Doctor Who: Wish World / The Reality War ★★★

“Once reality is broken on a scale as vast as this, I can see underneath…” – the Rani

Storyline
In Bavaria 1865, the Rani steals a baby destined to become Desiderium, the god of wishes. The Doctor and Belinda wake up in an alternate-reality version of Earth 2025 as a married couple with a toddler called Poppy. All humanity is now living a lie and in fear of displaying doubt. This Wish World has been willed into existence by the treacherous Conrad, using the baby’s powers, hidden away in the Bone Palace – the base of the two Ranis. It’s part of a grand scheme to magnify the power of doubt and crack reality apart – releasing Omega, the creator of the Time Lords, from the Underverse. The creature is uncontrollable and devours the new Rani. In a battle to get reality back on track, the Doctor restores his UNIT friends to normality and tries to save his new daughter. His actions ultimately trigger another regeneration where his new appearance seems to have the face of Rose Tyler…

First UK broadcasts
Saturday 24 May 2025

Saturday 31 May 2025

Cast
The Doctor – Ncuti Gatwa
The Doctor – Jodie Whittaker
Belinda Chandra – Varada Sethu
Ruby Sunday – Millie Gibson
Mrs Flood – Anita Dobson
The Rani – Archie Panjabi
Kate Lethbridge-Stewart – Jemma Redgrave
Melanie Bush –Bonnie Langford
Anita Benn – Steph de Whalley
Susan Foreman – Carole Ann Ford
Shirley Bingham – Ruth Madeley
Rose Noble – Yasmin Finney
Conrad Clark – Jonah Hauer-King
Colonel Christofer Ibrahim – Alexander Devrient
Susan Triad – Susan Twist
Cherry Sunday – Angela Wynter
Carla Sunday – Michelle Greenidge
Rogue – Jonathan Groff
Otto Zufall – Atilla Akinci
Violett Zufall – Leni Adams
Poppy – Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps
Lakshmi Chandra – Nila Aalia
Devika Babu – Josephine Lloyd-Welcome
Val Balham – Hermon Berhane
Winnie Petheridge – Sam Lawton
Brian Dale – Joshua J Parker
The Vlinx – Aidan Cook
Voice of Omega – Nicholas Briggs

Crew
Writer – Russell T Davies
Director – Alex Sanjiv Pillai
Music – Murray Gold
Producer – Vicky Delow
Executive producers – Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Phil Collinson

RT review by Patrick Mulkern

“Oh, hello!” Billie Piper – beaming, radiant, back to blonde, miraculously not looking 20 years older than her debut as Rose Tyler – is the new face of Doctor Who. It’s delightful that this two-decade run comes to a stop – or rather an ellipsis – with the very first face we saw in 2005, who was crucial to the success of the relaunch.

On screen Piper is credited under “Introducing” – superfluous for a Doctor Who legend who needs no introduction, and it’s telling in what it does not say. Few failed to notice that “as the Doctor” was carefully omitted from the TV credits and the wording of the BBC publicity blurbs. So, it’s another massive tease (hopefully not as tedious as The Next Doctor red-herring with David Morrissey in 2008) and will keep fans dangling while the future of Doctor Who is thrashed out. Another woman Doctor? Will it all end here? Stay tuned…

Much as I love it, what we now call “classic” Doctor Who often looks like a misogynist’s playground, with so few roles for women, beyond the underwritten parts for the Time Lord’s companions. Such was the stale air prevalent in sci-fi (and much other drama) in those far-gone days. Now, it has shifted to the other extreme.

Not one but two Ranis. UNIT’s personnel are predominantly female: Kate, Shirley, Mel, Susan Triad. Rose Noble identifies as non-binary; presents as female. There’s a glimpse of ancient granddaughter Susan. The new-daughter-but-not-really Poppy who, frankly, it’s hard to care about. A welcome return for Anita from the Time Hotel. Only women feature in Ruby’s background, and likewise Belinda’s menfolk are not deemed screen-worthy. Even the returning Doctors this season and the “regenerated Doctor” are female. It’s a positive move but, in this bulging finale, results in too many women, too little screen time. Each has their moment, but you just imagine them all waiting around on set for their one line.

The corollary is that the programme is in danger of emasculation and echoing the heterophobic mindset of so much modern drama. Whither the ordinary straight man? (I am not among their number.) But this finale offers little more than the twisted, wasted Conrad and UNIT’s underused Colonel Ibrahim.

The bigger concerns, perhaps, are that Doctor Who is often just too darn convoluted. The Rani duo’s scheme involving babies, wishes, magical kisses, rupturing reality and releasing an ancient god becomes incomprehensible, or at best indigestible. The reliance on nostalgia, churning up the trappings of the past, is also like watching and waiting for an overloaded spin cycle to finish. Old hits often equal old hat. It should be fan-pleasing, but fans are a fickle crowd – with eruptions on a spectrum from unbridled ecstasy to pyroclastic rage.

Generally, I found this muddled two-parter entertaining. I’m peculiarly pleased to see Jodie Whittaker back after three years, engaging with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor. The two Ranis are a comical pair. Impressive Archie Panjabi rocks the vibe of the amoral alien scientist, while Anita Dobson is impeccable, even if I prefer her showing steel to being subservient to her other self. The Panjabi Rani being gobbled by the Omega-ogre is highly amusing, as is the Dobson Rani’s abrupt adieu. “So much for the two Ranis. It’s goodnight from me!”

Praise must go to the design work on the Bone Palace. The vast sky-dominating exterior seems to be a homage to Louise Bourgeois’s sculpture Maman, a giant steel spider that was the focus of Tate Modern’s opening in 2000. The interior is gorgeous, with the skeletal detail and the strange “clone-type classiform” Seekers PVC-bonded into their consoles. The Doctor’s skyride on the Rani’s bike is a highlight of this visually stunning production.

But it’s goodnight from Gatwa too. He has dazzled with energy and charisma, and brought heightened emotion and a refreshing queer edge to the Time Lord. He’s not the shortest-lived Doctor but has come and gone in under two years. Such a demanding programme, with an uncertain future, cannot hope to retain a thrusting talent who is still building his career.

Is it also goodbye to Doctor Who? Surely, it requires a rest and a reset. If and when it returns, it should take from its past what made the series tick in the first place. Doctor Who was avant-garde in concept, sound and design, and was forged by a team of creatives in their 20s and 30s, looking to a weird and wonderful future.

Read more:

• Episode 1 – The Robot Revolution review
• Episode 2 – Lux review
• Episode 3 – The Well review
• Episode 4 – Lucky Day review
• Episode 5 – The Story and the Engine review
• Episode 6 – The Interstellar Song Contest review

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