Doctor Who: Arachnids in the UK

Doctor: 'I call people dude now.'

Four episodes in, I think it safe to say that the show's found its style and rhythm. Despite a few glitches, the Doctor's personality is pretty much established; Yaz, Ryan and Graham have been given rudimentary backstories; and we now know what sort of stories Chibnall wants to tell. The question is: are they stories we want to see and hear?

Doctor Who: Rosa

Doctor: 'I did not warm to him.'

It was with some trepidation that I approached tonight's episode. With a few notable exceptions, historical episodes rarely portray their famous subjects favourably, and with Rosa Parks the focus, the likelihood of getting it wrong seemed all too probable. Putting the Doctor at the centre of a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement could've been disastrous. But was it?

Doctor Who: The Ghost Monument

Doctor: 'No. Guns... never use 'em.'

Despite praising the unChibbliness of last week's script, tonight's yarn had me reassessing my own enthusiasm. Yes, when you compare Chibnall's new Who stuff to his old, it doesn't seem to rely as heavily on countdowns or the pressing of random buttons, but it's still arguably over-simplistic. Why, I'm not altogether sure. Broadchurch was reasonably complex, with its multiple story layers, and mostly satisfying payoffs. So why do his new scripts seem so linear and lightweight?

Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Karl: 'I'm with him. We don't get aliens in Sheffield.'

First things first: whoever decided it'd be a spiffing idea to lead us virtually blind into the new series—with just a shitty teaser and two trailers entirely devoid of substance to guide us—deserves to be dragged naked through the streets of Sheffield. This episode was nothing like I was expecting—and it really wasn't my fault. They gave us nothing but generic blandness going in, so I expected generic blandness. Thankfully, it was pretty solid. Sure, it might not feel like Doctor Who yet, but it felt Doctor Who-ish.