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

I’d like to talk about another highlight of the episode for me, the scene of the two star diplomas colliding. I won’t comment on the logic of that resolution because there isn’t any. What I’d like to focus on instead is the composition of the scene – the VFX and editing of this sequence was, for lack of a better phrase, pretty dope.

The initial time-stop ripple effect is amongst the best looking bits of CGI we’ve seen from the Disney-budget thus far, and Murray Gold’s score shows a rare moment of restraint, slapping us with a distorted and minimalist piece in place of the usual bombast (this goes just as hard as a full orchestra).

What follows is a total acid trip of abstract shapes and colours, with glitchy visuals and audio throughout. We also get a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flashes of additional faces: an older Belinda, a young boy, a dark haired man, and an older gentleman wondering about in confusion. We’ll have to wait and see if these glimpses amount to anything, but if they do, it’ll be a welcome step in the direction of subtlety.

It wasn’t just this scene that hit us with the tripiness either, we got a number of instances of major schwuppage throughout the episode. Big fan of the schwup.

This was weird. I’d like more please.