TV Review Dr Who Kerblam

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Spoiler alerts Any resemblance between Kerblam and Amazon is entirely intentional here, in the most entertaining episode of the first Jodie Whittaker season so far. There are several echoes of former episodes; the postal delivery to the TARDIS reminiscent of the circus flyer arrival in The Greatest Show In The Galaxy, the reference to Agatha Christie may be the first name-drop moment based on an event we actually saw (The Wasp & The Unicorn). Corporate businesses with disappearing staff reminded me of The Long Game. KerblAmazon was not perfect of course. They missed the fez delivery by two regenerations. Interestingly, the episode made no direct reference to Earth. Virtually all episodes of new-Who do up to now. Lee Mack’s cameo was among the shortest ever. Tell a few typical Lee Mack jokes, then die. Again the villain of the week was not who we expected it to be, and there were some well-handled red herrings. The reference to Christie was in some ways a hint of that. Julie Hesmondhaigh and Callum Dixon were great as appalling corporate jobsworth lackeys who seemed inevitably likely to be behind the disappearances until they weren’t. The indication that the dead were still working made me think immediately that someone, most likely Dixon’s Slade might be claiming their wages as I did work at a company where wages were being paid to non-existent staff. The big clue was the 10% human employment in an automated galaxy. That only one worker was driven to extreme Ludditism seems surprising, but using killer bubble wrap was a brilliant way to do it, given its part in Dr Who creature and prop design. The Kerblam factory, especially the inevitable conveyer belt ride looked stunning. The only real flaw was The Doctor relying on the little whirly robot to do what the sonic screw-driver could have done for her though the sonic over-use is irritating; especially Whittaker’s sweeping arm flourishes whenever she deploys it. This episode deployed its companions well, with each getting lots to do, especially Graham. The tension as the delivery robots were about to launch was fierce and this felt the most traditional Who episode of the season so far. Arthur Chappell Photo taken by me - Dr Who TARDIS in Manchester