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Title: Doctor Who ΓÇ£Wish WorldΓÇ¥ review: The Last of the Time Lords (redux)

Date: Sat, 24 May 2025 18:30:04 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-mov...

Spoilers for ΓÇ£Wish World.ΓÇ¥

Even the most daring artists, those that actively seek reinvention on a
regular basis, will eventually wind up repeating themselves. If theyΓÇÖre
lucky and self-aware, the artist may even get the chance to rehabilitate some
of the lesser works in their canon. Sadly, itΓÇÖs at this last hurdle that
Russell T. Davies has fallen, with ΓÇ£Wish WorldΓÇ¥ not quite able to do more
than become a bizarro remake of ΓÇ£The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time
Lords.ΓÇ¥

James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf

We open in Bavaria, 1865, where a cloak-wearing woman on horseback rides
through a forest to a remote cabin. ItΓÇÖs classic series villain the Rani,
resurrected at the end of last weekΓÇÖs episode, who is greeted by Otto
Zufall (German for ΓÇ£coincidenceΓÇ¥), a storybook villager-type who expected
to greet a midwife to help his ailing wife, Violett. Otto is the seventh son
of a seventh son, who has just welcomed his seventh son into the world.
Violet lays in bed cradling the newborn, which the Rani says is ΓÇö as the
third-generation seventh son ΓÇö gifted with unbelievable power. She plucks
the newborn from her arms, killing Violet by blowing on her, turning her into
a pile of violet petals. She then blows on the other six children and turns
them into ducks, and Otto into a wise owl.

Then, weΓÇÖre on Earth on May 23, 2025, where the happily married couple John
Smith ΓÇö the Doctor ΓÇö and Belinda wake up side by side in bed. Their
daughter, Poppy (from ΓÇ£Space BabiesΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£The Story and the EngineΓÇ¥)
pads in from her bedroom. The trio live as a picture of domestic bliss, with
a distinctly fake-looking ΓÇÿ60s style kitchen filled with bright colors. It
may be the present day, but thereΓÇÖs little-to-no tech on show except that
every room has a 14-inch CRT TV that only plays a broadcast of Conrad (from
ΓÇ£Lucky DayΓÇ¥) who tells them the whole world is going to have great
weather that day.

At breakfast, the DoctorΓÇÖs mind wanders for a moment, and suddenly his mug
(which was in the middle of the table) inexplicably smashes to the floor.
Never mind, as thereΓÇÖs a whole cupboard of matching mugs to replace the
ones that fall during a ΓÇ£slip.ΓÇ¥ Each house even has a large, bright
orange trash can just to get rid of the mugs that fall during a ΓÇ£slipΓÇ¥,
including their next door neighbor, Mel. When the Doctor greets Mel, he asks
what her plans are for May Day, and she says as an unmarried woman with no
children, sheΓÇÖll just sit inside in quiet contemplation.

Looming over the heart of the city, taller than any skyscraper, is a
structure made out of bone that stands tall on spindly spider legs. Similarly
incongruous is a series of massive, dinosaur skeletons that stomp around the
landscape. WeΓÇÖll see later that the dinosaur skeletons donΓÇÖt actually
interact with the world around them, phasing through the space below.

The only person (for now) that doesnΓÇÖt seem to be affected is Ruby, who
turns up at the DoctorΓÇÖs house. She thinks she knows the Doctor, and
Belinda, but canΓÇÖt quite work anything out, and then blurts out that they
donΓÇÖt have a child when she sees Poppy. That prompts Belinda to call the
police, as having doubt or sowing confusion is a crime here. The Doctor heads
to work in UNIT HQ, suitably redecorated as a 1950s office despite the sci-fi
trappings in the periphery. Kate Stewart is an officious boss, Colonel
Ibrahim is the DoctorΓÇÖs colleague and Susan Triad has been turned into the
ΓÇÿ60s tea-lady from ΓÇ£The DevilΓÇÖs Chord.ΓÇ¥

Colonel Ibrahim still has the hots for Kate, but thinks that sheΓÇÖs so far
out of his league that sheΓÇÖd never go out with him. The Doctor disagrees,
saying that Ibrahim is a ΓÇ£beautifulΓÇ¥ man, which prompts Ibrahim to get
very angry. After all, it would be wrong, impossible or deviant for a man to
find another man beautiful, even intellectually. But the Doctor manages to
avoid having him call the secret police as the staff of the office all stop
to spot the Rani flying by on her hover scooter, which they believe is a sign
of good luck for May Day the following day (another deliberate incongruity
given May Day takes place on May 1).

The Rani lands on the spider skeleton / looming tower of doom, handing Mrs.
Flood some Italian meat and tells her to make Conrad a sandwich. HeΓÇÖs up in
the tower, as itΓÇÖs his imagination that is shaping the world, with his
regular broadcasts informing the people of his choices. But heΓÇÖs also
nervous ΓÇö saying that the effort of maintaining a world is difficult since
he has to run so many complex systems or else let whole nations be destroyed.
It may be his imagination, but itΓÇÖs being powered by the nameless baby from
1865, who never cries, just smiles.

Conrad, being the showΓÇÖs avatar of so many alt-right figures, has built a
reality to reflect his worldview. Heterosexuality is compulsory and loudly
and rigidly enforced, there is a secret police ready to seize anyone off the
street at a momentΓÇÖs notice and everyone is constantly asked to inform on
their family members. The culture of paranoia is rife. It also explains why
Mel, as an unmarried and child-free woman, is expected to sit away and
quietly contemplate her implicitly-poor choices, because naturally Conrad
only values women for their utility, birthing and taking care of men, rather
than as people with their own agency. Even Mrs. Flood, a Time Lady in her own
right and the architect of this whole scheme, is relegated to the thankless
role of ΓÇ£mother.ΓÇ¥

James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf

His regular broadcasts are even used to taunt the Doctor, reading a story
about the Doctor from a book that apes the original British Harry Potter
covers. It is, without a doubt, intentional that DaviesΓÇÖ would make his alt-
right villain a fan of the series in 2025.

Meanwhile, Belinda remains at home looking after Poppy, and gets a visit from
her mum and grandmother. They are talking about motherhood, and the fact
Poppy is expected to grow up and become an obedient wife to her husband. But
when BelindaΓÇÖs grandmother asks how long BelindaΓÇÖs labor took, she
canΓÇÖt remember ΓÇö prompting a small crisis of her own.

ThereΓÇÖs one UNIT regular who isnΓÇÖt up in the office, Shirley Bingham, who
is in a wheelchair begging out on the street. ConradΓÇÖs worldview has no
room for people with disabilities (or queer and gender non-conforming people)
and so sheΓÇÖs homeless. Ruby initially brushes her pleas for money away
before stopping and realizing that sheΓÇÖs met them before. Ruby is taken to
a hidden homeless encampment where the ignored have gathered to create some
sort of community. Ruby explains to them what they already know ΓÇö something
about all of this is wrong, and that sheΓÇÖs lived through 2025 already
(during ΓÇ£73 YardsΓÇ¥) and it didnΓÇÖt play out like this. Shirley has a
plan to bring down Conrad, and Ruby wants in, saying that if she can get face
to face with him, sheΓÇÖll be able to remember whatΓÇÖs locked in the back of
her mind.

That night, the Doctor is at home, furrowing his brow, and in the background
Susan appears on his TV in a brief flash. But she quickly disappears, only to
be replaced by Rogue (Jonathan Groff, from last seasonΓÇÖs ΓÇ£RogueΓÇ¥) who
only has time to tell the Doctor two things. First, ΓÇ£tables donΓÇÖt do
that,ΓÇ¥ and that he loves him. Belinda wakes up to the sound of mugs
smashing, as the Doctor experiments ΓÇö every time he feels doubt, a mug
falls through the solid wood onto the floor. Belinda can see whatΓÇÖs going
on, but is horrified enough to call the police and get them to arrest the
Doctor for having doubts. But Mrs. Flood doesn't just arrest the Doctor, she
hauls BelindaΓÇÖs mom there to look after Poppy so Belinda can be arrested
too.

Shirley and Ruby are camped out below the stone tower, and Shirley pulls out
a UNIT tablet thatΓÇÖs a relic from the old world. Up in the tower, the
Doctor and Belinda are pushed over a threshold and into the safety of the
RaniΓÇÖs lair. But the pair still donΓÇÖt have their memories, and so are
confused when the Rani starts expositing at them, at length. She points out
the seal of Rassilon, and asks if that jogs his memory to no avail, similarly
her robot assistants that are looking for signs of doubt among the
population. The Rani even dances under a disco ball to a dumbfounded Doctor,
who just pleads for mercy.

The Rani explains, in a way that made no sense to me at least, that all of
the villains the Doctor ever faced wanted death, but her, who wants life. She
somehow survived all the various destructions of Gallifrey and is now looking
for a lost soul in the heretofore unknown ΓÇ£underverse.ΓÇ¥ She achieved this
by, uh, blocking the DoctorΓÇÖs route back to Earth and instead, forcing him
to criss-cross around the universe with the Vindicator. Each reading the
machine took was, in fact, creating a universe-wide network of power all
feeding back to the Earth. As the DoctorΓÇÖs memory returns, the Rani
explains that being trapped in ConradΓÇÖs reality was to create and foster
doubt. Much in the same way a human beingΓÇÖs doubt can damage their world, a
Time LordΓÇÖs doubt should be enough to crack open the universe.

As the clock ticks closer to midnight, she sends Belinda back outside the
bone tower to her doom. Then, the Rani locks the Doctor on the bone towerΓÇÖs
balcony to witness as London is swallowed by a series of enormous black voids
with only remnants emerging from the other side (such as the burned Black Cab
at the end of ΓÇ£The Robot RevolutionΓÇ¥). Why? Because the lost soul,
trapped in the ΓÇ£underverseΓÇ¥ sheΓÇÖs desperate to reach, is Omega.

The Doctor, trapped on the balcony, tries to break back into the tower and
stop the Rani but itΓÇÖs too late. She has laid explosive charges and when
they blow, the balcony tumbles down toward the void beneath. But the Doctor
screams, ΓÇ£Poppy is real! DonΓÇÖt you know what that means?ΓÇ¥ as he tumbles
into the darkness. To. Be. Continued.

ΓÇ£Tables donΓÇÖt do that.ΓÇ¥ James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf

If thereΓÇÖs one thing Russell T. Davies doesnΓÇÖt do well, itΓÇÖs narrative
coherence in the run-up to his big finales. Problems and solutions are
equally contrived, pulled out of left field and generally donΓÇÖt stand up to
much scrutiny. In his mind thatΓÇÖs okay because what interests him is the
emotional resonance and character moments created by that drama. Given heΓÇÖs
one of the few name brand writers in the UK, itΓÇÖs not as if this approach
hasnΓÇÖt been enormously successful.

But it does make ΓÇ£Wish WorldΓÇ¥ a frustrating beast since it is, as usual,
playing with so many good ideas it squanders most of them. That wouldnΓÇÖt be
so bad, but for the episodeΓÇÖs conclusion being handed over to incoherent
technobabble. It doesnΓÇÖt help this is the second series in a row that
hinges on the audience recognizing the significance of a villain not
properly* seen on screen for more than four decades.

ItΓÇÖs worth looking at the first two thirds separate from the last, since
thereΓÇÖs so much good stuff early on. One of DaviesΓÇÖ usual fixations is on
the rise of middle-class British fascism, and the moments when weΓÇÖre just
inhabiting ConradΓÇÖs world are wonderful. This time, itΓÇÖs centered on the
stultifying environment for the so-called ΓÇ£respectable types,ΓÇ¥ whose
position and status are perpetually tenuous. The paranoia that manifests out
of that means everyone is looking for signs of deviance in their own
communities. Those deemed unfit, especially people with disabilities and
queer folks, are rendered as un-persons, invisible, shunned and isolated.

ΓÇ£Wish WorldΓÇ¥ picks up on another recurring theme in the show, which is to
ask what happens after the war has ended. ConradΓÇÖs utopia may have lovely
weather, but everyone is dressed in uncomfortable clothes and at perpetual
risk of being kidnapped off the street by police.

If I have a nitpick (and I do) itΓÇÖs that I wish we hadnΓÇÖt needed to see
the RaniΓÇÖs baby kidnapping in the opener. Starting with the Doctor and
Belinda waking up as a married couple would have been a bigger shock. And
itΓÇÖs a shame the episode canΓÇÖt commit hard enough to the ΓÇ£weΓÇÖre
trapped in a bizarro worldΓÇ¥ bit as Ruby turns up so quickly to let the
audience know Things Are Awry. Imagine if the first twenty minutes had played
out just from John Smith, or Belinda, or RubyΓÇÖs perspective and the
creeping horror as they realized what was wrong.

Sadly, itΓÇÖs the usual problem of having maybe 30 minutes at most to gesture
to those ideas rather than explore them. Because we then have to stop the
episode to get Ncuti Gatwa to look perplexed while the Rani spouts nonsense
at him. Her evil plan doesnΓÇÖt stand up to much scrutiny even as we're being
told it. After all, why does she need the Doctor to leap between planets when
she has her own TARDIS? And if all it takes is a Time LordΓÇÖs doubt to rip
open the universe, she could have easily done that herself. ItΓÇÖs not as if
the Doctor is affected by the doubt since heΓÇÖs able to carry on until the
Rani explodes the balcony and casts him into the void.

Oh, thereΓÇÖs one thing thatΓÇÖs good in those last moments ΓÇö the scene of
the Doctor realizing something about Poppy is a nice hook into the finale.

James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf

I donΓÇÖt get why the Rani would be motivated to go looking for Omega, the
scientist who helped co-found Time Lord society. If Rassilon was the
political mind, Omega was the engineer who created the power to make it all
happen. He created the stellar manipulator that put a stable black hole at
the heart of Gallifrey ΓÇö the Eye of Harmony ΓÇö to power its TARDISes.
OmegaΓÇÖs backstory was flimsy in his two televised appearances, essentially
being an overpowered villain for the Doctor(s) to battle in two different
anniversary specials, ΓÇ£The Three DoctorsΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£Arc of Infinity.ΓÇ¥ The
rest of his backstory was filled out in the spin-off material, but heΓÇÖs
essentially just a big name baddie trotted out when, say, the Master
wouldnΓÇÖt cut it.

There are thematic parallels between Omega and Conrad, however, since
OmegaΓÇÖs antimatter universe was sustained entirely by his will and
imagination. Is that a comment on something, or just a nice way of
dovetailing toward Omega. Who knows? IΓÇÖm not sure I do.

ItΓÇÖs hard not to notice the extreme similarities between ΓÇ£Wish WorldΓÇ¥
and ΓÇ£The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords,ΓÇ¥ including the fact
both stories got started in the previous episode. For a start, thereΓÇÖs the
whole Britain-under fascism angle, with the Doctor incapacitated by the
villain. Not to mention both feature a sequence in which a Gallifreyan foe
taunts our hero with a high camp dancing sequence in a room hovering above
the sky. If thereΓÇÖs a shame, itΓÇÖs that while the runtime has been cut in
half, the actual quality of the denouement seems to have gotten worse.

Oh, it was nice to see the seal of the Prydonian Chapter of the Time Lords of
Gallifrey Seal of Rassilon on the wall of the RaniΓÇÖs HQ. The bronze and red
stylings looked gorgeous and while IΓÇÖm never going to bang on about fan
service in production design, it was lovely to see. And wasnΓÇÖt it nice to
get a bone structure hovering over London which is an unintentional callback
to ΓÇ£The Ancestor Cell.ΓÇ¥ Just a shame that youΓÇÖre then reminded that the
book was designed to burn all the great ideas created by Lawrence Miles out
of Doctor Who. After all, Miles has been at times the most interesting writer
the seriesΓÇÖ leadership refused to engage with.

* Yes, I know Omega and Rassilon are standing beside Tecteun in ΓÇ£The
Timeless Children.ΓÇ¥

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-mov...
the-last-of-the-time-lords-redux-183004744.html?src=rss

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