Ugh, enough with the James Kirk already. This show has such a nerd hard-on, they're contradicting the original series just to crowbar very specific pet TOS elements in.

1. In "The menagerie", pt 1, Kirk explicitly states he only met Pike the once when he was made Fleet Captain.
2. In "Arena", Kirk first meets "a creature apparently called a Gorn". He has no idea what they are, nor does Spock, McCoy, Chapel or anybody else who (according to SNW) met them before bother to give him advice.

Not that it matters, it's clearly a completely different species from the alligator Xenomorphs in the current show.

Twice already they've concocted absurd time paradoxes so that Kirk could become vErY iMpOrTaNt to SNW crew without breaking canon, but by now they don't seem to care anymore.

I'm at a point where I'm watching current Star trek once only for the occasional, non-TOS related character moments, and then never again. I could live with the Disco Klingons, but this is utter bullshit.

Oh, that's a lovely easter egg for those who read through to the footer. And if the Internet Explorer banner wasn't obviously sarcastic before, it sure is now, three years after the browser reached end of support 🤣

I was kinda partial to the last update in "Legend of the sea devils", even if the episode itself was shit. But I can't really argue against this revision since I've praised the Discovery Klingons in the past...

Emotional payoffs — yeah, there needs to be a balance with narrative logic (even when that hinges on the Doctor being a rule-breaking smartass, or his companion suddenly acquiring superpowers) and both "Empire of death" and "Reality war" capsized a bit.

Belinda being Poppy's mum all along — we saw her living in that depressing flatshare in "Robot revolution", though. And why would Mundy Flynn's ancestor be the mother of Captain Poppy's spitting image? I really feel this (and probably the previous) season would have benefited from a good script doctor once-over before going into production...

By the time the show airs again she'll only be a TARDIS trip away, and look suspiciously like Jo Martin /s

their species as a whole is infertile

So, deep lore dive — in the Wilderness years novels the Time Lords were apparently depicted as infertile after a split in society that essentially exiled a mystical matriarchy that had been in power. IIRC those eventually turned into the Sisterhood of Karn?

But as a result Gallifreyans started reproducing through looms, basically Space Baby Factories. That has gone pretty much disregarded since 2005 when the show returned to the screen, but for some reason RTD seems to have doubled down on it, at least in subtext like the Rani's comment about infertility and, well — "Space babies"?

— Poppy is 100% human. — What else would she be? ::: spoiler Poppy blooper — Doctor Who! :::

Damn right she is, this is now canon!

I'm leaning toward your last interpretation. Gatwa went on a talk show late last year and said he expected to shoot season 3 this year. Between then and now it must have become clear that that wasn't going to happen. And I'm fairly sure the BBC wouldn't sign him for more seasons than they had locked in on the production schedule.

Edit: delightfully, it was the Graham Norton Show that Ncuti was on.

"Don't you think he looks tired?"

Words that sunk both Harriet Jones' and Christopher Eccleston's careers.

I will remain neutral until the show airs. What the teaser shows of an actual story is pretty rudimentary, and it's really all about the execution of the plot.

On a lore level, I don't mind particularly that they changed up the sea devil designs, but twice in the same miniseries? I'm talking about the bug-eyed reptilian version we see briefly in the beginning, and of course Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Salt.

It seems a stretch to expect us to believe they're even the same species, unless the former turns out to be a war helmet, like with the Silurians in "The hungry earth". That was another big switch in appearance from classic Who, but that one paid off.

Also, plastering the POC lead in makeup and prosthetics to signify otherness? Ugh, I feel like this is going to be perceived in the future much like we cringe at black and yellowface.

I had to put off this episode to watch it fresh with my partner, so Sunday was a bit of a spoiler minefield. I'd heard about the Billie Piper rumour, and of course that was confirmed to me by some rando who couldn't be arsed using content warnings on Mastodon before I could watch the finale.

Nevertheless, I went into it with an open mind and two expectations only: 1. To be fairly entertained for an hour, and 2. That the Susan plot would get tied up somehow. At least one of those happened!

There were more emotional payoffs here than actually narrative ones — this is not my favourite finale mode for Doctor Who, but I come prepared with plenty suspension of disbelief. It was lovely seeing Anita again, for starters. Was it mainly as a deus ex machina? Sure, but someone had to save the Doctor off that balcony.

The (definite article) Rani continues to chew up the scenery deliciously. It was no problem finding the Doctor, "I just had to look for a blonde human". Well, we have two more of those popping up unexpectedly before the show is over!

It made sense that focus shifted from the "unholy trinity" after that, because how could they live up to the threat they'd been set up as. So the larger fish eats the smaller one, and a third just swims away.

I do have a feeling that Davies doesn't do rewrites except to up the tempo so nobody notices the weaknesses while the story flashes by. Omega is a giant handpuppet, quick! Defeat him so we can get to the baby story! Without the cosmic context, Conrad's story ended as it reasonably should —with a firm talking to, and Ruby wishing him happiness. Off you pop, gammon boy.

As adorable as Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps is, I did have trouble following the Poppy story. She's the Doctor's and Belinda's wish child, got it. But when Conrad's spell is lifted, they still love her as their own ...okay? And then she's gone and they don't, but Ruby (who last episode insisted Poppy wasn't their child) has to set them straight. Again, it comes down to speed of delivery and suspension of disbelief, otherwise this comes apart before your eyes.

By then we pretty much know what's going to happen. Ncuti Gatwa is definitely off, and this is going to be his last hurrah. It's one of those emotional signals that Davies actually does well, even when the story context doesn't have the same impact. And then —

I swear I clapped and whooped when Jodie Whittaker entered the TARDIS. What a treat of a moment, to have those two paired up!

And finally, a sitdown with Belinda in a new timeline where she's now (and somehow always was) happily Poppy's mum and the Doctor can wash his hands of paternity. That was convenient, but again: It primarily plays on an emotional level to give Belinda and 15 their farewell.

And finally, finally — the Piper moment. What the hell? I'm sort of glad I had this spoiled, because otherwise I might have been really upset that we get another gimmick regeneration as the show goes on hiatus.

I'll be honest, I'm not a Rose Tyler fan. We've been rewatching the 2005 show recently, and I was low key thrilled to see her go after series 2. But this probably, hopefully, won't be Rose again, and Piper is a good actor in other roles; nor, I note, is she credited here as the Doctor.

All in all, this episode was a ripping emotional yarn while it was playing, but once all the moving parts settle down you sort of see they weren't connected in any satisfactory way. Why were we expected to care about Poppy again? Why was Susan setup for a no-show? What in the ever loving hell was the point of having Omega in there?

It's especially a letdown after such a great season where Sethu, Gatwa, and Panjabi really shone. The Doctor may not like endings, which is good because Russell Davies kind of sucks at writing them. Particularly in season finales he tends to overwhelm the viewer rather than actually tie up the story. It's event upon event upon event without resolution, and this is a shining example of when it doesn't work.

So we as viewers go into an uncertain couple of years on the bum note of an amazing lead actor who never really got to flex his skills, the Doctor's first companion who may now never have a chance to return, and an absolutely ridiculous cliffhanger.

As the Rani said in the beginning of "Wish world":

"Hoot hoot, quack quack. Bye bye!"

it can all be done with a synthesizer

I bet that's more or less how Murray Gold made it in the first place 🙂 It was certainly turned into a flawless loop in no time for the endless live feed.

I'm actually surprised how well this works... It's not as good as either original tune, but for a mashup or soundalike, it's not bad.

It's truly hypnotising!

Pond harder

That cuts both ways. As an occasional teacher, I try to teach the syllabus but students keep asking, "is there going to be a test?" or "will this be in the exam?"

I'm not blaming students per se, but educational systems that focus, as you say, on tests to gauge student performance. If you're primed to only adopt short term knowledge for the purpose of passing an exam, I'm not sure how much you'll really retain afterward.

Also, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are confirmed to be part of the 20th anniversary special!

Return of the Ponds!

I still don't have a clue how much we're going to see of Omega. Seems there are so many other pieces set up in "Wish world" and, oh, the last two seasons.

With so much going on, even in 66 minutes, Omega could turn out just a background threat about to surface during the entire finale, and eventually stopped from doing so. But I could be wrong.

Missy living her best, ridiculously chaotic life 😄

TBF, I think this stands out in terms of production as it was an informal 25th anniversary serial. Hence the return to 1963 Totter's Lane, and the peculiar meta moment when the BBC's new science fiction show is introduced on TV...