Doctor Who: Lux Review - 6 Ups & 4 Downs

We obviously spend most of Lux inside the Palazzo's auditorium (and silver screen), but the scene in the diner has an eerie quality to it for an entirely different reason. When the Doctor and Belinda "risk" a 4am coffee, there's an uneasy tone to the scene that you wouldn't get with any previous Doctor. The diner and the cinema are segregated spaces, where non-white people aren't welcome, an obstacle in the way of the Doctor and Belinda that has to be delicately handled.

The Doctor and Belinda operating in secret at 4am is a fascinating way to handle this potential story obstacle. This is a twilight world where the rules of segregation can be overlooked without severe ramifications.

In the past, the Doctor could just march up to someone and ask about the locked up cinema. Now that we have the first black Doctor, history can put societal barriers in the way, adding a new dimension to the storytelling.

It's sometimes a bit too on-the-nose, the Doctor's "sometimes I wait for people to topple their world" feels like an explanation too far, for example. However, the subject of racial tension gives Lux a uniquely tense atmosphere throughout the episode.