#dwmine

WELL THAT WAS THE MOST INSANE EPISODE OF DOCTOR WHO I'VE EVER SEEN.

I'm going to try and have coherent thoughts because I have literally been laughing non stop since Billie Piper appeared, but like okay! I will try and stay sane enough to have thoughts for now! Even before that happened, this was completely insane. Batshit insane! The whole way through I was wondering what the fuck was going on, but I was having a good time so like ?????? I don't even know where to start.

I like that we got more of the wish world. I thought we wouldn't after last week, but hooray! I also loved the Doctor breaking free of the hegemony of this conservative propaganda world by magically changing into a queerer (and more Scottish) outfit reminiscent of the pinstripe suit he was wearing before.

It was nice to see Anita again, but it felt so random to have several throwbacks to Joy to the World in this episode. Also, her reaction to watching the Doctor dance with Rogue just made her come off as super homophobic. I think the point was meant that she was heartbroken, but I thought she already knew that Fifteen wasn't into women? Or at least I hadn't got romantic longing vibes from her previously. She also told the Doctor that the boss says hello. Is this the same as the Meep's boss? Why is Anita involved with them? Will this be yet another random Classic Who villain who will come back for about five minutes and be defeated instantly? This is getting a bit overdone and convoluted.

Omega! Was really a nothing villain? He was basically there to look cool and fucked up, then to eat the Rani, then immediately get blasted back to where he came from in a slightly goofy sequence with the vindicator. If there wasn't so much else going on it would feel really disappointing. I did like the Rani's plan with bringing back Time Lord society, as well as her whole spiel about Poppy being contaminated vs the Time Lords being a pure and special race of beings. It really ties into the fascist ideals being commented on throughout the whole finale.

I got really excited when the Rani said the Time Lords were sterile because I thought we were about to get canon looms, but then she said that they were only sterile because of the Master's gene explosion, which… huh? I thought she and the Doctor escaped the gene explosion. Also, the Doctor said something about bi-generation compensating for them becoming sterile, but I thought that was something that had already previously been rumoured.

Belinda! I've loved her through this whole series, and I don't know what I think of this ending for her. It was very weird watching her suddenly be a mum when she wasn't before, as well as that random few minutes when she suddenly became a completely different character and really wanted to travel with the Doctor (with a small child), and I really don't love her whole history being rewritten so she was always trying to get back to Poppy instead of to her job. I'm still processing this storyline and I can't decide what I find off about it. I think it's her lack of agency. I know that, in the version of events that she's forgotten, she wanted the Doctor to bring Poppy back to reality, but she didn't consent to having her entire timeline rewritten. The Doctor didn't mean for that to happen obviously, but that's the way it was written, and I don't like it. The Doctor then doesn't tell her the truth about it all! I guess she wouldn't believe him, or wouldn't want to, but it still feels really weird, like she's been tricked. I don't know. It's not the worst thing in the world, but definitely not the best. I will mull on it some more.

I liked the Poppy storyline itself. There's been much speculation since last week and I saw a couple of people suggesting that Poppy might be the timeless child. Then, it was mentioned early on in this episode that she was half human and half time lord and my brain suddenly went: 'The Doctor's half human on his mother's side!' I felt like I'd had a stroke of genius and was going to be the smuggest person on the planet when it was revealed that Poppy was the Doctor/timeless child and that that retconned line from the movie was relevant… But then that wasn't it. Anyway, I guess I like that Poppy gets to be a normal child, even if I feel weird about the way it messes with Belinda's life, like she was just some vessel waiting to become this fantasy baby's mother.

Regardless, Poppy's very adorable and that scene in the TARDIS of Poppy's coat getting smaller and smaller as Ruby looks on dismayed was really impactful. I like that we got to see the Doctor as a dad again. That hasn't happened since The Doctor's Daughter and I loved how he decided to give his life (regeneration) to bring her back. I also enjoyed that little segment of everyone in UNIT HQ talking about how the Doctor saved their lives, making them all his children. It's giving Davros calling them his 'children of time' but less evil. Also! Belinda saying that the Doctor can come back when Poppy's older… It's giving 'one day, I shall come back'… Susan coming back again when? Soon? Please?

Uhhhhh, what else??? Conrad??? I really liked Ruby having compassion for him. Something RTD said in the behind the scenes last week was that Conrad had a bad home life so he wants to imagine a better one, and it really got me thinking. The Conrad we know is still an awful fascist, misogynist, homophobe, ableist etc. but I'm glad that there was some compassion for him and he got to live a better life. In fact, I guess Belinda wasn't the only one who had her timeline rewritten, but Conrad was the villain and this works as a sort of magic redemption for him, vs Belinda getting magically mum-ified (haha).

God there's so much that happened in this episode… Let's talk about Jodie Whittaker! It was so nice to see her! I was just thinking earlier about how much I really do like Thirteen, even if I'm iffy on sections of her run. It was such a random cameo and there wasn't really any reason for her to be there (much like Omega), but it was nice I guess??? 'At least it's not the other guy' made me laugh, while the ten thousandth repeat of the 'you've redecorated' line did not - I think it's time to come up with another joke/reference when other Doctors pop up. I also like the little exchange about how Thirteen never says 'I love you', because she was a very closed off Doctor, contrasted with how open Fifteen is. I also loved her telling Fifteen not to go into his regeneration with fear. I've said since her regeneration happened that I adore how she went into it with a smile, so it's nice to see that sentiment repeated for her successor here. Anyway, again, it was very mad and very random to see her, but I liked it???

OKAY I CAN TALK ABOUT IT NOW… BILLIE PIPER IS THE SIXTEENTH DOCTOR????? How the hell did they keep this quiet? From the moment it became clear he really was regenerating, I was going quietly insane because this has never happened before… We've never had a mainline Doctor actually regenerate with no clue who the next Doctor was going to be. There were rumours of Ncuti Gatwa leaving, sure, but not a whisper about his replacement (that I heard of anyway), let alone an official announcement…

I should definitely say something about Fifteen here as well. I've really enjoyed his run. We've had far fewer episodes with him than I would have liked, which is largely due to these stupidly short series, so it feels a little like we've been cheated of more of him. I think just one more series would have rounded off his era, but I suppose he's a pretty big rising star now and he probably wants to be off doing other things, which is fair enough. I look forward to seeing what else he's going to do! It feels very weird saying my final thoughts on a Doctor I didn't think was really leaving until like an hour and a half ago (during the episode), but like I keep saying this episode was insane!!!

Oh also, I should mention the screen screen shattering when the Doctor did his trick to bring back Poppy. Was that the fourth wall breaking? We've had so much of that recently, but I don't know if it's meant to indicate that there's more to come or that it's at an end. I guess we'll see!

There was way too much going on in that episode. I think it was probably a mess but, a bit like with Power of the Doctor, I kind of don't care. I was giggling maniacally for fifteen minutes after Billie Piper appeared, and it's now been an hour and I'm still periodically bursting into laughter. I don't know what to expect going forward! I'm pretty excited to see what Billie's going to do with it! Like ??????? THIS IS INSANE!!!!! I don't know how many more times I can say that so I'll sign off here, but uhhhhhhh…. Thank you, Doctor Who, for always being mad and weird and delightful!

Small things (oh my god there's so much):

That door in the sky when Anita first brings the Doctor into the hotel was very The Truman Show.

Ncuti Gatwa seemed to say Omega differently to everyone else the first couple of times (with emphasis on the second syllable rather than the first), but then seemed to revert to what everyone else was doing.

Rose Noble apparently stopped existing during the wish world, but how come she wasn't in Shirley's camp for the dispossessed instead? Seems like the rules about what happens to the people Conrad can't imagine are inconsistent.

I loved Mrs Flood (I guess now just the Rani) making the Two Ronnies joke. I've seen others making it, but it had to happen at some point.

Now that the Rani has been eaten, if she ever comes back in the future we'll have to get an answer about a) whether she somehow escaped Omega's stomach in the underverse or b) whether a separate line of Ranis regenerated from Mrs Flood, which I would hate (bc I don't like the idea that bi-generation works like that).

We don't yet have closure on why Ruby can remember things that others can't (including during the wish and after it). Is it because she's stopped existing herself before?

Also, I didn't like how much everyone was pushing back on Ruby's version of events before she convinced them. Stop telling her her memory's faulty and listen to her!

That was absolutely mad and I adored it! I spent the whole episode wondering what the hell was going on, but absolutely on the edge of my seat. All the cast were on top form, but Ncuti Gatwa in partular played it to perfection. I also adored the visuals, which were so beautiful but also incredibly creepy. The strange bone structures, the alien number crunchers, the 1950s aesthetics to go with the 1950s sensibilities, the frightening conformity of rows and rows of identical mugs.

I love the way it comments on regressive ideologies. There's been a real theme of that this series, with both Al and Conrad, but here it goes way beyond that. The Doctor/John Smith saying that Kate wouldn't have to work if Ibrahim married her, that terrifying moment when John Smith's queerness is under scrutiny, Shirley and her village of the dispossessed. The fact that those who don't fit into this oppressive ideal of a "perfect" world are both ignored and capable of seeing past the deception is so apt. I loved Ruby's role here as well. She immediately stands out as not fitting aesthetically with John Smith and Belinda's perfect white picket fence 1950s-style life, and I'm so glad she got to work with Shirley and her cohort.

Archie Panjabi is great as the Rani. I haven't finished watching the character's backlog, but it's interesting to see her so adept at the newfound magic of the Whoniverse, given that her whole thing has historically been hard science. I don't have much of an opinion yet on her bringing back Omega other than perhaps this is oversaturation of bringing back random Time Lords, but I'm willing to be convinced. Currently he's just a name I recognise. I've seen Rememberance of the Daleks (which involves the hand of Omega), but perhaps I ought to check out The Three Doctors for more of a grounding. I do also wonder why the Rani wants to bring him back, but hopefully we'll learn more next week.

I'm still intrigued by the Captain Poppy of it all. Is there more to her than we think? She seems able to see through the wish world when the adults around her can't, and the Doctor's final line is that 'Poppy is real, don't you know what that means?', which does suggest that there's something going on, but I suppose we'll have to wait to find out. Could she be connected to Susan's return? Is she somehow really the Doctor's daughter? Regardless, it was nice to see another brief flash of Susan on the TV!

Rogue also got a cameo, of course. How did he a) know what was going on and b) manage to get through? Will we get an answer for that at any point? Who knows! I'm on record as not being the biggest enjoyer of the episode Rogue, but I do like his character, and despite my complex feelings about the Doctor's feelings for Rogue, I adored what that whole thing brought to this episode all about conformity and queerness and difference from the system. I wonder if we'll see him next week or if he'll just remain in the hell dimension until the next time Jonathan Groff has some time to spare for Doctor Who.

This whole episode was fascinatinly weird, and I'm sort of sad that next week will probably more of a standard episode with the big bads of the Rani and Omega etc. Even if part two doesn't live up to its set up (which isn't unusual), this was so good that I'm really glad it exists just on its own merits! As always, I'm incredibly sad that this series is already coming to an end next week, but at least it's been a good romp and I can't wait to see how it wraps up.

Small things

That first shot of John Smith turning off his alarm was very Rose Tyler in Rose, and I loved it.

That Doctor Who book looked a bit too Harry Potter adjacent for my taste, but I did love that the author was I.M. Foreman. What a wonderful little detail!

It's also yet again framing Doctor Who as a story. Another running theme for this whole era!

Was that Susan Twist again in her get up from The Devil's Chord? I'm too faceblind for this!

That scene between Conrad and Mrs Flood was strangely sweet and I couldn't help sort of feeling for Conrad.

Wow! What an amazing episode that was, definitely the best of the series by quite a wide margin, and this has been a great series. I didn't write as many notes as I usually do because I was so engrossed, so I don't even know what to say, but it made me cry several times and was very well written and very creatively brought to life. In terms of the visuals, I particularly love the use of animation to bring these stories to life, and the opening credits starting on that same screen adds to the very meta feeling of this whole era.

I love stories about stories, and this was no exception. I love the idea of stories that can power an engine, that power humanity. I love the idea of the Doctor as a 'neverending story', again tying into the meta-ness of it all. I had just been thinking about the second Doctor story The Mind Robber (which is set in the land of story), then lo and behold there was Patrick Troughton! I know it's hardly rare to see a little montage or compilation of previous Doctors - it was even in Rogue just last year - but it just worked so well here. The Doctor is a storyteller and he is a story, the one he tells himself within the universe and the one we are telling outside of it.

The Doctor talks at the end about how humans need stories to live and that destroying the gods of story (and thus destroying story itself) would destroy humanity, and that is very reminiscent of one of the most beloved Terry Pratchett books, Hogfather. As Death says in that book, 'HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN', and I completely agree. I'm not sure I entirely understood the sci-fi magic behind how this once human man created the gods, and thus how the gods' deaths could result in the end of humans, nor did I understand everything about the nexus and how the gods took control of something he'd created when he apparently still has it, but I don't even mind, to be quite honest. Hopefully this will become clearer on repeat viewings, but it was such a beautifully told story that it being a bit confusing is sort of fine.

One thing I think it could have used a lot more clarity on, however, is who the gods are, given that the pantheon has been a big deal ever since The Giggle. These gods of story don't seem to have anything to do with the pantheon, given that the Doctor is much more nonchalant about them, even watching Marvel movies with them and such. They are seemingly powered by belief and by stories being told about them, which is very reminiscent both of Discworld (as alluded to above) and (unfortunately) Neil Gaiman's American Gods (and the sort of sequel Anansi Boys, funnily enough). I don't mind this being the case in Doctor Who as well, but it's a little bit messy and confusing given that we already have a set of gods that the series keeps building up as incredibly powerful and frightening. The way the barber describes himself as being all of these different gods is a lot more in line with how the pantheon has been shown to work (eg. all of Sutekh's different names in his reveal last series), but this was dismissed for the gods of story, who apparently all exist in their own right and totally separately to the pantheon. Regardless, that's a minor gripe in what was a stunning episode all round.

I loved the discussion of the Doctor's newfound blackness and how he has found fellowship and belonging by befriending other black men. This is a really good example of stories that Doctor Who could never have told before and I love that it now gets to tell them. Stories are important, as this episode tells us, and here we get to explore Anansi and hair maps and black culture in a way that any previous Doctor couldn't have done.

Okay, I can't go any further without talking about Jo Martin!!! Firstly, I love that she gets to be in this episode specifically, given that she is in fact the actual first black incarnation of the Doctor (not counting some of the timeless children), but more than anything I'm just so happy to see her! I've been saying for years that it's not fair how little she got to do, given how clearly brilliant she is in the role. Who knows where this will lead, but there's more than a hint there that we might get more of her. I dearly hope this will be a spin off or an episode that has her as the lead (like that one during Flux, except this time I want it to be her we see playing the part), but maybe it will be more of a multi-Doctor thing. Regardless, I want to see more of her and I'm so happy it seems that we will!

I also want to know more about this bet with Anansi. Abby's character was another really touching element of the episode, with her having counted on the Doctor, and the Doctor having let her down. Belinda's 'hurt people hurt people' line is maybe a little trite, but I did really appreciate her talking about how what matters is how you choose to use that hurt.

I should really talk about our villain as well, the mysterious barber! Although I'm still confused by the mechanics of who and what he is, I loved everything else about him, and his emotional arc was especially well done. I spent the whole episode knowing I knew the actor, but it wasn't until I looked him up afterwards that I realised he was Ligur in Good Omens (and Lord Boreal from the His Dark Materials adaptation). He's such a good actor and he absolutely sold the menace and the mystery of this unnamed barber, and then he absolutely sold his devastation at the end. I was brought to tears by that six word story scene with the Doctor and his second chance to be a human and to share stories the human way.

Sorry, this reaction is all over the place because I have so much to say and very little idea of how to say it, but in short: I adored that episode.

Small things:

This isn't that small, but I don't know where else to put it: that story about Belinda's nursing really got me. Another time I cried during this episode!

That being said, how does the Doctor know this story? Did she tell him about it? Or is it him overstepping boundaries once more and either stalking her or getting it from her psychically or something?

What's the deal with the creepy child Belinda saw but the Doctor didn't? Is this going to be like the ghosts Graham sees at Villa Diodati or will it be relevant again? I wouldn't have thought twice about it if it hadn't been brought up again at the end, so now I'm thinking it's going to be important somehow.

Okay, wow, so that was (mostly) amazing. I love that we started where the last episode left off; it feels very Classic Who, and especially very 60s Who. We get more mention of Belinda's parents, who apparently sing at the pub (hey, me too!), and I really hope this will pay off as something we see in the finale. I also continue to really like Belinda. Her instinct to help and nurse people wherever they go is so great, and I love that she is noticing things like the broken mirrors.

Aliss was also a really good character and I liked how her deafness was treated. Those live subtitling gadgets are amazing and suggest a possibly more inclusive world, as does the mandate on nurses knowing sign language, but one where people still are "scared of sign language" and keep talking without having the subtitiles on, even the Doctor! On that note, I liked that we got a small exchange in just sign language. I see why they didn't provide any translation of it, but I would love to know what was said! It's also nice to see a Doctor who actually knows uses sign language, especially after Twelve saying he must have deleted it. Still, people kept turning their backs and leaving their subtitles off, so that she was forced to plead for them not to turn their backs on her. There's a real resonance their both with the literal meaning of stopping her from understanding them; the extra meaning of not abandoning her; and the literal destructive force that comes of turning one's back on someone in this episode. Great stuff.

My favourite character of the episode, though, was Shaya. I liked her right from the start, as her responses when questioning the Doctor immediately endeared her to me. She was a good leader, cool headed and a great shot, but not afraid to be brutal when necessary. I actually really loved her turning Aliss to kill the upstart guy, even though she absolutely could have just shot him (as proved by her genius level marskmanship). As they were running from the entity and the Doctor and Belinda were putting on their suits, I got a bad feeling and said aloud 'she'd better not die', but alas. Still, it works so well as a heroic sacrifice (notwithstanding the ending, which I'll come back to) and her death really got to me!

Now to talk about the elephant in the room: Midnight! I couldn't quite believe it when they started talking about a planet made of diamonds, even though I'd already had thoughts of Midnight because of the radiation. Weirdly, I half rewatched Midnight the other day as I've been following funnylilgal reacting to Doctor Who on YouTube, and she just got to it on Wednesday. It's very exciting to have a sequel to one of the most beloved episodes of all time. It's got a very different feel to Midnight (which was a budget saving bottle episode), and I don't think it's anywhere near as brilliant, but in fairness that is a very high bar to clear, and I actually think this works very well as a follow up, and it's just a really good episode in its own right. I'm especially glad they maintained the mystery of what this thing is and how it works.

There were also shades of The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit (which I thought the moment they landed and then was reminded of as Shaya fell backwards), of Turn Left (there's something on your back), of The End of the World (the old earth classic of Toxic). The whole episode felt like it was in conversation with the rest of the show without being derivative, which is a hard balance to strike!

Now, the ending. As soon as we were back on the ship and seeing the character whose name I've forgotten delivering her report, I got worried they would undermine the entity's defeat. Then I thought Mrs Flood's appearance might mean it was okay after all, as that could justify us having this scene, by unfortunately not… I'll be honest and say that I hate this ending. As mentioned above, Shaya's ending was extremely impactrful and her sacrifice being undermined really takes away from it. I'll have to see how I feel about it on future watches, but for now I'm really disappointed with that.

Even so, that was another banger of an episode. It managed to follow up one of the best episodes the show has ever done without embarrassing itself, and while being really fun and tense and interesting and thoughtful the whole time. Having loved Lux as well, if this series continues at this level of quality, I will be more than happy!

Small things

How come the TARDIS wardrobe has the exact uniform of this squadron? I would have liked a line about the TARDIS psychically getting the uniforms from outside or something...

Also, how long was the TARDIS just sitting in that spaceship as they got changed, while the soldiers were getting ready to jump?

Oh wow, I have some complex feelings to work through with this one. Up front, really fun idea and very funny script and performances. There were quite a few moments that had me laughing out loud (the shed, the OK exchange) and I love the whole set up of these aliens who want to cosplay as humans in the regency era. It also connects nicely with Rogue's love of DND. I feel like I might have missed something when they seemed to know that the Duchess was a Chuldur, but I'll see if I catch that on rewatch or not.

As always, I adore Ncuti here. He's so funny and charming as the Doctor, but I particularly loved that we got to see his darker side here. It was only a glimpse, but that line about 600 years being a long time to suffer was quite chilling and very reminiscent of the "he was being kind" speech from Family of Blood. Indeed, it is quite a ruthless end for the Chuldur! They're sent to a random "barren" different dimension! It reminds me quite a bit of the relocation gun from Rosa and how much it was shown to be one of the worst things you could do to someone (and Ryan uses it on the white supremacist guy). Brutal!

Ruby and the Doctor didn't get to spend much time together this episode, which is a shame because we haven't seen all that much of them together for three episodes in a row now. I can't help but think it's a sad consequence of the tiny episode run that we barely get to see this Doctor and companion interact, so although I loved the Doctor calling her his best friend, and I especially loved her giving him a hug at the end and making him deal with his emotions, I don't feel that connection as much as I'd like to. Equally, when he's devastated to think she's been killed, it would have hit so much harder if we'd seen them build up a real relationship. They have a lot of natural chemistry, so you still very much believe them as best friends, but it feels like we're missing a bit of the depth there.

Okay, now, the romance! I was quite apprehensive about this one because it looked like there might be something going on between the Doctor and Rogue, and that was further fueled by a comment Millie Gibson made in an interview about this episode showing a different side of the Doctor. The reason that made me apprehensive is entirely down to my personal preference, which is that I like it when the Doctor is more a-spec. As it turned out, this episode managed to be both better and worse than I worried. Better in that it was beautifully acted, had fantastic chemistry, and I loved the scandalous gay dancing (very reminiscent of the Torchwood episode Captain Jack Harkness). Worse in that it wasn't just something happening to the Doctor, that he's swept up in, but instead something he's actively pursuing.

Again, this is entirely down to my personal preference for the Doctor's characterisation, but the way that this pushes further than other instances of romance/kissing/etc. upsets me a little. It reminded me somewhat of The Girl in the Fireplace in places - inviting him to see the stars; the tragic ending - but the difference with that one is that she kisses him. I don't know, it's a relatively small distinction but one that matters to me. The Doctor has had romances before, and the more overt they are the more I dislike them (eg. all the River Song stuff), and nowhere has the Doctor more actively flirted with someone new, expressed attraction to them numerous times and deliberately kissed them than here.

On the other hand, it's very gay and I have to like it at least a little for that. It gives us a more obviously queer Doctor than Thirteen and Yaz and they had a whole arc! (Not to bash Thirteen and Yaz; I actually quite liked how that went down in the end, but again that's due to my preference for an a-spec Doctor, which jived very nicely with Thasmin.) Obviously, this doesn't invalidate any readings of the Doctor as aro and/or ace, especially as that can mean many different things, but it messes with my personal view of the Doctor's sexuality, and how I prefer them to be portrayed. For me, if the Doctor is going to participate in sex or romance, I'd rather it be understated and uncertain or unintended from the Doctor's end. Now I know what to expect from this one, I may become desensitized to it with time and enjoy it more for its merits. Still, I can't change the fact that it's just fundamentally not what I want from Doctor Who the character.

Misc

I love that the battle mode for the earrings came back. I wondered if it would when it was first mentioned, then promptly forgot about it entirely.

The comparisons between Rogue and Captain Jack Harkness are obviously numerous, and it's very funny to me that Jack would definitely be pissed off that he lost out on kissing the Doctor like that to someone who was basically a carbon copy of him.

More singing, since people are taking note of that. Love a bit of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!

I was cringing a bit while the Doctor was dancing to Kylie, but also glad he got to do that after the Master has had several camp pop dancing moments.

Speaking of Kylie, I wonder if the Doctor has ever noticed her uncanny resemblance to Astrid Peth.

We got a nice little flashback with Carla telling him to keep Ruby safe as well, which reminded me a lot of Jackie.

The faces of the Doctor's various incarnations looked a little strange. I couldn't actually tell who some of them were meant to be. Am I crazy or was one of them Richard E Grant, like from Scream of the Shalka (and the Great Intelligence)?

I love the idea behind this one. I'm a musician myself and love things about music. Music being important, music being holy, I love it all. Everything from Maestro playing us into the theme tune, to the way it aligns with the characters' established personalities (the Doctor's jukebox and Ruby's band), made me very happy. The music battle was especially cool. Very The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Out there, but I liked it a lot.

Maestro was also a lot. I liked them, though. Great costumes, great performance. A campy villain in the best way. They're the Toymaker's child, which is interesting in itself, and I like that the rules around fair play seemed to extend to them as well.

There was a lot of series arc stuff here. So, Ruby has Carol of the Bells deeply ingrained within her. There was some important figure (another of the Pantheon, presumably) at her birth - is Ruby herself a child of the Pantheon? More snow, as well. There's also the One Who Waits coming up again. It all feels a little too self-conscious and crammed in - "remember, there's pay-off coming for these random mysteries that you have no context for!". I know we live in an era of heavily serialised media, in large part because of streaming and the binge model, and obviously Doctor Who has been semi-serialised since the revival, but it just seems like a lot. Maybe even too much, especially since the first episode was quite heavy with it too.

Although, I did wonder if this one was meant to be later in the series. First Ruby saying "you never hide" and then "you always know what to do" signaled a far longer association with the Doctor than she has had, but then it was especially jarring when she said it was hard to keep track of when her time is and it could be June or July... That sounds like someone who's been travelling with the Doctor for a while, not like someone who's on their second trip. And it was Christmas for her only last episode. Obviously there can be off-screen trips, but usually for the first couple of episodes we want to feel that this is the start of their journey as the audience gets to know them. Did this get plucked from later in the series and dropped into the episode 2 slot? Because it seems a bit of a shame, if so.

There was a lot of fourth wall breaking in this one as well. There was a wink to camera each from Maestro and the Doctor, as well as the Doctor's comment about thinking the music was non-diegetic (a nice little moment that probably a lot of people will miss). I do quite like a meta moment, and particularly loved the Twelfth Doctor's partaking in them, but I wonder if these serve a particular purpose, because we also had Mrs Flood talking to camera at the end of the Christmas special. Since RTD seems to be going with a theme that the rules of the universe have changed and become a bit more magical, I wouldn't be surprised if the meta elements tied in somehow.

Then, this is less meta and more fully surreal, but that whole ending musical number was... odd. I don't know what I think about it yet. The Doctor with his wink and "there's always a twist at the end" seemed to signal that we were leaving the normal reality of the show, but then... Did that musical number literally happen? How about the Abbey Road zebra crossing acting like a piano? It's part of my specific brand of autism that I struggle with surreal things when it's not clear how/whether they relate to the more realistic things going on, so maybe other people love it. It just made me feel confused, though, and slightly annoyed. I expected a musical number because the trailers showing this made that fairly clear, but I'd assumed it would be explicitly connected to the strange happenings of the episode. Instead it's just plonked at the end after everything has been fixed.

A lot of this latter stuff sounds quite negative, but overall I really liked this one! As I said before, the music stuff speaks to me personally very much, and I'll withhold final judgement about the serialisation stuff and even the meta/surreal stuff, as it may well pay off yet.

Small things

Love their outfits so much, and obviously we've known about them for a while, but it was funny they were worried about blending in when both of them (especially Ruby) were wearing pretty 60s adjacent outfits at the start. The Doctor was more 70s, but I don't think many people would have looked askance.

Ahhhh, Fifteen mentioning that One was in the junkyard made me exceedingly happy! The speculation about what happened to Susan also has me hoping beyond hope that this might be set-up for a Susan return.

I loved that extended instrumental scene where Ruby just played on the rooftop and people listened. It was quite moving!

Love hearing the word "lesbians" on Doctor Who <3 - I don't think even Bill explicitly got to use that word!

Just the general queerness is really nice. Ruby writing a song for her friend's gay break up. Maestro being they/them and it not really being a thing beyond their introduction. Ruby's mum having a "girlfriend" who was a Beatles fan that makes me wonder if that's in the platonic or gay sense.

I want to know the behind the scenes details of how they chose the music they did, especially when it comes to the chords that both summon and banish Maestro.

Henry the child is real and alive at the end! (Though it's during the musical number, so I guess real is dubious.) When he vanished into nothingness (and his music teacher didn't seem to care), I had thought he wasn't real. Does he have his own world-ending powers?