Logline
An awful terror is preying on the citizens of Finetime and it’s up to the Doctor and Ruby to help them save themselves before it’s too late.
Written by: Russell T Davies
Directed by: Dylan Holmes Williams
Alright, I have some feelings on this one.
First, I’m not a fan of when TV shows and movies use hones to have characters talk to each other. Texting is just awful (if I wanted to read, I’d read a book) and video chats often seem incredibly limiting and boring to me. Having a whole episode of that… ew.
The characters themselves, they’re obviously meant to embody the worst of vapid superficial influencer types. But my god, but the end I was 100% on side with the rogue AI here. Finish them all off and spare me having to listen to them speak. Pity about that Ricky guy, he died an unexpectedly brutal death.
It felt a bit black mirrory, with the way it was shot, with the makeup and costumes, with the way the actors were just overly smiley and oblivious. But even with the theme of over-reliance on tech, I found the “I can’t walk without the bubble” bit a bit of a stretch.
Morals: Don’t walk staring at your phone, you’ll walk right into traffic and die. Also felt a bit of environmentalism at the end - “I’m an expert, I can help, listen to me”, and of course everyone thought they knew best so now they’re all going to die.
We’re no closer to figuring out the mysterious woman, and I’m struggling to find what the connection could be.
Best part of the episode: The 2 factor authentication from hell. Loved that.
I found the “I can’t walk without the bubble” bit a bit of a stretch
That was my first reaction, too…but thinking about it a little more, these are people who have been trained from presumably a very young age to respond to auditory stimuli, and actively ignore visual inputs when moving around. In that context, I think it could actually make sense.
And in the end, I like that touch. Yes, it’s a bit of a gag…but it also highlights that on at least some level, these people are victims of the system, too - they’re assholes, but it’s at least in part because they exist in a system that shaped them to be that way.
Also felt a bit of environmentalism at the end
Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. But then again, I also wasn’t thinking of the racial implications of that scene, which in hindsight are pretty obvious.
We’re no closer to figuring out the mysterious woman, and I’m struggling to find what the connection could be.
Me too, but I’m glad the Doctor and Ruby have both noticed that something’s up at this point.
Okay, that was unexpectedly dark.
I was expecting the RTD silliness that I’m not too fond of, but I thought the actual episode walked the line very well - the cynical undercurrent goes a long way.
If it had just been a social media satire, I don’t think it would have worked, but the pivot into “these people are all naive assholes” was actually pretty successful. In that way, it reminded me of “Voyage of the Damned,” in which all the “good people” were killed off by the end.
I had not made that connection - there are definitely a lot of parallels. good catch. Compared with this current episode, I think the peril on the ship was a bit better set up, and there were more characters in that episode that I genuinely cared about.
