Jodie Whittaker’s second episode as the Doctor saw her taking a trip to outer-space with her new gang for the first time - and it finally got the series rolling.
While the first episode was a huge success, it served more as an introduction to the new characters rather than a vehicle to set up a narrative for Jodie’s time as the Doctor - and we learned a lot.
The second episode of the series got back to what everyone loves about ‘Doctor Who’: a group of strangers getting up to wild adventures through time and space. Here’s what we learned from episode 2..
1. The “Timeless Child” is probably a big deal
New executive producer Matt Strevens initially promised fans that the new series would be 10 stand-alone episodes with no narrative arc, but this episode proved that this wasn’t the case.
As the team were trying to get across the mysterious planet ‘Desolation’, they come up against evil telepathic bandages (yes, you read that right), known as the Remnants.
While circling the group, they focus in on the Doctor after identifying she was the most powerful of the lot.
They said to her: “We see deeper though, further back, the timeless child.”
But what is the “Timeless Child”? Throughout the modern reincarnation of ‘Doctor Who’ we’ve seen “Bad Wolf”, “The Impossible Girl”, and “The Hybrid” as regular mysteries that have persisted through multiple seasons, so could this be the latest?
Judging by how the Doctor reacted to what the Remnants said, it’d be surprising if we didn’t hear more about it in the future.
2. The Stenza are shaping up to be the new big baddies
Even though we were promised there would be no continuation between the episodes, there was a link from the villains of episodes one and two.
While running across Desolation, the Doctor asked where the population had disappeared to, only to later discover the planet had been purged by the Stenza.
But if you can remember the villain from the first episode, the grotesque Tim Shaw who terrorised Sheffield and planted the teeth of his victims in his face, he was a member the gruesome Stenza.
Director Chris Chibnall said at Comic-Con International in San Diego earlier this year that there would be no old villains in this series of ‘Doctor Who’, so no Cybermen or Daleks, so we’d put money on the new showrunners lining up the Stenza to be the next big villain.
3. The Doctor hasn’t changed
Even though there’s a new Doctor, and all of the producers and writers have changed, the character hasn’t.
Throughout the episode we saw characteristics that have always defined the doctor: a complete rejection of guns and violence in general, the disregard for anyone who claims to be powerful, and the encouragement she shows for the downtrodden.
The Doctor is also as chaotic as ever, just about balancing the line between having a plan and being in control of the situation and simply making it up as she goes a long and hoping for the best.
4. Bradley Walsh looks fabulous in women’s shades
What. A. Vision.
5. The Tardis is still the coolest spaceship ever
Similar to how the Doctor regenerates, the Tardis is able to as well, and this series’ incarnation of the world’s most famous police box - complete with cascading hexagons - was possibly the grandest yet.
And the cherry on top - of the biscuit in this case - sees the Doctor exploring the ship and discovering a button that delivered the nation’s favourite cream-filled biscuit on demand.