It's no secret that production on the current season of Doctor Who hit a fairly significant snag early on - namely, that star Ncuti Gatwa's previous show, Sex Education, was still in production just as Who was gearing up. This had the knock-on effect that, while new companion Millie Gibson was ready to go, Gatwa himself was busy saying goodbye to Eric Effiong. This meant that Doctor Who was, effectively, lacking the Doctor.
Ever resourceful, the show's production team used this to their advantage. The season's planned 'Doctor-lite' episode, last week's '73 Yards', was pushed to the front of the queue and shot first, alongside this week's installment 'Dot and Bubble'. This isn't technically another Doctor-lite episode - in fact, both Gatwa and Gibson appear quite a bit - but the nature of the episode's premise keeps them at arm's length for much of its run.
