The Cutprice Guignol

Now that I have successfully peeled myself off the floor in a fugue of post-actually-getting-the-Rani-after-all-this-time shock, I have to admit – I have my doubts about the return of this iconic villain.

Not because I don’t love the Rani! God, no, never that. I have been inspecting every on-screen pixel of the show for the better part of my entire lifespan for any vague glimmer of a hint that my beloved girl is making a return, as have so many members of this particular fandom. And not because I don’t love Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson and think them totally capable of delivering a really convincing version of this character. But because…well, after all this time, are they actually going to do her justice?

This is a whole lot of character to live up to, at least in terms of her stature in the fandom. She’s a scientist – not one without a bit of flair, but fundamentally focused on knowledge and discovery over just the theatrical mayhem that so many of this era’s villains have focused on. Does she fit in this version of the show? Only one way to find out, and that’s diving in to this week’s episode, Wish World, written by Russel T Davies and directed by Alex Sanjiv Pilai – which follows John Smith and his lovely wife Belinda Smith as they navigate a strange world of belief, trust, and doubt, only to reveal the truth of this new world’s existence at the episode’s close.

Let’s start with the Rani of it all, which is…not bad, I suppose. I adored Arche Panjabi and Anita Dobson in their roles, but Panjabi stole the show here (in an outfit so good I briefly blacked out and came to ordering pleather Demonias on eBay) – charismatic and confident, even if she is mostly limited to shouting exposition (which we’ll get to, I promise). The writing left a little to be desired for me – it’s clear Davies understands Rani as a scientist first and foremost, but, in this weird, magical world he has created for the show, she’s sort of stuck having to interact with evident bullshit like the God of Wishes to move her plot along, and it feels a bit counter-intuitive to her straightforward, scientific approach. I would have loved to see the Rani act as a counter to the mysticism and magic that has been woven through this part of the show’s run, but there are still moments here that underline that aspect of her character neatly enough, so I’ll give it a pass. Just.

Which brings me to the rest of the episode, which I am…not so sure that I can give a pass to. The biggest problem with this season so far for me has been how overstuffed nearly every single episode has felt – and this set-up for the finale might be the worst offender in those stakes so far. Let’s try to condense it down, shall we? Conrad, the antagonist from Lucky Day, has been conscripted by the Rani to create a dream world (facilitated by the God of Wishes, of course, who happens to be an infant child from 1800s Bavaria who doesn’t age) in which she can place Belinda and, most importantly, the Doctor. But she intends for the Doctor to destroy the dream world via doubt, which will allow her to reach beneath reality, rummage around a bit, and pull out Omega like she’s me finding a really nice of copy of the Chronicles of Narnia at the bottom of a pile of recipe books at a jumble sale.

Let’s start from the top: Conrad’s return and the invention of his dream world, which is, basically, a skewering of what Russel T Davies thinks misogynists, homophobes, and traditionalists want the world to look like. And, stylistically, I think the show kills it – that slightly-unreal styling in terms of clothes, furniture, and interior design, harking back to an era that never really existed, a fantasy that lives in the minds of people fictionizing history to justify their own oppression, the jaunty music stuttering when doubt comes up, it’s beautifully-crafted. And those giant skeleton creatures were sick as all hell, and that’s truly all I have to say on the matter.

But…look, political commentary has been at the forefront of this season, and it’s not that I disagree with the messages the show is trying to put across, but it’s handled with varying degrees of success here. The Doctor’s acknowledgement of his attraction to men (via a Rogue cameo, because, sure) is a beautifully-acted moment from Gatwa, but the role of women here is so comically simplistic as to feel a bit insulting. Sure, I get that a character like Conrad isn’t exactly meant to have the most nuanced views on what women should be doing, but I’d like the show to give us a little more, to touch on the ways that this oppressive structure harms the women who are stuck in it, you know? Framing Conrad’s motivations and desires in such cartoonishly extreme fashion instead of looking at why he might want women in such a position just feels lazy to me, a bit “teeheehee tradwives” for my liking – not helped by the fact that Belinda is functionally sidelined this episode to make way for Ruby, who drives most of the actual on-the-ground plot.

Which is a bit of an odd choice, if I’m being honest, and one that makes me wonder how much of this finale was actually written with Belinda in mind – Ruby, joining forces with the disenfranchised disabled community sidelined in Conrad’s dream world, seems more central to this story than Belinda does, which isn’t exactly a superb move to make for a companion who has already been accused of being underdeveloped. It would have made more sense for me to put Belinda in this more active role, given her main companion status, and sticking Ruby here instead – even if I do genuinely enjoy her more in this season than her original one – only undermines what little of Belinda we have.

And then we’ve got the big reveal going into the finale – no, not the Rani, but the return of Omega. I feel like, as a writer, if you have to cut away the moment you reveal your season’s big bad to have someone give a quick run-down of the lore on the Wiki page, it’s probably a sign that you should have woven them into your plot a little better earlier on, you know? As a crazed founder of the Time Lords, Omega is a fun villain to bring back, but one that feels more like a name to slap in giant font over the thumbnails of YouTube video reviews rather than an organic extension of this season as a whole. Not that we can’t have a shock, twist villain out of nowhere, but God, at least sprinkle in a few mentions of him in the run-up, if we must.

Overall, this episode is a bit of a clusterfuck – the Rani’s return, Omega’s arrival, a world that’s built and destroyed in a single episode’s run, not to mention the sinister threat of Space Babies becoming a major part of canon lore – and I’m not convinced that a single episode is enough to tie all this together in a satisfying way. But, hey, we’ll wait until next week to cast full judgement on this story, though I fully encourage you to drop your opinions in the comments below.

If you liked this article and want to see more stuff like it, please check out the rest of my Doctor Who reviews! I’d also love it if you would check out my horrible short story collection, and, if you’d like to support my work, please consider joining me on Patreon!

(header image via Bleeding Cool)