Doctor Mess

Sunday's new Doctor Who was called "Once, Upon Time". Why is there a comma? Much like the whole episode itself, it's confusing and pointless.

The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) makes the desperate decision to jump into purple clouds which are something to do with Time. There's also a planet called Time and, at one point, someone says there are dark times on Time. But don't worry because Who's on first!

Meaning the charmless Jo Martin returns to remind us of "The Timeless Children" and the charmless world-building Chris Chibnall has done. Fans of Martin can expect chestnuts like her asking Jodie Whittaker what she's doing here and telling the bad guys they'll never get away with their plans.

Once again, the story's fractured and, once again, the new companion, Dan (John Bishop), is no companion in the literal sense of the word because he doesn't accompany the Doctor for very long. Three episodes now, halfway through the season, and the two have still barely been in the same room for over three minutes. So much for the idea that he was going to be a love interest for the Doctor.

The episode also introduces Bel, played by Chinese-born Northern Irish actress Thaddea Graham. So the BBC are checking some boxes there--East Asian and Irish actors have both been scarce in the show's history. It's too bad she falls very flat. She's in a gunfight with Cybermen and she makes happy noises whenever there's an explosion. I think the idea was to make her sort of Errol Flynn-ish but the action is so inauthentic that her delight only serves to further undercut the reality of the scenes.

I will say Jacob Anderson is doing a good job as Vinder. I didn't even realise he was the same guy who played Grey Worm on Game of Thrones until I looked him up just now. Now I'm a little curious to see him play Louis on the Interview with the Vampire series (Oh, yeah, that casting happened).

I also kind of liked the Weeping Angels turning up in Yaz's (Mandip Gill) video game. Next week's Weeping Angel episode is the only one this season in which Chibnall gets a co-writer so maybe it'll actually not be completely terrible.

Doctor Who is available on the BBC's iPlayer.