WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Doctor Who has had a habit since its early years of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist and dealing with cultural anxieties, especially related to technology. This is shown largely from the Cybermen and the fears and anxieties which they represent. Science fiction has been used effectively as a tool to prey on and reflect the dangers of human society and we’ve had some very thought-provoking sci-fi as a result. Dot and Bubble fits into this with a story about the dangers of social media, but it ends up having much more depth and more unsettling meaning. How did this work out? Let’s delve right in.
Dot and Bubble takes place in a place called Finetime, this supposedly optimistic and very utopian city. It’s a world designed for the younger generation, for the 17-27-year-olds, specifically for the rich upper class who are able to pay for it. The people of this world spend all their time inside this artificial social media bubble which encompasses their entire lives and their very existence, which they never look up from. The story surrounds a character called Lindy and her journey as she discovers her close friends slowly going missing as hideous creatures called Mantraps are out in the real world, slowly eating them all. It’s up to the Doctor and Ruby to help Lindy and everyone else get out of Finetime and to safety.
Dot and Bubble is a story with a very memorable and distinctive feel and, vibe. Everything has a positivity, colour and vibrancy which gives the story itself a very fun feel that is entertaining. The production design and aesthetic of Dot and Bubble portrays Finetime with this perfect utopian style, which is very suspicious and incredibly misleading. The perfect sunshine and gleaming city with happy and upbeat people who prosper in their positive attitude sets an image for Finetime, which is very intentional. There is a social satire to Dot and Bubble, which I just adore. There is a comical exaggeration to the imagery which really works and helps the story to sell the point. It feels so utopian that it feels fake and artificial to the point of being very creepy, which is brilliant. Even the way the characters behave inside their own bubble does not feel organic. It feels like the characters are putting a face on and their actions and attitudes are artificial and not true to themselves. This is very clever as it reflects the reality of social media today.
What I’ve really enjoyed about Season 1 so far is the individual flavour to it. It’s been very experimental, and we’ve had a lot of varied stories. Dot and Bubble is also similarly experimental with a Black Mirror vibe to it. Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror is in my opinion some of the best television and best modern science fiction there is, and I am heavily in favour of Doctor Who, taking inspiration from it and veering more in that direction. Black Mirror has the genius of what all the best science fiction does, and that is a self-awareness of the world around us and its dangers. It’s in touch with cultural issues and anxieties and the mood of the people and their attitudes. It uses that to take little things to the extreme and show the dangers they offer to society. Black Mirror comes from a place of cynicism and pessimism and tells grave, dark, and disturbing stories as a result. However, the stories themselves are very individual and isolated, which is a part of its greatness. There is a similar pessimism and cynical perspective to Dot and Bubble, beneath the fun vibe of the presentation which I admire. The dark turn at the end of the story is also very Black Mirror in style and I love the unsettling nature of it.
Believe it or not, I don’t think Doctor Who is always dissimilar to Black Mirror in its ideas and themes. Whilst Doctor Who is known as a scary action-adventure series with a focus upon monsters under the surface, I think what it actually explores is similar in nature. Doctor Who has dealt with anxieties about technology and the state of the world, relatable societal concerns and the pitfalls and shortcomings of humanity. Black Mirror is aimed at an adult audience, which allows it to go deeper and darker with fewer limitations and boundaries. However, it’s a part of Doctor Who’s makeup to explore the nature of humanity. It distils life, the universe, and humanity with relevant moral messages. It’s the power of storytelling and science fiction to deal with questions and ideas which other genres don’t have room for. From an intelligent idea, you can explore relatable emotions which an audience can identify with.
Dot and Bubble personifies this with its tackling of social media. It does not feel out of character for Doctor Who and whilst it has a Black Mirror vibe, it still has the flavour and nature of Doctor Who. There was always going to be potential to find a solid way to blend the two together, and I think Russell T Davies managed it rather well. It’s exaggerated social satire for me feels very similar to the Macra Terror and a lot of Sylvester McCoy stories, like the Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers. The darkness under the exterior of the presented artificiality feels very similar.
Social media social commentary can easily feel like a surface level attack on the younger generation if the story and the message have nothing to say. However, Dot and Bubble does not feel cruel and mean spirited as it’s directed towards a larger societal issue which unravels across the story. The world we see in Dot and Bubble is very relatable in some ways, and that is very intentional. The bubble which surrounds Lindy’s life reflects that of the modern-day social media bubble. We can become so obsessed with our life on social media that we lose touch with the real world. Screen addiction is a real concern, and the story presents that danger and the implications of social media echo chambers in a relatable and very blunt manner. The world of social media that Lindy is engrossed in all day long is one of artificially created content made to please, which can be misleading and not reflective of real people.
There are nuances and layers to the way Russell T Davies presents his attack on social media. He understands the implications and dangers of being morphed by cultivated social media bubbles with a lack of contrasting views to challenge us. This links cleverly in with the racism angle of the story. The story understands that echo chambers can be a dangerous place for harmful and radical viewpoints to fester. People find comfort in their social media bubbles when their feelings are reinforced. This therefore allows bigoted attitudes to become more radicalised and dangerous when faced with a lack of reality and your experiences are contained to people who share the same bigoted worldview with nothing to challenge it. Russell T Davies takes what could have been a very surface level point and expands upon it to tie it into a grander statement about the state of the world in a way that really works. It feels very tied together and consistent. The fact that the world of Finetime is enclosed inside a bubble cut off from the woods reflects how social media cuts us off from the enjoyment of the world around us in a very intelligent manner.
The message of the story relating to racism and white supremacy is where the true heart and point of the story really lies, as the whole structure of the plot feels aligned towards that point. The hints dropped towards Lindy’s racism are vast, but the ending feels shocking. The story is memorable in the way it challenges the audience's own white privilege and reminds them of it. It shows that as progressive as we often try to be, white people still can’t always appreciate the nuances of racist discrimination.
The Mantraps are the main monsters and add a lot of Doctor Who flavour to the story. The slug like design and the way they engulf and absorb people is very horrifying. Their gross and slimy look is very memorable, and they are a fitting addition to the story. There is something very sinister about the Mantraps as a creation. I like the way they pose a threat and are slowly picking people off, but people are oblivious to them as they are so absorbed inside their social media bubble. It adds some thought-provoking commentary on how people become so obsessed with social media and content that they don’t perceive the severity of threats right in front of them. The suspense and scariness of the Mantraps slowly eating all the people of Finetime adds a traditional element of Doctor Who into the mix, which I appreciate. There isn’t a lot to the Mantraps, but they function as a threat.
The shortcoming of the story is the threat behind the Mantraps. It’s revealed that the AI within the Dot has become sentient, become irritated and grown to hate all the constant chatter. I think the revelation comes out of left field and does not have enough build up to it. It doesn’t feel like the ingredients have been put in place or like the setup has been put in motion for this turn to feel meaningful. There needed to be more hints laid on the true nature of the AI for this moment to have an impact. With the AI being able to attack Lindy, it also raises more alarming questions about why the Mantraps were needed.
I thought I would discuss the guest cast at this point with Lindy Pepper-Bean, played by Cailee Cooke, being such a major part of the story. We see the major events of the story through Lindy’s eyes and perspective as someone who is a part of this world. Lindy is a character that could have easily gone very wrong, but Cailee Cooke gets the blend of emotion and energy just right in the character. She needed to be flaky, superficial and annoying, but have a likeable and adorable side to her where you would root for the character throughout. This helps for the ending turn to hit harder. There is a naivety to Lindy that makes you feel sympathy for her and root for her, even if you know she is heavily flawed. Lindy can be very patronising, rude, dismissive and is reflective of a young girl with upper-class parents. However, you feel for the way society has conditioned her and her inability to help herself and walk without the bubble. You are smartly tricked into thinking this is a story about a girl recognising the shortcomings of the reliance on technology in society. It’s a clever subversion of expectations as you are hit with the reality that this isn’t someone who is willing to change.
The part where Lindy turns against Ricky September reveals her true colours and is a shocking moment. It’s here where the audience re-evaluates their own feelings on the likeability of the character, which is a stellar move. I love the way Lindy’s racism is hidden and laid in nuance throughout the story and it’s only on reflection where you notice the blatancy of it. Lindy is a character you grow to hate because of the white supremacist values she represents. She is someone who acts not out of good but out of selfishness, classist elitism, and superiority. You have a stellar performance from Cailee Cooke in a character which shows the pointlessness and stupidity of white supremacy as it doesn’t even offer anything to those who believe in it with Lindy and her friends destined to die.
Ricky September is played by Tom Rhys Harries and adds an interesting element to the story. He is a somewhat enlightened character in that he hasn’t been consumed by his social media bubble and has opened himself up to the world around him, educated himself and broadened his horizons. He fulfils the role the Doctor often does with being a very compassionate and brave character who Lindy rather admires. He is an indication of Lindy’s racism given how trusting she is of him and how resistant she is to the Doctor’s help and helpfully represents the difference in how the Doctor was perceived as a white hero opposed to his current perception.
Dot and Bubble was filmed when Ncuti Gatwa was still filming Sex Education, but they managed to include him into the story in a way in which he is still present throughout. Despite the way he is treated by Lindy, the Doctor is very determined to help her. Ncuti Gatwa has a lot of charisma and energy and the intelligence and rebellious attitude of the character shines. The unfortunate thing is that I do think you feel the way the production is working around Ncuti Gatwa’s availability.
The performance from Ncuti Gatwa at the end of the story is outstanding. It puts the Doctor in a place and position he has never been in, and he has never experienced before in a way that feels truthful and honest. It acknowledges the past white privilege of the Doctor in the fact that they had authority and received respect largely because of their perception in society. As a black man, their perception has shifted. They are undermined, dismissed and seen as subservient and lesser to those around them, which is very disturbing. It re-contextualises the whole episode in how the Doctor’s skill and intelligence isn’t appreciated or valued in the same way we are used to. The story challenges the tropes and expectations of the Doctor by putting them in a difficult situation as a black man. I like the fact that the Doctor is adamant on saving these people regardless of their beliefs and what they think about him as it feels very in character for the Doctor. The emotionally raw and cathartic performance from Ncuti Gatwa and his outrage is heartbreaking and dark. You can feel the rush of emotion, confusion and struggle going through the Doctor’s head all at once as he struggles to process things. It exposes the Doctor to a deeply dark side of humanity. Whilst I appreciated the sexism that the Witchfinders dealt with with the Thirteenth Doctor, I think this is more effective. It deals with racism as an ongoing problem rather than a historic one and happens as a result of the ongoing events of the story.
Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, also has a limited appearance throughout the course of the episode. Whilst Ruby is often dismissed by Lindy, she seems a lot more accommodating towards her. I enjoy Ruby’s very understanding and compassionate personality as she does her best to help Lindy. I also really like Millie Gibson’s reactions at the end of the episode to the racism the Doctor goes through. Growing up in a black family, Ruby probably has seen a good deal of racism towards those she loves and it’s very hurtful for her. It’s subtle but tells us a lot about the character of Ruby.
The story is directed by Dylan Holmes Williams who also directed 73 Yards. I love the way Finetime is visually introduced to us. The gentle movement of the opening shot focused on Lindy with the gleaming sunshine creates a utopian feel and the gentle shots around Finetime helps sell this sense of fake utopia which sets the feel of the episode in place. The focus of the frame around Lindy and her reactions and facial expressions within her bubble puts the story smartly, directly through her perspective. I especially like the focus on her eyes and tears when she first sees the Mantrap as the visual storytelling details her reaction to it. The Mantraps are also filled with a sense of terror. The close-in shot in the scene by the lift, combined with the closeup on Lindy, creates an effective horror. The confined nature of the story’s visuals fits the story well.
So, overall, how do I feel about Dot and Bubble? It’s a terrific story that really unveils the potential in exploring the racial prejudices of the Doctor as a black man. I love the aesthetic and vibe of the fun utopian feel that feels so extreme and upbeat that it crosses the line to feeling artificial and created, which is very creepy. There is a clever social satire from Russell T Davies on the pitfalls of social media addiction, the dangers of echo chambers and a very dark and disturbing message on white supremacy. It feels consistently tied together in the aims of a meaningful point. You have a wonderful performance from Cailee Cooke as Lindy as the story unveils the true colours of her racism and a raw and emotional ending.
Sources that influenced this article:
Whiteness is at the heart of racism in Britain – so why is it portrayed as a Black problem? (theconversation.com)
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I loved your entire take on this episode and chef's kiss to your list of resources at the end!