Well, Doctor Who fans, it’s time for reality to end and begin with the last episode of this season. Last time, we saw the Doctor having to deal with the two Ranis, whose mission is to bring back the time or tyrant Omega, who was the first to discover time travel for the Time Lords. The world around everyone was crumbling, and the doctor was falling to his death. It looked like everything was going to end, but did it? This episode answers so much and changes so much in the Whoniverse that it will leave you shaking for more, especially with the big surprises it had in store!
The Episode Run Down
We begin Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 8 with the Doctor falling into an abyss, not knowing if he was going to survive or not, but at the right moment, an old friend, Anita Benn from the 2024 Christmas special ‘Joy to the World’, saves him by opening a door to the Time Hotel, just has the clock strikes midnight resetting everyone back to May 23th, 2025. By time resetting, the Rani and Mrs. Flood (also the Rani) can get a lock fix on the mad Time Lord Omega from the under-verse. The Doctor and Anita catch a bit as his memories start to form, realizing she’s pregnant and that she’s been learning more about his past lives.
They both return to the house that both the Doctor and Belinda have been living in, in the wish world, and take them back to the Time Hotel, where Belinda’s memories return. The Doctor then goes to UNIT to free the minds of everyone working there, including Kate Stewart, who calls in all the UNIT agents within the area of the building. We see Ruby Sunday, Mel, and even the likes of Rose, the daughter of Donna Noble, return. Rose had disappeared because of Conrad’s wish. With everyone back to normal-ish the Rani makes her appearance to tell the doctor that there’s nothing he can do to stop her, and then Omega will return.
We come to find out that the reason why this is happening is that Rani wants Omega’s biological material to bring back the Time Lords. When the question of why couldn’t the Time Lord and Time Lady couldn’t create with each other, we come to find out that their specie is genetically sterile, meaning that they can’t reproduce, with Poppy being the exception to that sing that she is half human, half Time Lord.
Of course, the Rani sees that she is not pure, so she can’t be used to bring back the Time Lords, and that when Conrad’s wish ends, she will disappear. With the end of that, the Rani teleports away and decides to turn the big bone beast onto UNIT headquarters.
Everyone at UNIT is all hands-on deck, with Belinda and Poppy being stored in a zero room, a room where nothing can be affected, which means Poppy is protected. UNIT decides to use Project Indigo, which hasn’t been seen since the episode “The Stolen Earth”, while the Doctor calls on Rani’s hovercraft so he can take it to the Rani’s bone palace. Both Ruby and the Doctor end up in different parts of the palace, Ruby in Conrad’s room and the Doctor to see the Rani and Mrs. Flood.
Both of the Time Ladies convince the Doctor to at least meet Omega and free him from the Underverse, but instead of seeing the Omega we are used to seeing, we see that the Underverse has changed him into the stories and myths told about him.
Omega ends up taking the Rani and devours her while Mrs. Flood flees with a time ring, leaving the Doctor to face Omega alone. Meanwhile, UNIT headquarters defends itself from the Bone Beasts attacking it, taking out as many as they can, and Ruby rescues Desiderium, the baby from the last episode, who has the power to grant wishes. Ruby wishes for Conrad to finally be happy in his life, causing him to vanish. The Doctor forces Omega back into the portal that let him into the world using the Vindicator that he’s been charging since the beginning of the season, cutting off Omega’s way back into the universe.
The Rani’s palace crumbles as the Doctor finds his TARDIS with Ruby and Desiderium waiting inside. The Doctor makes one more wish, deciding that no more wishes are to be granted. The Doctor and Ruby both take the baby to Ruby’s adoptive mother, Carla Sunday, to raise him since he has no other place to go. Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, Belinda and the Doctor have Poppy set up in a baby crib and start to plan what their future will be like. As they plan, Ruby notices something, Poppy has vanished right in front of her eyes, and she’s the only one that remembers, not even the Doctor or Belinda remember her.
The trio returns to UNIT, finally, now May 24th, 2025, and still, no one remembers Poppy. This causes panic in Ruby, with the Doctor insisting that Ruby is mistaken. Eventually, Ruby convinces the Doctor and everyone that Poppy was real and reminds the Doctor that he would never forget anyone, not one person. She reminds him of how he remembered her when her mom forgot her and how he fought for her.
With that, the Doctor leaves to head into the Time Vortex to shift time by a single degree. Just as he prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice, a former regeneration appears, the 13th Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, attempting to convince him not to do what he’s about to do, but turns around on her choice and lets him go through it, leaving as he pours his regeneration energy into the time vortex. The Doctor returns to Earth, landing the TARDIS in Belinda’s backyard with Poppy inside.
Once the Doctor examines her, we come to find that Poppy is now fully human, her father not being the Doctor. Belinda and the Doctor both move on, both sad that they won’t have each other in their lives, but happy for one another. Once the Doctor goes out in space, he regenerates into a very familiar face, being her 16th regeneration.
Saying Good to the 15th
This Doctor Who episode was by far the best out of the whole series having everything build up to moments we’ve been waiting for the 15th doctor to go through. Ncuti Gatwa version of the Doctor was not only fun but also loved living his life, and we had the audience feel that. On the Doctor Who website, Gatwa states, “You know when you get cast, at some point you are going to have to hand back that sonic screwdriver and it is all going to come to an end, but nothing quite prepares you for it.
This journey has been one that I will never forget, and a role that will be part of me forever. There are no words to describe what it feels like to be cast as the Doctor, nor are there words to explain what it feels like to be accepted into this iconic role that has existed for over 60 years and is truly loved by so many across the globe.
“The fans are truly the final character and beating heart of this show and I can’t thank the Whoniverse and the Whovians enough for welcoming me in, and making this such a touching experience. I’ve loved every minute of it, but now is the time to hand over the keys to that beloved blue box and let someone else take control and enjoy it every bit as much as I have. I’ll truly miss it, and forever be grateful to it, and everyone that has played a part in my journey as the Doctor.”
What’s in the Future?
The Future holds so many possibilities with Doctor Who, and we who continue to watch the show are excited. If you have watched this episode, then you know that our next Doctor is no stranger to the Whoniverse. Billie Piper, who played Rose when Doctor Who came back in 2005, and would come back from time to time to the show or to the Big Finish Production audio dramas, is now our 16th version of the Doctor officially. With her being familiar with the series and the TARDIS and now officially being the third woman to play the Doctor, the future of Doctor Who is looking bright.
The other thing we’ve gotten today is the trailer for the upcoming UNIT spin-off series, ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ which focuses on UNIT stopping a global war with an ancient sea species. This is set to premiere some point this year in 2025. Until then you can watch all of Doctor Who on HBO Max, Disney Plus, or BBC iPlayer
