#NCUTI COME BACK PLEASE

[tharizt]

now why would the doctor's address be 11, huh? are you hinting at something, russell? hmmm???

i'm just saying... whenever the show does this stuff otherwise, they always put the current doctor's number there. why not 15? why 11? hmmm???

[agneswarda]

me, a dw fan: oh it's the episode with the celebrities from the past. this time it's the beatles! how nice 💖✨

me, also a drag race fan: JINKX MONSOON JIIIINKX JIIIIINKSIIIIIEEE 2 TIMES DRAG RACE WINNER JINKS MONSOON IS HEREEEE JIIIINKXXX JIIIIIIIIIIIIIII11II1IIII1

[sydneysageivashkov]

does freema have rtd's number blocked or has he not called

[ovenproofowl]

Despite the whackiness of the special effects, there were a lot of dark themes thrown about in this episode, but none - I think - were darker than the conversation the Doctor had with who he thought was Donna.

The fact she baits him by using the information she's learned from his mind, that she lets him think the DoctorDonna showed her everything that happened with Flux and the Doctor's own mysterious origins. And it kills me because the Doctor hasn't been able to talk to anyone about this. Not in depth. Not at all. And they're finally in a body that can say stuff like love and hug with abandon, facing one of their best friends and she knows everything, the Doctor thinks, so for just a second the walls go down and he steps forward and he's about to unleash it all.

And then the mask comes off. And it's not Donna at all, but he's still stood there with everything on the tip of his toungue with no choice but to swallow it down again. To yell and kick and scream where no one can hear him. Just like it's always been.

This was exactly how I was hoping they'd incorporate Flux and The Timeless Child into the story. I'm really wishing they'll stick to these themes going forward, with the Doctor's guilt and anger finally bubbling up, because so much could be done with it.

For now though, I am just so happy we got this.

[coolittleguy]

I NEED ROGUE BACK RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW

[coolfezirony]

the reality war

PLEASE I SOBBED FOR 40 MINUTES

IM NOT OKAY

SPOILERS

AS SOON AS JODIE CAME IN I WAS SOBBIN

I FUCKING LOVE BILLIE AS SIXTREN

BUT IMISS NCUTI

THIS IS NOT A SANE POST

ILL BE POSTING ALL MY ACTUAL THOIGHTS MAYBE TOMOREOW OR THE DAY AFTER

WHERE THE FUCK IS ROGUE AND WHY THE FUCK DID FIFTEEN NEVER GET TO SAY ILY BACK TO HIMM

AND WHY AM I TALKIN ABOT FUFTEEN IN THE PAST TENSE

WHY IS HE GONE

BUT BILLIE

BILLIE

BILLIE FUCKING PIPER

I SQUEALED IN THE CINEMA

WE WERE THE LAST KNES IN THE CINEMA BECUASE I COULDNT MOVE I WAS CURLED IP ON THE SEAT SOBBIN FOR TEN MINIUTES AFTER THE END

I ALMOST THREW UP AND THE CLEANEF GAVE ME A WEIRD LOOK

IM SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO WAIT TIL CHRISTMAS AND THEN NEXT YEAR TO SEE BILLIE AS THE DOCTOR

AND I WAS SAYING I DONT WAIT TO SEE FOURTEEN AGAIN BUT NOW I DO

I MEED THAT

FOURTEEN AND SIXTEEN

WHAT

IT FEELS SO WEIRD TO SAY SIXTEEN

BUT I NEED FOURTEEN AN SIXTEEN TO MEET

PLEASE RUSSELL IF YOURE GONNA DO ANYTHING DO THIS

AND DUCKING BRING BACK ROGUE

LET NCUTI COME BACK FOR AN EP WITH BILLIE AND LET HIM SEE ROGUE

I NEED 15ROGUE RIGHT NOW

THEY DRIVE ME INSANE

ALSO FIVE PEOPLE RECOGNISED MY RIVER SONG COSPLAY AND COMPLIMENTED IT

BUT BRO ROSE IS BACK AND ANITAS BACK AND SUSAN TWIST IS BACK AND JOY WAS MENTIONED AND BILLIES BACK

I CANT TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I WAS WHEN I SAW ROSE (NOBLE) THOUGH

MY SHAYLA

AND ALSO HODIE

I WAS EXPECTING ALL THE NUWHO DOCTORS TO WALK IN

BUT THATS WHEN I STARTED CRYING

THE THASMIN LINE THOUGH

YES YOU SHOULD SAY THAT TO YAZ

SAY I LOVE YOU

BRO SAY IT

I LOVE THIRTEEN MAN AND I LOVE THASMIN THAT WAS BRILLIANT I MISS JODIE SO MUCH

IM INSANE RIGHT NOW HI

KEYBOARD SMASH IN 321

BSSBSNSKMALSPSPSISHDVNEKSMSPSHDOSHHSNSOSNSHVSIWMQPWOSHSVENENKEMEOEHDJJODIEWHITTAKERBWJSNOWKWOSJSBDJHDJDJSJSJDVDHDJDIDJDJNSOSNSKKSNSBS BBIILLIEFUCKINGPIPERISBACKSHDBSMSMKWOWNWNWHEJENNENEKDMDNDBDJS KKWOWOWHSVDBMXPAWHEYUENWOWKWPSKPSKWMSBXYOQPQKMWNSBXNSKSOWISYSHJZNZMZOSKWOIWUWHSNSOYEIWURORKPENXBVSHWGWIEOEO WNNWFEZZWNSNSNLWWOJWBSBSMDMKSOWJE

IF YOURE STILL HERE THANK YOU AND IM SORRY

WELL NOT REALLY

ASXOS ALANASMMSLSNWLABZBX XOX WKA ALMAOSBSHDBNA SKW WOAKKAJAJSHSJNSKSJSHSS SONSKSNS S SNANSNNSNSNSHSHSHHSBSBSBSNSKWLWISJ

I LOVE THIS SEASON MAN

THE ROBOT REVOLUTION AND LUX AND THE WELL AND LUCKY DAY AND TSATE AND THE WISH WORKD AND THE RELAUTY WAR I LOVE THEM MAN

THANK YOU RUSSELL YOU FREAKING LEGEND

[madzillus]

If you didn’t hear Ncuti laughing at the goblin song on the radio this morning please go listen to it 😭😭😭

[unboundtravels]

Slinks in, my eyes sunken in, my headphones playing letdown on full volume:

So that Doctor Who finale huh

[amberlin1]

Oh thats Harriet.

David Tennant's been in this series so much i thought 14 was coming back

Dude scared the shit outta me and he's not even in the pic

New Pic From The Upcoming Episode "Empire of Death"

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of the Thirteenth-to-Fourteenth Doctor Regeneration in Power of the Doctor - Part One

Excerpt from Benjamin Cook's article in DWM #584:

Across the studio, executive producer Phil Collinson, director Rachel Talalay, and a growing number of crew members are huddled around a laptop. What are they watching? Rachel motions for David and DWM to join them. “I want to show you Jodie’s half of the regen,” she says. “Ooh yes, please,” says David. “This is exciting, isn’t it?” But secrecy is paramount. “What I also wanted to show you, David, is the few minutes leading up to it –” “But I’m not allowed to see?” David finds this very funny. Rachel presses play. We watch the Thirteenth Doctor’s final 45 seconds. “There she is!” exclaims David, as Jodie steps out of the TARDIS onto a rocky peak – the sea ahead of her, the sun starting to rise. “On a clifftop??” Phil looks on approvingly. “This is unusual,” he says. “Blimmin’ hell.” ��It’s beautiful,” adds David. [...] Rachel’s last work on the series was the Twelfth Doctor’s 2017 swansong, Twice Upon a Time – which ended with Jodie’s very first scene. Having midwifed the Thirteenth, Rachel has returned to see in the Fourteenth, directing today’s regeneration and the first 2023 Special. “I am so lucky I get to do this,” she says. “That I get to re-regenerate David Tennant is phenomenal. I was already incredibly interested in returning. Just the fact that Russell was coming back was enough. When I was told it was David too, that took me to a whole other level.” In studio, on Rachel’s laptop, Jodie has finished regenerating. (David: “That’s all we’re getting? I want to know what happens next!”) Cut to black and an on-screen caption: “Over to you, Russell!” Rachel runs David through her camera moves. “We don’t want to pull out on Jodie, then keep pulling out on you. We want to push in on Jodie, so we want to reverse this shot, push in as the morph starts, your clothes disintegrate –” David: “Uh huh.” Rachel: “– and by the time we get into the final position, it’ll be fully you. Everyone will be like, ‘Holy wow! I thought this would be Ncuti Gatwa.’ And then, David, it’s over to you. Tell us what you want to do.” “Exactly the same as I did last time?” “Sure. Why not.” [...] On set, David is taking a selfie with the TARDIS. “I’ve got to send Jodie this,” he says, gleefully. “I’m texting her and sending her pictures, because obviously she isn’t here, but she’s my mate, and we’ve got her on a screen to line me up…”

Future posts this set will be available in the #whoBtsPower tag. The full episode behind-the-scenes list is [ here ]

[algebraicpizza]

i'm seeing a lot of what is probably misinformation regarding the 15th doctor's departure. so to be clear: based off of everything we know, it is very likely that Ncuti chose to leave.

this is not a defense of the absolutely atrocious episode that The Reality War was, nor of the very real cases of racism in RTD's writing that people have rightfully been calling out. i still can't fucking believe they put Belinda in a box for half the episode and reality warped her entire character into being obsessed with a baby she never even wanted beforehand. but i also think it's not good to additionally blame the show/RTD for racism for 15 regenerating after such a short run when that was very likely Ncuti's own decision. i think we should keep it to the facts — the facts are already bad enough.

i say likely, not certain, because well, it's entirely possible that every behind-the-scenes rumor is wrong, and that Ncuti's own statements are false for the sake of PR, and a bunch of other circumstantial stuff points in the completely wrong direction. but based off of all of that, Ncuti is probably the one who chose to leave.

Ncuti outright said he wanted to leave because the stunt work was too much, which is a notorious part of the role and is why Matt and Peter chose to leave (both got knee injuries from the role!).

behind-the-scenes rumors have been circulating for months about Ncuti choosing to leave. the reasons varied from him having too many Hollywood prospects that the show was getting in the way of, to him not wanting to stay attached when the show is going to be in limbo for a few years (thanks, Disney!).

the show is basically outright confirmed, by leaks, to have gone back to do reshoots to completely change the ending of The Reality War, specifically to have 15 regenerate. now, to be fair, that doesn't prove that Ncuti was the one who wanted it. but we can at least say that this was not the plan.

(by the way, it's very likely they wrote the entire getting-Poppy-back sequence to make him regenerate. it's very possible that Belinda's original ending was entirely different. if Ncuti was the cause of the changes, then it is NOT his fault that Belinda's character was done this dirty — they could have just written something less stupid.)

RTD has outright talked about having a three season plan for this era and 15. and the Rogue subplot was clearly intended to be picked back up. like it is amusingly awful how the show literally left 15's boyfriend in hell, but also i feel like it's pretty fair to say they were expecting to be able to write him coming back.

RTD clearly really liked Ncuti and was into him? this is not even a defense of RTD so much as it's just trying to be accurate about the way in which he's problematic. but it's very clear he picked an actor he found very hot. he literally wrote 13 commenting on how pretty 15 was in their scene together.

if i've gotten anything wrong in that, or if there's additional information that contradicts what i've said here, then please let me know. but as far as i can surmise, Ncuti very likely chose to leave. the reason the first black Doctor got such a short run of episodes is that he decided to get off this sinking ship.

[demigodofhoolemere]

I haven’t felt this conflicted since the 60th specials, which means I’m gonna have to go in depth for this review. Bear with me. Obviously massive spoilers all over the place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Okay, first of all, getting this out of the way because it was my biggest expectation and it was absolutely shattered:

WHERE WAS SUSAN?! WHERE WAS SHE?!

For one, I cannot believe they had that much buildup this whole time — from the Doctor actually telling Ruby about her, to the psych-out with Susan Triad to mess with him, to ACTUALLY HAVING SUSAN ONSCREEN CALLING OUT TO HIM — and such a consistent through-line about family across the last two seasons only to NOT follow through on what this was obviously supposed to lead to. There were about a thousand moments in this episode where I thought that THIS must be the moment, she’s gonna show up HERE… and then nothing, again and again. Not so much as a mention of her anywhere.

Leaving me incredibly confused, because they have not filmed another season or special or whatever, but Carole was shown on set wearing a different costume:

Which is, of course, very obviously a costume, as Carole does not go around like that lol. And I have a hard time imagining that this was just an outfit they tested but instead opted for the white one, because this is far cooler and there’s almost no way they’d choose the other one over it.

So what the heck were they filming?! In my mind this costume was a guarantee that she’d be back for the finale. What else was I supposed to think?! And if they really haven’t filmed any kind of reunion scene, that’s one heck of a mistake, not only narratively but practically; while Carole seems to be in just as great health as I’ve always known her to be, she’s still about to turn 85 and absolutely anything can happen without warning. I will be very upset if she passes before they can fulfill the promises they’ve set up here (I mean, I’ll be inconsolable when that happens anyway, but there would be an extra bitterness in it). There had better be something they’ve filmed that they’re just hiding from us for the time being for some reason or other. I wish it were with Ncuti as that was the emotional setup that my expectations were built upon, but even if it’s not, she needs to reunite with the Doctor, ANY Doctor, before it’s too late. I don’t know how long it would take to forgive Russell if he fumbles that.

I’m just in disbelief that they did nothing. It was my ONE expectation for this episode and instead I’ve been left confused and feeling so completely robbed.

—————

Now going in chronological order of thoughts as I skim through the episode…

- I was very pleased to see Anita again. I didn’t expect that she’d ever come back but it was lovely to see her having a nice and fulfilling life now.

- The glimpses at previous Doctors!!! Seeing Eleven already made me soft but then they also pulled out Three which is always a treat for me. I was interested to see in the behind the scenes that they had an actual Dalek going across in front of the screen (sadly the only Dalek in Ncuti’s whole era, but we’ll get back to that). I was right there with Anita though when she got awkward about Rogue, because yeah, I hated that episode, too, girl. (To be clear, I’ve never liked one-off Doctor romances and I thought this one in particular was just horrendously done. I would’ve hated it the same way if it had been het.)

- Archie Panjabi is an absolutely flawless Rani. She was giving this everything she’s got and I’m so glad they cast her in the role. More on her later.

- I’m confused about this Underverse thing. I don’t see how breaking into it frees Omega, who was trapped in an anti-matter realm. The two don’t seem to be related. Why was he in the Underverse, or at least accessible via it somehow?

- Shirley’s rocket chair is awesome and I’m here for Mel on her moped again.

- The Doctor and Ruby’s reunion was very sweet.

- I am deeply confused by Mel saying that she’s been a housewife when they made a specific point last episode about her being a spinster which meant she’d be celebrating May 24th sitting by herself. Suddenly she’s a housewife?

- Love the brief reunion between Mel and the Rani. I would have been very disappointed if they didn’t see each other again so it was very cool to have that moment of acknowledgment.

- The Rani’s explanation for surviving the destruction of Gallifrey (and presumably the reason she was Mrs. Flood in the first place?) is this: “I had a split second, flipped my DNA, made a biological sidestep, survived the carnage.” So… I guess she changed enough about herself to no longer pass for Gallifreyan which would spare her from what the Master did to wipe out their people (even though this doesn’t line up with what he actually did to them)? Is there a reason that it made Mrs. Flood so different from the normal Rani? They really did not go into this.

- Since when did the legends about Omega change? I had just been rewatching clips from The Three Doctors and Three was talking about how every Gallifreyan child learns the story of Omega as the heroic founder of Time Lord society. Now Fifteen talks about the legend of him being cast away for being insane? And unless I’m forgetting something, he’d only gone insane BECAUSE he was trapped in the anti-matter realm, yes? Am I missing something here?

- “With his body, I can resurrect the Time Lords and construct a new Gallifrey.” Except Omega famously has no body…

- When they were talking about the Time Lords being sterile I was so worried they were going into looms 😫 Thank HEAVEN that’s not what they’re saying. I don’t care what anyone else in this fandom thinks about Gallifreyan lore, I will always think looms are ridiculous and they should stay where they are, never brought into the show. But I’m very confused by them saying that it was the “genetic explosion” that did this to them. Were we not talking about what the Master did? That wasn’t a genetic explosion that wiped the Time Lords out (source: I just rewatched The Timeless Children). And did it somehow make the Doctor and the Rani infertile from afar? 🤨 What are we even talking about here???

- “Sometimes I think that’s what bi-generation is. A life force trying anything it can to survive.” At least they bothered to give bi-generation something of an explanation, but I still think it’s stupid. This was such a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it answer as well.

- Zero Room! 🙌

- I want to be clear, I do appreciate that they care so much about their child and that the narrative places so much importance on just one little life. If I were the Doctor or Belinda and suddenly had this child, even if she shouldn’t have existed, I would want to do anything to protect my baby, too. That said, I feel like there’s almost an obsession with her going on here. The narrative suddenly pivots to laser-focus on her in a strange way. It also had the unintended effect of kinda sidelining Belinda; instead of any resolution around her actual story, suddenly this is all that matters. I’m not necessarily in agreement with the fans I’m seeing that are expressing disdain for the focus on motherhood here, because I think it’s actually rarer these days to show strong women onscreen who value it so much and I don’t believe that by default making a character become a mother somehow relegates them to being “just” a mother like that’s not indeed the most important thing in the world, but… in this specific case they really did kind of throw everything else about Belinda away to have the one and only focus of her character now be about Poppy. The whole plot suddenly shifted to center on Poppy. Again, I understand the position they’re in here and I’d want to save her, too. But narratively speaking it just felt odd, like they and the whole story were suddenly completely obsessed with her.

- I do like though that both the Doctor and Belinda were so on board with being platonic co-parents. The love doesn’t have to be romantic to be very real here.

- I’m seeing people unhappy about Ruby’s confrontation with Conrad because she called his sexist and ableist world nice, but the girl has a GUN aimed at her. Diplomacy is exactly what you want to be doing in this situation. Say whatever you have to say to appeal to him. She was also wise to go straight for his vulnerability surrounding family, and acknowledging that his world’s focus on families stemmed from his own bad family history, that that was something he wanted to make better (horribly misguided as the result was). This is basic talking-down-the-bad-guy stuff, trying to convince the person with a gun to you that you understand their perspective. She saw the horrors, she saw what happened to all the disabled and to Rose’s entire existence, she just said last episode that she thought he was evil. Even if she does truly see where he’s coming from and can honestly say that a part of his intention was nice, she doesn’t mean that the result was actually nice. Maybe the writing could have been clearer about that, but I don’t see the issue people are having.

- What on EARTH did they do to Omega. Why does he have a body and why does it look like THAT?! Why did the existence of a myth around him actually turn him into that idea? Why does he want to eat Time Lords now?

- Back to Archie Panjabi: I can’t believe they just had Omega randomly EAT her. What a ridiculous ending for such a fabulous character and actress. She had better come back in the future the same way that the Master always returns without explanation. It would be an absolutely horrendous waste of the perfect casting to do her like this. All this buildup just to throw her away. Halfway through the episode, too, like it wasn’t even important!!!

- Uh, was the Doctor trying to direct Omega’s attention to Mrs. Flood to get her, too? That’s all I could get out of this but that’s messed up.

- Also seeing people complain that Conrad didn’t get what he deserved and that Ruby shouldn’t have let him be happy. On that I have to disagree. I’m all for mercy and I love that Ruby found it in herself to be kind to the man who did what he did to her and the world. If his life changes to be happy, he doesn’t become the kind of person that did all this in the first place. I would always prefer the merciful way out where even the worst of people can have a different life rather than focusing on payback. It reminds me of Kazran Sardick; make him a better person with a better life and you’ve made things better for everyone. Conrad deserved a comeuppance, but I don’t think deserve is the point. I don’t believe revenge is the only way to set things right. I appreciate that she did that.

- Aaand they got rid of Omega halfway through the episode as well. ALL OF THIS, just for him to rock up for about five seconds as a weird bird-like corpse who wants to become a cannibal and then gets blasted back into where he came from. What a complete and utter WASTE of a character like Omega. I cannot believe how absurd this was. No true payoff whatsoever. I was so sure that the Rani would use Conrad to become Omega’s body and then we’d actually have to deal with him, but no. Nothing. Nothing that mattered. I can’t express my disappointment at how they used, or rather didn’t use, this character. Ditto for the Rani, just a little less awful because at least she actually got used at all.

- Very sweet for the orphaned baby to go to the Sundays.

- I’m glad they later have Belinda saying she can’t run around time and space anymore with a baby, because I was baffled by this bit where she and the Doctor are acting like they’re ALL gonna travel the universe and go an adventures with Poppy and baby proof the TARDIS, et cetera. Like I said, the narrative is making them so weirdly obsessed with this baby to the point of not thinking straight. They didn’t explain why they’re like this right now and then not later.

- Poor Ruby always being cursed to remember things that others don’t. It once again had me wondering if there was still something about her that was going to be explained, because everything’s felt so convenient. I thought maybe if she had the DNA of something in the Pantheon (like, say, the Trickster whose theme was playing in her soul but we’re still ignoring that) then that could explain why she’s immune to these things somehow. But no. I think it’s still because of 73 Yards but dang, is that gonna curse her for the rest of her life if stuff like this ever happens again? Whatever the case though, Millie has knocked it out of the park once again. I get the impression she steals the show in everything she touches. Such an impressive young actress.

- Shirley’s face watching Kate and Ibrahim is my face lol. I’m fascinated by whatever the heck has been going on here.

- Another ominous mention of “the Boss”. I can’t tell what I’m supposed to think about this person! I’m assuming it’s the same Boss that the Meep referred to, which had suggested it would be a bad character, but now sweet Anita knows them, too! There are still no answers here, and with Who not officially greenlit yet for the next season, let alone anywhere near production again, it looks like this is going to remain unanswered for the foreseeable. If it weren’t for the connection to the Meep I’d start wondering if this was Susan!

- Can one of the little changes in reality be that mavity is back to gravity? I still really don’t like this gag.

- In theory, since Ruby’s wish for Conrad survived when they fixed the wish world which seems to indicate that independent wishes can still last even after the rest of it is broken, could they not have wished for Poppy to survive the end of the wish world before they did that? I know they couldn’t have known to, but. I’m curious if that would be a possibility if they had.

- It’s very odd here how dismissive the Doctor and Belinda are to the idea that Ruby is remembering something that nobody else can. They have all the evidence they need that she’s been the odd man out with the correct memories before, and as Ruby said, that’s happened to the Doctor himself. There’s nothing here indicating that there’s something making them act this way. It’s one thing to be sure of your memories and have a hard time believing that you could be wrong, and another to be this weird and rude about it to someone who is freaking the heck out.

- If Poppy was created out of the Doctor’s wish to have a family again or whatever exactly this was, could there not have been potentially thousands more children created by people all over the world because of this wish that have also disappeared and will never get the treatment Poppy is getting here? Surely there are others who unconsciously wished for children, or for a spouse. It’s hard to imagine it’s ONLY Poppy.

- Enoooouuuuggghhh with the ‘last of the Time Lords’ thing!!! It had its day, but it’s silly to keep using that now when the Doctor knows full well there are others. He just saw TWO Ranis and at least one of them is still out there, which he is aware of. He just saw Omega, and while that’s not the company you want to keep, it still means there’s another. He knows the Master is inside that tooth (even if he believes the tooth is in the box with the Toymaker, he knows he’s alive in there). He’s just seen Susan calling out to him in his mind and on the screens. He has a whole other self out there sitting in Donna’s garden. I believe wholeheartedly that the Monk is out there somewhere because ain’t no way that guy didn’t run away from the Time War. Somehow or another, some other Time Lord ALWAYS comes back, and he KNOWS OF MULTIPLE at this very moment. Stop calling yourself that, dude! You’re one of four Time Lords in this episode alone!

- I do love a little montage of Doctor faces, I must admit. I think that’s the third one this season but I don’t even care. I’m an easy target, I always enjoy this.

—————

- AND NOW FOR MY FAVORITE SCENE OF THE EPISODE!!!

HER!!!

Oh my gosh. I was not REMOTELY expecting this. Absolutely the surprise of the century.

This WRECKED me. I was crying on the spot and had to keep myself quiet so I could actually hear her. Thirteen has been living in my brain nonstop for the past month because I’m writing a story for her to submit to Big Finish’s Short Trips opportunity, and I’ve been enjoying rewatching her era to ‘study’ and literally just finished. I mean, I actually watched The Power of the Doctor a mere TWO HOURS prior to watching The Reality War. Just as I’m having this month-long high of loving her and now very freshly feeling emotional over the loss of her again, they suddenly throw her back to me without warning. It’s as if it was written personally for me; it felt like I summoned her somehow.

If I couldn’t cry over getting Susan back this episode, I’m grateful they gave me Thirteen to cry over getting back instead. It felt like she came right out of her era and like I was suddenly back to where I’ve comfortably been living this month and only just said goodbye to again. I’m in disbelief that this happened with this kind of timing, and that they managed to keep it a secret for this long.

I’m still reeling like I must have dreamed this. But nope. Thirteen was right there. My sweet Thirteen that I’ve been so particularly attached to right now, whose era I appreciate more with each time I watch it. For all that people talk about how bad the Chibnall era was, and for all that I even used to say about it, more and more I find that the problems I thought existed really just aren’t problems to me anymore. I can think of only three big things that I wish had been different, and two of those are things that I can still appreciate in their own way. On average that actually makes her era the least riddled with things I don’t like, just after Eccleston (only speaking of New Who here). For all of RTD and Moffat’s very high highs, to me they also both have very low lows; I love their eras but I have problems with a larger number of individual episodes, events, and recurring themes (I’m looking at you, frequent oversexualization and innuendo). I now find myself in the position of more deeply appreciating her era (though I never had any trouble loving her) and becoming more defensive of it and her than ever, and right as I’m at the absolute peak of this, they gift her back to me.

I’m just stunned and so, so completely happy. Especially because I’ve been feeling like other than the acknowledgment of the Timeless Child (one of the things I’d change but which I can fully appreciate as a story even if I wish it hadn’t been in Doctor Who) and the cameo from the Fugitive Doctor, this era has gone completely forgotten immediately. RTD has written much of his second run as if Chibnall’s did not exist, and I’ve been especially baffled by the retroactive treatment of Yaz. The Doctor tells her she can’t settle with anyone because it will hurt, then Ten 2.0 immediately settles with the Nobles like this was never a concern and doesn’t seem to remember Yaz whatsoever despite having cared so much for her five minutes ago. The Doctor won’t tell Yaz anything ever after years together, then trauma dumps his entire life onto Ruby immediately after meeting her. The Doctor gently rejects Yaz who she genuinely cares about and has an emotional connection with, then randomly falls for a bounty hunter he’s known for all of an hour who has opposing morals to him, offering to travel together and BE together, for no reason whatsoever other than lust because they did not freaking fall in love in an hour, but no, not Yaz. This isn’t even all of it. That poor girl has been so repeatedly kicked in the face after the fact and it’s been making me all the more defensive of the Chibnall era and annoyed at its erasure and neglect (and I don’t even ship Thasmin, but dear goodness, Yaz doesn’t deserve any of this; she saved the Doctor’s entire existence from being permanently usurped by the Master, we only still have a Doctor because of her, and this is the thanks she gets?). So imagine my surprise when it turns out RTD actually CAN remember Jodie, and even Yaz! (That almost actually makes it worse for her that Fifteen actually can be bothered to remember her and yet still keeps doing all this stuff rofl. It’s a good thing no one remembers that Poppy was initially his child with Belinda because Yaz doesn’t need to hear about that at the group.)

And Doctor, stoooop with saying that so-and-so doesn’t need to hear the words ‘I love you’. It doesn’t matter if you think they know it. Rose deserved to hear it and so did Yaz.

Anyway. I’ve been a hardcore Thirteen fan right now so this came at the most perfect possible timing. I love and miss her and I can’t believe they gave her back to me for one shining minute. I could almost forgive all the other faults of the episode purely for how ecstatically happy this scene made me. When Fifteen stopped her to tell her he loved her, I felt that.

You’re welcome to come back any time. Love you forever, Doctor.

—————

- This end result is… very awkward. I wondered for a moment whether Belinda really did have Poppy all along and things had just been set right, but no, Belinda’s life seems to have been altered. Having her whole life changed without her knowledge is quite the way to end a character who didn’t like the Doctor so much as scanning her DNA without permission. I do believe that had she been given the opportunity to know that this is what would happen, she would have gladly accepted if it saved a child’s life, but… she wasn’t. Everything was changed for her (and presumably Poppy’s new father who has also had this reality thrust upon him unknowingly; who knows what that guy was up to before). Is it a nice life? Certainly! This could be a lovely departure if it had been real in the first place. But it’s not her life. Of course Poppy needs somewhere to go but there should have been a way that didn’t involve altering a person’s memories of their life in such a drastic manner. Just because she was Belinda’s in the wish world doesn’t mean she has to be with her now; she could have gone to the Sundays as well, or be adopted by someone else. It would have been just fine if Belinda herself had knowingly adopted her. But the way that this was done is kind of uncomfortable. And I feel like we don’t get to properly say goodbye to Belinda in a meaningful way, because the conclusion to her story gets swept up in time being different and the Doctor being relieved about Poppy. It’s hard to feel like this was a companion departure. There isn’t another goodbye for Ruby, either. They just end the stories of two companions without really making it feel like we were actually saying goodbye to either of them.

- Bit random to have the Doctor go be with Joy the star at the end but I guess that’s sweet. And at least the regeneration energy is a slightly different effect this time, even if it’s still the golden glow. I’ll address the actual regeneration in a moment.

- I… don’t know what to make of the sudden appearance of Billie Piper. I’d seen rumors about it, just as I’d seen rumors of Ncuti regenerating, but you can’t believe everything you hear; I’ll never forget the “leaks” from The Last Jedi involving Anakin’s Force Ghost living as a sea monster around Luke’s island rofl. So while I wasn’t surprised to see her, I have no clue what’s going on here. I have a very hard time believing she’s meant to be the next Doctor, as it’s one thing to cast Peter Capaldi and say he took the form of that guy from Pompeii to hold him to the mark and another thing to cast an entire companion! Billie and RTD seem to be alluding to things not being what they seem, so I’m assuming that this has something to do with the heart of the TARDIS from when Rose looked into it, but heck if I know. They need to get greenlit so they can continue whatever it is they’ve just dropped on us. And can I just say, much as I love Billie, I really am quite done with RTD revisiting his own greatest hits over and over again. Ten and Rose were my very first Doctor and companion, but I don’t like them both getting used for nostalgia bait like this. Ten did not need to return and I am never calling him Fourteen; he does not deserve a second number, no one Doctor is so much more special than any other that I’m acknowledging them twice. They may surprise me with something interesting but Billie does not need to be here either. All of this just feels like Russell is constantly patting himself on the back and I can’t help but wonder if the recent inclusions of Thirteen and Fugitive are just to give plausible deniability that he isn’t using only his own stuff. And I truly feel bad that Fifteen is bookended by David and Billie; the attention was taken from him in his entrance and it’s taken from him again in his exit.

- Okay, the regeneration. Knowing the rumor, I wasn’t totally surprised, but like… I was still also surprised that they actually did this without official warning. I’ve always wondered how it would be if they pulled off a regeneration without announcing it and I can now say unequivocally that IT SUCKS. It doesn’t feel real. I can’t grieve the loss of this Doctor properly because it feels so random. It took watching the goodbyes with Ncuti in the behind the scenes stuff for me to feel anything. I shouldn’t have to look outside of the actual episode of regeneration itself to feel it properly. This all just feels so wrong. More on this in my final overall thoughts.

—————

THOUGHTS

I have so many of them but I’m almost at a loss to communicate them. There’s good here, and I believe there’s good in even the worst Who episodes, but my word this was a mess.

First off, pure and simple: these characters deserved better.

Fifteen should have had longer. I felt he was just beginning to hit his stride better, and this season was pretty much hit after hit for me. Apparently they decided to only do 2 years from the get-go, which is not only bizarre, but is even worse when you look at how much was left unattended to despite them knowing exactly how much time they were working with. There are so many plot threads from across his two seasons that they’ve either done absolutely nothing with or didn’t delve into in full, leaving things feeling incomplete and choppy, and he has multiple episodes that he’s barely even in whatsoever. Why in the world would you keep doing Doctor-lite stories when you know you don’t have much time with this one? Fifteen was given such a raw deal imo. Overshadowed in his entry and exit, overshadowed in some of his own episodes, his emotional threads left hanging unresolved… this is just weird.

Belinda should have gotten an ending that related to her own, actual, REAL story. I wanted the resolution for her desire to get home, a very realistic and normal desire, and instead her own personal motivations are erased to serve whatever this story was with Poppy. Like I said, she could have knowingly adopted Poppy and that would be great, and it wouldn’t have changed her original life and motivation, she would just have a new factor in her life moving forward. Instead they take her memories and alter her reality. That may be a good thing for Poppy, who deserves to live, but am I supposed to be happy for Belinda? This is not a satisfying ending for her. (We also completely dropped anything regarding her being more wary of the Doctor than other companions and seeing that he’s dangerous. I thought this was going to be more of a challenge in their relationship but evidently not. I love their friendship but everything seems to end too perfectly.)

Ruby may have had her goodbye last season, but there’s no official one again now. We just don’t see her anymore at a certain point. After all she’s been through it doesn’t feel fair to just… walk away from her and not feel that her story has concluded. One can assume things go on like normal and that she’s probably working with UNIT to some degree or another, but it bothers me that we as an audience don’t get to see her off properly one last time.

The Rani deserved better. There ultimately wasn’t much point to the bi-generation, and after all this time of buildup for the Mrs. Flood mystery, they take the character(s) away just as soon as we get the answer. They get rid of her halfway through an episode that should have been her magnum opus, her most ambitious plan yet. One is eaten unceremoniously and the other teleports away. Whether we’ll see her again is completely up in the air. This should have been so much better for her (though her portrayal by Archie was absolute gold).

Omega deserved better. I’m just in shock that they brought back a character like that only to do whatever in the world that was. For such a significant cliffhanger last episode, Omega turns out to be such a weirdly-portrayed non-issue here and is disposed of halfway through as well. What a complete waste.

AND. SUSAN. SHOULD. HAVE. BEEN. HERE.

I feel like this episode, and really these past two seasons, tried to set up more than they could actually pull off and kept focusing on the wrong things. I went easier on series 14 than I saw a lot of people do, because the things that were left unanswered or felt too convenient were things that I gave the benefit of the doubt they’d be solved this season. No such luck, and now there are even more things left unsatisfyingly on the floor. Maybe part of that is that we as the fandom built up too high an expectation and we always come up with stuff that’s better than what we get, but I seriously think it’s mostly that RTD dropped the ball. Why set up things that don’t go anywhere? Will we ever actually see a reunion with Susan now? Is Rogue ever gonna get out of super hell? I don’t even want to revisit the Doctor/Rogue stuff whatsoever but he shouldn’t be left there either!

We should have had another season of Fifteen. Maybe he could have traveled with both Ruby and Belinda, if they’d be willing. There just should have been SOMETHING more than this. He needed more time to fully develop as a Doctor and to wrap up all of his loose ends in a satisfying way. I feel robbed. Robbed of more time with him and robbed of feeling like I actually just experienced his real ending. Not being officially warned was to this episode’s horrible detriment because I don’t feel I had the right experience with it.

This shorter amount of time also means Ncuti misses out on some staples of Doctor Who, like fighting Daleks or wearing the orange spacesuit. Fifteen is the first one since that suit arrived not to wear it, and he’s the first Doctor PERIOD to not have faced the Daleks. That’s insane. I’ve seen multiple Doctor actors, including Ncuti, say that it doesn’t quite feel like you’re really the Doctor until you’ve faced a Dalek. Does Ncuti seriously not get to have that?

It’s not even just about the time. It’s how you spend it. Even with only one season, it felt like Eccleston had a good run. With two seasons, it feels like Ncuti’s only barely begun to hit a really good streak. They spent too much of his time being confusing, and sometimes barely even having him there. Fifteen isn’t necessarily my favorite Doctor but I really think they did him a disservice.

It seems like just yesterday I was writing a review like this about Ncuti’s entrance. I shouldn’t have to do the same for his exit so quickly.

Thank goodness Thirteen showed up to distract me from all of the… *gestures broadly* everything.

(I feel like I may have forgotten something, so bear with me if this ends up with edits later.)

[halfberry]

I keep seeing hate for Ncuti Gatwa's performance as The Doctor on Doctor Who on places like twitter and...I don't get it? Sure, it's not to my tastes but I haven't been the target demographic for that show in twenty years so what I thought about him doesn't really matter. He kinda reminded me of Matt Smith's portrayal aka this fun loving wack-a-doo guy who has a habit of running from things than facing them which is a core part of The Doctor going all the way back to the Ninth Doctor.

His era felt very youthful and jubilant and considering the show has been aimed at kids since the 1960s? I think he was bloody great in that regard a real back to basics W for the show so I really don't understand where these guys my age and older are coming from when they cry about the show. As long as the core demographic likes him then he did a good job as far as I'm concerned.

Also, please don't bring David Tennant back AGAIN. I am so weary of them wheeling his old ass out every other season and with Billie Piper coming back I can totally see some cringe storyline of her and Ten and urgh no please

[symphoneydw]

So hyped by Billie Piper come back dfbskz I think the lasts 30 minutes of The Reality War are the best part of it ! We actually dosen't really now if we faced billie!doctor/16th doctor or a mysterious Rose Tyler/Bad Wolf come back. But if she's the 16th doctor- idk how to write my thoughts and expectations I have for it. JUST PLEASE !!! They can make a S tier storyline/episode like the opposite 🙏🙏🙏

Sad of course of Ncuti's left the show so early, but he was a amazing actor and a amazing incarnation of the Doctor ❤

[mouse-doubleo100]

doctor who spoilers even though i havent actually watched the episode yet im just annoyed at the big thing i got spoiled on:

this episode better be a slam dunk cause im fucking pissed based on what ive heard. 18 episodes and hes already gone??? 3 of them were doctor-lite episodes as well??? no daleks no cybermen no new memorable villains??? just goblins, bird people, and ‘it was all a metaphor’

i think ive been tricking myself into thinking this run was better than it was because it was rtd. there were moments when i went ‘oh see! its actually good!’ but those were just brief glimpses into how it couldve been better. because these episodes just. werent.

and it sucks, because ncuti gatwa brings so much energy to the role, he’s a delight to watch, and has some genuinely great moments (end of dot and bubble, that moment when he switches off his emotions in the bird episode). i think he and ruby had some of the best chemistry out of any doctor/companion combo, which definitely helped me ignore the many issues there. belinda was also fun, when they let her actually be her own character and not just ruby-lite. there was so much potential. and they just. threw it away.

i do think bille piper could be incredible as the doctor. i see the vision. but i hate how it has to come at the expense of fifteen. there was so much more for him to do, it felt like theyve barely scratched the surface of what they could do for him. theres a lightness to him that i think they really squander by barely giving him any fun episodes (i think the goblin episode is only one that really has that kind of energy. and thats his first one), and beyond that, they really dont lean into the kind of stories you could tell with a black doctor imo (because its mostly white writers. i think theres only one writer of colour in these season, and you can tell exactly which episode they wrote lol)

i hope rtd isnt the showrunner for the next season. i feel like hes just going to keep rehashing old stuff instead of moving forward with the show, especially with billie piper in the role. we can get through whatever reasons for her to be back in a christmas special, and then we can move onto something new (with a female showrunner, PLEASE). it just sucks because i know rtd can be a good writer, he brought the show back for petes sake, but it feels like he already used all of his ideas for the show, and is now just leaning on bad allegorys and nostalgia.

like i said, i havent watched the finale yet, so maybe all my criticisms will be moot. but somehow i doubt it.

[kiwikyuuu]

SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO REALITY WAR FINALE

THIS IS A MASSIVE RANT OF MINE WHICH lets be honest I didn’t realize was gonna be a rant until i finished writing lmao, but enjoy!!!

Okay what the HELL did I just watch LMAO, like I have loved Ncuti Gatwa this entire time as the doctor, but the finales have consistently made me so confused and felt so all over the place. I am desperately hoping they dont cancel the show after these two seasons cuz Disney is as we all know Disney, But i really think they need to get their act together.

I was so taken aback by seeing Jodie Whittaker show up out of nowhere, especially because It took me a minute to realize that the doctor was actually like 100% gonna regenerate (WHICH WE WILL GET TO). The precursor to this made it seem like Omega was gonna be so much worse of a threat than he was, and when he did get released the doctor faced NO THREAT really at all. He immediately stumbled into the solution for the problem and fixed instantly, which does not give good character development. Also can we talk about the exposition dump that happened throughout this episode cause GOD its a lot.

Moving on to the Rani, Archie Panjabi played such an intimidating villain but when all of her actions fell so flat the threat of her became very very- dull if that makes sense. Mrs Flood had been building this all up like it was meant to be some sort of massive crazy reveal and then boom literally 2 episodes after Archie-Rani gets introduced she gets merked, leaving Mrs Flood to run off and do Mrs Flood things. I had not really known about the Rani until this point in Doctor Who, so when I researched her I was surprise she ended up coming back. It would have made sense to have her be uniting WITH Omega or something along those lines rather than her just dying by him. It felt like a cop out of not knowing how to do deal with a ridiculously strong opponent that the doctor wouldn’t have known how to fight.

But as a writer, that’s your job. You need to figure out how that could work with what you set up, you can’t just throw everything together and hope it works.

If there is one thing that the New New Who (I guess???) gets really good, its this: Building Tension, and the Episodic Storytelling Style. I can for sure say I was enthralled by what was going on with Mrs Flood for both seasons as well as what the story was building to with both seasons. Both times however, I was left confused and frustrated.

Now, Poppy was weird to say the least. I get, I 100% get the sterile thing, it makes sense (HOWEVER PLEASE YOU COULD HAVE INTRODUCED THAT EARLIER ON IN THE SERIES), and Poppy being a brand New Child of the Timelords COULD HAVE MADE THINGS SO CRAZY, but you didn’t commit to that. I LOVED that the doctor had to fight with not only himself but Ruby about whether he had a daughter, but decisively making that moment the point where he says “PEACE IMMA GO FIND MY DAUGHTER” and then pulls some extremely risky behavior (LITERALLY UNIVERSE HOPPING), just to get her back, and then having her not be his actual daughter, feels like the doctor got handed such a bad hand.

Like, in reality yeah sure universe hopping and finding poppy but realizing she’s not your real daughter? Yeah sure that makes sense, but in terms of story writing, with everything having been built up this whole time, ESPECIALLY the abandoning everyone part, he just settles there and is like “Yep! :) That makes sense haha lemme just go become Billie Piper rq-“ LIKE SIR NO LMAO

Now. Billie Piper. GOD THATS SO COOL BUT SUCH A BAD TIMING FOR A REGENERATION. Dont get me wrong I adore 10s era just as much as the next who fan, but with where 15 (?i dont know what number ncuti is anymore) was in his story arc he was not done. He still had so much more potential he had to give, Ruby is still an engima that SHOULD BE EXPLORED MORE!!!! Belinda was honestly a tad annoying at times as a companion but ultimately I do respect her as a character because she is very grounded in reality. I think it would have made sense to give 15 one more companion if they could have (ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY HAD SO MANY PEOPLE TO PICK FROM LIKE HELLO??? ROGUE WAS RIGHT THEREEEEEE). I also want to point out that I’m worried about whats going to happen with Billie Piper being the doctor. It took away a role that usually gets handed to someone who has either played in doctor who before (WHICH DOES MAKE SENSE WITH PIPER AS THE DOCTOR) or its given to someone completely new. Im worried that bringing in Piper as the doctor will lure in the rest of the fans looking for their escapism as a new 10 era, and find the same faulty finales that have been consistent with the past two seasons, which I feel like would hurt the fan’s love of the show as well as their respect for the show.

I think Piper is such a cool concept because we HAVE had people the doctor has met before come back as other doctors (Peter Capaldi came back after the one pompeii episode for example), but I think that 15 deserved at least one more season to truly show just how fantastic he is because in all honesty he IS such a GOOD DOCTOR.

LONG WINDED RANT OVER. Excited for what comes next, but still extremely cautious as well.