Who follows up?

04 Jul, 2025

Last week, I finally decided to plunge into my backlog of Doctor Who episodes from Season 15. I finished the two-part finale yesterday, so while I'm late to the party, I have caught up on all of them. Even though I had already written about Season 15, particularly in relation to its finale, I have some follow-up thoughts.

First, a longer explanation is due. Since Doctor Who was revived in 2005, I've sailed the 🏴‍☠️ seas when it came to acquiring episodes. There was usually a delay of one to two days between the BBC airing them and the episode being available to acquire, but during that gap I'd often come across write-ups that would have a full synopsis included. At first I would try to avoid these write-ups, but I quickly gave in so that when I would finally acquire the episode, I knew what was going to happen before I watched it. Why bother, then? It's because I’m more interested in the overall structure of the story than the specific details. Does the story still hold appeal even if I know the outcome? It’s similar to how people enjoy reading their favorite books or watching their favorite movies multiple times. They know the plot, characters, and ending, but they still enjoy the journey of discovery. As Doctor Who has prided itself on its high quality of writing (in spite of the occasional low-quality SFX), it’s those stories that truly matter to me. Now that I’ve completed Season 15, do I regret what I wrote a few weeks ago? What are my thoughts on what I’ve watched?

It's not a particularly original observation, but Season 15 was a near-perfect copy of Season 14. The stories and season structure were nearly the same: here's the goofy season premiere; here's the campy episode with a Pantheon god; here's the gritty episode on a dark planet; here's a Ruby Sunday episode; and so on. Season 15 also had a fair amount of callbacks to the prior season, such as Ruby's ability to recall alternate realities thanks to "73 Yards," or a cameo by Rogue in the finale, or the entire plot line behind Poppy, who was briefly seen in "Space Babies." And on top of callbacks to the previous season, you also had to deal with the show's lore, what with the Rani and Omega and the Doctor's granddaughter and events from "Midnight," etc. Balancing all of this knowledge is a lot to ask of the viewer, as it's akin to requiring homework before watching the show. If you are going to draw on the show's long history, at least make it worth the while of the viewer--this is why the flashbacks in "The Well" were effective versus the needlessly complicated and ultimately disappointing result of the showdown with the Rani and Omega. Both seasons of the show asked, “How much effort should viewers put in to enjoy and understand the show?” Sadly, both seasons answered, “I’ll show you how Atlas felt,” and plopped a world-size reference novel on the viewers' shoulders.

Belinda's character was retconned in the finale at a speed I can't recall seeing before. She went from a reluctant traveler that was often cool under pressure, possessing a pleasantly stubborn streak at times, to pining for home and her daughter, Poppy, who originally was in "Space Babies." Belinda herself wasn't with the Doctor for "Space Babies," as Ruby was there instead. If the rumors are true about the character Belinda being a last-minute substitute for Ruby, then we would have seen Ruby become domesticated at top speed in the finale, and neither woman deserved such a fate. It's a twist that left me with a bad taste in my mouth, as if the only good result for Belinda (or possibly Ruby) was to become a mother.

As for the regeneration section, which was a legitimate surprise when it first aired, it almost looked like it was planned from the beginning and not something thrown together months after the finale's original ending was filmed. I could buy the Doctor sacrificing some of his regeneration energy to change the universe so that Poppy could come back to life. He's made sacrifices like this in the past, so this is totally within character. Unfortunately, the stunt casting where the face of Rose Tyler appears at the last second ruined the effectiveness of the Fifteenth Doctor's regeneration. It's yet another cliffhanger that hasn't been resolved, like with the fate of Susan Foreman showing up in the Doctor's TARDIS, the identity of "the Boss," the identity of Conrad Clark's father, the fate of the Rani, and so on.

OK, enough complaining for now. Best story of Season 15? "The Story & The Engine." It felt like it would have fit in well during the Fourth Doctor's High Gothic era, which saw the Doctor encounter classic horror monsters with the results being part sci-fi, part horror, but ultimately unique. This story had that type of energy, and was literal proof that stories have power¹--real, actual, power like fuel. As for my least-favorite story, that would have been "Lucky Day." This story was a challenge to watch, as it was a case where knowing ahead of time about the plot nearly drove me away. I didn't like what I had read about the character Conrad Clark, or how he treated Ruby and the UNIT staff, so seeing him onscreen was really uncomfortable at times. His smugness and oh-so-clever attitude struck too close to the real-world experiences of being online, and it's a tribute to the actor's skill that he could portray such an oily character.

The best plot development was in "The Well," which saw the return of the unseen monster from "Midnight." It was a great showcase of how to be scared by what you can't see, as your own imagination and fears will often prey upon you worse than what the reality would be. In addition, it was an unexpected sequel that was its own story--you didn't have to see the original to understand what was happening, but the tie-ins to "Midnight" were just enough to add an extra wrinkle to the story. As for the worst plot developments, well, I've already mentioned most of them: the rushed unveiling and quick disposal of the Rani and Omega; how Belinda's character was treated; Ruby's ghost-like appearances and disappearances; all of the unresolved stories that would have allegedly been part of Season 16 in spite of not having a broadcast agreement for that season; the toxic masculinity of Conrad and Alan Budd with very little to counteract it, except to hope these characters do themselves in; the Fifteenth Doctor's regeneration into...who knows? It's a mess, folks.

Ultimately, in spite of all my complaints, I am glad I watched Season 15 as there were some good stories to be found in the midst of story arcs both overwrought and short, and of lore both deep and shallow. Stories are ultimately what drives people to watch a show like Doctor Who, after all. The purpose of this follow-up post was to shift focus to the on-air content rather than the behind-the-scenes drama in my earlier entry. Sure, there are compelling and confusing stories to be found behind the scenes, and if you or I were to explore those, there’d be no stopping us. But in the end, the stories unfolding on the screen hold more interest for me. The stories for Season 15 had more ups than downs, and a couple great episodes I truly enjoyed watching. Unfortunately, the finale left me sad, disappointed, and frustrated all at once, and there's not much I can do with those feelings besides sit with them. It's not the answer I wanted, but it's the answer I have.

#DoctorWho #ThinkTooMuch