One missed opportunity: instead of basing the world around Conrad, the Rani should have just gone and grabbed Dugga Doo from the song contest, and based the world around it insteadâŚ
18 Likes
I enjoyed it, but waiting to rate it till part two drops
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iirc, Tecteun first experimented on herself with the Timeless Childâs regeneration effect, so thatâs probably not the case. As I realised earlier in the thread, I think itâs referring to Omega being the one who first experimented with time travel, thus giving him that title.
10 Likes
Itâs a good episode. Reminded me of Pyramid at the End of the World and Lie of the Land which made it more interesting. Was a bit confused when we first saw the Doctor and Belinda but I saw the leaks about it so it wasnât super confusing. I love the new Rani already. Her scene at the beginning was amazing. The camp scene felt a bit odd at times. Some lines felt out of place.
Was not expecting Rogueâs cameo and I hope heâll come back next season but thatâs probably not going to happen. Did wonder why she wanted to tell the Doctor who he actually was but it made sense after she revealed her plan. Unfortunately, I was spoiled with Omega. I wouldâve enjoyed the reveal a lot more if I wasnât. Thought the God of Wishes was the third member but was a bit surprised when he wasnât. Why does a lot of stuff get leaked? Wouldâve made some episodes more enjoyable without them.
9 Likes
Also, I really hope Poppy isnât related to the Doctor after hearing his last line. I donât like that at all. I hope itâs referring to Susan.
8 Likes
A day later and my initial reaction of a 5/5 
first part of a two-parter story hasnât changed a bit.
Amazing episode, I had so much fun!
Orwellian society scenarios are my jam 
Not knowing anything about episodes going in will be my new norm.
Someone inadvertently let slip in a no leaks topic here that The Well was rumoured to be a Midnight sequel and it lessened the impact of that reveal to me immensely.
Here when they mentioned Omega I had such a WHAT? moment, and it made me so happy.
Mel popping up also just made me smile so much.
(Donât tell anyone but I am starting to really get on board with the Kate and Ibrahim will-they-wonât-they romance )
16 Likes
Just a thought 12 hours later. Weâre definitely getting the RTD reset button returning next week.
9 Likes
Watched it again with my mum and god itâs even worse the second time.
- The concept of a 1984esque dystopian world the doctor and companion have to break free from is a great idea, but now was absolutely not the time for it with So Much to build and wrap up this season.
- Introducing the main wish god mcguffin so last minute with zero build up is unsatisfying as hell.
- Same with the Omega reveal, that just felt like a plot twist for the sake of a plot twist, and continues to alienate new viewers with name dropping classic characters without the much needed build up/context like YANA/The Master was
- Not thrilled at the Raniâs characterisation and frankly, donât have high hopes for Susan or Omega at this rate
- Shirleyâs plot line was pure virtue signalling i hate to say it: it ended up contributing nothing to the plot and having her say âyou donât look disabledâ was uhhh Not Great, considering a) invisible disabilities are very much a thing and that line is ignorant and offensive as hell to those of us and b) they literally spent half an episode exploring Ruby having PTSD
- Rogueâs acting was painful to watch, like go girl, give us nothing
- How in the absolute â â â â is this going to be even partially wrapped up next week. Empire of Death had like half the amount of characters/plots to resolve and we all know how badly that turned out
- I set my expectations low and RTD managed to limbo right under them
10 Likes
Did you use your dictionary to figure out what laptop is in Finnish, or do you have another Finnish friend somewhere? 
I think itâs great if it makes people curious about the old episodes and makes them want to check them out! Justice for Classic Who!
@BillFiler giving full marks to an RTD finale?!? I never thought Iâd see this day! I actually believed the Series 10 soundtrack would finally see the light of day before that happened, but apparently not.
11 Likes
Sadly, I currently donât have time to read all the posts or participate meaningfully in the discussions here. Using a brief window of time, Iâve at least skimmed whatâs new in the forum, and after reading your post I want to sayâIâm almost completely with you.
For me, thereâs just one caveat: how it fits with the rest of the season. As a standalone or special, Iâd give it a solid 5/5.
However, even though it aligns with the âfactsâ of the season (and the previous one), from a storytelling perspective, I feel there wasnât enough connective or transitional material to bridge the narrative more smoothly. I guess I wouldnât expect that if it were a standalone. But embedded within the season, with the existing context, my brainâthough in a way thatâs hard to pinpointâexpects a smoother (?) storytelling transition.
That said, itâs a minor gripe. Still a strong 9/10 for me.
12 Likes
I have about 10 minutes left of a rewatch just now, and I stand by it! 
Love, love, love the new Rani 
8 Likes
Itâs great in theory but as folks have already discussed thereâs better ways to do it that are less confusing to new viewers
5 Likes
I think it was good last year how they combined it with a Tales of the TARDIS episode so at least people were well signposted to find out more about Sutekh.
Why no ToTT for The Rani or Omega?
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Tbf an Omega one already exists, but itâs weird they havenât pushed or marketed it by saying theyâll reairing it 
And no Rani one is odd entirely yeah
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There was for Omega but it was over 18 months ago.
Also, is Tales of the TARDIS available outside the UK?
6 Likes
Not as far as Iâm aware 
6 Likes
I enjoyed the set up for this, although I was a little less keen on the Brothers Grimm part of it. The modern day part looked great with the fifties aesthetic, which fits so well with the far right idea that everything was better in the old days. I loved the touches like the cupboard full of identical mugs and the wheelie bins full of broken mugs. It was nice to see Bonnie back, even though she was woefully underused. The old style bank office was a lovely look for UNIT and it was good to see Susan Twist back.
I thought the story itself was a little lacking, but it was beautifully realised. Even I was beginning to tire of the call backs to the past, but I think Iâve figured out that it isnât fan service thatâs driving RTD to include them; itâs him selling the back catalogue thatâs available on Disney+ and iPlayer. I suspect it might have been part of the deal to generate as much interest as possible in the existing content to drive more streaming hours.
The end of the world has been advertised all season, so itâs not all that surprising that it happened, or that the whole of reality is threatened once more. We will therefore have another reset or reboot of the world or the universe or whatever, which gives me Empire of Death vibes. I just hope that the reset lands a little better than last seasonâs did.
I think the sublime direction and acting lifted this for me. Story-wise Iâd have gone 6/10, but the execution bumped it up to an 8 for me.
One final thought: If the Mrs Flood version of the Rani is still hanging around, does that mean weâre in for an appearance by the fourteenth Doctor as well? Iâm torn as to whether this would be awful or awesome, but, on balance, would rather it didnât happen.
9 Likes
There havenât been Rani ToTT episodes for probably the same reason The Celestial Toymaker didnât get made into one: It would be seen (in general) as a step-down in quality compared to the other episodes, which represent highlights from their respective eras and seasons.
I mean, I get that Mark Of The Rani and Time And The Rani have their fans, but theyâre not considered canonical classics like Pyramids Of Mars or Earthshock or even Vengeance On Varos.
6 Likes
Further supporting the theory that Omega doesnât actually appear in the finale.
9 Likes
Then if you think about it itâs even more bananas that thereâs no outlet other than the show itself dropping a bucketful of lore for these new viewers who jumped on like it wanted to.
Particularly as many of those viewers will be international.
The Rani has had quite a presence on (donât forget to click below and subscribe to) the official Doctor Who YouTube channel but, again, Iâm not sure how new viewers friendly any of this is even taking that into account.
My other half is a good gauge and sheâs beginning to zone out entirely. She avidly watched right up until the 60th and couldnât wait for Ncuti and since then has been noticeably uninterested, coupled with frustration because she was so looking forward to a Ncuti Doctor.
Now I donât think thatâs entirely down to feeling left out as a non-fan of the classic series but I did ask and she said it plays a part.
Context for the Rani and Omega has come from asking me, which she said she shouldnât have to do if the episode has done its job properly. She said she didnât need to ask who the Master was and she gets it when previous Doctors show up.
Itâs an odd thing, it really is. Many of the casual fans I know seem to be feeling a bit left out of a party from what I can tell.
15 Likes