I feel like everything but the new doctor sucks. It really doesn't feel like Doctor who the way they present and direct things, Jodie is pretty good though.
My favorite parts were when the Doctor was just prattling on about the tea or later about random stuff at Yaz'z place.
Some thoughts about the season/new Doctor four episodes in:
-Jodie is pretty good, I like her in the role. Her mannerisms remind me of Eccleston in some ways (and he was probably my favourite Doctor).
-Everyone around Jodie (companions, antagonists, other side characters) is unlikeable, dull, and most of them are annoying.
-The plots of these episodes so far feel very... off. This does not feel like Doctor Who, it feels almost like a soft reboot of the show, or an entirely different show altogether. Even the way its filmed is noticeably different from previous seasons.
-Writing is weak. This show has progressively dipped as far as writing quality goes for multiple seasons by this point, but this is the largest and most noticeable dip yet. Everything is extremely straightforward and uninspiring. It's bland and boring.
I think the biggest crime here is actually that it's not quite bad enough for me to say "it's really bad" and get some laughs or entertainment out of the mess that it is. Instead, it manages to just be weak/bad enough to bore me and make me wish I was watching something else. Alas, I will persevere since I have come this far. Feel bad for Jodie, she really has the potential to be part of some great stories/episodes, but it doesn't look like we'll be getting much (if any) of that.
Finally a great episode this season! While the plot itself was a pedestrian Doctor Who mystery box, I am truly appreciating the progressive leaps that this series making - from the Doctor’s disdain for shooting w/ guns, to the digs at corporate greed and Trumpian politics.
Jodie Whitaker fits into this role like a well-worn glove, and I’m enjoying her screen presence!
I’m an avid Letterboxd user and I’ve reviewed Shada and the Paul McGann TV movie on there but had no real interest in recording my thoughts on Doctor Who episodes in general. However, I liked the recent story so much that I wrote my thoughts on it – and realised I couldn’t put them on Letterboxd, hence why I’m here!
Anyway, Arachnids in the UK just struck a chord with me; it’s very funny in places, has great characters and is genuinely quite creepy. I don’t mind spiders at all but the ones in this episode made me wince every time they turned up, and they are so well-realised – and they weren’t even the bad guys, which was kind of neat.
I also found the episode to be very moving in places. The bit near the start where the Doctor is saying goodbye to her friends really made me feel sad. Of course, an invitation to Yaz’s house (and the ensuing adventure) put paid to everyone bidding farewell. Graham’s scenes in his house with the ‘ghost’ of his dead wife were just so poignant; I was really tearful, I don’t mind admitting.
I’ve never seen Sex and the City or The Good Wife – basically, I’ve never seen Chris Noth in anything but I thought he was terrific. He fitted in with this silly little British sci-fi show so well. I’m glad they dealt with the Trump comparisons head-on, by handling them rather wittily – his character might share many of the orange one’s traits but he’s not so much an analogue as a rival; I thought that was rather neat.
Sure, it’s a very simple story, one that is resolved by playing a Stormzy tune at full volume (a great sequence, that) but that’s cool because I just dug everything about this story. Jodie Whittaker is nailing her version of the Doctor, her three friends are just great and the Sheffield locations are really giving the series a new look and feel.
Doctor Who in 2018, then – as good as it’s ever been.
Graham: "Can you believe they're moving towards THAT music".
LOL.
I absolutely adore Yaz, Graham and Ryan. I was iffy on having 3 new companions at once when I first read the news about it, but it's working really well, I'm all for it now.
As a arachnophobe this episode made me cringe and try to not look at the screen lol
Anyway this was a pretty good episode - loved the joke about Americans about how you gotta shoot everything!
I was cringing most of time. Not a big fan of spider.
A mediocre episode. More characters development for the companions, but so little for the Doctor. shame.
Boring episode. Nothing exciting here. So disappointed by the new season I really wanted the new female doctor to work but there is no excitement on her part. I hope this gets better.
The new time vortex looks awesome. And Graham mourning his wife just is one of the saddest things.
This doctor really does not want to be alone.
Am northern, so a love how everyone speaks northern. Sorry. The doctor and the companions are northern!
Old people imagining and talking to their lost loved one is realistic.
Loved Ryan's reaction to the webbed up woman.
It feels surprising but nice being physically attracted to the doctor. Now i know how those fans felt about being attracted to the previous doctors.
I'm not exactly sure about the morality shown at the end. The doctor's morality is shown to be about... Letting the spiders suffocate?, while the bad guy wants to shoot the spiders and give them a quick death, and that's portrayed as bad. How exactly is that worse than the former deaths? It's not. The doctor just disapproves of using a gun specifically. She was disapproving of the intention of the bad guy in wanting to shoot the spiders, but what about our heroes? She wouldn't doubt their intention in using mercy with a gun, but she wouldn't let them.
Other than that, i thought this was a good episode, and i'm surprised at the rating. Yeah like the bad guy was an obvious Trump comparison, but even though he was a caricature, he wasn't evil, he was just a scumbag.
I liked the chillin with Yaz's family and getting to know them a bit. I liked Graham and Ryan getting a bit closer. I liked the spider sequences. I liked some of the investigation about it.
Edit: Lowering my rating after some reflection and reading other comments. It feels like we didn't get a proper ending. Like the doctor should have thought of another way to save the spiders or solve the situation, and there was a lack of resolution with the garbage dump that's under each hotel. There's also the main bad guy not changing enough due to this experience. And more plot contrivances too like all the spiders being lured by music? And there were other spiders in the city. The spiders weren't scary enough, and this is coming from an arachnophobe.
Less creepy and weird than previous seasons. I am not a Trump fan but Doctor Who even takes shots at him now ? I mean I rather watch tv to be entertained. Not have politics and equality always shoved down my throat.
With that said the plots make more sense to me than some in previous seasons. While there’s more American actors in Doctor Who than usual. It almost doesn’t feel British enough anymore.
Still, I am entertained by it. Even if it doesn’t feel 100% like Doctor Who story wise now.
The supporting characters are not still not really very likeable. Yaz, Graham, and Ryan are not very likeable and it seems like they cared more about having a diverse cast than having a cast that fits the show and is entertaining. The doctor is slowly becoming more likeable, but that seems to be the theme this season, everything is at a dragging slow pace and practically nothing interesting happens most of the time. Everything is being put into place very, very slowly. This episode was different from the others though. This time the episode was more story driven, and that helped a lot. They are trying a little too hard to get everyone to like the new cast too early in the season instead of letting them grow naturally.
There wasn’t as much character development in this episode, but that was made up for by being heavily story-driven.
Overall the plot development is slowly improving as the season progresses.
There wasn’t as much character development in this episode, but that was made up for by being heavily story-driven.
6.5/10
I want Who writers to stop writing American characters because they always drag the show down.
Feels just like the good old Russell T. Davies era.
Surprisingly, I actually like The Doctor, and I love what Jodie is doing with her but these episodes are so BORING!! Can we please get back to Who already? Already 4 episodes in and we are just now getting started.. Come on
I really, really don't like spiders, so this was proper scary, but good episode that held my attention to the very end. Oh and I love Thirteen more and more each episode! I hope she meets Ed Sheeran! xD
Review by Aniela KrajewskaVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2018-10-28T21:33:48Z— updated 2018-10-31T08:27:18Z
Well, I didn't plan on sleeping tonight anyway.
I do have to say though, aside from the bathtub-smashing spider traumatizing me for life, I enjoyed this episode very much. I've been reserving my judgement of this season, but after 4 really good - in my opinion, at least - episodes, I can officially say that I already like it more than most of Peter Capaldi's run. I mean, I adored Peter himself, but the writing didn't do him justice most of the time.
I fall more and more in love with Jodie every week. Everything she does is so perfect, from her excited "Tea at Yaz's!", rambling about getting a flat and buying a couch, the whole Ed Sheeran thing, her confused "I don't think so. Are we?" (by the way, I am fully on board the Yaz/Thirteen ship, fight me) to her mourning the dead spider mother (despite my raging arachnophobia, I did tear up during that scene because growing to the point where you can no longer breathe is a horrible fate that no creature deserves). Mandip Gill is definitely a standout among the companions. I really like that Yaz follows the Doctor into danger so unflinchingly, I just hope it doesn't get her killed. And so many people seem to think that Bradley Walsh is a bad actor for some reason, but to me, he nailed the emotional moments in this episode. The fact that he keeps seeing Grace everywhere in their house is such a realistic portrayal of grief and it was done in a lovely way. Tosin Cole is the hyperactive 8-year-old of the group, which I don't really mind. Ryan blasting music through the speakers to get the spiders to the panic room did make me laugh. That's just peak Doctor Who.
I also love that the spiders weren't the villains of the story at all. No, the true enemy was a selfish man and corporate greed, which is so true for so many things in real life that it actually hurts. Keep spilling that tea, Doctor Who.
Team Tardis is officially a thing! The Doctor was so happy, bless her hearts. I can't wait to see what shenanigans these losers get into next.
Overall, this episode maybe wasn't flawless, but that's not really what I expect anyway. If something keeps me entertained, leaves me wanting more and actually gets the intended emotional response from me, I consider it good. During this episode I laughed more than once, I felt excited, I felt sad, I felt angry (seriously, fuck that guy) and I'm already pumped for next week. So as far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished. Now, if all of y'all who are getting this episode below 70% could perhaps stop, that'd be great. This was worlds better than fucking Love and Monsters and you know it.