Season Two (Series 15); Episode Seven - "Wish World" by Russell T. Davies

Wish World is an episode I can only describe as an assault on the senses, and not because it’s abrasive or annoying but because it’s such a confusing mess of ideas that was so close to working for me. I’ve lost faith with this season, so I’m not expecting anything going forward but I have to give RTD props for at least getting me excited once this series. Wish World is an episode bound to divide opinion and frankly, where I sit on it will only be told by the test of time. I have a lot I have to say about this one, so strap in.

John Smith is nobody: another office worker living in London with his wife and daughter, beneath the shadow of the colossal Bone palace. But he won’t stop having doubts about a life he lived before, a life where he was called the Doctor.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

My experience watching Wish World was the equivalent of a prank lottery ticket. I was elated, overjoyed and ready to accept everything I’ve ever wanted and then it all came crashing down because some dipshit thought he was being clever. The first twenty minutes of this episode is pure gold in my opinion, the idea itself immediately grabbing me and sucking me in; the Doctor is living a traditional, monogamous life with Belinda, completely unaware of his existence beforehand, but everything’s just a little wrong. Things don’t quite line up, the world isn’t quite right, he keeps meeting people he thinks he once knew. I was in love with this idea the moment I worked out what was happening and I adored the little bits and pieces of this life we get to see: the structure, Conrad’s show, the giant bone dragons (pretty sure Russell was high when he wrote this), the “slips”. Everything was peaking my sci-fi curiosity and every morsel we saw of this world was another thing I loved.

And then it stopped. The first twenty minutes of this episode are a genuine 10/10 for me: gorgeous imagery, imaginative ideas, brilliant pacing and mystery, there is nothing I didn’t like in the first act (except maybe the cold open, but we’ll get onto that). And then RTD had to f**k it up. This isn’t an episode: it’s set up. This incredible idea Russell has goes absolutely nowhere. Rogue shows up and promptly disappears again (that better lead somewhere Russell, I swear to god), immediately followed by the Doctor doubting his life and getting arrested by the Rani. And everything after that moment is not a narrative story, it is a plot device. With sickening gusto, the Rani proceeds to painfully explain every single plot detail to the Doctor in rigid, unnatural, inorganic dialogue, prancing around the set as she does. The fact that the most promising and intriguing episodes of this whole era was used to f**king exposit pisses me off so much. And no RTD, acknowledging that you’ve been splurging info the past ten minutes doesn’t make it better, self-awareness isn’t a cure-all for shitty writing.

The only positive I can really list about this third act is it’s spent in “The Bone Palace” - the Rani’s headquarters - which might be my favourite set this show has ever made. It’s a gigeresque horrorshow mixed with neo gothic architecture, from the freaky goo people (not sure what they were, the black and white people who said numbers) to the giant skeletal clock counting down to doomsday, this was all just perfect. Not to mention the suburban nightmare the Doctor lives in or the beautiful wood refurbishing of UNIT headquarters. I don’t know who was the art director on this episode but hire them on everything now BBC, please and thank you.

Ncuti’s good too, I suppose. He really sells the confusion his alter ego has and his slow realisation as to who he really is is brilliantly captured. And he didn’t cry for the billionth time, hooray! However, his opposite was not to my liking. We need to talk about the Rani because beyond being a clichéd, painfully obvious, fanwank villain she just isn't the Rani. The Rani was a cold and calculating scientist and the entire point of her was that she wasn’t a cartoonish megalomaniac with a Doctor obsession. Not every villain has to be a bombastic, camp, crazy person and it was so predictable too. It’s fine to do this kind of villain once or twice, Russell but I’m tired of it now. Give me ruthless, give me cold, do not give me pantomime villain with next to no real gravitas. Also, why is she just magic? I get you want a more fantastical Doctor Who, Russell, but it is still sci-fi, you can’t just shrug and go “yeah it’s magic, f**k you”.

It also doesn’t help that the whole second half feels like a slap in the face to the first. Most of the brilliant set up is just dropped, the whole idea and world the first half hour made me fall in love with is completely sidelined and irrelevant. The world is destroyed unceremoniously, the subplot with Ruby was completely incidental and pointless and the best idea Russell has had in a minute falls into the void for yet another classic villain reveal, are you kidding me? RTD’s become a parody of himself, a scriptwriting ouroboros, a sisyphean scribbler of limited imagination. I mean, “The One Who Was Lost”, that’s a joke right? That has to be a joke. You literally did this last season, like verbatim.

Actually, let’s talk about that final twist a second because I am both intrigued and annoyed by it. On one hand, I did not expect Omega at all. I was thinking of the Trickster or Fenric but you know what, you got me RTD, well done. Quick tangent though, Fenric has to show up at some point, right? He hasn’t even been namedropped yet and he’s by far the most famous god-like antagonist Who has ever had. I both want Fenric to show up because I’ve been wanting his return for years but also don’t really want Russell writing him. Anyways, tangent over. My main problem with the Omega reveal is presentation. For example, Sutekh’s reveal was immaculately done in my opinion: you had Harriet’s speech, the swelling score from Gold and RTD had been building up to this moment all episode, nay, all season. Omega’s reveal follows ten minutes of flat, tensionless dialogue and is then just said with no tonal build up whatsoever. The biggest cliffhanger of this season and that’s how you do it?

It’s not like I’m even mad, even if this episode was perfect I would have no confidence in the next episode. Russell had the best idea he’s had in years here, better than Wild Blue Yonder and 73 Yards combined, and it really needed to be done anywhere other than a single 45 minute episode of TV. I want to stress this, I loved the first half of this episode and because of that, I don’t want to rate it lower than any of this series’ other attempts, but that doesn’t excuse how utterly smug and boring the final ten minutes were. Nothing can excite me for next week’s episode, but I thank Russell for bringing back the magic, even if only for a short while.

Also if Poppy is Susan, I will personally hunt down RTD.

7/10

Pros:

+ Incredible first half that had me hooked

+ Possibly the best set design the show’s ever had

+ Great acting from our lead

+ Boasts some amazing ideas and imagery

Cons:

- On the nose, expository dialogue that really grated on me

- Has a brilliant idea but is smothered by its format

- The Rani is such a painfully RTD villain it’s disappointing

- The second half was a travesty

- The reveal, whilst shocking, was done awfully

- Half the plot points were ineffectual