Season Two's series finale feels like one of Doctor Who's most ambitious of all time. The concluding two-parter to Season Two not only has to answer why the Doctor and Belinda couldn't return to Earth on the 24th May, but also incorporate two incarnations of the Rani, returning characters like Ruby and Melanie Bush, possibly Susan, and a potential regeneration. It's a lot to pack into two episodes, and already feels bigger in scope than last year's concluding story.

Wish World, for me, is a definite hit. Its pre-titles sequence, with Archie Panjabi's Rani on horseback and kidnapping a baby, does a great job at leaving viewers intrigued. It leaves you curious about why the Rani is interested in a baby, later revealed to be the God of Wishes, and whilst the Rani's new magical powers don't make much sense, they make for some neat visuals, with the Rani transforming people into flowers, chickens and owls. It could be rationalised as the Rani taking advantage of this new magical universe, or perhaps some kind of scientific experiment she has conducted on herself to give her these abilities, perhaps.

Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson are both fantastic as the Rani. They brilliantly capture Kate O'Mara's theatrical demeanour, whilst also feeling like their own distinct incarnations of the character. The Mrs Flood incarnation seems kinder and more sensitive, whereas Archie Panjabi's is a colder and more manipulative version. As a pairing, they contrast nicely, and feel like great foils for Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor.

I really like the set-up of Wish World. The WandaVision vibes are a very neat hook, immediately subverting expectations by throwing us into a world where the Fifteenth Doctor is a working man named John Smith who answers calls for an insurance company, whilst his wife Belinda is a stay-at-home mum. Conrad's idealised world being a 50s pastiche rife with sexism and homophobia makes so much sense for the character e meet in Lucky Day, who already seemed like one of those far-right extremists with the horrendous way he spoke about Shirley. His attitude towards the disabled even comes into play here, with them treated as outcasts shunned by society. It feels like a smart commentary not just on ableism, but also taking into account unseen disabilities like autism and ADHD too. Conrad's reality conveys the nonsense idea that disabled people are lesser, and should be ignored, rather than accepted as people who are just as reliable and capable as everyone else.

Millie Gibson shines here, probably more so than Varada Sethu as Belinda. Ruby's personal connection to Conrad, and how she is the first to see through his illusion, echoes Monica Rambeau in WandaVision, who similarly held a personal history with the creator of that series' alternate reality, Wanda Maximoff. It shows Ruby's agency and her strength as a companion, that she is the one to stand up against this fabricated world and purposefully seek the Doctor out to make him see the truth. Seeing the Doctor be so cold towards Ruby in his John Smith persona really hurts, because of how we have seen their close friendship in Season One, and I really hope we get a proper reunion between the Doctor and Ruby in The Reality War. It's not only Ruby trying to break the Doctor out of the illusion though.

Rogue also plays a role, appearing on a TV screen whilst in a 'hell dimension', and it's great to see him again. Jonathan Groff was excellent as Rogue last season, and whilst his romance with the Doctor felt a tad quick, it was still a highlight of Season One. He surprisingly gets more to do than Susan's very brief appearance, in her blink and you miss it cameo, although Susan did feature in a bigger cameo last week, so has technically had more screen time this season than Rogue. Here's hoping that both Rogue and Susan feature next week in some capacity.

Unfortunately, Wish World does suffer from featuring too many characters. Whilst the Doctor, Ruby, Belinda, the Ranis and UNIT are served well in the narrative, Mel Bush is heavily underutilised. Her appearance is a very short cameo as John Smith's neighbour at the beginning and end of the episode. It's a shame because Bonnie Langford is fantastic in the part and it's always great to see more Mel. I had thought given that the Rani has an established rivalry with Mel, that she may have had a bigger part to play in proceedings, but maybe Mel meets both Ranis next week.

Normally, I'd give Wish World a 9/10, but despite its shortcomings, I prefer this episode to The Interstellar Song Contest, and I gave the latter a 10/10. This means that by default, Wish World has to be a 10/10. It's a tremendous set-up for next week's The Reality War, with an extremely appearing WandaVision-esque set-up and some scene-stealing performances from Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson. Wish World is in a whole other league compared to The Legend Of Ruby Sunday, which in comparison, had some interesting ideas seeded for Empire Of Death but felt mostly like the episode was biding its time for the concluding instalment. My biggest criticism of Wish World is how much Bonnie Langford is wasted as Mel, which is a great shame, as she deserved a bigger role in this episode. I'm curious to see how Omega factors into The Reality War, and hope that the leaks aren't true regarding how he looks in the episode.