Doctor Who: Kerblam! (2018) - Review

A distinct criticism of this current series of Doctor Who has been that each episode has been lacking in a strong villain, and instead focuses on characters going up against less black-and-white antagonists or antagonistic forces. Sure, we had Tim Shaw in the very first episode, and Krasko in 'Rosa', but neither left much of an impression. The best alien so far has been the Pting, but that's not exactly a villain. Part of the problem manifests in the stories being told: Episode 1 needs a one-dimensional villain to flesh-out the heroes, 'Rosa' and 'Demons of the Punjab' tread potentially difficult ground in creating proper villains, and 'The Tsuranga Conundrum' tries to play on expectations with a more cute-and-cuddly monster. Ultimately I feel that 'The Ghost Monument' and 'Arachnids in the UK' needed definitive villains or monsters for the Doctor and co to fight off, and I'm slightly disappointed to say that 'Kerblam!' somewhat falls under this trap as well.

The antagonist in 'Kerblam!' turns out to be Charlie - the likable mentor cleaner to Graham - who wants to encourage more human work in a galaxy dominated by a robotic workforce. It's not a terrible idea, but the episode never manages to play the reveal right. As a sympathetic character, Charlie just seems to be going too far, and never sees any kind of redemption. As a more villainous character (Ala Taren Capel in 'The Robots of Death'), he just wasn't really threatening. I also wonder if explosive bubble-wrap might have been a bit too silly, even by Doctor Who standards. In a series lacking strong villains, sinister bubble-wrap doesn't quite cut it.

That being said, 'Kerblam' is a very Doctor Who-literate episode, treating fans with the return of the Fez (a staple of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor) and a generally very Classic Doctor Who vibe throughout - even if we have to put up with a villainous manager who turns out to not actually be villainous but in doing so completely lacks a defining character progression by the end. Lee Mack was a lovely guest star in this episode, but I can't help but wonder if keeping him around would've made for a fun supporting character to Team TARDIS. Judy Maddox (Julie Hesmondhalgh) was a likable character for the Doctor and co to bounce-off of, but she's never really given any kind of conflict to face. In fact, none of the characters are. I also felt that introducing the idea of a sentient System was fascinating...only to not actually pay-off at all. Sure, the Kerblam! Man was a fun creation, but I was hoping for a HAL-esque artificial intelligence to be behind the events. Again, the episode suffered from not having a definitive villain.

On the upside, it's worth mentioning that 'Kerblam!' is an otherwise very well-written episode of Doctor Who, with the regulars on top-form and some fairly strong production values throughout. There definitely seemed to be more action in this episode, which was a welcome change of pace after most of this series felt a little too slow and meandering at points. I also have to give kudos to writer Pete McTighe for introducing likable characters and killing them off - something many Doctor Who episodes feel the need to undo by the end of the episode (see last year's 'Knock Knock' for example). A solid enough episode, but I felt that the big third act reveal never quite paid-off the story for me.