Doctor Who: Empire of Death

 “Is this thing safe?”

“Absolute deathtrap, Melanie B.”

I was going to do a separate blog post for the Tales of the TARDIS thing for Pyramids of Mars but, well, there’s not much to it. We have some extra Egypt stock footage, some mildly redone effects, and a very short prologue and epilogue with the Doctor and Ruby wonder what the Dickens they’re going to do about Sutlekh. He’s unstoppable, he’s evolved into a “titan”… and that’s it. Presumably it takes place at some point during the episode in that remembered TARDIS while Mel is off doing something?

So on to the episode itself. I watched it at 7am this morning. Since then I’ve had a 200 mile drive and a day spent in full-on dad mode. I’m aware, as hours have passed, that opinion seems to be divided, much as I’ve tried to avoid others’ thought until I’ve blogged mine. Yet I can see how this episode could be fairly criticised: Sutekh destroys all life in the universe, is defeated by a clever trick, everyone is brought back to life with the press of a reset button, and Ruby’s mum was a massive red herring.

And yet… for me, the emotional and storytelling beats were fantastic. I bloody loved this finale. So let’s get into why. This may take a while.

We begin with what at first seems to be the destruction of UNIT with Sutekh’s Dust of Death- Kate Lethbridge-Stewart’s death is played like a big, stoic, dramatic moments and packs a punch. Yet it’s soon clear that the dust is spreading across London. The Doctor, Ruby and Mel escape in the TARDIS… and they can see, through the TARDIS doors, as the dust covers the whole planet. Earth is utterly sterilised. Other than them, there will soon be no one.

We get an interesting scene with Cherry and Mrs Flood, who seemed so creepy last episode but, if you recall, I suspected she may turn out to be an example of the creepy red herring trope- the apparently sinister character who turns out to be benevolent. I see nothing here to change my mind. Mrs Flood sees what’s coming, sighs, says she had “such plans” and hugs Cherry as both become dust. It’s a fascinating scene. And one which suggests to me that, whoever Mrs Flood is, and we may or may not like her agenda… but she’s no Big Bad.

We get some exposition from Sutekh, Gabriel Woolf still sounding spellbounding at ninety-one years of age. It seemed Sutekh hitched a ride on the TARDIS back in 1911 and has been there ever since, slowly setting a trap, the TARDIS now his forever. Yet somehow, very much light shaded by the Doctor, Sutekh seems to be sparing Ruby, Mel and himself.. why? It may all feel a little neat, but all of this is utterly compelling.

So they escape in the TARDIS from the reconstruction of that night on Ruby Road… a “remembered TARDIS”. Is this the explanation for what we see in Tales of the TARDIS? Because I still don’t understand how it all fits together, but no matter.

What does matter is that it isn’t just Earth, it’s everywhere: dead, sterile, lifeless. The Doctor speaks of Venus; Telos; Karen: the Ood Sphere; Skaro. Everywhere and every when the Doctor has visited, dead because he visited. An unbearable weight on anyone’s conscience: “I thought it was fun.” Ncuti Gatwa plays the Doctor’s anguish with such exquisite force. 

Millie Gibson is quite wonderful in this sequence, but do is Bonnie Langford, who really gets material to make Mel shine as she never could way back when, and rises with aplomb to the opportunity.

It all comes back to Ruby’s mother, the all-powerful secret that Sutekh wants. It seems he’s won, but this is his downfall. This… and a spoon. The scene of the Doctor and the poor forgetful lady in the tent who has somehow survived longer … yes, there’s subtext here that I’m not getting, isn’t there?

Yet the Doctor has a spoon… and we get some more exposition and unexpected references to 73 Yards. I’m not sure any of that episode’s ambiguities are explained, beyond the significance of that distance, but nor did they need to be. The secret of Ruby’s birth mother is found, while Mel becomes a horrifying looking servant of Sutekh. All looks bleak.. until the Doctor’s plan unfolds. It’s deeply satisfying, earned, and hits all the emotional beats, including the Doctor’s regret at having no choice but to kill Sutekh. And yes, everyone is resurrected… but the emotional beats are exquisite. And it all happened. 

That Ruby’s mum is just normal is… perfect. Ordinary, good but flawed people are as important as powerful godlike beings. And the scenes where Ruby finds and gets to know her birth mother are… utterly wonderful.

And so, with this all going on, the Doctor leaves for a while. He promises Ruby he’ll be back. He tends not to do this… but this time we believe him.

Oh, and Ruby’s parting words to the Doctor are “I love you”. Oh RTD, you give us the feels in ways Chibnall never could.

And we end… with a narration from a rather different Mrs Flood- her true self, whoever she is? To be continued, clearly. All else for this season is wrapped up: Mrs Flood is for next year. And all is foreboding…

This is television with heart, scares, thrills, all the things we’ve missed for so long. I loved every second of this.