Doctor Who Season 14 Episode 8

So here we are, after 7 weeks of brilliance (and *hefty sigh* space babies) the season finale of Doctor Who is out! All the questions we’ve previously asked ourselves have been answered, though some of those answers may not be what you were expecting or looking for. I was so prepared for a massive reveal, they made it seem so sure, but was honestly kind of disappointed.

Laura and I have tried to keep these episodic reviews spoiler free, unfortunately since this is the finale and there is a lot to talk about… beware of spoilers ahead.

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The Review

Image by BBC Studios Production

After the reveal of this season’s big bad last week, this week’s episode starts straight into the action. Right at the start we see Doctor and Mel race towards Unit only to be too late and everyone gets turned to dust in a very Infinity War kind of way. This episode absolutely stinks of pop culture references, after narrowly escaping death himself, The Doctor finds himself on a deserted planet which looks straight out of Mad Max, in a cloak from Dune.

These are not the only pop culture references we got… As The Doctor, Ruby and Mel fly about in a temporary Tardis built from the memories of all other Doctors we see a little jacket hanging up, which belongs to Colin Baker’s Doctor, her Doctor, which was followed by a little clip of Colin Baker as the Doctor. This was a very sweet moment, as Bonnie Langford (Mel) held the arm of the jacket with a smile, remembering her time with the Doctor all those years ago – It seemed very real, Bonnie is either an amazing actress or she genuinely was excited to be in another instalment of Doctor Who.

One throwback I was surprised and excited to see was a callout to 73 yards. When The Doctor is explaining the Tardis’ perception filter to Ruby, elaborating on its range of 66.7 metres, he is quickly interrupted by Ruby saying ‘73 yards’ leaving both The Doctor and Mel shocked – which I could not help but find amusing since maybe she is just good at maths. It was a great little reference though. Oh it also turns out the prime minister in that episode was the key to finding out who Ruby’s mother is, but I’m just going to brush over that one like they did in the episode.

Image by BBC Studios Production

Let’s get to the critiques for a second. This whole season has been working towards Ruby Sunday’s mother, and boy was it a shocker. We even found out that this season’s big bad was also fixated on who Ruby’s mother is. Well, you see, Ruby’s mother is just an ordinary person called Louise Miller. The reason for this is even more disappointing than the reveal itself, Ruby’s mum was important because ‘we made her important’. All our speculations of Ruby being related to The Doctor shattered in a matter of seconds, in fact it turns out that even the references to his granddaughter in the penultimate episode was just a trap.

This does not in any means play down Ruby as a character, she is still quickly becoming mine and many others favourite companion, but it did feel very cheesy and almost lazy. It reminded me of a scene in the Anniversary episode which I hated where Donna and Rose just ‘let it go’ instead of dying to the power of The Time Lords. Still though, nothing can be worse than Space Babies.

Image by BBC Studios Production

Overall, this season was very good, and the finale was a great end to it. I do however find myself wanting more. So many questions have been left unanswered; Why does it snow around Ruby? Who the hell is Mrs Flood and why is she saying the same thing Clara used to when she was Peter Capaldi’s Doctor’s companion – calling him a clever boy? You never know, she might just turn out to be no one of great importance really, just like Ruby’s mum.

Everything about this episode felt very final, the heartfelt reunion with Ruby and her birth mother and even the tearful goodbye between The Doctor and Ruby. But don’t worry, word is out that Ruby Sunday will make another appearance, just maybe not for this year’s Christmas episode! One last closing thought, I really hope the writing team makes a change for season 15. It’s so easy to see the potential of Ncuti Gatwa as the doctor, but he has not really been given his time to shine, though ever single performance this man gives in this show is spectacular – truly one of the best actors of our time.

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Where to Watch Doctor Who Season 14?

Image by BBC Studios Production

Every episode of Doctor Who season 14 can be streamed on the BBC IPlayer for UK residents and Disney Plus for non UK residents, with the next episode arriving this coming holiday season.

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