Who was not something that we understood that well till we sort of fell upon it on TV one time.
We've definitely got into a little bit more thanks to 13.
And now we're a little bit more invested with 15.
This show has never been subtle, but this particular episode, Space Babies, I feel like it really hits you on the head with some real world issues.
It drops these notes in, in sort of a sarcastic aside, but they're unmissable.
It's kind of obvious that at least this new version of the show is definitely trying to send a message.
Yeah, it addresses a couple of real world issues.
I mean, the big one is genocide and the lasting impact on those who survive.
The doctor may be happy-go-lucky, but he's using that to hide this tremendous loss.
And I feel like this episode definitely touches on the revealing of Roe vs.
Wade in the US.
There's a short but poignant discussion about humanity's insistence on birthing babies.
It has absolutely no interest in taking care of.
And also what happens to those people when they're growing up?
Because one of the things that this episode leans into quite a lot, I would say it's a running theme throughout the episode, is uniqueness.
It's not a problem to be different.
At least that's what this episode is positing.
This isn't a new theme in any pop culture, but it hits differently and more poignantly when it's coming from a character who looks like Gatwa.
I mean, if the doctor wants you to regenerate into a big purple blob, nobody would complain.
But because he's a queer black man, it's like a big deal.
What I will say, and I don't know how you feel about this, I found that the episode was kind of gross.
And while it was just alluded to and not shown, so like we weren't like gagging all over the place, but that for me undermined the strength of the episodic themes.
Yeah, it definitely gets a bit gross at times, and I struggle with that very easily, but I think they wanted to bring in a lot of humor because there were some heavy elements, but I think I could have done without it.
I would say that this episode sets up the chemistry between the Doctor and Ruby quite well.
We got obviously quite a bit of that in the Christmas special, but you can really see them as a time traveling pair.
And I would say that the chemistry in this episode is even stronger than in the episode zero.
I don't know how to feel about Ruby and the Doctor because with shorter seasons, where it's like eight, maybe max 10 episodes, and we already know about the changes that are coming up in this show, it's really hard for me to become invested in the Doctor and Ruby's relationship.
What is obvious is that they're really building up the mystery surrounding Ruby's history.
And I'm curious to find out more about that, as well as what impact it has on the Doctor.
Yeah, good point.
They've laid the groundwork for a lot of that history.
And they also do have a few moments with Ruby's mom and grandma.
I hope that we get to see more of them, because they seem like a lovely family.
And like with 13, every time we got to see, yeah, this family, it just felt like a built up universe.
It's always the supporting characters that sort of give more gravitas to who your main characters are.
And as you said, builds up the world, but builds up their world, helps us become even more invested and interested in them.
So I agree with you.
I would love to see more of her mom and her grandmom.
So moving on to the second episode, The Devil's God.
Now this tritone that is the name of the episode got me excited.
Now in this episode, the Doctor and Ruby travel to the 60s.
They get to play dress up.
It's kind of fun to see them try on 60s fashion.
I honestly feel like 13 and her crew didn't get to do that much.
They didn't travel within Earth.
They traveled mostly to other planets.
And in any case, 13 always wore her t-shirt and jacket anyway.
We should probably make a note about why we're talking about 13 a lot, because we didn't watch Doctor Who regularly until 13 came on the scene, and then suddenly we were just like, we were watching her every week.
We couldn't wait.
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor was very fun.
We were obviously excited because there was a woman in the role.
So yeah, now we're kind of just going along with the ride.
I also think with Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, they tried to do something different with some of the stories, not all, obviously.
And I think that's why we ended up tuning in a lot more.
It was a little bit more inclusive and diverse.
I feel like that's also there with Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor, especially in this episode, which is in the 60s.
I know in the past and on a lot of other shows, if you went back to 1960s England everybody would be white, but they specifically have some extras who are people of color.
So I like that.
This episode, The Devil's Code, is very Doctor Who like.
It's silly, it's campy, it has time travel and very high stakes.
It's like as Doctor Who as you can get.
This episode was my jam.
Wow, that's high praise.
I think one of the reasons why this episode really works is because of Jinx Monsoon, who is the guest star for this episode.
She is very cool.
She really knows how to steal the scene without being cringey.
Well, Jinx Monsoon is a drag performer.
She plays Maestro.
In real life, from what I can see, she goes by she her pronouns, but Maestro uses they them pronouns.
Monsoon is a RuPaul's Drag Race winner and a Broadway star.
So pretty heavy hitter.
No wonder she's just seamlessly stealing the scene in this episode.
So if it's not obvious by now, this episode is about music.
And episodes around music or the arts, they're always very interesting.
Now, I am curious to know how you felt because I think the writing here didn't explore the direct or even the indirect impacts of music on changing the world as much as it should have.
It's definitely hinted at, but it was very, very plot heavy.
And I think that for me, felt like it missed the plot.
Very interesting point.
I thought it was a great sci-fi concept.
So the essence of the plot is that humanity has thrived this long, primarily on the power of music.
I like that the arts are being spotlighted in an episode like this, in a profiteer like this.
Science fiction, you know, it usually discusses the importance of science, exploration, morality.
Well, what about the arts and culture?
We're seeing AI being used as a shortcut to make art, and music, and create stories.
Now is as good a time as any to center human artistry.
I think if this episode had been maybe a two-parter, we could have really leaned into that.
Because you're right, it doesn't examine the impact that music has had on history and the way we are right now.
See, you've brought in a good point here.
AI, especially generative AI, and how it's being used as a shortcut, as you said, to get into arts and culture.
That's a plot point that I really feel like Doctor Who, of all shows, could have easily segued to, and probably done it in a very blunt fashion and still got it to work.
I will say that probably at the time that this episode was being made, generative AI's impact on art was probably not being felt as strongly as it is right now in 2024.
So maybe that's why they didn't lean into that, but honestly, somebody's gotta talk about it.
True, true.
I liked Maestro as a villain.
Thoughts?
I loved Maestro.
In all honesty, I was a bit worried at first.
Another campy, queer villain after Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris, he was phenomenal.
He was having a great time.
I really enjoyed watching him.
So I felt like, oh, is Maestro just doing the same thing?
But it works within the context of the story.
And in all honesty, Monsoon is having such a ball, I can't possibly begrudge her anything.
I will say, I feel like aside from the Christmas special, this show isn't yet really leaning into 15s queerness.
Queer coded villains, they've been a mainstay of friction.
Most Disney properties have had such villains.
And now, remember, Doctor Who is on Disney+.
So we need more queer heroes to balance that out.
Ncuti Gatwa is an out queer actor.
I'm not saying every episode has to be about how he's queer and beautiful, but maybe I wouldn't mind.
No, I agree with you.
I kept wondering while I was watching these two episodes, what's missing, what's missing?
And it really is a case of them dumbing down that aspect of his character.
I guess we can speculate why they don't want to alienate the current fans, you know, the long time fans, but I don't think that's correct.
It's not like they're ignoring the whole queer spectrum.
They do hint at that and they talk about it, but why not with the doctor himself?
Well, let's be honest, with 13, there was a golden opportunity and they just flubbed that.
I hope they don't do that with Ncuti’s as well.
I am very interested to see where this season is going to go with the doctor because he's shared a lot of feelings about his past.
When we were watching 13, again, we haven't seen much before that, so everything we know is from 13.
She learned so many horrible truths about her life and that so much of her existence had been hidden from her.
Is 15 going to be engaging with those?
He's already made a few references now about the losses that he suffered and that he's lived through, he's survived, he's the only Timelord left.
That's a huge burden to deal with.
I'm hoping that this season has some resolution planned for him because if somebody in the very first two episodes has shared such deep sorrow and then he immediately tries to laugh it off, something's going on here.
Well, it's also a little bit weird that we keep seeing the doctor running scared.
We've seen him do that two episodes in a row.
Listen, I'm all for, especially male characters, being vulnerable, being human, being realistic.
But the question is, why is it that the first black doctor is this vulnerable?
Again, most of our references come from 13 onwards.
But whatever we've seen, it's not like we've never seen a single Doctor Who episode before 13, but you know, they're always like kind of macho-ish in some ways.
You know, this is really different.
Yeah, 15 is scared.
He's run from danger twice, and you know, if he's doing it because he's trying to protect Ruby, that's, you know, something that we've seen before.
But I'm beginning to wonder, like, the fact that he didn't regenerate into 15, he was split in half from 14.
Has that made him more attuned to emotions?
Do Timelords have similar emotions to humans?
Is there something bigger at play here that makes him want to run away from danger?
In all honesty, I think this doctor is depressed, y'all.
I kinda agree with you on that.
So I don't know about you, I feel like Millie Gibson was a bit too giggly in this episode.
That took me out, honestly.
I know some actors do the giggle and bouncy thing where they don't know what to do.
I'm really surprised that they kept so many of those moments in the actual episode.
Yeah, honestly, this episode was not Ruby's best.
She got short shrift in the climax, for sure.
She did have one really amazing scene, and she gives us the context for why she's doing a particular thing, and I was just like, oh, I feel this in my heart, but then it doesn't go anywhere.
Yeah, this episode, as fun as it is, it's a bit all over the place, because I'm not sure about that denouement either.
I felt like it was leading up to something, but then the episode kind of just ended, which also kind of undermines the message of the denouement.
Very confused here.
I was wondering whether it was because this episode is about just 50 minutes, and I was comparing it to The Giggle, which was an hour.
They had 10 extra minutes to really lean into the resolution.
I don't think we got that with this one.
Having said that, I did really enjoy this episode, the period costumes, the theme.
This is the kind of science fiction I want to see more of.
I agree with you, and I also feel like not all science fiction, especially science fiction, has to be serious.
But I guess I just want something more out of whatever I'm watching.
If it's an oblique reference, if it's a direct reference, I just needed to say something so that we come away feeling like there's a way to make things better, or that other people who want to watch this world burn will watch something like this and change their minds.
I guess I'm just asking Art to do exactly what this episode tells us Art can do.
Change the world.
But we are looking forward to the rest of the season.
We are looking forward to seeing more of Ncuti.
I don't know what direction Ruby is going to go in this, but I don't care.
I'm quite happy to join this Doctor Who ride.
Hope you'll all join it with us.
Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email [email protected]. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!
Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.