Spoilers The Robot Revolution grade and discussion thread

[cultcross]

I feel like we've had the "it's bigger on the inside" bit a lot now. Is there any new way of doing it?

Personal favorite - Clara's "it's smaller on the outside"

 

[jaime]

It's possible the episode was edited down a bit from a longer first cut, because some things did move a bit too quickly, but as for the incel reveal and jokey tone -- maybe that's not a bug, it's a feature. Alan was a creep who wouldn't listen and wouldn't learn and jumped at the chance to be a more powerful horrible person, so when he died, well, he was an asshole, who cares. Not the most Who-ish approach, so I'm probably reading more into it than is there. But the Doctor has never had a bottomless pool of compassion.

Problem being, depending on the age of characters, he’s possibly meant to be a teenage boy. (It’s ten years prior to Belinda’s abduction after all) Basically, many teenagers do grow out of being bellends, and he’s been abducted and plugged into a machine. (For context, Belinda if the age of the actress, is 32. Putting him at 22 possibly when abducted, but it’s all hazy as heck because of that flashback stuff. Though it does also make Belinda quite old by modern Who companion standards.) This is a dude who questions if he has the right to end the Daleks (‘you can’t doubt it!) but when confronted by Al, allegedly asking for help according to shots and dialogue, who is only in this situation because of other events in the episode (including the Doctors own failures) then it’s sperm egg and hoover time.
This isn’t ’no second chances, that’s what kind of a man I am’ business. This is… weirdly done business. Spiders suffocating mark 2. Kerblam the second.

 

[jaime]

I feel like we've had the "it's bigger on the inside" bit a lot now. Is there any new way of doing it?

Personal favorite - Clara's "it's smaller on the outside"

‘Blooming heck — it’s like an estate agents camera told the truth in here!’ Would be my off the cuff nomination.

 

[EnderAKH]

RIVER: Oh, before you come in, you'd better prepare yourself for a shock. It's not as snug as it looks.
(She goes back inside.)
DOCTOR: Finally.
RAMONE: Finally?
DOCTOR: It's my go.

[Enters Tardis]

DOCTOR: Oh. My, God! Oh, it's bigger!
RIVER: Well, yes.
DOCTOR: On the inside,
RIVER: We need to concentrate.
DOCTOR: Than it is
RIVER: I know where you're going with this, but I need you to calm down.
DOCTOR: On the outside!
RIVER: You've certainly grasped the essentials.
DOCTOR: My entire understanding of physical space has been transformed! Three-dimensional Euclidean geometry has been torn up, thrown in the air and snogged to death! My grasp of the universal constants of physical reality has been changed forever.
(River has gone down the stairs.)
DOCTOR: Sorry. I've always wanted to see that done properly.

 

[diankra]

I imagine I'm not the first person to notice this but Belinda isn't just Tegan, but she's also Clara, for better or for worse. Hopefully she's more than just the surface level of those two characters. I am curious about the time fracture and how it relates to Belinda, but I'm also wary of mystery box companions. I long for the days when companions were just...companions. For all of the belly aching about Chibnall, surely fans can agree that's one thing he did absolutely right.

I like Belinda as a person and I love how she isn't immediately swept away by The Doctor's charm and calls him out on his shit. Much like Tegan, again, but this time entirely for the better!

As for the main story, it was a silly adventure with a silly reveal. I did love the "Polish, polish, polish!" robot reminded me of M-O from WALL-E. Outside from the Belinda revelations, that robot was the highlight of episode.


Yup, I noticed that, too. I just figured I missed it coming up before. I hope it's just a case of poor editing and not another cosmic mystery, but I suspect it's the latter.


You already sold me with just Nicola Walker (in addition to her terrific run as Liv Chenka, I also love Last Tango in Halifax...co-starring Derek Jacobi!) but then you throw in Paul McGann? I definitely need to check it out!

The Tv series Annika is based on a Radio 4 series, Annika Stranded, that she's been doing for decades.

 

[diankra]

Belinda is basically the Anti-Martha. Instead of a doctor who can't get enough of the Doctor, she's a nurse who isn't putting up with any of his bullshit.

Pending future information, my assumption for the person who gave the Doctor Belinda's name is the Doctor himself, from the future. He DID say he had to be careful about timelines.

I genuinely couldn't care any less about the Mrs Flood stuff. Hopefully that changes at some point, since she appears to be the Big Bad.

I enjoyed Belinda, but this one didn't really work for me. Lots of ideas that never really went anywhere.

Reportedly the Big Bad is 'the unholy trinity'. A trinity of malicious gods are mentioned in The legend of Ruby Sunday, but can't recall what they are... maybe not even mentioned amid the talk of Trickster, Toymaker, Maestro and Mara.

 

[Mr Awe]

It's possible the episode was edited down a bit from a longer first cut, because some things did move a bit too quickly,

I wondered about that too. However, it's streaming, so the length shouldn't be a concern.

 

[jaime]

I wondered about that too. However, it's streaming, so the length shouldn't be a concern.

It’s not just streaming. It’s Saturday evening in its home market.

 

[Mr Awe]

It’s not just streaming. It’s Saturday evening in its home market.

Ah good point. I always forget that!

 

[JD]

As for the main story, it was a silly adventure with a silly reveal. I did love the "Polish, polish, polish!" robot reminded me of M-O from WALL-E. Outside from the Belinda revelations, that robot was the highlight of episode.

Yeah, a small part of me is a little disappointed Scoot didn't come along with them. I'm assuming the TARDIS floors could probably use a good "polish polish", and with the Doctor's skills maybe they could have even expanded up vocabulary and he could have become like a new K-9.

Behind the scenes video

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I'm shocked the robots were people in suits, I had assumed they were CGI or animatronics. There was actually a lot of that with this, I really struggle these days to what is and isn't CGI.

 

[Commander Troi]

I loved the look of the robots and liked Belinda right away. I loved how she immediately started triage when confronted with the rebels' wounded. A fun and enjoyable season opener. A bit annoyed about the cat, but I have Issues. I also liked the Doctor crying for someone he's known for 6 months, even if she was new to us.

 

[diankra]

Problem being, depending on the age of characters, he’s possibly meant to be a teenage boy. (It’s ten years prior to Belinda’s abduction after all) Basically, many teenagers do grow out of being bellends, and he’s been abducted and plugged into a machine. (For context, Belinda if the age of the actress, is 32. Putting him at 22 possibly when abducted, but it’s all hazy as heck because of that flashback stuff. Though it does also make Belinda quite old by modern Who companion standards.) This is a dude who questions if he has the right to end the Daleks (‘you can’t doubt it!) but when confronted by Al, allegedly asking for help according to shots and dialogue, who is only in this situation because of other events in the episode (including the Doctors own failures) then it’s sperm egg and hoover time.
This isn’t ’no second chances, that’s what kind of a man I am’ business. This is… weirdly done business. Spiders suffocating mark 2. Kerblam the second.

They're old enough for marriage to be an option. So at least 16, 17 years ago.

 

[The Wormhole]

Sethu herself is 32. Assuming Belinda is the same age then 17 years ago she'd be 15. The guy who played Alan is actually younger than Sethu by four years, though I get the impression from the teenage scenes Belinda and Alan are meant to be either the same age, or only a year or who apart, with Alan maybe the older one.

 

[Tuskin38]

dude was apparently one of those before they were really much of a thing

People like that have existed for ages

 

[Pindar]

After a shit weekend of running around hospitals and homes looking after elderly parents this was a welcome break from a terrible weekend.

I like the new companion, still love the doctor and agree with the others that say it was too short.

The aesthetics were great, but the Al overlord was too reminiscent of the Cybermey.

Is the the Cybermannosphere a thing?

I liked it but didn't like the guy with the arms.

Looking forward to next week.

 

[Chakoteya]

Yeah, a small part of me is a little disappointed Scoot didn't come along with them. I'm assuming the TARDIS floors could probably use a good "polish polish", and with the Doctor's skills maybe they could have even expanded up vocabulary and he could have become like a new K-9.
<snip>

And upset the Tardis, who does her own cleaning? Now there's a very dangerous thing, an unhappy Tardis sulking about the Doctor bringing in a home help...

 

[Samurai8472]

As for the main story, it was a silly adventure with a silly reveal. I did love the "Polish, polish, polish!" robot reminded me of M-O from WALL-E. Outside from the Belinda revelations, that robot was the highlight of episode.

I was disappointed when we didn't get a Gadget action figure when the character options line had a heart beat

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[jaime]

People like that have existed for ages

Completely. But they used specific terms (and Alan’s possibly-teen dialogue may as well have been generated by an AI, so boilerplate to the relatively modern version of the stereotype it is) and it just landed… badly. Lazily.

And that whole socially awkward, telling people what to do by their own ideology? Getting their own way and not being above using power, subtle coercion, or lies to get their way?
Well, sometimes that’s what the Doctor does. Which is why in this story, they needed to either make sure we knew why Alan was irredeemable (you know, more unredeemable than Davros or the Master…) and give that bit of commentary the weight it needed, or drop it, because it adds basically nothing of worth to the episode as is. And opens all sorts of cans of worms if thought about *as shown* for more than thirty seconds. The story sort of lies in places for the reveal to work as they seem to intend, or, if we’re being kind and hopeful, maybe the timeline changed during the episode.

 

[Tuskin38]

and Alan’s possibly-teen dialogue may as well have been generated by an AI

No

 

[Orac]

It was ok, not as good as Space Babies.

Spoiler

Space Babies

The Robot Revolution