Doctor Who series 15 (or 40 depending on how you count): Episode 7, Wish World by Russell T Davies.
We finally uncover the reason for the TARDIS’s inability to penetrate 2025 in the season’s double-parter. Commenting before watching, which means I’m going to leave it in; I’m not entirely convinced it’s the Rani’s doing. That’s not to say she won’t take advantage of it, but something else has to be going on.
Having another Time Lord or Lady divide into two by bi-regeneration does provide the means to repopulate the Gallifreyans. The thing is, would these rogue Time Lords want to do it? Multiple masters would mean endless rivals, which he might not want. Even so, anything they do could escalate geometrically. You wouldn’t want to give any of them a TARDIS.
Rest assured, spoilers are inevitable. Bavaria 1865. This Rani likes to be tidy. She genuinely transforms a family to welcome a fortunate seventh child.
In the present, John Smith and Belinda are married with a baby daughter, Poppy. Huh! The ‘Doctor’ is a fiction. This is an idealised world. Ruby Sunday breaks into this idealised world but finds she is seen as the enemy. Oh, their neighbour is Melanie Bush. John Smith is also an insurer. The Ranis are running the world. The two are working together, with their own plan. Whatever happened to the Doctor’s other half?
In the present, John Smith and Belinda are married with a baby daughter, Poppy. Huh! The ‘Doctor’ is a fiction. This universe is an idealised world. Ruby Sunday enters this idealised world, only to discover that people perceive her as the enemy. Their neighbour is Melanie Bush. John Smith is also an insurer. The Ranis are running the world. The two are working together, with their plan. What has become of the Doctor’s partner?
Some elements of this story remind me of ‘Daleks In Manhattan’ and certainly ‘Human Nature’, but at least it’s borrowing from itself in terms of manipulation. In many respects, though, the Doctor has become a secondary character to the events in the story and is not in control of himself. An unusual position for any Time Lord. If the Rani can get that much control of him that easily, the Doctor has become very vulnerable. Little actress Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps as Poppy is a scene-stealer. Actress Archie Panjabi is a scary Rani. All the regular actors and actresses play different roles.
The problem is that this is all a lead-up and will leave you speculating about what will happen next. Don’t have doubts; wait until next week.
Was I right in my opening paragraph? That’s true, to some extent. The Rani is manipulating. It is Conrad Clark’s imagination that is creating this world, and although there is speculation that he is the seventh baby, nope, he’s there as well. Sleeping on the job and is probably the backup.
‘John Smith Unleashed’ covers a lot of space. All right and time. Lots of interviews. Ncuti Gatwa reveals he wanted to face the Rani, and Russell T Davies waved his magic typewriter, admitting her return is long overdue.
It’s nearly midnight, and am I overanalysing?
GF Willmetts
24 May 2025
