At a time when we’re all desperate to get to know the new Team Tardis, and with precious fewer episodes than before to have to do it in, two Doctor-lite episodes in a row was a big ask for the audience. As extraordinarily good as they were, 73 Yards and Dot & Bubble were excruciating in their distinct lack of the show’s newest star, although I’m sure they’ll be standout treats once the box set is out.
This is all to say that if you’re missing Ncuti Gatwa’s playful, eminently watchable take on our favourite Time Lord, Rogue puts him right back in the centre of the frame, giving him ample chance to shine in the high society of Regency Bath. And shine he does. As the aforementioned previous episodes demonstrated aptly, Gatwa doesn’t need much screen time to impress. If he was a plane, he’d be a Harrier jump jet: capable of soaring without any runway to speak of.
Cutting a fine figure in period garb, he flits mesmerizingly through a lavish country estate which is obviously designed to evoke Netflix’s Bridgerton but is equally reminiscent of the classic dance scene in Pride and Prejudice, which is my main cultural touchpoint for all the regency stuff here because I’m old and not young. It also puts one in mind of The Girl in the Fireplace, a standout quasi-historical from way back in series two, which is a very cosy association indeed.
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