Doctor Who first-look review — Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord cause mayhem

This is a spoiler-free review

Doctor Who: Space Babies
★★★☆☆

Doctor Who: The Devil’s Chord
★★★★☆

One of the things that makes Doctor Who so special and beloved by its fans is the constant sense of possibility. And there is no bigger fan than the showrunner Russell T Davies, who has often spoken about those moments of longing in his childhood when he would imagine turning a street corner to find that magic blue box waiting to take him to amazing places.

In the opening two episodes of his first full series with his new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, and companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), Davies certainly goes to amazing places with an almost child-like glee — all aided by dollops of cash from its co-producer Disney that can really be seen on screen. The first Tardis trip wheezes to the land of the dinosaurs and a fantastically realised Jurassic-fest that allows for a neat riff on the scientific proverb about time and the flap of a butterfly’s wings. It’s over in a few minutes, almost as if Davies is saying: look we’ve always wanted to do this, we have the cash and there doesn’t even have to be a point.

Given that it’s now also a Disney show, a few pains are taken explaining who the Doctor is, what happened to his home planet Gallifrey and how a Tardis works. Diehard fans may chew on their Tom Baker scarves at this point, but you also sense that this was a fresh Doctor with a fresh slate setting out his stall. And my goodness, Gatwa has boundless charisma.

The best Doctors have that aura of relatability combined with an otherworldly energy. Jodie Whittaker, Gatwa’s predecessor (but one, if we include David Tennant’s brief return) had the unfortunate air of a jolly aunt or babysitter at times. The Doctor is an alien with two hearts and is hundreds of years old (or billions if the Steven Moffat era is to be believed) and Gatwa continues to bring the right blend of weirdness, wit, humour, energy and athleticism to the role, plus a nice whiff of Jon Pertwee-inspired dandyishness.

The first adventure might be a bit too silly for some. Space Babies takes the pair to an abandoned space station manned — or perhaps that should be babied — by people who might need their nappies changing, but speak like adults. No spoilers on why exactly they are there, but it’s less creepy and much cuter than it sounds and there’s a great monster called — yes — the Bogeyman to enjoy (although sadly no Jelly Babies).

There are also some pointed “Russellisms” here too — we get a homily on refugees, one of the babies is told that no one is made “wrong’ and the Doctor says that “monsters … [are] just creatures you haven’t met yet”. At one stage you sense a swipe at real-world funding for social care. Still, it’s not as if we haven’t come to expect these moments and those who get narked at such things can take some comfort that Davies is perhaps less strident than he can be.

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Davies watchers are also used to his bold takes on modern day sexual mores and the presence of the not-unflamboyant American drag queen Jinkx Monsoon in the second episode, The Devil’s Chord, certainly ticks that box. Perhaps even more excitingly, for British fans at least, the Doctor and Millie head back to her choice of destination, London of 1963 and the Beatles.

Only of course it’s a world where the music is strangely leaden thanks, we soon discover, to the nefarious machinations of Monsoon’s deliciously villainous Maestro, who delivers possibly the most imaginative segue into the Who theme tune we have yet seen.

It’s fabulously realised, and Gibson and Gatwa — who unlike his forbears isn’t restricting himself to a single costume — look amazing. The Abbey Road studios are also perfectly recreated, even if John, Paul, George and Ringo look nothing like the real thing. The sound of Who is an important part of the show that is overdue a celebration and it’s one of many perfectly judged imaginative leaps that Davies is clearly keen to take. His new Who has definitely got its mojo back.

The first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who launch on iPlayer at midnight on Saturday 11, then on BBC1 later that day at 6.20pm/7.05pm

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