MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
I think it’s safe to say that Russell T. Davies had gone mad with power. I came away from this episode in shell shock, struggling to put my thoughts on the episode into a coherent sentence. If the finale for last season was considered a lackluster end to Ncuti Gatwa’s first outing, this season’s finale made it look like Doctor Who’s Citizen Kane.
Last week we saw The Doctor and friends attempting to figure out the Orwellian world in which they now inhabit. I feared that nothing would come of anything laid out in the episode and it seems I was right. Not only was the dual threat of The Rani and Omega over in a flash, but it was one of the stronger elements of an episode that ended in what can only be described as bad fanfiction on steroids.
Omega and The Rani
This week’s episode is a bumper one, lasting a full hour instead of the usual 45 minutes. It’s split into two distinct halves — in the first The Doctor is saved from last week’s cliffhanger ending by a magic door, rescued from his fall by Anita and the Time Hotel, a call back to last year’s Christmas episode.
The Doctor now fully out of the wish, and with the Time Hotel providing a flow of real time, he quickly snaps the rest of UNIT out of the Wish in order to fight back against The Rani and her plan to use Omega’s genetic material to resurrect the Time Lords in her own image. Her plan isn’t a terrible one and the suggestion that she can’t just use Poppy, the daughter of The Doctor and Belinda wished into existence, as she is contaminated by her human mother, is met by audible groans from The Doctor and Unit. This adds an on the nose evilness to the plan that is entirely fitting of The Rani.
The Doctor goes to confront The Rani in an attempt to stop the return of Omega, the first Time Lord, but is too late. Omega is here and about to escape from his tomb in the Underverse. This is where the episode starts to lose it a bit. Omega returns as a big CGI monster, almost immediately eats The Rani, Mrs Flood escapes, and The Doctor uses a Vindicator to shoot him back into his prison — all in the space of no more than 5 minutes of screen time.
What a waste of an iconic villain. In his original appearances, Omega was trapped in an anti-matter universe when creating a singularity that would become the power source for the Time Lords. Over the millennia he becomes embittered and lonely, blaming the Time Lords for his entrapment and plotting his revenge but, having been in an anti-matter universe for so long his physical form no longer exists, his consciousness and everything he has created in the anti-matter universe existing through his sheer will power alone. In the Underverse, Omega has become his own legends, ‘The Mad God,’ ‘The Titan,’ and ‘First Sin of the Time Lords,’ it takes a relatable character and adds an interesting twist then boils it down to a dull CGI monster that does very little.
And then, there is The Rani. Her contribution to this episode is also rather disappointing. She comes to UNIT, reveals her plan and is then eaten by Omega. Archie Panjabi was engaging as the charismatic regeneration of The Rani but is wasted in the episode. When on screen she is fantastic, but as feared she is immediately ‘Worf-ed’ by Omega, the trope of having a new villain defeat the old villain or strongest character to show they’re a threat.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
The B-Plot for this episode is Poppy. There is a lot of weirdness surrounding her.
During the first half of the episode, there is a huge amount of emphasis on The Doctor and Belinda both being ecstatic at having a child together. They were in a loving marriage in the Wish World and for whatever reason, that dynamic seems to have carried on. Neither of them questions that they have a child together; there is no suggestion that they didn’t want this or have any kind of concerns about it. Their reaction is unquestioning devotion to each other and excited eagerness to be a family. It’s inherently a weird choice for the writing and is fitting with neither of their characterizations.
The last time The Doctor had a child made from them without consent, it was met with genuine disgust and, though by the end of The Doctor’s Daughter, the Doctor had come to terms with her existence it still doesn’t quite mesh that he would be this okay with it. Here though, the Doctor is desperately trying to ensure that Poppy survives once he ends the wishes.
It is revealed that the event that most recently wiped out the Time Lords wasn’t as instantaneous as first thought instead rendering all Gallifreyan’s throughout time and space sterile and the new bi-regeneration mechanic speculated to be Time Lord genetics desperately trying to save the species. It was an interesting tease for the potential return of the Time Lords or as set up for the Doctor returning to his granddaughter Susan, still absent, but ultimately just serves as the MacGuffin to write both Belinda and the Doctor out of the show.
In The Doctor’s attempt to save Poppy, Belinda is almost completely sidelined. Both physically, being locked away with Poppy in a Zero Room shielded from reality to protect Poppy from the Wish ending, but also in terms of her season arc and development. When Poppy slowly starts to fade out of existence, Ruby is the only one who notices, and this is where we get an egregious bit of characterization from The Doctor. Not only was Ruby’s realization of what was happing a powerful moment, one of the few emotional moments of the episode, but the realization is met with total dismissal from The Doctor which verges on hostility. It’s completely out of character for this Doctor who considers Ruby to be his best friend and is ultimately a weird set up for an “I’m the Doctor and I’m going to do an impossible thing moment”.
When The Doctor manages to do the impossible and shifts reality to bring Poppy back, it retcons Belinda to be a mother desperate to get home in time for her daughter, who in this new timeline exists but is now fully human, completely undermining Belinda’s characterization and arc throughout the season.
Goodbye Doctor
Let’s address the elephant in the room: The Doctor’s regeneration. Yes, it had been rumored and leaked ahead of the season that Ncuti would be leaving us by the end and, as much as we may have not wanted to believe it, as the season progressed and leaks were increasingly shown to be correct, it seemed more likely it would come to pass.
The regeneration itself was a sad one. Unlike the regenerations of previous Doctors that were emotional because viewers had come to create genuine emotional bonds with that incarnation of The Doctor, in this regeneration I felt a little sorry for Ncuti. This season had started off so strong, in part because of Ncuti’s performance as The Doctor being phenomenal throughout. Much like how Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor is now widely considered to have been let down by weak writing, I can’t help but feel as though Ncuti’s was also let down and underutilized by the show.
In order to shift reality a degree to restore Poppy back to reality, the Doctor decides to syphon some of his regeneration energy into the Time Vortex. Despite having been shown to be able to release regeneration energy before without regenerating, doing so this time causes The Doctor to regenerate. The Doctor chooses to sacrifice his own life to save a child who was only wished into existence less than 24 hours ago. Though the regeneration itself feels heavily forced and out of nowhere, there are a few good moments in the 15th Doctor’s end.
There is an excellent cameo from Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor, the impending release of energy into the time vortex shifting her into the future to help. She’s well written and her interaction with Ncuti’s Doctor is the classic fun and witty writing we’ve come to expect from any time two doctors meet. It was probably, for me, the best part of the episode.
It’s unfortunately also marred by what must be one of the most insane decisions ever made by the show. One that has no doubt left fans scratching their heads or begging for it to be a fake out. Ncuti Gatwa regenerates into… Billie Piper… What?!
Billie Piper becoming the next Doctor is an odd choice, most notably as she previously played the Doctor’s companion during the first two series of the modern version of the show. It’s a casting choice that can only have been done purely for the shock value and reeks of a desperate attempt to recapture lost viewers with a fan favorite from the show’s peak.
It’s important to note that this regeneration broke the tradition of new Doctors being credited as “Introducing X as The Doctor” with Billie instead just being credited as “Introducing Billie Piper” which has already led to some speculation that the casting is a bait and switch that will tie into the plot of the next season, or is a shock placeholder casting until the show is expected to return in 2027.
End of an Era
For the most part, I’ve enjoyed Ncuti’s run as The Doctor. Was it perfect? No. But his Doctor has a lot of heart, and his run has pushed boundaries for the show, exploring new ideas for better or worse.
More than anything though, this era of the show has so far epitomized that budget isn’t everything. Doctor Who for most of its run has been lauded for its creativity in the face of ever diminishing budgets. The Doctor Who of the classic era was defined by its bubble wrap monsters and flimsy cardboard sets, but it pushed its writers, costumers, and art departments to think creatively and work outside of the box to bring the ideas of the show to life. It’s always been part of the shows charm and it been the reason behind some of the shows best episodes.
Right now, though, I think the show is in a place where Russell T. Davies has too much budget and too much free reign. In the last season Davies mentioned that he would receive studio notes from Disney but was under no obligation to follow them unless he agreed, which resulted in The Doctor showing up earlier in the episode in his first full episode. I think it’s clear now that Davies needs someone to say “no” to him, and the show sorely needs some constraints to allow its creativity to shine in the face of adversity.
It pains me to say it, but this episode was plain bad. There were a few elements that I enjoyed, like UNIT’s battle base and the 13th Doctors cameo but the rest of the episode was miss after miss culminating in a desperate, nonsensical twist with shock casting.
The Review
Plain Bad
