Doctor Who: Rogue Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs
9. DOWN - The Ghost of Captain Jack
After all the praise for Jonathan Groff's Rogue, this may seem like a contradiction, but it's frustrating that his early scenes do trade a bit too heavily on the same beats from Captain Jack's debut in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.
In The Empty Child, Captain Jack is standing on a balcony watching Rose Tyler dangle from a barage balloon. In Rogue, the titular bounty hunter is standing on a balcony suspiciously watching the party below.
From Rogue's impressive cloaked spaceship to jibes about screwdrivers and shelves, the familiarity hampers our introduction to someone who should be an exciting new addition to the Doctor Who canon.
Thankfully, Gatwa and Groff's unique energy as performers wins out and all comparisons to Captain Jack fade away when the Doctor seduces Rogue with a bit of Kylie Minogue, setting us on to new territory.
Because this time the Doctor really dances.