It was tempting to label this review Everything Everywhere All at Once. The title of that madcap, reality-bending tale of parallel worlds nicely summed up what it felt like to watch this season finale which brought the curtain down on Ncuti Gatwa’s era and (possibly?) launched the second coming of Billie Piper.
This was an episode which very much followed the Russell T Davies playbook of season finales. Big, bombastic, and full of spectacle. Multiple plot threads either left hanging or tied up in double quick time. Some quieter scenes that showcased why he’s such a successful screenwriter. And brazenly cheeky moments that will either have left you cheering or howling in despair (more on those later).
No sooner are we off and running than we’re reintroduced to Anita from the Time Hotel. Steph de Whalley was perhaps the best thing about 2024 Christmas episode Joy to the World and it’s a welcome return. It turns out Anita has been looking in on the Doctor at various points in his timeline (tell us about The Massacre and The Space Pirates, Anita) and there’s a moving moment when she sees him with Rogue and understands what could never be. But I felt sad that all she got to do after that was hold a door open.
It was a similar feeling when Archie Panjabi’s Rani was given a rather undignified exit halfway through the episode. If you’re going to bring the Rani back, surely you might as well make her the centrepiece of the story, but she was summarily dispensed with. I rather enjoyed Anita Dobson’s unexpected Two Ronnies reference, though it was probably lost on anyone who wasn’t watching British comedy 40+ years ago.
Jonah Hauer-King’s Conrad, a character with potential and much to say about the modern world, also felt underused, although, thanks to Ruby, he had a resolution of sorts (plaudits to Millie Gibson — especially good in the episode, I thought).
And then there was Omega, the last member of the trinity. After all that build up, the mad God was very easily defeated but what felt worse was that, just like last year, a classic-era villain was revived as a CGI beast. Can’t we have these enemies presented as a proper acting role for a performer to get their teeth into?
It wasn’t the only echo of the previous season. We had another mysterious child, one we were led to believe held a kind of cosmic significance, but turned out to be just a regular kid. My view was that this thread, touchingly played by Gatwa and Varada Sethu, worked rather better this time. The sequence where Ruby watches, confused and horrified, as the Doctor and Belinda pass the jacket between them was Davies at his best. It did feel a bit of a cheat to show all those previously unseen clips of Belinda saying she needed to get back for Poppy, though. Surely we should have had some clues along the way, instead of time being rewritten like that?
There was almost too much to take in with one viewing. When Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor turned up in the TARDIS I can’t have been alone in half-expecting her to be followed by some combination of Tennant, Smith, Capaldi, and Martin. It was good to see her again, though, and did anyone else think that if her Doctor had been written more like she was in this short appearance, her era would be more fondly remembered?
It was clear by now that, as had been suspected, this episode would indeed be the Fifteenth Doctor’s last hurrah. Ncuti Gatwa was never less than a charismatic, engaging presence in the role and gave us some great moments. It’s no mean feat for an actor to deliver a line like this episode’s ‘She’s provoking the bone beasts!’ and sound credible. But I’m left with a feeling that his short tenure is somehow incomplete with aspects (such as his loss of control in The Interstellar Song Contest) that went undeveloped.
Speculation prior to transmission focussed more on how The Reality War would end than the content of the episode itself. Would the Doctor wander off into the sunset as in Survival? Or would the credits roll partway through the regeneration?
When it came, there was a huge surprise in store (I’m pleased to say I avoided spoilers). I have to say I laughed and can’t help admiring the audacious move of having Billie Piper appear. This won’t be a universal view, but I can absolutely understand why the production team would choose to bring back one of modern Doctor Who’s breakout stars.
All in all, The Reality War was a finale that had me both infuriated and enthralled, often in the same scene. I find it’s best with this kind of episode to take from it what you can, sit back, and let the wave wash over you. But I can well understand that won’t be an approach that suits everyone.
A veteran of soap opera, RTD has always held to the mantra, ‘never end the story’ and so it proved here. We may be in for a long wait to see what happens next. I can’t claim any insight into what the future holds between the BBC and Disney, though from the amount of attention that ending has garnered, both favourable and unfavourable, I’d have to say this doesn’t feel like a programme that won’t return.
