Doctor Who (2023): Season 1 Review

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about the latest first season of Doctor Who! It's also known as series 14 or season 40, depending on how stubborn you are.

Filming began on 5th Dec 2022, so it took a long while for this to finally reach TVs. In fact, the last full actual season of the show was in 2021. But it's finally out and now I have opinions about the dawn of the third age of Doctor Who.

Though maybe I should hang on until the next season's out. I mean 8 episodes and a Christmas special isn't much to review. This run of episodes flew by so fast that I'm not sure I was able to get a good enough look at them to describe what I saw. Then again, if I wait any longer I'll have forgotten what happened, so I should probably just get on with it.

There will be SPOILERS for this season, the recent specials, and maybe other episodes too.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-08: Empire of Death (Quick Review)

Episode:

883

|

Serial:

311

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Jamie Donoughue

|

Air Date:

22-Jun-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching Doctor Who's latest season one finale, Empire of Death.

It's weird to have reached the end of a season so soon, I'm supposed to get another five episodes! It's been two episodes longer than the Flux season though, I'll give them that. Also, the classic show's first season only had 8 serials, so that's basically the same length... if you don't count the fact that each of those serials had about 6 parts.

There will be SPOILERS below, for a bunch of things. I can't tell you what things exactly as that would be a spoiler, but it'll help if you're up to date with the series.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-07: The Legend of Ruby Sunday (Quick Review)

Episode:

882

|

Serial:

311

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Jamie Donoughue

|

Air Date:

15-Jun-2024

---

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm reviewing The Legend of Ruby Sunday, the first half of the Doctor Who re-revivals' two-part finale!

It's been a long time since we've gotten a penultimate episode written by showrunner Russell T Davies, but I have a pretty good idea what to expect from it. Everything will seem like the most important and dramatic thing to happen in the history of the universe and then it'll end with "TO BE CONTINUED".

But will it be as good as Bad Wolf, Army of Ghosts, The Sound of Drums, The Stolen Earth or The End of Time, Part 1? Honestly I think it's got a shot, as some of those episodes weren't the greatest. Especially on a second watch, when they became nothing but set up for something I'd already seen.

There will be SPOILERS below for the episode, the season so far, and any stories that get referenced.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-06: Rogue (Quick Review)

Episode:

881

|

Serial:

310

|

Writer:

Kate Herron and Briony Redman

|

Director:

Ben Chessell

|

Air Date:

08-Jun-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about the sixth episode of Doctor Who's latest first season, Rogue. I'm hoping it's as good as the sixth episode we got in the 2005 series, Dalek, but that's some tough competition.

History is repeating a bit here, as showrunner Russell T Davies wrote most of both seasons himself, with episodes three and six being exceptions. This was written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman, who are also the writers of the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Sims. I guess that'll turn out to be a lot like Barbie, except with more people drowning in swimming pools and getting sealed up in walls. Lots of tragic cooking accidents.

Herron also worked on season one of Loki, so she's got some proper time travel experience. Though she was the director, not the writer, so watching that hasn't given me any insight at all into how this episode is going to turn out. It was a pretty good series though!

There will be SPOILERS below for Rogue and whatever classic episodes get referenced in it.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-05: Dot and Bubble (Quick Review)

Episode:

880

|

Serial:

309

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Dylan Holmes Williams

|

Air Date:

01-Jun-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've reached the second half of Doctor Who's new season 1, with Dot and Bubble. The title isn't really filling me with optimism to be honest, but that's mostly because it reminds me of Short Treks' Tom and Jerry homage Ephraim and Dot. I really hated Ephraim and Dot.

I'm sure this is going to be something very different though, because Doctor Who episodes are always something different. The show keeps switching genre and tone, rarely giving you the same thing twice. Anyway, Dot and Bubble was written by Russell T Davies, same as the last episode, and it was directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, the same as the last episode. I thought 73 Yards looked fantastic, so I'm expecting some pretty visuals at least.

There will be Doctor Who SPOILERS below, but I won't spoil anything that happens later.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-04: 73 Yards (Quick Review)

Episode:

879

|

Serial:

308

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Dylan Holmes Williams

|

Air Date:

25-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's one of the few episodes of Doctor Who to feature a number in the title. I've no idea what it means though, something to do with sports maybe? It's yards, not metres, so I'm thinking that this is going to be set in the US or the past, but that's all I've got.

I usually try to write all of this intro bit before watching the episode so I can be properly clueless, but I have to jump in from the future to talk about how this is one of the few stories to be missing the opening titles entirely. I can only remember two other regular episodes that do this: Sleep No More and The Woman Who Fell to Earth. So it's a sign that an episode is doing something different... though not a sign that it'll be any good.

Incidentally The Woman Who Fell to Earth was the first episode filmed for the Jodie Whittaker era and this was the first filmed for the Ncuti Gatwa era. It even predates last year's Christmas Special. Gatwa had already made a brief appearance in The Giggle, but this was Millie Gibson's first ever work for Doctor Who.

There will be SPOILERS here for this and earlier episodes. And I mean way earlier, like 1981.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-03: Boom (Quick Review)

Episode:

878

|

Serial:

307

|

Writer:

Steven Moffat

|

Director:

Julie Anne Robinson

|

Air Date:

18-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm sharing my thoughts on Doctor Who episode Boom.

Boom is one of just two episodes this season that wasn't written by current showrunner Russell T Davies. In fact, this is the Steven Moffat story! That doesn't meant that it's going to be good, I've done plenty of bitching about the episodes produced during his time as showrunner, but the potential for greatness is high. Moffat's episodes dominate Doctor Who 'all time top 10' lists. According to IMDb voters, he wrote the highest rated episode in series 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and he came second for series 5. Second, third, fourth and fifth. And sixth.

Personally, I'm interested in seeing how much this episode has in common with the other Ncuti Gatwa episodes so far. Is it going to embrace the new fourth-wall breaking fantasy tone or is it going to be a throwback to the slightly more mature and realistic style of the 2005 run?

There will be SPOILERS below.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-02: The Devil's Chord (Quick Review)

Episode:

877

|

Serial:

306

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Ben Chessell

|

Air Date:

11-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm reviewing another episode of Doctor Who already. They went and aired two of them on the same day and it's not even a two-parter. Now that I've seen Space Babies I'm wondering if a decision was made to pair it with another story to show new viewers that Doctor Who had some range to it and it wasn't always going to be... babies in space.

In fact, I'm not even sure this was originally meant to air so early in the season. The series is filmed in two-episode production blocks, each handled by a different director, and this was shot in the same block as episode 6. Then again, maybe everything is going as planned. After all, Doctor Who hasn't filmed a season in order since 1987. The classic series didn't even end with the last serial produced.

Okay, there will be Doctor Who SPOILERS below, but only as far as this episode. I won't spoil what happens next. I actually have no idea what happens next.

Doctor Who (2023) 1-01: Space Babies (Quick Review)

Episode:

876

|

Serial:

305

|

Writer:

Russell T Davies

|

Director:

Julie Anne Robinson

|

Air Date:

11-May-2024

---

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the first proper episode of Doctor Who's third volume, Space Babies! Like An Unearthly Child and Rose before it, it's the start of a whole new regeneration cycle for the series, so this is a major event here.

Though there were four specials leading up to it, so this is actually showrunner Russell T Davies' fifth episode in a row, and that's... a concern maybe. I mean, it's only a matter of time before even the best writer comes up with a terrible story, and he's churning out scripts right now.

Alright, there are going to be SPOILERS below, but only for this episode and the stories leading up to it. And maybe something from the movie Aliens. Oh, plus the Ray Bradbury story A Sound of Thunder.