Wish World

Tables don’t do that. Remember: tables…don’t…do…that…

Rogue

Synopsis

Traps are sprung and old enemies unite as the Doctor and Belinda finally arrive home to find a very different world. Can the Doctor see the truth before midnight arrives?

Review

There are a lot of strong ideas in the heart of Wish World, but it struggles to deal with them all adequately. There are so many ideas at play here that it feels as though concluding part The Reality War will struggle to resolve them too. Whilst the finished result look spectacular on screen, the story it is telling feels messy and potentially alienating to fans who have picked up the show since its modern revival, or even since the 2023 specials.

I think that one of the strengths of Wish World is the world-building of the new dystopian present, created by the Rani with the assistance of the wish-granting member of the Pantheon, Desidirum, and Conrad. We see a world beset with dinosaur-like skeletons, the Doctor in his John Smith persona, married to Belinda and living domestic bliss with their daughter Poppy, and living next door to unmarried and childless Mel. Smith works for the Unified National Insurance Team, along with the other members of the UNIT crew, whilst former companion Ruby Sunday can see through the new world created thanks to her experience of living through the year 2025 in 73 Yards and Lucky Day. As the world is based around Conrad’s conservative views, women are expected to be nothing more than wives and mothers, and society is heteronormative. The society outcasts those with disabilities, like Shirley, who Conrad doesn’t think about so are free from his narrative. I thought that the way that doubt was expressed through the breaking of plates and cups was a really simple but elegant way of conveying that message, and referred to as ‘slips’. We’ve seen elements of middle-class fascism in Davies’ Doctor Who before, with the Master running for Prime Minister and people informing on each other. The posters of Conrad evoke World War Two propaganda about the danger of doubts.

Where this all starts to fall down is in the pacing. Wish World could have benefitted from a little bit more time on it’s final act. Davies even has the Rani call it out for what it is; exposition. We get a crash course in the Rani and what her plans are, which is drenched in Doctor Who lore. It seems as though the world-building comes at the expense of plot. It’s not really clear why the Rani wants to bring Omega back nor what her end game is. These concerns may be addressed after The Reality World. That’s part of the problem of reviewing the first part of a two-part finale.

Since Russell T Davies has returned, he has brought back some surprising foes from the show’s history. The Giggle saw the return of the Toymaker, The Legend of Ruby Sunday brought Sutekh back and last week’s The Interstellar Song Contest repeated the trick with the Rani. Combined with a tease that we are likely to be seeing Omega in some form in next week’s finale, we would have had foes returning from all three decades of the classic run. There is something refreshing about the revived series not relying on the Daleks, Cybermen and Master. My wife is not a fan of the classic series, and as soon as the Rani talked about bringing back another Time Lord, she was concerned that it was going to be the Master. The fact that Davies is not falling back on the same old foes is both a strength and a weakness. I have personally enjoyed the show not falling back on the big three, but for a casual viewer, Omega, Sutekh and the Rani are probably not as identifiable. Perhaps that’s a strength, as Davies can use these characters for his own ends, but potentially risks backlash if he changes those characters too much for the fans. It is a difficult tightrope to walk.

The return of the Rani, played by Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson, does answer a lot of my fears from the mid-credits reveal last week. Panjabi brings a great deal of scenery chewing to the part, which feels very in keeping for the Rani, and the story calls for her experiments to be just as amoral as ever. I have seen some criticism that Davies has essentially written the Rani to be a female version of the Master, and object to the reference that she and the Doctor had previously been lovers. It is something that did rankle with me to an extent, but I feel that we know so little about the Doctor and the Rani’s relationship beyond the fact that they were at the Academy together. It is perhaps disappointing that Mrs Flood gets sidelined into a subservient, mother-like role.

I think that Ncuti Gatwa does go from strength to strength in this series, and this story is no exception. Seeing the Doctor in his John Smith persona is not exactly new ground, but Gatwa does play the human version of the Doctor very well. Equally he does a great job of conveying the fear when the Rani reveals herself to him, which helps sell the stakes to the audience.

The Doctor’s companions are interesting in this story too. Belinda is put into the role of John Smith’s wife, supposed to be content to be a wife and a mother, but horrified by the realisation that she cannot remember the birth of Poppy. She is all too keen to report others for doubts, which as Mrs Flood states later on in the story as she takes both Belinda and the Doctor away is because she herself had doubts. Ruby can see through the illusions, which leads her to join the band of outcasts in resisting Conrad’s lies, and Millie Gibson is strong here too. The most intriguing is Bonnie Langford’s Mel, who represents an outcast herself, but someone who has possibly slipped through the net because she has no-one to report her doubts. Her ‘slips’ bin certainly seems to be quite full!

One more day until May 24th. Any plans?

Oh, you know. I’m single, no parents, no children, so I will sit in silent contemplation and be jolly glad!

John Smith and Melanie Bush

Verdict: Wish World sets up more questions than answers. There are some strong elements here, most notably Archie Panjabi, but it does feel quite messy. 6/10

Cast: Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor), Varada Sethu (Belinda Chandra), Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), Archie Panjabi (The Rani), Attila Akinci (Otto Zufall), Leni Adams (Violett Zufall), Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps (Poppy), Jonah Hauer-King (Conrad Clark), Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Ruth Madeley (Shirley Bingham), Jemma Redgrave (Kate Lethbridge-Stewart), Susan Twist (Susan Triad), Alexander Devrient (Colonel Christofer Ibrahim), Nila Aalia (Lakshmi Chandra), Josephine Lloyd-Welcome (Devika Babu), Anita Dobson (Mrs Flood), Hermon Berhane (Val Balham), Sam Lawton (Winnie Petheridge), Joshua J Parker (Brian Dale), Michelle Greenidge (Carla Sunday), Angela Wynter (Cherry Sunday), Carol Ann Ford (Susan Foreman), Jonathan Groff (Rogue), Steph Bailey and Daniel Mahoney (Camp Residents), Isla Moody, Megan Davies, Rosie Gibson, Alke Schwartz (Seekers) & Callum Owen, Harrison Pittard, Adam Bentley and Matthew Doman (Drone Guards).

Writer: Russell T Davies

Director: Alex Sanjiv Pillai

Producer: Chris May

Composer: Murray Gold

Original Broadcast Date: 24th May 2025

Behind the Scenes

• Omega’s lines are taken from the Big Finish audio play Intervention Earth. This marks the first time that audio from a Big Finish story has been used on the television show.

Cast Notes

• Atilla Akinci has previously appeared in the Eighth Doctor audio story Island of the Fendahl, playing Dieter Fendelman.

Best Moment

I think that the moment that John Smith realises that there is a problem with this new reality is probably my favourite.

Best Quote

You recognised your husband’s doubt because you’ve been expressing doubt yourself. That’s what it does, Mrs Smith. It contaminates, it breeds, it festers and it’s my job to cut it out! My job and my very great pleasure.

Mrs Flood

Previous Fifteenth Doctor review: The Interstellar Song Contest

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