WHO REVIEW: 15-2 - "Lux"

 

Zoinks!

We're only two episodes into the season, but "Lux" already look like the Fifteenth Doctor's standout story. While it seems to be a bit of a marmite episode, most commenters I've seen really liked it, and I'm with them. This was a barmstormer, an episode that throws everything it can at the screen and manages to pull it off. There a few flaws, mainly with pacing, but this is a story that barely puts a foot wrong.

On the one hand, there's nothing much that's new here. Screaming people trapped on film, threatened with immolation, are straight out of Sapphie & Steel; stepping into black-and-white has been done time and again, from Pleasantville to the most recent season of Black Mirror; even the villain being overwhelmed when they achieve their goal and ascending to the next level of existence has been done before (hell, they even did that on Mighty Max). And, of course, splicing cartoons and live action together has been going on at least as far back as the sixties, with Disney producing a bunch of films that combined the media, with the biggest and most impressive being Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with which this story shares a lot.

Yet it's all put together and realised with such verve and style that the result is exhilirating. Mr. Ring-a-Ding is a technical marvel, beautifully manifested. In the old days cartoons and film would be overlaid by hand and spliced together, whereas now CGI is used. Nonetheless, this is impressive (and the character himself was hand drawn, which makes a real difference). The moment when the Doctor and Belinda circle round Mr. Ring-a-Ding, who stays 2D but appears fully part of the 3D environment, is remarkable. It's even better for it's subtlety, but there are other moments that are just as impressive while being overtly showy: Mr. Ring-a-Ding's gradual evolution into a physical being is almost tangible, as well as utterly hideous, as a cartoon character would be in the flesh.

None of this would mean anything without a strong story held up by strong performances; fortunately, "Lux" is a stunner here too. Alan Cumming gives a suitably manic vocal performance as a godlike being manifested as a cartoon character, becoming genuinely sinister when the story calls for it. Both Gatwa and Sethu give evocative, three-dimensional performances, even when they're reduced to cartoon characters. The script gives them great material to work with, allowing both of them to show sides to their characters that bring them more depth.

We've seen the Doctor faced with racism before, of course, in the equally good (but very different) "Dot and Bubble," but that was a distinctly different situation. Here we see him embedded in a racist culture, albeit fortunate enough to meet understanding and sympathetic individuals. His statement that sometimes he must wait for people to change immoral and corrupt systems is a more mature approach than that seen in "Rosa," although I still believe that episode worked well. It's important to see the series face this again, especially as we have a TARDIS team played entirely by people of colour for the first time. "Dot and Bubble" (and "Rosa," for that matter) warned us against the risk of racism rising again in the future, but the Fifteenth Doctor's trips to the past have sidestepped the issue ("The Devil's Chord" simply ignored it, while "Rogue" was deliberately an unrealistically mixed historical setting). 

"Lux" is a clear follow-up to "The Devil's Chord," with Lux Imperator another member of the Gods of Chaos (aka the Pantheon of Discord). This works far better though, taking the concept of the God of Light and that of a living cartoon character, using them to their full potential. It's fascinating to see how Lux manifests as Mr. Ring-a-Ding, showing us that these supposedly all-powerful gods can be constrained by the limits of how they enter the world. (It also raises the possibility for previously defeated gods to reappear in new forms that are more powerful and harder to defeat.) The script sets up numerous elements so that the viewer can guess at how they'll be resolved (although the repeated mention of "Blink" meant I was going "Have we seen Ring-a-Ding blink?" and wondering if that was what he never does). 

The most notable element of the story is the Doctor and Belinda's being pulled into the film stock and converted into cartoons, a gloriously silly sequence that nonetheless allows the characters to open up about they're hopes and fears, getting to know each other on a more honest footing. Belinda is still a bit too quick to accept the Doctor's lifestyle but never lets go of her determinaion to get home. The next scene is the fan-pleasing one, where we get to see ourselves (or people like us) as characters in the show. This sequence does go on a little too long and slows the otherwise gripping pace. It's another element that's not remotely original; about half the fantasy shows on TV over the last thirty or forty years have had the characters find out they're fictional characters and meet their audiences and/or actors. (Usually they step out onto the set, rather than push themselves out of the TV.) It works well though, largely thanks to strong performances by the fans (particularly Bronte Barbe as Lizzie, who's tremendously likeable). The self-referencing winks at the camera do go on a bit too long, though, and the Doctor and Belinda are a bit too accepting of the idea that they're fictional themselves.

Linus Roache gives a beautifully sympathetic performance as Reginald Pye, the mourning projectionist, while Lucy Thackery gives a lovely monologue as Renee, waiting for her son to return. It's one of those episodes where everyone is bringing their A-game, in front of the camera and behind, and it really raises the episode to something special.

On the negative side, I have been singing "I'm Mr. Ring-a-Ding!" in a loud, annoying voice all weekend.

Settings:  Miami, Dade County, Florida; 1952.

Title Tattle: Missed opportunity to go with "What's Up Doc?" Amazingly, no one says this in the episode.

Alternatively, "Who Framed."

Maketh the Man: The Doctor wears a gorgeous pastel blue suit, with a white shirt and pink bowtie, and two-tone brogues.

The Shallow Bit: Varada Sethu is, of course, very beautiful, but in that yellow dress she is truly stunning.

The Regeneration Game: We might speculate that the regenerative energy Lux drains from the Doctor uses up a life, or maybe even limits his regenerations again. Most likely, though, he's got plenty left for his, apparently, limitless roster of regens.

Flood Warning: Mrs Flood turns up in 1952, the first time we've seen her in another time zone. There's still no clue to her identity. With regards to the overall arc, something to with the Land of Fiction certaily seems feasible, especially with the focus on fictional existences in this story. Impossible to say how, or even if, Mrs Flood or Belinda fit into all this. We might also ask why the Doctor can't just land on May 23rd and take Belinda for coffee until she syncs back up with her own time. Of course, this might lead to him being hit in the face by whatever is waiting on the 24th. It's a fun - and brave - touch to tie this into the end of the series, as right now we don't know if it will be renewed.

Links: This isn't the first time the Doctor has encountered living cartoon characters: the Eighth Doctor arrived in an animated world in the 2002 novel The Crooked World. Neither is it the first time he's crossed over into the "real" world and discovered he's a TV character: both DWM and IDW produced comic stories with this basic idea (the 1999 Eighth Doctor strip "TV Action!" and 2013 Eleventh Doctor special "The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who," respectively).