Back in 2024, Russell said the marvelous thing about Doctor Who is that the past 61 years don't matter.

And now in 2025, basically every episode we get is somehow referencing the old episodes.

9-10/10

Also, just in case if anyone's wondering, the clips from the montage are from these episodes:

The Tomb of the Cyberman

Spearhead from Space

The Doctor Dances

Voyage of the Damned

The Zygon Inversion

Power of the Doctor

The Woman Who Fell to Earth

The Five Doctors

Vincent and the Doctor

The Pyramids of Mars

The Night of the Doctor

The Daleks in Colour

The Trial of a Time Lord

The Giggle

The Daleks Invasion of Earth

The Church on Ruby Road

Fantastic episode. Truly captures the vibe of unhinged conspiracy theorists and easily manipulated masses. I would've easily given it a 5/5 if it wasn't for the unconvincing UNIT media control. Kate, pay more attention to the internet leaks please? And the Doctor's speech at the end, despise being very good, felt somewhat unnecessary. It felt deliberate and I'm somewhat disappointed by the fact that the Doctor didn't do anything besides giving him a lecture about his atrocities.

Also I wish Conrad a really unpleasant end. The man insulted our dear Alistair. NO ONE GETS AWAY WITH INSULTING ALISTAIR YOU LITTLE - (proceeding to crawl into the screen and beat up his snug face)

PS. I just reviewed the episode and found a little plothole. How did Conrad and his fellow ThinkTank members knew what the Shreek looked like? Yes, he caught a glimpse of it back when he first saw the Doctor and Ruby but it was hardly enough for him to make up costumes that were realistic enough to cheat both Ruby and UNIT. Oh oh Pete we caught you slipping.

We. Are. Fricking. Back.

Russell I am sorry that I ever doubted you.

Great opening episode. Interesting concept. Love Belinda as a character, always great to have someone on board that views the Doctor as an equal. Best and coolest depiction of Blinovitch Limitation Effect I've seen so far. So SO much better than that abomination we got last series. Actually got my hopes up back again for the new series.

I'd give this episode a 4/5, but I'm extremely disappointed by the plot.

The majority of the episode is great. Baba Yaga has always been one of my personal favourites when it comes to folklore. The Doctor teamimg up with Vasilisa also provides great dynamics. And it's an absolute delight to hear the Doctor being confused by Baba Yaga's magic (which is something I think future writers should explore on, the Doctor is always so dismissive and knowitall when it comes to "magic", I know this is a sci-fi franchise but it'd be fun if the Doctor gets stumped by all the magic stuff every now and than). Mention of Koschei the Deathless was also an interesting little cherry on the top(KOSCHEI MENTION, THOSCHEI FOLKS WE WIN THIS), if only Baba Yaga cared to say more about this alleged husband of hers. It'd be great to have the Doctor saying that classic mouthful of a sentence(A needle inside an egg inside a duck inside a hare inside a box buried in the forest of the island Buyan)

And then it all goes crashing downhill.

"Oh, you're a creature from local folklore. So you must be a product of superstition and psychic manifestation and positive feedback loop."

Words can't even begin to describe my disappointment when it turns out that this episode fell victim to this classic and now abused trope. I hate it when they use great story materials like this. It's lazy and irresponsible. This episode would have been so much better if Baba Yaga really was a powerful entity (from the Dark Ages or somewhere eldritch, whatever, I don't really care as long as a real entity). But no, they had to make it predictable and mediocre. This really drains all the fun and life out of this episode.

So, yeah. I can't say I hate this episode, I really rather enjoyed it. But I'd be lying if I say I'm not incredibly disappointed by how the whole thing turned out.

Also, to whoever wrote this episode: it's just Baba Yaga, no definite article. Baba Yaga when translate to English means Grandma Yaga. Who adds a the before grandma? Certainly not me.