Fittingly for a series about adventures across space and time, the latest season of Doctor Who features an interstellar lead performance by Ncuti Gatwa. He’s a natural as the new custodian of the Tardis, both mischievous and mysterious, and is by far the best thing about the BBC’s biggest franchise as former showrunner Russell T Davies takes up the reins once again. In fact, Gatwa’s charm proves essential in two wildly uneven opening episodes, which suggest that Davies hasn’t quite got back into the galaxy-hopping groove yet.
Gatwa’s Doctor feels like a greatest hits of Time Lords past. He has inherited immediate predecessor Jodie Whittaker’s humanity and empathy. But he also has an air of fervent eccentricity that recalls the best of David Tennant and Peter Capaldi (and, if we’re doing a deep dive, Fifth Doctor Peter Davison).
The 15th Doctor also has wonderful chemistry with his assistant Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). No matter how ludicrous the storylines are (they are pretty ludicrous in these instalments), they gel fantastically. Whovians will hope they continue to do so following the arrival of a second companion in the next series, to be played by Jurassic World Dominion’s Varada Sethu.
Above all, Gatwa has the crucial Doctor quality of being deeply enigmatic. You never know what he’s going to do next. Nor does Sunday. She is surprised to be whisked off to the age of the dinosaurs as she and the Doctor begin their adventures, having first met in last year’s excellent Christmas special.
It’s good, giddy fun and will go down well both at home and internationally, where Disney+ is handling distribution. Still, the two instalments that launch the new run aren’t perfect. The first, “Space Babies”, is a promising idea that never entirely comes to life on screen. Having zipped around space and time on a lark, the Doctor and Ruby end up in a high orbit station populated by babies who can talk (don’t worry, the script sort of explains it). But the station is also stalked by a “bogeyman” monster in the basement, which gives even the Doctor the heebie-jeebies.
The show has never hidden its influences, and “Space Babies” hits like a homage to Ridley Scott’s Alien mixed with one of those disposable nappy ads where the babies have the power of speech. Super ancient viewers may be furthermore reminded of the old Bruce Willis chatty-baby franchise Look Who’s Talking.
More successful by far is the second episode, “The Devil’s Chord”, where the Doctor and Ruby travel back to 1963 and Abbey Road Studios to see the Beatles lay down their earliest tracks. Alas, someone has stolen the power of music from the world, and the Beatles are literally tuneless. The idea of a universe without music is obviously horrible – though on the upside, it would mean no more Ed Sheeran albums – and Davies has great fun setting our heroes against gluttonous baddie Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon).
The BBC’s pre-eminent sci-fi saga has always held up a mirror to its times (whether by design or accident). With this new season, Davies sticks with that tradition by applying some pointed commentary on current affairs. In “Space Babies”, we learn that the infants’ home planet is obsessed with bringing the children to gestation yet couldn’t care less what happens to them after that – a clear nod towards the abortion debate in the United States.
The big takeaway, however, is that Gatwa is already perfect as the Doctor. Some Time Lords are a work in progress. He’s the finished article right from the jump – quirky, nattily attired (though his vintage wardrobe never overshadows the performance) and brimming with megawatt charm. The stories aren’t entirely there yet, but with Gatwa at the controls, it comes as a huge relief to report that the Tardis is in safe hands.
‘Space Babies’ and ‘The Devil’s Chord’ will be shown from 6.20pm on Saturday 11 May and can be watched on iPlayer
