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This article contains spoilers for "Doctor Who" season 2, episode 4 -- "Lucky Day."

Even during the cheesy and heartfelt Disney+ era of "Doctor Who," the show often highlights humanity's worst traits. It has introduced multiple toxic masculinity-themed villains like the power-hungry politician Roger ap Gwilliam (Aneurin Barnard) -- who's not-so-subtly coded as a domestic abuser among his other awful traits -- and Belinda Chandra's (Varada Sethu) possessive ex-boyfriend Alan Budd (Jonny Green). After "Doctor Who" season 2 brought back the show's most terrifying one-off monster, "Lucky Day" returns to the toxic masculinity well with a particularly malevolent and all-too-realistic example: Tiktok influencer Conrad Clark (played excellently by Jonah Hauer-King), an opportunistic content creator who'll sacrifice anyone on the altar of fame and fortune.

Ostensibly the head of citizen's journalism group Think Tank but really acting toward his own ends, Conrad gaslights Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) into a fraudulent alien attack scenario to...

This article contains spoilers for "Doctor Who."

"The Robot Revolution," the latest "Doctor Who" season premiere, is a total mess. The bad guys are too silly, most of the jokes don't land, and the social commentary involving Alan (Jonny Green) -- the new companion Belinda Chandra's (Varada Sethu) former incel boyfriend, who's revealed to be the main villain -- is clunky and played-out. I have no problem with "Doctor Who" making fun of toxic men like Alan, but a little more competence in the writing department would've gone a long way here.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of "The Robot Revolution" is how Alan is defeated: Belinda presses her star certificate from the past up to her star certificate from the future; because it's the same object touching itself, this creates a time explosion that destroys Alan yet leaves Belinda untouched. Why? Since the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) was holding Belinda,...

With the same Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and a new companion (Varda Sethu), Doctor Who kicks off another fun season. Russell T. Davies keeps pushing the series to utilize its big Disney budget, and “The Robot Revolution” certainly takes advantage of that. With great practical effects, sleek cinematography, and even good makeup, it’s a fun adventure to kick off a Doctor Who season. However, this companion has already started to shift things in the usual Doctor/companion dynamic, making us hopeful for the exciting season ahead.

RelatedDoctor Who Season 2 Review — Can the Doctor Replace a Brilliant Companion with Another? Apparently, Yes! Doctor Who — “The Robot Revolution” Recap

A young Belinda (Varada Sethu) sits with her boyfriend Alan (Jonny Green) on a park bench. He wants to celebrate her birthday and gives her a small packet. Inside is a note and certificate that Alan named a star after her: “Miss Belinda Chandra.

When Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday made her debut proper as Doctor Who’s latest companion in last year’s ‘Space Babies’, we were met with a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed northern lass in awe of her two-hearted, Ncuti-Gatwa-shaped time-travelling Bff: a veritable Rose Tyler for the TikTok generation, ready for adventure. The Tardis’ newest passenger, however, Belinda Chandra (played by Andor’s Varada Sethu), is decidedly not another Ruby Sunday. Instead, she’s an overworked, underappreciated, fiercely autonomous NHS nurse who’s over the Doctor’s “How clever am I?” shtick before he’s even started it — and all the more brilliant as a result. And in this series’ premiere, ‘The Robot Revolution’, she brings a healthy shot of cynicism to Who that helps make an otherwise classically daffy Russell T Davies season opener something more than the sum of its parts.

We first meet Sethu’s Belinda beneath a starry...

Today, BritBox and the BBC announced the cast of Riot Women, the brand-new drama series from the multi-bafta award-winning writer Sally Wainwright.

Leading the cast and the Riot Women band are Joanna Scanlan as Beth, Rosalie Craig as Kitty, Tamsin Greig as Holly, Lorraine Ashbourne as Jess, and Amelia Bullmore as Yvonne.

Anne Reid (The Sixth Commandment) will play Nancy, Holly and Yvonne’s mother, with Sue Johnston (The Royle Family) as Jess’s Aunt Mary. Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), and Angel Coulby (Merlin) also join the cast.

In Riot Women, we dive headfirst into the world of five women who, along with two riotous backing singers, come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest, but in writing their first original song, soon discover that they have a lot to say – and this is their way to say it.

Joanna Scanlan and Tamsin Greig have been confirmed to star in Sally Wainwright’s new BBC and Britbox drama “Riot Women.”

“Riot Women” is the new drama from “Happy Valley” creator Wainwright, about a group of middle-aged women who decide to enter a talent contest by forming a punk-rock band. After writing their first song, however, they realize they have plenty to say and now, the means to say it.

Scanlan, who is currently appearing in “Slow Horses” and “A Very Royal Scandal,” will play Beth while Greig, who’s known for “Black Books” and “Sexy Beast,” plays Holly. Joining them will be Rosalie Craig (“Moonflower Murders”) as Kitty, Lorraine Ashbourne (“Sherwood”) as Jess and Amelia Bullmore (“The Buccaneers”) as Yvonne.

The six-part series is produced by Drama Republic, the Mediawan-owned banner behind “One Day,” and has been commissioned by the BBC and BritBox. The project was originally announced...

Sally Wainwright, creator of TV hits Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, and Gentleman Jack, is turning her attention to a new BBC project, Riot Women.

The six-episode series, from Drama Republic, on Thursday unveiled its cast as filming continues in West Yorkshire, England.

Joanna Scanlan (After Love, The Thick of It) will lead the cast as Beth, along with Rosalie Craig (Moonflower Murders, Serpent Queen) as Kitty, Tamsin Greig (Sexy Beast, The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin) as Holly, Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood, Alma’s Not Normal) as Jess, and Amelia Bullmore (The Buccaneers, Vienna Blood) as Yvonne.

In Riot Women, “we dive headfirst into the world of five women who, along with two riotous backing singers, come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest,” a plot synopsis reads. “But in writing their first original song, they soon discover that...

Netflix's White Lines is a wild ride of violence, all-night parties, and falling in love with people you shouldn't fall in love with. The Ibiza-set story follows Zoe Walker (Laura Haddock) as she tries to figure out exactly what happened to her brother, Axel (Tom Rhys Harries), 20 years ago when he left home in Manchester, England, and set off for a new life in Ibiza. It takes all 10 episodes of the first (and perhaps only) season to get to the bottom of his disappearance, and the end is definitely not what we expected.

Axel is best friends with his younger sister, Zoe, and wants her to come along with him to Ibiza when their dad kicks him out. She stays behind, though, because she's still underage. She promises Axel that when she turns 18, she'll come join him and his friends in their lavish life. He disappears, though, and Zoe...