This is a spoiler-free review of Rogue. My full review will follow after the broadcast of the episode on BBC One.
It was perhaps inevitable that we would get an episode in this series that would form a cross-over of kinds between Doctor Who and Bridgerton, given that we have already had a few alumni from the cast, and the choreographer for the Netflix hit already worked on The Devil’s Chord. Combined with the BBC’s well-known ability to put on a period drama, it’s perhaps a surprise that we haven’t had an episode set primarily in the Regency era for a little while.
Rogue is notable for being the only story in this series to be written by female writers, namely Kate Herron, who directed the first series of Loki, which was essentially Doctor Who, and Briony Redman. Whilst it’s not ideal that this is the only episode not written from a male point of view, Rogue might stand out otherwise. Rogue is a lot of fun, and gives us a chance to have an enjoyable story before the end of this series starts to wrap the plot threads together in the next two stories. The story wears its inspiration firmly on its sleeve, having balls with contemporary music adapted to the Georgian setting and aliens who love the drama and scandal that goes along with it.
I really liked the Chuldur, the alien foes in this story, and they have intrigued me since their appearance in the trailer, and they are certainly visually striking here. It is nice to see a prosthetic alien costume and have an alien race who look visually distinct from each other. I did feel as though there was a sudden escalation in their plans though, and the story has a mixed focus, trying to focus on the Doctor and Rogue and the Chuldur, and unfortunately these new aliens feel as though their ambitions come out of nowhere and are never fully realised.
Whilst the Doctor has been mostly absent for the last two stories, he is certainly front and centre here, and we do get to see a different side to the Fifteenth Doctor than we have done previously. Gatwa continues to be utterly watchable when he is on screen and has great chemistry with Jonathan Groff, who plays the titular Rogue, and they crackle when on screen together. There will definitely be parallels drawn between Rogue and another fan-favourite character from the original revived series. Ruby is sidelined off into a B plot, but she does get some nice things to do, which show her resourcefulness and proves her capability to be a companion.
For more spoiler-free reviews:
Space Babies – Spoiler-free review
The Devil’s Chord – Spoiler-Free Review
The Impossible Blog 
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