Doctor Who Season 2 (15) Review - Left Wanting More

Another series of Doctor Who has come and gone, and as always, I’m left with that strange mix of emotions - joy, nostalgia, frustration, and hope. It's the hope that's going to kill me isn't it?

Doctor Who Series 15 (or Season 2 of the Disney era) was thrilling and disappointing all at the same time, and I am going to try and review it as best I can. It was gorgeous, ambitious, and a sometimes chaotic rollercoaster. I loved a lot of it, I loved most of it actually, and some episodes were absolutely top tier Doctor Who. But it wasn't without its bumps.

Let’s start with the start.

We opened with The Robot Revolution, which looked amazing. The visuals across this series have been genuinely breathtaking. You cannot say that Disney hasn't backed the show on this front, Doctor Who has never looked this good, and it helped the show feel fresh and cinematic.

Despite the shiny packaging, something was missing. I couldn’t get past how casual Belinda was about being kidnapped by giant robots and dumped onto an alien planet. Remember when companions reacted? When they were in awe, when they were scared, thrilled, overwhelmed? I think about Rose’s first trip in the TARDIS, or Martha’s or Donna’s outright refusal to believe any of it. They were us, and their reactions grounded the madness.

Belinda felt like she’d seen it all before, as did Ruby in The Church on Ruby Road, and maybe that’s the problem.

I still cannot help but think that whilst RTD was chasing former glories he forgets the main part of why 2005 Doctor Who was so bloody good.

We wouldn't be here twenty years later without seeing the Whoniverse through Rose's eyes, and then through the eyes of our extended Doctor Who family - Jackie, Mickey and Jack.

What made that first era so special wasn’t some big mystery arc, it was always the people. We all wanted to be part of Team TARDIS. We all wanted to be flying the TARDIS with Martha, Sarah Jane, Rose and co in Journey's End. The emotional stakes feel flatter in this Disney era. The human connection isn’t quite there.

Maybe everyone is a bit less human these days though?

With that all said, Belinda warmed to me as the episode went on.

I never really get why RTD is obsessed with a goofy first episode though, Space Babies has a lot to answer for!

This is especially frustrating when he brings us absolute peak in the following weeks. Series 1 gave us The Devil's Chord, Boom and 73 Yards, and this time we got Lux, The Well and Lucky Day.

"Maybe, just now and then you can think of us, then we might live on just a little bit. Now go and save the world Doctor."

I forgot to mention Joy to the World actually. After a rewatch this Christmas special went up in my opinion. It was certainly a lot better than The Church on Ruby Road.

Lux is a triumph. Just like The Devil’s Chord, it was bold, weird, and full of heart. I loved every second. It felt like Russell T Davies letting loose and having fun - but more than that, it felt like a love letter to the fans. That scene with the crowd of Whovians? Fuck, I adored it. Genuinely emotional. A rare, beautiful moment where the show turned around and said, we see you. I teared up. It meant something.

Lux got me excited and then The Well came along and ramped me up even more. This is the Doctor Who I love. Atmospheric, eerie, emotional, and absolute banger. Rose Ayling-Ellis gave a phenomenal performance. She completely owned the screen.

"Cowards, like you, weaponising lies. Taking people's insecurity and fear, and making it currency."

Lucky Day was another knockout. Millie Gibson delivered again and this is the best UNIT story I have ever seen. It felt nice to slow the pace down a little, and I was stunned when it all turned out to be a ruse and Conrad was a shit.

God I hope we see more of Millie Gibson in Doctor Who, she is so good.

As with last series, there was an episode a lot of people loved that I just didn't get. I found The Story & The Engine messy. I wanted to love it, I really did. When the Doctor lost his shit I was like hold on, here we go, Ncuti masterclass incoming. But all was forgiven and forgotten by the end. Hostages bowing down to their captors feet. A bloke that kidnapped people being given a barber shop. It all felt a bit flat.

Then we had The Interstellar Song Contest, an episode I was looking forward to, and an episode that didn't disappoint me. I loved how dark the Doctor went here, the Doctor like this is always good to watch.

The episode looked stunning and we got this...

I loved Mike and Gary as well.

Why did the TARDIS blow up in the end thinking about it?

This all led us to a reveal shoved in the end credits. First off, it's sacrilege to interrupt the theme tune, and plonking it there felt a trifle anticlimactic. It didn't meet the heights of reveals in the past - the Master in Utopia being the perfect comparison.

The Rani just didn't do it for me. Not Anita or Archie, just the character. It all felt a bit meh!

“Well, you're my child in a manner of speaking, it could be said, that you sprang from my loins.”

On we went to the finale - Wish World and The Reality War. Even though I wasn't that thrilled by the return of the Rani, I still had high hopes, but Wish World dampened them slightly.

This felt like RTD trying to channel his inner Steven Moffat, and it didn’t land for me. It lacked the punch of his first parts of finales of old - Bad Wolf, Army of Ghosts, The Sound of Drums and The Stolen Earth - and The Legend of Ruby Sunday.

The limited number of episodes haunts Ncuti's reign, and Wish World was another episode we didn't get to see the Fifteenth Doctor, joining 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble and Lucky Day, that's over 20% of his era. David Tennant is the only other Doctor to have a Doctor-lite episode as far as I am aware, and he had 46 episodes in his original run, of which 3 were Doctor-lite, that is 6% and a whole 43 episodes to get to know Ten. I guess if I am being fair, you could chuck in Human Nature and Family of Blood, bring the total to 10% or so.

What I am trying to say is we did not get enough Ncuti and Fifteen!

The Reality War was better, maybe I am biased as I went to the cinema to watch it?

With that said, what was the point in the following characters at the end of the day:

Omega - in it for about one minute

Rose - rocked up and did absolutely fuck all - as she did in Empire of Death

The Rani - built up, then eaten halfway through

Mrs Flood - two and a bit years for a cameo being the Rani's bitch, fucked off halfway through

Mel - drove in with a load of fan fare, did fuck all

The Vlinx - came out of its box like a hero and continued to do bugger all, pointless

That is before we get to Belinda and Poppy! Oh dear, this just didn't work for me. It makes me think how horrible things could of got if Ncuti hadn't left, imagine this finale without Jodie and Billie, imagine if the ending was Belinda leaving a kid who isn't even hers with her mum and going for a dance with the Doctor. Oh boy, that would have gone down so fucking badly. So as much as it pains me to say, Ncuti leaving probably saved this episode.

"Don't go in fear. Go with that lovely smile."

This felt very Empire of Death to me though. A mystery hidden away that isn't even hidden. Poppy is basically the Ruby Road signpost. Something we have had no hint towards, and something chucked in at the end. When we first saw Belinda she was living with a load of friends, what happened to them? Has Belinda given her previous life up to raise a child she thinks is hers but isn't really? It would have been more satisfactory if Ruby's mum took the kid. Something like that. God knows, it was bizarre.

Susan? What happened with that? It felt like she would come back in the previous series, it felt like it was leading somewhere in this series, then nothing. Not a sausage. I don't even think it is the way forward, tell new stories, chuck a Dalek in every now and again, simple.

My biggest issue this whole era has been the villains though. Lux and Maestro were brilliant, but we haven't had an icon. We haven't had the Daleks, we haven't had a new villain who scares you. It has been a lot of weedy blokes to be honest! The Doctor and companion are massive parts of the show of course, but the monsters are just as much a part of the show. Doctor Who would be nothing without those evil pepper pots would it?

Even with all my gripes, it was still fucking fun! The Doctor riding the Rani's hover thing, the battle with the bone monsters, seeing Thirteen turn up and her beautiful chat with Fifteen, I loved all of these moments so much.

Seeing Jodie back was brilliant, and that little scene really was the highlight for me.

Billie Piper? Well that stank of desperation. But it worked, and seeing her again made me grin, and I, and many others, left the cinema buzzing. Isn't that what this show is about at the end of the day? Giving us a thrill and a boat load of joy. In that respect it delivered.

"This has been an absolute joy."

Ncuti Gatwa - I cannot say enough good things about him! He is up there as one of my favourite Doctor's and yet I will feel robbed of seeing him go further. I didn't get enough of Fifteen, just when things got good, the finales hit and everything came crashing down again. He deserved to open this new era in the 60th specials, and he deserved better than Space Babies.

He still is, was, and always will be the Doctor though! Thanks honey! Go and smash Hollywood!

So where on earth is Doctor Who heading now? Is it just heading to a UNIT spin off and then nothing? Is Billie going to be the first face we see and the last face we saw?

Where does Doctor Who go from here? I honestly don’t know. There’s a cloud hanging over its future. Is it just heading to a UNIT spin off and then nothing? Is Billie going to be the first face we see and the last face we saw?

Will Disney be involved? Will RTD be involved? Will David Tennant be involved for the 508th time?

Do I think Doctor Who still has a place? Of course I do! Would I like to see it taken in a new direction with new blood? Yes, I think that is the only way forward now! It has to be utter bollocks that nobody would take the job on though. If the BBC put it out there that they wanted a new showrunner for Doctor Who are you telling me not a single person would fancy that? I would compare it to the Manchester United job at the moment, a dangerous choice sure, but an institution that needs a bit of healing is too tempting to turn down. People will always be interested in Doctor Who.

But I’ll be here, ready to keep watching. I’ll always keep watching. Because I love this show, even when it frustrates me. It dares to dream big, it sticks up for the little guy (or woman, or anything else for that matter) and it has two fuck off massive hearts.

What did you think of the second season of the Disney era? Did you think the finales were better than I did? Where do you think the show will go next? Let me know in the comments below.

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