Doctor Who: The Reality War

The second season of Doctor Who on Disney+ has been somewhat overshadowed by speculation surrounding the series’ future, a decades-spanning tabloid trope since the classic era.

Rumours of Disney stepping away from the deal, regeneration, series cancellation, or hiatus haven’t detracted from my enjoyment. And the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) are plastic fantastic as Barbie dolls. Don’t forget Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), Mattel!

Does The Reality War stick the landing, unlike Empire of Death, or is the Doctor’s fate sealed with a headache-inducing hot mess of Russell T Davies' making?

Alas, it's the latter as Davies indulgently uses the Disney intellectual property (IP) playbook like a child in a candy store. The special runs the gamut from Avengers: Endgame to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. It was all too much.

We last saw the Doctor falling to his death in Wish World. He's rescued by Anita Benn (Stephanie de Whalley) from Joy to the World. Anita became an instant fan-favourite and possible future companion. Working at the Time Hotel and channelling the Time Variance Authority (TVA) from Loki, she's 6 months pregnant with the hotel manager's baby, and this ties into a theme of Time Lord reproduction or lack thereof, as revealed by the Rani (Archie Panjabi) as Poppy becomes the Doctor's surrogate child. A pivot too far, as Susan Foreman (Carol Ann Ford) is all but forgotten and Belinda is put in a box.

I couldn't keep track of all the twisted-up threads. Davies is at his best when using restraint, as seen in 73 Yards.

Ultimately, Omega was another classic villain to fall foul of Scooby Doo voodoo! Like Sutekh, he was a giant CGI monstrosity and a boring boss battle with zero stakes, dispatched using a reject prop from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Snacking on the Rani, he's more Rancor monster from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi than the vengeful creator of the Time Lords. What was far more interesting was the dynamic between the Doctor and his companions, Belinda and Ruby.

Here, the series shone brightest.

Whilst the bombastic battle at Avengers Tower, I mean UNIT HQ, was derivative and filled with far too many cameos, it was the mind games between Ruby and Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King), her fake ex-boyfriend from Think Tank, that piqued my interest as giant skeletons attacked! Here was a former TARDIS companion with PTSD confronting her abuser.

Jodie Whittaker reprises the role of the Thirteenth Doctor on television for the first time since The Power of the Doctor. Her cameo, aboard the TARDIS, was a surprise, but a welcome one, subverting the expectation that David Tennant would return for the finale as the Fourteenth Doctor.

The chemistry between Gatwa and Whittaker sparkled, and I was a little misty-eyed. Davies has embraced former series showrunner Chris Chibnall's divisive Timeless Child with aplomb.

A time traveller for the TikTok generation.

As much as I’ve enjoyed this second season, I wanted to spend more time (pun intended) with the Fifteenth Doctor, Belinda and Ruby aboard the TARDIS. That’s good, even if it feels far too brief over two seasons. However, after an emotional goodbye with Belinda and Poppy (I teared up), Ruby was completely ignored back at UNIT HQ, the Fifteenth Doctor regenerates into Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) or is it?

Bad Wolf?

When the Disney+ partnership was announced in 2022, beginning with the 60th anniversary specials spearheaded by a returning series showrunner, I was excited about the future of my all-time favourite television series. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s trapped in an infinite loop of nostalgia.

The revival has come full circle from small beginnings in Rose. If the series is to continue in partnership with Disney+, it's time for a change and not a moment too soon.

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland. Season two is available for pre-order from Amazon (affiliate link).

Have you watched The Reality War? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.