Doctor Who: The Reality War: Review
So after just eight episodes, the second season of Ncuti Gatwa's tenure behind the TARDIS console draws to a close.
Picking up after the end of Wish World, which saw the Doctor plunging seemingly to the Under-verse and his nemesis the Rani on the way to discovering the whereabouts of the first Timelord Omega, The Reality War has a lot of loose ends to tie up.
From the mystery of the reappearance of Poppy one of the Space Babies to the reason why he's unable to return Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra to Earth as well as the reappearance of his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford) in his visions, the Doctor's got a lot to do in just 66 minutes....
But not all of these threads get tied up in an episode that's very much of two halves - and one which will polarize fandom in extremis. Firstly, it has to be said that this feels like an episode that had to rapidly adjust to production changes - and while the threat of the two Ranis is very easily and very sillily resolved, it feels a disappointment and disingenuous to what's been threaded through the season.
It means the threat of the return of Omega is reduced simply to a CGI baddie that's dispatched by being shot by the Doctor and done within 30 minutes of the episode, leaving around half to deal with the post-production reshoots that were called into place.
Through it all, Ncuti Gatwa shows what a presence he's been for the show - and while one cameo in this episode shows what a star both performers have been, the muddled-up ending feels like one that's done a disservice to Gatwa's portrayal of the Doctor. Certainly, the exit of Gatwa that should have been a surprise feels disappointingly disjointed and absolutely lacking in the emotional heft it should have.
Equally, it has to be said that Varada Sethu's Belinda Chandra was appallingly treated in the final episode, reduced to actually being locked in a box and given nothing to work with, while Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday got moments to shine. Given how invested we as viewers were supposed to be in getting her home, it felt like the writing utterly failed her in the end - no matter how well she acquitted herself through the run.
And as for the final reveal, there's an unshakable feeling that for a show that's about renewal at its heart, there's little new here to settle the naysayers - it remains to be seen when (and indeed if, given the show's uncertain future) and how this can be resolved. Or even if it should - and if it's not time to let the show rest for a little until a fresher approach can come along and relaunch it.
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Omega was a complete waste. A dreadful CGI abomination that had absolutely nothing to do with what has already been established. He was never the first Time Lord (they only came about after he had been supposedly killed). He was never the greatest Time Lord (that was always Rassilon, I'd say). He was never the most feared Time Lord, of a batch who were tyrants. Technically, Omega was never actually any kind of Time Lord.
ReplyDeleteNone of what we see or hear in this episode fits with The Three Doctors or Arc of Infinity. I can’t have been the only one that cringed very time Gatwa kept mispronouncing his name as well.
I’ve read that this was not the planned ending as Ncuti didn’t decide to jump until the last minute. The original ending did have more of Susan (though not much more than another cameo.) Billie’s face was rather obviously CGI’d on the Doctor’s body for the regen scene. I don’t like that RTD may have made Billie Piper the 16th Doctor. It is not that I doubt her acting range, I can actually see her being able to convince the audience she is a different character. It is just it comes across as awkward considering the Doctor choose the face of a Companion, especially one that was special to him/her
Will I miss the Fifteenth Doctor. 'Fraid not. He wasn't around long enough for me and I've always found him lightweight and superficial. Will I miss Belinda and / or Ruby? Again, they simply weren't given long enough to make any sort of impact. Frankly, I wouldn't miss RTD2 either were he to jump ship right now (or be pushed overboard by the BBC due to collapsing ratings), but I suspect that he will want to stick around after getting Billie back on the show.
Looking back overall, this last series certainly had some better episodes than the previous one, but once again was completely let down by the ending.
We will be looking out for some announcement now - from Disney+ about continuing to fund, or an alternative production partner, or going back in-house to the BBC. Whatever happens it looks likely that there will be a long wait for the next series, though there's still that spin-off to come later this year...
Omega was certainly a real waste- Sutekh, yet again! Mind you, in a sense he was, if not the first Gallifreyan, the first Time Lord, as in the first of his people who could claim to be a lord of time. This is a deep cut, but I remember an imagined Time Lord history narrative by Gary Russel in DWM issue 100 which explicitly said this!
ReplyDeleteI think eight episodes per season, and some of those episodes being Doctor lite, is just not enough. I feel short changed too. RTD2, I think, is still good stuff... but certainly not as good as RTD1, or even close. But, if not RTD, who is there at the moment?
I think Disney Plus have gone. It's not just Doctor Who- they're losing money with streaming across the board. This splintered streaming market just isn't viable, and in the long term it isn't the future. The BBC just need to hang on and reform.
The quote — “Next to a battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won” — is attributed to the Duke of Wellington, the general who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. On the surface, it's about war: even when you win, the cost — the lives lost, the devastation, the trauma — is still horrifying. Victory doesn’t erase the suffering; it just changes who gets to live with it.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of Doctor Who's current state, especially over the last 8 years— it takes on a more metaphorical, emotional meaning.
Here, the "battle won" might be Doctor Who’s sheer endurance. The fact that it survived cancellations, reboots, changing tastes — that it's still around after all these years could be seen as a victory.
But at what cost?
The show’s soul feels frayed.
The fandom is fragmented.
The show, once a symbol of joyful experimentation, now often feels like a weighty obligation to lore and legacy.
I don't think one isn’t saying the show should never have come back or endured — but rather that its survival, in this form, feels bittersweet. A kind of hollow triumph. The thing that Verity Lambert helped build still stands… but it’s changed into something unrecognizable, even alienating.
So the line becomes a lament for victories that don’t feel like victories. When what’s preserved no longer brings joy, but only the memory of what joy once felt like. It actually captures the essence of a Pyrrhic victory to the letter, and it aligns seamlessly with the emotional weight behind the quote.
in regards to, “Next to a battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won,” it’s not just grief at change — it’s a recognition that the cost of survival has been too high. The show won: it endured, it evolved, it even reached global heights. But in doing so, it lost some of its clarity, its simplicity, and perhaps even its purpose.
Just as a general might look at the battlefield strewn with the wreckage of his own forces and wonder if the victory was worth the loss, Doctor Who’s legacy — especially from those felt it dimisnhing over the past decade — feels scarred. It’s a show still standing, but tired, fragmented, and often misunderstood even by those who love it most.
So in some way, it is a hollow victory. One that calls into question the very meaning of “winning” in the first place.
In that sense, the line isn't just about regret — it's about the cost of clinging to something long after its natural form has changed, or even decayed. A sobering truth, especially when applied to art, stories, or fandoms we love.
And that’s why it hits so hard.