Doctor Who fans have branded the show’s latest outing, Dot and Bubble, as a ‘rip-off’ of Black Mirror’s episode Nosedive.
Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who episode 5 Dot and Bubble.
The latest adventure takes place on FineTime’s set factory, where residents live happily and depend on the bubble, a social media technology that literally envelops the user’s head, making them almost unaware of the outside world.
The episode was led not by The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and companion Ruby (Millie Gibson), but by Lindy Pepper-Bean (Callie Cooke), who is so engrossed in the bubble that she doesn’t notice giant slugs eating everyone around her .
Netflix’s 2016 Black Mirror episode followed a similar theme, where people were also followed by social media and their online assessments of others would influence their daily lives.
Doctor Who fans have branded the show’s latest outing, Dot and Bubble, as a ‘rip-off’ of Black Mirror’s episode Nosedive.
The latest adventure takes place on FineTime’s set factory, where residents live happily and depend on the bubble, a social media technology that literally envelops the user’s head, making him or her almost unaware of the outside world (photo Ncuti Gatwa)
The 2016 Black Mirror episode (pictured) followed a similar theme, with people also being followed by social media and their online assessments of others would influence their daily lives.
Viewers told X said: ‘Does Doctor Who still want to be Doctor Who? Or is he happy to just ditch Black Mirror, Stranger Things, and whatever else he likes?’: ‘This episode is giving me Nosedive Black Mirror vibes’.
They continued: ‘I miss the Doctor who strove to be more than a budget Black Mirror’: WTF was that? First the disappointment [last week’s episode] 73 meters now Dot and Bubble. An entire episode so they could recognize Susan Twist and turn off Black Mirror. And why is the doctor always crying? I swear it’s been almost every episode. And this season started so well’.
The huge twist at the end of the episode revealed that those living on FineTime are in fact racists and Lindy refuses The Doctor’s help to save everyone from the snails after discovering the color of his skin.
He tells him, “You’re not one of us,” leaving the Time Lord in tears of frustration and disbelief in a dramatic final scene.
However, some viewers were unimpressed by the surprising statement: ‘Doctor Who. Point and call. He’s not very subtle [Writer Russell T Davies]. I liked the uniqueness of the main character, someone you loathed towards the end, I can’t think of a similar scenario before in New or Classic Who’.
‘Doctor Who Dot and Bubble is white savior Russell T Davies’ racist episode in a Black Mirror package. If you don’t have a low IQ, you knew where this was going after 15 minutes, but the ending made no sense. Illogically written, just to make Davies feel smug and obvious.’
And: ‘Whoever is on the left must spoil everything, a highly unique science fiction concept that amounts to racism on an alien planet. What the ***. The last five minutes is where Doctor Who is over, all done’.
Last month, Doctor Who fans issued a strong verdict on Ncuti’s performance as the 15th Doctor after the BBC show returned for its 14th series
The episode was not led by The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and companion Ruby (Millie Gibson), but by Lindy Pepper-Bean (Callie Cooke, pictured)
She gets so caught up in the bubble that she doesn’t notice giant slugs eating everyone around her
Ruby, the Doctor’s companion, pictured
Viewers told X said: ‘Does Doctor Who still want to be Doctor Who? Or is he happy to just turn off Black Mirror, Stranger Things and whatever else he likes?’
The beloved sci-fi show returned with two new episodes, Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord.
Watching X – formerly known as Twitter – viewers raved that Ncuti is the ‘perfect’ doctor and that his ‘acting is impressive’.
“This is a very bad episode but Ncuti Gatwa has a lot of energy for the doctor. I hope he gets better episodes.”
Other fans said the Sex Education star is ‘incredible’ and they are excited to see him in more episodes.
The huge twist at the end of the episode revealed that those living on FineTime are in fact racists and Lindy refuses The Doctor’s help to save everyone from the slugs after discovering the color of his skin.
However, some viewers were unimpressed by the surprise
‘They’re really good. Ncuti is incredible; Okay, I’m sold on Ncuti now; Ncuti is as warm and sweet as the doctor #DrWho from the jump; I love Ncuti as a doctor.”
‘Actually in love with Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor. #Doctorwho; If anything, I feel like they’re written a little better than last season. Ncuti is also doing a great job with the character so far.”
‘I really like the new Doctor Who. Ncuti Gatwa plays the role with a confidence I haven’t seen from Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker. And I liked both incarnations too.”
The eight fast-paced, action-packed episodes see the Doctor race around London on a snazzy 1960s scooter, narrowly escaping explosions and monsters with his new assistant Ruby Sunday (former Coronation Street actress Millie Gibson).
Born in Rwanda and raised in Scotland, Ncuti was inspired to become an actor after seeing David Tennant in the role.
Doctor Who’s Dot and Bubble is now available on BBC iPlayer and airs on BBC1 on Saturday at 6.50pm.