Push the Button!

Story: Space Babies
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 45 Minutes
Year: 2024

The new season of Doctor Who is here, and I was so excited I waited several days to actually watch the opening episode.  Honestly, I don't know how I missed the premiere date, but I didn't know when it was coming out, I was just not paying a lot of attention.  I have sort of slowed down on watching ads I suppose, but I also rarely get onto Disney+. I have it, but it is mostly for my kids to watch Disney movies...or Bluey.  Anyhow, I only discovered that the new season was coming out on Friday because I hopped onto Disney+ purely to watch the newly remastered Beatles documentary "Let It Be," because I am a massive Beatles fan and have only seen that documentary in my low quality bootleg DVD.  Anyhow, when I got on there it said the new season would premiere that night at 7pm.  But I had plans with friends, so it would have to wait...the next night I watched a movie with my wife, and the following day was Mother's Day, so really I just was booked up. 

But I had a minute, and I finally put on the opening episode. It is okay.Picking up right were the Christmas special left off, The Doctor takes Ruby on her first trip in the TARDIS. After a brief goof in the age of dinosaurs where Ruby steps on a butterfly, turns into a different being and then the Doctor revives the butterfly to put her back to normal, they end up on a space station filled with the titular Space Babies, and have to fight off a boogie man, who is literally made of boogers. It's silly, and mildly fun.

I am feeling surprisingly lukewarm to this new RTD era.  I enjoyed the specials, but I dunno if anything blew me away.  I want to be into Ncuti, but while he is filled with enthusiasm and seems like a fresh new take on the Doctor, I feel like the writing is merely standard Doctor Who.  I like standard Doctor Who, like maybe just getting the old gang back together again behind the scenes is holding this new Doctor back a bit.  There is no fresh new voice behind the scenes really. And there won't be for weeks to come. The first two episodes (which dropped at the same time) are written by Davies.  The third episode will be the return of RTD's showrunning successor Steven Moffat, and then it is Davies penning 4 out of the next 5 stories, with only one episode giving new writers an opportunity on the show. 

I am hopeful it will all come together.  I want  to believe in the second coming of RTD. His first era is my favorite era of the show.  This is still the early days of this new era.

NEXT TIME:  The Fab Four