Doctor Who: Dot And Bubble Review - 5 Ups & 5 Downs

The central antagonists (well, sort of) of Dot and Bubble are the 'Man Traps' – creatures so underdeveloped that I only found out that's what they're called when watching the behind-the-scenes interviews.

These sluggish chaps are definitely the most traditional Doctor Who monsters of this era so far (for better or worse), and I appreciate the continued commitment to leaning into practical effects. On the whole though, they're uninteresting, and not particularly threatening. And once again, despite expectations, they weren't out-and-out aliens, simply constructs. That means Fifteen still hasn't come face-to-face with an actual confirmed alien in any of his seven episodes – this has to be a new record.

It turns out that the Man Traps were created by the Dots. I'm not sure how, but more importantly, I'm not sure why. We see the Dots in action towards the end of the episode, and they're far more effective at pest control than their constructs, essentially turning themselves into malicious, sentient bullets. They could wipe out the city in an instant, so why do they resort to creating literal slugs, which aren't famed for their speed or agility, to do the job for them?

One possible explanation could be that the inhabitants would clock on to the fact that people were being murdered by their Dots and deactivate them, but this is never suggested in the episode, so RTD doesn't get a pass. While I kind of agree with the motivations of the Dots to initiate this purge, it's not really explained how they gained sentience, or why the homeworld needed to be eliminated too.

We've had better villains. Much better. These come in just above the Bogeyman, and that is not a compliment.