1950s Miami, a spooky theatre, and an even spookier – animated – baddie. Well it could only be another big creative swing from Russell T Davies in the second episode of Doctor Who titled Lux. The introductory episode shackles have been shaken off and the doctor and Belinda are getting into a proper adventure now. With an intriguing mystery, the campest villain since Maestro, and a moment that defies anything we’ve seen in Doctor Who maybe ever. This could potentially be one of the best episodes RTD has written as part of his new era.
After the events of The Robot Revolution, The Doctor is now tasked with trying to find a way to get Belinda back home to Earth in 2025. Have no fear everyone because he has just the gadget that will help them to get to their destination: a Vindicator. A jiggery-pokery piece of technology that has the power to connect a web through time to slingshot them back to Belinda’s home. But for it to work they must land in various different places to charge it up. It’s a fairly simple conceit but one that works to keep the flow going. The dynamic between The Doctor and Belinda that has been set up in the previous episode makes this concept more overtly interesting too. Belinda just wants to get home, but she is being forced into experiencing these new times and places with The Doctor in order to do so.
Of course The Doctor can’t help themselves because when they land in 1950s Miami and find out that a group of people have gone missing in an abandoned cinema he drags Belinda with him to try and crack the case. They soon find out that the cinema is now home to Mr. Ring-A-Ding, an animated film character that has jumped straight from the reel itself and come to life. Not only that but we hear a familiar motif, a certain giggle, that confirms that Mr. Ring-A-Ding is but a manifestation of the god of light, Lux. The pantheon of gods has been commonplace in Russell T Davies’ new era, with the Doctor having faced off against The Toymaker the god of games, Maestro the god of music, and Sutekh the god of death. Therefore the continuation of this storyline does not feel out of place, but more that it is starting to get a bit tired.
Lux, or Mr. Ring-A-Ding, is one of the more compelling gods that Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor has faced off against, as they have a clear cut goal and have one majorly more interesting thing going for them than the other Gods, and that is their design. The animation in real-life gambit that this episode plays is incredibly slick, and Lux fits seamlessly into the setting. Even in scenes where Lux interacts with The Doctor and Belinda the animation is so strong that it feels like it’s meant to be there. Lux even gets to enter the Doctor Who history books as a creepy looking villain too as in a sequence where he tries to steal The Doctor’s regeneration energy to become real they transform into a freaky uncanny valley computer generated animated horror monster. Alan Cumming was a phenomenal choice for the voice of Lux too, bringing heaps of energy and just about the right amount of camp compared to their God level siblings.
The Doctor and Belinda also get a taste of the animated life as Lux captures them into their own reel of film. It’s only a slight moment where they are animated in a 2D style akin to Scooby-Doo, but it looks absolutely gorgeous. RTD even threads an interesting way for them to break out of their animated looks into the script in which the two speak their emotions adding ‘depth’ figuratively and literally to themselves. It’s from this moment however that the veteran writer takes a huge swing narratively that brings the episode to a grinding halt to become something more contemplative.
To try and escape the reel The Doctor and Belinda try to physically break the film from within. In doing so they end up in a completely blank environment. They then become aware of the screen in front of them – yes the screen we are watching them through – and decide to push it down. They then climb through a TV into a living room drenched in Doctor Who memorabilia. Sitting in front of the TV are three people dressed in various levels of Doctor Who graphic T-shirts and scarfs and fezzes. In what is the most baffling moment that has ever happened in Doctor Who, the Doctor and his companion break out into the ‘real world’ and find out they are in a TV show. This kind of stunt wouldn’t work in any other TV show, especially not one that hasn’t been running half as long as Doctor Who has, but here it kind of works. Existing for sixty years gives you a green light to be a bit sentimental, and fourth wall-breaking.
As pleasantries are exchanged, jokes about popular episodes, and even a reference to the leaks that plague the show’s online presence, there is a moment before The Doctor and Belinda return back to the action of the story they’re in where a beautiful acknowledgement takes place. Not only was it a love letter to the show as a whole, but it was a love letter to the fans too. The dedicated Whovians who have stuck with Doctor Who through thick and thin. Further to that an acknowledgment of the importance of this show in the lives of fans. It’s a lovely moment and one that feels earnt and despite interrupting the pace of the episode deserves its place in it.
Lux is Russell T Davies firing on all cylinders. Giving us an episode that not only adds to the lore of his current era, but also giving us a love letter to everything that came before it. It isn’t the greatest episode of Doctor Who ever but it’s pacey brisk fun, along with the fourth wall breaking moment it certainly feels like a Doctor Who episode for now, and that’s all that matters.
Doctor Who, Season Two is now streaming on Disney+.
Learn more about the show, including how to watch, on the official site for the title.
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