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.

Very interesting stuff about the creative process and the limits of trying to synthetically recreate a natural event or action, all done with one of my favorite TARDIS teams.

I was interested by what this had to say about the relationships between the Doctor, Clara, and the TARDIS.The story itself was a bit on the simple side, but that's an issue inherent in the format; it had to be compact enough to fit on the folded dust jacket, after all. Doctor Who needs to do more ergodic literature, actually, it was fun and it very much fits with the ethos of the show.

From a creepy, too-happy dystopia to a truly heart-wrenching final confrontation. I don't mind admitting that this one got a tear or two out of me.

A fun little spin on Cinderella, plus fascist pseudo-witches and bog zombies. A little too on the nose for my liking (did the Doctor really need to spell out the meaning of every name for the readers?) but gave me just enough to connect with the characters and sympathize with their plight.

A fascinating tale that covers desire for knowledge, survival, colonialism, and the moral cost of them all. The pleasure parasites/incubi are as fascinating as they are disgusting, both in and out of narrative, and the parallels between the Doctor and Dr. John Dee (and between Peri and Thomas) really compelled me as well.

I quite enjoyed this one; it perfectly captured the feeling of a Pertwee story, with all the action, cool vehicles, and environmental messaging, but was able to go further than the effects of that era would have allowed. The threat of the Bad Salt was truly unsettling, especially when Jo was threatened by it. The resolution was a little rushed, but not so much so that it hurt the rest of the story. Also, there was a very good dog!

A very complicated and compelling plot with a very high-concept alien species; I found the revelation of it all deeply satisfying and was left with a strange sense of longing at the end. The setup felt like a bit more of a slog, unfortunately; there was a lot of back-and-forthing. I was also a little put off by the feeling that all of the named characters were meant to be references to the Doctor's old friends, but not enough to identify any aside from Christina and the Brigadier.

An interesting exploration of the relationship between Eleven and Clara, and Doctor-companion dynamics more broadly. The planet and its inhabitants were fascinating, and I was intrigued by the clear Biblical reference of it all. It did drag a little at the beginning, but I was compelled and charmed by the ending.

Enjoyable, but feels notably incomplete with plot threads left hanging. The Drosten's Curse is a much more satisfying version.