Doctor Who - Arachnids in the UK

No; I won't be posting pictures of the gosh darn spiders.

"I eat danger for breakfast. [aside] I don't. I prefer cereal. Or croissants. Or those little fried Portuguese... never mind. It's not important."

This review will contain spoilers

The Doctor manages to return her companions to Sheffield just half an hour after they left, but all is not well in the Steel City. Spiders of alarming size are on the prowl, and people are already dying. What is the connection to the luxury hotel where Yaz's mother used to work? And is this related to either the Eight Legs of Metebelis 3 or the Racnoss, or just another use of spiders for random creep factor?

The Good

• Giant spiders that don't quite move like real spiders are about the best I can hope for from a spider-focused episode.
• I did like that the mad scientists in this episode were actually really conscientious and responsible, but entrusted their biowaste disposal to a company with falsified documents.
• For a moment, I felt bad for a spider. That's quite the achievement.
• There were some lovely character beats between Graham and Ryan over a letter from the latter's absentee father.

The Bad

• The secondary, human antagonist is a kind of liberal Trump, and he's... bleah. He's a cookie cutter corporate monster who could come right out of just about any Doctor Who story since 1980, save for a namecheck of his personal animus for Trump. (His PA is his niece's wife, so I assume he's a liberal corporate monster, but it's hard to say given how hard it is to distinguish left and right politics at a certain level of cash.)
• The story is also nothing special. It's basic filler while Graham, Ryan and Yaz decide that their path lies with their new friend.

The Ugly

• Yaz is slipping into being the also ran of Team Tardis, which is a shame. She got some good stuff last week, but is mostly just present in what is ostensibly her story.

The Thirteenth Doctor
Manic and breathless, the Thirteenth Doctor may actually be a bit much in such a mundane setting. Hopefully they'll find another mode for her before too long.

Theorising

Some of the internet is stating to sugest that Yaz will prove to be in love with the Doctor, and I really hope that isn't the case, because I am so over the Doctor/Companion thing.

I don't know if Robertson will be back, but I want to see him joining a sort of 'League of shitty villains' for a one-shot episode.

Best Bits

Ryan admits to Graham that he resents his Dad calling himself Ryan's 'proper family.'

Top Quotes

• "Spiders are roaming this hotel, searching for food. We're going to lure them in here with the promise of food. Then deal with the spider mother in the ballroom. Ah, that sounds like the best novel Edith Wharton never wrote." - The Doctor

Verdict

After a very strong opening, the Thirteenth Doctor hits her first battle against her oldest and most insidious enemy: utilitarian filler material. 'Arachnids in the UK' really just serves to transition Team Tardis - which is a thing now - from accidental fellow travelers to full-fledged and willing companions. It's a shame they didn't consider that worth a better story, or more character work for Yaz than just having her mum ask if she's sleeping with anyone about her age that she hangs out with.

Rating - 4/10