Doctor Who 'Arachnid's in the UK' review

Whittaker and the team get entangled in a web of intrigue, comedy and fun-filled, family adventure in another episode that proves the series is a refreshing take on the iconic timelord

Spider mania in 'Arachnid's in the UK' (BBC)

by Jack Linsdell

With 'Arachnid's in the UK' debuting on our screens tonight, it's clear that Whittaker's timelord has indeed settled in nicely - not only in the series, but in the viewers/fan's minds too. After going back in time to 1950's America last week with the new incarnations first period setting adventure, Episode 4 brings the Doctor and her team back to Yorkshire to face a growing (quite literally) and mysterious Spider population threat. 

Many have discounted the new series (both fans and general audiences) as being "too simplistic" or "too politically-correct" or "just plainly underwhelming". Now, let me be clear here. Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and no matter who is playing the timelord or who is writing the episodes, there will always be some percentage of the viewership that doesn't like what they are seeing. However, I believe that our mindset for comparison is the wrong approach to bring to objectively critiquing Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. My personal favourite is Peter Capaldi's series, scripted by Steven Moffat which offer really emotionally deep, extremely humorous, complex and unique storylines in wholly entertaining episodes. However, Whittaker's first series is meant to be different in tone, composition and presentation and therefore cannot be used (too deeply) when comparing its quality to other series that have come before. When judging each new episode, we all have to take it on how well it was made, whether it was effective in creating audience emotions/engagement and how it compares to the ones in the series so far. 

So, to the review and using everything just previously discussed, as an episode in Whittaker's series, this Spider-themed sci-fi flick continues the quality family-adventure fun that the previous episodes have delivered so far. 

Narrative wise, we have another episode scribed by new showrunner and executive producer Chris Chibnall. I've always said that when we get to the first episode written by someone else in this new series will be the true test of quality (whether it gets worse, maintains the standard or improves). However, for now Chibnall continues with another simplistic storyline, which is easy to understand yet also full of enough intrigue and originality to garner audience interest. Although Spider's being a primal human fear has been exploited numerous times on our screens (and in the sci-fi series itself), the way they were utilised was quite refreshing and actually rather well thought out. The fact that the Spider's are only a threat because they have been living on some illegal rubbish dumped under a newly built hotel, which has mixed with thrown-away research from a scientific lab and are not part of some big invasion plan is something truly interesting. Chibnall seems to prefer this smaller-scale and more believable approach to his storylines in this series, and this sets it apart from the more emotionally deep, grand and complex stories from the Moffat era. There were obvious political references (to Trump, urban development and politicians to name a few) that helped ground the story in our world a little bit more, which again is something refreshing. 

Character wise, this is Chibnall's greatest strength this series. Ever since the debut episode, his characterisation of the Doctor and her gang has been spot on. Here, this continues and its safe to say that I am fully invested in the "gang of four" or as Whittaker's Doctor calls them at the end, "Team Tardis". Graham (Bradley Walsh) is still grieving and mourning his wife's death in episode one, and the scenes where he is alone in their apartment are really compelling and work nicely. Yasmin's characterisation develops well here also, with the audience meeting her whole family and getting to know the context about her life before the Doctor appeared. And Ryan's story is being more subtly introduced to us, with each episode bringing us another snippet of information. Together, their team bond is realty believable and it feels like all the actors are very comfortable and settled at this point in the series. At the end, when they all decide to join the Doctor's time travelling adventures full-time, it is truly heart-warming moment and we feel that with episode 4 out of 10, Chibnall and co. can dive right into full-time sci-fi spectacle and entertainment. 

Whittaker's portrayal of the Doctor is still outstanding. Her incarnation's personality is becoming more defined now - she is portrayed (so far) as more a hero than the complex (not a hero or a villain) character that Capaldi's Doctor was defined by. She has some excellent lines, delivering humour and emotional strength in the space of a sentence. Her energy is fantastic and she feels like a really good role model for young girls who will be watching the show with her anti-violence, full-equality and heroic mindset and views. I'm hoping that we get to see her moral compass tested as the series progresses to really explore the depth of her character, but that's a topic for discussion another day.

In comparison to the rest of her series, I'd say this episode ranks in joint first place with 'The Ghost Monument'. People expecting complex and grand storylines, emotionally deep and though provoking themes and big sci-fi spectacle are going to be disappointed because that is not what this new series seems to be going for. You can't compare each episode to what it isn't trying to be because that's your personal preference. In my opinion, Capaldi will always be my favourite. However, I'm enjoying Whittaker's timelord's debut series which delivers light-hearted, family sci-fi adventure, which occasionally delves into our emotions. When taken as a strong, female-led, Sunday night escapism, Chibnall and Whittaker have hit the mark. 

4/5 STARS