Season 2 continues on Saturday with... Lux. Written by Russell T Davies, and guest starring Alan Cumming as Mr Ring-a-Ding who previously starred in The Witchfinders as King James VI.

The Doctor's quest to get Belinda home takes the Tardis to Miami in 1952, where an abandoned cinema is hiding a terrifying secret. Can the Doctor uncover Lux's power?

8am on iPlayer, and 7:15pm on BBC One.

Discuss the episode here ~

Every review I’ve seen for this episode so far has been excellent, saying it’s the defining episode of the era so far, 10/10, one of the best things to have happened to the show in a while, etc.

SO excited

Should be interesting then. Miami was notoriously racist and vehemently enforced segregation in the '50s so I wonder if that will be factored in or not

Have to say I feel unsure seeing the previews etc with the animation in terms of what to expect.

I think that's just because of last series/ The Devil's Chord. But hopefully will be good :)

2 hours ago, Severin said:

Should be interesting then. Miami was notoriously racist and vehemently enforced segregation in the '50s so I wonder if that will be factored in or not

It is acknowledged in the episode apparently!

That was one of the maddest episodes, but incredibly well done. The 'fan' bit went on a tad too long but other than that there was a good pace and time for other scenes to breathe. Definitely need to re-watch it.

Belinda continues to be great as well. This series feels like a big step up from the first 2 of the last series, hopefully it continues!

Loved every second of it.

I think Blink is everyone's favourite ep 🤭

Yeah that Blink bit made me laugh.

Also just saw this on another forum which I hadn't noticed...

https://x.com/0hMySt4rs/status/1913525334764314902

I was going to embed it with a spoiler, but couldn't see where the spoiler function was on the new forum :D

Edited April 19Apr 19 by ElectroBoy

My only concern going into this was that we were regressing back with runtimes again, but wow. That was incredible. In full agreement with the reviews that it's probably the best episode of Ncuti's era so far by a country mile. Had kinda guessed that 'The Harvest Bringer = harbinger' was gonna be a thing but I wasn't expecting everything to play out how it did and was still surprised at the giggle reveal and where it all went from there was spectacular. The visuals were all stunning too.

Spoiler

The meta moment with the fans was done really well I thought (even if I disagree re. Blink ), that whole sequence of the Doctor and Belinda being trapped inside the screen was great. It all worked really well contained within this story so it'd be a bit brow-raising if things get any more meta than that in the future.

Just finished watching it and wow , incredible was unsure going in with the teaser clips but any doubt was eroded fast

Definitely a step up from last season so far,

Really glad to see just how positive the reaction online to this episode has been (and in particular the commentary on the meta scenes too). Hopefully a turning point for this era of the show if they can keep the quality up for the remainder!

I wasn't a fan of the opening episode but this was a big step up, I really enjoyed it and it made me laugh quite a few times too. The part where they became cartoons was well done and I loved the fan part too, both felt like things I hadn't seen before in the show which was really refreshing.

Belinda has been great so far, I love that she hasn't been afraid to call him out on things like taking her DNA without consent and, so far at least, she feels like the perfect companion.

That was pretty fun, definitely the best of the God focused episodes and the execution didn't feel over the top or rushed this time. I have respect for seeing old school 2D animation in anything these days given how rare it is next to 3D CGI, let alone infused with live action so that was always a plus.

The part with the show fans didn't quite land as well for me as it felt very rushed and had drawn out sentimentality when they left, as we'd only just met these people and yet the music was acting like they were trusted characters. It was a good idea but needed a bit more time, I did of course love the idea of fans taking part though, and love that RTD is self-aware about the best episode 😎 Also, seemed like Doctor and Belinda were already best buds by the end of it, I was hoping the slight tension between them would continue, we'll see how next week goes.

Anyone else getting a bit tired of these Mrs Flood teases? There's only so much I can care about this vague mystery when there's so little to go off other than she's mysterious and it will happen in the finale.

It was a really strong episode, definitely felt like the best execution of the gods concept yet and Mr Ring-a-Ding was an incredible villain, from the design and animation to the voice from Alan Cumming, superb! Belinda's continuing to be a brilliant companion, and I'm glad they didn't forget to address the reality of being in 1950s Miami for two non-white people.

The meta scene... I was unsure at first, but I think it ended up being a really cute scene, if a little long. Surprised by how well it's gone down online, I was dreading the discourse!

If Mrs Flood isn't The Rani then I don't care for the character at all 🤪

Had to have a long think about this to decide where I stood with it.

I liked the setting, both leads were solid in this of course and the overall concept even if it was a bit 'back of a fag packet'.

It started of well and I was thinking this was going to be one of Gatwa's better episodes (which is a fairly low bar for me), Mr Ring-a-Ding was well executed and Cummings delivered on the voiceover but then it both literally and figuratively crossed the line with one of RTD's usual self fellating exercises. Once the Doctor and Belinda were pulled into the animated world it lost me. Not that I couldn't follow it, just thought it was naff and cheesy. I get that the show is full of possibilities and I don't expect to like everything - that's always been the case. This however, just broke any sense of tension or momentum and wasn't half as clever as it thought it was.

After that little diversion was over the show somehow managed to get back on the rails and picked up again. That it was all resolved with the usual hand waving guff was disappointing but not unexpected.

Very much felt like it could have been a great episode but came out a 6 or 7 out of 10 in the end. A missed opportunity

I do though want to hold full judgment off on this two series run until the conclusion as I feel the conclusion will colour them both significantly. If Mrs Flood is The Rani, that would be kind of welcome. I wouldn't put it past RTD to even tie-in the Eastenders crossover Dimensions in Time (did somehow she pick Angie Watt's face from a photo?!). That would be ridiculous but I can still envisage it.

The only way I can see this all working is if this brings in the Gods of Ragnarok somehow. It would allow RTD to mess around as much as he likes and still have the potential for his successor (if there is one) to do a hard reset or carry on as they please. It also allows the fourth wall breaking to exist and not completely trash the continuity, as long as they handle it right.

At the moment though everything seems an exercise in trying to look clever or score points for highlighting issues at the expense of writing great stories with great scripts and a subtle message.