This image above is courtesy the BBC.
So, did he do it? Did Russell T. Davies stick the landing?
In a word, yes.
In four words, he did stumble somewhat.
In several hundred more workds: well...
Although some of The Reality War was a word salad, and while the almost comedic number of cameos and reunions made me wonder if Russell T. Davies was using this to distract from the flaws of his story, for me The Reality War followed up well on Wish World, addressing most of my concerns, and resolving most of the outstanding plot threads in an exciting and twisty fashion. While it remains, in my opinion, the weakest episode of Disney Series Two, that's largely due to the sterling quality of the remaining episodes of the season, and it certainly satisfied me more than The Empire of Death last season.
But now that the events behind the scenes in the making of Reality War have been revealed, I can't help but be concerned about the future of the program as well as Russell's ability to tie up significant plot threads now left dangling, while at the same time being in awe of Russell's true abilities.
I'll try to explain as best I can. Please note that spoilers follow...
So... explaining the plot of The Reality War may be a bit of a challenge here (not a good sign), so I'm going to assume that you've viewed the episode yourself and are still processing things. I will say that Reality War addressed many of my concerns I had from Wish World. For instance, the Rani wasn't doing this out of revenge or spite. She stayed true to her character of amoral explorer, seeking to break reality and find Omega, the First Time Lord, to try and restore Gallifrey. While she has some respect for the Doctor, he's a means to an end and, once he performs his function, she tries to end him as the threat that he represents to her work. Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson do a good job playing this character, making her believable, charismatic, and full of her own righteousness.
And I was right in my prediction that Omega would be revealed to be something other than what the Rani wanted. Now totally corrupted by his continued existence in non-existence, he has become a grotesque parody of himself, collapsing the Rani's dreams of restoring Gallifrey. The Doctor dispatches him ridiculously easily, and some longtime fans are outraged by Omega's decayed appearance and character, but I think it fits the story. Could or should Russell have used Omega better? Maybe. But what we got worked for me, even if it wasn't how I would have done it (I would have played up Omega's sympathetic side. In his previous two appearances, his main goal has been simply to go home and, incidentally, have a parade. I would have liked to see him more at peace with the fact that he can't, shutting the door on the Rani's plans himself without the Doctor's interference. This would have forced the Doctor to deal with the Rani directly rather than leaving Omega to do his dirty work).
The Reality War also ties up some (but not all) of the plot threads of the past two seasons, and makes some surprising links to the earlier stories. There are reunions galore, starting with Anita from Joy to the World. Most of UNIT is back, including Rosie who has an especially good moment when her reappearance shows us that Conrad's misogynistic and anti-trans perception filter is crumbling. Ruby Sunday returns, as does Mel. Hey, hey, the gang's all here, and it just feels good.
But there were parts of this story that I did not feel good about. While I found the mysterious appearance of Poppy in Space Babies and The Story and the Engine compelling, the initial revelation that she was a baby conceived by the Doctor and Belinda Chandra in Conrad's reality field squicked me out. There is no consent here. The fact that Poppy stayed real as the reality field collapsed, and Belinda remained firmly devoted to this toddler that she's had for about a day just did not sit right for me. Russell may not have had time to build up the emotional connection between Poppy, Belinda and the Doctor, and that's to this epsiode's detriment. We're told to have this emotional response for this character on trust alone and, I can't bring myself to do it. And this is nothing against the hard work that Ncuti Gatwa and Verada Sethu put in to sell this.
But then Poppy disappears in the moments after the Doctor sets reality to right and, in a marvellously creepy scene, only Ruby is able to notice. Millie Gibson does a great job in conveying the weight of this moment, and I believe it when Ruby convinces the Doctor that something still isn't right, and he must make one more sacrifice to make it right (and it's a big one).
(On the other hand, I did find the moment where all the UNIT characters in play declare their devotion to the Doctor as a parental figure to be somewhat overwrought. But nobody's perfect, and this moment is quickly overlooked).
The fact remains that the Doctor would absolutely sacrifice himself to save one more individual, even if that individual had been sacrificed to bring reality back in order. This is the perfect way for Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor to leave the series, and the surprise cameo by Jodie Whitaker manages not to be superfluous by highlighting how the Doctor has grown under Ncuti, while staying true to all the Doctors' core values.
So, Poppy returns as Belinda's own child (not the Doctor's), and as somebody who was always there, but rendered missing throughout the series because of the after effects of collapsing Conrad's reality field. This instantly made me feel better about Poppy's creation, and added weight to Belinda's desire to forego time and space to get back home. To those few who complained about Belinda "just being a mother", I would say that there's nothing just about being a mother, and nothing precludes Belinda heading out in the TARDIS again with her daughter in tow -- or having words with her daughter about sneaking off in the TARDIS behind her back.
And so the Ncuti Gatwa era ends, far too soon, but in a blast of joy. Thank you Ncuti! I wish we had more time with you, but you gave us so much in the time you did have. And, holy heck, what the heck is Billie Piper doing here?!
So, wow. Any Doctor Who episode that can explode fandom the way this one has, has a lot to recommend it. Except, that's not the way The Reality War was originally to end. That's not the way the episode was originally shot.
A lot has happened at the Doctor Who production office these past few months. While Disney initially agreed to co-producing 26 episodes with Gatwa's Doctor, they are slow-walking approval for a third series. Their funding is not make-or-break; the BBC can proceed with a reduced budget by toning down the special effects spectacles, but this lack of approval has forced a hiatus to production. We won't have a Christmas Special this year, and Doctor Who may not return until 2027.
In the meantime, Ncuti Gatwa's talents are clear for all to see and Hollywood is calling. The man has his career to think about, and it's not fair to expect him to hold back numerous projects while he waits to hear when his third season will enter production. Late in 2024, under strict secrecy, he and the BBC agreed to part ways, and this left Russell T. Davies in a quandary. How was he going to write out Ncuti when the end of The Reality War had already been filmed?
According to reports, there exists a cut of the episode which, from the point where Omega is sealed back up in his pocket dimension, the story comes to a quicker close. Poppy does not disappear, and the Doctor doesn't have to sacifice her regeneration to save her. Instead, after a bunch of explanations, the Doctor, Belinda, Ruby and UNIT party like it's 1999, as they celebrate the restoration of their original (albeit imperfect) reality. We then pull back to see Poppy, and the Doctor's granddaughter Susan (who has been seen or referenced numerous times these past two seasons), looking down on the crowd and smiling indulgently. Poppy tells Susan that it's time to go, and Susan says, "Yes, Mum." Cut to credits.
This would have led into a third season that would have pursued and resolved the Susan storyline, as well as dealing with the mysterious "Boss" referred to by the Meep, and by Anita, employee of the Tijme Hotel.
And this is where I come to my long delayed point. I've not been afraid to praise and criticize Russell's tenure on Doctor Who. When he's on his game, he is one of the best writers in the business (see Midnight and The Well, The Devil's Chord and Dot and Bubble). As a showrunner, he has a tendancy to overpromise and underdeliver when it comes to his season spanning stories and season finales (See The Empire of Death, The End of Time and The Stolen Earth/Journey's End). Spectacle comes at the expense of coherance, questions are left unanswered, plot points are dropped, and the end result is less than the sum of its parts.
When I and others go in and armchair quarterback Russell's showrunning skills, there is a temptation to believe or imply that we could have done a better job, somehow, ignoring the fact that whatever masterpiece we could return would be unlikely to arrive before the deadline to film. Look at the way I critiqued The Next Doctor, talking heavily about what Russell should have done, while casually ignoring that Russell wrote that particular episode while fighting a nasty bout of influenza.
And the fact that The Reality War is what it is, given what we now know about the behind the scenes reasons for why it is what it is highlights perfectly the fact that, if you think you could do this any better than Russell, you're dead wrong. Dead wrong. There is no way anybody could have pulled anything this good off given the pressures Russell was under.
What, realistically, were Russell T. Davies' choices when he learned of Ncuti's Gatwa's departure? Clearly the hope that Ncuti could return at some indeterminate time amidst all his Hollywood commitments was a non starter, so what to do? Introduce a new Doctor from scratch out of nowhere a la Time and the Rani? Rely on an unknown and learning character to carry off his sense of fatherhood with Poppy and resolve Susan's storyline? Or do you madly rewrite and reshoot the last few minutes of The Reality War to give Ncuti Gatwa a proper and heartfelt goodbye, and provide a jolt at the end to keep fandom interested in the months to follow?
The second path is incredibly risky -- potentially almost impossible to conceive: rip up and rewrite resolutions, insert a whole new plot thread for the Doctor to respond to, and produce a finale that not only is exciting in itself, but manages to connect at least peripherally with the portions of the old story you're keeping.
I don't believe that's ever been attempted in Doctor Who history, and I believe it's only rarely been achieved anywhere in the industry.
I've had people who, while upset at the direction Doctor Who has taken, suggest that I would be better taking on the show -- a suggestion I've thoroughly laughed off. I'm proud of the work I've done, but one reason my stories are as good as they are is because they take up to ten years of writing, editing, rewriting and more editing. Today's showrunners have to be more than just talented, they have to be talented on command. They have to be talented to deadline.
And in Russell's case, that ability includes taking a finished product, ripping it apart and putting it back again differently, on a limited budget, with a handful of sets and a bunch of actors called in at a moment's notice, and making it all hang together, however shakily. By doing this, Russell ensures that, even if the series does not return, it does, at least, have an ending. And if it does return, the return has been prepped by a shock to the system that have many fans salivating for what comes next.
That ability is simply a talent that I do not have. That's simply not a talent that most of us has. We are lucky to have someone of Russell's skill and delight for the program at the helm.
Fantastic work Russell.