You just don't know where to start with something like this. I saw it in cinema and the people around me cheered at the end of the episode, but I sat there in shock. What was that?

Nice to see Anita again, but I think the Time Hotel was just being used as a get out of jail free card, especially since apparently they can create doors anywhere they want at will. But that's okay because RTD mentions "magic door" in the episode, and the writer acknowledging it in the episode makes it okay! Just like Wish World and the Rani going "it's not just exposition Doctor".

Speaking of exposition, standing around for ages in UNIT tower and just lore dumping. Also, worried about the characterisation of the Rani? Don't be, Mel tells us that she's amoral and likes do to experiments. Thank goodness. I was almost worried RTD would be challenged with the task of having the Rani show us those aspects of herself... herself (I suppose she's struggling for time, she's only got 20 more minutes before she's killed off). Archie Panjabi is fantastic, unfortunately the Rani was still uninteresting as a character in this. But I guess we don't need to worry because halfway into the episode, after doing nothing but lore dumping, she's eaten by a giant bone baby... wait no, sorry I meant to say Omega.

2 years of mysterious Mrs Flood, 4th wall breaking and plotting. Yeah she barely did anything and then skidaddled after the other Rani got eaten. Mhm yep that was worth the wait.

Belinda is treated horribly this episode. She was already losing her character throughout the series but now, she actually spends a bunch of time locked away inside a box so that Ruby can take centre stage. And then her entire history is rewritten to make her the mother of a child she was previously given through a misogynist's (only one of his wide selection of bigoted views) wished up reality, and it was retroactively made her motivation for her to get back home (like the magic sign from Empire of Death but even worse). Honestly, were there some sort of actual setup related to Belinda wanting a child then this change could've worked. But there isn't any. She just goes from an independent woman who simply wants to get back to her life and work to a single mother of a child that never previously existed and balancing her work life on top of it. Oh and 15 killed himself to create this reality... What happened.

A quick note about Ruby, why did everyone treat her so poorly at the end? It felt so unusual for people to be so dismissive of her. And in what way is being told you had a child.. offensive? So so strange. And to top it off it was all Ruby's last interaction with the Doctor.

Also I'm getting tired of these favourite lines that RTD likes to use over and over again. What is his obsession with sending something "back into hell". In Doomsday it was all "back into hell", in The End of Time it was "back into hell" with Rassilon and once again it's "back into hell" with Omega... like stop recycling this line lol. And the other one is "Last of the Time Lords", or really just the last anything with the Doctor. It's just straight up lying at this point but RTD can't let go of that cool phrase he came up with 20+ years ago and so he just keeps using it. "The last TARDIS in existence"... despite the fact this Doctor literally duplicated his TARDIS and gave it to 14.

And then Billie Piper.. She's a fantastic actor and I'm sure she'd be great. But it's so so difficult to care when it's just stunt casting... AGAIN. If the stuff I've heard about online about originally this regeneration (after already scrapping the non-regeneration ending) was going to be a cliffhanger and not Billie Piper... then we're right back where we were in 2022: Jodie was going to have a cliffhanger regeneration and the show would've been in presumably limbo if not for RTD, and just like 2022 he's decided to 'resolve' it with a major returning actor from his previous tenure! AGHHHHHHHHHHHH. For a show where one of its fundamental themes is change and renewal... well the memo certainly didn't reach RTD. I'm so tired. And obviously neither David Tennant nor Billie Piper auditioned for this, and whether or not it was even feasible for this episode, it's just nepotism in an already nepotistic industry. Returning crew, returning actors for new roles (including in the upcoming spinoff). It's just starting to make the show feel like a revolving door of the same 10 people.

Ncuti's era has been alright imo, but out of 18 episodes 3 were Doctor-lites! So really he's had 16 proper episodes. Only 3 more than Series 1's 13 episodes, and I still feel like I know him less than Eccleston's Doctor. And no doubt all this palaver with Disney and renewing a 3rd season has caused him to leave because he can't possibly be expected to put his career on hold while RTD n co. sort out what's going on. And for this story, confidently not intended to be his final story is such an undeserved end for him. Ncuti did a fantastic job every time he was on-screen, and it's a real shame to see him go out like this. And now he's sandwiched between and overshadowed by David Tennant and Billie Piper as his predecessor and successor respectively... what the hell timeline is this?

Ultimately I think this episode should've cut back hard on the number of elements involved. I mean, the wish world and Conrad were interesting ideas by themselves, no glup shittos required (Rani and Omega). But oh well, the whole wish world thing got scrapped in a few minutes essentially anyway. The god baby was an obvious reset button from the previous episode, and indeed the resolution was simply 'I wish it was normal again'. Bleh.

"It keeps moving on. It's 61 years old and the marvellous thing is the past 61 years don't matter. It's here. It's now. It's new. It's fresh and it's for you." - Russell T Davies, 23/04/2024

Whatever comes next, I simply hope it's new and it's creative and it reignites my excitement. For the first time ever an episode has actually made me lose interest in what comes next. I'll always watch and love Doctor Who, but the magic for the main TV show has left for now.

"Generating content".

"Petrol".

...."sack Russell T Davies".

Jodie was in it though and her scene was the best part of the episode. She strolled back into the show as if she never left. And it was doubly nice to hear her confirm her love for Yaz. Best and only good scene :)