And in “Dot and Bubble” – if not strictly a Doctor-lite episode, then certainly an episode light on the Doctor – he also fails to save the residents of alien colony Finetime. This time though, his heroism is back in force, and the failure is all on them.
By the end of episode five, the residents of Finetime reveal themselves to be more disgusting than the “Space Babies” snot monster by a considerable factor. They’re white supremacists living in a segregated colony with security settings that keep people of colour out. At some point in their history there was something called “The Great Abrogation” (meaning the repeal of a law or a right), which presumably led to this whites-only system.
After Finetime’s sentient AI turns on its vapid bubbleheads and starts killing them off via a herd of engineered slug creatures, the Doctor and Ruby offer to take the survivors off-world to somewhere safe. But they won’t go on account of the Doctor being Black (and presumably if they knew that Ruby’s mum and Gran were also Black, they wouldn’t go because of that too.)
At the moment the Doctor and Ruby realise that even this far into the future, on this distant and alien planet, racism is still poisoning humanity’s well, viewer sympathies instantly shift. Fair play, sentient AI, you might think. Go right ahead, giant slug-creatures, and eat your fill. This lot? It’s really no loss.
Except, to the Doctor, who aims higher than us, it is. To the Doctor, who is rightly staggered and enraged at the stupid bigotry of these people, a life he can save is a life he should save. Because that’s what this version of the Doctor aspires to be. A saviour. Not vindictive or petty, never cruel or… you know the rest.
However often Finetime’s Lindy Pepper-Bean brattily protests that she’s not a child, that’s exactly what she is. She and her white nationalist pals are pampered children raised by racists to believe ugly lies and to live shallow lives of play. They’re dreadful, but to quote some guy, they know not what they do. So the Doctor turns the other cheek and pleads to help them, even through their ignorant jibes. It’s his Jesus moment, and Ncuti Gatwa plays it like the huge talent he is.