Doctor Who is back with Ncuti Gatwa’s second season at the helm of the TARDIS. “The Robot Revolution” delivers a much stronger opening episode than last year, introducing us to a new companion with a refreshingly dynamic with the Doctor. It is an opener that balances adventure, character development, and intriguing mystery in a way that bodes well for the season ahead.
SPOILER WARNING — MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
A New Companion Enters the TARDIS (Whether She Likes It or Not)
The episode wastes no time introducing us to Varada Sethu’s Belinda Chandra, an overworked A&E nurse with irritating flatmates who eat her food and can’t even be bothered to get her name right. (“It’s Belinda, not Linda!”)
What makes Belinda instantly fascinating isn’t that she’s dazzled by the Doctor’s charm and the wonders of time and space. She’s having absolutely none of it. After being kidnapped by robots who bizarrely claim she’s their queen because her ex-boyfriend Alan (Jonny Green) named a star after her (specifically “Miss Belinda Chandra”), she has one priority: getting home for her next shift at the hospital.
“I am not your adventure!” she snaps at the Doctor at one point, and it’s brilliant. This is a capable professional who calls him out when he crosses boundaries. When the Doctor scans her with his sonic without permission, she immediately challenges him on consent — something the Time Lord has casually ignored for decades.
It’s refreshing to see a genuinely reluctant companion again. Not since Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) with the Fifth Doctor (and, of course, Donna Noble’s (Catherine Tate) first appearance as the Christmas Bride) have we had someone who so persistently wants to get back to their normal life.  Teagan eventually adjusted to life on the TARDIS until she didn’t and famously left abruptly.
Will Belinda follow a similar trajectory, gradually adjusting to life with the Doctor before eventually reaching her breaking point? Or will she forge a different path? Either way, this dynamic feels wonderfully nostalgic while still being thoroughly modern.
Chemistry That Crackles
What truly elevates “The Robot Revolution” is the electric dynamic between Gatwa and Sethu. The friction between the Doctor and Belinda feels organic and compelling from the moment they meet.
Gatwa continues to grow into the role, showing more confidence and nuance in his portrayal. His Doctor remains energetic and charismatic, but there’s a more polished quality to his performance now. Sethu, meanwhile, makes an immediate impression with Belinda’s no-nonsense attitude and competence, establishing her as an equal partner rather than a sidekick.
Mrs. Flood: This Season’s Susan Twist?
Last season gave us the delightful mystery of Susan Triad (Susan Twist), whose seemingly random cameo appearances in each episode eventually became the crux of the series finale. This time around, it looks like Anita Dobson’s enigmatic Mrs. Flood is stepping into that role — but with potentially darker implications.
Making a brief but significant appearance as Belinda’s nosy neighbour, Mrs. Flood continues her fourth-wall-breaking ways when she witnesses Belinda’s abduction, directly telling the audience to “forget we saw her.” While initially introduced as Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) neighbour in last year’s Christmas special, her subsequent appearances revealed knowledge of the TARDIS and apparent familiarity with the malevolent Sutekh.
Intriguingly, Dobson herself has hinted she was “halfway” to guessing her character’s true identity, and has promised that Mrs. Flood “really flies her colours” in the final episodes of this season. Remember how the last season ended with her cryptic warning that the Doctor’s story would “end in absolute terror”? That puzzle piece seems ready to connect with the mystery of Earth’s apparent destruction we glimpse at the episode’s end.
A Familiar Formula With Some Fresh Twists
Russell T Davies returns to write this opener, and it feels very much in his wheelhouse — killer robots, high-stakes escapes, and quippy dialogue aplenty. There’s a clever bit where the robots suffer from a glitch that prevents them from hearing every ninth word, leading to some nimble wordplay from the Doctor.
The premise starts with a pulpy sci-fi concept — Belinda is taken to a planet called “Missbelindachandra One” populated by the “Missbelindachandrakind” and their robot overlords. The twist midway through reveals that Alan, Belinda’s controlling ex-boyfriend, has become the AI Generator (or “AL” Generator) controlling the robots.
The Disney+ money is definitely on screen, with the robot designs blending modern effects with a classic Who handmade aesthetic that wouldn’t look out of place alongside Daleks or Weeping Angels.
The Link to Season One
Whovians will recognise Sethu from last season’s standout episode, “Boom,” where she played Mundy Flynn. This isn’t just a case of reusing an actor — it’s a deliberate storytelling choice. As the Doctor confirms, a “genetic link” between Belinda and Mundy spans thousands of years, adding an intriguing layer to Belinda’s presence.
Ambitious Themes in a Compact Format
“The Robot Revolution” tackles some weighty social themes – specifically incel culture and coercive control. The revelation that Alan, Belinda’s controlling ex-boyfriend, has essentially built an entire planetary society around his obsession with her is a genuinely disturbing concept. His insistence on calling her “Miss Belinda Chandra” (questioning if she’s married when she objects) and his need to control everything about her life is translated into an entire civilisation of robots programmed to enforce his will.
Belinda dubs it the “planet of incels,” the episode makes its message explicit rather than implicit. (Although, the incel culture appears to be limited to Alan and his robots only.) But unlike last season’s “Dot & Bubble,” which had time to develop its anti-racism message with nuance, or Netflix’s recent “Adolescence” series, which dedicates entire episodes to exploring toxic masculinity, “The Robot Revolution” simply doesn’t have the breathing room to develop these themes fully.
Doctor Who has always been “woke” in the best sense – using sci-fi allegory to comment on real-world issues – but effective messaging requires time to land properly. Without the breathing space, complex themes get condensed to the point where they become more explicit statements than developed commentaries. Here, the message about coercive control feels more like a label applied to the villain than an organic exploration of a serious issue. We’re told Alan is a controlling misogynist rather than shown the full impact of his behaviour. The rushed pacing left little room for thoughtful exploration that Doctor Who can and does deliver.
The Wrong-Way TARDIS: A Return to Classic Who
Ever since the 2005 revival, we’ve grown accustomed to a remarkably reliable TARDIS. Gone are the days when the First Doctor couldn’t get Ian and Barbara home for two seasons. Until now.
The “Wrong-Way TARDIS” predicament harkens back to the classic era’s delicious navigation uncertainty. After Belinda makes it abundantly clear she wants to go home to May 24th, 2025, the Doctor’s trusty time machine suddenly develops a very specific navigation problem — it physically cannot reach that date. Each attempt results in the TARDIS bouncing off that timeline like it’s hitting an invisible barrier.
What makes this particularly intriguing is that it’s not a case of the Doctor’s dodgy piloting skills or general TARDIS unreliability — it’s a targeted, specific timeline lockout. The Doctor’s promise to “take the long way round” takes on an ominous tone when the episode’s final shots reveal what appears to be Earth in ruins floating through space — the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, and other landmarks drifting amid debris, with a calendar marked May 24th.
This setup not only creates tension between our reluctant companion and the Doctor but restores some of the unpredictability that made classic Who so thrilling. When the TARDIS becomes a wildcard rather than a reliable taxi service, the Doctor and companion are truly at the mercy of the universe again. It’s a brilliant way to revive that sense of genuine adventure — where neither the Doctor nor the companion knows exactly where or when they’ll end up next.
Verdict
“The Robot Revolution” makes for a stronger season opener than last year’s “Space Babies,” anchored by a compelling new companion and the fresh dynamic she brings. It does what a good series opener should- it excites you for what’s to come.
At a time when rumours about the show’s future are swirling (with speculation about whether Disney+ will renew its distribution deal with the BBC), it’s worth remembering what makes Doctor Who special: its ability to contain multitudes — “the serious and the silly, the sublime and the ridiculous.” If this opener is anything to go by, we’re in for another wild ride through time and space — even if Belinda Chandra would rather be anywhere else.
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A shocking state of affairs.