Thoughts on Doctor Who: The Reality War

Harry S. posed a question via my Ask Me Anything form.

I know you're a Doctor Who fan. What did you think about Saturday's finale – and what would you have done differently?

And there I was thinking I kept my Doctor Who fandom secret!

Yeah. Right.

Okay, Saturday’s finale… my heavens, it had a lot to do. There was a mountain of set-up in the previous episode — and, in all honesty, across the whole season.

Plus, as has become obvious, the finale also had to contend with reshoots to accommodate Ncuti Gatwa’s exit from the show which, depending on what rumour you’ve seen, may not have been expected.

I don’t really want to wade into that speculation, and I also don’t want to come across as overly critical. My gut reaction is always to steer clear of lengthy rants about things I didn’t like online, where things can and will get blown out of proportion.

You know the kind of thing: 

Writer Cavan Scott SLAMS beloved TV show! 

(Spoiler: he doesn’t.)

My attitude these days is always to say, you know, that bit just wasn't for me. It would've chimed with other people and I don't want to yuk on their yum. Not everything can be for everyone – and that's the way it should be.

So, with a quick spoiler warning for anyone who hasn’t seen the episode yet, here were my best bits:

THINGS I ENJOYED

• UNIT Tower going on the defensive — silly and over-the-top in the best Doctor Who-y way.
• Mel's exasperated: 'I was a housewife?'
• The Doctor's kilt. No notes.
• The call back to the Time Hotel.
• The creepy moment when the big monster hand opened the door to the Underverse. Big monster hands for the win!
• The 13th Doctor being brilliant. Gosh, Jodie Whittaker was SO good in her cameo.
• The Doctor leaning out of the TARDIS to regenerate. I mean, we don't want that glorious console room destroyed, do we?

THINGS THAT WEREN'T FOR ME

• I wasn't sure about Belinda's exit. She was sidelined into the Zero Room and, suddenly, she’s fine becoming a mum? It was a big swing, but one didn't land for me.
• How the Doctor treated Ruby. A few months (weeks?) ago, she was his best friend, and it felt a tad cruel to laugh in her face when she knew something wasn't right. The subtle wink in UNIT HQ was nice, but he still felt a little standoffish at the end.
• The Doctor zapping Omega – especially when UNIT were already zapping monsters. I'm never keen on the Doctor using guns – or anything like them.

So, what would I have changed?

Hmm.

Here’s where I say, very clearly: this isn’t me casting shade on anyone involved in the production. It’s really easy to play armchair showrunner — but when you’re not the one juggling budgets, schedules, and a thousand other constraints, it’s just fantasy football.

If I were lucky enough to be in the writer’s room, the one moment I’d rethink is the Doctor shooting Omega. Here’s a quick sketch of how I would've pitched the scene:

• Omega bursts from his tomb, transformed. He doesn’t devour the Rani but swats her aside and heads for the Doctor.
• Mrs Flood runs to help the Rani. The Rani, true to form, insults her. Anger flashes across Mrs Flood’s face.
• The Doctor uses the vindicator, not as a weapon, but as a trap — channeling the temporal energy gathered across the series to create a time bubble.
• The bubble regresses Omega – first back into a Time Lord, then a Time Tot.
• The Doctor collapses, drained. The temporal backlash from using the Vindicator has taken its toll.
• The Rani scrambles forward, triumphant, scooping up the infant Omega. This is the DNA she needs. This is how she’ll create a new Gallifrey.
• But Mrs Flood steps in. No more insults. No more playing second fiddle. She tackles the Rani, sneering: “You may be a Rani… but I’m the Rani. The original, you might say!”
• She slams both the Rani and baby Omega back into the tomb and slams the door trapping them in the Underverse forever — but not before snatching the time ring for herself and escaping.
• The Doctor staggers back to the TARDIS – which stablises him using 'zero waves' or some such, a call back to the Zero Room in UNIT tower.

So there you go. My back-of-a-cigarette-packet pitch. The only other thing I might have pitched is having Susan in the TARDIS at the end rather than 13th Doctor, even though Jodie was brilliant. Of course, there's no guarantee Carole Anne Ford would've even been available.

Other tweaks I would've suggested if I was in the room:

• Lose the wish baby. Instead of a child who can magically grant dreams, have the Rani build a machine that can rewrite reality because of REASONS I HAVEN’T WORKED OUT YET™. Probably something to do with the salt at the end of the universe shenanigans. Magic has come into the universe, so the Rani – a scientist – harnesses it through technology.
• Conrad gets plugged into the reality engine, much like Al in The Robot Revolution. He’s granted his wish… but he’s also trapped inside a machine that’s slowly killing him. That makes him more of a tragic – even sympathetic figure – which makes Ruby's decision for him to have a happy life more palatable.
• With no wish baby, Poppy could instead be raised by Ruby’s mum, restoring Belinda's original motivation and life.

Would any of that have worked? Maybe. Maybe not. The Omega/Rani material would have definitely taken more screen time, which would've also thrown the pacing off. And again...I don’t know what was going on behind the scenes.

But that’s half the fun of being a fan, isn’t it? Talking it through. Imagining the what-ifs and maybes.

Hope it answers your question, Harry.

Don't forget, anyone can ask me a question using my handy Ask Me Anything form!