wikipedia is having a meltdown about series 14 vs season 1 and I think that's pretty hilarious.
an now, my opinions. in the words of River Song: spoilers.
on the whole, I feel optimistic about the show and Ncuti's Doctor. I thought that "The Church on Ruby Road" was a great first outing, very fun, loved the song. there were some great Doctor-ish moments, notably the whole exchange as the Doctor is running on the rooftop and later when he's learning the vocabulary of rope. it was also my first indication that this era is not *for* me. felt very Gen Z! and I'm glad, because there's lots of DW that caters to my particular tastes and it's time for something fresh.
so, on we go to "Space Babies." RTD really said, "hey were you worried I was gonna bring back the farting aliens? what about a literal boogeyman 
" in hindsight, this was the first indication I would not be satisfied with the relationship-building between Ruby and the Doctor. they are besties too quick! nice little moral (though it falls a bit flat after we *just* impaled the Goblin King in the last episode lol), fun intrigue with the snow, yayyyy Golda Rosheuvel, the babies are in the uncanny valley....bewildering. but watchable enough.
"The Devil's Chord" gives us a nice "Pyramids of Mars" callback (we'll get back to that later). the episode is fine, the song is bad, effects are weird, Jinkx Monsoon is giving it 110%.
Moffat makes his return with "Boom" - good drama with heavy-handed commentary. having the Doctor confined to an active landmine is an inspired choice (no Harry Sullivan to get you out of it this time!! oh man, Harry Sullivan would have Opinions about this story). thumbs up.
"73 Yards" - now this is my shit. we're doing folk horror! I know people are gonna quibble about this one, particularly the ending "reset" but a Doctor-lite episode is a test for the companion and Ruby totally held her own. based on the finale, we also know that something lingers with her after this experience....the vibe was superb, the episode did not explain itself, thank god. my favourite episode up to this point.
"Dot and Bubble" - remember how I just said 73 Yards was my favourite? well, it is, but I think Dot and Bubble is the high point of the season. it's not a spectacular episode, but it's solid, and the scene at the end?? it's probably my favourite scene of the season because of Ncuti and Millie's performances. when the Doctor is yelling and raging and Ruby reaches for him, quietly crying...ugh. heartbreak. their friendship doesn't feel as deep or authentic as some previous companion relationships, but this moment works. I also think Lindy is a great protagonist in that you go from being annoyed with her, to rooting for her, to feeling utterly betrayed and disgusted by her. might be strange to say, as the Doctor and Ruby are sidelined in this one due to filming schedules (though I should say I love when Doctor Who gets away from the Doctor's perspective!), but I think this episode is indicative of the direction RTD is going with the series. we've got a balance of social commentary and monsters, compelling guest performances, and a bright and colourful visual style. this is a tone-setting story.
but we must move on, and so we head into the past for "Rogue" with my boy, recent Tony-winner Jonathan Groff. Ruby was namedropping Bridgerton like they were on Netflix lol. just a little mutual showrunner respect between Shonda and Russell. I was delighted to have Indira Varma return to the DW universe (not that her characters fare well, yikes). Ruby takes a backseat in this one so the Doctor can have his little flirtation. love it. I doubt Jack Harkness is making a comeback, so let's get a new bad boy in the mix. (also - sorry, but people continuing to cast Groffsauce, the softest of boys, as bad boys and villains will never not be funny to me. this man cries at eeeeeverything but you wanna write him like Han Solo. hilarious.)
also - did y'all spot Richard E. Grant in that montage of the Doctor's faces? oh goodness won't someone think of the canon! are we really canonizing "Curse of the the Fatal Death" or "Scream of the Shalka"??
this is a good moment to mention that I do not care about canon. everytime a writer fucks with canon (yes, even the heckin' Timeless Child arc) I just shrug and say oh well. sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't, sometimes it has interesting implications down the road which make a bad change fun to explore. so regarding bi-generation...I don't like it, but I don't care that much. and between that and the memory TARDIS, we're really going all-out on the alternate timelines. but that brings us to:
The Legend of Ruby Sunday / Empire of Death - um. not your best finale, Davies.
before I get into it, this season reminds me of series 10, Capaldi's last series. not in tone or story necessarily, but in how it makes me feel about the future of the show. I find series 8 & 9 to be uneven, and at times, unwatchable. I still haven't seen all Capaldi's episodes. but series 10 was solid. finally, we could move on from Clara, the Doctor wasn't so grumpy, the stories tended to be good...and if that had been Capaldi's first season, we would have all been really excited! and so, going into this finale, I was like, "If this is where we're starting, we're in a good spot." the big difference? "World Enough and Time" / "The Doctor Falls" is one of the best two-parters in the show. (Should. Have. Been. The. Regeneration. Story.) LoRS / EoD is not that.
I'm so, so glad we have Mel back. loving Bonnie's performance. delights me to no end. this incarnation of UNIT feels so unserious but I like it. and our "Pyramids of Mars" callback suddenly makes sense, because we have the return of Sutekh! Conceptually, I love this, and A+ for bringing Gabriel Woolf back. in execution...meh. I haven't visually loved any of the monsters this season, and I'm not loving the Sutekh design here, particularly because I thought his 70s look was so iconic. I love that the memory TARDIS from the "Tales from the TARDIS" shorts is explained in this ep. I shouted "You bastard!" at my TV because I thought that was a fun and clever bit of marketing/story tie-in work from RTD and the Bad Wolf team. also, I love that shoddy lil' box. adorable.
as people have pointed out, having Sutekh clinging to the outside of the TARDIS for hundreds of years is mad silly, and we all want to know if Jack Harkness spotted him that time he hitched a ride back in Series 3. it's also a bit silly, stakes-wise, to kill off the entire universe and then...bring death to death? Superman reversed time and Lois is alive again. sure. this is pretty ridiculous, and also I'm still not sure how much of the Universe was destroyed in the Flux?? but hey. even way back in "Terminus," Doctor Who had this issue of telling rather dull stories with the highest stakes possible (the destruction of the entire universe). speaking of "Terminus" - anyone remember the Garm design? echoes of it in Karvanista, maybe?
RTD is also trying to correct the Star Wars sequels fumble with Rey's parentage by having Ruby's mom be a regular person. I don't love focusing on companion backstories to this extent, particularly not in finales, but her family reunion is sweet. in the end, Mrs. Flood says something mysterious and ominous, and that's our season, folks.
messy, to be sure. entertaining. promising.
this is my first new Doctor since I went back and watched (most of) Classic Who. what I learned, getting into the classic series during COVID, is that I love this show. I love it when it's great, and I love it when it's terrible. my love is unconditional, which makes me a poor reviewer. sure, some eras feel like they are *for me* but that is about taste, not quality. Pertwee's first season is a masterpiece and I don't really like it. McCoy's first season is a disaster and I love it. I liked Amy Pond more on a rewatch, I liked Clara less, I think "Love and Monsters" is good, actually.
Series 14 / Season One is Doctor Who for a new generation, and I'm excited for people who get to grow up with Ncuti's Doctor. we had a nice variety of stories and settings, the production standards are high, and I hope that as this new era finds its footing, we will get some truly great stories like "Wild Blue Yonder" again.
(or maybe Jonathan Groff will come back and siiiiiing)
fin.
