Doctor Who: The Robot Revolution Review - 6 Ups & 5 Downs

11. UP - Miss Belinda Chandra (Does It Have To Say Miss?)

I would like to start with what I believe is the biggest positive of this opener by some margin: Varada Sethu’s performance as Belinda Chandra.

Straight out of the gate, I’m a big fan of this character and, with no slight on Mille Gibson intended, I found myself warming to her a lot quicker than I did to Ruby. Belinda, with her NHS job and her house share complete with troublesome landlord and bickering roommates, feels relatable and real in a way most characters did not in the last series. This was something that was always one of RTD’s strengths in his first era and I’m glad to see is a skill that remains  in his wheelhouse. I also think a big part of this is owing to Chandra’s performance too, helping to sell both her competence and her ‘so over this’ attitude.

My favourite scene in this whole episode was the brief moment where Fifteen hits Belinda with the technobabble and exposition and Belinda is not into it, caring far more about the fact that he was at her house, uninvited. “Am I six?” as a response to the phrase “Timey-wimey” was the line of the week for me. Great to see that Sethu has some solid comedic chops to match Gatwa.

I also enjoyed the scenes in which Belinda got to flex her skills as a nurse, and show off the skills she will bring to the TARDIS, as well as her natural fascination with the internal biology of both the MissBelindaChandrakind and The Doctor (also, the X-Ray blanket was neat). Speaking of the latter, it was a lot easier to buy into the chemistry between the Doctor and his companion this time too, and I’m very excited to see how these two play off each other as, presumably, their friendship starts to blossom.

I can’t move on before acknowledging that The Doctor instantly referring to Belinda as ‘Bel’ feeds unwelcome credence to a certain circulating theory regarding a couple of adventures from Flux, an as yet unborn child, and a RTD-style mash-up name. Please, please don’t do this, RTD. Let her be her own character.