Arachnids in the UK naturally picks spiders as its monster of choice. Of course, this being Doctor Who, these aren't just any old spiders. They're giant, human targeting spiders with a mysterious origin. There are some delightfully thrilling moments with the spiders, particularly when their quantity is increased to wonderfully absurd levels. However, the most chilling moments come when we witness the surprisingly nasty fate that befalls their human victims. It's not necessarily an episode that gets under your skin like the psychological horror of Blink. Instead, it's more of a classic and undeniably enjoyable Doctor Who adrenaline rush and I'm alright with that. The visual effects that render these spiders are also relatively solid by BBC standards, although I can't help but wonder what it would've been like if they'd used animatronics.
Writer Chris Chibnall attempts to add depth to this episode in two major ways. The first and more successful of the two is through character development. This has clearly been his focus as showrunner throughout the series and it's particularly strong here. We learn a lot more about Yas’ life as we meet her family and see how they interact with each other. It's all very relatable and endearing, particularly when her mum asks about the ‘status’ of her relationships with the Doctor and Ryan. However, it's actually Graham who provides the episode's real emotional backbone. We see him grappling with his grief now that he's back home and without the distractions of space-time travel. Bradley Walsh delivers a convincing performance that proves he's more than just the funny one and Chibnall's script explores grief thoughtfully and affectingly.
The second attempt at adding depth has more mixed results. There's a surprise political subtext to the episode that's somewhat hit or miss. It mostly revolves around Chris Noth's character, a businessman and hotel owner planning on running for President in 2020. Sound familiar? To be fair, he isn't intended to be a Trump parallel. He name-checks Trump on a number of occasions, establishes himself as a critic of Trump and is a far more eloquent speaker. This makes the political commentary surprisingly sophisticated, deconstructing the hypocrisy of many of Trump’s opponents who, beneath their polished appearance, are not much better. The spiders themselves are also used to make a slightly muddled point. It seems like Chibnall is going for some sort of environmental message, targetting the laissez-faire attitude of big businesses towards our planet. However, the message gets slightly lost in the allegory; giant mutant spiders aren't the most likely consequence of environmental negligence.
Elsewhere, though, the episode maintains all the great qualities of the rest of the series. Segun Akinola’s music is still wonderful, being both skin-crawlingly creepy and soaringly beautiful when it needs to be. Jodie Whittaker also continues to be an absolute joy as the Doctor. She seems to have properly settled into the swing of things now, gleefully channelling everything that’s great about the character. She’s especially hilarious in this episode, going off on quintessentially Doctor-y tangents and making pop culture references with a time travel twist. The warmth and compassion that Whittaker brings to her Doctor also shines especially bright. There are a couple of genuinely lovely moments between the Doctor and the rest of Team TARDIS when you see just how much she cares about them.
So, how do you follow on from Rosa? Like this. Going back to basics was the perfect decision. It’s resulted in a fantastic romp of an episode that makes up for not quite landing its political point with substantial character development and exciting creepy-crawly action. Arachnids in the UK isn’t going to blow any minds but it is going to entertain a lot of people in the uniquely brilliant way that only Doctor Who can.
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