I had just about given up on Disney Who after that entire episode written around a single brilliant (better) moment between Harry and the Doctor from “Genesis of the Daleks”, but I’m a sucker for time-skip stories like “73 Yards”, though I think Black Red Mirror’s “Demon 79” did something similar (and again, better). The next two felt like the inevitable reminders Gatwa’s both Black and gay and were serviceable enough, but damn, was that finale ever a twisted abhorrence to this long-time fan. For an all-new series, it sure does rely on marvels of its past; even that homage to a scene from “Pyramids” in an earlier outing was a pale imitation, amidst hokum appropriate for mid-to-later-era CW Flash. At least nonagenarian Gabriel Woolf got paid in 2024 money.
Stuck in the hotel on my latest trip to the Twin Cities I got to explore the free offerings on Pluto TV, one of whose channels ran ad-supported Britbox reruns of the Pertwee era, more or less in order until it got to Baker, and never was the popular term “peak” more apt. I fear my Doctor’s not long for this world, so allow me to praise his performance in those first few seasons we had on PBS, including in Leela’s debut, when he was at his most ruthless and egomaniacal.