Smile

If you are watching this episode just smile. Same if you are reading this review.

I doubt there has been a writer for Doctor Who that has written as many feature films as Frank Cottrell Boyce. The prolific Mr Boyce's debut story for Doctor Who, 'In the Forest of the Night' disappointed some as the story's reach exceeded its grasp.

In Smile the writer explores the possibility of technology going wrong as it miscommunicated. The Doctor brings Bill into the future, a new planet ready to be colonised but there are no people. It seems the robots have been on a rampage because the exiting crew were not happy. A bug in the robot's system that needs fixing.

Most of the episode was just a two hander with Bill and the Doctor talking and investigating as the mystery unravels. The robots are designed with emojis such as smiley faces however they could not contend with the devastating effects of grief that humans feel.

More impressive was the art design, this was just stunning. I thought the episode contained cool CGI but the basis of it were buildings in Valencia designed by Spanish architect Santiagao Calatrava.

The episode ends leading to next week's adventure which harks back to the early William Hartnell era. Maybe this could be a clue to a theme for this series as we had a glimpse of a picture of Susan in episode one.

Bill (Mackie) has her first adventure into the TARDIS to the future, and it seems we still can't escape emojis. After hearing that Frank Cottrell- Boyce (the writer who cursed us with Series 8's "In the Forest of the Night"), I was not looking forward to this story. Thankfully, it exceeded my expectations through brilliant character development between The Doctor (Capaldi) and Bill. And the emojibots weren't as bad as I thought they would be, either. An innocent and fun first journey through time and space for Bill leaves me thinking that Series 10 may be one of Doctor Who's best, which truly puts a smile on my face.

Episode 2 "Smile" - 8/10

Marking the second episode of the tenth series, "Smile" also marks the first adventure Peter Capaldi's twelfth Doctor has with new companion Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) since she joined him in the TARDIS. A coluorful, somewhat quirky episode which is also more innovative and original than last week's never the less highly entertaining "The Pilot", it's also a more minimalist one in so much as both Capaldi and Mackie are the only two actors on screen for the majority of the story. On the planet, Gliese 581d, a group of colonists are slaughtered by their robot servants called Emojibots when they display feelings of unhappiness. Not so long after, the Doctor and Pill sans Nardole (played by Matt Lucas, who makes an all too fleeting appearance) arrive on the world where they find the colony deserted apart from its robotic inhabitants. Puzzled by the lack of human presence, the Time Lord begins to investigate. However not before he and his new companion have their ears connected automatically to a network via their nervous system, meaning they can communicate with each other through their ears, and they are given discs that use emoticons to reflect the emotions they are feeling. Before long, the Doctor comes to the realization that their emotions could determine their fate.

Straight from the off, I thought this episode would have a fair amount in common with the 1988 classic series story, "The Happiness Patrol" and I'm glad to say that beyond the theme of being sad could be a death sentence, any similarity beyond that apart from it being set on a planetary colony ends there. With nothing subversive and political below the surface of its inventive exterior, early on there is an eerie sense of foreboding that director, Lawrence Gough which is enhanced by the isolation and deadliness of the robotic threat. When it's all said and done, it can be deemed as a cautionary tale that taps into man-kinds over-reliance on technology, and when it becomes a hindrance rather than a help. The emojibots here make for a genuinely unsettling foe if that is the right word to be used given the context of their ultimate motivation revealed before the end. A sublime creation in both concept and execution, they're a testament aesthetically to the design team behind the series who do a fantastic job in bringing the colony to life.

As with last week's "The Pilot", the chemistry between Capaldi and Mackie is perfectly solid, the relationship between the two now well and truly cemented with the latter making for an excellent foil to her older co-star. Capaldi once again captures the curious nature of the Time Lord perfectly who here eventually takes on the role of diplomatic mediator. Mackie as Bill, also once again captures the wide-eyed wonderment and awe that the character experiences.

If there is a flaw, is that the story perhaps reaches its climax a little too soon, with everything being wrapped up too expediently without allowing more time to dwell on the plight of certain characters. That being said, the plot thematically does brilliantly capture the essence of the power of grief, and how the robots fail to grasp the concept given their programming which manages to parallel the series 2 episode, "The Girl in the Fireplace". For all its innovation and originality, "Smile" marks an overall satisfying outing which while flawed, marks a continual upturn in the quality of the new series which thus far is proving to be a more rewarding experience than Series 9. If it keeps on this trajectory, I can see this being a good 10th series, and with the episode ending with a neat little coda that acts as an eye-catching means to segway into next week's adventure entitled "Thin Ice", I can't help but be excited.

I'll start of pointing out that I feel this is one of the most beautiful looking episodes in the show's history, exquisite, from the buildings to the spiral staircases, this was a feast on the eyes. A good plot, echos of The Happiness Patrol, a world created where everyone has to be happy, and suffers if they're not. The Vardi were a great creation, that felt wonderfully up to date and relevant.

A particularly character driven episode, with the duo of Capaldi and Mackie again proving to be a fabulous duo. Bill is really proving to be an assistant with it all, humour, emotion, and a definite match for the Doctor. I'm already of the opinion 'why didn't these two get a longer run?' I'm still unsure of Matt Lucas's role, that'll need explaining soon. Mina Anwar is a cracking actress, not given enough screen time.

The casual start to the episode was counterbalanced by a high octane, energetic climax. The ending felt a little at odds with the story.

The reset button was a bit of a lazy way to round the episode off, we have seen this before, too often, but it didn't spoil the episode for me.

Flawed, but fun, I think this episode will improve with time. 7/10