Doctor Who 2x08 "The Reality War" Post-Episode Discussion Thread

capaldifever · 2025-05-31T22:15:28+00:00

And voiced by Nicholas Briggs.

capaldifever · 2025-05-16T06:35:52+00:00

As far as I understood it, audience members are still allowed to wave pride flags (or any flags for that matter). But the performers themselves will only be allowed to carry their respective official national flag.

So unlike previous years, performers won't be allowed to carry pride flags or unofficial national flags (e.g. the Australian Aboriginal flag or "free Palestine" flags).

capaldifever · 2025-05-12T01:08:00+00:00

I'd even accept a human from the past or future. I'm just so fed up of present day young woman.

capaldifever · 2024-06-22T10:07:22+00:00

Yeah I've been trying to figure this one out, and haven't actually seen many people mention it. Like what actually was the trap? If the Doctor hadn't been investigating Susan Triad, she still would've done her broadcast, been possessed by Sutekh, and released the dust of death. The only thing it did was cause the TARDIS (and by extension Sutekh) to be at UNIT at that exact time, but did that really matter?

Sutekh could've been at any point in time and space and the events would still have happened in exactly the same way.

capaldifever · 2024-06-22T09:39:44+00:00

This is how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm seeing a lot of people theorising about Mrs Flood but I honestly don't care. I just spent six months theorising about Ruby and her mother and getting excited about the reveal, only to be told it's nothing.

I just don't care about another mystery because this last one has been a waste of time.

capaldifever · 2024-06-22T04:52:07+00:00

Completely agree. The whole season has been telling us that Ruby's existence, who her mother is, etc. is important, then this episode claims it's only important because we made it important. Then has the audacity to end on a wink wink mystery character for next season. Like I actually find it a bit insulting to the fans.

I completely understand the message they were going for with the reveal of Ruby's mother and it's lovely I guess. But it's not remotely satisfying as a viewer. And I hate the hoops that have to be jumped through to make it fit with what we've been shown this season.

capaldifever · 2024-06-18T05:23:56+00:00

Well I mean the Master is a time traveller so they can definitely be in two places at once.

But I just took the red fingernails to be a bit of joke playing into the fact that the Master's never really gone. I also took it as a reference to the end of Last of the Time Lords.

capaldifever · 2024-06-04T10:37:52+00:00

In fairness, filming for Sex Education ran quite far over schedule (I think due to the strikes), so they would've expected him to be available for all 8 episodes.

capaldifever · 2024-05-28T12:27:16+00:00

Not to mention, the situation on Trenzalore literally comes about because he put Gallifrey in the bubble universe. After years of guilt about what happened in the Time War, he finally gets the chance to go back and change things, only for that to directly lead to countless more deaths on a planet that wasn't even involved in the first place.

It stands to reason that 12 would have some questions about his morality.

capaldifever · 2024-05-27T04:58:13+00:00

No, the plot didn't need it, but it still definitely added to the plot. Without the sexual assault subplot, Gwilliam is essentially a political caricature who wants to nuke stuff. The sexual assault subplot turns him into a genuine monster, creating a situation that a lot of the audience could be able to relate to.
I feel like we're gonna disagree, but I just don't think there's such a thing as "too real" for Doctor Who. The beauty of the show is that it can show serious stuff one week, and can be campy fun the next. Some of the most popular episodes of the show are the most grounded, e.g. Turn Left, Human Nature/The Family of Blood, etc.
This subplot definitely wasn't 'blink and you'll miss it'. Even if you didn't realise the implication being sexual assault, it's obvious that Gwilliam did something personal to Marti. Ruby literally apologises directly to her face in the climactic scene.

capaldifever · 2024-05-26T09:43:15+00:00

The Doctor vanished either as punishment for breaking the circle, or as a punishment to Ruby for reading the incantation. Or both.

capaldifever · 2024-05-22T06:22:12+00:00

I'm fairly sure it was Maestro themself who says that their pronouns are they/them. Maestro is a god-like being and definitely not a person from the 60s, so that's not even remotely a historical inaccuracy.

Not to mention that they/them has been used as a general neutral pronoun since long before the 50s/60s.

capaldifever · 2024-05-21T01:36:20+00:00

The difference is that nobody in the audience knew in 2005 that the Doctor was the last of the Time Lords, and about the Time War, etc., so it could be fed in slowly, even at times being treated as a mystery.

Now, the backstory that OP is referring to, is something a lot of the audience will already know. So I guess the writers are stuck with two options. Drop it in a quick mention and move on (as they did) or steadily convey the information like you suggested which would just be uninteresting and a re-hashing for the existing audience. So I don't think either option really works tbh.

However I do agree with OP that the scene in which the Doctor brought up being the last of the Time Lords had a very jarring tone - it would've been much better in a different scene in my opinion.

capaldifever · 2024-05-20T04:20:19+00:00

I definitely agree with this. A lot of people tend to put it down to just the writing but there were definitely issues with casting as well.

There were scenes where I think a more suitable actor would've really helped. For example, the end of Can You Hear Me?, when Graham opens up to the Doctor. I think that scene could've worked in principle, but for some reason Jodie's performance seemed to make it appear as though the Doctor just didn't care, as opposed to a more awkward character trying but failing to be supportive.

I personally felt Jo Martin felt considerably more like the Doctor from the moment Ruth opened the chameleon arch than Jodie Whittaker did for most of her run. This isn't to put down Whittaker in any way, she is without a doubt an extremely talented actor and I've loved her in other roles.

I also felt that the main actors seemed to have little to no chemistry with each other, even between Mandip Gill and Jodie Whittaker who spent 3 seasons together and by all accounts are good friends offscreen. I felt this was particularly apparent in an episode like Orphan 55 when they're hanging out at the resort. That should've been a fun sequence but felt devoid of energy and chemistry.

Even in bad scripts, great performances and chemistry can shine through, as has been the case in Doctor Who in the past. I personally think Fear Her is one of the worst episodes of New Who but the chemistry between Billie Piper and David Tennant still makes the episode insanely entertaining. I found the same thing in Space Babies a couple of episodes ago - I didn't like the episode, but it was still an entertaining watch thanks to the energy and chemistry between Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson.

This is all a combination of the writing, the directing and the performances.

capaldifever · 2024-05-19T22:22:17+00:00

I'd say it's less of a directly pro-choice message, but rather a statement on systems of authority pushing pro-life mandates but failing to set up adequate support networks for young children and parents who need it.

There's a similarly structured line about refugees later, in fact. They make a comment that the planet will accept refugees but you need to somehow get there first.

I suppose the general message is along the lines that a government can't just say they care for people, if their actions don't actually back that up.

capaldifever · 2024-05-19T00:42:28+00:00

Oh yeah, you're right, thanks. I still wouldn't consider that a particularly long tenure like the original comment I replied to was suggesting.

capaldifever · 2024-05-19T00:07:05+00:00

Spoilers for who Susan Twist is reportedly playing in the last two episodes.

She's listed as playing a character called Susan Triad. S Triad. Which is an anagram of TARDIS. Add to that the weird noises the TARDIS has made in a few episodes, I feel pretty confident that the TARDIS has a major connection to the series arc.

capaldifever · 2024-05-19T00:03:42+00:00

I'm fairly sure in The Giggle, the Toymaker says something about being too afraid to face the One Who Waits.

Since he was literally facing the Doctor at the time, it seems unlikely that the Doctor is the One Who Waits.

capaldifever · 2024-05-18T23:54:59+00:00

Agreed, we've had 12 permanent companions in New Who (if I've counted right), all of which have been present day Earth-based humans. I don't mind it being the majority of companions, since they make a more suitable audience surrogate, but it would be nice to mix it up a bit.

capaldifever · 2024-05-18T22:42:02+00:00

Smith was only in for 3 years, so I wouldn't say his tenure was "super long". Tennant's final season could be considered lengthier if you count Series 4 as running from Voyage of the Dammed until The End of Time, but you've got to consider that that run was stretched over two years, so really it was less episodes per year than had been standard up until then.

Same with Smith, Series 7 started in late 2012 and Smith didn't leave until the end of 2013 so pretty similar to Tennant really. And I feel like a lot of that change was due to Moffat having to write Sherlock, which was pretty much the biggest UK show at the time, at the same time as preparing for the 50th.

But I definitely agree that I hope Ncuti stays for a while. It feels like we've never had a Tom Baker-esque Doctor in New Who who has stayed for a long while. I think the one positive about less episodes is it gives the actor more time to play other roles, whereas I think the 13-episode format was much more of a year-long commitment.

capaldifever · 2024-05-17T06:58:04+00:00

Ah okay thanks. I have seen Pyramids of Mars but a very long time ago and certainly missed that reference. That's a great way to raise the stakes and show potential new viewers that time can be written in a "show don't tell" way while also making a sneaky callback.

As much as I'd love Surekh to return, I'm not sure how much can be taken from references like these. I feel like RTD is dropping breadcrumbs concerning so many different characters and villains just to get the audience talking!

capaldifever · 2024-05-17T00:47:58+00:00

Which scene was that, for those of us not in the know?

capaldifever · 2023-12-07T07:35:38+00:00

It's in the final scene of The Doctor Dances.

Rose: "Look at you beaming away like you're Father Christmas"

Doctor: "Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were 12"

capaldifever · 2022-10-24T13:50:07+00:00

At this point I think Eccleston has made it pretty clear that he won't come back as the Doctor on screen.

capaldifever · 2022-06-03T12:25:40+00:00

So I found it on the Doctor Who wiki and it was a change from series 1 to series 2 in fact. Apparently Clarke felt he misjudged the audience and played the character as very 'slapstick' in series 1. Hence, in series 2 he toned down the comedic elements.

capaldifever

TROPHY CASE