‘Doctor Who’ does ‘Black Mirror’ in ‘Dot and Bubble’

“Dot and Bubble” may perhaps count as one particular of the greatest fake-outs in Medical professional Who history. Just when you consider you know what it really is about — a Black Mirror parody in which the wealthy-kid colonists of planet Finetime are so obsessed with their augmented reality social media spheres that they never notice they are actually getting eaten by giant slugs — “Dot and Bubble” throws a curveball.

Turns out Finetime’s all-white inhabitants are so prejudiced toward the Medical professional (Ncuti Gatwa), they point-blank refuse his offer you of a TARDIS rescue and sail off to their doom.

Several fans anticipated the show would contain a depressingly most likely incident of racism toward the 1st Medical professional of colour in its storyline — but it seemed extra most likely to arrive in an episode set in Earth’s previous, like the Regency-era “Rogue” coming up subsequent week. Injecting racism into a futuristic setting is a stark reminder: Enlightened attitudes are under no circumstances a offered.

Nonetheless, this is far from the 1st time Medical professional Who went there exactly where TARDIS travel and racism are concerned. Let’s unpack that, along with all the other references and Easter eggs in “Dot and Bubble.” Beginning with the apparent:

“Dot and Bubble” appears a lot like “Nosedive.”

Showrunner and writer Russell T Davies has described “Dot and Bubble” as “in all probability [Doctor Who’s] clearest step into Black Mirror territory.” And it really is clear which Black Mirror episode he’s referring to: “Nosedive.” The pastel colors of Finetime’s inhabitants, designed by costume designer Pam Downe, consciously echo the appear of the 2016 Season three opener.

“Nosedive” follows Lacey (Bryce Dallas Howard) by way of a future in which everybody prices their interactions with each and every other on a scale of 1 to five. Lacey, initially obsessed by her social score and blind to simple humanity, ultimately breaks out of her state of simpering worry and learns to be genuine.

That is the arc we’re led to count on for Lindy Pepper-Bean (Callie Cooke) in “Dot and Bubble”: Immediately after all, she actually learns to stroll on her personal without the need of her intermediated Bubble knowledge.

Nonetheless, the all-white cast of extras, plus the reality that Lindy would actually rather contact the police than speak to a Black man (the Medical professional), ought to clue us in to a distinctive Black Mirror homage — considering that the planet of “Nosedive” did seem to be racially diverse. The Netflix show has tackled racism in episodes such as “Black Museum” and “Demon 79.”

“Medical professional Who” has talked about race and time travel just before.

Predictably, Gatwa’s casting as the Fifteenth Medical professional led to a racist backlash on the web, one particular that the star batted aside: “I consider they will need to go come across a hobby,” he told Graham Norton. The show he’s helming has not shied away from the challenge, with the difficulties of racism by way of history getting explored by means of the Doctor’s companions.

The 1st companion of colour, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), faced down mildly racist rhetoric from the bard himself in “The Shakespeare Code” (2007), then had to deal with the jokes and attitudes of 1913 Britain in “Human Nature” (2007) though the Medical professional (David Tennant) remains hidden inside an oblivious human version of himself.

The Peter Capaldi Medical professional was extra conscious of the dilemma in “Thin Ice” (2014) when he took Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) to the Thames Frost Fair of 1814. Bill, who’d just pointed to her “melanin” in the context of a Britain that had not outlawed slavery but, notes that the inhabitants of Regency London are “a bit extra Black than they show in the films.”

“So was Jesus,” replies the Medical professional. “History’s a whitewash.”

Later (in the video above), Capaldi encounters a white aristocrat who calls Bill “creature” and “girl” and barks at her to rise “in the presence of your betters” — then lands what has to count as the most satisfying punch in Medical professional Who history.

But Gatwa’s aggravation, and his heartbreaking plea to the Finetime inhabitants — contact me what ever names you want, just let me save you — certainly counts as one particular of the show’s most devastating moments ever.

“Dot and Bubble” tends to make equivalent references to “73 Yards.”

In the preceding episode, “73 Yards,” we noted a connection to a further Russell T Davies Medical professional Who story about a future fascist Britain, “Turn Left.” Is it a coincidence, then, that the 1st movement instruction we see in Lindy Pepper-Bean’s Bubble tells her to turn left?

Similarly, the name of one particular of Lindy’s pals, Vivienne Nook, echoes a name applied by Davies in “Years and Years”: Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson) was the name of the fascist prime minister. And in “The Sound of Drums,” also referenced in “73 Yards,” an investigative journalist referred to as Vivien Rook uncovers the evil schemes of Prime Minister Harold Saxon, aka The Master (John Simm).

Coincidence once again? Is there such a point in a show that is clearly constructing up to one thing with many appearances by Susan Twist, who plays Lindy’s mother right here? Could Davies be doubling down on references to unstable autocrats for a purpose?

That Dot appears familiar to “Red Dwarf” fans.

The device building that AR bubble of screens about Finetime inhabitants … nicely, let’s say it appears absolutely nothing like the Apple Vision Pro, a headset with its personal Black Mirror vibes.

The dot is a tiny antigravity device that seems to hover in thin air till a user commands “dot down, bubble off” — and can also be lethal at higher speed (RIP Ricky September).

We have not noticed such a device in Medical professional Who just before — but we have in the BBC sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf (1988-2020). It really is referred to as a “light bee,” and it really is applied to build a hologram of deceased crewmember Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) — a character virtually as annoyingly egotistical as Lindy Pepper-Bean.

The light bee’s glitches formed the basis of lots of Red Dwarf storylines (as in the above video), even though at least it under no circumstances attempted to lead Rimmer into the gaping maw of a giant slug.

How to watch: New episodes of Medical professional Who drop each and every Friday evening at 7 p.m. ET on Disney+, exactly where out there, and simultaneously at midnight on BBC iPlayer in the UK. The two-component season finale airs June 22, and will also be screened in UK theaters.