Absolute disappointment.

Susan Triad was just a goddamn red herring, why take the effort if it's not going to pay off?

The series long mystery about Ruby's mother has a horrible conclusion.

Sutekh just really came back for no reason, gets outmatched so stupidly, taking a dog for a walk all over the Time Vortex like dragging a body through a hot dry road attached to the back of a car

Definitely the worst finale RTD has written

On my first watch of this episode I liked it better than Legend. It still wasn't very good, nor did it fix my issues with that one, but it was better. On rewatch, all I can say is...it's naff.

We were off to a strong start with UNIT getting dusted; killing off a reoccurring character isn't easy but it is impactful. Unfortunately, then the rest of the world got dusted, and I knew we were going to get a reset that would bring everyone back. It completely removed the stakes that had previously been so high.

It felt like basically nothing happened in this episode; this entire finale could have been condensed down to one episode and given us an extra episode to fill out this terribly short season. Instead we spend an awful lot of time looking at empty space. It's very atmospheric, and I'm all for slow stories that are entirely based on vibes (I loved 73 Yards), but it's completely the wrong choice for a finale.

The time on the dead planet was probably the most emotionally impactful and moving for me of anything this season, but that says more about the quality of this era than anything. On rewatch I found it boring and unnecessary, filler to pad out the runtime, and I get why people don't like it now.

It was nice seeing all the little screenshots and references to Classic Who. A moment from the TV Movie, Mel finding Six and Seven's outfits, all those planets.... Except Calufur was destroyed in Classic, and this episode acts as if this never happened (and the Doctor pronounced the name wrong). Same with Mel and the Doctor meeting Einstein; he was asleep in a chamber for that entire serial and they basically don't interact with him at all. It feels like references for references' sake, with no care for the source material. It's the same way I feel about the return of Sutekh - he has nothing in common with his original incarnation.

Ah, Sutekh. Where do I even start. The other members of the pantheon from this new era of Doctor Who were generally fun and bombastic, but Sutekh just sits there as a big CGI dog. The Egyptian motifs are brushed off for a cultural appropriation joke, completely missing the point of the original, and Sutekh himself is reduced to a generic God of Death rather than a powerful alien, his culture and people completely erased. The Doctor calls him his greatest foe, but it's just not true in any way. The Doctor fought him once, centuries ago, had very little trouble defeating him, and didn't even die in the process. What would the Master, Davros, the Daleks or the Cybermen say about that? It's not even a good line for the new fans in the audience, because it just makes them wonder what they're missing out on.

Then there's the way he's defeated. The whistle has an explanation in a deleted scene, where the Doctor programs it after the fact and sends it to his past self in the memory TARDIS. When I first saw that I wished they had left it in, because it explains an issue I had with that part, except the memory TARDIS and the real TARDIS aren't connected so I'm not sure how the transfer would work, and that just gives me other things to complain about.

Either way, leashing Sutekh to the TARDIS and dragging him through the time vortex, while a fun visual, is plain idiotic. It doesn't make any sense. The Doctor lamenting about killing him also feels out of character considering how often he kills people by sending them into dimensions where they couldn't possibly survive; hell, he did it just this season with Rogue.

The 73 Yards references were unnecessary. They didn't explain anything for the people who complained about how unexplained that episode was, but they made the whole thing feel cheap for people who liked it. Why is this man who was previously all about nukes suddenly interested in testing the DNA of every UK citizen? It's a deus ex machina.

And now we get to my biggest issue with this entire season: Ruby's biological mother. Looking past the fact that they reverted to simply calling her Ruby's mum, despite her not actually raising her and how it belittles Carla as Ruby's adoptive mother, it just doesn't make sense. They spent the entire season building her up as something impossible, and then she's just an ordinary woman.

I want to start by saying that I wanted Ruby to be a regular human with ordinary, human parents, because adopted kids don't get enough stories like that, but the further into the season we got the less possible I thought that was. Nothing makes sense if Ruby's parents are normal humans. What's with the snow? What's with the carol? Why could no one, not even a god, see her face? Why would a 15 year old wear a robe to hide her identity when no one else is around anyway? Why would she point at the sign to "name her daughter" if no one is around to see? And why is everyone just accepting this explanation as if it makes sense???

I have mixed and complicated opinions on Ruby's meeting with her bio mum. It puts her mother in a very difficult position to do it in public, especially if she didn't want to see Ruby, which is what one might assume seeing as she never reached out. Obviously this wouldn't happen in this story, but it still gives me second hand embarrassment (and I feel bad for the barista who called out Ruby's name and then she used it to start a conversation and make a scene rather than pick up her drink). The reunion was mostly nice, and while the ending did drag on a little I'm not super mad about it as a companion send-off. Now, supposedly she's coming back next season, which might make me view this ending in a different light. I didn't really bond with Ruby over this short season, and I'm not particularly sad to see her go.

I was really disappointed with this entire season. I wanted to like it, I really did, but it was too uneven for how short it was, and too many of the stories were just bad. This finale really exemplifies all the issues I had with this season. I can only hope the next one is better.

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“EMPIRE OF DEATH: DOG DAY AFTERLIFE”

The season finale picks up with Sutekh’s “gift” of death smothering the universe in a growing tide of destruction. In classic RTD fashion, the tone veers from grim apocalypse to delightful chaos, with Fifteen and Mel racing through the rapidly deteriorating streets of London on a Vespa to escape deathly dust clouds. It’s utterly daft and utterly brilliant—death by sandstorm never looked so fun. UNIT troops throw everything they’ve got at Sutekh’s encroaching darkness (to no avail), and we get the full scope of the threat when friends, families, and familiar faces—including Ruby’s neighbours and Carla—are reduced to powder.

Yes, it’s obvious that a cosmic reset is coming, but that doesn’t stop these scenes from delivering punchy tension and genuine scale. The death toll sells the threat even when logic tells us not to worry too much.

THE TOLL OF A TIME LORD

After the chaos comes the calm. Most of the episode unfolds in the eerie silence of Sutekh’s aftermath. The Doctor, Ruby, and Mel drift through the ruined world, trying to work out how to undo the devastation. The scenes aboard the TARDIS, and gazing down at a dust-choked Earth, are full of quiet dread. The idea that every world the Doctor has visited has now fallen into decay is a powerful concept—though the Doctor’s guilt for “dooming” the universe by simply existing doesn’t quite land. Travelling isn’t a crime, Doctor. You’re not that guy.

Still, Ncuti Gatwa nails these moments. Subdued, haunted, determined—this is Fifteen at his most Time Lord-y. And Bonnie Langford shines too, giving Mel gravitas and warmth. Her scenes recalling memories of Six and Seven inside the Remembered TARDIS (complete with costume Easter eggs) are lovely, and her turn under Sutekh’s influence is genuinely unsettling.

THE GOD OF DEATH (AND THE DOG ON A LEASH)

Gabriel Woolf’s return as Sutekh is a masterstroke. His gravelly, commanding voice brings proper old-school menace to the big bad. Sure, the CGI Anubis design is different from Pyramids of Mars, but it’s still imposing, and the idea that he’s been clinging to the TARDIS since 1975 is delightfully daft. He’s a big old goth dog with a flair for melodrama, and honestly? That works.

The Remembered TARDIS continues to be a great concept, tied in neatly with Tales of the TARDIS and Empire of Death alike. And the revelation that the TARDIS’s perception filter extends exactly 73 yards offers a cheeky nod to 73 Yards, giving fans something to chew on.

Meanwhile, Harriet Arbinger remains an eerie presence, masked and menacing, though underused in the grand scheme of things.

THE SPOON, THE TWIST, AND THE DNA FIX

The episode’s slower stretches—like the spoon woman in the desolate wasteland—build atmosphere more than plot. They’re evocative, if slightly meandering. A stronger payoff might’ve elevated the post-apocalyptic wanderings, but at least we get solid sci-fi grounding in the revelation that DNA testing in the 2060s will finally identify Ruby’s mother. It’s a clever, believable twist.

What’s less effective is how one pivotal scene—Fifteen receiving the dog whistle from his future self—was left on the cutting room floor. It’s a jarring omission in a story full of setup and payoffs.

THE COMPANION THAT WASN’T SPECIAL (AND WHY THAT’S SPECIAL)

Much like The Legend of Ruby Sunday teased Susan’s return, this episode teases that Ruby’s mother must be someone extraordinary. So when it turns out she’s just a perfectly normal woman who made an impossible choice, it’s quietly powerful. Anti-climactic for some, yes, but refreshing in its simplicity. Ruby doesn’t need to be a chosen one—she’s strong and kind because of who she is, not who her parents were.

SUTEKH UNLEASHED (AND THEN... LEASHED)

The final confrontation is gloriously mad. Ruby refuses to give Sutekh the name of her mother, and the Doctor quite literally puts him on a leash, dragging him through the Time Vortex like a very naughty dog. The sheer audacity of this sequence—Sutekh flailing behind the TARDIS, life returning to the universe—is thrilling and absurd in the best Doctor Who tradition.

The logic of “bringing death to death means life” might feel like a handwave, but honestly? Two negatives make a positive, and it fits the fairytale logic that has always powered Who at its best. It works emotionally and thematically, even if it’s not airtight sci-fi.

A QUIET GOODBYE

After all the dust has settled (literally), the episode ends on a poignant, emotional note. Ruby finally meets her birth mother in a quiet café. No explosions, no speeches—just two people reconnecting across time. It’s simple, it’s powerful, and it made me tear up. Her final goodbye to the Doctor, warm and full of gratitude, is a beautiful moment. It’s a fitting farewell to a companion who’s had one of the more quietly compelling arcs in recent memory.

📝 VERDICT: 7/10

Empire of Death is a wild mix of camp spectacle and solemn apocalypse, tied together with heart and flair. Sutekh’s return may be over-the-top and slightly silly, but it’s glorious all the same. The real triumph, though, is Ruby Sunday’s grounded, human story coming to a heartfelt conclusion.

Dust storms, dog gods, and DNA—this finale’s got it all.

Season One (Series 14); Episode Seven - “Empire of Death” by Russell T. Davies

I have not been this excited for a finale in a long time. Following on from one of the best cliffhangers we’ve seen in years into a story led by a returning legacy villain was a big task for RTD to take on in his first season back but you know what, he mostly succeeded. One of the most original scripts I have seen in a very long time with a bleak and harrowing first half that stuns and disturbs. Unfortunately, RTD wrote it, so you just know he managed to f**k up the ending. A really strong episode with a really weak conclusion, let’s get into it.

Sutekh has returned to bring his gift of death to all mankind. He has invaded everywhere in every time, and will smother the universe in dust. Only the Doctor and a few friends remain, but even they have given up hope.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Firstly, the opening two thirds of the episode are absolutely brilliant Doctor Who. Massive, bombastic, harrowing, tragic, well acted and well written TV. Ncuti truly gives it his all, Gibson is playing the companion wonderfully and Langford is a nice one time tag along who steals the show with her presence - and I don’t even particularly like Mel as a companion. The scene where Sutekh turns the world to dust is genuinely one of the most shocking moments I’ve seen in recent memory and for a hot second I really thought they had killed off Kate. In hindsight, that would be a ballsy way to open the episode and I might’ve even preferred it if Sutekh actually had because I mean, what a way to establish a presence. Once it’s obvious they’re just going to do some Last of the Time Lords bullshit and reverse it all, it becomes a little less threatening. The memory TARDIS is just a joyous design, with all the little bits and pieces of older TARDISes littered around the place and Mel finding Six’s coat was just beautiful. I really like how quiet and melancholy the first part of this episode is. The long shots of sandy ruins on planets, the desolate wandering around forgotten Earth monuments, that really quite depressing moment with Claire from Fleabag. It’s a shame that technically didn’t happen because it was a brilliant scene. Ncuti screaming out into the void is definitely one of 15’s best moments so far, even if only for Gatwa’s incredible acting capabilities; I know I’ve criticised 15 for not acting like the Doctor most of the time, I’m happy to say Russell finally gets it right, 15 is magnificent in these last two parts. Mel’s betrayal hits close to home and there are some nice moments between Ruby and the Doctor but overall, the first two thirds are at least a 9/10, easy. Also, loved the explanation as to why The Woman was 73 yards away, so happy they addressed at least one of the weird things from that episode.

Unfortunately, like most Russell scripts, it has trouble wrapping up. Everybody has already pointed out that Sutekh’s defeat was pretty lacklustre. I actually really like the imagery of leashing a god and dragging it through time and the entire scene is utterly beautiful, genuinely my favourite scene visually from the entire season but it really does diminish Sutekh’s status as a grandiose villain, reducing him to a visual joke and a cheap ending. I’d almost like to call it fine because 15 and Ruby are great throughout the whole scene and it looks so good but yeah, Sutekh was an unfortunately crappy villain this time around. Frankly, his henchmen do more stuff than him and he spends most of the episode stuck in one spot, we don’t really get to see the extent of his influence in the universe. However, I have landed on the fact I really like the new design. The original is iconic, yes, but this is a little more intimidating and probably fits better with the bigger scale. Also, Gabriel Woolf is still an icon. Susan Triad surviving was a weird choice, I think it would make more sense for her to just not be there after the climax but RTD seems to have developed a phobia for complex endings and now can’t have anything but a happy conclusion to an episode.

And then there’s the matter of the conclusion to Ruby’s arc. I’m going to dedicate a whole paragraph to this because it makes up most of my negative feelings on the episode. Ruby’s mother being just a regular person is incredibly dumb. The sentiment is nice but it's a pretty simple sentiment that has been done a hundred times before in Doctor Who in a hundred better ways. Let’s all be honest here, it is the cheapest possible tug at the heartstrings you could imagine with the same emotional depth as those reality TV shows where a celebrity reunites somebody with their biological parents. Simple, easy, underwritten feels that genuinely baffle me. So the explanation for Ruby’s mother being impossible to find, snow appearing whenever Ruby remembers the day, there being a hidden song inside Ruby or Ruby’s mother’s face being actively masked so that nobody can look at it, was that the thought of her was so strong it caused all these events? One, what f**king sense does that make? The thought of somebody was so strong it ripped holes in time and defeated a god, yeah ok. Two, call me a pedant but change a couple words and that is just love saves the day. It is literally the most contrived and overused explanation in the history of writing. Why did it happen? Love. I’m sorry but why wasn’t Ruby’s mother in any databases? When we met her, she was just a normal woman, so why was it impossible for people whose job it is to do this just unable to? It’s a weak explanation and so disappointing to genuinely one of the best companion arcs we have had in a while. I was so hoping Ruby wouldn’t just be another 20-something from contemporary England like the last 10 god damn companions but no, she just is with weak RTD pandering waving away her most interesting features, causing Ruby to become just another companion with very little to her.

The first part of Empire of Death was easily the best finale we’ve had since The Doctor Falls: bleak, harrowing and tragic that truly made me more invested than anything in the last 6 years has. Unfortunately, Russell can’t write an ending to save his life and turns his terrifying villain into a laughing stock and cheaply refuses to conclude one of the best through-arcs we’ve had in years. Utterly disappointing TV that was so good for 90% of the runtime. But, Russell, if some for some god forsaken reason you find this review, I implore you, from the bottom of my heart, write a companion that isn’t just from 21st century England I f**king beg of you!

7/10

Pros:

+ Terrifying opening moments that set up a prevailing sense of dread for the rest of the episode

+ Bleak and quiet tone that feels like the end of the universe is happening around you

+ Entire cast is on top form from Gatwa to Gibson to Langford to Woolf

+ The memory TARDIS is a brilliant design

+ Has some of the best moments of the season like 15 screaming at what he’s caused and him comforting a woman as just turns to sand

+ Chilling direction and set design

+ Visually stunning episode that was glorious to watch on the big screen

+ 15’s characterisation is pitch perfect here, he finally feels like the Doctor for more than just an episode

Cons:

- Sutekh is fully just turned into a joke in this episode, barely lives up to expectations and defeated easily

- Though it’s one of the best looking scenes from the whole of Season One, Sutekh being dragged through the vortex is undeniably incredibly stupid

- The conclusion to Ruby’s arc is the most disappointed I’ve been in a while; the sentiment is nice but it makes zero sense and is a cheap attempt to make you well up

- Susan Triad surviving shows RTD hates having any kind of bad ending for any character

I liked this a lot better the second time. The Sutekh stuff: all dumb and silly and bad. The Ruby stuff (other than the her mom pointing reveal) is actually all extremely good and emotionally resonant. Two great performances from Gatwa and Gibson too. It's a shame at all the nonsense going on in the meantime and how dumb the Sutekh stuff ends up being. It's a fun story in a moment, but one of those the more you think on it the more it suffers.