Doctor Who Season 2 Premiere Review: Another Fun Adventure

Doctor Who has been running forever and has delved into every genre in every conceivable way. Recasting the main role every few years means that there have been fun doctors, dour doctors, weird doctors, and everything in between. The one thing that holds the show together, though, is the most basic premise of the show: a slightly mad man in a police box with a human companion solving mysteries throughout time and space. Whether The Doctor is driven by guilt or curiosity doesn’t really matter, as long as the show sticks to the format.

Good news then that the second season premiere of Ncuti Gatwa‘s term as The Doctor sticks to the premise—admittedly, with a slight twist—and delivers a fun story where they solve a mystery on a distant planet with a closer tie to our own than you may first assume.

The episode opens 15 years ago, in the midst of a bad date, in which an awkward boy gives a girl the deed to a star. Fast forward to the present and robots land in London looking for that girl because, as holder of the deed, she is their rightful queen. It’s a pretty standard level of wackiness for the show, and as usual, in an absolutely good way. The robots are silly but threatening, with their bulky design and a rotating sphere where the face should be that can show various emojis and other simple glyphs. Their rocket looks like something out of an old Flash Gordon episode, and once they arrive on their planet, things are immediately not all they seem, leaving plenty for The Doctor to figure out.

This girl—Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu)—isn’t yet his companion, but The Doctor follows her to the alien planet which is where they first meet. The twist here is that she doesn’t immediately trust him just because he speaks with authority as so many in the past have. She’s strong willed and independent in a way that works as a contrast to Gatwa’s exhuberant style. Sethu plays her very much like she’s the adult in the room, and it’s refreshing after last season being largely about two big kids.

Gatwa gets some choice moments in this episode as well, as his Doctor still seems like one trying to let go of all his trauma. It’s a contrast to the last several Doctors, who carried their issues around like a bag full of bricks, and there are moments in this episode where he gets to feel the weight of things but then move on immediately. It’s impressive work, and then the rest of the time his bounding energy, infectious smile, and breeziness make him a joy to watch.

The chemistry between The Doctor and their companions is what makes the series work as a whole and this new dynamic being a slight deviation promises to make things a little more interesting in the episodes to come. That being said, the standard new companion scenes, such as Belinda discovering the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside, are still a lot of fun.

It’s difficult to evaluate an entire series from just a single episode—we only got a peek at the premiere for this review—but rest assured that if you like Doctor Who, this is fun Doctor Who. It isn’t empty though of deeper meaning, as the premiere episode offers some commentary on social issues by way of the fantastic planet they visit. The commentary will land well for some, but maybe a bit heavy handed for others; but this isn’t a subtle show nor are we in an age of subtlety, so it works either way.

As with last season’s premiere, if the series can maintain this energy and balance for the entire eight-episode run then we are in for a real treat of a season. Last season only faltered a little thanks to production overlaps and other issues, so if this season can avoid similar situations than it should also be an improvement on a new chapter that was already paying dividends for fans.