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I always felt Moffat was the king of providing unsatisfactory reveals to season long mystery boxes. Yet with the Ruby’s mother outcome, RTD surpassed even Hell Bent’s ‘The Hybrid’ reveal in sheer “Alan Partridge nonplussed shrug meme” factor.

I’ll be the first to say that given the show has leant way too much into cosmically significant companions since 2005, having Ruby just be ordinary isn’t a bad idea in isolation. However, to build the story of her and her mother as a huge cosmic mystery that scared and confused Gods and monsters only to then have it revealed as something fairly mundane was always going to fall flat. They had limitless possibilities and yet went for a reveal that wouldn’t even pass muster as an Eastenders cliffhanger.

I guess maybe the 73 yards antics were Sutekh related, needing the Doctor back in order to keep helping him travel around space and time to grow his powers. If not then what was older Ruby saying to scare people so dramatically?

There is the lingering Mrs Flood mystery box to open later. I have a horrible feeling that they don’t yet know who she is and will make it up as they go along.

 

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It has been a strange series for sure with it being as Doctor lite a series of Doctor Who as I can remember. This was familiar RTD penultimate episode of a series fodder though. Some happy reunions, some dangling plot threads and an existential threat of a big bad getting revealed right at the end.

The big lingering mysteries are Ruby and her parentage and the truth about Mrs Flood. On the latter, Mrs Flood did seem aware of what was going on without being connected to these events. The most tired and predictable route would be her being the latest incarnation of The Master. She has that slightly sinister vibe about her and is completely unfazed by the extraordinary events happening around her. The Rani is a vague possibility but it does rather feel like that character may never be back. She could of course be the real Susan.

 

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<p style=”text-align: left;”>As for mystery boxes, we have a few to be opened down the line. The Boss and ‘the one who waits’ could be the same person or two different enemies. Assuming they are one and the same, this will probably be the season arc for the 15th. Is this going to be an attempt to create a whole new character, or simply repurpose a familiar face?</p>
 

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Ncuti from here and the preview for next time looks like he is going to be an action packed leading man, a Jon Pertwee for the modern age. If he doesn’t succeed in the role then it won’t be for lack of charisma or screen presence.

I can understand the eye rolling at keeping Tennant in their back pocket. He is the definitive modern Doctor though and it does give them a chance to monetize the franchise more. I would prefer that the more earth based of Tennant’s future adventures take place in America or something though because there’s a danger that we get two very similar shows assuming this 14th Doctor spinoff happens.

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The Isaac Newton situation is an interesting one. I tend to think changing the ethnicity of a real figure from history is acceptable if you are using that change to tell a story from that new paradigm such as in the musical Hamilton for example.

Even in the flawed comparison of a white MLK, I think that if someone was looming specifically to tell a reimagined hypothetocal version of that civil rights story, there would potentially be justification for that. It couldn’t be done just for pure shock value or just for the sake of it. If these things are done without narrative justification (such as that bizarre Channel 5 Ann Boleyn drama) then it invites unnecessary controversy.

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The real refreshing aspect of this is the total lack of romantic tension between Doctor and companion. After so many years of companions pining after the Doctor barring a few exceptions it has been nice to avoid all that.

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These three episodes are definitely being stuffed to the brim with things that fans who remember series 4 will remember fondly. This was Midnightesque in a lot of ways and had a dash of The impossible Planet/Satan pit and maybe even a snifter of Utopia. 

That isn’t a bad thing. People aren’t expecting these Fourteenth Doctor specials to be an absolutely wild departure from the latter part of the Tenth Doctor’s era. When the shiny new Doctor arrives, I would expect the really fresh ideas to flow.

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An enjoyable romp I would say. As a signposting of Doctor Who to come it seems very significant that RTD has opened the fobwatch marked ‘Chibnall era’ and made clear that for better or for worse, the Flux and the Timeless Child are not going to be ignored. In fact he’s pretty much referenced the flux more times than Chibnall did in the three episodes after they happened.

There was body horror and serious tension amongst the inevitable pacing through narrow corridors and the almost inevitable explosion. It did slow down a bit at times but that was necessary for some character focused scenes after the breakneck speed of last week’s episode.

I’m not quite sure why so much about this episode was such a closely guarded secret though. It rather gave the impression of being a bit standalone aside from the ending.

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I certainly feel like these first three episodes are a free hit for RTD to go through his greatest hits. An appearance from OG Rose seems almost inevitable even if it is via some villainous trickery.

There is added poetry to Donna having a daughter named Rose. Rose and Donna are inextricably linked when you consider that Rose is in a parallel world all loved up with a man who shares aspects of Donna’s personality.

I did get a bit caught up in some of the negativity about Tennant being back in the build up. Whether it was a mistake to bring him back, whether he would undermine the incoming Gatwa and whether it would have been better to leave the memories alone. Not a bit of it. He is the definitive Doctor of the modern era as much as some (including myself at times) are reluctant to admit it.

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Very enjoyable. I’d forgotten what it was like to get an episode that was just fun to watch from start to finish. There was some clunky dialogue and exposition but that will I think just be a problem for this episode.

It was also funny in the right ways and in the right places. The “She’s fine, she’s not fine, she’s been fined” taxi scene was great. A far cry from Chibnall era jokes like “I suppose we’ll have to have a conversation”.

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