Well at least it generated content.

This is a late and long one. I took a trip to Prague the day after seeing the finale in cinema and I've just been left to seethe for a bit too long. It was nice to be in a city where no one really knew that Billie Piper was the Doctor, it felt validating.

I usually like to do a slight era review when covering the final episode of a doctor, but it just feels so premature to do it now. This, obviously, isn't the shortest tenure we've had but it for some reason it all just feels so un-finished and abrupt. But I'll get to that.

The episode starts out pretty strong, leading directly on from last week's journey into Ncuti's screaming mouth. The reintroduction of the time hotel and Anita was a pleasant surprise, although the initial visuals had me horrified of a possible TVA cameo somehow shoving itself into the canon of the show. RTD also managed to avoid his usually contrived solutions to impossible odds by actually using something that had some kind of establishment (so what if he's a professional writer, it's the little victories that count). I am also glad there was a pretty quick resolution to the brainwashing of the wish, even if it did leave Anita as a human doorstop for most of the episode, but we already have enough trouble with turning the ensemble into a hivemind of puppets so I'm not sure another speaking role would've done any favours for the script.

Ok right, so everyone is back and no longer homophobic, Mel's perm helmet has done its thing and Rose Noble is back so that Russel can trick himself into being an ally. Rose Noble (and by extension Yasmin Finney) has been done so unbelievably dirty in this period of the show. Her identity is utilised as a sci-fi plot point in her first outing, and then she's incorporated into the UNIT hivemind, only to exist as a form of expositing or demonstrating incredibly clumsy commentary. Not once is she ever treated as a character in her own right, she's a glorified literary device. I would've hoped that a show that is known for it's social commentary written by a man famous for his scripts that deal with LGBTQ+ issues and stories - but perhaps that's too much to ask for, after all we've got flashbacks to fit in! A part of me would hope for Rose (Noble, not Tyler) to come back to the show in some capacity in the hope that she gets some much needed characterisation. But then again, I don't really care because I haven't been given a reason to.

So after that, the Rani shows up for a bit - excellently performed by Archie Panjabi (would be a shame if anything happened to her). Then the big battle begins. The bone beasts (hilarious) storm the UNIT tower to keep everyone busy for a little while or - if you're Belinda - very un-busy. You know, it's quite an interesting choice to have your secondary lead of this season being rendered ineffective for the climax of the finale but I'm sure she'll have her big moment at some point.

Now, on first watch - I actually had a lot of anticipation going into the climax. The Doctor and Ruby were gearing up to head into battle and the Ranis seemed moments away from succeeding - classic stuff. Now, I actually quite like the moment between Ruby and Conrad, Lucky Day was my favourite of the season so to see the dynamic return and wrap up was a treat. I like that Ruby was the one to deal with him and she wasn't cruel about it, she used the upper hand that she'd gotten from spending that time with him in a sort of reversal of their roles. Great stuff. It's the Time Lord stuff that gets quite messy.

Omega is a character that is probably most famous for his design in the 3 Doctors - its creepy because of how hollow and rustic it is, a different type of feeling to the body horror of The Silence of the Khaled mutants. This new design completely abandons any of that. It turns Omega into a giant undead foetus thing with absolutely no reference to his original design. You can say what you like about Sutekh's CGI-ification but at least he was somewhat recognisable. Here Omega looks like a leaked boss from a new Resident Evil, which wouldn't be a problem - if this was used for a different character. Also, for some reason he decides to eat the last good character in this episode? There's that old saying, you are what you eat - but I think he was blasted to death a bit too soon for him to digest becoming an interesting character. And just like that, he's gone - barely a minute of screen time and the promised "big threat" has been neutralised back into his vault.

After all this though, the episode did slightly bring me hope again. The moments surrounding Poppy and her slow erasure from reality is incredible. Millie Gibson really is an incredible actor and I love the direction they've taken her character. It's a more tragic version of what happened to Rose. A character that was incredibly 'normal' and human in the beginning can't experience the world in the same way again as a result of their travels with The Doctor. It's an interesting consequence that differs from the usual death or death adjacent ending. However, as potentially tragic as this is, Ruby is not the only companion in this episode. Remember Belinda? You might not as she's been sat in UNIT's basement for the last 20 minutes or so. Belinda's ending is horrific. It's miserable. It's so f**king bleak. The Doctor saves Poppy, by sacrificing himself, but also Belinda as we knew her. The final scene between The Doctor and Belinda is so wildly off-putting and sort of contradictory to the messaging of last week. Why did Russel think it was a good idea to take the companion who started with so much self agency and turn her entire motivation into being a mother? Her reality is warped and her mind brainwashed into thinking this was always the case but it wasn't!! It's just so weird and dark to me that who we see at the end is not the same person we met at the beginning and she can't possibly know that. So what we end up with is a sort of 'Weekend at Belinda's' where the body of a character we know is being puppeted around but it's very clearly just an imposter wearing her face. I adored Belinda as a companion, and I think Varada did such a stunning job in the role - so it kind of hurts to see her character being stripped down. The problem is I like the whole sequence before this, The Doctor willingly sacrificing himself to save a child (that may not have even been real) is peak Doctor Who - that's him, that's the character. And the moment with Jodie is great as well. I just wish there was a universe where this could exist, without lobotomising Belinda, (maybe this universe could also make the space babies link make more sense, but what do I know? I don't run the show).

Then we get to the regeneration. The build up is brilliant, the speech, the score, the performance, the effects are all stunning. I'm glad they didn't blow up that very expensive set, and I'm sure Russel is too. But I was sad to see Nucti go so soon. His era doesn't feel complete enough for me. There was barely an arc, even 'The Boss' didn't get a complete resolution. A lot of his episodes are lacking in his presence because of how popular of an actor he was and it just feels like by the end I didn't know him as The Doctor. That being said, he had some of the best episodes in years and I will always treasure his performance and version of the character. The messes of his era are clearly the fault of uninterested suits who would only acknowledge the show if it'll allow them to buy their 8th house on the coast of Italy. I think that puts the show in a very familiar place to where it was in the early days of 2005, only this time Russel doesn't have enough Petrol in him to keep the faith. He's watched a few too many TikTok edits and thinks that's the sign of a good show. There's a reason why a lot of the dialogue in these last 2 seasons have sounded like they're clip farming. It's because they are. Aura farming and sigma edits do not make a good show. And neither does obscene nostalgia bait. Yes, I remember how good Billie Piper was - because I can watch her entire tenure on Iplayer. I thought that was the point? The show will change and regenerate, but if you're ever missing it the whole of time and space is available for you to watch. I'm sure Billie will be good in the role, she's incredible and I do look forward to seeing what she does with the character. Just please let her be a proper incarnation. Another gimmick might just be the final nail in the coffin.

I will start by saying I’m in the minority in saying I didn’t care for RTD1. Specifically, his season arcs. As a viewer, I started watching in Matt Smith’s run, then started to watch Eccleston onwards while also watching Capaldi’s early stuff. I think the Moffat style arcs, especially Series 6, with how they were incorporated into the episodes, really clicked with me, and so watching RTD1’s arcs which just consisted of repeated words or phrases like “Bad Wolf”, “Torchwood”, etc was underwhelming, with the exception being Series 3, I enjoyed the mystery of who Harold Saxon was, and why he was interested in Martha.

So when RTD2 was announced, I was apprehensive but nonetheless interested. After all, he did write great episodes themselves. I went in with low expectations of the arcs, and Season 1 affirmed how I felt. So going into Season 2, I was barely invested in the Mrs Flood mystery, although I did enjoy the “Land of Fiction” theory.

So let’s start with Mrs Flood. I have no issues with her being the Rani. I’m perhaps slightly underwhelmed but I have no issues with it, except maybe the assumption that the average fan will instantly know who she is. The Rani isn’t really explained in the episode except for “she’s a Time Lady”. Ok and? That doesn’t inherently mean anything, you need to explain who she is, not just name drop her.

But I think the worse criticism of the Rani here is that she was barely used! Like, you’ve had Mrs Flood since Season 1, maybe even the specials. She appears in half of Season 1 and every episode of Season 2, but then as soon as it’s the finale, she’s barely around. Mrs Flood is demoted to sidekick, then the new Rani dies halfway through the episode. I had to check the timestamp when that happened to see another half hour left. Why are you building up a character for TWO years just to do throw her aside? It’s especially infuriating when both actresses are so great in their role whenever they do get to do anything.

This doubles for Omega, as well. We are not told anything about Omega short of “the first Time Lord” which for starters isn’t even true in established lore? Like I know Doctor Who lore is pretty inconsistent but at least try. But again, we just don’t know what the stakes here actually are. Why is he locked away in the underworld? Who were the people chanting about him? Most importantly, what is his relationship to the Doctor? The Doctor asks Omega “remember me?” but we don’t. The average viewer has potentially but probably not seen that one episode from 1973 that ACTUALLY introduces Omega as a character, and again, as a threat he is dealt with in about two minutes.

Don’t even get me started on the design, like Omega has one of the COOLEST designs in 1973, but like last season’s Sutekh, they’re just a CGI beast now. Why are you taking away their uniqueness? Their originality? I literally thought it was Sutekh at first when Omega had a weird ass CLAW coming out from the portal. They’re literally just the same, but namedropped as pre-established antagonists in the hope that this will be enough to make people enjoy the CGI mess. It’s embarrassing.

For the finale, I was also expecting something with the Pantheon. Since that’s kind of the Fifteenth Doctor’s whole thing. We’ve faced three maybe four Gods by now? I was surprised, maybe pleasantly, by the lack of any Pantheon member. We do of course have some dialogue about Omega becoming a God anyway, I’m not sure if this means he was meant to be part of the Pantheon itself, or if they’re just hyping him up? I don’t see anything happening this episode to really “wrap up” the Pantheon arc. More Gods can theoretically appear in future episodes, no? If so I hope we have a better showrunner by then.

Next, I need NEED to talk about Ruby and Belinda. It’s so clear from this episode that RTD does not care about Belinda. Like, the villain is RUBYs neighbour and RUBYs ex-boyfriend. Belinda is just there. Sometimes I’ll joke and say characters are just standing around, but in this case Belinda is LITERALLY inside a box to separate her from the rest of the world while RUBY goes and confronts Conrad.

The episode then ends with Belinda’s timeline being reconstructed to retroactively include Poppy as a baby, a baby in which Belinda never met nor interacted with. A baby that RUBY had previously met and interacted with, and most importantly shared the theme of being a foundling and having abandonment issues. The episode was literally written for Ruby. Belinda deserved better.

Finally, the regeneration. Man. We just did this. The last couple regenerations have been controversial spectacles. People Didn’t like Tennant coming back as 14, then people didn’t like him staying around through a bigeneration. These issues, I’m mixed about. Like, it’s a 60th anniversary one-off, you want to get some viewers, I GUESS I can excuse it. But now it’s not a one-off. You’ve gone and done the exact same thing again. Like Tennant, I’m sure Billie Piper will be phenomenal in terms of acting. But the desperate attempt to get viewers through this nostalgia-baiting is at this point so embarrassing. It makes me wonder whether Piper will be a permanent, or “numbered” Doctor. We’ve had mini “half-Doctors” before such as Fugitive or War, and I love these characters, but I do think a bit more thought needs to be put into the mainline Doctors. Either way, I know I’m not going to be able to be invested in Piper, because it’s either too much of a gimmick, like 14, or she’s not going to be around long enough to establish any cohesive arc, like 15.

Overall, the finale is fine is the culmination of many issues that have plagued the show for the last two years. I will miss Ncuti, and I’m sad that there are like going to be so many dropped plotlines due to his surprise regeneration.

See my full Season 2 review over on serializd:
https://www.serializd.com/review/34868764

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 :)

I'm honestly more of a lurker here and use the site to keep track, but I'm crawling out of the woodwork because what the actual f*** was that?!

how do you even screw up this monumentally

at least the fandom is united in all hating this disgrace

Prerequisites: Most of the RTD2 era, frankly.

As others have stated, The Reality War is rather... quite bad. Honestly, it might be the worst finale this show has ever seen, and that's even counting The Timeless Children. I have no earthly clue what RTD was thinking here; there are just so many elements of this episode that are atrocious. In fact, let me list some of them below:

- Why did the Rani bigenerate in the first place? There being two Ranis served zero narrative purpose (beyond giving Omega someone to eat), and the story did literally nothing with the dynamic of the original Rani being resentful of the newer one.
- Why bother bringing back the Rani and Omega is both are almost completely different from their Classic Who versions? Seriously, the Rani here is not at all some amoral scientist. She's just a random Time Lady villain, and could've been replaced by Missy without much rewriting. As for Omega, I trust I don't need to elaborate on why making him a big CGI monster was a bad idea.
- I had many logistical questions throughout this episode: how were implanted UNIT chips advanced enough to break through the 'wishes'? How was Rogue able to message the Doctor, and even know what was going on? Why didn't the Rani just wish for her ability to procreate back?
- Why does this episode expect me to care too much about Poppy, who literally didn't exist before this episode? The entire script seems desperate to make her the center of the story, when I simply could not care less.
- Plus, I really hated what RTD did to Belinda as a character. The person from The Robot Revolution who would talk back too the Doctor (and had dreams of her own), is now completely gone. In her place, is a single mother who was given a child without her foreknowledge or consent, and then had her reality rewritten so that she was always a single mother. That is just a... gross writing move.
- It's pretty obvious where the reshoots happen, and it's clunky.
- WHY IS BILLIE PIPER THE NEXT DOCTOR??? (assuming of course, that she is). Admittedly, I think Piper has the talent for it, but at this point, I don't trust RTD at all to actually write a good episode featuring a Doctor who happens to look like Rose. It's an awful, fanservicey casting decision that does NOT bode well for the creative future of the show.
- Why did Susan literally get to do nothing this season? She was teased a fair amount, and Carole Ann Ford is getting up there in age. I hope she gets to have a proper role in an episode before she passes.

To be fair, I did genuinely enjoy the Thirteenth Doctor cameo. It was actually rather nice and sweet, and I appreciated how it respected her era. Still though, this episode was just terrible. In all honestly, I've never felt this depressed about the future of the show. Even during the Chibnall era, I was at least reasonably sure that the next Doctor would at least be different. Here...who's to say? I no longer trust RTD to write good Doctor Who, and that makes me sad.

Anybody can write a story that simply isn't good. It takes a level of *effort* to write a story in which one of your main characters suffers a fate identical to what the villain last episode did but don't worry! It's good this time because we also rewrote her entire past so that she actually wanted this all along! Belinda I'm so sorry they massacred you

At least we have the Thirteenth Doctor

Absolutely baffling. Given the exterior circumstances (Disney stalling on renewing for a third season) I get why that is, but even if they did renew early most of this is a bit confusing. Why does the Doctor suddenly care about Poppy, a daughter that never existed originally, when he's just escaped what could essentially be a fascist world that (briefly) erased major parts of his identity? And what to do with the lumping of Poppy - now human and not Time Lord - onto Belinda, as if it was all normal? It's all so baffling to me. I sat there and felt a headache come on watching it. That's not even talking about the regeneration, either.

Nice to see Thirteen at least.

Only giving half a star because that's the lowest I could give

Apart from everything else in this "episode" I genuinely despise this "episode" just for what it tried to do to omega. The 2nd best time lord in the whole show- respected, revered and now....

Hes- hes a bad guy.. 👎

Disgraceful just disgraceful

You can hear about everything else like the over abundance of nostalgia baiting, the fact that the episode ended half-way through, and much more from other people all I care about is my favourite founding time lord and they ruined him..

Did they even watch the three doctors?

I don't think there's been an episode since I started watching in 2005 where there has been so much uncertainty on what form Doctor Who's future will take. Obviously fans who grew up with the classic series would have had a similar experience with Trial Of A Time Lord, Survival, and the 1996 TV Movie, but for those of us who have been watching since 2005, all we have ever known is being sure that the next episode will be a Special, or that there will be another full series the following year. Even with The Power Of The Doctor, it was known that there would be three 60th Specials, followed by a Christmas Special, two seasons with Ncuti Gatwa and a spin-off. It's obvious that Doctor Who will continue, but the format of the show is less clear.

The Reality War, as expected, is a heck of a packed episode. It not only has three companions, but pretty much the entire UNIT team, two Ranis, Omega, and a regeneration, plus the surprise returning Doctor. I actually think it manages to balance these elements quite well. Some will complain that the Ranis and Omega are dealt with quickly, but that story strand still takes up around 40/45 minutes of the episode, and the point of the story is clearly more about Poppy, and who she is in relation to the Doctor and Belinda. I like that this Doctor's last stand is to save a missing child who has been forgotten by everyone except Ruby, as it feels very in-character for the Doctor and speaks to his humanity and compassion.

The reveal that Belinda's motive for wanting to go home is because she actually did have a daughter called Poppy is great too. It brings added context to her desperation to return to Earth, as she has responsibilities regarding her daughter, but it's also such a devastating twist for the Doctor. The poor guy spends the entire adventure because of Wish World thinking that he is Poppy's father, only to find out the Dad is someone else. That must be soul-crushing, and it actually makes Wish World seem quite cruel. Conrad and the Ranis made him believe the child was his, only to strip it away from him.

Belinda is at her best here as a companion also. We get more of that fiery determination we saw from her in The Robot Revolution, through her steely resolve to keep her daughter safe. Belinda shows some real agency away from the Doctor, basically being the one who demands that UNIT put her in their Zero Room, despite the Doctor advising it would be better if Poppy was in there alone. I prefer this Belinda who does what she thinks is right, staying in the Zero Room with Poppy, than what the Doctor thinks should be done.

As said before, I love these incarnations of the Rani. Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson are such a great pairing, and brilliantly convey the aura of a Time Lord. The fact that they want to rule over this new Gallifrey when they bring it back feels in-character for the Rani as depicted in Time And The Rani with the way she had taken control of the planet Lakertya. It's great that her obsession with bringing back Omega is what ultimately leads to her downfall, with Omega gobbling up Archie Panjabi's incarnation and Anita Dobson's Mrs Flood iteration taking the coward's way out by fleeing the scene completely. I don't even mind that Omega is underused and defeated quickly. He could always come back in the future, as all the Doctor really does is push him back into the Underverse, and I think it would be better to have a finale in the future where Omega is the main focus. I'm relieved the leaks that he would be a giant CGI claw/crab were wrong, and I hope if he does return later down the line, he has his iconic Three Doctors look next time around.

One thing I really wasn't expecting was Jodie Whittaker's return. Seeing the Thirteenth Doctor in the TARDIS again was a real thrill, and Jodie Whittaker seamlessly slips back into the role. There's even a mention of Yaz, and how she never got to tell her that she loved her, which is a neat touch as Thasmin became a strong talking point around fans during her era.

It is sad to see Ncuti Gatwa leave, but not surprising. It did feel inevitable with the long delay from Disney renewing the streaming rights, but this is a strong end for his Doctor. His final words being 'Joy to the world' are a beautiful callback to Steven Moffat's recent Christmas Special, just as it was great to see Anita return earlier in the episode. Billie Piper's casting as the Sixteenth Doctor (as much as some are suggesting there's a twist, I doubt it) is obviously controversial, but I think people just need to give her a chance. If anybody can pull off a previous companion returning as the Doctor, it's Billie Piper. She is an extremely talented actor, and I think she has the ability to make her incarnation feel distinct enough from Rose.

My only real disappointment with The Reality War is that there's no reunion between the Doctor and Susan. It's a confusing move to not feature Susan in this episode, given all of the build up in Season One, The Interstellar Song Contest and Wish World which appeared to be leading something. People can say they're clearly keeping it back for a third season all they like, but as awful as it is to say, Carole Ann Ford isn't getting any younger. She's 84 years old, and we have no idea when Season 3 will even be filmed,never mind when it will air. I'd rather they had focused on Susan and kept Omega back for Season 3, whenever it may happen, as Susan's return had been teased already, whereas the Omega tease was somewhat left-field in Wish World.

Overall, I'd give The Reality War a 10/10. It's an action-packed finale that goes at a brisk pace, and a wholly satisfying conclusion to both Season Two and Ncuti Gatwa's era as a whole. His regenerative sacrifice being to locate Poppy feels heroic and worthy of the Doctor character, and its surprise return of the Thirteenth Doctor is the icing on the cake. Billie Piper's casting as 16 will ruffle a few feathers, but she's a talented enough actor to pull it off, and it seems crazy to me that this happened in an episode that also featured two fantastic incarnations of the Rani, an Omega who thankfully is not a CGI crab or claw, and Melanie Bush, whose face-off with the Rani carries all of the emotional weight of their previous clash in Time And The Rani. The Reality War is a vast improvement over last year's Empire Of Death, with the only real downside being that Susan's teased return still hasn't been paid off.

In terms of the era as a whole, I think it's a crying shame that 15 is the first Doctor since Paul McGann to not face the Daleks on TV or in expanded media during his era, as I think a Doctor's first encounter with a Dalek is often one of their defining Doctor moments, and it does feel like he has been robbed of the opportunity somewhat. The Eighth Doctor did eventually get to meet the Daleks in Big Finish audios, so hopefully the same is true for the Fifteenth Doctor, and Ncuti Gatwa records some audios at some point. 15 has at least met one of the big three in the Cybermen in expanded media, but if you had told me this Doctor battling the Toymaker, Sutekh, the Midnight Entity, two incarnations of the Rani and Omega would be events that happen in his TV era and not some later Big Finish audios, before Russell T Davies returned as showrunner, I would never have believed you.

My brain is twisting itself into a pretzel trying to get me to enjoy this episode. But I can't.

Some lovely standout moments, and set pieces; but they all fall flat for me because I never bought into the Poppy stuff.

I was so looking forward to seeing what the Rani(s) and Omega were going to do. But he just ate her and then the Doctor pushed him away. Not quite the triumphant return I was personally hoping for.

I also didn't realize how much of my enjoyment of the season was actually dependent on the assumption of a third season with Ncuti. I am GUTTED we have lost him. This is feels like what would have happened if Colin Baker had agreed to do the first story of season 24. Highly unsatisfying.

I don't care about whatever's going on with Billie Piper, because I know it'll get explained the same way bi-generation and Mrs. Floods forth  wall breaks were explained. It won't. It happened because Russell wanted her back, the story reason will not matter at the end of the day.

To not end this on doom and gloom, I want to say just how much I enjoyed seeing Jodie. My god. She was pitch perfect. For the minutes she was on screen the whole show felt grounded and safe. It felt like "Thank god, the Doctor's here". I knew I missed her energy, but I didn't realize just how much I missed it.

I had some time to think about it and i still mantain my initial reactionary take that time and the rani is a better finale for sixie and trial of a time lord for Peri than those final minutes where for 15 and Belinda, big finish has quite the heavy lifting to do in the next few years, good lord

this is only getting half a star because of jodi's feature.

really, rtd? cramming the first poc doctor in between f-ing tenrose doctors?? leave your peak in the past where it belongs. this is so disrespectful.

ncuti deserved so much better than this. not only was he robbed with the terrible pacing and writing from both seasons, but the length alone should be criminal. 16.5 episodes for his run, 45ish minutes each, and he wasn't even given enough grace to be in every episode.

his "big bads" this episode/season were killed off in a matter of anticlimactic minutes after an entire season's worth of buildup (two if you count flood). like, come on. more time was spent on his daughter-not-daughter.

speaking of poppy, my GOD retconning belinda's entire character to have had a child this entire time. i didn't think we could top how terribly martha was written/treated as a poc companion, but rtd continues to prove me wrong.

i would say i hope this show gets better, but with rtd being the showrunner, it will not be. without another hiatus, i fear that it will be run directly into the ground.

I normally try to write my reviews of new episodes as soon as possible, typically straight after Unleashed. This time, I just couldn't bring myself to. In the gap between finishing watching The Reality War and writing this review, I have thought about this episode, this era, Russell T Davies and Doctor Who as a whole a lot. Like with most other episodes this series, my opinion on it has declined the more I've thought about (to the point where I prefered this over Wish World upon having just watched it, and now I'm rating it quite a bit lower). This is because this series is all about trying to be sensational, even at the cost of being bad. This series relies entirelly on its shock value, and there is very little actual substance to think about afterwards. The plots are busy, and character work is sidelined (I still don't feel I really know Belinda (more on this in particular later) and even the Fifteenth Doctor properly, while, comparing to series 1's Rose, I feel like I know Rose and the Ninth Doctor very well by the end).

In some ways, I feel that this episode is the best second part to Wish World that they could have done. My reasoning for this is that the Rani and Omega are all dealt with suprisngly quickly. To clarify, this is bad writing: after all of the build up, this episode should have spent much longer on those elements, but I did not like those elements so I kind of don't care. In the moment, I enjoyed the second half more. The more I've thought about it, however, the worse my opinion on it has got.

What little characterisation of Belinda we had received is largely re-written/re-interpreted, and her role in the story is reduced to standing in a box for a lot of the episode. I am extremely glad that Poppy didn't end up being linked to Susan, but that's really the only bit of praise I can bring myself to say. 

I really didn't like the large action sequence where UNIT was shooting at the big skeleton things. That's not what I watch Doctor Who for. If everything else would better, this would be fine, but it's yet another thing.

One small bit I did like was when the Rani got eaten by Omega and then the plot just moved on without addressing it. The Thirteenth Doctor scene was also really nice.

i was expecting to be pissed off by this episode, but the particular ways in which it pissed me off surprised me a fair bit. i did enjoy many aspects of the episode! there were jokes that got me, visuals i really enjoyed. it wasnt life-ruining trash for me. im still not happy, though.

i understand that there were reshoots and things had to be quickly rewritten to accommodate Gatwa leaving the show early (which is a whole other matter that i have many thoughts about) but i don't think that is a satisfactory explanation for any of the things that bothered me here.

thing number one: the pacing and overall plot. there are approximately one million things happening in this episode, most of which require a heap of exposition that is delivered in RTDs classic Explain Everything Completely And As Fast As Possible So We Can Move On style while everybody stands around listening. absolutely nothing gets space to breathe here for even a second. i saw somebody say this episode was edited like a tiktok and i think there is some truth to that, it was a total sensory/emotional overload and not even in a fun way. plot beats burst out of the ground and then are immediately euthanized like a manic game of whackamole, omega shows up looking weird as all hell, has his weirdness sort of half heartedly explained away and then is immediately blasted back into hell, unceremoniously taking the main villain with him over the course of, i dont know, 60 seconds. this is similar to how Empire of Death felt to me, except that one actually stopped to let the cool stuff bask in being cool for a minute here and there. reshoots and rewrites dont excuse this either. clearly RTD isnt afraid to just let some of those plot threads dangle (susan, the gold tooth, etc) so why not just drop a few of these plot lines and clean things up? its a hot mess already.

thing number two, my personal favorite: Belinda. utterly betrayed by the writers.

Wish World: the world has been reshaped into a sick, saccharine, authoritarian society where the only acceptable relationship dynamic is the heteronormative nuclear family. every man has a wife, every wife is a mother. and if they dont, Conrad's wish conjures one out of the ether and rewrites their memories so that it has Always Been This Way, and they have Always Loved These People. every person on earth has had their memory and personhood violated so they can be dolls for Conrad to play happy families with, and they need to break out of this and remember who they really are, outside of a reactionary's idealized world.

except for Belinda, apparently. in Belinda's case it is of utmost importance that she keeps the emotional bond that was shoved into her brain by a misogynist so that the Doctor can have a baby. and we're somehow not supposed to find that horrifying. it is never once framed as a negative thing after the revelation that Poppy is the Doctor's daughter.

this ties in with another issue thats been coming up here and there: the inconsistency of what the narrative considers ethical. authoritarianism and rewriting people's existence against their will is bad when a creepy guy does it, but when the Good Guys do it it's actually really really cool and heroic and really sweet of them to care like that. see also: the first episode of the season, the Robot Revolution, has a planet of people living under complete control of their robot overlords, who monitor their every word (or at least most of them) for any sign of dissent on punishment of death. that seems pretty bad. the villain even gets reduced to a few non-sentient cells for his trouble, and then comedically swept up by a roomba. in this finale UNIT reveals that they've had their employees microchipped like dogs all along so that their movements can be surveilled at any time within the radius of UNIT HQ, including at their homes. you know, UNIT, who also have been secretly building time technology that even the Doctor doesn't want them to have, the guys with the Death Laser on their roof, and the armed soldiers, and the ability to seemingly build/keep whatever the hell weapons they want with no oversight from the UK or any other government. the good guys! i see no way any of this could possibly be used for evil, ever. and neither does the show, apparently, because listen to that victorious fanfare when they bring out the microchips. remember, Good People are allowed to do whatever they want and it's always right, because they're Good and not Bad.

anyways. Belinda. kind of messed up that she literally was locked in a crate for like a third of the episode (while still essentially brainwashed) while all the important stuff happened, huh.

And thing number three: that regeneration scene was very sweet. I will give it that. and I understand it having to be tacked on pretty abruptly on account of Gatwa's sudden departure. but keeping it a secret literally until the episode was released just felt cruel. other Doctor Who actors get to make an announcement, be in control of their own narrative before the second the story became available to the public. the fans got time to mourn. it feels disrespectful. worse, it gives me the suspicion that it was a move purely to get people talking. something to generate youtube clickbait, which, it seems, is the meat of RTDs writing method these days, based on some of those interviews he's been putting out.

i do have more issues here, but I'll cut it short before this turns into full-on essay. i never thought i would be this put off by the TV series again. i really, truly, tried to trust RTD and the whole team here. still, taking all of this in with the highest degree of optimism i can, the absolute best i can say about what happened here is that it was thoughtlessly written without consideration for how the treatment of these characters (Belinda in particular) would come off. even believing in RTD with every ounce of optimism in my heart, this is part of a clear pattern of behavior on RTD's part in his treatment of women, motherhood, and characters of color. seeing a woman of color as a companion get utterly used and sidelined a second time did not feel good to me (third time, really, if we count his Doctor Who debut, Damaged Goods, in which our long-time Black woman companion is barely a character for the bulk of the book). and neither did seeing the Rani (the one who isn't white) get unceremoniously murked by a big monster that is then removed from the story entirely.

I really, really hope RTD can't outrun the criticism on this one. I hope he gets fan pushback he can't avoid and has to learn a bigger lesson than "if people get mad its free advertising". if I wasn't ready for a new showrunner before, I am now.

I know it has lots of issues, but I had a great time watching this episode. Ncuti will be missed.

to write something this embarrassing, you'd have to be really drunk/high or you simply have zero clue what you're doing anymore and you throw s**t at the wall in hopes of "generating content".

both of those apply to Russell T Davies.

there's barely even a plot and this finale was meant to tie all loose ends of Ncuti's era altogether!!!! like what happened here?!?! we have characters wasted left and right, the most fanwanky shite imaginable and things that don't even make sense!!!! and a title that's overexaggerated and cliche and where it doesnt even focus on that!!!! lord give me strength

this was the most pathetic episode I've ever seen and it's somehow worse than The Web Planet and Space Babies

oh well, at least Jodie came back and did her own bit (trying to save this abysmal script/episode) and essentially getting 15th to just... kill himself to find that f**kass space baby? okay lmao

the regeneration has no impact whatsoever, there's no proper buildup and feels tacked on and it just... happens. that's it. eccleston's felt more natural than this and the same guy wrote both of these episodes!!!! I'm glad Ncuti left in a season finale for once though lmao

but it genuinely sickens me that Ncuti got this ending, he deserved better and NOT to be sandwiched between/overshadowed by RTD1's biggest glup shittos which were there to him as the "press if doctor who is on a steady decline again" emergency buttons, really f**king infuriating

sack Russell T Davies

jesus f**king christ

i never realized how much i missed 13 but by far she was my favorite part of this episode. yaz mention in big 2025 is crazy

i also think the scene where the doctor and belinda gradually casually forget about poppy, accentuated by poppy’s coat getting smaller and smaller until it finally just disappears, was uncharacteristically well done, a properly tragic and dread-inducing scene. i have now finished praising this episode

first doctor to die by suicide, purely so belinda can remain forever a single mother living with her parents in a reality completely different to the one she originally came from with zero idea of what her life was really like. #wholesome i literally f**king hate this so much. and if i said worst companion exit of all time

i never properly bought 15. he’s a good actor but what was he ever supposed to do with any of the material he was given. he never had a chance to BECOME dr who. give him an occasional gravitas-laden speech, make him quirky and silly and wacky and crazyyy, we got all that but we never got that moment where the actor actually becomes dr who, and now that he’s gone it all just feels like a wash. i don’t hate the idea of billie piper as the doctor though! i will always prefer a new face for the doctor rather than an old one, but i also feel generally more forgiving to the idea of the doctor taking a companion’s face rather than taking their own again (still not over “fourteen” sorry). very much stunt casting and yet another disheartening symptom of rtd being unable to look anywhere but the past, but i think she absolutely has what it takes for the role - if she really even is the doctor. i’m absolutely #befuddled at why the screen shattered during the doctor’s first??? regeneration scene? and then he woke up in belinda’s f**king nightmare hell world? and then joy to the world and then billie piper????? and then the credits, well, credit, ncuti gatwa as the doctor, jodie whittaker as the doctor, and “introducing billie piper”????? AS???? AS FUCKING WHO????? DOCTOR FUCKING WHO???? and as curious as i am about all this, i also really don’t want to care. the prospect of these lingering questions being answered a year or two from now does not excite me nearly as much as just another fresh start would. i cannot wait for rtd to go

doctor who in its current incarnation is defined by nothing more than hype moments and aura, completely devoid of anything resembling substance or respect for the audience or even itself. it doesn’t seem to think itself capable of great things anymore, and that’s just soul-crushing to see as a fan. we got heaven sent ten years ago. we got the doctor falls eight years ago. what the f**k is the point anymore. if the show itself refuses to care, why the f**k should we. but i do. but why do i have to?

Ncuti has been an incredible Doctor and it's a great shame and disgrace that this is his last episode. And it is very sad what they did to Omega and Rani, what they did to Belinda and Ruby... Just awful... I hope Russell T Davies is never allowed to join the franchise again

The Reality War is a disaster that it genuinely feels like the show will never recover from. Where to even start.

Belinda's ending reeks of misogyny, at the start of the Season, it's shown that she has no interest in being married or having kids and then, she's shoved in a box in this episode and been made to be all about Poppy to the point where she literally snaps that a disabled woman who is ignored in this world and left homeless has no right to be put above Poppy. She literally has her agency ripped away with her entire life being rewritten to suit the role that a bigot designed for her.

Archie Panjabi spoke before Wish World about how she was incredibly happy to be an Asian woman playing a character called the Rani and that Pip and Jane Baker would be really happy to see that, only for her to be eaten by Omega at the halfway mark whilst the white woman playing the Rani is free to escape after two years of build-up with inexplicable fourth wall breaks which are never explained and she doesn't do once in this entire finale which is fine because she doesn't do f**king anything else either.

Anita is brought back, only to be revealed that she's pregnant after being jilted by the Doctor (in a Timey-Wimey way)........Brief moment of excitement there before that. Oh, and then she just stands around holding a door for the rest of the episode whilst repeating a one liner about just being a Hotelier.

Omega, what an absolute stupid inclusion. He's on-screen for two minutes tops before the Doctor just shoots him with what is effectively a gun and when he is on-screen. Once more, he's just a large CGI monster that has nothing in common with his Classic counterpart. He now wants to eat Time Lords for some reason (Literally just a convenient way to get rid of the Rani is the only reason this exists), for anyone who has been waiting for either character to return, I genuinely feel so sorry that this is what you got.

Rose Noble is there.

Ruby does some stuff I guess, she defeats Conrad but only after thanking a literal f**king bigot for making a kind world.......in which people with disabilities are homeless and trans people are erased. What the actual f**k is wrong with Russell T Davies? What the f**k kind of comment is that?

The last 20 minutes of the episode are so painfully obvious that they were tacked on when Ncuti decided he wanted to leave that it's jarring compared to the rest of the episode, it pushes things so far into the insane that it's baffling. The best part of these 20 minutes are genuinely when Jodie Whittaker returns as Thirteen and has a wonderful interaction with Fifteen. The line "I should tell Yaz that" "You don't, but she knows" oh my heart. I will at least thank RTD for making it explicit that the Doctors love for Yaz was reciprocated.

And then, those last two minutes......I knew that there was a chance that this was coming but I hoped that even RTD wouldn't do it. That he would have enough sense to not do so but, it seems my faith was misplaced because Billie Piper is the Doctor. I literally was saying to myself "Please fade to black, please fade to black, please fade to black" but then that didn't happen. Never before has a decision in Doctor Who felt so much like the admittance that the show has ran out of steam but this feels exactly that way. It's cheap stunt casting in the hope that it might convince people to tune back in or maybe it's just to get clicks because RTD loves talking about generating content. Whatever the answer, this is the decision that to me makes me wish to walk away from the show, whether I do or not, I really do not know but, something has to give. Either the show needs to go away for a bit and I accept the risk that if it does then it may not come back or RTD and the BWS gang need to step down and leave because the only other outcome if they don't is Doctor Who dying a slow and sad death.

I wasn't going to write a review because a lot of people already said most of what I think, and more eloquently than I ever could. However, I want to point out that one of the things that really annoyed me was how this was a bad episode of TV. I love Doctor Who, even when the plot is not all that; hell, I adore the Movie, which we know is not really good. The Reality War failed in three very, very important things an episode of a show, let alone a season finale, could not have failed at:

1) It was impossible for the audience to know where the plot was going, because the goal posts kept moving and completely new things kept being introduced at breakneck speed. The Deus Ex Machina of Anita's literal magic door key is an insane offender. How could we know Poppy was 'impossible', why does the Rani need Omega specifically? Because the surviving Time Lords are sterile now, we're informed in an exposition dump. Why is Omega a giant mummy? Because he became his own legend in the Underverse, we're informed in an exposition dump. What are the bone things? They are Underverse creatures, we're informed in an exposition dump. How will we protect Poppy from the wish being undone? Susan Triad will build a Zero Room in... what, 15 minutes? It was all insanely clunky. The vindicator is a laser gun because sure, why not. The Doctor has to die because, you see, he needs to shoot regeneration energy into the vortex. HOW were we supposed to put the pieces together and follow the story if we didn't know basically ANY of the rules? If your audience can't even begin to grasp at what the rules of your story are, the solutions are not going to be satisfying. They need to be laid down, but not in a verbose, technobabbly exposition the second before it becomes plot relevant!

2) Not a single character arc is realized. Belinda has her whole life rewritten, is now not even the same person as the Belinda we met in 'The Robot Revolution'. Ruby also has no arc; she was there for the story and did things (which more than I can say for Belinda), but she did not grow or learn anything. What she got was trust issues and PTSD. The UNIT gang are there, sure. Shirley was saying she was gonna bring down god last episode, but she just ends up being one of the 23489 characters in the UNIT tower. Same with Mel. Kate was given what has to be one of the cheesiest, most forced lines I've ever heard, and then spends the rest of her time spinning the tower around. Anita suddenly had a crush on the Doctor all along, is now pregnant, holds a door open to [checks exposition notes] real time to keep flowing. Rose Noble is there for 0.3 seconds. Everyone keeps hugging and telling each other 'you're the best!' and these characters just do not feel like real people. The Rani gets eaten alive by Omega. There is no character arc for anyone. The closest we get is with the Doctor himself, who had a bit of theme of looking for family going on in this incarnation.

3) It doesn't know who its audience is. There's things here for kids, there's things for regular scifi fans, and there are things for superfans. The problem these aspects are not playing together to make this an episode many different people can enjoy: they are playing against each other. The kiddy bits feel more embarrassing than fun, the fanservice to Classic Who is confusing, makes the plot needlessly contrived, and the scifi has wand-wavy, arbitrary rules. The pacing is also all over the place, with some fast action suddenly followed by strange, long scenes of 10+ characters standing around listening to long winded explanations.

I'm gonna stop now. It's been almost a day I just keep getting more and more frustrated with this episode. What a damn shame.

------

ETA: I don't wanna be all downer here! Here's some assorted things I liked: Anita's 'I'm just the hotel manager' jokes; Kate's disgusted 'I'm wearing tweed'; Ruby fighting to get people to believe her about Poppy; all the set designs and special effects (yes, even mummy Omega); Ncuti's lovely, tender acting in the quiet scene where Belinda is 'reminding' him of things she 'told' him (gods, I wish we had more time with him). And Billie? I'm optimistic :)

Oh s**t, here we again

Again, hate to be a hater, but what the hell???

I wasn't expecting this episode to be good, like at all, but just turned out to be way worse than my worst expectations. Firstly, Susan? Who? I don't know her, do you? All that hype for her and then she doesn't appear at all. Rogue? No sign for him either. Although I enjoyed Anita being back and the use of the time hotel, it still is a cheap way escape the Doctor from certain death, but that's a corner Russell wrote himself up to.

So many explanations that are shallow, plain and rushed, just to move forward the many plots on the screen. Rani doesn't do anything and immeaditely is eaten by Omega, loads of lazy lore dump and plot exposition in the UNIT bridge, Belinda got sidelined again and what a disastrous use of Omega. They literrally pulled Omega, now a gray CGI mess, out of fin air, and the Doctor just blasts him away with the vindicator, barelly being 5 minutes into screen and doesn't represent any menace whatsoever.

Russell doens't know what's going on, what direction to go or even allow himself to write a sad ending. "Poppý is real!", "Poppy isn't real!", "Poppy is the Doctor's daughter", "Poppy isn't the Doctor's daughter!" C'mon Russell, pick up something and commit to it! Also, it's so weird this episdode endeded up being a regeneration story, because there's no arc being completed here, it's not a final showdown for 15, it's a forced regeneration due to Ncuti's decision to leave the Tardis. It was a little neat for the 13th Doctor to make a cameo, but honestly, why?? Her cameo doesn't change a thing in the story, if cut out of the episode we wouldn't miss it, it's just there because Russell wanted so.

Also, what a terrible way to regenerate the Doctor. I don't buy anything from it, at all. He simply giving his lifeforce away, because Russell can't allow himself to do a sad ending and have everyone go back to their normal lifes, with the cost of Wish World's Poppy never have existed (and she was never real). And with that, we've got Belinda being retconed as Poppy's mother and, all this time, she was trying to get home for her daughter all along.

And then, at last, the regeneration. It's nice that 15 regenerated in front of Joy, but what came after is just wrong. All of the suthen, Billie Piper's face is what we see after the regeneration. I don't hater Billie, she's a wonderful actor. What bugs me is  that they're repeating what they've done with the 14th Doctor. She was one the show's protagonists for 2 seasons, had plenty of cameos afterwards and even apperead on The Day of The Doctor and now she's The Doctor?? WTF???? This is truly the worst thing that could happen to Doctor Who, to endlessly recicle it's past, to appeal constantly to nostalgia, just to become a shallow representation of itself, with nothing new to say. The press material after the episode doesn't help either. She's not creddited as The Doctor anywhere, and they even say "who, why and when, you will have to wait to find out". No! Just no! Just commit to that dumb idea all the way through. You made her face to appear after the regeneration, so make her the Doctor. I just can't help myself to think that she is just stunt cast, a place holder Doctor, until they decide exactly what the next steps are going to be. But then again, why show her face at first? We could just have a open ended regeneration, like Jodies almost was, without showing any new face.

At the end of the day, it's Doctor Who and I love it so much I'll be watching whatever comes next up untill my last breath, but I can't help myself coming to a conclusion that this was Doctor Who at it's lowest. The worst episode ever, countig with the revival, with classic era, this is the worst of the worst, with even Dimensions in Time being a better experience than this one. I just hope RTD's day as showrunner are coming to an end, because we deserve so much better.

This has been an absolute joy.

A Lengthy Preamble

I found a Pokémon card on the walk back from the cinema. Team Rocket’s Mareep. It’s part of that new Destined Rivals range. It’s got a massive fold down the middle, but hey, free Pokémon card. Who’d throw away a perfectly good Mareep?

I left that cinema at 8 o’clock with so many questions. So many mixed thoughts and feelings. But one burnt brighter than any other; how did I feel about it. See, for years now I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection. About who I am, where I stand on things, what defines me, etc. And for Doctor Who specifically, how I feel about everything. I am, unfortunately, the type of person who can base their opinions on other people’s opinions. For years I was conditioned to think that Hell Bent was an abhorrent abomination. It’s taken a long time to shake that off. And for a lot of Doctor Who, I want to try and make sure my opinions are truly my own. So, as I left that cinema, I made a conscious decision. Not to look up anything. I had a long walk home (found that Mareep), had a shower, went to bed, woke up, had a cup of tea and I rewatched ‘The Reality War’ a second time. As I write this review, I still have no idea what everyone thought about it. I don’t want to know the score on TARDIS Guide. I don’t want to know how Mr TARDIS felt about it. I want my thoughts to be my own. So here it is. Unfiltered, unbiased and uncut; how I felt about ‘The Reality War’.

The Past

• Alright, let’s get tall dark and shouty out of the way. Why is Omega here? Why did we need Omega back? Why, if we did need to bring him back, do we just have him squeeze through a hole in the wall and then get pushed back into said hole? You could’ve replaced Omega with any vague monster or power in the Underverse and achieved the same outcome, why did it have to specifically be Omega? I’ll admit, I do think his design is sick. Could’ve been a bit more Omega-ery but it’s still a sick design. I do really like the general idea of Omega being consumed by his own myth and becoming a mad God, but he’s ejected out of the story no sooner than he appears. It doesn’t make-or-break the story for me; it’s just a rather baffling decision. Plus, it does raise an interesting quandary. Who got it better, Sutekh or Omega?
• RTD2 seems to have an ongoing problem that not a lot of people seem to talk about. Things get explained, but they don’t get explained adequately. Yes, we do technically get answers to questions, but we don’t spend long enough or go into enough detail on those answers. Case and point; the Time Lords themselves. First of all, the Rani’s method of survival is a single line. That’s weird. Secondly, did the Time Lords survive or not? I assumed after ‘The Day of the Doctor’ that Gallifrey did survive but within a pocket dimension. Then in ‘Hell Bent’ we see at some point before the end of the universe; Gallifrey does come back. Then in ‘Spyfall’ the Master kills everyone after learning about the Timeless Child. But Rani specifically mentions the genetic explosion (I assume she means the Death Particle) from ‘The Timeless Children’. So, did everyone run into the Matrix? Did some Time Lords get slaughtered and others (like the Rani) escape? I don’t know and you’d think RTD would be a tiny bit more clear on that considering how much he loves showing us Doctor Who clips on BBC iPlayer.
• When we save the day from Omega, I am happy. When we get to the final regeneration itself, I am also happy. But in between that we have a very stop-and-start structure that feels really weird. The stuff in it feels good, but we keep flipping and flopping between calm moments, emotional moments, long speeches, all-systems-go moments and it makes that chunk feel very disorientating. Again, not bad. It is during all this we get that great bit where Poppy fades away and Thirteen coming back (we’ll get to that) But it does feel like the story is sort of stalling during that chunk.
• “Kicking the can down the road” is an informal saying that generally means “to put off confronting a difficult issue or making an important decision, typically on a continuing basis.” And I’m getting REAL tired of RTD throwing down a bunch of cans, kicking them and saying “look everyone! Look at all these cans! Aren’t they marvellous! Don’t you want to know where these cans are going!?” At the minute, we have three big cans we still don’t have answers to; who is The Boss, are we going to save Rogue, and Susan. And so help me if the Boss is just the Master, I’m going to lose it. We are running out of iconic series villains RTD, either make someone new or pick someone no one would expect.
• Murray Gold, stop taunting us with the Series 10 soundtrack. I KNOW that’s the slow piano from The Doctor Falls/Twice Upon a Time. That’s one of my favourite motifs from that story. And I can’t listen to it legally or officially. Just give it to us already. Now. Right now. I have a GUN. I KNOW YOU HAVE IT ON YOUR HARDDRIVE, MURRAY. HAND IT OVER AND NO ONE GETS HURT.

The Present

• I like the Rani in this. I’m not sure how other people feel, but for me personally, this does feel like a story made for her. I couldn’t see the Master or the Monk doing all this. It feels tailor made just for her. I like how the Rani wants to rebuild Gallifrey not just because she wants to avoid extinction, but because she wants Gallifrey to appreciate her. OK, its hella egotistical but it’s also a tad sympathetic. It does really feel like the Rani genuinely wants the Doctor to side with her and she doesn’t like having to oppose him for once. All of which is elevated by Archie Punjabi. Archie Punjabi is SO damn good as the Rani. The sass, the venom, the callousness. If Kate O’Mara was a space diva, Archie Punjabi really gives off the vibes of a sci-fi witch. And I love that. It’s still undeniably the Rani, but a new flavour. Anita Dobson doesn’t get quite as much to do unfortunately, but she does survive. Maybe we’ll see her again, who knows?
• Everyone is here! And while it does suffer from “Journey’s End” syndrome where not everyone gets a lot to do, it does add to the intensity of that UNIT Tower Siege. I also love that Anita’s here. She’s nice. And it does give me more of a reason to like ‘Joy to the World’.
• I love the momentum of the episodes first and last half. ‘Empire of Death’ really suffered from not having enough downtime and the vagueness of what the actual threat was. Where ‘The Reality War’ does feel like the better season finale. It does feel like the stakes are adequately laid out and the threat is clear. And when the episode moves into full bombastic action, it bloody delivers. Seeing it on the big screen really helped. The Doctor Who theme and Fifteen’s theme really do hit different in a cinema.
• The imagery in the episode f**ks. And it f**ks HARD. One of my biggest compliments for ‘Empire of Death’ was its imagery and direction, and holy hell that holds true for ‘The Reality War’. The UNIT Tower Siege, the Doctor riding the Rani’s evil moped (that’s what I call it, shut up) the reveal of Omega’s new form, the bit with Poppy’s coat and of course the regeneration itself.

The Future

• Everybody shut up, Jodie’s back. OH, you don’t realise how much you miss a Doctor until they come swanning back into another Doctor’s era. Initially on that long walk home I thought “OK but why was thirteen here? Was it just more RTD fanservice?” But again, the more I thought and simmered on it, the more I quite liked it. Technically, Thirteen was the last Doctor to regenerate. Fourteen technically didn’t leave, he’s still living his best life. So, I quite like Thirteen coming in to essentially comfort a Doctor before he leaves, considering she is technically that last one who left. And God, Jodie really hasn’t missed a beat, has she? It’s like she never left. And to be honest, seeing her perform along side another Doctor really does show how different she is to other Doctors. How wordy she can get, her little speeches about hope and I didn’t realise how much I missed the Jodie-Whittaker-patent-pended-speech-with-hand-movements-little-jump-combo. “Don’t go in fear. Go with that lovely smile.”
• The regeneration itself is amazing. I have issues with how we built up to it, but after the Doctor leaves Belinda and we cut back to the TARDIS; Oh my God it’s magical. From the swelling music, to Ncuti’s nervous but optimistic performance, the TARDIS slowly getting darker as he moves to the doors, the Joy cameo, this Doctor’s final lines, regenerating in front of a galaxy, and the regeneration itself being MASSIVE. Shout out to that one shot of the TARDIS console lit by the regeneration glow; that shot is beautiful. That whole sequence is amazing, and it caps the episode off on a high note. Also, tiny headcanon, the TARDIS shut everything down so when the Doctor does regenerate; he doesn’t accidently destroy the console room. Again.
  

  ---

• But we also have a new Doctor on the way! Repeating myself, I didn’t know this was a regeneration story. I went in blind. That was fun. Friendly reminder that if you don’t like Doctor Who leaks; leave Twitter. It’s for the best. In fact, just leave Twitter in general. You’ll thank me for it. Anyway. HOLY HELL ITS BILLIE PIPER. Thoughts? I have none. Unsurprisingly, my only frame of reference is her performance as Rose, so I don’t know enough about Billie as an actor outside of DW to form an opinion. My initial gut reaction was “good grief we’ve really jumped the shark now”.  But the more I think about it, the more I’m warming up to the idea. Friendly reminder that this same thing happened with Colin Baker and Peter Capaldi. The main thing is that this isn’t a guest actor becoming the Doctor, it’s someone who’s played a companion before. Dare I say, one of the most iconic companions. Call me crazy, but I’m cautiously optimistic. Welcome to the TARDIS, Billie Piper as the Sixteenth Doctor. God that feels so strange to type out. (Though interestingly, she isn’t credited as ‘the Doctor’, unlike Ncuti and Jodie so ooh, maybe, maybe not.)

Conclusion

This is the last bit I type before I finally look up how this episode has gone over with people. And I will try my best to stick to my thoughts and my thoughts alone. Who knows, maybe I’m freaking out over nothing and everyone loved it. I don’t know. But here goes.

Initially, I had no idea how I felt on ‘The Reality War’. Finding that Mareep card on the walk back was the most cohesive thing that happened in the last hour. But I made the right call in not looking anything up, letting thinks simmer and watching it a second time.

I really did like ‘The Reality War’ and I think it’s a considerably step-up from ‘Empire of Death’. I do think this season has ended on a high note, resulting in one of the most consistently good seasons, in my opinion. More than that, it has ended a personally special era of Doctor Who on a high note for me. I think this was a fantastic episode to end the Fifteenth Doctor’s era on. Was it perfect? No, not really. I won’t pretend this regeneration story holds a candle to others. And those messy elements to distract me, but not enough to break the whole story, nor my enjoyment of it. This story is like…like a Pokémon card I found on a walk. Yes, there is a massive distracting fold in the middle, and someone else clearly didn’t want it or like it. But its mine now. It’s right in front of me as I type this all out. And I liked it. And that’s all that really matters.

So as a wise man once said, “Time will tell, it always does…”

Cancel the show

i hate you russell t davies

Episode 8: The Reality War

If this was a bad era this might have been forgivable but it hasn't. Its been pretty good. Wild Blue Yonder, Boom, Rogue, Lux and The Well was amazing. I also admired episodes like 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble and The Story & The Engine even though even though they didn't really fully work for me on broadcast. But ending this era like this is unforgivable. I don't even know where to start. I never thought the day would come where I would give a doctor who episode half a star. This episode has tarnished this whole era and made it look like a big mistake. Maybe this was all a mistake. Doctor Who needs new voices. Bringing back RTD and Tennant, whilst executed quite well, set the worst precedent. Doctor Who has become what is was in the 80s. Rehashing old lore that no one cares about because the people running the show don't have any other ideas.

I'm generally wary of waving pitchforks at showrunners. Consistently good writing is something that is quite rare in doctor who.
But this episode confirmed my worst fears.

Sack Russel T Davis.

For this season I stayed away from all leaks successfully... I regret wasting effort doing that for this episode.

"I love you, Doctor"

I wasn't ready. It's been all but a year and a half that we have had Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, and it wasn't long enough. Especially in this episode, we got to see him fully formed, in command, doing everything the Doctor should do: the heroics, the raising people up, the sacrificing it all for the one life. That's the Doctor. Every new Doctor should make the Doctor their own and allows us different ways that we can think about the character, and open ourselves up to new understandings of who the Doctor can be. When the Doctor tells the 13th Doctor I love you, she's surprised. The evolution continues. This is supposed to be just a review of this episode, but wow, what a powerhouse Ncuti Gatwa has been. The combination of him and Russell T Davies for my mind brought back why I fell in love with this show in the first place.

For all of the plot threads that seemed insurmountable, the fact that RTD deals with them in about 40 minutes and it all feels comprehensible, especially compared to Empire of Death is an absolute miracle. I've watched this episode twice now, and it really does give every character their moment in the sun and wraps it up. A benefit of there being so much explaining in Wish World about the Rani's plan, versus Legend of Ruby Sunday which didn't have that. Archie Panjabi was on absolute top form, and while it was a bit sudden to see her just get eaten by Omega she commanded every scene she was in. I love how Anita Dobson got to escape, and wasn't that broken up about it either. Hoping we see her again, but who knows.

"Sometimes, we all feel like your children"

I was overjoyed the Doctor was saved (yes in deus ex machina fashion) by Anita from Joy to the World! Paying her character off was a fantastic surprise. She had a moment, Mel had a moment talking about facing the Rani before, hell even Susan Twist was phenomenal this episode. Millie Gibson I believe has separated herself as one of the best performers in show history and at an incredibly young age too. Her getting to deal with Conrad paid off Lucky Day in spades, even if she recognizes he got off easy.

I do not think Doctor Who has ever looked better than when UNIT Tower fought the bone beasts. Seriously, the bone beasts looked incredible and the Doctor zooming on the Rani's little hover scooter was silly, but you put that music on it's just like driving a motorbike up the Shard, it somehow worked. Omega also looked amazing, and I'm glad he wasn't really a big part of the episode. The Vindicator was set-up all season, so that was much less ex machina than the time door. Seriously, night and day compared to Empire of Death with how cleanly all the different threads held together.

The decision to focus so much of the episode on the Doctor and Belinda's supposed wished baby Poppy is a curious one, and it didn't hit quite all of the correct notes to me. Especially as it took Belinda who had been so strong all season and plopped her into the role of just looking after a child. It looks like Poppy will live, but then Ruby watches as suddenly Poppy vanishes and the Doctor and Belinda can't even remember her. This is the most tenuous part of the episode, as it's mainly just Ruby feeling like she's been gaslit. (Seriously, Ernest Borgnine wouldn't be alive at 107, come on Doctor). The message she gives though is a truly great one that echoes back to her first trip in the TARDIS in Space Babies, an episode far too maligned. The Doctor will always save the one life, no matter the cost. Whether it's an old man in Wilf in the radiation chamber, or just to bring one child back to life at the cost of his own. A world built on the death of one innocent is no world at all.

It was a total surprise to see Jodie Whittaker again, and very fun to see her interact with Ncuti Gatwa. It was a joyous little scene, and I really appreciated it. I was worried that RTD was going to ignore the legacy of the Chibnall era, even as someone who was not a big fan of it, it was five years of Doctor Who that counted just as much as the rest. Jodie Whittaker also changed my perceptions of what the Doctor could be, just like Ncuti Gatwa continued to do.

The final goodbye with Belinda who in the new universe has been a mother the whole time, with a completely human baby Poppy, was very touching. I think maybe the biggest weakness of this entire episode is wet don't see Ruby again! What the hell man. All love to Belinda, but Ruby is the definitive companion in my mind for the 15th Doctor, and it felt so bizarre not to get a goodbye there.

And then, the end has come. I'm sure there will be copious amounts of ink spilled about the how, the why Ncuti Gatwa only had two seasons. I think he could've easily done two more. It feels like there is so much left undone, but I hope he is at peace with leaving the role. He seems to have loved and cherished it so much. Thank you so much Ncuti, and I hope like Jodie you are never far away.

Of course, he then becomes Billie Piper. I'd heard rumors, but I still couldn't quite believe it. This has seemingly broken pretty much everybody's brain. I do think having just brought back David Tennant, and now Billie Piper, it sure seems like that is flying in the face of everything I have just described of challenging our perceptions of what the Doctor can be by just giving us retreads. Why is everyone so obsessed with 10/Rose! That was 2006! Give it up! But then I think, I didn't like David Tennant coming back, but we got Wild Blue Yonder and some truly great moments. I think Billie Piper is a powerhouse actor, and am going to keep an open mind that she can continue to show us different facets of the Doctor. I have a suspicion she'll be temporary alongside how the 14th Doctor went, but we'll see. I will choose to trust in an incredible actor.

Especially on the rewatch, with the main exception being the lull after the world is reset, this is just a fun episode of television. It had everything I'm looking for in my Big Dumb Finales, characters getting their chance to shine, fighting fantastically designed monsters, saving the Earth once again. Isn't that how a lot of us fell in love with the show in the first place?

I watched it twice before seeing everybody's reactions, I'm disappointed and sad that so many people viscerally hate this episode. Personally, I think this whole season has been the most embarrassed I've ever been to be in this fanbase. Last season had good episodes but the pacing was wrong, this season truly felt like a strong Doctor Who season as a whole for the first time since Capaldi's final season seven years ago. I will make a prediction here, and we'll see how long it lasts. The Reality War is Hell Bent all over again. The fanbase thought they wanted something, and got something different, and in time, Hell Bent has gradually won people's admiration. Check back in 2035, and see if I was right.

"It's been a joy."

Truly, I have no idea what the future holds for this show. But despite a fanbase seemingly imploding on cynicism and negativity, it really hasn't bothered me much, because of Ncuti Gatwa. I will always wish we got much more, but I think we truly got his best. His positivity, joy, infectious energy, and commitment to being The Doctor re-invigorated my love for the show. What I love about Doctor Who is that it makes me, an ordinary man, feel like I can expand my horizons and be part of a great adventure that at the end of the day is built on love. Ncuti Gatwa embraced that adventure, and he was a damn good Doctor. Until the next adventure!

SACK RUSSELL T DAVIES

SACK JANE TRANTER

SACK PHIL COLLINSON

Billie Piper: 😐

Mostly, I feel like 90% of these plot threads needed to ether be stretch out over a whole season or else cut entirely. As it was basically everything they set up got five minutes max and impacted literally noting. And then to top it off, the explanations where so hand wave-y it felt they they where doing jazz hands at me.

Overall a very weak end to an otherwise fairly good season.

I didn't finish watching "The Reality War" until 10 pm, and I listened to my emo playlist for an hour to cope, but I think I can write a review now. It will still be all over the place, but I'm nothing if not predictable. I didn't think that I would like this episode, but that doesn't mean I'm not still disappointed.

I probably shouldn't have been looking at the leaks, but I'm nosy and purposefully looked at the leaks thread in the forum for this season. I was really hoping that 15 wouldn't regenerate since he's one of my favorite Doctors, Ncuti Gatwa is fabulous in the role, he's only been in nineteen episodes, and he never really got a chance to shine. I love earning badges, but I'm sad to earn the one for finishing all TV stories with 15. I wish Ncuti Gatwa all the best, and I'm sure he will continue to slay, just no longer on new episodes of Doctor Who.

The entire RTD2 era has felt like RTD taking the popular parts of his first era and redoing them in this era, but in a derivative and worse manner in an attempt to recreate the popularity of his original era. It does not work. Billie Piper being the new Doctor is unfortunately a prime example of this. Instead of casting an up-and-coming actor to play the Doctor, RTD chose an actor that portrayed one of the show's most popular companions (and one that was from his original era). I have nothing against Billie Piper, but she's the wrong person to play the next Doctor since she already came back for "Day of the Doctor" as a different character after the popularity of Rose Tyler. The casting of the Doctor should not be a publicity gimmick! Well, technically she wasn't credited as the Doctor in the credits so she might not be the next Doctor, but it is still a gimmick to get people talking about how Billie Piper is the next Doctor.

I loved Belinda at the beginning of the season, but the more interesting parts of her characterization were quickly abandoned, which sucks. I don't like how the bit with the Doctor making a wish that Poppy lives resulted in Belinda being Poppy's mother. Belinda's motivation for the rest of the season being changed to wanting to go home to Poppy was incredibly disappointing. I'm terribly sick of female characters being reduced to their main goal in the narrative being something related to their children, and it sucks that this ended up being the case.

The Rani and the Wish World being defeated by Anita holding a door open and the Doctor making a new wish is an extremely unsatisfying conclusion. Omega being a CGI skeleton was also extremely unsatisfying.

I've never experienced the EU media where looms are mentioned, but it is interesting that Time Lords being sterile is canon now. I'm happy for the fans of the EU media where that's a thing. I really wish that Rose Noble had a bigger role; I'm sick of her just being written as a part of the UNIT set. I loved Thirteen's cameo; I'm indifferent towards Thasmin, but I'm happy for Thasmin fans. Kate telling Ruby that she can punch Conrad is iconic tbh. I love Anita, but I wish she had more to do besides holding a door open (that and everything with Belinda and Poppy was so sexist). Susan should've been brought back due to her appearance in "The Interstellar Song Contest," but I honestly don't trust RTD to correctly write her return. This show needs new blood. I need to bill RTD for my meds, next meeting with my therapist, and next meeting with my psychiatrist.

I'll probably add more of my thoughts later.

In my heart of hearts, this episode deserves the lowest possible rating, but I'm being overly generous because of the appearance of Jodie Whittaker as Thirteen and the subsequent Thirteen/Yaz relationship mention. In other words, what a pile of rubbish.

I may come back and edit this review to go more into depth but, for now, I'll just say that so many things in 'The Reality War' are not only generally bad writing but actively propping up misogynistic and hetero-normative narratives, as well as having negative implications beyond that**. While I don't think these are the explicit intentions of the writer, it's something that's hard not to think about once you notice it. Varada Sethu and Ncuti Gatwa deserved so much better than this ending to their season, as did the characters they were portraying.

Bringing back Billie Piper the play the Doctor*, especially after doing the same with David Tennant, is an awful decision, as talented as she is, and will likely lead to the death of the show if the next year doesn't bring some major changes to the direction of the show and the (hopeful) departure of RTD** as showrunner. I'm seeing dedicated fans and casual watchers in my life alike considering stopping watching new episodes as a direct result of this regeneration. I won't... but can't say it didn't cross my mind.

I love a good bit of nostalgia-bait but bringing back Susan, the Rani, and then Omega in quick succession with barely any care given is just a bit much, innit?

*There was the notable omission of "as the Doctor" in the credits so that will probably be relevant but, as of writing, we saw Fifteen regenerate into that face so I will assume she is playing the next Doctor

**This is not meant to be any sort of attack on RTD as a person but I am not a fan of the creative direction he's taking the show in, or the more recent episodes that he's been the primary writer for.

I had my suspicions after the iffyness of the Rani in Wish World, but with the reveal of Omega in this, I feel I can safely speculate on this:

RTD made the Doctor 'the Last of the Time Lords' because he is incapable of writing for any of the others.

Like... you can talk about legends and myths all you want, but that is not Omega. He was not imprisoned, he was a victim of circumstance, cast away as a result of his greatest triumph. He's a tragic character, that's what makes him so good, whereas here, he's just relegated to being a generic 'kill everything' villain. Not impressed.

Beyond that, I like the main crux of the story: This is a children's show at its heart, so the idea of the Doctor risking this much just to save one child... yeah, that scans. I'm not massive on what had to be done with Belinda to make it fit (why is a show this gay being this heteronormative? I thought the whole point was to not make the world like that?), but as a send-off for the emotionally vulnerable orphan that is Fifteenth, I get the logic for it.

Oh yeah... there's also that to get into. At time of writing, I'm still coming to terms with that absolute haymaker of an ending reveal; where in the actual Hellion this is going, I can't even begin to guess. Thirteenth coming back was nice, and I liked Whittaker and Gatwa's chemistry together, but...

Okay, given the specific crediting for Billie Piper, it's still nebulous whether this really is the Sixteenth Doctor or if something even stranger is going on (after the hour preceding it, I am not discounting that possibility), there's a chance that Ncuti could come back. And I genuinely hope that's the case because, even without getting into the length of his tenure (no Doctor since Colin Baker has had only two seasons to their name, and with how short the seasons are now, that simply isn't enough for a modern Doctor), he should have gotten a better send-off than this. Character-wise, I still think it suits his specific incarnation, but story-wise? This is quite the mess, trying the same trick as Empire Of Death in zooming in from a universe-scale threat to something more personal, but not really doing as well with it. Plot threads are hastily tied up (Conrad got off way too easily; I'm already taking back some of the praise I had for Lucky Day's finale), the Rani just... disappears, and Omega is dealt with like he's nothing.

And yet... even with all that said, there's still two things here that I really liked, to the point where they might be the main reason why I rated this as high as I did. The first: Anita's back! Not entirely on-board with the romantic jealousy poking through the cracks of her performance, but between her actually taking part in the main action, and the hinting about her 'boss', I hope this isn't the last we see of her.

And the second: Time Lords are confirmed to be fertile. Lungbarrow is canon. The Looms are real! My fan theory combining Lungbarrow and The Timeless Child is more viable than ever!! Let's friggin' go!!!

Yeah, very mixed feelings on this one. The wait for what is even going to result from all this is going to suck, but y'know what? I'm game for whatever it may be. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Doctor Who is at its best not when it's 'good' but when it's interesting, and above all else, this is all highly intriguing to me. The episode itself, though? Eh.

the plot wasn't coherent or satisfying, the whole thing with the rani and omega just got thrown away really quickly to the point where i couldn't even fathom how there were still THIRTY ENTIRE MINUTES LEFT. on top of that, rtd continued to sideline his non-white leads (archie panjabi's rani, belinda, and even THE DOCTOR, aka the titular character of the show!) for white characters in particular ruby, and then to top it off, made the dumbest choice for the next doctor he could have possibly made. russell t davies needs to stop writing for doctor who immediately. DEEPLY disappointed in what he did to 15's tenure. he gave belinda so little characterization that he had to invent a daughter for her in order to make up a reason she should leave when she ALREADY HAD ONE. also, the line about blonde girls was projecting — more of the doctor's blonde girl companions have been from rtd than not. maddening that he brought back billie piper as the next doctor. THE SHOW NEEDS TO MOVE ON. especially from rose tyler! she is one of the most praised and referenced companions, and billie piper has ALREADY COME BACK IN A DIFFERENT ROLE. i find it unfair and inappropriate that she should come back as well but given that we've already had david tennant come back (also not a choice i agree with, he had his time already) the artistic integrity of the show is out the window at this point. very upset with this episode, as it's hammered home that all my existing problems with RTD are not something he's interested in fixing.

You lot are being overdramatic, it was good.

honestly this entire episode [and as a result the entire series] was just absolutely baffling. RTD i will never understand you

ncuti gatwa deserved better than this departure

This review has been flagged as inappropriate.

i hate this show man , 13th doctor scene and the pre regeneration scene carried this, jodie my glorious goat, curious to see where the show goes from here though, but man... i am ruined ill miss you ncuti gatwa i wish for your success in hollywood because you deserve it king.

The best and the worst moment to be a Doctor Who fan.

RTD must be fired, and i dont know why it is not yet.

I will never forget you Ncuti, I'll mourn 15 not with tears but with laughter, I'm sure he'd want that.

I'm willing to see where this goes but at this point sack RTD because he is very clearly out of ideas and it's becoming apparent from the dialogue and plot of this episode that his own internalized biases and beliefs have overshadowed the work and voice of other creatives to the detriment of the show as a whole throughout this entire season. I commend him for bringing the show back in 2005 and helping guide it through a tumultuous time at the end of the Chibnal era but the time has come for him to pass the torch. Doctor who needs new voices, new opinions, and a new direction. It is a show built on progress and change which has kept it alive in any form for over 60 years and it will continue for 60 more if it is allowed to "regenerate" to keep up with the times.

I went into this episode honestly full of hope. I liked wish world, it set up a fantastic premise. The Rani, Omega, I was expecting great things. And honestly, a lot of the time that makes me at fault for getting my expectations too high.

But even if I had tempered my expectations as low as possible, I'd still have been disappointed.

It's not all bad, but most of it was.

I loved seeing Anita back. RTD mentioned in Unleashed he'd been thinking of this scene playing out for a while and Moffat creating the time hotel gave him the idea of how to get out of it. It gave us a great character back for a moment. Really good thinking there. Unfortunately, the fact she was a quick way to save the Doctor showed, because her character effectively became a doorstop for the rest of the episode.

The Rani's encounter at UNIT was fantastic, one of the best scenes of the episode. I loved seeing her and Mel interact. It's a big part of what makes such a long running show great, characters meeting after decades. This was very satisfying. As was the Doctor's trickery to take control of her air scooter. The offence the humans took at the Rani's rejection of using Poppy to restore the Time Lords was a bit silly. Imagine if someone suggested restoring humanity but also we'd all be part eagle because a half human half eagle creature was going to be used to restore us. Of course you wouldn't want that.

The fight scene between the bone creatures and the UNIT HQ was cool. There's a bit of CGI that was actually just fun to watch.

And the Rani convincing the Doctor to just go along with letting Omega come back, I liked that. He is after all, only Gallifreyan, and he was curious too. That was good.

Unfortunately, they decided to give Omega the Sutekh treatment, and turn him into a giant CGI creature, presumably because they have this nice fancy budget now. I loved Omega's original design, why couldn't they just have that come back? The giant creature seemed so unnecessary.

And then having him eat the Rani? So that whole multi-season arc was over... just like that. Immediately followed by the Doctor blasting Omega back in a whole sequence that lasted about three minutes.

Finally, the whole sequence of Ruby remembering Poppy was interesting. Unleashed kind of hinted that Ruby remembers because her memory works a bit different after 73 yards. I didn't get this from the episode but it helped make sense out of that.

But I find the way she was treated by the Doctor and Belinda kind of odd. They were downright rude to her which was so strange because a moment later that was forgotten.

The line from Kate of them all being the Doctor's children felt really weird. Like a modified version of "The real children were the friends we made along the way."

Then came out final sequence. The Doctor choosing to regenerate to save the life of a baby that ceased existing. I'm okay with that. The Doctor's given his life for a single person before. I think it's an admirable reason to regenerate.

Thirteen arriving was a welcome surprise. It was like she never left and she was absolutely fantastic. But, I do wish this happened earlier in the episode. I feel a Doctor's final moments should be special, for them and their companions. Making part of it about another Doctor felt weird.

The Doctor heading back to Belinda where her entire character changed to be completely revolving around her child was really disappointing. They could have set this up nicely during the season, but instead we got this really jarring change.

Then, that very end reveal, which I have to admit I first thought was Joanna Lumley from Curse of the Fatal Death, but then realised it was Billie Piper, and I was just... baffled. It felt as comedic as Curse of the Fatal Death to be honest. The credits however, didn't credit her as The Doctor like regeneration scenes usually do, so I guess we'll find out what weird antics are going on there.

Finally I'll highlight the lack of Susan, who showed up for barely a few flash sequences very the last couple episodes, after having her be mentioned a couple times over the last two seasons. It really felt like this episode would see her return, yet we just got nothing in this episode which was an incredible disappointment.

Overall, going into this episode had the prospect of three significant characters returning. The Rani, Omega, and Susan. And on all counts I was disappointed.

It had a couple nice points in the episode that stops me marking this below 1 star, but I can't justify giving it more than 1 either.

Well. That certainly was an episode of Doctor Who. I'll start with some positives: Looms canon. Thasmin canon. They did the obligatory 'Two Ranis' joke very well.

Now the bad. Jesus Christ this episode treated nothing and nobody well. Omega got turned into a big skeleton zombie thing. The Rani got eaten and A Rani f**ked off. Conrad got treated way too kindly for what he's done. All three got dealt with before half the episode was over. And what did RTD do then? Did he pick up on any of the other plot threads he's laid out? Susan? Rogue? Mavity? The Boss? No, it became all about baby Poppy and Belinda's previously unmentioned but apparently quite deeply held desire to be a mother. Conrad's vision of everyone paired off into happy families is uncomfortably similar to what RTD keeps doing with his companions. Ruby gets her birth parents, Belinda gets a baby, 14 is off being domestic with the Nobles, 15 refers to his abduction and suffering at the hands of Tecteun as 'adoption'... it's too saccharine to be believed.

On the subject of companions; Belinda got put in a box for half the episode and Anita got told to stand in a corner and keep the door open. Ruby did get some cool stuff to do, but I think it's pretty unambiguous at this point that she's RTD's favorite.

The interesting commentary of the previous episode on disability was forgotten as soon as Shirley zoomed off. Really, the only thing we got on any of that stuff was Rose Noble appearing for ten seconds.

Finally, the Doctor. I wish more than anything that Gatwa had been better served in the role. I wanted more time with him, I wanted him to get better writing, and most especially better finales. It makes sense from an in-universe perspective for the Doctor to sacrifice himself for the life of a child, of course it does, but from an out-of-universe perspective it's a terrible shame that he's departing like this.

Which brings us, of course, to Billie Piper. I will reserve judgement on her performance as the Doctor until I actually see it (if I see it at all; I've seen speculation that this is actually Rose swapping places with the Doctor. Which seems ridiculous, but so have a lot of RTD's decisions recently). However, this only fuels my suspicion that Davies is relying heavily on nostalgia and trying to recreate the magic of his original run at the expense of actually writing a good story. For a supposed 'soft reboot' to introduce new audiences to the program, he's chosen to rely on an awful lot of Classic Who lore and continuity-heavy plotlines.

There were some good elements to the episode. A lot of the set pieces were fun, and I really liked the return of 13 (even if I can't justify it narratively). However, the episode as a whole was overstuffed, half-baked, and extremely up its own continuity. Probably the weakest final story since The Ultimate Foe, and a profound letdown of an ending for Gatwa's Doctor. In conclusion, sack Russell T. Davies.

Feels like the end of an era with all the connections to the previous season, but it was a great end to the era. I am very excited to see where the show goes from here. :)

A. Maybe A+.

That was amazing. This episode officially removed the bad taste I had of two episodes ago; the Doctor fought the gods themselves and... a new start or us all. I only wanted for Ncuti Gatwa to have a good chance, and in the end, despite all the story issues, he truly had it. I was smiling gleefully at the end, and it was amazing!!! But... where's Susan?...

This was the worst episode of Doctor Who that I've ever seen. The plot was incoherent, the Rani and Omega got defeated in the span of a few minutes, and the regeneration wasn't very good at all. I don't have any issues with Billie Piper as the Doctor, but this is extremely desperate. At this point, I have no faith in RTD's writing nor the show. It's had it's time, but it really needs to go at this point. In the words of one Christopher Eccleston, "Sack Russell T. Davies, sack Jane Tranter, sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner..."

0.5/5, Just completely f**king god awful, what a waste of my time!

I will say I absolutely loved this episode! I won’t go into spoiler territory, but I like how they wrapped up the plot and felt the pacing was good. It felt very fast paced, but easy to tell what was going on in the story. That pace kept it feeling very exciting throughout the episode. The characters felt properly utilized for the story they were trying to tell. Special effects were fantastic and the acting was great. The ending was probably my favorite part. I started feeling emotional at the end and that’s usually when I know an episode is good.

I'm met with such disappointment for a show that has given me so much in the past... this episode was a mess. So much was happening, too fast, and yet nothing at all was actually happening simultaneously. It was hard to watch. Every character was flat and lacked character development... I was excited for Anita! and then all she did was hold a door open... I was excited for Belinda! but we never really got to know her, her character wasn't herself for the entire 7th episode and then she was shut in a box for most of this one... I was excited to for the Rani! and then, she just gets eaten?? and omega was defeated with such ease?... also, I didn't like this regeneration, it felt unnecessary and lacked depth and emotion... I have cried for past doctors and stories and this entire season did not deliver. I'm concerned for the future of doctor who. There was too much going on and multiple stories happening within one episode, they needed to have more than 8 episodes in this season if they really wanted to do as much as they did. Instead, a bunch of stuff happened but nothing was really explained, nothing was sat with and understood. Just everything all at once... messy.

It is no secret that I have been skeptical, if mildly supportive of the RTD2 era. I have found most of the episodes to be entertaining if woefully underwritten, with a couple exceptions I found truly good that were notably penned fully or in part by guest writers. But, I maintained optimism because I enjoyed Ncuti’s presence and thought that surely RTD’s consistent fumbling of interesting new ideas would eventually result in something half decent.

In my opinion, The Reality War absolutely sh*ts upon any of the storylines he had clumsily strung together.

From the very beginning of his recent tenure, RTD has been consistently self-referential. With Tennent taking the reins as the Doctor again for the 60th Anniversary specials, I became cynical. The Star Beast, though flawed, was a fun retelling of an old comic, but it suffered from the light shoehorning of Donna Noble’s entire plot line among other things. As the episodes progressed, it became more apparent RTD seemed to be banking on a collective nostalgia, bringing back the most popular Doctor because that would inspire some mass migration of old fans back to the show. But I rolled my eyes and beared it with the whole Bigeneration ordeal because finally Ncuti would be on our screens as the Doctor.

And while Ncuti has played a commendable performance as the Doctor, I cannot help but feel his era has been shortchanged by RTD refusing to move on from his first era, constantly repeating old ideas in the hopes they’ll hit as successfully as they did when they first aired. But ultimately, it feels tired and uninspired. For example, a story like The Well that plays with the base under siege trope in new way gets inhibited by tagging on the fact that it’s as sequel one of the most well-revered episodes in New Who. RTD so constantly harkens back to bits and pieces of his era that it has become grating.

Now, onto the episode at hand.

The story feels like two different plots have been forcefully sandwiched together, resulting in the most lackluster of resolutions. I was prepared for another Empire of Death, a campy and clumsy but watchable romp that, for better or worse, utilizes the elements it borrows from Classic Who. Wish World built a plot that, while inevitably flawed, seemed to provide an interesting direction for the story to take in its second part. Conrad’s bigotry-fueled wish will surely come crashing down but how? The Rani, or rather Ranis, have returned and are planning to resurrect another classic villain. How will Omega factor into it all? Are Time Lords making a comeback?

Here, it’s revealed that all the buildup for the Rani and Omega has been a complete and utter waste. Indeed, a bastardized Omega languishes across the screen as a grotesque CGI monstrosity that does nothing other than eating Panjabi’s fledgling Rani and die. We get virtually no resolution to the Rani’s grand plot or anything close except some tidbits about Time Lord fertility. The Doctor simply makes a wish and dusts his hands clean to finish it all up.

But then comes my most aggrandizing annoyance in this plot: Poppy. She’s an adorable child that ends up inhibiting so much. She stands around mostly functionless, and when she’s plot-relevant, it’s to Belinda’s detriment. I could not take seriously the whole “Doctor’s child” bit it strung us along for and was subsequently unsurprised when that was not the case. However, this adjustment is somehow made worse by the fact she is now Belinda’s daughter. It was such an unbelievably poor decision and reeks of (however unintentional) major misogyny, forcing her into a motherhood role she never sought out and making her happy with that result when there is no indication that would be her choice, pigeonholing her into a stereotype of it being inescapable for her as a woman.

Belinda provided a change of pace for a companion at the very start of the season, adding a more resistant and self-sacrificial dynamic to the Doctor which gets dropped shortly after her introduction. With no textually presented firm connection to her life, she ambles around in the background, yet she is given sparing opportunities to show herself. But that version is never given the chance to grow with this horrendous retcon. To take a character first presented with such agency and stubbornness and then fashion her into a passive misogynistic archetype in a couple minute clip show was such an utter travesty.

One thing that I can say I enjoyed was seeing Thirteen return onscreen. After such a maligned era from certain fans—one which I do have a soft spot for—it was such a pleasure to see her character, not to mention her relationship with Yaz, represented positively beyond her era. Jodie has always played the Doctor magnificently and her chemistry with Ncuti’s Fifteen was a pleasure to see.

I managed to avoid leaks, so I was completely surprised by this being Ncuti’s regeneration. I was disappointed that he got so short a tenure, but can understand it for logistical reasons. I was so intrigued on who possibly could be the next Doctor: another person of color or perhaps another woman? My excitement built as the golden regeneration energy engulfed him to reveal… Billie Piper? All I could do was stare at my screen and repeat “what the f**k?”. By all means, I like Billie Piper. I think she’s a talented actress and am pleased to see her in Who once again. But her return could not help but fuel the flames of my cynicism towards one Mr. Russell T. Davies.

And this is where my beginning rant connects back. Whatever I may feel about Billie’s return, it speaks to RTD’s lack of faith in what the show has the capability to be. By limiting the show with “safe” and fanwank-y content to stay on the air, his constant revisiting and meta-referential ideas ultimately hold back the show from creating the inventive and out-there stories the series has become known for. RTD needs to realize his time has passed and that what is best for the show is to perhaps lean away from what is popular in the media zeitgeist (i.e. Ruby’s whole fakeout Rey Skywalker-type storyline) and turn to new ideas by so many talented diverse writers that are just waiting to be told.

Wow… I mean really… wow

I think this has got to be the most messy, anticlimatic, DESPERATE finale/regeneration story I’ve ever seen in my years of watching this show.

I just saw Omega get 5 minutes of screentime and vanquished by a laser beam. I just saw the Rani get eaten by Omega like she was NOTHING. I just saw my favorite Doctor of recent years regenerate into the most nostalgia bait-y, most desperate casting I’ve ever seen. I like Rose, I like Billie and I do not care what “explanation” RTD has for bringing her back.

What a terrible way to end a Doctor. This might’ve soured my whole experience with this era. I do not want RTD here anymore.

Mel and the Rani getting gay catty dialogue, looms being somewhat canon, and Thirteen coming back were the redeeming factors here but everything else makes me feel like I need to be put down like a sick dog

Sack Russell T Davies

The date is the 27th of April. My bestie and I are talking about how fun Doctor Who is at the cinema and they wanted to watch it. We pray that it will get announced.

The date is the 29th of April. It gets announced. I joke that if I lived closer we'd watch together. A few hours later I pitch to them maybe me travelling the 4.5 hours to do it anyway. I am now going cross country to see my mate, and to watch the finale of a series I quite enjoyed.

By end of the week everything's booked, I'm £160 out of pocket, and it is scheduled.

The date is the 24th of May. I wake up at 7:30am. I get ready for my morning. I go for a jog at 8am. I eat a Baynes breakfast roll while I watch Wish World at 9am. I enjoy the episode somewhat but have tonnes of issues with The Rani's characterisation and the amount of set up. I am tentatively excited for Omega.

The date is the 30th of May. I decide to relisten to Omega at the gym in prep. I like it but find it messy and overly long.

The date is the 31st of May. On the train, I watch The Three Doctors (Tales of the TARDIS) in prep. I love it. Omega is such a dominating presence and continues to be one of my favourite villains ever. I then read some Heavenly Tyrant and reach some great twists and reveals before getting off the train to meet my friend.

They walk me to my hotel where I accidentally get two keycards cause they walked in with me. They are not staying with me. Amusing.

We then walk down the canal and go to various manga shops. I buy Show-Ha Shoten volume 1, Frieren volume 6, and One Piece volumes 46-49 in an omnibus as they have a three for two deal. The teller is lovely and gives my friend loyalty card points from my purchase.

We went to a Japanese restaurant literally next door afterwards. My friend orders the best looking Udon I've ever seen. I get takoyaki and ramen. Both are great. They have an Utada Hikaru playlist going. I'm in such a good mood.

We then go to Waterstones and window shop before heading to the cinema.

I enjoy Wish World more this time and then go for a pee. Turns out the intermission this time is only about 5 mins and barely make it back in time.

I watch the worst episode RTD has ever written and leave annoyed. My friend has fun but doesn't really love it either. They are very patient with my complaining.

We went to an arcade bar after and played Switch for 2 hours while having cocktails during happy hour. I win at Smash and we draw at Mario Kart. Neither of us know how to play Mario Super Strikers.

I go back to the hotel and say good night. Tomorrow we will go wander around town again before my train at 2pm.

Day out: 7/7

This episode?: 2/7

And so we come to this, a show forever stuck up its own ass in a continuity black hole. At least it was a really funny shitshow.

Doctor Who: The Gatwa Years Series 15 Ep 8

SACK Russell T. Davies

SACK Jane Tranter

SACK Phil Collinson

SACK Julie Gardner

This episode was...An insult. The way the Rani and Omega were treated was insulting, COMPLETELY anticlimactic after that reality-ending cliffhanger. Omega lasted what, 5 seconds? But the worst insult of all...Was Billie Piper as the Sixteenth Doctor. Are. You. Kidding ME?!

Of all people you could cast, you had cast one who already was the companion and, would you look at that, was the first one back in 2005?! This move REEKS of desperation, at least with Tennant they had the excuse that it was for the 60th anniversary specials!

I'm starting to be seriously worried about the show, that we might enter into a second Wilderness era. I really hope I'm wrong and that Billie will be fantastic but...I'm highly skeptical at the moment.

Worst finale written by RTD ever. At least I was happy to see Jodie back.

LOOMS CANNONISED IN 2025 LETS GO!!!  love how the rani and Mel sounded like two jilted ex lovers seeing each other again. lesbian situation ship for the win ig. 13 MY BELOVED WELCOME BACK THE KIDS MISSED YOU. I do need a drink after this episode tho, wtf was up with omega's design, like who wants a cgi skeleton looking thing? I sure don't. RTD still got it for most disappointing finales ever, I don't think any amount of fanfic can fix it atp

Jaw-droppingly bad. Misogynistic. Racist. Rage-inducing. Absolutely abysmal. They literally put Belinda in a box for half the episode so that the white companion could be a part of the main action (after Belinda had absolutely nothing to do all season!). Then, in a scenario from a horror story, they forcibly made her into a mother for a child who isn't real. Like... what can you even say.

god i am so f**king here for whatever comes next

whether or not billie piper really is the new doctor (which. i am EXTREMELY suspicious about, given the lack of credit and the specific wording in the media release), its gonna be wild

Okay, this is literally the worst rating I've given so far for a story, so I feel that I have to justify it slightly. But, let's start with the (very few) things that I enjoyed:

• Jodie Whittaker's cameo was nice, and somehow gave her more personality than in half of series 11.
• The soundtrack was pretty good, and wasn't overly bombastic (like with some of Murray's other scores... Series 5, I'm looking at you).
• More Cherry Sunday. Always a positive.

And now... to discuss the mess that was the actual plot.

The Rani(s)

Firstly, the Rani was criminally underused. At least she wasn't just a Missy copy, like some people were worried about. Her plan actually made some sense. But (unlike with the end of Wish World) she did not feel threatening at all, and just teleports away, never to be seen again. Mrs Flood's subservience to the Panjabi Rani never becomes relevant - I know it's in character for the Rani to see a future self as superior, but for Mrs Flood to just accept that? I'm not buying it. We don't get an explanation for the fourth wall breaks, which I'm not too annoyed about, but still a slight negative.

Rani's plan isn't that bad, all things considered. She retains her scientific nature, which was her entire motif, and the desire to rebuild Gallifrey is good. I'll admit, when she began talking about how Time Lords are sterile, I thought RTD was going to canonise looms, but it seems like this was an after-effect of the Master's genocide, so never mind. But, given that the Rani claims that extinction is slow, which implies that the Time Lords are dying out from a birth rate of 0, I've now got more questions about how exactly the genocide worked? But then again, maybe I'm just reinterpreting the dialogue.

But... the section where she met the Doctor in UNIT tower felt like a bit too much exposition. The Rani feels like a character that should cut to the chase maybe slightly more quickly - just 30 or so seconds faster, not much. Stopping to claim that Time Lords are above humans is very fitting, to be fair.

The Gods

Omega is, somehow, even worse used. Another CGI monster - which, to be fair, looks decent - which is easily beaten, and poses no real threat. Hell, I don't think he even fully crawled out of his coffin. For a being claiming to be the "God of Time", it doesn't feel too appropriate. I'd like to add that in what I saw of Omega in Classic (I have only seen him in the Three Doctors. I know he appears in Arc of Infinity, so if this changes with the context of that story, then this is invalid), Omega was treated with some reverence by the Time Lords, although that might have changed after they discovered that he was trying to destroy the main universe. That side of his reputation... is pretty much ignored.

The baby god of wishes, also, feels kind of wasted. Does nothing apart from being kissed on the forehead. I feel like they could have done more, but there was too much in the episode already, so I don't really know how to feel. The idea that it is a baby feels relevant to the themes of the episode, and I feel like a lot more could have been done, if the fat was just trimmed a bit (like, did we need 5 minutes of the Doctor hugging UNIT members? Really?)

The Poppy Storyline

And... Poppy. A major part of the episode. So, the baby itself. Firstly, the idea of Poppy being the child of Belinda and the Doctor is not the best. I've never liked the idea of Doctor-companion romance, and even if this did arise from an imagined romance, the idea doesn't stick well with me. I will say this, the idea can be tolerable (like with Rose - I didn't fully like it, but I could accept that it made for a good story) if the writers fully commit. Which RTD certainly did not do so here.

My dislike of the storyline is somewhat offset by the fact that the only thing that actually exists is the baby, not the romance itself, which isn't too bad, all things considered. Of course, the Doctor could never settle down and have a normal life, so the "dying" of Poppy is understandable. But no, this isn't my problem with the episode.

My problem is (almost) entirely Belinda. The only other thing annoying me about Poppy is the scene when Ruby, Belinda, the Doctor and Poppy are all in the TARDIS. Firstly, we have the Doctor and Belinda talking about taking Poppy around the universe. Doesn't feel right, given that the universe is full of Daleks and many, many other things that could easily kill a baby. And for those saying that Belinda and the Doctor do not have a romantic relationship, rewatch this scene. Their dynamic has switched from reluctant companions/friends to young couple in love. Of course, this is intentional - the scene is meant to feel off, like something is wrong. But RTD doesn't fully commit - we have young couple in love, to just friends (and no Poppy), to friends (with Poppy). Too much switching, in too little time.

And also, that scene where Ruby started freaking out? Started off really good, a nice way to show what was happening. Excellent camera work and acting. But then the Doctor just... ignores Ruby? Continues talking with Belinda, and at times, is just ignoring Ruby's existence. Like, come on, a brilliant scene, only to be ruined. And then, Russel keeps on writing, and we get a messy section to bring Poppy back. On its own, it isn't too bad, but the changes it forces on Belinda, and the fact that it ruins what could have been a beautiful moment at the end? Just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Also, Belinda's only function in this entire episode is motherhood. At the end, we see time changing, where she has been a mother all along. But... that doesn't fit with what we've seen of Belinda? The only time we see her interact with the ideas of a traditional gender role for women is with Alan, where she rejects them (and even this is a stretch). We don't see any hints that she might want to be a mother one day, or that she has a lover back home (no, a person she met on Hinge doesn't count. If anything, that makes the mention of Ritchie even worse). It just feels like it's pulled out of thin air. At least with the Doctor, the mentions of Susan over the past 2 seasons have implied that he would like a family one day, but it's not really something solid that a plot arc like this can be built on.

Even during the episode, Belinda's role is to sit with Poppy. It cuts to them in the Zero room, and it felt so jarring that I literally laughed out loud. I don't think that was the intention there. Given that this is Poppy, from Space Babies, it feels like Belinda's role was written for Ruby, and was hastily rewritten. Throughout this whole series, Belinda has been given so little of a character, that we can't even call it character assassination when her entire identity becomes centred around Poppy.

And also, Poppy? From Space Babies? How many people actually remembered her? Based on my very little anecdotal evidence (which, to be fair, is only like 3 data points), not many did. Again, feels too random. A slight problem with this whole era as a whole - I like most of the individual episodes, but certain elements just feel like they were pulled out of thin air (like some of the gods).

And finally...

The Regeneration

An entire regeneration just to recreate Poppy feels wasted. Like I said, I like the fact that the Doctor tries to bring back Poppy - even if it does ruin the beautiful scene with Ruby that came before, it does fit him. But the regeneration was unnecessary.

Like I said, I liked Jodie's cameo. Apparently this was in the leaks, and I'm very glad that I avoided it.

But... Billie Piper. I'll admit, Rose wasn't my favourite companion, and especially given that we just brought back an old face from the RTD1 era, this feels completely stupid. Some people have pointed out that the "Introducing Billie Piper" section in the credits didn't include "As the Doctor", so we'll see if that culminates in anything, but right now, it just doesn't work for me. Also slightly cheapened by the leaks - this one was impossible to avoid, being absolutely everywhere, on Reddit especially: in the titles of posts; in the middle of a "spoiler-free" thread, etc. Not the fault of the episode, but slightly cheapened the surprise. Also, BBC News spoiled the regeneration itself - was about to click on iPlayer to watch the episode when I saw that headline, and even though Billie wasn't mentioned, it did pretty much confirm the leak. Oh well.

Also, 18 episodes is too few for Fifteen. Nine had even less, and that was also a crime, but at least he had an actual character arc to go along with it. We've barely got to know Fifteen, to see what makes him tick, and I feel slightly disappointed that he hasn't even faced any of the classic 3 villains (Cybermen, Daleks, Master). Of course, he isn't the first Doctor to be missing at least one, and we did get plenty of returning villains, but... still. Even without them, Fifteen could have done so much more.

Minor Stuff that Also Appeared

Rogue. As I mentioned, this is a fairly full episode, and he definitely shouldn't have appeared. But there is no explanation for how he could have contacted the Doctor in Wish World. Not really something that affects my opinion of this episode, but retroactively makes the overall finale slightly worse. But, not a major grievance.

Anita was a nice character, but she doesn't get much to do here. Slightly disappointing. I feel like her pregnancy was meant to tie into the themes of the episode a bit, but it didn't really work for me. Nothing terrible, but just fell flat.

Conrad's story was kinda neat - we could have used more exploration of his flaws, and how he feels lonely, how his life of hate has affected him, etc. We see hints of this both in this episode and in Wish World, but it isn't explored fully, and feels like lost potential. Still, his ending was kind of fitting, even if Ruby didn't hit him, like she asked. (Tangentially, that was a neat little exchange).

Overall

There were one or two interesting ideas. Unfortunately, they weren't even developed enough to make me mourn the episode that could have been. Instead, we got a rushed mess that focused on all the wrong plot beats, with maybe 5-10 minutes of neat moments sprinkled in between. Almost everyone was criminally underused. 1/10.

The end of an era and I am shocked

This Episode easily beats all of chibnalls finales , series 8,9, 6,5,4 and 3 and especially 14

This was the best

pros: jodie whittaker

cons: literally everything else

With wish world being a right wing populist's ideal world and the rani being a eugenicist you wouldve thought that the episode would treat that as a bad thing. and it does! but then why does the episode then end up rewriting the entire character and timeline of belinda chandra to make her a caricature of motherhood. especially when her opening story is about dealing with shitty incels and not trusting the doctor for messing with her dna. but suddenly shes fine with having a literal child with him and isnt bothered by that at all and thats supposed to be a good thing.

wish world understands that its bad to force women into restrictive roles of motherhood. and yet the finale of belindas own series has her shoved in a closet with a baby away from any action while the white woman ruby goes to save the day.

these past few seasons built hype about omega and the rani only to kill them off instantly and have omega basically be an entirely separate character anyways because "he became the mad god". which feels like a complete waste of his character and compelty generic RTD2 finale villain.

Archie Panjabi is brilliant as the Rani but is unceremoniously murdered by Omgea in her second episode. but we still have mrs flood as if she didnt get 2 seasons already while the new Rani gets murdered... it feels a little offensive to keep prioritising the white characters more over the people of colour.

Also, I'm not sure if its going to be brought up next season, but the susan cameos were very strange as they didn't go anywhere at all. I would've thought that bringing susan back properly would tie in brilliantly with the themes and motifs of ncutis doctor but she was basically just an easter egg so far.

Ncuti Gatwa regenerating when his seasons were so short is genuinely dissapointing. I loved him as the doctor and i wish he'd gotten more time as it seemed he was really hitting his groove.

the return of billie piper as the doctor seems incredibly desperate and im worried the news will overshadow ncutis finale. these past few seasons seem stuck in the past instead of coming up with new concepts. im getting really sick of all the callbacks to david tennants era. if this is supposed to be a "jumping in point for new viewers", its doing a terrible job and they must be pretty confused.

that being said, i do think a billie piper doctor can maybe be interesting, at least. if the show acknowledges the grief and f**ked up nature of stealing the face of your lost ex love interest. but im worried its just a cheap stunt to generate news. i am very happy we got another female doctor though! I was very worried the show wouldnt have the guts to have one to avoid upsetting the whittaker haters. so silver linings i guess.

on that note, jodies cameo was wonderful. she was so in character and i was so happy to see her again i nearly cried. what a great moment. anita and mel were also great

even though i wasnt fond of this episode, thank you to ncuti gatwa for being a wonderful Doctor. these past few seasons have been brilliant

A lot to say about this.

Firstly, while I loved seeing Anita again, this was not a natural addition to the plot. It worked in a thematic sense to tie together the endings of an era. But otherwise, this was ridiculously forced, unearned and actually, quite a pathetic way to solve the challenge posed. However, it did lead into the rebuilding of UNIT and the establishment of the correct universe and timeline, which was enjoyable.

Seeing UNIT in all its glory, did feel quite nice, and finally delivered on the scale that I was hoping to see from this rejuvenated UNIT - however, I think now its reached its climax, it might be time to retire this idea. A grittier, smaller and less polished UNIT will certainly be a welcome return. The darker side we began to see in Lucky Day, will be a good avenue to explore to see further here. Additionally, while UNIT was used well, none of its members particularly were, again it was a 'who can we see return to make fans happy' moment, which fell flat.

It was also frustrating to see the Rani and Omega underused straight away. I was worried Omega was going to be a big waste of potential, so I expected this throughout - but it still was not nice to see. The Rani, while superbly portrayed by both Archie Punjabi and Anita Dobson, was there for exposition, and under used in the story. A huge waste of potential of a well established, threatening and unnerving villain. And Omega, well - I liked the idea of him becoming what he wanted through this Underverse concept, and becoming a huge threatening beast, but what a waste of a villain who could be much better served in a full story, really delving into his God complex further. A saving grace was seeing Mrs Flood escape - a return will be welcome, in a smaller scale story which will really highlight the amoral scientist better.

The concept of Poppy as the wish, and the sentiment behind this really had heart, and was incredibly touching - it was nice to see how this was handled and flourished throughout as we developed this relationship and saw this grow.

If this has been the end of the story, it would have been a below average but redeemable final episode.

But the tacked on 20 minute ending, left a lot to be desired. Too many questions are left surrounding Poppy through this now. It attempted to wrap this up in this time, and establish Belinda as a mother wanting to get home all this time.

The return of the 13th Doctor to aide the regeneration was a nice little touch, and I do think that this was added to add some character beats that were otherwise missing - but I think this demonstrates that the 15th Doctor was under-served with time and the development to carry this emotional weight himself.

And then, it leads to the end of the story. The regeneration. Firstly, its undeniably clear, that this was a shoehorned addition with Ncuti Gatwa bowing out the role. I have loved his take on the Doctor, I truly have, and I wish we had more. More time to finish his storyline with Rogue - teased in Wish World, and now destined to go no further - and his storyline with Susan signposted since the start of season one. I am not sure what has led to this, but everything has pointed to this not being the expected ending for his Doctor, and this is disappointing as a fan of this era generally.

Additionally, the regeneration represents all the failings of the return of Davies. And, I do not want to deny, a lot of his return I have adored. But, there is a reliance on the past which is the most evident through this regeneration. Reliance on past actors, and return to his glory years, to try and rejuvenate the show, reeks of desperation, and a sign of this era failing to deliver on his expectations. Tennant was bad enough, but could be excused for an Anniversary, and to re-establish the show. But Piper, may be taking this too far. Please, do take this only as a criticism of Davies casting decision though. Billie Piper is a phenomenal actor, and I do think she is capable of great performances. But she should not be relied on to come back for Davies celebration of his own original era.

Certainly, a disappointing finale, for a season I have loved, and for an era and Doctor I have enjoyed.

I think, this indicates the need for something new, but Davies has unfortunately done the reverse, and pushed us backwards. I just hope to be proven wrong.

I'm giving this episode half a star, and it's all for the Thirteenth Doctor.

I really hated this and I thought it was a complete mess. The main plot was resolved very quickly and easily, and it was a complete waste of the Rani. Being eaten by Omega was so stupid. Omega was also defeated very quickly, and I didn't like his redesign, it was nothing to do with his previous appearances or character.

The exposition during the beginning felt clunky, like the dialogue was being given to each character without any thought as to whether it was something they would actually say.

Anita showing up was nice, but saving the Doctor with a magic door was unsatisfactory and convenient. She also didn’t do much, and could have been replaced by anyone else.

I hated UNIT battling the bone monsters, it was so Marvel-esque, which is not something I want from Doctor Who. I didn't understand the focus on Poppy. Why was she suddenly Belinda's child? Why is Belinda nothing like the character from the season opener? Why did so much of her character this episode revolve around being a mother? Why did Fifteen regenerate when he wasn't injured or dying? What was the point of Thirteen showing up? What was the point of Omega and the Rani, if RTD wasn't going to utilise them properly? There was a lot of exposition (especially at the beginning) and made-up sci-fi explanations that explained nothing and only made me more confused.

I am so annoyed and angry that this was Fifteen’s regeneration story. Two seasons is short and it hasn’t felt like he’s had enough time to develop the character. There is also something uncomfortable about the fact that both the first female Doctor and the first Black Doctor regenerated into actors who have played  very popular characters in RTD’s first era.

I did enjoy the visuals, the Rani's bone palace looked amazing. I also loved the references to Looms, and of course, seeing the Thirteenth Doctor.

But, mostly I was very angry, betrayed, and disappointed.

Disney Who Review #8

The Reality War 🔥

This Episode was so sad. I saw this in the cinema and couldn't stop crying. It follows the doctor trying to stop the Rani's and save poppy and everyone. In the process it ends in heartbreak. I really loved units battle mode with the wheel and all the weapons. It's so cool to see the Galvanic Beam back since we haven't seen it since the giggle. The bone beasts actually did something this time but they didn't feel threatening or anything they just sort of tried to fight unit and died. We actually see Omega which was cool. I haven't seen classic who before so I don't know if he's supposed to look like a giant skull or whatever I guess I'll find out once I watch classic. If you didn't know already yes this is a regeneration story and it breaks and really really hurts me to say goodbye to Ncuti ill never forget his doctor. Season 1 & 2 has been the most fun I've had watching doctor who in a long time and I'm really really gonna miss him. Since last year he has really come a long way. From saving a baby abandoned and left in the snow at a church with goblins to the broken reality and conrads world. He's really come a long way. I'll never forget you ncuti gatwa 🫡. The 16th doctor is none other than...Rose Tyler actress Billie Piper. I can not tell you how happy I am to have another female doctor and for it to be Billie Piper is so amazing I can't wait for season 3. Also i really loved the cameo from Jodie Whittaker i was not expecting it at all when i tell u i screamed i mean it. Overall a really really good 2 parter and an excellent way to end one of the best era's doctor who has ever had. 10/10

ps: I'm Still crying my heart out at ncutis regeneration I can't stop 😭 

Sack Russel T Davies.

What an abysmal mess, this disaster should not exist. Ncuti Gatwa deserves better, a wonderful actor let down by absolute slop level writing. For God’s sake.

One star for the Two Ranis joke and one star for the atmosphere in the cinema when that cameo happened

Well, that was pretty s**t, waasn't it?
There is a 10-minute exposition-dump that completely ruins all of the - rather good, I thought - momentum that the episode had built up, up to that point.
Anita is back, probably last-minute after the incredible response her story got, because she does nothing at all and could have been replaced by a nameless manager.
The interresting Rani is killed.
Omega is a big ugly moster like we all feared.
The charaters are reduced to exposition expositors.
The plan set up in the last episode is thwarted with barely any effort.
3 and 11 get blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos for no descernable reason (happy 20th, I guess).
The Poppy thing is "clever" in all the annoying ways that RTD and Moffatt can be "clever", another impossible girl.
"Sometimes, I think we're all your children" yuck.
13 is back, take that how you will.
THASMIN!?!???!
Susan died on the way home to her planet.
THE ROSE DOCTOR? ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME!?!??!??!
This show is washed.
2/10 what the hell.

The 4 stars are just for 15,

boy, I just wanted you to be written by a better writer

THAT'S NOT OMEGA, THAT'S NOT THE RANI, THAT'S NOT HOW YOU WRITE A FINALE.

Show's over, folks. Go home.

I think this might be the oddest episode of this program that I've seen, and not cause of it's actually contextually weird, but because it feels like it's genuinely been pulled from a false reality into this one. One giant afterthought, really. I don't this story was meant to be a two-parter originally but it was stretched out- without the thought that there would be an actual regeneration. I think Billie Piper coming back is actually lovely, but the expense of Ncuti Gatwa? I don't know, man. I think it's fairly obvious that HER coming back and oddly not being credited as the Doctor was a deliberate choice, so I'm not saying it wasn't entirely thought out, but, like... It was rushed. We all know it was rushed. And yet, that doesn't mean it's bad television on it's own. I like the potential it promises, and the actual writing is pretty nice. The emotional beats were there, they did hit for me. Perhaps I shouldn't like it as much as I do, I can also acknowledge that.

It does act as a good time, even if there's a lot of flaws to it. Kind of a mix of "so bad it's good" and "so unnatural it's interesting". Definitely going to be hated for a wide majority of the audience, though.

i dont even have words tbh im just hyped

alright man. whatever

Season Two (Series 15); Episode Eight - "The Reality War" by Russell T. Davies

Man, f**k you RTD.

This whole season, I’ve been a little annoyed with myself. I can’t take this show seriously anymore and I know how that sounds to anybody other than me. It’s clearly not meant to be some grand narrative epic, it’s clearly meant for a younger audience, I should just have fun with it. And this whole season, I’ve felt like I’ve been cynical and irksome and a rain on everybody’s parade but I’ve decided no, actually, that’s not how I watch TV and I am going to hold this to the same standard I hold every other piece of Doctor Who material ever released. This show is a joke. It is a blatantly unfunny, smug, patronising joke and I refuse to give it a pass because it’s deliberately like that. I’m not fighting it anymore, I think I’ve just found my least favourite season of Doctor Who.

All of reality stands on a knife’s edge. As the Doctor makes battle with the Ranis, he prepares to face a living legend and the consequences of playing god.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

RTD2 is a prank. It is a slight by the showrunners and I refuse to believe this is real TV that a team of people looked at and agreed was anything less than psychological warfare. What the f**k happened to this show? What was once a bastion for intelligent and fun TV has turned into whatever The Reality War is and I just know Russell thinks he’s a goddamn genius for it. I once called RTD2 a soap opera with a budget. It’s flashy, looks incredible but consists of shallow action scenes and emotional beats that have all the depth of reality TV. It’s almost like every complaint anybody ever had about the first RTD era turned into a show. And I’m sick of it.

Like I said before, this looks incredible. Seriously, gorgeous sets, gorgeous effects, gorgeous costuming. Give the art departments a raise, put them in charge of the show, anything but this. Murray Gold, also, has improved since his somewhat dip in quality last season. I was overjoyed when the sound mixing made the score take over the dialogue because then I could just listen to that. This looks and sounds and has all the physical qualities of something incredible, but looks are nothing. Looks don’t make the story, looks don’t make the characters, looks don’t make me like the show.

I have found that there’s no easy way to truly describe how I feel about this era or this episode, but I found the best phrase I can use to describe it is “a parody of itself”. Like I said, this is a joke and I felt embarrassed to be watching it. Let’s break this down to make it a little easier:

Mistake 1: Tone - I don’t know what RTD’s going for here but I hate it. It feels a little edgy to complain about how everybody’s so happy-go-lucky and how it “feels like Disney Channel” but there’s not really a better way to describe it. Everybody is a campy, melodramatic mess and it sucks all the life from the show. These are not real people, I do not care about them. I do not fear for their lives when they’re acting all kooky and doing funny little shenanigans whilst the world’s ending. I am not threatened by villains ripped straight from a pantomime. So, yes, the tone annoys me and I can’t get past it. It all feels like the worst parts of the MCU.

Mistake 2: Characters - Like I said, nobody here is a real person. Everybody having heightened personalities and having every emotional moment be big, melodramatic scenes with loud, sad music and RTD in the corner telling you “this is really sad” makes every single person here feel like cardboard. Nobody grows or changes, nobody deepens or develops. I am relying entirely on chemistry, it’s the only reason I buy into 15 and Ruby’s relationship. By the end, what was Fifteen? Can you pinpoint how he changed from Church on Ruby Road to here? Can you actually tell me what made his character interesting and emotional past quirks? Every character is a function or a joke.

Mistake 3: Plot - What the f**k was this? This might actually be the worst script I’ve ever seen because it shouldn’t even count as a piece of fiction. When I say the show’s a parody, I’m talking about this. This is not a finale, it’s an RTD finale. The Rani is not a villain, she’s an RTD villain. It feels like the bastardisation of better episodes and then they have the f**king gall to end it twenty minutes in. The whole season, everything, twenty minutes. Props to RTD for at least wrapping up most of the plot threads he set up in that amount of time but what in the name of all that is holy was that? One action sequence, a bunch of expositing and then it just ends. I knew it would be bad when the episode opened with a blatant deus ex machina but Jesus Christ. And then after that, it’s just contrived nonsense and sentiment, there is nothing to like at all.

Mistake 4: Villains - The Rani is at her worst here, which is weird, because her last episode was Time and the Rani and I didn’t think you could get worse than that. She spends the first nineteen minutes standing around, with our main characters, and having some menial exposition with them about her plan, all whilst twiddling her moustache and cackling about how evil she is. I am not threatened by her at all, at any moment, and then she just dies. Two seasons of build up to this villain and she dies instantly. Huh? Why should I care? Somebody tell me that, why should I even care about anything that’s happening? And don’t get me started on Omega. Big baby was the best thing about this episode because at least I could laugh at it. That’s not Omega. I’m sorry, it’s not. Russell, if you’re going to do fan wank, at least do it. Anyway, the Doctor kills Omega in five seconds because this episode isn’t real.

Mistake 5: Belinda - Belinda, I can confidently say, is one of my least favourite companions ever. Not only is she bland, not only is she a stock, copy and pasted bit of cardboard with no personality, she is a bait and switch. She was introduced as something fresh, something new; a companion who was going to stand up to the Doctor and her arc is that she becomes less interesting. Actually, no, there is no arc, we’re just told she’s going to be different in The Robot Revolution and then she’s all buddy buddy with the Doctor immediately. I don’t think she counts as a character. Also, changing time so she has a daughter is weird Russell, maybe don’t do that.

Mistake 6: Fanwank - So much of this story hinges on Russell going “look, it’s the thing”. He just brings back old enemies and old characters and throws them at the screen. Thirteen comes back for no reason so she can just run around the TARDIS a bit and go “oh wow Fifteen, you’re so cool, how are you this awesome and so cool?”. Fifteen regenerates into Billie Piper, what? Russell, you have to let go of the past at some point my guy. It’s annoying and feels like keys being jangled in front of my face.

Mistake 7: The Ending - So, the Rani is dead, Omega is dead, what do we have left? Well, how about for contrived plot reasons, the Doctor’s daughter (???) disappears, he’s weirdly cold to his close friend trying to warn him something’s wrong and then immediately decides to kill himself to save the child he doesn’t remember. I like the idea of the Doctor dying, not in battle, not to stop the end of time, but to save one person, but RTD already did that in The End of Time and Moffat did something similar in Time of the Doctor. Anyway, some convenient bollocks happen and Gatwa leaves the show, Billie Piper comes back for some reason, the end. Completely unsatisfying, totally out of the blue, feels like a slap in the face to anybody who’s been wanting, oh I don’t know, a coherent series arc. All it does is rely on sentiment. That’s it, just melodramatic, over the top tugs on the heartstrings, and I’m done.

I’ll be back to this show when it returns, don’t you worry. It’s Doctor Who and at the end of the day, I don’t think I could stop watching it. But I’m not going to stop bitching. This isn’t TV worthy of my time, it’s a smug middle finger directed at the audience and I don’t want to give it the benefit of the doubt anymore. For as much as I hate the Chibnall era, at least it had a modicum of competence. Whatever the show is now, it’s not for me anymore.

1/10

Pros:

+ A technical masterpiece

Cons:

- Truly embarrassing TV

- Is built off shallow, sentimental nothings

- Our entire cast consists of bland do-gooders

- The Rani and especially Omega are some of the least threatening villains ever

- Belinda cements herself as one of my least favourite companions ever

- The plot is a contrived mess

- Patches over bad writing with senseless fan wank

- Feels like a parody of itself

- Absolutely nonsensical in the worst possible way

- Has all the depth of 2D shape

i love hype moments and aura

The Reality War

The plot could’ve been so much more, The Rani, Omega, The Doctor, Ruby and Belinda

Instead we got that bit done quickly so we can get a baby back who disappeared.

You have the Rani killed off quickly, and omega is put back to bed.

But we saw 13 and a new doctor so that’s cool

I feel like my brain has been hit by a galvanic beam and instead of bi-generating, it's slowly melting into the monstrous atrocity Omega has become.

I watched this from the other side of the planet. It's currently 3:43 A.M. where I am. I get the feeling that I may have had a stroke for staying up too late and this episode is all one big flashback before I go to the Underverse.

I drank good water while watching this. I don't remember anyone putting LSD into my bottle.

WHAT THE F**K IS THIS

Ok ok, hear me out on this. I'm gonna get my major complaint out of the way first though. WTF was with Omega? There was all this buildup and he was just gone like that. Aside from that major thing, I actually really liked this episode. It actually gave some more depth to Belinda, and I just liked how they handled her. And the major other thing... BILLIE?? I thought going in this was going to be an open ended regeneration, but nope! It's Billie! And 13 is here too! I already have a feeling this episode isn't going to be received very well, but I personally enjoyed it a lot. It's sad we don't know when it's gonna return though. Here's hoping it won't be like, 10 years or something. 

The reality war

Sack Russell T Davies

This episode is f**king dreadful, how the actual f**k did RTD fumble the bag this f**king hard. Somehow in 20 years he hasn't made a good finale except parting of the ways.

Bringing the best doctor back doesn't make me hate this episode any less. At least 13Yaz is a real thing now I guess.

Why is Billie back as 16, why RTD WHY!? Listen to Eccelston, get sacked.

This somehow makes End of Time look good, my least favorite episode of all f**king time.

He regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated he regenerated

Jokes aside I actually quite liked that until the end

Sigh.

Even more underwhelming than I was expecting. An absolute mess, and certainly didn’t hit me emotionally in the slightest like it’s probably meant too.

One great scene with a nice cameo, well written and genuinely nice, the rest was like watching a child throw their action figures around. Nonsense.

I understand that there will be People, who really like this Episode and all Power to me, sadly I am not one of them.

I am already conflicted about Russel and his Eras. Don't get me wrong, he is a clearly skilled Writer, who brought some of the best Episodes that the Revival had (Midnight, Turn Left). And of course at least, for me, most if not all his Finales don't do much, which is totally fine, despite my various Issues I can see a lot of good in them.

I can't say the same about this. This Episode has some good Things to it, there are lines, which I like. I ADORED seeing the Thirteenth Doctor here, and I thought that Scene was written fairly well. Seeing Ncuti and Jodie together is lovely, and I am not saying it because I really like 13's Era (okay, maybe a bit because of that too-).

Outside this one excellent Moment, there were other nice Moments to it. Ncuti really tries his best with what he is given, basically all the Actors do. The Issue arrives for me that said Material is just a bit rubbish in my Eyes. The Dialogue feels akward at times and rarely if ever achieved what it set out to do. Plenty of Moments want you to feel emotional, but I just didn't. Of course there will be People, who will feel emotional and again all Power to them, but to me this feels at best like a first Draft.

Let's also get out of the Way one of the biggest Things: 15 regenerates. The Effect itself is rather lovely (which I am sorry I can't say for most of those Effects here, they feel very janky & are too much). I am sad to see 15 go, especially since I am still struggling to pinpoint down his Character. Having a surprise Regeneration is more than lovely, but who seems to be 16 less so. Don't get me wrong, Billie is a very good Actress and I will give her a fair shot, but to me, it feels like a desperate gimmicky Thing to do. "Hey you remember my golden Age? RTD1 Well, the Doctor has Rose's Face". Admittedly this is my first Impression, she is a good Actress and I will reverse Judgment until I see her having the Chance to show how she can be as the Doctor. My annoyance mainly comes down to Russel and his Times, I can't really hide my disappointment about it, but who knows? Maybe it will be good, even if my Faith in Russel is a bit non-existing.

I didn't talk about the Finale itself, did I? Well, it was super anti-climatic. I am still not a Fan of the Characterization of both Ranis. Dobison gets sidelined only to disappear. Meanwhile, Panjabi tries her very best with the Material she is given but gets eaten by the awful CGI Omega. Oh, Omega.. while this Design isn't bad by itself, for Omega it's just not fitting at all. Not to mention that the Doctor defeats him in less than 5 Minutes or so. Very anti-climatic after all the Build-Up.

Oh, did I mention Poppy? Let's talk about Poppy and Berlinda's Role in this Episode. One word: Awful. I will say I am glad that it seems like that Poppy isn't the Child of the Doctor & Berlinda anymore, but my God. I really didn't like this whole Plot at all. It has some decent Ideas and I like that we have looms basically in canon now thanks to it, but eh.. It's great that the Doctor sacrifices himself to 'save' Poppy, it feels very in-character, but do we really had to focus so much on this Character? Like, the entire Scene with Ruby trying to convince everybody that Poppy was real went on for too long and was frankly annoying. Not to mention that it hurts Berlinda's Character. While a cool Idea on Paper that Reality/Time(?) got written, and we find out that Berlinda wanted to get home because of Poppy, it actually feels insulting to reducing Berlindas Character to "Oh I have a Baby, and I am very concerned about her". Seriously, what happened in the last three Episodes, why is Berlinda like this now? She feels like a Character in her own right and more like a Character to be used in a Plot, it makes her feel like a non-presence. (Funny because she is basically in that room for all the Actions!)

I don't even know what I think about the resolution of Conrad and the other Baby. I guess the former was resolved okay-ish? Even if, I am unsure why Ruby would want to wish him Happiness after he basically lied to her, pretend he could be a Person she could trust and being responsible for the entire Wish World. Of course, Ruby isn't a Character who would go after revenge, but I don't know, that didn't sit right with me. The latter (the Wish Baby) was done okay, I guess.

Still not a Fan of this UNIT, be it their building, their Team or the Vlinx (I don't like you Vlinx).

As I mentioned, I wasn't a big Fan of the CGI here, at times it really didn't look great. The Directing felt a bit stiff, lots of 'Characters standing in a Room', a shame considering this Era had some great directing at times. The scoring was ehh.. I think Gold goes overboard making it hard to make out some dialogue at times and in general while I love Golds Music, I think he isn't one that brings much new to the Table currently.

Really while this Episode has one Scene, I love and some good Things to it, I don't feel like giving it anything higher than a 0.5/5 is justified (to me). At the end I felt frustrated and at times often bored watching this. It's a bad Narrative, that hardly worked with me and while there are some neat Ideas thrown in, it's a total mess, not helped by a less stellar Script. Overall, an Episode that leaves me very cold and annoyed.

WHAT

WHAT

WHAT

Well I'm sad he is gone, I'm kinda excited for whatever comes next, and this episode was a rollercoaster if there ever was one.

The episode itself was fun, pretty wonkers, but fun. I actually wasn't expecting Ncuti to leave, and now I'm sad, but his final moments were amazingly written and delivered so it is going to be okay.

The thing with Poppy and the different timelines was really cool, and I'm glad that what kills this Doctor isn't a beam from a Dalek, but the choice to save a life. That is The Doctor.

Jodie's cameo was really cool too, as I felt it closed some threads from her era that were left open-ended (or unfinished depending on who you ask)

Then there's Billie Piper, who is just "introduced", there is no role linked to her character yet so I don't think she is playing a mainline Doctor, but time will tell.

It would have been nice to not know that. Miserable mess of an episode, but I did actually heavily enjoy it. I have a hard time hating something as messily entertaining as that.

Big big caveat: the plot ends 25 minutes in . Omega and the Rani are defeated and it’s done and the second half of the story is incredibly messy . That was fairly idiotic. But the second half is . well, it’s more cohesive.

I am sick of the pageantry that regeneration specials have become. I feel the same way about Power of the Doctor in that I had immense joy about the cameos and performances but apathy about the story itself . Give me a caves of Androzani again. Give me a planet of the spiders again. A normal story where Dr. who’s back is against the wall and he has to do the unthinkable.

I f**king loved it

What in the world. Giggles and tears and yet in the end I remain confused.

Welp, here it is.

The first episode I refuse to rate because it literally is a nothing-episode.

RTD, GET OUT. GET THE F**K OUT OF THE SHOW!

GO WRITE YOUR FANFICS ON AO3!!

GET!

OUT!!!!

Archie Panjabi the Rani you will always always be famous to me <3

-

Okay I calmed down a bit and I have more to add. There were bits I enjoyed. The first half hour was fun. Thirteen was a fun surprise. Panjabi's Rani is amazing. Gatwa gave it his all. I love Melanie Jane Bush.

Everything else though... Why did the Rani get eaten by Omega? Why was Omega a massive dessicated skull who got defeated way too easily? What was that whole motherhood plot?? After a whole episode saying 'why must women always be mothers and housewives' we... make Belinda into a mother? We give her a baby that isn't hers and alter her entire life and don't play that like it's scary? What was the point of UNIT? Why did we spend so much time talking about a baby that I had no reason to care about? Why did Gatwa's start and end have to get overshadowed by RTD's nostalgia bait?

Why why why why?

Why did the Rani have to get eaten by the skull... I need her back so much it isn't even funny. But I don't suppose we ever will, because if there's one thing RTD loves to do, it's disappoint.

Sack Russell T Davies

Well, War Between the Land and the Sea looks pretty good 👍