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 :)

Really fun story. Although I must say, I'm not sure about 13's plan of stopping the angels getting into the TARDIS by displaying them on the TARDIS screen... An image of an angel etc etc aha.

I was intially quite pleased with how this wasn't as camp as I was expecting it to be (the prospect didn't particularly excite me), but instead I got what feels like the complete opposite.

I feel like it's old news to complain about the Doctor being violent, especially when they've outright directly lead to the deaths of people in previous episodes (such as Kerblam, or Dinosaurs on a Spaceship) or even just killed people (Hell Bent). But there was something different about this. Overall I felt like this season's attempt of giving 15 "dark moments", like what he said to Conrad in Lucky Day, have felt... empty? Not necessary, and sort of edgy for the sake of it? But this episode has taken it way too far. The Doctor standing above someone, hearing them scream in pain while shocking them again and again and again. It felt so incredibly wrong. And the attempt to "address" it near the end just was not enough. I felt little remorse from the Doctor, and everyone around him didn't seem to care too much either. "Triggered" is a perfectly fine word, but not for this. This man was torturing someone. This same person who extended their hand out to Davros, responsible for inumerable attrocities, lost the plot and decided to torture this genocide survivor? I mean, what a perfect opportunity, from one genocide survivor to another, to explain a better way of expressing his anger that wouldn't result in Kid doing the same as was done to him. I mean for cyring out loud, the emotion such a scene would draw from Ncuti himself! To come from Ncuti, whose family ran away from the Rwandan genocide; such a moment would feel so impactful. But no. So sorry not sorry, it just made me uncomfortable and it sadly overshadows the rest of the episode for me.

And what's this episode's messaging? Be more like Cora: be ashamed of who you are, hide yourself away, work in a system and for organisations that hate you, because eventually you may get an opportunity to show yourself. Otherwise, if you're angry about these people who caused the genocide of your homeworld then clearly you seek violence and only wish to murder people. What's the reason for this false dichotomy? Show that people can rightly express their anger without killing people! Show protests! It's the right way to feel! All this showed was: if you're angry, you're wrong. I mean, what will happen now? Was the corporation supporting the contest shut down? Or is Cora just going to keep singing at these events? Funded by the genociders of her homeworld? We once saw 12 instigate the downfall of space capitalism, explaining that the results of their actions caused it. But we don't even so much as get a short explanation of any resolution to the tragedy that caused this episode's events in the first place. Well I guess the two extremists were apprehended so job done! Guh-huh. Actually baffling.

On the surface, the very surface, this episode could be fun. It had genuinely funny moments. And the surprises are ones I'm not going to forget. I realise I'm just not touching on much else in this episode such as music, acting etc. But I just can't be bothered simply, this has left a bad taste in my mouth.

I will never forget when they introduced Pearl Mackie asBill.