Doctor Who – The Robot Revolution preview: A shaky start – but Varada Sethu shines

Answers come her way, though – Belinda had a star named after her 17 years ago, and now the robots inhabiting the planet orbited by that star believe her to be their queen, and are determined to bring her "home"... but there's the small matter of a brutal war raging on the planet known as Missbelindachandra One.

To make things more complicated, a curious machine called the AI Generator wants to marry Belinda, the TARDIS is nowhere to be seen and, of course, there's something very timey-wimey going on...

Firstly and most importantly for the season ahead, Sethu absolutely shines and is a breath of fresh air. The debut of Belinda – who simply isn't up for a jaunt across the stars and just wants to get home – is one of the most joyful parts of the episode.

Her spiky dynamic with the Doctor is a welcome switch-up (although it heralds back to certain classic companions too), and it's instantly clear that she's set to challenge the Doctor this season in a way he might not be used to.

Gatwa hits the ground running too, lighting up the screen in his signature fashion and bursting with energy as he takes us along for the ride.

He's got a lot to do this episode, from getting into a rhythm with a new companion and doing the whole "It's bigger on the inside" schtick to pulling off some pretty precise dialogue and switching between laughs and emotional beats. As always, he does it with ease, and is a joy to watch.

But the episode is dragged down in various ways, most of which we can't talk about just yet – suffice to say that the episode's climax, involving a rather ludicrous reveal, fails to stick the landing. There's also some very on-the-nose writing, characters stating the obvious rather than allowing the episode's themes to speak for themselves...

There are some great moments too, though. A tense sequence in the middle of the episode, involving an exchange between the Doctor and Belinda in front of their robot captors, is gripping.

Anita Dobson's Mrs Flood makes her long-awaited return, and she's as camp as ever.

Plus, the episode wastes no time in setting up some intriguing mysteries when it comes to our new companion (as well as answering one that viewers will have been curious about).

All in all, The Robot Revolution is a fun concept that could have been executed a lot better. Would there have been better ways to start the season? Most certainly. But episode 1 has done its job and now, hopefully, we await more thrilling adventures to come.

After The Robot Revolution comes a trip back to 1950s Miami in Lux (guest starring Alan Cumming), before we delve into the depths of The Well in a dark episode 3 starring Rose Ayling-Ellis...

Doctor Who season 15 begins on 12th April 2025, coming to BBC iPlayer at 8am and airing at 6:50pm on BBC One.

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