Doctor: Ncuti Gatwa
Companion: Millie Gibson – Ruby Sunday
Others:
Callie Cooke – Lindy Pepper-Bean
Eilidh Loan – Cooper Mercy
Aldous Ciokajlo Squire – Harry Tendency
Niamh Lynch – Hoochy Pie
Millie Kent – Valerie Nook
Billy Brayshaw – Blake Very Blue
Pete MacHale – Gothic Paul
Max Boast – Dr Pee
Elloise Bennett – Rotterdam Twin 1
Olivia Bennett – Rotterdam Twin 2
Tom Rhys Harries – Ricky September
Jack Forsyth-Noble – Weatherman Will
Milo Callaghan – Alan K Sullivan
Susan Twist – Penny Pepper-Bean
Ellie-Grace Cashin – Suzie Pentecost
Jamie Barnard – Brewster Cavendish
Production
Directed by Dylan Holmes Williams
Written by Russell T Davies
Script editor: Scott Handcock
Produced by Vicki Delow
Executive producer(s): Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Phil Collinson
Music by Murray Gold
Series 14
Running time 43 minutes
First broadcast 1 June 2024
Lindy Pepper-Bean lives in the city of Finetime, populated by wealthy young adults from nearby Homeworld and shielded from the dangerous Wild Woods surrounding it. They live through a social media interface, a literal bubble projected around their heads by floating "Dots," robots that also direct their movements. Lindy is unconcerned that several of her friends are missing and she blocks the Doctor when he tries to send her a warning. Ruby then appears in Lindy's bubble and coaxes her into dropping her bubble. Lindy sees giant slug-like creatures eating some residents but ignoring her and others.
The Doctor and Ruby instruct Lindy and her friends to evacuate Finetime via conduits leading to an underground river. Lindy is surprised to realise that Ruby and Doctor are physically together and only belatedly recognises the Doctor from his earlier warning. Lindy views a message from her mother Penny, whom the Doctor and Ruby recognise, though from different places. Lindy is eventually aided in person by another resident, Ricky September, an influencer she idolises. He reveals that, unlike the other residents, he turns his bubble off regularly and can function without it. He discovers Homeworld has already been consumed by the slugs but does not inform Lindy.
The Doctor realises that the slugs were created and bred within Finetime by the Dots, leading residents to their deaths in alphabetical order. Lindy finds herself no longer able to control her Dot, as it reveals its sentience and attacks them. When Lindy is cornered, she reveals Ricky's true surname is Coombes and abandons him to be killed by the Dot. Lindy meets with the few remaining fleeing residents that the Doctor and Ruby rescued earlier and lies to them about what happened to Ricky. The Doctor offers to take them into the TARDIS to find them a new home, which they disdainfully refuse. He warns the survivors that they will die out there, as the Wild Woods are dangerous, and begs them to let him save them. They launch their raft onto the river, and the Doctor angrily and tearfully leaves with Ruby.
Dot and Bubble