I Wish Doctor Who Hadn’t Dropped Season 15’s Best Break From Tradition So Quickly

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 2, “Lux.”Doctor Who has several tropes it pretty much always uses, and although season 15 began by subverting one of those long-running traditions, things have returned to business as usual by the end of episode 2, “Lux.” The relationship between the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) initially came across as something other than the typical Doctor/companion dynamic. It was a fascinating thing to watch, but showrunner Russell T. Davies has abandoned the change far too soon.

Gatwa and Sethu are the leaders of the Doctor Who season 15 cast, although the current run’s premiere focused far more on Belinda than Fifteen. Regardless, the focus has been on the TARDIS struggling to get Belinda home, with the mystery of why Belinda looks just like season 14’s Mundy Flynn sidelined for now. Belinda is frosty towards the Doctor throughout the season 15 opener, “The Robot Revolution,” but has rapidly changed her perception of him in a disappointingly short space of time.

Belinda’s Mistrust Of The Doctor Has Already Vanished By The End Of Season 15, Episode 2

The Doctor won Belinda over far too quickly

Belinda made it clear at the end of “The Robot Revolution” that she had no interest in traveling in the TARDIS and was openly critical of the Doctor’s demeanor, along with the fact that he was treating her as little more than a mystery to be solved. A companion rarely has anything but immense admiration for the Doctor, and they often trust him as soon as they meet him. I loved seeing a different kind of dynamic between the Doctor and his new companion, but it didn’t stay that way for nearly long enough.

By the end of Doctor Who season 15, episode 2, “Lux,” Belinda’s trust in the Doctor is portrayed as absolute. The transition from wary and unwilling companion to someone happy putting her life in the Doctor’s hands happened in the space of just one episode, if not less. I’m not against the Doctor winning Belinda over, but it would have been more rewarding if it had happened over multiple episodes, or even a full season. It would have felt more earned, whereas the way season 15 has tried to pull it off feels rushed and wasteful.

I Hope Belinda Is Still A Reluctant Traveler In Doctor Who Season 15, Episode 3

Belinda relishing her time in the TARDIS in “The Well” wouldn’t make any sense

Doctor Who season 15, episode 3, “The Well,” arrives on Disney+ on April 26, 2025. In this installment, it seems as though the animosity towards the Doctor that was present in “The Robot Revolution” will be a thing of the past, thanks to the events of “Lux.” However, it would be even more of a shame if Belinda were now loving her journey in the TARDIS, as the fact that she never wanted to be there in the first place was one of the best parts of her introduction.

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Watch Doctor Who Season 15, Episode 2’s Credits For A Very Special Easter Egg

Doctor Who’s “Lux” episode includes an especially meta Easter Egg as the credits start to roll, and it leads to an incredibly wholesome reveal.

Doctor Who has had countless companions in its 60+ year history who have been thrilled to travel with the Doctor, so Belinda doesn’t need to add to the characters in the category. Davies set up Sethu’s character to be something refreshing and very intriguing, but the showrunner seems to be rapidly changing her personality so she fits in more neatly with the show’s traditional formula. “The Well” needs to alter course for Belinda, so she carries on through the rest of Doctor Who season 15 as she began.

Doctor Who

5/10

Release Date

December 25, 2023

Directors

Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Richard Martin, Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, Lennie Mayne, Chris Clough, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Graeme Harper, Waris Hussein, Rodney Bennett, Mervyn Pinfield, Hugh David, John Gorrie

Writers

Russell T. Davies, Dave Gibbons, Kate Herron, Steven Moffat

Franchise(s)

Doctor Who