I was a bit confused why the system examined the Doctor and tried to send her to maintenance at the time. And then afterwards I realised that the system sent her there because that was where the threat was. Clever foreshadowing.
The System was supposed to be the victim and what Charlie was doing was supposed to be super wrong. So the System then kills an innocent girl without a single hint of regret. It could easily fake her death to still get it's point across but nope..SHE DEAD. And the Doctor ignores that. She treats Charlie like the monster, yet Kira's death and cold disposal by the system represents the sheer evil that the system can do. The stupidest thing is that the system sends a "Help me" message to the Doctor, the system kidnaps kira and sets her up to kill her, the system sends a robot to attack Charlie. Why couldn't the system just send the doctor the message: "I'm Kerblams system and a guy named Charlie is going to use me to murder thousands of innocent people."
That was a cool little moment. Instead of a throwaway namedrop like Einstein's wedding, we get a reference of something us fans have actually witnessed, and can feel smug about getting. And I like feeling smug about getting stuff. :D
Initially it bugged me that a delivery guy could just materialise inside the TARDIS. But then I figured, eh, the TARDIS probably knew it was safe and let it through - and it wouldn't be the first time the TARDIS has ensured that a cry for help reached the Doctor...
The only nitpick problem I have with it is that they are in the Time Vortex when the Karblam! Man delivers the fez, they teleport not time travel. I feel they should have landed somewhere in that century and then he finds them.
@@iamtheecho very good point... I never realised that, I just finished watching all of new who over the past 4 weeks, so my brain is numb to all those sorts of things haha
I think the fez thing would have worked a little better if this had been the third episode, right after she gets the Tardis, still a great episode, Jodie’s best one yet imo
I'd like to add too, that Graham and Charlie talk about Keira, but Charlie says 'I've never spoken about this before' And Lee Mack's character says the system/robots are always listening... thats how it suddenly knows - so Graham you accidently killed her
I did pick up on that and it's a great bit in a great script. Here's another one: When they were first assigned their jobs at Kerblam the Doctor swapped with Graham and he ended up with Charlie. If she hadn't swapped she would have been put with Charlie, the very person she needed to be with.
I really enjoyed this, especially as Ryan's Dyspraxia was evident. As someone who has Dyspraxia and has never really seen it on TV, let alone Doctor Who that I've watched my whole life and loved my whole life. I realised when I watching Arachnids in The UK that I'd never been able to relate to anyone like that before. And the way Ryan runs, all flappy and uncoordinated, is exactly how I run. The was that he doesn't pick up things as easily as Yaz is the way I am when learning something new. When he says the line "I can do it, it just takes me a bit longer." I felt thst. I related. And I've never had that before. Ryan is a character to I've been waiting for my while life. Kids with Dyspraxia now have Ryan Sinclair, and I'm so happy that they do, because for the first fourteen years of my life, I was looking for a Ryan. And he's there now and I'm so incredibly elated that he is.
People who constantly see themselves represented don't understand the value of good representation like this. This comment is so heartwarming, have a nice day :)
For me I liked him mentioning it when he was packing the boxes but hes was wasting time when he talked about it again when they jumped into the package chute, he must have been rambling for like 1 minute straight whilest kira was in danger. I was expecting charlie to push past him and jump down since he was wasting so much time
I think what makes these robots so unsettling compared to the emojibots or handbots is they are much closer to the uncanny valley. I wouldnt say they are in the valley since they are clearly machines and in the right light can look friendly. But change the lights and ooh! Uncanny valley.
I preferred the Smilers, as they had a more subtle and prolonged change from happy to deadly, and their angry face was so unsettling. Saying that, I do think Kerblam man came closer to looking more human, and closer to uncanny valley as you said.
In this episode we actually saw Yaz act as a policewoman; you know when she held down Charlie towards the end of the episode. That felt super nice, that the writer for this episode used the characteristics provided to him about the characters and used it, Ryan too with his dyspraxia! I felt it was only shown in the first and second episode and then they sort of forgot about it. I am a bit iffy about Charlie being the villain because can you imagine the Kerblam robots being added to the villains? I'd love it! Their song is perfect and so are their looks. Also when Charlie started monologing it just felt like 'oh it's a millenial coming to ruin the day'. Atleast that's how it felt towards me so that was the least enjoyful part of the episode, as well as Doctor's constant change towards how to finish off her villains; suffocating the spiders, killing Charlie, for now I feel she still needs to be worked on when it comes to her beliefs. Best episode so far for sure but still has slight issues. Still, made me actually feel like I'm watching Dr. Who again so I'm not complaining. :) Also the acting from the side characters was spot on, actually made me feel for them. Hope this is how the next season intend to go towards!
This is the only episode that has felt like Doctor Who this series. I hope this is the direction the show is heading in from here on out. I still didn't think it was a great episode, but it was pretty good.
... Doctor Who doesn't have any one 'feeling'. Criticise the series for acting, characterisation, Monsters, whatever. But the whole point is that Doctor is never ever the same. There's no one way it should feel, so saying the episodes didn't feel like doctor who doesn't mean anything.
@@alexinabox6931 I think what most people mean when they say that, is that series 11 so far has been noticably different from all previous seasons of NuWho. It's been the biggest shift in tone, visual presentation, characterization, story plots, etc. since 2005. Because the previous 13 years have been relatively consistent, and shifts have been smooth in terms of those aspects mentioned before, they created a baseline of expectations what a Doctor Who episode should be or "feel" like. I think most people take this baseline as a reference for their observation that episodes feel different. And you're right, stating that an episode feels different isn't helpful or constructive criticism, because it's highly subjective and unspecific. But it's still valid for anyone to express those feelings if you have them.
I also really liked this episode. In particular, I'm really glad this series is running with the idea that the "big bad" doesn't have to be a big scary alien monster, or the Master again. It's refreshing!
I do like that. It's been a theme of Chibnall's for a while - think back to "Cold Blood", "42" or "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship". I think it's good to balance out a lot of the other Who episodes in which have all been about villainous aliens. But I hope he doesn't keep the balance tipped too far the other way. I think there has literally been *one* episode this season where the threatening alien was actually the threat. That becomes predictable too.
It seems some fans are enjoying the series less for exactly that reason, and while I get the appeal of the Doctor going up against unique looking malicious creatures on the regular, it comes off really shallow to me that people are starting to dock points from an episode just cause “there hasn’t been a cool alien baddie in a while.”
Did anyone else realise the bad guy actually won? At the end the company goes to a majority human workforce. Lesson to take away threaten people with bombs and get your own way.
"Lesson to take away threaten people with bombs and get your own way." That is an incredibly simplistic reading of the ending, and is unfair to the story. And I think you know that. Was Charlie's goal something intrinsically bad? He just wanted people to have more jobs. That's kinda it. In a world where it's heavily implied that humanity (via Kira and Dan) don't have livelihoods and even a sense of purpose, it's not a *bad* thing to want more humans working. Judy was shown to be actively doing the same. He was only wrong in that he went to extremes and was willing to blow people up. Circumstances pushed Charlie into that path of extremes, and the ending has the company trying to change those circumstances so as no one else would be pushed to such extremes. Now, tell me. Is that really a bad kind of conclusion to end the story on?
@@eirei0789 oh I know that. But you are making excuses for murder and attempted mass murder. We don't know what life is like for the rest of planet. He still achieved his goals. But that is the fault of sloppy writing. A better end would of not to neatly fix all the ills.
This was pretty good and best of the season. It was the first time for doctor who where I was rooting for the villain. Despite dying, he won. He made a change in society.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode. From the setup and the cast I fully expected a complete groaner, but nobody outstayed their welcome and they actually did something really neat with the premise. Add in a couple of fun callbacks to the show's history, and you've got a rollicking good time! Let's just hope the rest of the season holds up...
AT LAST! AN EPISODE I ENJOYED THOROUGHLY! It's not great that it took this far to get to something I can say was good. It's not a classic. It feels like a good RTS era episode, with a nice dose of satire, some light-hearted camp, actually creepy designs and AWFUL green screen effects. It's like 2006 again and I like it! Still, too little too late! This season is quite a disappointment but this episode felt good.
I think Kerblam! should've gone a little bit further in having the Doctor explicitly address the problems this society is facing, because of how relevant they are right now. As we approach a full-automation society ("Why have people doing these jobs, anyway?"), we're going to have more people than we have jobs for them. Human legislation can only go so far, because then people will be doing jobs like, well, robots. The humans at Kerblam! are essentially treated like robots, constantly being pressed to be more efficient, and generally dehumanized. The solution, in an automated society, HAS to be a system of economics/governance that doesn't force people to work in order to survive. Some may call that lazy, but when there's not enough work for the population, this is the only humane option.
I do find it weird that the society isn't just working towards 0% human employment. If automated systems generate enough wealth for everyone to live in luxury, what need is there for any human being to work?
Because that would require a fundamental restructuring of how humans are provided for. At present, we're expected to provide for ourselves, therefore we must work. 100% automation only functions if there is no longer an income requirement. And no, that's me making a call for socialism, it's just logistically the only way this works out.
@Council Of Geeks exactly. It’s really not in the Doctor’s purview to tear down potentially inconvenient capitalism when no one’s life is at stake anymore.
@@ThePonderer I don't think the Doctor has to, I just think the episode should've had a slightly harsher/more explicit stance on post-work automation. She doesn't have to do anything, but a 10-esque speech wouldn't have been misplaced, imo.
I've been watching new who since I was little, since then I have had this dream of hearing that wheezing noise then looking out my window and seeing that blue box, then running down the stairs opening the door and seeing them standing there toying with the controls, The Doctor. Since I've had that dream I've viewed every doctor as would I want this Doctor to be the doctor baby me met and in this episode it made me feel like yeah, I'd want to see her.
The Doctor is all over the place in this series. She gets mad at the guy for kicking the alien off the crane, then is ok with the racist being blasted back into the past, then gets mad at the guy for shooting the giant spider instead of letting it suffocate, then in this episode "These are the remnants of the workers. Whoa! Robots!" And she talked about having robot friends and not liking the guys being "robophobic" and then she blows up a room full of robots for no other reason than it was the easiest way to get rid of the bubble wrap. And she does this fully knowing that the terrorist guy was standing in the middle of them. So it's ok for the Doctor to kill people but not for others. They haven't even tried to make her consistent in caring about life in general.
Eh, let's be honest; 11 was such a scatterbrain, he probably completely forgot he ordered it and left that timezone, which is why it didn't get delivered until the Doctor CAME BACK to the timezone. 😆
I didn't...I thought they were cheap and lazy....and obvious...really...the fez was fine but it literally could've been anything else (why not a recorder....or a theater cape, or marroon yarn and knitting needles, or a cricket ball, or a cat pin, or new Panama hat (or brown jacket) or a pair of new shoes that fit...perfectly). As to the alcove she could've made a comment about hiding in a priest hole in a Victorian gothic folly once, complete with looking to her companions who are utterly befuddled and have her saying 'I know I said it was nonsense at the time, too!'.
Series 11 Episode Writing Formula - - Step 1: The Doctor and the gang find themselves in a location/time-period with a mystery - Step 2: We get introduced to a happy character - Step 3: Somebody dies - Step 4: The “obvious” villain is identified - Step 5: The Doctor uses her wacky Sherlock detective skills and pointy-armed Sonic Screwdriver pose whilst the gang split up and find out information before re-grouping with what they think are the bad guy’s motives - Step 6: We have a bit of screen time with one of the TARDIS gang interacting with the “real” villain - Step 7: The happy character gets killed-off to prove how bad the threat is - Step 8: The “real” villain is revealed and the previous “obvious” villain is revealed to be innocent with good intentions - Step 9: The Doctor tries to help the “real” villain see the best in the Universe before they end up disappearing or dying by their own hand
I loved it. People have been pointing out that Ryan popped the bubble wrap at the start of the episode, saying it should have exploded. But if I remember right weapons don't work in the TARDIS right? Also the package was apparently ordered by Matt Smith so probably before the killer BW was put in (although with time travel I guess you can never be sure) Regardless, best episode of the season. I think Jodie Whittaker is getting a better grasp on her doctor and I'm really living the kind of excitement and just optimistic energy she brings to everything
According to old Who the inside of the TARDIS is in a constant 'state of grace' which means weapons should not work ... but it seems that depends on the writer, LOL :) And yeah, depending on your thoughts either the fez was ordered by Matt Smith, so before the weaponisation if the bubble wrap or it was sent by the system directly to the Doctor to ask for help in which case .... well, it's better not to over think these kinds of episodes, lol;)
Also remember that Charlie was holding back all the weaponised packages to send them out in a single massive strike. All the packages that had already been sent from Kablam were fine.
@@ChristyAbbey I remember the Cybermen shooting up the control room in Earthshock and Nyssa asking the Doctor in the next episode why the Temporal Grace system hadn't worked to which he responds 'nobodies perfect'. I don't think they ever right out state it's broken, but it obviously is, lol. I believe a later Doctor comments that he still needs to look at fixing that circuit. I wonder if any of the new writers even know of it's existence though :)
@@Pantherblack I love graham too... But imagine if its a nice version of the master, like how missy "became good" and then was killed, I doubt that'd be the end of the master for good.
Well, he was an evil clown in Sarah Jane Adventures. but he played a cop against 5th Doctor and Martha (sorry, Bradley Walsh fan here, saw every ep of Law and Order UK).
This story felt very reminiscent to “The Robots of Death” where we’re lead to believe that the sandminer robots (who act in a similar manner to the Kerblam robots) are killing the crew when it was some man all along, manipulating the situation.
@@irrevenant3 But there's retreading and then there's stealing the entire idea and just giving it a new paint job, lol. The thing for me at least is that bad robots have been done to death in Who, both classic and new versions, so trying to hook the audience by fooling them into thinking the robots in this episode are the bad guys just made me bored and the twist at the end where it's a human doing it, hacking the robots for his own gain, wasn't enough of a pay off to make it worth the trip. Especially when you consider that the bad guy, although dead, get's what he wanted all along so in fact wins. Eccleston, Tennant and Smith and even Capaldi didn't seem to have to retread old stories to make their seasons a success .... well, the first three didn't, poor Capaldi got left holding the bag in his final season :(
@@ukmediawarrior Fair enough. To each their own. I enjoyed it. Yeah, I noticed that Charlie ultimately achieved his goal too. Which is fine - it wasn't a bad goal, he just went to extremes to try and achieve it. (This is an example of a Hegelian dialectic. If you're a fan of The Legend of Korra, there's a cool TH-cam video called "What writers should learn from the Legend of Korra" that talks about it).
They already did something of a homage to it with “Voyage of the Damned”, plus Big Finish have been continuing the classic series since 1999 and have avoided treading on their own toes while keeping stories remarkably fresh. I agree that this series has just been lacklustre, there’s a spark missing that I hope they’ll eventually find again.
The part where all of the robots say "Kerblam" and the. simultaneously blow up was hilarious A lot of Doctor Who episodes have the issue of being amazing in the first two acts and anticlimactic in the third act, but this episode pulled it off. Seriously amazing.
I *really* liked this one! I know there are people who disagree with the politics of it, but I think it helps to immediately accept that this isn’t an episode about tearing down capitalism so much as it is about making a capitalist system function better. It strikes a great balance between NOT demonizing technology while also not letting corporations off the hook for the mistake of removing the human element from the workplace. I don’t know if I prefer this one to Punjab, Rosa or Tsuranaga (yes I’ll still defend Tsuranga to my grave) but MAN is it a close race. If this quality keeps up Series 11 is shaping up to be one of my favorites.
Max Scardanelli agree to disagree. I’ve recently rewatched series 1-2 for a series of videos and they’ve not aged nearly as well as you might think they do, as full packages at least.
binaryDiv if you conflate being exploited with having to work, period. People are getting paid to provide goods and services in a decent-enough working environment under executives who at the VERY least we know care about human decent so they themselves can maintain a livelihood. That’s about as functional as late late late late stage capitalism can hope to get.
Two major mistakes you overlooked: 10% of employment by one company doesn't mean 10% of population employment. There are other companies, and it appears that the only humans on the planet were the ones working at the factory. That logic was wrong. This could be passed off as Charlie's mistake but it came across as a writing mistake. The Doctor also didn't need to explode the bubble wrap and kill Charlie. She deliberately had the robots pop the bubblewrap knowing it would kill someone. There was no urgency on the bubblewrap since it wasn't timed. The bubblewrap could have been transported into space. She also destroyed robots needlessly. And how would they get an explosive into bubblewrap when some of the bubbles would get cut in the sizing?
writerpatrick Charlie literally said that 90% of the population not being able to work was his motivation if you rewatch the confrontation scene. It does seem like the writers mixed up those numbers not the council of geeks
Should have saved Lee Mack. Nobody *saw* him die and their was no body. Who's to say the Tardis didn't swoop him up just before? It's not meddling if it's predeterminsm! (Would love Lee Mack as a future companion, as long as they let him adlib some humour)
I liked the episode, though I had a major issue about a couple of things. Firstly the terrorist basically got what he wanted in the end. That kind of gives off the idea that terrorism can actually work to affect change and I don’t like it one bit. Also the answer to jobs being lost to automation isn’t to stop the automation. The answer is, especially in an extremely high tech society like this one, is to make sure people can survive without needing to work jobs like this. I never thought Doctor Who would advocate Luddism but that’s basically what’s going on here.
Kerblam! isn't the best Doctor Who episode I ever seen but it's a enjoyable episode and it feels like it could have eaily come from the RTD era. Kerblam! feels like Doctor Who to me, whereas Rosa and Demons of the Punjab felt like historical dramas to me (I like those episodes btw). However I think its slightly over praised because most of series 11 have been meh as I genuinely feel that Kerblam! in any other series of Doctor Who would have been seen as filler. I still liked Kerblam! and I would rate it 7/10
I loved it too... Til the last 5 minutes. I really felt the last two deaths didn't need to happen. The girl went out in a really cruel and callous way by the supposedly good system. You're level of annoyance may vary for good reason, but I feel they didn't justify why the system couldn't have say, asked the girl to tell Charlie not to commit the heinous crime. Furthermore, I don't think they foreshadowed Charlie's true nature enough; it comes right the hell out of nowhere IMHO. I would have made the reveal been that there was a slight bug in the system that escalated quickly because of the lack of sufficient human oversight. Even still, why did the Doctor activate the bombs? She could have simply told all the robots to deliver to themselves but not open the packages. Instead, it seems like a forced reason for Charlie to die at the end. They could've had it that after they stopped the mass delivery Charlie tried to kill everyone in a suicide attack but only killed himself in the process. The way they did it, the Doctor unnecessary set of bombs that killed a man, and as I've commented before, this Doctor has been very keen on not using violent methods of problem solving. This is one thing that is driving me up the wall with this version. She never kills anyone, except when she does, but then it's not her fault, except it is her fault, but no way are they going to acknowledge this on screen. The show has been beating over the head with the Batman esque "No killing" rule, but when she breaks it they are suddenly silent about it. Simply put, if she tries to go off on someone for murder and claims in any way she doesn't kill, I'm not buying it, especially because it was so damn avoidable. IMHO, a really great episode soured by a really annoying ending.
I want someone to just send him bubble wrap in the po box haha. I thought this was Better then the other episodes and one I will probably be watching rewatching!
I enjoyed this more than most this series, but still got a lot of issues- when they get paired off with their co-workers its just 10 mins of cutting between them until they exposition the backstory for everyone and plot set ups- its all so clunky still in those moments. 13 is still coming across as the village idiot regeneration, she still cant work out the new TARDIS systems after what must be months of flying her now, and the scripts are even resorting to having to come up with excuses for why she is missing the blindingly obvious- 'conspiracies are hard to keep track of.' And yet again she points the finger of blame at the wrong people and misses the actual villain. Taken all together the accumulative effect is the impression she isn't that bright for the Doctor. The morality is a mess again- the corporation is good? Getting autonomy from government control for a private enterprise is good? What about the crap working conditions? The fact they get paid so little the guy can only afford to go home economy shuttle once a year to see his family, and the rather serious matter that the System murdered someone to make a point? Why was the Doctor fine with that at the end and all Kerblam is great? No matter the reason, it still murdered an innocent girl just to make a point- a point that wasn't made anyway as it didn't effect his plan or dissuade him at all. And lastly why does 13 keep needlessly killing things? She gives a robots have rights too style comment to Ryan at the start, then she unnecessarily blows all the robopostman up. Why did she order them do that?! Once they had teleported back there was no threat, the bombs weren't on a timer, they could have put the packages down, walked away and then the bombs could have been denoted or made safe- there is no need to murder all those roboposties or the bad guy, who could have been arrested- especially not when she was speaking up for robot rights at the start. And they are going to change to majority human workers as a result, so the message is terrorism, or the threat of terrorism works?- what's the morality here?
Lots of legit points. re: the TARDIS systems, I'm assuming that's less about the Doctor's competence and more about the TARDIS's wilfulness. It goes through phases of just taking the Doctor wherever it thinks she needs to go and it seems to semi be in one of those now.
irrevenant3- I certainly do not disagree about the TARDIS doing its own thing time to time, but neither 10 nor 11 post regen (and 11 similarly had an all new layout to deal with) had any problems instantly knowing what controls did what- the most likely reason for this is the telepathic circuits, TARDIS pilots are telepathically linked to their ship, the Doctor stole his and wasn't trained to fly one though, but he seems to have got the hang of it over the years- its fine for Chibnal to want to go back to a more 1st Doctor feel of the Doctor not been totally in control of the TARDIS, but they need a better reason for it (just break the navigation circuit again!) than she is a bit slow learning the new systems- as it does not do her any favours in comparison to her recent predecessors, especially not on top of her having been slow on the uptake or missing the obvious (like last week where she managed to examine a dead body, take sonic reading of it, and not notice he had been shot at point blank range with a rifle!) on more than one occasion this series.
River taught the Doctor how to fly the TARDIS. That was made implicit years ago, and I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on it. But the new design, and the fact that the TARDIS sometimes just goes where it's needed instead of where the Doctor wants to go (that was spelled out *explicitly*).
personally, my favourite moment in this episode was the musical que's, or to be specific, the kerblam leitmotif, especially when we look upon the 'army' or kerblam men and we still have this major sounding melody and motif but it's got a millitary, threatening vibe to it that combined with the amazing cinematography honestly made me believe that these would be the 'new daleks' so to speak and I would have been so excited if they were but alas we can't get everything we want, over all awesome episode, can't wait till next week.
I adore Jodies performance when she gets the package. You can see her getting excited for the tagline, like "Let me hear it" and then her joy, after it's said. I rewound that beginning part several times to enjoy that
I think the beautiful part of the episode was the system knew the Doctor could help and called out to her specifically and it knew it was her to save the day. That just sealed the deal that Thirteen is still the same person and feels a duty to those in need
I loved this episode, and I had the same feeling of "did I enjoy this more than Demons of Punjab? I think I did" that you described. So good, it's relevant to us today and it's something we haven't really seen before. Just an all-round great episode. Loved it.
A system doesn't want to kill people because it would damage the company. Then the same system kills a girl because terrorist loves her and he should understand the pain of losing someone. (doctor said that) When Ryan and Yaz on the platform with the terrorist, he didn't want to kill them or bail them and went there with them. What a cheesy plot twist. After all of that Human Resources Woman told us they should improve %10 worker capacity. So... terrorist succeed? I love doctor who series but this is a damaged season already. Lazy writing, bad lessons and indigested endings are causes all of that. (I hope I could explain myself with my bad English)
@@galarstar052 I used to think there was a morale story in this series but now I think they don't know what are moral and ethic concepts are. We live in a multicultural world and we are learning what is bad or what is good then we shape our world trough our believes and knowledge. But this season has so much beliefs and political correctness which is I think that's why screenwriters and directors are having a hard time setting up its editing and stable storyteliing. Remember that Matt Smith's doctor in the flesh people episode made a hard critisicm about xenophobia and its meaninglessness. But again that episode has good editing and screenwriting. I think they want to tell us a story which is politically and ethically correct and I'm okay with that but they don't have ability or potential to do that.
I didn't like that the terrorist got what he wanted. It really confused what they were trying to say. His actions means that the human workforce goes from 10% to +51%. Also, the "system" called for help, then the Doctor blows up millions of the delivery men and risked catastrophically damaging the entire warehouse by detonating them on the foundation level. Good episode, but they really screwed up the message.
My big question as to the lack of jobs is what actually happens outside of the factory? People must be surviving somehow. They’re clearly poor but what do they actually do to live? In theory automation in real life would have to be tied to universal basic income.
Can't be bothered explaining why lmao but this episode was great. This is what I wanted from Series 11. This is the first proper adventure-style episode and I wish there were more in that fun tone.
I enjoyed this episode. It reminded me of "The Sun Makers" with the Fourth Doctor and Leela. I was particularly impressed that both in this story and in "The Demons of Punjab," the androids and robots were not evil machines bent on killing human beings. That was most refreshing.
I'll be a buzz kill... The sonic is over used again I mean they made a point Charlie had the codes to the displays and when they needed somethin Gram knew where to get it instead of the millisecond it took Charlie to open the first case the doctor had to use the sonic for me its just that she has to scan everything or use the sonic when her hands would do just fine idk why it bugs me so much.
I don't think she uses the sonic anymore than Smith did. I thought it was a nice touch that she wasn't able to disable the robot with the sonic and it had to be manually disabled. Ditto that she couldn't just sonic her way into the system. Honestly, I think they balanced that aspect pretty well this episode.
The sonic screwdriver has turned into a magic wand that can do anything, and I hate that. It's just a lazy writer's tool. Originally, it was only good for opening doors and frying circuits: a handy but very limited tool.
I agree Matt Smith over used it and they even called him out on it in the 50th anniversary with the war doctor telling him and 10 they were being ridiculous.
@@jonathan.palfrey True, but lets be honest: That's been the case for pretty much the entirety of Nu Who. It was even the case in a lot of classic adventures, which is why the writers destroyed it during the Fifth Doctor's run. The Seventh brought it back. You can love it or hate how OP the screwdriver is, but by this point it's a staple.
Finally getting a good look at the TARDIS intereror wish it wasn't always so dark it honestly makes the space feel cluttered but it looks good the pillers remind me of fingers, like there in the palm of the ship.
I really loved the foreshadowing when the doctor told Graham to get a map because no one ever suspects the janitor and then it turned out to be the janitor, that was really smart writing and something i could've seen coming. The only issue i had with this episode was the weird way the scenes on the conveyer belt were shot and i didn't get why Charlie suddenly fell off for no reason, that looked so fake but i guess maybe that had to do with a limited budget because the rest of the episode and series looked visually stunning so it might not really be something to complain about. i really liked how there were no clear enemies as well, everyone had believable motives. And yes i loved Jodie as well!! How she delivered that speech and immediatly asked her companions if she looked cool and her little "laters!", that was adorable.
It was great, definitely the best episode so far and the one that's felt the most like Doctor Who. I loved that the percieved villains finally felt properly threatening and creepy, I've been waiting for that feeling all season. The only minor complaints I have is that the sonic screwdriver was pretty overused again, and while I like Yaz she really doesn't get as much to do and we never really see her police training in action. Like here when she held Charlie at the end I thought finally, a police move for her to do, and then he just really easily broke free? I'd buy it if she was like in her first year at the police academy or something but as a fully trained police officer I expect more of her, and we never get to see that.
I totally agree, I was happy when she grabbed Charlie but then when he just slipped free I was like 'what the hell?!'. Having a fully trained police officer on the TARDIS should be something the writers can use but they never seem to want to.
@@jonsnor4313 Three companions is just a bad idea. It is now and it always has been. Back at the end of Tom Baker's era of Who they had Nyssa, Adric and Tegan on board and the showrunners realised it just couldn't work, to little time in the episodes to properly let them all shine, so Adric gets killed in Peter Davidson's episode Earthshock.
I really liked this episode for almost the same reasons. But there's one thing that rrrrreally bugs me about the whole premise/message of the story. Not sure if I got something wrong, but for me it sounded a lot like "it's bad when people don't have jobs because everything is automated". That's Charlie's motivation for... killing people, which doesn't make sense in the first place?! But okay, so he is a guy doing wrong things for nonsense reasons to solve problems that never actually were problems in the first place. As a plot this is totally fine and it's something that happens in our world all the time. BUT at the end of the episode, this "problem" is actually depicted as a real problem, basically saying "yeah, he did something really bad, but for reasons that actually are valid, it's bad that robots do all the work". And I have a huge problem with this message because it kind of tries to legitimize the exploitative nature of our capitalistic society. Why is it a bad thing to automatize repetitive exhausting work? Why does there have to be a "real human quota" instead of using robots as much as possible? Why is unemployment seen as a bad thing? All of this only makes sense in a system that measures the value of an individual by the amount and profitability of work they do. "If you work hard, you're good, if you don't, you're useless and don't deserve to live." This is the way our society thinks. You need money to buy food etc., and you only get this money if you work. The thing is: if nobody had to work anymore because robots do all the work and produce enough of everything, there wouldn't be any need for money anymore. You could just distribute all the food and what else to all the people and everyone would be happy. "But what would they do with all their freetime??? They would get bored! They need jobs!" -- Guess what, people can and WILL do all sorts of things, even productive things, without having a paid job. Creative work, scientific research, inventing technology to make life even more pleasant, etc... There's no good reason to enforce a human quota for tedious repetitive work that robots can do even better and faster than humans. We don't actually NEED this kind of jobs. Unless we live in a totally fucked up system (like this capitalistic one here) in which case we should just finally replace this system by a better one, because this one has been obsolete for centuries now and only damages people. tl;dr: This episode could have been a really really good critique of capitalism, instead it kind of depicts our (completely broken) system as the *one and only* way to do it and depicts technological progress as something bad because it robs us of tedious work that nobody wants to do anyway.
Wow, I really thought you would cut this episode to shreds. I didn't enjoy it that much, it felt like a slog to get through. I did like Jodie in this episode. I now feel like I have a really good handle on who this Doctor is, something I didn't get with Capaldi until his last season. Maybe the episode will improve on a re-watch for me if I ever get round to it.
For show that claims to be fresh out of ideas for Christmas specials, they have certainly managed to write an episode that with a few minder costumes changes and set dressing would have made a very passable Christmas outing. Best from the season so far.
I really enjoyed this episode. I liked the little bit of goofy doctor who horror with the robots at the start. Also the bit of pun in the episode title is good too, like at first you think it's just the name of the company but later you realise it really does mean kablam-y explosions.
I felt like there was a bit too much Sonic. And I didn't like when the system went "Emergency break" (can't remember if that was exactly what it said) and that was a quick solution to get the Tardis Crew back together (in the garden scene). I felt like that was a bit cheap, but otherwise I agree, very nice episode!
I didn't see the Doctor using it any more than in any other episode. It's always just been a device that just does a lot of stuff, as long as we know what the Doctor is doing with it, I don't see a problem.
@@bucwhovian8305 I disagree. I love the Sonic, don't get me wrong, I just think that it's such an easy thing to write into the story instead of having the Doctor be clever. Maybe I just noticed it more in this episode, but I don't remember seeing it as much in older episodes. And certainly not in Classic. I love when the Doctor is clever and uses *that* to get out of trouble or fix/make something etc. I loved when 13 made the contraption in Demons of the Punjab, but it was very weird because the Sonic was out of play for like 2 seconds of screentime it felt like. I was like "yes, it's broken, go be clever!" and then it just worked again...
NightRunner the Doctor can use it and also be clever, both things can be true. It wasn’t in the classic series that much. But in terms of New Who, she’s not really using it anymore excessively than any other Doctor has.
I liked it, I liked the robots of death vibes and subtle nods. I think graham I the best companion. I often wonder what it would have been like if it was just him and the doc, cause I really think it would have worked. Him calling the doctor "doc" makes me think of an older Ben who I think used to call the first doctor "doc" I might be remembering wrong though. The only part I felt was a bit cringy was the part on the conveyors, other than that it was good. I hope the people involved are capable of acknowledging what has been well received/what hasn't and take note. the only two I've really enjoyed are these last two eps.
This is probably the best episode of the season so far. And considering we have Alan Cumming guest starring as the King of Scotland next week, I've got a feeling it's only gonna get better from here.
For the most part I liked this one, but I did have a few problems: 1) The ending was a bit rushed, and the issue resolved quite easily 2) Why was Charlie the villain? I think his motivation would have felt more natural if it was on Dan (Lee Mack’s character) Besides that, decent episode. Maybe a good one to use to introduce people to Doctor Who
Why would the motivation feel more natural on Dan? The ending probably was a bit rushed, but that's fairly typical for Doctor Who. It played better than some of the eps this season though since all the elements of the solution had been foreshadowed.
Because the writer knew that that the unsympathic manager would have been expected following the trend of villains. Its kind of a twist to break the anti estabilshment villain patern from earlier episodes.
I would say that it would have been more unnatural on Dan because he had a family on the planet, whereas Charlie didn't. Any action Dan took would also impact his wife and kid. Charlie was on his own. It wasn't until he told Graham about Kira and Kerblam overheard it that any real personal connection was established.
Here's some more irony. Charlie won. The company became majority human because of what happened, which is what his goal was. In a way, his own sacrifice also led to that happening.
@@lwaves Copypasta-ing one of my comments about this subject, because I think it wasn't that simple. Was Charlie's goal something intrinsically bad? He just wanted people to have more jobs. That's kinda it. In a world where it's heavily implied that humanity (via Kira and Dan) don't have livelihoods and even a sense of purpose, it's not a bad thing to want more humans working. Judy was shown to be actively doing the same. He was only wrong in that he went to extremes and was willing to blow people up. Circumstances pushed Charlie into that path of extremes, and the ending has the company trying to change those circumstances so as no one else would be pushed to such extremes. Now, tell me. Is that really a bad kind of conclusion to end the story on?
@@eirei0789 To be clear, I never said it was simple or implied it in my post. I was just pointing out the irony. Personally, I don't think his intentions were bad but like other situations, it's not what they are trying to do, or why, but how they do it. Charlie killed humans to get to his goal and that's a bad thing when he's supposed to be sticking up for those humans. If he'd only gone after robots or the machinery etc then it would have been a different thing but he didn't. The Kerblam AI was also guilty of the same thing, it didn't want to kill humans but when pushed to extremes it was willing to kill Kira to show Charlie personal loss and trying to get him to stop.
The last galactic deal had the workforce be 10% meaning there were 10,000 humans and 90,000 robots and yet the company was still the top company in that galaxy. Sometimes it takes a shock to the system to wake people up and change things.
I'm really disappointed with the 11th series. Only good thing is Grahams character and the cinematography. The story arcs are bland, the acting is cringe and Jodie haven't really made her doctor hers.
man... I mean... seeing you so hyped about this episode kinda... I don't know...i just felt like most of the lines were super awkward, and the twist wasn't foreshadowed AT ALL, felt kinda bad to me. in contrast to you, I STILL felt like the doctor is too passive in the episode, I don't know why I can't seem to like a single episode, there also seemed to me like there were plenty of conversations in this episode that I felt the doctor should have been having with people instead of the ones who were having them
i really liked it too. A thing that is only possible because of Chipnall did put a great Team TARDIS together. The dynamic wouldn't work if you took a single one of them away. Especially Yas she is the sort of emotional relief for Rayn so he doesn't just have his sort of Grandpa and an Alien. I also think positive of the overall atempt of it beeing more like classic Who's 1st Doctor guiding style.
My initial thoughts going into this series have only been confirmed. Chibnall is a mediocre writer, great showrunner. He understands due to personal experience the humiliation that comes with having your idea as a guest writer curtailed by the series arc, so he’s created a foundation for guest writers to prosper. So long as we get great guest-writers, maybe even some of these current ones instated on draft, Chibnall could really take it home and bring us an RTD Era feel. He’s built the right ecosystem. I honestly think we wouldn’t be in the weeds right now if Chibnall didn’t write the Tsuranga Conundrum. You can tell, 6 episodes out of ten, he was being spread a bit thin to focus on that one and it was not a good look. He really could’ve gone after one more guest writer this series. But I’m still hopeful based on these last two episodes that we might get to the homestretch stronger than where we started. Time will tell.
@councilofgeeks I appreciate your ability to analyze this season fairly and without bias. You have criticized its flaws but also been willing to praise its successes. I feel that you probably know full well what Doctor Who is and has always been...for this, I thank you. 😊😊😊😊
This is definitely the best episode of series 11 so far. For the most part it was good, but there was one small thing that bothered me. The place is supposed to have ten thousand employees, but throughout the episode it felt more like there were only 5 people. This is how social commentary should've been done in a doctor who episode, blend seamlessly into the plot of the episode, not what Chris Chibnall had been doing.
I had much the same reaction. The pacing and acting really just felt so much better, and it really feels like the cast are settling into the roles and the writers are better working out the team dynamic.
This episode finally brought us the fun side of Doctor Who this season. I've been waiting for this and am not disappointed. This is my favorite episode so far this season.
It was pretty good. My favourite this series so far. My only complains were the conveyor belt sequence (it looked awful, and served no purpose) and the overuse of the sonic. 4/5 for me.
It served the purpose of showing the size and scale of the place as the reviewer suggested, and how else were they going to get to where they needed to be.
My main thought while watching it was that this felt like a story that could have come from the '80s Doctor Who comics, or the TV show in the late '80s (circa The Greatest Show, Happiness Patrol) - and for me that's a great thing. I've been really enjoying the way this season has had a wide variation of tones and styles between episodes. It's like it's gone back to being a kind of anthology series linked by the main recurring characters, rather than the story arc-based show it's been since 2005. And i like that. And i'm really looking forward to next week's episode.
Man this episode is so dystopic, It's such a dumb idea for a society to insists that people need jobs even if the work can be automated. Ideally the work per person should shrink down to a level that balances work needed with available workers.
What did you think of lee mack's character? He's a popular comedian in the UK but don't think he's well known in the US but could be wrong. It was a nice but imo wasted cameo. Would love to have seen him in longer. Reminds me of the Bill Bailey cameo
I don’t know if you caught this but in the Pandorica two parter, River shoots his fez and he says that he can always order another one. Liked that call back
I want to hire the producers for this episode. What they did with a BBC budget for a single episode is amazing. I get that they are saving a lot of money with historical episodes, but it's still incredible.
I loved this episode!!!! My favourite episode of series 11!! And it had one of my favourite comedians, Lee Mack (as Dan Cooper), in it. Loved the premise and acting. This really felt like a fun Doctor Who episode that I have been waiting for waaaaaaay to long from this series. I only had 2 little nitpicks with it. 1 was when you could hear Dan scream when the Kerblam man take him away for the bubble-wrap explosion. Really, they could have taken him down below and then try it on him. The 2nd was when Charlie was just standing among the Kerblam men, the Doctor resets them to blow themselves up and doesn't really try too hard to save him. These weren't huge problems, they were just small things for me that I noticed.
I wish when the Doctor gets tough it was actually with people who are....you know...the problem...rather than innocent people which force her to look stupid or have to apologize for asserting herself.... Or you know, the fact that the basic problem of the plot is still in place, or that the episode is unwilling to talk about the actual core issue in the narrative (the automation of Kerblam! and that it's unseen owners are ok with only 10% employment....). In the classic series for instance the Sunmakers...the Doctor swept in, stopped the guy from committing revolutionary suicide and then instigated a fullscale rebellion overthrowing the cabbage running it all from behind the scenes... Here the person running this whole nightmare never bothers to show up and whilst yes the Doctor stops a heinous crime of mass murder....it's picking up one straw in a pile...who's stopping the next Charlie? Clearly it would not be the two people the Doctor gleefully leaves in charge of the warehouse....
I predict your going to have a second thoughts update on this when I point out to you that no one is held accountable for Kira's death. I mean, if the problem with the villain is that he thought the ends justify the means, why is the system not held to account for killing Kira who is completely innocent, in order to teach Charlie a lesson? The system is as much a villain as Charlie in that it believes the ends justify the means and is willing to kill to reach them. Why is the system held to be blameless and Charlie held accountable? Both are prepared to kill to meet their ends. The system, bear in mind, uses tags to control workers movements, won't permit social interactions during work time, prizes efficiency and profit above human quality of life, assigns mindless and repetitive tasks to humans that are overseen by robot slavemasters, exploits human desperation caused by mass unemployment. The system is an out and out villain and the Doctor thoroughly gives the system a pass - maybe because she thinks it's mascot is cute and she loves her fez. What a corporate tool! But I felt the same way as you straight after watching it. The script had loads of funny lines, gave Jodie decent opportunities to be doctorish which she does very well with, it gave us the best supporting characters we've seen all season, had surprising reveals, utilized all of the companions well, and it was the most Doctor Who like script of the season so far. It was only on reflection afterwards that the moral problems with the story as well as some of the plotholes like exactly how many workers does Charlie need to blow up to know that the explosive works and is fatal and if Dan met his end by explosive why didn't Yaz hear or see anything; she was on the same floor - a darkened floor and as we later saw those explosions are pretty bright and loud. So the story has gone down in my estimation after reflection despite my high regard for it as the credits rolled. Also, I don't agree with the Doctor that the system has "developed a conscience". As Gram points out killing your customers would be a terrible business model, so if the system cares about it's profits (which is probably precisely what it is programmed to care about) it's going to want to keep the consumers alive and make sure they are happy, not because it cares about human life but because it cares about profit. If it had developed a conscience it would not be happy to kill Kira to meet that end. It would find another way. It hasn't developed a conscience, it has always had a profit maximisation paradigm, which contrary to what neo-liberals will tell you, isn't a substitute for a conscience. Lol - I think I may have out-buzzkilled you! You amateur buzzkill, you!
I mean, poor Kira! She died because Charlie cared about her - that's it. She actually died BECAUSE she was nice. And yet the system is not the problem? I think the system is definitely A problem!
Maybe a future video should be top ten most morally dubious decisions of the Doctor starting with resurrecting Ursula as a face trapped in a paving slab and including locking all the spiders in a bunker to starve to death because it's more humane, apparently!
Interesting. I took the death of Kira :'( as a similar thing to the Smile episode with Capaldi. Robots and AIs just think differently. They might be self-aware whilst having a totally different thought process.
Yeah, and one of the key features of that different thought process is not having a conscience, but the Doctor claims it's developed a conscience. I don't see the evidence for that, aside from it doesn't want to kill its customers! There's quite pragmatic reasons for that that have nothing to do with a conscience.
I agree that this was the best story of Season 11 so far, and I don't have major complaints about it. However, if you slapped it down in the middle of the Moffat era, I think it would still seem rather weak in that context-a filler episode amidst more exciting stories. You managed to enjoy it much more than I did-good for you, I suppose. If it entertains someone that much, it must be doing something right. At least Pete McTighe seems to have some idea of how to write Doctor Who stories.
I'm just finding the whole season encreasingly dull and lacklustre, couldn't even get through this one even on the 3rd attempt i dont think the rather drab visuals and setting helped , shame.
I liked this video I really like this Kerblam(azon) ep it was good and no complaints too with that HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU NATHANIEL AND ALL YOUR OTHER SUBSCRIBERS
I was watching RTD episodes recently and then thinking about S11 and the comparison makes me depressed. This is so shit it's driving me insane. And it seems like most people can't see it - they are blinded by the hype of a new showrunner and a female doctor.
Or, or... hear me out on this, its just your opinion and others can like stuff you dont? Your literally saying Im right 100% and if you dont think as i do there has to be something wrong with you. You dont see whats stupid in that?
This was an episode I had to go back and rewatch just to see how all the pieces fit together, and everyone's behaviour made a lot of sense the second time. I also predicted it was the robots calling for help, but I thought the resolution was going to be they had to stop imposing the 10% human workforce: that having people work there was somehow hurting the machines. Ryan and the Doctor both made comments implying that giving humans repetitive jobs that robots could do was a bad thing, so I thought the message of the episode was going to be that automation was good, and we should let it happen and create different, more meaningful jobs for humans. On the first view I missed the line about them planning to increase the human workforce at the end, so I thought the show had decided to stay neutral on the issue, and not say anything about automation being good or bad, which I would have liked. But as it stands I think they got their message a bit muddled. Charlie was supposed to be the villain, yet they did exactly what he wanted. It makes it unclear what they want the audience to take away from that.
Oh - also I assume you notice. The "system" originally tried to send the Doctor straight to the Guilty Party. Her Meddling actually made her go about the long way...
This is really interesting. So far the episodes people hated are the ones I loved and the ones that people are loving are what I'm hating...hm. Something is wrong with me.
Nope, just shows its normal Doctor Who... there so much variance in like and dislike anyone saying its the worst ever or the best ever are seriously got a chip on their shoulders.
Kernlam. It wasn’t filler, it was fun and straightforward like the last episode. I loved the reference to the Matt Smith era with the fez, those hats are still cool.
Glad you enjoyed it, Nathaniel. So did I. Charlie's appearance reminded me of Charlie X in the classic StarTrek first season episode--did anyone else get that feeling?
The robots remind me of the anamatronics from Five Nights at Freddy's (specifically the first game, because Scott always tried to outdo himself on the designs in the later games): they're just unsettling enough. It wasn't too creepy or over-the-top, but it's just uneasy enough
While I did quite liked this episode. And I really appreciated the moments with Ryan and how they explained on his Disability. As I have the same thing he has and could relate a lot to his struggles. As it took me many many years of phisical therapy to be able to function like a human being rarity than an unquroanated lump of flesh. And I still have issues and frustrations at being a Sami function human being and I have a lot of trouble spelling and my frustration at my attempts to get a job before my current one are lengdary
I was a bit confused why the system examined the Doctor and tried to send her to maintenance at the time.
And then afterwards I realised that the system sent her there because that was where the threat was. Clever foreshadowing.
Hmm. A lot of little moments of fridge brilliance in this episode to reward a second watching...
That's a great observation!
+Josef Aikman Yes, if she hadn't swapped with Graham she would have been placed with Charlie, right where she needed to be.
Holy hell, you absolutely right. System send Doctor DIRECTLY to Charlie.
How is that clever, that was obvious?! Am I the only one here? This is bizarre.
Kira’s death destroyed me because she was so happy to get a gift and then she just looks longingly at the bubble wrap before she dies.
Such a good child, trying to make life make sense and give back to her community and humanity. It felt like she didn't get a chance to grow up.
The actress is 29 btw
@@Futura2500 I said felt, not is. The little screen time she had made her seem innocent than she must be. Like children or an elf.
The System was supposed to be the victim and what Charlie was doing was supposed to be super wrong.
So the System then kills an innocent girl without a single hint of regret. It could easily fake her death to still get it's point across but nope..SHE DEAD.
And the Doctor ignores that. She treats Charlie like the monster, yet Kira's death and cold disposal by the system represents the sheer evil that the system can do.
The stupidest thing is that the system sends a "Help me" message to the Doctor, the system kidnaps kira and sets her up to kill her, the system sends a robot to attack Charlie.
Why couldn't the system just send the doctor the message: "I'm Kerblams system and a guy named Charlie is going to use me to murder thousands of innocent people."
@@ArlanKels m
Unicorn and the wasp reference in this episode, did anyone else see it?
I did.
Yesss
Junkrat Main yes, I like how they’re not referencing past seasons too much, but it’s a nice little acknowledgement that always puts a smile on my face
Yes
That was a cool little moment. Instead of a throwaway namedrop like Einstein's wedding, we get a reference of something us fans have actually witnessed, and can feel smug about getting. And I like feeling smug about getting stuff. :D
Initially it bugged me that a delivery guy could just materialise inside the TARDIS. But then I figured, eh, the TARDIS probably knew it was safe and let it through - and it wouldn't be the first time the TARDIS has ensured that a cry for help reached the Doctor...
Yeah, I know what you mean, but a lot of stuff has materialised on the TARDIS in the past
That is my headcanon as well. I image Eleven setting something like a firewall exception in an internet router.
The only nitpick problem I have with it is that they are in the Time Vortex when the Karblam! Man delivers the fez, they teleport not time travel. I feel they should have landed somewhere in that century and then he finds them.
@@iamtheecho very good point... I never realised that, I just finished watching all of new who over the past 4 weeks, so my brain is numb to all those sorts of things haha
I think the fez thing would have worked a little better if this had been the third episode, right after she gets the Tardis, still a great episode, Jodie’s best one yet imo
I'd like to add too, that Graham and Charlie talk about Keira, but Charlie says 'I've never spoken about this before' And Lee Mack's character says the system/robots are always listening... thats how it suddenly knows - so Graham you accidently killed her
Oooooh shit that’s a good point.
Regardless of anything else than can be said about this script, it’s mechanically SUPER tight.
Oh no I didn't think about that. 😭
I did pick up on that and it's a great bit in a great script.
Here's another one: When they were first assigned their jobs at Kerblam the Doctor swapped with Graham and he ended up with Charlie. If she hadn't swapped she would have been put with Charlie, the very person she needed to be with.
I think the point there is ACCIDENTALLY. Nobody should point it out to Graham, poor bloke would be devastated...
I really enjoyed this, especially as Ryan's Dyspraxia was evident. As someone who has Dyspraxia and has never really seen it on TV, let alone Doctor Who that I've watched my whole life and loved my whole life. I realised when I watching Arachnids in The UK that I'd never been able to relate to anyone like that before. And the way Ryan runs, all flappy and uncoordinated, is exactly how I run. The was that he doesn't pick up things as easily as Yaz is the way I am when learning something new. When he says the line "I can do it, it just takes me a bit longer." I felt thst. I related. And I've never had that before. Ryan is a character to I've been waiting for my while life. Kids with Dyspraxia now have Ryan Sinclair, and I'm so happy that they do, because for the first fourteen years of my life, I was looking for a Ryan. And he's there now and I'm so incredibly elated that he is.
Agreed! Ryan was so good in this episode. I loved the explanation about him taking a while to learn things physically.
People who constantly see themselves represented don't understand the value of good representation like this. This comment is so heartwarming, have a nice day :)
Fully agreed, it's definitely a reason I love Ryan in doctor who. Autistic with some dyspraxic traits here.
Ryan is likely my favorite companion.
For me I liked him mentioning it when he was packing the boxes but hes was wasting time when he talked about it again when they jumped into the package chute, he must have been rambling for like 1 minute straight whilest kira was in danger. I was expecting charlie to push past him and jump down since he was wasting so much time
I think what makes these robots so unsettling compared to the emojibots or handbots is they are much closer to the uncanny valley. I wouldnt say they are in the valley since they are clearly machines and in the right light can look friendly. But change the lights and ooh! Uncanny valley.
I preferred the Smilers, as they had a more subtle and prolonged change from happy to deadly, and their angry face was so unsettling. Saying that, I do think Kerblam man came closer to looking more human, and closer to uncanny valley as you said.
I found the postman pat robots more unsettling as they had red eyes and looked more scarey i think
In this episode we actually saw Yaz act as a policewoman; you know when she held down Charlie towards the end of the episode. That felt super nice, that the writer for this episode used the characteristics provided to him about the characters and used it, Ryan too with his dyspraxia! I felt it was only shown in the first and second episode and then they sort of forgot about it. I am a bit iffy about Charlie being the villain because can you imagine the Kerblam robots being added to the villains? I'd love it! Their song is perfect and so are their looks. Also when Charlie started monologing it just felt like 'oh it's a millenial coming to ruin the day'. Atleast that's how it felt towards me so that was the least enjoyful part of the episode, as well as Doctor's constant change towards how to finish off her villains; suffocating the spiders, killing Charlie, for now I feel she still needs to be worked on when it comes to her beliefs.
Best episode so far for sure but still has slight issues. Still, made me actually feel like I'm watching Dr. Who again so I'm not complaining. :) Also the acting from the side characters was spot on, actually made me feel for them. Hope this is how the next season intend to go towards!
Issue is yaz let him get away
This is the only episode that has felt like Doctor Who this series. I hope this is the direction the show is heading in from here on out. I still didn't think it was a great episode, but it was pretty good.
Yes,me too. It almost had a 7th Doctor era vibe to it.
An interesting high-concept story.
... Doctor Who doesn't have any one 'feeling'. Criticise the series for acting, characterisation, Monsters, whatever. But the whole point is that Doctor is never ever the same. There's no one way it should feel, so saying the episodes didn't feel like doctor who doesn't mean anything.
@@alexinabox6931 Cool article about just that over at io9: io9.gizmodo.com/10-totally-different-tv-shows-that-em-doctor-who-em-5833466?IR=T
I agree
@@alexinabox6931 I think what most people mean when they say that, is that series 11 so far has been noticably different from all previous seasons of NuWho. It's been the biggest shift in tone, visual presentation, characterization, story plots, etc. since 2005. Because the previous 13 years have been relatively consistent, and shifts have been smooth in terms of those aspects mentioned before, they created a baseline of expectations what a Doctor Who episode should be or "feel" like. I think most people take this baseline as a reference for their observation that episodes feel different.
And you're right, stating that an episode feels different isn't helpful or constructive criticism, because it's highly subjective and unspecific. But it's still valid for anyone to express those feelings if you have them.
I also really liked this episode. In particular, I'm really glad this series is running with the idea that the "big bad" doesn't have to be a big scary alien monster, or the Master again. It's refreshing!
Ted Logan - yeah I like humans as the bad guys thing they’ve been doing.
I do like that. It's been a theme of Chibnall's for a while - think back to "Cold Blood", "42" or "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship".
I think it's good to balance out a lot of the other Who episodes in which have all been about villainous aliens. But I hope he doesn't keep the balance tipped too far the other way. I think there has literally been *one* episode this season where the threatening alien was actually the threat. That becomes predictable too.
It really worked in this episode. I do love a Big Bad tho😁
It seems some fans are enjoying the series less for exactly that reason, and while I get the appeal of the Doctor going up against unique looking malicious creatures on the regular, it comes off really shallow to me that people are starting to dock points from an episode just cause “there hasn’t been a cool alien baddie in a while.”
Ted Logan Moffat always pulled out a Dalek when he didn't know what to do..
Did anyone else realise the bad guy actually won? At the end the company goes to a majority human workforce. Lesson to take away threaten people with bombs and get your own way.
I mean he did die to be fair, wasn't exactly a crushing victory
@@tomkenning5482 not to blow it out of proportion but all his goals were completed.
"Lesson to take away threaten people with bombs and get your own way."
That is an incredibly simplistic reading of the ending, and is unfair to the story. And I think you know that.
Was Charlie's goal something intrinsically bad? He just wanted people to have more jobs. That's kinda it. In a world where it's heavily implied that humanity (via Kira and Dan) don't have livelihoods and even a sense of purpose, it's not a *bad* thing to want more humans working. Judy was shown to be actively doing the same. He was only wrong in that he went to extremes and was willing to blow people up.
Circumstances pushed Charlie into that path of extremes, and the ending has the company trying to change those circumstances so as no one else would be pushed to such extremes. Now, tell me. Is that really a bad kind of conclusion to end the story on?
Sometimes the bad guy can win and the world can change for the better because of it.
@@eirei0789 oh I know that. But you are making excuses for murder and attempted mass murder. We don't know what life is like for the rest of planet.
He still achieved his goals. But that is the fault of sloppy writing. A better end would of not to neatly fix all the ills.
As much as I like the first episode, Rosa and Demons, this is the most fun episode this series.
Ditto that. I wouldn't call this the best episode of the series (definitely Demons for me) but it is the most fun and bonkers.
This was pretty good and best of the season. It was the first time for doctor who where I was rooting for the villain. Despite dying, he won. He made a change in society.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this episode. From the setup and the cast I fully expected a complete groaner, but nobody outstayed their welcome and they actually did something really neat with the premise. Add in a couple of fun callbacks to the show's history, and you've got a rollicking good time!
Let's just hope the rest of the season holds up...
AT LAST! AN EPISODE I ENJOYED THOROUGHLY!
It's not great that it took this far to get to something I can say was good. It's not a classic. It feels like a good RTS era episode, with a nice dose of satire, some light-hearted camp, actually creepy designs and AWFUL green screen effects. It's like 2006 again and I like it!
Still, too little too late! This season is quite a disappointment but this episode felt good.
I think Kerblam! should've gone a little bit further in having the Doctor explicitly address the problems this society is facing, because of how relevant they are right now. As we approach a full-automation society ("Why have people doing these jobs, anyway?"), we're going to have more people than we have jobs for them.
Human legislation can only go so far, because then people will be doing jobs like, well, robots. The humans at Kerblam! are essentially treated like robots, constantly being pressed to be more efficient, and generally dehumanized.
The solution, in an automated society, HAS to be a system of economics/governance that doesn't force people to work in order to survive. Some may call that lazy, but when there's not enough work for the population, this is the only humane option.
I do find it weird that the society isn't just working towards 0% human employment. If automated systems generate enough wealth for everyone to live in luxury, what need is there for any human being to work?
Because that would require a fundamental restructuring of how humans are provided for. At present, we're expected to provide for ourselves, therefore we must work. 100% automation only functions if there is no longer an income requirement. And no, that's me making a call for socialism, it's just logistically the only way this works out.
@Council Of Geeks exactly. It’s really not in the Doctor’s purview to tear down potentially inconvenient capitalism when no one’s life is at stake anymore.
Somewhere, the spirit of Marx is smiling hopefully.
@@ThePonderer I don't think the Doctor has to, I just think the episode should've had a slightly harsher/more explicit stance on post-work automation. She doesn't have to do anything, but a 10-esque speech wouldn't have been misplaced, imo.
I've been watching new who since I was little, since then I have had this dream of hearing that wheezing noise then looking out my window and seeing that blue box, then running down the stairs opening the door and seeing them standing there toying with the controls, The Doctor. Since I've had that dream I've viewed every doctor as would I want this Doctor to be the doctor baby me met and in this episode it made me feel like yeah, I'd want to see her.
The Doctor is all over the place in this series. She gets mad at the guy for kicking the alien off the crane, then is ok with the racist being blasted back into the past, then gets mad at the guy for shooting the giant spider instead of letting it suffocate, then in this episode "These are the remnants of the workers. Whoa! Robots!"
And she talked about having robot friends and not liking the guys being "robophobic" and then she blows up a room full of robots for no other reason than it was the easiest way to get rid of the bubble wrap. And she does this fully knowing that the terrorist guy was standing in the middle of them. So it's ok for the Doctor to kill people but not for others. They haven't even tried to make her consistent in caring about life in general.
Gotta love the past Doctor references! 11 would have been piiiiiissed that he never got his phez 😂
Eh, let's be honest; 11 was such a scatterbrain, he probably completely forgot he ordered it and left that timezone, which is why it didn't get delivered until the Doctor CAME BACK to the timezone. 😆
Fez
I didn't...I thought they were cheap and lazy....and obvious...really...the fez was fine but it literally could've been anything else (why not a recorder....or a theater cape, or marroon yarn and knitting needles, or a cricket ball, or a cat pin, or new Panama hat (or brown jacket) or a pair of new shoes that fit...perfectly).
As to the alcove she could've made a comment about hiding in a priest hole in a Victorian gothic folly once, complete with looking to her companions who are utterly befuddled and have her saying 'I know I said it was nonsense at the time, too!'.
Series 11 Episode Writing Formula -
- Step 1: The Doctor and the gang find themselves in a location/time-period with a mystery
- Step 2: We get introduced to a happy character
- Step 3: Somebody dies
- Step 4: The “obvious” villain is identified
- Step 5: The Doctor uses her wacky Sherlock detective skills and pointy-armed Sonic Screwdriver pose whilst the gang split up and find out information before re-grouping with what they think are the bad guy’s motives
- Step 6: We have a bit of screen time with one of the TARDIS gang interacting with the “real” villain
- Step 7: The happy character gets killed-off to prove how bad the threat is
- Step 8: The “real” villain is revealed and the previous “obvious” villain is revealed to be innocent with good intentions
- Step 9: The Doctor tries to help the “real” villain see the best in the Universe before they end up disappearing or dying by their own hand
Why was Charlie so keen to help Graham find the plans to the building, and what was the vat of liquidised humans about?
I loved it. People have been pointing out that Ryan popped the bubble wrap at the start of the episode, saying it should have exploded. But if I remember right weapons don't work in the TARDIS right? Also the package was apparently ordered by Matt Smith so probably before the killer BW was put in (although with time travel I guess you can never be sure)
Regardless, best episode of the season. I think Jodie Whittaker is getting a better grasp on her doctor and I'm really living the kind of excitement and just optimistic energy she brings to everything
According to old Who the inside of the TARDIS is in a constant 'state of grace' which means weapons should not work ... but it seems that depends on the writer, LOL :) And yeah, depending on your thoughts either the fez was ordered by Matt Smith, so before the weaponisation if the bubble wrap or it was sent by the system directly to the Doctor to ask for help in which case .... well, it's better not to over think these kinds of episodes, lol;)
Also remember that Charlie was holding back all the weaponised packages to send them out in a single massive strike. All the packages that had already been sent from Kablam were fine.
@@irrevenant3 Good point, had forgot that, lol.
@@ukmediawarrior State of Grace circuit broke sometime during 5th Doctor. the bubblewrap wasn't weaponized yet.
@@ChristyAbbey I remember the Cybermen shooting up the control room in Earthshock and Nyssa asking the Doctor in the next episode why the Temporal Grace system hadn't worked to which he responds 'nobodies perfect'. I don't think they ever right out state it's broken, but it obviously is, lol. I believe a later Doctor comments that he still needs to look at fixing that circuit. I wonder if any of the new writers even know of it's existence though :)
What if Graham is secretly the master 🤔🤔🤔
DON'T YOU DARE
GRAHAM IS A GOOD AN HONEST BLOKE
WE TREASURE GRAHAM
@@q7ozi There's always the time lord human watch thingo that could make him not even know he is the master... I doubt it... but anything can happen.
@@Pantherblack I love graham too...
But imagine if its a nice version of the master, like how missy "became good" and then was killed, I doubt that'd be the end of the master for good.
Well, he was an evil clown in Sarah Jane Adventures. but he played a cop against 5th Doctor and Martha (sorry, Bradley Walsh fan here, saw every ep of Law and Order UK).
I like this theory because it means Graham will never die.
This was for sure the best episode of series 11 so far
This story felt very reminiscent to “The Robots of Death” where we’re lead to believe that the sandminer robots (who act in a similar manner to the Kerblam robots) are killing the crew when it was some man all along, manipulating the situation.
Thank you, my point exactly. Glad someone else has seen that Tom Baker episode :)
Apparently there have been 283(!) Doctor Who stories. I guess they're going to retread old ground sometimes...
@@irrevenant3 But there's retreading and then there's stealing the entire idea and just giving it a new paint job, lol. The thing for me at least is that bad robots have been done to death in Who, both classic and new versions, so trying to hook the audience by fooling them into thinking the robots in this episode are the bad guys just made me bored and the twist at the end where it's a human doing it, hacking the robots for his own gain, wasn't enough of a pay off to make it worth the trip. Especially when you consider that the bad guy, although dead, get's what he wanted all along so in fact wins. Eccleston, Tennant and Smith and even Capaldi didn't seem to have to retread old stories to make their seasons a success .... well, the first three didn't, poor Capaldi got left holding the bag in his final season :(
@@ukmediawarrior Fair enough. To each their own. I enjoyed it.
Yeah, I noticed that Charlie ultimately achieved his goal too. Which is fine - it wasn't a bad goal, he just went to extremes to try and achieve it.
(This is an example of a Hegelian dialectic. If you're a fan of The Legend of Korra, there's a cool TH-cam video called "What writers should learn from the Legend of Korra" that talks about it).
They already did something of a homage to it with “Voyage of the Damned”, plus Big Finish have been continuing the classic series since 1999 and have avoided treading on their own toes while keeping stories remarkably fresh. I agree that this series has just been lacklustre, there’s a spark missing that I hope they’ll eventually find again.
One thing though... why didn’t the doctor get the deliverymen to teleport to some isolated part of space to detonate?
Or just disable the teleport? The bombs weren't on a timer, they weren't going to explode.
The part where all of the robots say "Kerblam" and the. simultaneously blow up was hilarious
A lot of Doctor Who episodes have the issue of being amazing in the first two acts and anticlimactic in the third act, but this episode pulled it off. Seriously amazing.
That manager guy backing off when stood up to is just standard manager behaviour lol
I *really* liked this one! I know there are people who disagree with the politics of it, but I think it helps to immediately accept that this isn’t an episode about tearing down capitalism so much as it is about making a capitalist system function better. It strikes a great balance between NOT demonizing technology while also not letting corporations off the hook for the mistake of removing the human element from the workplace.
I don’t know if I prefer this one to Punjab, Rosa or Tsuranaga (yes I’ll still defend Tsuranga to my grave) but MAN is it a close race. If this quality keeps up Series 11 is shaping up to be one of my favorites.
Max Scardanelli agree to disagree. I’ve recently rewatched series 1-2 for a series of videos and they’ve not aged nearly as well as you might think they do, as full packages at least.
"about making a capitalist system function better"
It's not functioning better this way. Except if you mean "exploit humans more" with better.
binaryDiv if you conflate being exploited with having to work, period. People are getting paid to provide goods and services in a decent-enough working environment under executives who at the VERY least we know care about human decent so they themselves can maintain a livelihood. That’s about as functional as late late late late stage capitalism can hope to get.
Two major mistakes you overlooked:
10% of employment by one company doesn't mean 10% of population employment. There are other companies, and it appears that the only humans on the planet were the ones working at the factory. That logic was wrong. This could be passed off as Charlie's mistake but it came across as a writing mistake.
The Doctor also didn't need to explode the bubble wrap and kill Charlie. She deliberately had the robots pop the bubblewrap knowing it would kill someone. There was no urgency on the bubblewrap since it wasn't timed. The bubblewrap could have been transported into space. She also destroyed robots needlessly. And how would they get an explosive into bubblewrap when some of the bubbles would get cut in the sizing?
writerpatrick Charlie literally said that 90% of the population not being able to work was his motivation if you rewatch the confrontation scene. It does seem like the writers mixed up those numbers not the council of geeks
Should have saved Lee Mack. Nobody *saw* him die and their was no body. Who's to say the Tardis didn't swoop him up just before? It's not meddling if it's predeterminsm!
(Would love Lee Mack as a future companion, as long as they let him adlib some humour)
Lol, what if Yaz just nicked his necklace.
Lee Mack is one of the funniest people ever imo so I was disappointed when they killed him off
Why didn’t the system send a more detailed message? There was plenty of space left on the back of that card. Why didn’t the system just notify HR?
I liked the episode, though I had a major issue about a couple of things. Firstly the terrorist basically got what he wanted in the end. That kind of gives off the idea that terrorism can actually work to affect change and I don’t like it one bit. Also the answer to jobs being lost to automation isn’t to stop the automation. The answer is, especially in an extremely high tech society like this one, is to make sure people can survive without needing to work jobs like this. I never thought Doctor Who would advocate Luddism but that’s basically what’s going on here.
Kerblam! isn't the best Doctor Who episode I ever seen but it's a enjoyable episode and it feels like it could have eaily come from the RTD era. Kerblam! feels like Doctor Who to me, whereas Rosa and Demons of the Punjab felt like historical dramas to me (I like those episodes btw). However I think its slightly over praised because most of series 11 have been meh as I genuinely feel that Kerblam! in any other series of Doctor Who would have been seen as filler. I still liked Kerblam! and I would rate it 7/10
Why is it the robots look a bit like a smiler from Beast Below and C-3po got together and had a child in my opinion
Jedi Spartan they looked like the toy soldiers from that one Santa Claus movie with Tim Allen...please tell me i'm not the only one
I loved it too... Til the last 5 minutes. I really felt the last two deaths didn't need to happen. The girl went out in a really cruel and callous way by the supposedly good system. You're level of annoyance may vary for good reason, but I feel they didn't justify why the system couldn't have say, asked the girl to tell Charlie not to commit the heinous crime. Furthermore, I don't think they foreshadowed Charlie's true nature enough; it comes right the hell out of nowhere IMHO. I would have made the reveal been that there was a slight bug in the system that escalated quickly because of the lack of sufficient human oversight. Even still, why did the Doctor activate the bombs? She could have simply told all the robots to deliver to themselves but not open the packages. Instead, it seems like a forced reason for Charlie to die at the end. They could've had it that after they stopped the mass delivery Charlie tried to kill everyone in a suicide attack but only killed himself in the process. The way they did it, the Doctor unnecessary set of bombs that killed a man, and as I've commented before, this Doctor has been very keen on not using violent methods of problem solving. This is one thing that is driving me up the wall with this version. She never kills anyone, except when she does, but then it's not her fault, except it is her fault, but no way are they going to acknowledge this on screen. The show has been beating over the head with the Batman esque "No killing" rule, but when she breaks it they are suddenly silent about it. Simply put, if she tries to go off on someone for murder and claims in any way she doesn't kill, I'm not buying it, especially because it was so damn avoidable. IMHO, a really great episode soured by a really annoying ending.
I want someone to just send him bubble wrap in the po box haha.
I thought this was Better then the other episodes and one I will probably be watching rewatching!
I enjoyed this more than most this series, but still got a lot of issues- when they get paired off with their co-workers its just 10 mins of cutting between them until they exposition the backstory for everyone and plot set ups- its all so clunky still in those moments.
13 is still coming across as the village idiot regeneration, she still cant work out the new TARDIS systems after what must be months of flying her now, and the scripts are even resorting to having to come up with excuses for why she is missing the blindingly obvious- 'conspiracies are hard to keep track of.' And yet again she points the finger of blame at the wrong people and misses the actual villain. Taken all together the accumulative effect is the impression she isn't that bright for the Doctor.
The morality is a mess again- the corporation is good? Getting autonomy from government control for a private enterprise is good? What about the crap working conditions? The fact they get paid so little the guy can only afford to go home economy shuttle once a year to see his family, and the rather serious matter that the System murdered someone to make a point? Why was the Doctor fine with that at the end and all Kerblam is great? No matter the reason, it still murdered an innocent girl just to make a point- a point that wasn't made anyway as it didn't effect his plan or dissuade him at all.
And lastly why does 13 keep needlessly killing things? She gives a robots have rights too style comment to Ryan at the start, then she unnecessarily blows all the robopostman up. Why did she order them do that?! Once they had teleported back there was no threat, the bombs weren't on a timer, they could have put the packages down, walked away and then the bombs could have been denoted or made safe- there is no need to murder all those roboposties or the bad guy, who could have been arrested- especially not when she was speaking up for robot rights at the start. And they are going to change to majority human workers as a result, so the message is terrorism, or the threat of terrorism works?- what's the morality here?
Lots of legit points.
re: the TARDIS systems, I'm assuming that's less about the Doctor's competence and more about the TARDIS's wilfulness. It goes through phases of just taking the Doctor wherever it thinks she needs to go and it seems to semi be in one of those now.
Thank you for this. I think the same.
irrevenant3- I certainly do not disagree about the TARDIS doing its own thing time to time, but neither 10 nor 11 post regen (and 11 similarly had an all new layout to deal with) had any problems instantly knowing what controls did what- the most likely reason for this is the telepathic circuits, TARDIS pilots are telepathically linked to their ship, the Doctor stole his and wasn't trained to fly one though, but he seems to have got the hang of it over the years- its fine for Chibnal to want to go back to a more 1st Doctor feel of the Doctor not been totally in control of the TARDIS, but they need a better reason for it (just break the navigation circuit again!) than she is a bit slow learning the new systems- as it does not do her any favours in comparison to her recent predecessors, especially not on top of her having been slow on the uptake or missing the obvious (like last week where she managed to examine a dead body, take sonic reading of it, and not notice he had been shot at point blank range with a rifle!) on more than one occasion this series.
River taught the Doctor how to fly the TARDIS. That was made implicit years ago, and I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on it. But the new design, and the fact that the TARDIS sometimes just goes where it's needed instead of where the Doctor wants to go (that was spelled out *explicitly*).
Agreed. It's a good story but it falls apart if you think it through.
personally, my favourite moment in this episode was the musical que's, or to be specific, the kerblam leitmotif, especially when we look upon the 'army' or kerblam men and we still have this major sounding melody and motif but it's got a millitary, threatening vibe to it that combined with the amazing cinematography honestly made me believe that these would be the 'new daleks' so to speak and I would have been so excited if they were but alas we can't get everything we want, over all awesome episode, can't wait till next week.
I adore Jodies performance when she gets the package. You can see her getting excited for the tagline, like "Let me hear it" and then her joy, after it's said. I rewound that beginning part several times to enjoy that
I think the beautiful part of the episode was the system knew the Doctor could help and called out to her specifically and it knew it was her to save the day. That just sealed the deal that Thirteen is still the same person and feels a duty to those in need
I loved this episode, and I had the same feeling of "did I enjoy this more than Demons of Punjab? I think I did" that you described. So good, it's relevant to us today and it's something we haven't really seen before. Just an all-round great episode. Loved it.
A system doesn't want to kill people because it would damage the company. Then the same system kills a girl because terrorist loves her and he should understand the pain of losing someone. (doctor said that) When Ryan and Yaz on the platform with the terrorist, he didn't want to kill them or bail them and went there with them. What a cheesy plot twist. After all of that Human Resources Woman told us they should improve %10 worker capacity. So... terrorist succeed? I love doctor who series but this is a damaged season already. Lazy writing, bad lessons and indigested endings are causes all of that. (I hope I could explain myself with my bad English)
i mean, it is a robotic system, it feels no emotions. And the terrorist succeeded, sure, but his goals weren't bad, it was how he was trying to do it.
@@galarstar052 I used to think there was a morale story in this series but now I think they don't know what are moral and ethic concepts are. We live in a multicultural world and we are learning what is bad or what is good then we shape our world trough our believes and knowledge. But this season has so much beliefs and political correctness which is I think that's why screenwriters and directors are having a hard time setting up its editing and stable storyteliing. Remember that Matt Smith's doctor in the flesh people episode made a hard critisicm about xenophobia and its meaninglessness. But again that episode has good editing and screenwriting. I think they want to tell us a story which is politically and ethically correct and I'm okay with that but they don't have ability or potential to do that.
I didn't like that the terrorist got what he wanted. It really confused what they were trying to say. His actions means that the human workforce goes from 10% to +51%.
Also, the "system" called for help, then the Doctor blows up millions of the delivery men and risked catastrophically damaging the entire warehouse by detonating them on the foundation level.
Good episode, but they really screwed up the message.
So the package can be transported in time? In that case why didn't it get to the 11th Doctor?
No i think the system sent the fez to get the doctors attention
The deliverybots' voices reminded me of Gus from 'mummy on the orient express' him and the heavenly host from voyage of the damned.
My big question as to the lack of jobs is what actually happens outside of the factory? People must be surviving somehow. They’re clearly poor but what do they actually do to live? In theory automation in real life would have to be tied to universal basic income.
This episode plus minor holiday references could have been their Christmas special.
Can't be bothered explaining why lmao but this episode was great. This is what I wanted from Series 11. This is the first proper adventure-style episode and I wish there were more in that fun tone.
I enjoyed this episode. It reminded me of "The Sun Makers" with the Fourth Doctor and Leela.
I was particularly impressed that both in this story and in "The Demons of Punjab," the androids and robots were not evil machines bent on killing human beings. That was most refreshing.
Is no one noticgng how the companies name was a pun/foreshadowing?????
What do bombs do? They go KERBLAM!!!
I'll be a buzz kill... The sonic is over used again I mean they made a point Charlie had the codes to the displays and when they needed somethin Gram knew where to get it instead of the millisecond it took Charlie to open the first case the doctor had to use the sonic for me its just that she has to scan everything or use the sonic when her hands would do just fine idk why it bugs me so much.
I don't think she uses the sonic anymore than Smith did.
I thought it was a nice touch that she wasn't able to disable the robot with the sonic and it had to be manually disabled. Ditto that she couldn't just sonic her way into the system. Honestly, I think they balanced that aspect pretty well this episode.
The sonic screwdriver has turned into a magic wand that can do anything, and I hate that. It's just a lazy writer's tool. Originally, it was only good for opening doors and frying circuits: a handy but very limited tool.
I agree Matt Smith over used it and they even called him out on it in the 50th anniversary with the war doctor telling him and 10 they were being ridiculous.
@@jonathan.palfrey True, but lets be honest: That's been the case for pretty much the entirety of Nu Who. It was even the case in a lot of classic adventures, which is why the writers destroyed it during the Fifth Doctor's run. The Seventh brought it back.
You can love it or hate how OP the screwdriver is, but by this point it's a staple.
@@irrevenant3 very true
I knew the twist with the note when I saw the preview.
To me this is the episode that feels most like Dr Who.
Finally getting a good look at the TARDIS intereror wish it wasn't always so dark it honestly makes the space feel cluttered but it looks good the pillers remind me of fingers, like there in the palm of the ship.
I really loved the foreshadowing when the doctor told Graham to get a map because no one ever suspects the janitor and then it turned out to be the janitor, that was really smart writing and something i could've seen coming. The only issue i had with this episode was the weird way the scenes on the conveyer belt were shot and i didn't get why Charlie suddenly fell off for no reason, that looked so fake but i guess maybe that had to do with a limited budget because the rest of the episode and series looked visually stunning so it might not really be something to complain about. i really liked how there were no clear enemies as well, everyone had believable motives. And yes i loved Jodie as well!! How she delivered that speech and immediatly asked her companions if she looked cool and her little "laters!", that was adorable.
It was great, definitely the best episode so far and the one that's felt the most like Doctor Who. I loved that the percieved villains finally felt properly threatening and creepy, I've been waiting for that feeling all season. The only minor complaints I have is that the sonic screwdriver was pretty overused again, and while I like Yaz she really doesn't get as much to do and we never really see her police training in action. Like here when she held Charlie at the end I thought finally, a police move for her to do, and then he just really easily broke free? I'd buy it if she was like in her first year at the police academy or something but as a fully trained police officer I expect more of her, and we never get to see that.
I totally agree, I was happy when she grabbed Charlie but then when he just slipped free I was like 'what the hell?!'. Having a fully trained police officer on the TARDIS should be something the writers can use but they never seem to want to.
I just wish they would give her some human characteristics like Graham and Ryan, and some fun.
@@jonsnor4313 Three companions is just a bad idea. It is now and it always has been. Back at the end of Tom Baker's era of Who they had Nyssa, Adric and Tegan on board and the showrunners realised it just couldn't work, to little time in the episodes to properly let them all shine, so Adric gets killed in Peter Davidson's episode Earthshock.
I really liked this episode for almost the same reasons. But there's one thing that rrrrreally bugs me about the whole premise/message of the story.
Not sure if I got something wrong, but for me it sounded a lot like "it's bad when people don't have jobs because everything is automated". That's Charlie's motivation for... killing people, which doesn't make sense in the first place?! But okay, so he is a guy doing wrong things for nonsense reasons to solve problems that never actually were problems in the first place. As a plot this is totally fine and it's something that happens in our world all the time. BUT at the end of the episode, this "problem" is actually depicted as a real problem, basically saying "yeah, he did something really bad, but for reasons that actually are valid, it's bad that robots do all the work".
And I have a huge problem with this message because it kind of tries to legitimize the exploitative nature of our capitalistic society. Why is it a bad thing to automatize repetitive exhausting work? Why does there have to be a "real human quota" instead of using robots as much as possible? Why is unemployment seen as a bad thing? All of this only makes sense in a system that measures the value of an individual by the amount and profitability of work they do. "If you work hard, you're good, if you don't, you're useless and don't deserve to live." This is the way our society thinks. You need money to buy food etc., and you only get this money if you work. The thing is: if nobody had to work anymore because robots do all the work and produce enough of everything, there wouldn't be any need for money anymore. You could just distribute all the food and what else to all the people and everyone would be happy. "But what would they do with all their freetime??? They would get bored! They need jobs!" -- Guess what, people can and WILL do all sorts of things, even productive things, without having a paid job. Creative work, scientific research, inventing technology to make life even more pleasant, etc... There's no good reason to enforce a human quota for tedious repetitive work that robots can do even better and faster than humans. We don't actually NEED this kind of jobs. Unless we live in a totally fucked up system (like this capitalistic one here) in which case we should just finally replace this system by a better one, because this one has been obsolete for centuries now and only damages people.
tl;dr: This episode could have been a really really good critique of capitalism, instead it kind of depicts our (completely broken) system as the *one and only* way to do it and depicts technological progress as something bad because it robs us of tedious work that nobody wants to do anyway.
Wow, I really thought you would cut this episode to shreds. I didn't enjoy it that much, it felt like a slog to get through. I did like Jodie in this episode. I now feel like I have a really good handle on who this Doctor is, something I didn't get with Capaldi until his last season. Maybe the episode will improve on a re-watch for me if I ever get round to it.
For show that claims to be fresh out of ideas for Christmas specials, they have certainly managed to write an episode that with a few minder costumes changes and set dressing would have made a very passable Christmas outing. Best from the season so far.
I really enjoyed this episode. I liked the little bit of goofy doctor who horror with the robots at the start. Also the bit of pun in the episode title is good too, like at first you think it's just the name of the company but later you realise it really does mean kablam-y explosions.
I felt like there was a bit too much Sonic. And I didn't like when the system went "Emergency break" (can't remember if that was exactly what it said) and that was a quick solution to get the Tardis Crew back together (in the garden scene). I felt like that was a bit cheap, but otherwise I agree, very nice episode!
I didn't see the Doctor using it any more than in any other episode. It's always just been a device that just does a lot of stuff, as long as we know what the Doctor is doing with it, I don't see a problem.
@@bucwhovian8305 I disagree. I love the Sonic, don't get me wrong, I just think that it's such an easy thing to write into the story instead of having the Doctor be clever. Maybe I just noticed it more in this episode, but I don't remember seeing it as much in older episodes. And certainly not in Classic. I love when the Doctor is clever and uses *that* to get out of trouble or fix/make something etc. I loved when 13 made the contraption in Demons of the Punjab, but it was very weird because the Sonic was out of play for like 2 seconds of screentime it felt like. I was like "yes, it's broken, go be clever!" and then it just worked again...
NightRunner the Doctor can use it and also be clever, both things can be true.
It wasn’t in the classic series that much. But in terms of New Who, she’s not really using it anymore excessively than any other Doctor has.
I liked it, I liked the robots of death vibes and subtle nods. I think graham I the best companion. I often wonder what it would have been like if it was just him and the doc, cause I really think it would have worked. Him calling the doctor "doc" makes me think of an older Ben who I think used to call the first doctor "doc" I might be remembering wrong though. The only part I felt was a bit cringy was the part on the conveyors, other than that it was good. I hope the people involved are capable of acknowledging what has been well received/what hasn't and take note. the only two I've really enjoyed are these last two eps.
This is probably the best episode of the season so far. And considering we have Alan Cumming guest starring as the King of Scotland next week, I've got a feeling it's only gonna get better from here.
For the most part I liked this one, but I did have a few problems:
1) The ending was a bit rushed, and the issue resolved quite easily
2) Why was Charlie the villain? I think his motivation would have felt more natural if it was on Dan (Lee Mack’s character)
Besides that, decent episode. Maybe a good one to use to introduce people to Doctor Who
Why would the motivation feel more natural on Dan?
The ending probably was a bit rushed, but that's fairly typical for Doctor Who. It played better than some of the eps this season though since all the elements of the solution had been foreshadowed.
Because the writer knew that that the unsympathic manager would have been expected following the trend of villains. Its kind of a twist to break the anti estabilshment villain patern from earlier episodes.
I would say that it would have been more unnatural on Dan because he had a family on the planet, whereas Charlie didn't. Any action Dan took would also impact his wife and kid. Charlie was on his own. It wasn't until he told Graham about Kira and Kerblam overheard it that any real personal connection was established.
The irony that the cleaner guy wants the best for the humans but chooses to kill a bunch to make a point
Hey, he was brave and noble enough to sacrifice a bunch of other people for his cause!
Here's some more irony. Charlie won. The company became majority human because of what happened, which is what his goal was. In a way, his own sacrifice also led to that happening.
@@lwaves Copypasta-ing one of my comments about this subject, because I think it wasn't that simple.
Was Charlie's goal something intrinsically bad? He just wanted people to have more jobs. That's kinda it. In a world where it's heavily implied that humanity (via Kira and Dan) don't have livelihoods and even a sense of purpose, it's not a bad thing to want more humans working. Judy was shown to be actively doing the same. He was only wrong in that he went to extremes and was willing to blow people up.
Circumstances pushed Charlie into that path of extremes, and the ending has the company trying to change those circumstances so as no one else would be pushed to such extremes. Now, tell me. Is that really a bad kind of conclusion to end the story on?
@@eirei0789 To be clear, I never said it was simple or implied it in my post. I was just pointing out the irony. Personally, I don't think his intentions were bad but like other situations, it's not what they are trying to do, or why, but how they do it. Charlie killed humans to get to his goal and that's a bad thing when he's supposed to be sticking up for those humans. If he'd only gone after robots or the machinery etc then it would have been a different thing but he didn't. The Kerblam AI was also guilty of the same thing, it didn't want to kill humans but when pushed to extremes it was willing to kill Kira to show Charlie personal loss and trying to get him to stop.
The last galactic deal had the workforce be 10% meaning there were 10,000 humans and 90,000 robots and yet the company was still the top company in that galaxy. Sometimes it takes a shock to the system to wake people up and change things.
I'm really disappointed with the 11th series. Only good thing is Grahams
character and the cinematography. The story arcs are bland, the acting
is cringe and Jodie haven't really made her doctor hers.
man... I mean... seeing you so hyped about this episode kinda... I don't know...i just felt like most of the lines were super awkward, and the twist wasn't foreshadowed AT ALL, felt kinda bad to me. in contrast to you, I STILL felt like the doctor is too passive in the episode, I don't know why I can't seem to like a single episode, there also seemed to me like there were plenty of conversations in this episode that I felt the doctor should have been having with people instead of the ones who were having them
i really liked it too. A thing that is only possible because of Chipnall did put a great Team TARDIS together. The dynamic wouldn't work if you took a single one of them away. Especially Yas she is the sort of emotional relief for Rayn so he doesn't just have his sort of Grandpa and an Alien. I also think positive of the overall atempt of it beeing more like classic Who's 1st Doctor guiding style.
This would be the first episode where I truely got the feel of watching "The Doctor" in action on an actual Doctor Who style episode.
My initial thoughts going into this series have only been confirmed. Chibnall is a mediocre writer, great showrunner. He understands due to personal experience the humiliation that comes with having your idea as a guest writer curtailed by the series arc, so he’s created a foundation for guest writers to prosper. So long as we get great guest-writers, maybe even some of these current ones instated on draft, Chibnall could really take it home and bring us an RTD Era feel. He’s built the right ecosystem.
I honestly think we wouldn’t be in the weeds right now if Chibnall didn’t write the Tsuranga Conundrum. You can tell, 6 episodes out of ten, he was being spread a bit thin to focus on that one and it was not a good look. He really could’ve gone after one more guest writer this series. But I’m still hopeful based on these last two episodes that we might get to the homestretch stronger than where we started. Time will tell.
It's like an opposite Moffat, who was a hit and miss showrunner, and a brilliant writer.
@councilofgeeks I appreciate your ability to analyze this season fairly and without bias. You have criticized its flaws but also been willing to praise its successes. I feel that you probably know full well what Doctor Who is and has always been...for this, I thank you.
😊😊😊😊
This is definitely the best episode of series 11 so far. For the most part it was good, but there was one small thing that bothered me. The place is supposed to have ten thousand employees, but throughout the episode it felt more like there were only 5 people.
This is how social commentary should've been done in a doctor who episode, blend seamlessly into the plot of the episode, not what Chris Chibnall had been doing.
I had much the same reaction. The pacing and acting really just felt so much better, and it really feels like the cast are settling into the roles and the writers are better working out the team dynamic.
This episode finally brought us the fun side of Doctor Who this season. I've been waiting for this and am not disappointed. This is my favorite episode so far this season.
It was pretty good. My favourite this series so far. My only complains were the conveyor belt sequence (it looked awful, and served no purpose) and the overuse of the sonic. 4/5 for me.
I agree that the conveyor belt sequence looked downright awful 😂
It served the purpose of showing the size and scale of the place as the reviewer suggested, and how else were they going to get to where they needed to be.
@@heliotropezzz333 I'm not saying it wasn't an important sequence, more that they effects used to make it happed looked dreadful
My main thought while watching it was that this felt like a story that could have come from the '80s Doctor Who comics, or the TV show in the late '80s (circa The Greatest Show, Happiness Patrol) - and for me that's a great thing. I've been really enjoying the way this season has had a wide variation of tones and styles between episodes. It's like it's gone back to being a kind of anthology series linked by the main recurring characters, rather than the story arc-based show it's been since 2005. And i like that.
And i'm really looking forward to next week's episode.
Man this episode is so dystopic, It's such a dumb idea for a society to insists that people need jobs even if the work can be automated. Ideally the work per person should shrink down to a level that balances work needed with available workers.
The effect when Kablam Man go Kaboom is very not notch.
Man, I dig the pun.
What did you think of lee mack's character? He's a popular comedian in the UK but don't think he's well known in the US but could be wrong. It was a nice but imo wasted cameo. Would love to have seen him in longer. Reminds me of the Bill Bailey cameo
I don’t know if you caught this but in the Pandorica two parter, River shoots his fez and he says that he can always order another one. Liked that call back
I want to hire the producers for this episode. What they did with a BBC budget for a single episode is amazing. I get that they are saving a lot of money with historical episodes, but it's still incredible.
I loved this episode!!!! My favourite episode of series 11!! And it had one of my favourite comedians, Lee Mack (as Dan Cooper), in it. Loved the premise and acting. This really felt like a fun Doctor Who episode that I have been waiting for waaaaaaay to long from this series.
I only had 2 little nitpicks with it. 1 was when you could hear Dan scream when the Kerblam man take him away for the bubble-wrap explosion. Really, they could have taken him down below and then try it on him. The 2nd was when Charlie was just standing among the Kerblam men, the Doctor resets them to blow themselves up and doesn't really try too hard to save him. These weren't huge problems, they were just small things for me that I noticed.
I wish when the Doctor gets tough it was actually with people who are....you know...the problem...rather than innocent people which force her to look stupid or have to apologize for asserting herself....
Or you know, the fact that the basic problem of the plot is still in place, or that the episode is unwilling to talk about the actual core issue in the narrative (the automation of Kerblam! and that it's unseen owners are ok with only 10% employment....).
In the classic series for instance the Sunmakers...the Doctor swept in, stopped the guy from committing revolutionary suicide and then instigated a fullscale rebellion overthrowing the cabbage running it all from behind the scenes... Here the person running this whole nightmare never bothers to show up and whilst yes the Doctor stops a heinous crime of mass murder....it's picking up one straw in a pile...who's stopping the next Charlie? Clearly it would not be the two people the Doctor gleefully leaves in charge of the warehouse....
I predict your going to have a second thoughts update on this when I point out to you that no one is held accountable for Kira's death. I mean, if the problem with the villain is that he thought the ends justify the means, why is the system not held to account for killing Kira who is completely innocent, in order to teach Charlie a lesson? The system is as much a villain as Charlie in that it believes the ends justify the means and is willing to kill to reach them. Why is the system held to be blameless and Charlie held accountable? Both are prepared to kill to meet their ends. The system, bear in mind, uses tags to control workers movements, won't permit social interactions during work time, prizes efficiency and profit above human quality of life, assigns mindless and repetitive tasks to humans that are overseen by robot slavemasters, exploits human desperation caused by mass unemployment. The system is an out and out villain and the Doctor thoroughly gives the system a pass - maybe because she thinks it's mascot is cute and she loves her fez. What a corporate tool!
But I felt the same way as you straight after watching it. The script had loads of funny lines, gave Jodie decent opportunities to be doctorish which she does very well with, it gave us the best supporting characters we've seen all season, had surprising reveals, utilized all of the companions well, and it was the most Doctor Who like script of the season so far. It was only on reflection afterwards that the moral problems with the story as well as some of the plotholes like exactly how many workers does Charlie need to blow up to know that the explosive works and is fatal and if Dan met his end by explosive why didn't Yaz hear or see anything; she was on the same floor - a darkened floor and as we later saw those explosions are pretty bright and loud. So the story has gone down in my estimation after reflection despite my high regard for it as the credits rolled.
Also, I don't agree with the Doctor that the system has "developed a conscience". As Gram points out killing your customers would be a terrible business model, so if the system cares about it's profits (which is probably precisely what it is programmed to care about) it's going to want to keep the consumers alive and make sure they are happy, not because it cares about human life but because it cares about profit. If it had developed a conscience it would not be happy to kill Kira to meet that end. It would find another way. It hasn't developed a conscience, it has always had a profit maximisation paradigm, which contrary to what neo-liberals will tell you, isn't a substitute for a conscience.
Lol - I think I may have out-buzzkilled you! You amateur buzzkill, you!
I mean, poor Kira! She died because Charlie cared about her - that's it. She actually died BECAUSE she was nice. And yet the system is not the problem? I think the system is definitely A problem!
Maybe a future video should be top ten most morally dubious decisions of the Doctor starting with resurrecting Ursula as a face trapped in a paving slab and including locking all the spiders in a bunker to starve to death because it's more humane, apparently!
Interesting. I took the death of Kira :'( as a similar thing to the Smile episode with Capaldi. Robots and AIs just think differently. They might be self-aware whilst having a totally different thought process.
Yeah, and one of the key features of that different thought process is not having a conscience, but the Doctor claims it's developed a conscience. I don't see the evidence for that, aside from it doesn't want to kill its customers! There's quite pragmatic reasons for that that have nothing to do with a conscience.
I agree that this was the best story of Season 11 so far, and I don't have major complaints about it. However, if you slapped it down in the middle of the Moffat era, I think it would still seem rather weak in that context-a filler episode amidst more exciting stories. You managed to enjoy it much more than I did-good for you, I suppose. If it entertains someone that much, it must be doing something right. At least Pete McTighe seems to have some idea of how to write Doctor Who stories.
I'm just finding the whole season encreasingly dull and lacklustre, couldn't even get through this one even on the 3rd attempt i dont think the rather drab visuals and setting helped , shame.
I enjoyed the episode, but I'm surprised no one has brought up the Toy Story 2 scene
That was my thought too! I spent hours playing the level based on that in Toy Story 2's computer game.
Yeah the conveyor scene was cool
I liked this video I really like this Kerblam(azon) ep it was good and no complaints too with that HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU NATHANIEL AND ALL YOUR OTHER SUBSCRIBERS
I was watching RTD episodes recently and then thinking about S11 and the comparison makes me depressed. This is so shit it's driving me insane. And it seems like most people can't see it - they are blinded by the hype of a new showrunner and a female doctor.
Or, or... hear me out on this, its just your opinion and others can like stuff you dont? Your literally saying Im right 100% and if you dont think as i do there has to be something wrong with you. You dont see whats stupid in that?
This was an episode I had to go back and rewatch just to see how all the pieces fit together, and everyone's behaviour made a lot of sense the second time. I also predicted it was the robots calling for help, but I thought the resolution was going to be they had to stop imposing the 10% human workforce: that having people work there was somehow hurting the machines. Ryan and the Doctor both made comments implying that giving humans repetitive jobs that robots could do was a bad thing, so I thought the message of the episode was going to be that automation was good, and we should let it happen and create different, more meaningful jobs for humans.
On the first view I missed the line about them planning to increase the human workforce at the end, so I thought the show had decided to stay neutral on the issue, and not say anything about automation being good or bad, which I would have liked. But as it stands I think they got their message a bit muddled. Charlie was supposed to be the villain, yet they did exactly what he wanted. It makes it unclear what they want the audience to take away from that.
Pretty sure there was a "robots of Death" vibe there, even if not a direct call-back. That story even referenced "robophobia" .
Oh - also I assume you notice. The "system" originally tried to send the Doctor straight to the Guilty Party. Her Meddling actually made her go about the long way...
Are you going to do a video about the rumored possibility that Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker are leaving after series 12?
This is really interesting. So far the episodes people hated are the ones I loved and the ones that people are loving are what I'm hating...hm. Something is wrong with me.
Nope, just shows its normal Doctor Who... there so much variance in like and dislike anyone saying its the worst ever or the best ever are seriously got a chip on their shoulders.
I’m currently working on an art piece with all 14 Doctors. I’m totally gonna put a Fez on the 11th and 13th Doctors.
Kernlam. It wasn’t filler, it was fun and straightforward like the last episode.
I loved the reference to the Matt Smith era with the fez, those hats are still cool.
Glad you enjoyed it, Nathaniel. So did I. Charlie's appearance reminded me of Charlie X in the classic StarTrek first season episode--did anyone else get that feeling?
The robots remind me of the anamatronics from Five Nights at Freddy's (specifically the first game, because Scott always tried to outdo himself on the designs in the later games): they're just unsettling enough. It wasn't too creepy or over-the-top, but it's just uneasy enough
This is such a classic Who episode. Reminds me, for some reason of a particular late 4th Doctor story.
The Robots of Death? Yeah, a lot of people have mentioned the similarity :)
While I did quite liked this episode. And I really appreciated the moments with Ryan and how they explained on his Disability. As I have the same thing he has and could relate a lot to his struggles. As it took me many many years of phisical therapy to be able to function like a human being rarity than an unquroanated lump of flesh. And I still have issues and frustrations at being a Sami function human being and I have a lot of trouble spelling and my frustration at my attempts to get a job before my current one are lengdary