Doctor Who: Series 11, Episode 7 – “Kerblam!” (2018)

While this episode takes a few swerves that don’t feel fully thought out for me, making it seem like the script could’ve used maybe one more pass, it’s a solid episode on the whole.  The mystery rolls out nicely, the one-shot characters are well-defined, and – best of all for me – the Doctor and the companions are all used effectively.

When the Doctor receives a delivery from Kerblam!, an interplanetary retailer that bears a more-than-passing resemblance to Amazon, her package also contains an anonymous cry for help.  Our heroes go undercover at the megacorporation to try and suss out what’s wrong, where they encounter creepily-cheery robots, a rash of disappearances, and the makings of a conspiracy.

As I said, there are a few aspects of the story that don’t quite work for me; for the sake of spoilers, I won’t go into details, but they do leave the episode with a bit of an aftertaste.  That’s disappointing, because it’s otherwise a very solid story.  I like the theme it explores of the changing position of humans in the workforce after automation takes over, and each of the one-shot characters feels distinct.

The mystery moves along at a good pace, and it offers everyone an opportunity to make valuable contributions, which I appreciate.  It takes more of a classic Who approach of splitting the characters up, both individually and in various combinations, which often feels like the best way to make the most of a more crowded TARDIS.  The undercover operation, with different characters being assigned to different departments in the warehouse, is a handy way to get that done.

As such, everyone is properly involved in the adventure.  Yaz gets herself first in, then out of, a dangerous situation, Graham comes up with a good way to get his hands on some important info, and Ryan uses his past experience with factory work to find a needed solution.  It’s nice to see them going off on their own and then coming back together with what they’ve found, with the Doctor steering the investigation as it needs, doing plenty of snooping, suspecting, and technological improvising.

Beyond that, they’re just fun.  I love the Doctor’s look of utter disappointment to learn that climbing on the conveyer belts isn’t allowed, and her irritation at how convoluted conspiracies are is amusing.  We also get Graham nearly dying of boredom while a robot conducts his orientation, Yaz laughing at her coworker’s dad jokes, and Ryan explaining his dyspraxia in an awkward but very genuine-sounding way.  Overall, there’s just a good back-and-forth between the gang that’s super appealing and enjoyable to watch.