Doctor Who: Rebooted Time-Travel Series Gets Fresh, Fun Update

By Chris Knight

Rating: A-

Doctor Who arrives with a bang May 10 on the Disney+ streaming service, which is clearly chuffed to have the iconic British show join its stable of streaming options.

In his first full episode, “The Church on Ruby Road,” 15th Doctor Ncuti Gatwa can be seen dancing in a club, galloping over London rooftops, and singing while rescuing a newborn from the clutches of some baby-hungry goblins.

Clearly a triple threat, then — and all while flirting with Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson, formerly of Coronation Street), who’s soon to become his latest travelling companion.

It’s a jolly introduction, although a little seasonally inappropriate, given that it’s one of Doctor Who’s Christmas specials, and originally aired in Britain last December.

But if you can get past the thought of yuletide in May, you’ll be well on your way to an entire season of the Doctor, arriving in weekly doses on the streaming service.

Disney promises that the eight additional episodes will take the Doctor and Ruby, courtesy of the time-travelling TARDIS, from England’s Regency era — “Oh my Bridgerton,” she enthuses in the trailer — to war-torn future worlds, meeting foes that include a terrifying bogeyman and the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet.

Though as the Doctor notes: “There’s no such thing as monsters; there’s just creatures you haven’t met yet.”

Oh, and if you need more reason to watch, know that episode three, “The Devil’s Chord,” might just as well have been titled “Meet the Beatles.”

The series opener certainly has a light tone, as befits a Christmas episode — with its bright red double-deckers on their way to Notting Hill, befuddled British bobbies keeping order on the streets, and a cheerfully multiracial but still ever-so-British cast, it feels like Paddington Bear could amble by at any moment.

But future episodes such as “Empire of Death” and “Boom” suggest darker times may be ahead for the Doctor and his companion. Take the line from the trailer, over images of a smoking, ruined London: “There are powers beyond the universe so vast, the whole world could slide into the pit.”

Prepare to hide behind the couch at least once this season.

Doctor Who. Starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. Begins streaming May 10 on Disney+ with new episodes debuting weekly.