The following contains spoilers for Doctor Who, Season 2, Episode 1, «The Robot Revolution,» now streaming on BBC iPlayer and Disney+.
Doctor Who Season 2 sees Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor partner up with a new companion, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu). The season premiere, «The Robot Revolution,» introduced Belinda as she was torn from her regular life on Earth by two robots who carried her off to their home planet, having dubbed her their queen. Luckily, the Doctor was on hand to come to Belinda’s rescue, though their first adventure together left the new companion unwilling to join him in the TARDIS. After experiencing a day in the Doctor’s life, Belinda decided the Time Lord was too dangerous to hang around with and asked him to take her home.
Unfortunately, time and space had other plans, leaving the two heading back to Belinda’s home the long way round. «The Robot Revolution» was a strong introduction for Belinda, showcasing her strong-willed personality and Sethu’s masterful performance in bringing the new companion to life. However, long-time Doctor Who fans might have felt the episode was faintly familiar. A medical professional joining the Doctor in the TARDIS after being forcibly removed from Earth was the same storyline that introduced Martha Jones during Russell T Davies’ first era as showrunner.
"The Robot Revolution" Retreads a 2007 Doctor Who Story
Belinda Chandra's Doctor Who Introduction Echoes Martha Jones' First Episode
«The Robot Revolution» introduces Belinda as a nurse on a shift when the Doctor almost tracks her down at the hospital where she works. After returning home that evening, Belinda finds herself face to face with two hulking robots, who break into her house to take her back to their world. The robots’ home planet orbits a star that had been named after Belinda by her ex-boyfriend Alan Budd, leading them to declare Belinda their queen. The robots then lead Belinda out of the house and take her to their world — Missbelindachandra One — in a spaceship they had landed in her garden.
A broadly similar plot featured in Doctor Who‘s Series 3 opener, «Smith and Jones,» in 2007. The episode marked the first appearance of Freema Agyeman as companion Martha Jones, and saw the beginning of her adventures with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. The episode established Martha’s medical career, showing her training to become a doctor, while the Doctor had ended up in the hospital where she was working. The hulking Judoon (a rhino-faced alien police force) then abducted the entire hospital, transporting the building to the moon. Here, the Judoon began their search for a disguised alien murderer.
Both episodes were penned by Russell T Davies, clearly opting to take a similar approach to these similar moments in Doctor Who history. «Smith and Jones» was the first episode to introduce a new companion to the revival series after Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler left. Similarly, Davies’ new era had so far only introduced Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday as a companion, until Belinda made her debut on «The Robot Revolution.» Both Belinda and Martha were medical professionals, who first unknowingly crossed paths with the Doctor in the hospitals where they were working.
Freema Agyeman’s first Doctor Who character, Adeola Oshodi, was revealed to be Martha Jones’ cousin in «Smith and Jones.»
By the end of «The Robot Revolution,» Belinda had decided she didn’t want to travel with the Doctor, while «Smith and Jones» ended with the Doctor only offering Martha a single trip in the TARDIS. This meant neither companion initially intended to remain in the TARDIS in the long term. Martha and Belinda have both brought some important firsts to Doctor Who, too. Martha was the series’ first full-time Black companion (as Mickey Smith only joined the Doctor and Rose temporarily), while Belinda and the Fifteenth Doctor mark the first TARDIS team made up entirely of people of color.
"Smith and Jones" Succeeded Where "The Robot Revolution" Fell Flat
Martha Jones' Entrance Made More of an Impact Than Belinda Chandra's
While there are many similarities between «Smith and Jones» and «The Robot Revolution,» the two episodes were not created equal. The earlier Doctor Who season opener was by far the more successful, both as an episode in general and as an introduction to a companion. «Smith and Jones» delivered a thrill ride that also succeeded in establishing Martha Jones’ world, but «The Robot Revolution» was a rushed affair. Instead, the episode was heavy on exposition with a light-touch approach to Belinda’s everyday life.
«Smith and Jones» showed a dedication to building the dynamic between the Doctor and Martha over the course of their first encounter. «The Robot Revolution,» conversely, was more wrapped up in hitting plot points than building a character relationship. «Smith and Jones» opened with Martha on the phone to her family, introducing viewers to the people surrounding her one at a time. From here, the episode followed Martha through a largely ordinary day at work, peppered with hints of things to come.
There’s so much for «The Robot Revolution» to balance that it ends up telling more than showing.
On her way to the hospital, she passed a Slab (one of the villainous Plasmavore’s remote-controlled servants) and her patients for the day included the Plasmavore herself and the Doctor, who was undercover. These fleeting moments gradually built up to the hospital’s transportation to the moon and the introduction of the Judoon. The Judoon did not appear until about a third of the way into the 45-minute runtime.
By contrast, «The Robot Revolution» sees the robots burst onto the scene within the first five minutes, before the opening titles even roll. In this span of time, the episode has also raced through a flashback to Belinda’s boyfriend naming a star after her, a fleeting look at Belinda’s work life and a glimpse of her at home with her housemates, who get little characterization. Belinda mentions her parents as she is kidnapped, hinting at their importance to her, but they are never seen.
Once Belinda is on the robots’ planet, the episode races from one plot point to the next, navigating a complex story about time travel, a robot uprising and a malevolent AI generator that is actually Belinda’s ex-boyfriend turned into a cyborg. There’s so much for «The Robot Revolution» to balance that it ends up telling more than showing, giving the Doctor and Belinda’s relationship far less attention than the Doctor and Martha got in 2007.
"The Robot Revolution" is a Rocky but Promising Start for Belinda Chandra
Despite the Episode's Weaknesses, Varada Sethu's Belinda Shines
Compared to past companion introductions on Doctor Who, Belinda Chandra’s isn’t the most polished. While «Smith and Jones» takes advantage of a more straightforward plot to shine the spotlight on the Doctor and Martha as they get to know each other, «The Robot Revolution» is more concerned with navigating its narrative twists and turns. Interactions between the Doctor and Belinda end up feeling purely expository. In a strange time-twisting moment towards the end of the episode, the Doctor is thrown along Belinda’s timeline, experiencing her life. This is conveyed via a series of abstract images that, while visually impressive, lend little weight to the Doctor’s subsequent declaration that Belinda is «amazing.»
As with Martha before her, Belinda has found a companion with a heart big enough to match both of the Doctor’s.
While «The Robot Revolution» leaves the Doctor’s admiration for Belinda feeling a little flimsy, the audience will have no trouble declaring her amazing by themselves. As much as the episode struggles to let the new Doctor/companion dynamic flourish, Varada Sethu’s performance as Belinda shines through every scene. As with Martha before her, Belinda has found a companion with a heart big enough to match both of the Doctor’s and with the unerring moral compass the Doctor needs by his side. Belinda then sets herself apart from other modern Doctor Who companions when she asks the Doctor to take her home, declining the opportunity to travel with him. With the TARDIS unable to return to Earth in Belinda’s time, however, her relationship with the Doctor promises to be an all-new roller-coaster ride.
New episodes of Doctor Who are available to stream every Saturday on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ where available.
