The Fifteenth Doctor

His time as the Doctor was short-lived. Honestly I could have done with more Ncuti Gatwa, but for one reason or another there were only two seasons featuring the Fifteenth Doctor. While rewatching his stories on Disney Plus, waiting for news of whatever comes next, I figured it was as good a time as any to highlight this fantastic Doctor.

Series 14

Top Story: Dot and Bubble
Going into this episode, it appeared at a first glance to be about reliance on technology. First the absolutely pathetic inability of Lindy to walk five feet without assistance. The monster of this story was literally born out of AI learning to hate its users (this is why I try to include "please" and "thank you" when using ChatGPT). The cherry on top is the impact of racism in this story. Upon rewatch, you can see hints of prejudice... but to deny yourself saving because of prejudice... it blows me away.

Flop Story: The Devil’s Chord
On the heels of the Toymaker returning, RTD expanded his Pantheon to include a "god" of music. Maestro could have been a really good villain... but the episode just can across as cheesy and annoying to me. Especially with unnecessary "twist at the end".

Honorable Mention: The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death
The resolution of this story was basically the definition of Deus Ex Machina. Even as I rewatched, I'm not sure I completely understand the pseudo-science of how the Doctor defeated Sutekh by pulling him through the time stream. But regardless of how, the fact is that this story brought back a relatively minor villain (only appeared in one story of the Fourth Doctor era) and made him ferociously scary (modern CGI definitely helped with that).

Series 15

Top Story: Lucky Day
Irony that again my favorite story is one that barely features the Doctor. A good Doctor-lite story hits just right. Also I love seeing what happened to companions after leaving the TARDIS (like Martha in "The Sontaran Stratagem" or Sarah Jane in "School Reunion"). And what a villain! Conrad is the worst kind of creature: a prideful human. I wanted to like him, having seen Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and in "A Dog's Way Home". But this episode shows what incredible range the actor has, portraying such a detestable villain.

Flop Story: The Well
I wanted so badly to love this episode. And I didn't hate it. But for a return of the Midnight entity, I wanted more. Also I didn't feel like the creature (whatever it was) behaved the same as during "Midnight" (granted it had been thousands of years). I don't know. When I heard the Midnight villain was back, I expected more.

Honorable: Wish World/The Reality War
As if the reveal and bigeneration of the Rani weren't enough, this story brought back two detestable villains: Omega and Conrad. The detestable man and the prideful Time Lord. However, like the season finale before... deus ex machina. And the claim that Time Lords can't have kids... that feels more controversial than the Timeless Child. Add to that forcing regeneration to save Belinda's fictious child... I don't know. Maybe RTD will make it feel right with the next Doctor?.

COMPANIONS:

Ruby The Church on Ruby Road - Empire of Death
Belinda     The Robot Revolution - The Reality War

Favorite Companion: I think my favorite thing about Ruby is how well she did on her own. "73 Yards" showed her determination and resilience (even if I don't completely understand what happened). Despite being traumatized in "Lucky Day", she bravely stood up against Conrad. And in "Wish World"/"The Reality War" she played an important part in getting the world back to reality. 

Least Favorite Companion: There was nothing wrong with Belinda until the very end. Her fixation with Poppy and the Doctor's forced regeneration to bring the little girl back kind of bugged me. As a parent, I can appreciate the grief. But Poppy wasn't real before reality was tampered with... so Belinda needed to grieve. That's important and human too. Until that point, Belinda was a nice change of pace, being a companion stuck with the Doctor instead of being infatuated with his adventures.

We don't know what's happening next with Doctor Who (except that there'll be next year's Christmas special and more to follow--Can't wait to see what Billie Piper is up to) but I'll happily rewatch whatever is available. Currently trying to catch up with TJ for our podcasting adventures. And we have The War Between the Land and the Sea to explore. Allons-y!  

More Content You Might Like:

• "10 Times the Doctor Visited America" by Spencer
• "Who is the Rani?" by Spencer
• "Friday Creature Feature - Sutekh" by Spencer