Arachnids in the UK - Review

With a punny title and a monster that I was already terrified of, I have to say I expected more of this week's Doctor Who. However, instead of cowering behind the sofa, I was just left confused and a little disappointed. Normally, I would rewatch the episode Monday morning before writing up this review, but this week, for the first time, I just could not bring myself to do so. Now the episode was still good. I still love the Doctor’s sonic flourishing and I loved seeing Yas’ family and yes, the spiders were just as terrifying as I’d expected. That’s all it was though, good, a far cry from the amazing of last week’s Rosa.

The first thing that I have to bring up is the character of Najia, Yas’ Mum. Supposedly the General Manager of a new swanky hotel, she comes across as weak, feeble, and to be honest, a little bit whiny. Certainly not someone who would be managing a posh hotel. With the Doctor at first thinking that she is the link between the spider in the apartment complex and the hotel, it seems like she should be a much bigger part of the episode than she is. Instead, she’s more of a bystander, occasionally stepping forward to probe for details about these new people in Yas’ life.

Then there’s businessman Jack Robertson, or Trump 2.0, a character so memorable, I just had to look up what his name actually was. He’s cocky, arrogant and running for president in 2020 because of his hatred of Trump (though why he hates him when he is clearly based on Trump, I couldn’t work out). Obviously meant to be the bad guy of the episode, being the CEO of the company that filled a disused mine with landfill and then built a fancy hotel on top, he turns out more pathetic than mean and more stupid than evil. He may have unwittingly caused massive spiders to invade south Yorkshire, but he’s no villain.

Which brings us onto the next pitfall of the episode. All the blame for the spider epidemic is placed solely on Robertson, and his companies, and yes, they are partly to blame. However, what about the scientists, who somehow didn’t realise the spider they had been experimenting on, was still alive, and just discarded it without a second thought. Somehow, despite bringing up the possibility that a spider was discarded whilst still alive, scientist Jade doesn’t have to answer for the lab’s part in creating this menace at all. Surely it is just as much their fault as it is the fault of Robertson?

Finally, we come to the spiders themselves. When in the lab, the Doctor figures out that the unusual spider behaviour occurring in the city, is actually a message from the spiders. She draws a big spider on the map and this leads her to the hotel where the rest of the story plays out. Cut to the end of the episode, and suddenly, the unusual spider behaviour was being caused by mutant spider pheromones. So which was it? Are spiders suddenly clever enough to try and send messages to us, or did they get confused by mutant spiders? One thing's for sure, those mutant spiders certainly seem to have confused Chibnall!

Now, of course, there were many aspects of the episode that I did like. The reappearance of Grace has to top my list of best parts of the episode. I thought it was a really clever and accurate way to depict grief and the way that someone might deal with it, and was so wonderfully portrayed by Bradley Walsh. In an otherwise action-packed episode, those tear-jerking moments of Graham’s quiet contemplation brought a much needed escape from the tense and chilling world around him.

Another aspect I liked was the way in which the TARDIS team came together. Usually, the Doctor would come along and sweep the companions of their feet, whisking them off to the far side of the universe before asking them to come along permanently. Not this TARDIS team though, oh no, in fact, they wanted out, they wanted to be taken home. But by the end of the episode, they’d all changed their minds. They all asked to travel with the Doctor.

Highlights

Najia not knowing, or really caring, what Yas’ sexuality is

Robertson mourning the fact that he didn’t have any more Kevin’s

The excitement of tea at Yas’

The Doctor only referring to Najia as Yas’ Mum

The Doctor and Ryan just leaving Yas’ Dad and sister sitting there with their terrible Pakori

Questions

Will the Khan’s ever get their package?

What happened to all the spiders that had already left the hotel?

Why is starving/suffocating more humane than a quick and easy death?

What happened to the dead mother spider that they just left in the ballroom?

What did you think of this week's episode? What questions were you left with as the credits rolled? Let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to share this review with all your Whovian friends!

- E.S