Doctor Who: Keblam! review

Series 11 goes back to the formula of 'pure sci-fi escapism' for another entertaining, yet original storyline in this futuristic Amazon-type company themed episode

Lee Mack guest stars in Doctor Who series 11: 'Kerblam!' (BBC)

by Jack Linsdell

After the franchise took a refreshing break last week by giving us an emotionally deep and morally complex episode, reminiscent of the Capaldi/Moffat era and an original Pakistan themed and set storyline, 'Kerblam!' puts series 11 back on the path it was taking - although that's not necessarily a criticism. 

Before I launch into the review, a quick update on how the series is performing in terms of ratings. Last week's adventure, 'Demons of the Punjab' pulled in a still impressive 5.77 million overnight viewers, which is a drop once again from the previous weeks total - this time 6.12 million (-5.1%). This compares favourably to the -4.8% drop from 'The Tsuranga Conundrum' to 'Demons of the Punjab'. In terms of consolidated figures, last weeks episode legged it to 7.49 million viewers, decreasing from the 7.97 million from the previous week. Now, although these numbers are dipping consistently week by week, the positive news is that audiences are slowly losing interest and not all disembarking together. Perhaps, this can be attributed to the fact that the whole "first female doctor" sell for the series is wearing off now we're coming to the finale of the series very soon. However, as long as Jodie Whittaker's debut season retains a consolidated viewing audience of 7 million viewers for the next three weeks, I think Chibnall and friends can call the series a commercial success. 

Indeed, that 7.49 million views is a larger figure than Capaldi's debut season 8 episode 'The Caretaker' (number 6 in the series) of 6.82 million and bigger than the same numbered episode in his final series 10 'Extremis' which only brought in 5.53 million. The point is that Whittaker's series is still over-performing any recent Doctor Who season since the start of Matt Smith's tenure and therefore can be deemed successful.

As to the review, and 'Kerblam!' is yet another example of another writer's work apart from new showrunner and main series scribe Chris Chibnall. The series has alternated (relatively speaking) between a futuristic and a period setting every week, which has helped keep it fresh. This episode, penned by Pete McTighe, focusses on The Doctor and her 'Team TARDIS' getting a parcel delivered by an automated robot working for the Kerblam company. On the parcel's delivery note is the words "help me", and being the conscientious timelord she is, the Doctor investigates. From here, the plot basically revolves around every one of the 'gang' investigating a different area of the Kerblam production facility, with mysterious workers going missing. 

Now, after the more sophisticated, arguably more explicitly adult-targeted and emotionally deep episode last week, the series goes back to pure sci-fi escapism here with another simplistic, yet coherent narrative. There is very little suspense or real intrigue to hold you through the first thirty minutes, yet Whittaker's charm, some interesting visuals and a glorified (yet exceptional) cameo from Not Going Out lead man/writer Lee Mack manage to keep you watching. The narrative isn't bad, but it certainly isn't really engaging. And, perhaps this is partly because the series went in a whole new narrative direction last week. Although, enjoyable on the surface, it's re-watch compatibility is very small in my opinion as once you know the twist at the end, there is really nothing to entertain you at all. 

Yes, the last fifteen minutes really increased the tension and dramatic weight considerably, providing a truly suspenseful, intriguing and genuinely surprising climax. When the key maintenance man is (Spoilers!) found to be the villain of the episode and using the army of robots to deliver bombs to Kerblam's customers in order to prove the worth of human workers (the company only currently has 10% human workforce to meet guidelines), the episode really becomes engaging for the first time. 

To it's credit, and like most of the series' episode's, 'Kerblam!' is grounded/constructed around important themes to do with human rights, mechanisation and exploitation of profits by large companies. Indeed, Kerblam feels like a fictional version of Amazon, and the way it shows our reliance on technology and 24-hr delivery creating such high demands is a very topical and interesting theme to explore. And, the episode deserves credit for tackling that. However, if there was more substance to the narrative this would have been a much more superior quality episode. 

Performance wise, Whittaker steals the show - her Doctor's strength and moral compass shining through as well as her energy and passion for solving mystery's and saving the world. She leads the team and I have certainly accepted her as the new face for the famous timelord. However, her gang have very little to do, and especially compared to the emotional depths that these new companions have been taken to (Ryan in 'Rosa', Yaz in 'Demons of the Punjab' etc.) this episode feels incredibly weak in terms of their involvement. There are occasion gems of characterisation in line with the general series thread, however like the narrative itself there isn't any real depth or emotional response created. Other episode's this series have lacked the depth but still retained the intrigue, suspense or sadness that have made them more engaging. 

Visuals are the episode's strong point. The whole production facility of Kerblam is beautifully and meticulously created by the production team and I imagine it was one of the most expensive visuals to create (the detail in the set design was terrific and there was a lot of visual effects work needed). The computerised robots are nicely designed, and when they malfunction (of sorts) towards the end, their very happy/full smile faces saying nastier things can be quite scary - although the episode doesn't exploit enough of this. 

Overall, 'Kerblam!' is not a good episode (when judging it by the "purely sci-fi Sunday night escapism" rule series 11 has been going by), yet it has enough in it not to be bad either. The main problem is its fantastic on the surface, but lacks any real narrative depth or emotional response beyond gorgeous visuals, unique and topical themes and a glorified and fabulous Lee Mack cameo. The series isn't getting better, yet it isn't really dropping. Hard to explain, but I'm interested to see how a visit to King James next week for another historically themed adventure works out. 

3/5 STARS