Following a standard opening episode, the 15th season of Doctor Who continues with one of the series’ most ambitious episodes in a long time.
The Doctor is unable to take Belinda back to 2025, and he is forced to go the long way round. They land in Miami in 1952 and discover an abandoned movie theater where people had disappeared. The Doctor’s curiosity gets the better of him, and he wants to investigate.
“Lux” was the episode in this season that I was most interested in. This was the episode that featured the cartoon character Mr. Ring-a-Ding (played by Alan Cumming), and the trailer made it look like Cuphead crossed with Ringu. It looked like the episode that this season spent a lot of money on. This was an episode with a lot of visual effects, animation, and a big-name guest star.
The episode was mostly confined to the movie theater, but it was still a technical achievement for Doctor Who. The mix of live-action settings and 2D characters looked fantastic, and could match family classics like Pete’s Dragon and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mr. Ring-a-Ding was influenced by 1930s animation, particularly the works of Fleischer Studios, and as stated, he looks like he could be a boss in a Cuphead game. Mr. Ring-a-Ding’s transformation will induce nightmares.
“Lux” was a continuation of the Pantheon of Discord storyline. Mr. Ring-a-Ding was really Lux, the God of Light craving light and a power source. Like The Toymaker and Maestro, Lux was a campy, theatrical villain, although the animated being could instantly turn more sinister. “Lux” did mirror “The Devil’s Chord”, since both were the second episode of their respective seasons and featured a villain who was entertainment adjacent. “The Devil’s Chord” had a fourth wall break at the beginning of the episode, and “Lux” doubled down on the meta-approach. The Doctor and Belinda ended up trapped in a movie world, which led to the Doctor breaking through a TV and finding himself in a living room with Whovian. It will be a divisive scene.
“Lux” was the most self-aware episode released by the Rebooted series. Yet, the episode does go down a familiar route when it comes to how The Doctor and Belinda overcome Mr. Ring-a-Ding. The resolution was a cop-out.
“Lux” was used as an opportunity for The Doctor and Belinda to get to know each other. Belinda was forced to go on an adventure since The Doctor couldn’t take her home. When The Doctor needed to confide in Belinda about him being the last of his people, it was given a narrative purpose, since he had to share personal information to get out of a trap. It was more than The Doctor just reciting information that fans of the show already know. Gatwa shows off his strengths as The Doctor: his enthusiasm and intelligence. When The Doctor found out about the mystery of the theater, his reaction was glee and childish enthusiasm. It was a puzzle to solve. He showed his awareness about the surroundings, picking up on small details others would miss. Belinda showed her compassionate side when she saw The Doctor’s injury, and her nursing training kicked in.
“Lux” was an episode that walked the tightrope between being ambitious and familiar, and it managed that for the most part. It was an entertaining episode due to the team facing an over-the-top villain and showcasing The Doctor figuring out a mystery. It was a strong family episode and an improvement over “The Robot Revolution.”
