Latest news with #TheRobotRevolution
Metro
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Doctor Who fans convinced they've cracked show's biggest mystery
Doctor Who fans think they might have cracked one of the biggest mysteries of Ncuti Gatwa's run as the Time Lord so far. Gatwa's second season of the BBC sci-fi classic has seen Mrs Flood, played by EastEnders alum Anita Dobson, pop up all over the shop with each new episode, much like Susan Twist's character, Susan Triad. Dobson's character made her debut in the Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road, as Ruby Sunday's fairly nosey gilet-clad neighbour, who was prone to some very sinister breaking of the fourth wall. The show has yet to unpack the mystery box to reveal who exactly she is, with all signs pointing to Mrs Flood having some bearing on the season's overarching villain. But fans now think they might have cracked Russell T Davies' storytelling scheme and, in classic Davies fashion, it involves an anagram. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Sharing their theory on X, @WhovianLife pointed to the moment Belinda (Varada Sethu) quibbled over her title in The Robot Revolution as a potentially crucial one. They wrote: 'So Alan made a big deal of insisting about Belinda being a Miss because she's not married. Bc if she was married, she'd be a Mrs. And who do we know that is a Mrs? 'We've been thinking about who Mrs Flood is. But maybe her husband's important. Who's she married to??' @CallumGreen5 then commented with their own smoking gun clue to back up the theory, writing 'Oh my god' alongside a screengrab which said 'misterflood' is an anagram of 'Lords of Time'. The theory was also shared on Reddit, where @spacey_a commented: 'This is exactly the kind of wordplay with anagrams that RTD absolutely LOVES to do. I'm accepting this theory as headcanon until the show proves otherwise.' Others thought this could mean Mrs Flood is an incarnation of River Song, the Doctor's wife, with @WorldWatcher69 posting on Reddit: 'I still think it has something to do with the Ponds. River, Pond, Flood?' Metro's Senior TV Reporter Rebecca Cook gives the lowdown on the mysterious character… Much like the Doctor himself, River Song is a storied character with a long and winding history. We first met her during David Tennant's tenure, when she appeared as an echo, but we didn't yet know who exactly she would turn out to be… She reappeared alongside Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor, initially as his platonic companion, before love bloomed and the pair married. Born Melody Pond, we later learned she was the child of the Doctor's previous companions Amy and Rory. Given that she was conceived aboard the good ship Tardis while in a time vortex, Melody/River has some timey-wimey powers. River was last seen during Peter Capaldi's tenure, when she was played by Alex Kingston, and they spent a very, very long (24 years) night together. The show went on to cast younger actors to play River and fill in her backstory, so there's every possibility she could be an older incarnation now in Mrs Flood. The theory would make sense of Mrs Flood's familiarity with the Tardis and references to the Doctor's family and children. Yet, some have questioned whether it would make sense for Mrs Flood to be the Doctor's wife, given that she seems to have grim intentions. @jtuck044 wrote: 'Yeah, but she seems to be acting against the Doctor, or setting up people to act against him, which is not River.' Other fans were less than thrilled about the theory, if it turns out to be correct, after an underwhelming anagram explanation was used at the end of last season to reveal Sutekh. More Trending @Hughman77 wrote: 'Alan's character is basically a very unsubtle point about the intersection of geek culture with misogyny (he's a space nerd, a gamer, a sci-fi fan, etc). The line about Belinda being Miss because she isn't married is the first hint that he's a sexist. 'So for that line to actually be a lore thing to tip us off that 'Missus' Flood must by definition be married (to the Time Lords, I guess???)… would be so unspeakably, unhingedly stupid and awful that the show would deserve cancellation. You thought we were making a point about misogyny in sci-fan fandom? Hahahaha you idiots it was just a mystery box!' We'll have to wait until the finale to see who exactly is right. View More » Doctor Who airs on BBC One and iPlayer every Saturday. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: BBC star brilliantly fires back after being told skirt is 'too short for 44-year-old' MORE: Doctor Who and Peppa Pig star leaves family jaw-dropping fortune in will MORE: Eurovision fans 'declare their winner' after country becomes dark horse of competition
Business Mayor
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine – season two episode five recap
Set in Lagos, The Story and the Engine attempted to weave elements of western African folklore with wider myths and legends, alongside the mythology of Doctor Who itself. Like a lot of recent episodes, it was eager to play with the idea that the viewer is aware they are watching a story. At the Q&A after the London premiere of The Robot Revolution, Ncuti Gatwa said that this was the episode he was most looking forward to people watching this year, and he seemed to have had an absolute hoot on set. He clearly relished showing his Doctor feeling alive and accepted within a Black African community on Earth, but as events unfolded, he also got to flex flashes of anger alongside all the joy. The wild oscillation between camaraderie and fear in the barber shop allowed Ariyon Bakare (the Barber) and Sule Rimi (Omo Esosa) to shine in their roles, with each of them getting to enjoy significant character beats against Gatwa. Omo's apparent betrayal of his Time Lord friend and the sudden outpouring of laughter after the Barber's big 'reveal' of his identity were highlights. Michelle Asante as Abena was scene-stealingly good, as a mostly silent but clearly powerful presence, who appeared to know exactly what was going on, and to be enjoying the Doctor's discomfort. Scene-stealing … Michelle Asante as Abena in The Story and the Engine. Photograph: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/Dan Fearon Writer Inua Ellams has tackled the Black male haircut experience before, in his 2017 play Barber Shop Chronicles, and has described his Doctor Who episode as a call to artists to 'always give credit where it's due'. But in an episode so dominated by the stories of men, it was actually Belinda (Varada Sethu) who deserved the credit for pushing the resolution on. Her simple phrase – 'hurt people hurt people' – was the spur for Abena to abandon her bitter desire for revenge, and set up the Doctor's escape, using a method once employed by enslaved African people. Sum it up in one sentence? What if Doctor Who did Desmond's, but on the back of a giant spider? Life aboard the Tardis Varada Sethu in Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine. Photograph: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon At first Belinda seemed content to let the Doctor roam free and enjoy feeling at home in Nigeria while she kept the Tardis ticking over. Those crashing red alarms soon drew her into action, though, with the Time Lord's big blue box proving to be rather more helpful to this companion than it was during those episodes such as The Rings of Akhaten and Hide where she had clearly taken a dislike to Clara. Fear factor Maybe fear isn't quite the right word, but at times the dialogue inside Omo's Palace crackled with menace. It was also another rare episode where everybody lived – as long as you don't count the giant spider. Mysteries and questions It was lovely to see Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor make a brief appearance, making it the first multi-doctor story to feature the two Black people to have held the role in person, even if it did raise some baffling questions about how the 15th Doctor appeared to remember an off-screen adventure involving Abena that had happened to Martin's 'forgotten' incarnation. Deeper into the vortex Returning face … Ariyon Bakare (left) as the Barber in The Story and the Engine. Photograph: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon Doctor Who has seldom visited Africa on television, though the show filmed on the continent for Spyfall and Praxeus, partly set on Madagascar, during Jodie Whittaker's tenure. William Hartnell's Doctor spent one episode of 1965 story The Chase being pursued by Daleks, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster inside a haunted house that was later revealed to be at the Festival of Ghana in the year 1996. As well as a brief appearance during the market sequence by writer Ellams, the other notable cameo was the ghost girl who appeared to Belinda. That was Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, once again playing Poppy, who we last saw when she was captaining the crew on Baby Station Beta during 2024's season opener Space Babies. Bakare's Barber was also a returning face, with the actor having played Leandro, Maisie Williams's ill-fated lionlike sidekick in 2015's The Woman Who Lived. The show's opening sequence appearing as a fourth wall break within the barber shop echoed when Maestro began playing the theme tune on their piano at the start of The Devil's Chord last year. Doctor Who has previously used animated storytelling clips. The origins of Zellin and Rakaya were explained via animation during Can You Hear Me? in 2020. The six-word story the Doctor was alluding to – 'For sale, baby shoes, never worn' – is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, but it seems unlikely he was actually its author. The Doctor has watched the Marvel superhero movies, meaning they exist in the Whoniverse. We now have a canonical in-universe explanation of where Unit got the design for their Avengers-style tower in London. Ellams has written a prequel story, detailing how Omo first met the Doctor. Next time Rylan! Graham Norton! The Eurovision song contest … but in space! On the night of the Eurovision song contest! Provided the FA Cup final doesn't selfishly overrun and crash through the BBC One evening schedule like a wrecking ball! See you then!
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Doctor Who fans deliver verdict on new companion Belinda
Doctor Who introduced Varada Sethu's companion Belinda Chandra to the world this weekend. In the first episode of the returning sci-fi adventure series (titled 'The Robot Revolution'), which aired on Saturday 12, April, fans witnessed nurse Belinda being abducted by enormous cyborgs and taken back to their star, which happened to be the one an ex-boyfriend bought for her as a romantic gesture. Here was where she bumped into Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor, but how did Whovians take to newcomer Belinda? As Belinda's wittiness and strength of character flourished on screen, one BBC viewer wrote on social media site X: "Varada Sethu is a fantastic addition to the series. Her Belinda is a great character and creates a much needed new dynamic with the Doctor. If the setting keeps up she may become one of my favourite companions!!!!" "I fear this has been the best opener in about 10 years. 10s across the board Belinda is amazing," echoed somebody else. A third tweet read: "Robot Revolution was such a good episode full of fun and lots of heart. Made me almost burst into tears during Belinda's speech. I love her so much already, I can't wait for next week! Solid series opener! 8/10." Read more: 'Doctor Who struggles to hit its stride with serviceable season 2 opener' What we know about Doctor Who's future at the BBC Jo Martin is 'always talking' about Doctor Who return with Russell T Davies The praise continued long into the show's hashtag... Varada Sethu could have a breakthrough playing Belinda because that episode proved she was FANTASTIC #DoctorWho — Daniel (@d_loughins) April 12, 2025 Already loving Belinda #DoctorWho — Daniels mummy ❤🌺 (@NikkiABoleyn) April 12, 2025 That was legit one of the best episodes of #DoctorWho I've seen! The cinematography, lighting, set design all !! 💋Varada Sethu as Belinda was phenomenal! And is already tearing up to be one of my favorite companions!I love how she doesn't take BS from the doctor!! — D.T. (@ioooggifs) April 12, 2025 I really enjoyed that bodes for Belinda, I've warmed to her very already fixing to be the best companion in quite a while.#DoctorWho — Noreen (@Norz76) April 12, 2025 BELINDA CHANDRA I LOVE YOU #DoctorWho — cam/cj 🍉 (@_larspinfield) April 12, 2025 At the time of her casting, the actress shared in a statement: "I feel like the luckiest person in the world. It is such an honour to be a part of the Whoniverse, and I'm so grateful to the whole Doctor Who family — because that is what they are — for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel so at home. "I couldn't ask for a better team than Ncuti and Millie [Gibson] to be on this adventure with, this is so much fun!" Showrunner Russell T Davies also shared: "I first worked with Varada on a BBC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it's a joy to welcome her on board the TARDIS!" Doctor Who airs Saturdays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The Independent
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Doctor Who defies the naysayers and returns in triumph
Is the Tardis a ticking TV time bomb just one bad news cycle away from outright cancellation? Such are the rumours pinging around the cosmos – and the ongoing speculation that the BBC is considering pulling the plug on Doctor Who unless ratings improve has understandably cast a shadow over the show as it returns for its latest season. Still, there is no need for embattled Whovians to get their sonic screwdrivers in a twist quite yet. Any suspicion that the venerable franchise is on its last legs is immediately exorcised by this fun and freewheeling series opener. 'The Robot Revolution' is another impressive outing for the charming Ncuti Gatwa, his 15th Doctor having settled into his stride as a mash-up of David Tennant's dashing eccentric and Jodie Whittaker's more grounded Time Lord. He also brings his own touches by giving the Doctor a faint yet discernible anxiousness. Gatwa's Doctor wants, above all, to be liked. When, for instance, new companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) objects to his good-natured bossiness ('I am not one of your adventures!'), the sting of rejection knocks him back. It's great acting from Gatwa, whose Doctor is both charismatic and vulnerable. A whiff of deja vu hangs over the action, which kicks off with yet another companion's origin tale, as Sethu inherits the baton from Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday (who is confirmed as featuring in two of the year's eight episodes). Belinda is a hard-working London nurse who finds her already busy week interrupted by alien robots stomping through her front door. The anxious androids are looking for a messiah – and she fits the bill. The invaders are from a star system named after Belinda, which, according to their logic, means she is destined to be their queen. Off she must go to save them from certain doom. Precisely why a seemingly random nurse would be crowned Regent of the Robots is hinted at in the cold open, where we see Belinda's old boyfriend give her one of those gimmicky certificates confirming a star has been named after her. It turns out the robots are right about one thing: Belinda is both a down-to-earth NHS employee and an interstellar object. Back in the present, she is whisked off to their home world, which has the beautiful retro vibes of a mid-20th-century science-fiction paperback cover. The Doctor is here, too, having disguised himself as a flunky of the machines – revealed to be dastardly droids eager to marry Belinda off to a villainous AI, who looks like a cross between Darth Vader and a Second World War gas mask. It's fun, pacy Whovian derring-do, even if showrunner Russell T Davies ruins the mood slightly by killing off a rebel with whom the Doctor has become close. We've only just met her, so we don't feel the Doctor's grief, and anyway, the instalment is such a hoot, do we really need the extra angst? The story culminates in a twist involving the evil AI and an 'incel' type from Belinda's past. The bombshell is expertly delivered – though you wonder if Davies isn't insulting half his audience by putting a negative slant on the cliche of the bedroom-bound geek obsessed with video games. They comprise a surely not-insignificant segment of the Doctor fanbase. Nerds everywhere could, moreover, be forgiven for feeling slightly fed up being told that, simply because they're shy and spotty, it follows that they will be weird around women – a stereotype likewise given airtime in the latest series of Black Mirror. Still, aside from doing wrong by nerds across the universe, 'The Robot Revolution' is a blast. The plot is easy to understand – a novelty following the convolutions of Chris Chibnall's years in charge of the show. Davies also lays the groundwork for an ongoing mystery around Belinda and her potentially extraplanar origins by confirming that she is the ancestor of the space trooper Mundy Flynn, whom we met in the 2024 instalment 'Boom' (and also played by Sethu). Questions remain over the show's future and its relationship with Disney+ (it turns out time-hopping British quirkiness doesn't necessarily travel well). But, for now, what a huge comfort to know the Doctor is back battling weird aliens and having frisky fun with the laws of time and space. Could a hardcore Whovian ask for anything else?
The Guardian
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution review – the new companion is spot on
A star named after you! In the real world, it's something your well-meaning but wacky friend gives you when they're stuck for a birthday gift. There's a lovely, warm moment between you as you both pretend they haven't just spent £40 on a piece of A4 with an obviously legally unenforceable promise laser-printed on it. But … what if? What if those certificates were real? What if the star has evolved into a civilised planet? What if you are its rightful ruler? Under the aegis of veteran TV hitmaker Russell T Davies, Doctor Who is good at finding the sort of simple fantasies that will make its younger viewers' eyes widen. As it begins season 41 (season 15 if you restart the clock with the BBC's 2005 revival; season two if you consider it to be a different show after Disney's buy-in last year), the name on the star is Belinda Chandra, a Brit who was once given a present by a soon-forgotten teen boyfriend. Sixteen years later, robots with laser guns crash through the patio doors of her house, proclaiming her to be their queen before bundling her into a rocket. In pursuit is intergalactic nomad the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), who has sensed that Belinda's real destiny is to be his companion on the impossible spaceship he calls the Tardis, roaming time and space. While less confident writers might balk at throwing Doctor Who's considerable budget at such a silly bedtime story of an idea, Davies is happy, usually, to stay true to the show's roots as entertainment for all ages. So the season premiere, entitled The Robot Revolution, sets off in a pleasantly light mode, which is just as well because there are some chewier tasks to work through. The series showrunner is doomed to reside in a time-looped world where a science-fiction series keeps recasting the sidekick. Meanwhile, the writer is forced to, eternally, create exposition-filled season openers where the hero explains an unwieldy backstory – which can't be scrapped, because it has decades of valuable intellectual property behind it – to their new pal. It is a problem that Davies gets more adept at solving each time, and it's done with some elegance in The Robot Revolution The series heralds the debut of Varada Sethu as the new Tardis passenger. Belinda is a nurse, which gives her a phlegmatic response to chaos: 'There's always a doctor standing back while all the nurses do the hard work,' she says, as her mentor stands silently strategising in the middle of a bustling trauma ward. A neat imaginative flourish involving alien X-ray technology deals with the Doctor having two hearts, and as for his lack of a human-style name, Belinda's profession gives her an answer for that as well: 'The Doctor? All right then, I'm called the Nurse!' Like several previous lead performers, Sethu has already appeared in the show as a different character, and this piece of IMDb trivia is turned into an intriguing plot device. Sethu is just right for Belinda's no-nonsense approach to unfamiliar experiences, underscored with an instinctive compassion for strangers. Her chemistry with the ever-engaging Gatwa looks good. So we're ready to fly again, but there remains the issue of making the comeback work as an episode on its own terms. By the time you've outlined the basics of time travel ('Timey-wimey?' scoffs Belinda when the Doctor uses his favourite term for temporal anomalies. 'Am I six?'), explored the quirks of the Doctor's biology and marvelled at the surprising interior square footage of the Tardis, there isn't much timey-wimey left for a coherent story-wory. The Robot Revolution survives for a while, before exploding messily in the final few minutes. We're used to episodes ending with a flurry of just-go-with-it contrivances, but this is a particularly screechy handbrake turn of a denouement, with the narrative's twist playing on information that we've only just been given, so we don't have any expectations to upend. There's also the issue of Davies's desire to insert political commentary into the show wherever possible. His politics are generally admirable and his message here – which suggests he climbed into a time machine during the writing process and foresaw the hype around Adolescence – is as righteous as ever. But the lesson is delivered in a way that recalls the words of comedian Matthew Holness's spoof of a bad author, Garth Marenghi: 'I know writers who use subtext, and they're all cowards!' Sethu is obliged to announce the point Davies is making, because the action hasn't had a chance to do it organically. What began as delightful whimsy ends on a confusing downer. It will all be forgotten next time of course, when Belinda and the Doctor land in Miami in 1952. But Gatwa and Sethu's partnership is off to a bumpy start. Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution aired on BBC One and is available on iPlayer
