Season 15 Episode 7 of Doctor Who is a painfully underwhelming opener to a two-part finale that throws countless ideas into the air.
Showrunner: Russell T Davies
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Number of Episodes in Season 15 (also known as Season 2): 8
Episode 7 Release Date: May 24, 2025
Where to Watch: Disney+ (US & globally) / BBC iPlayer (UK)
Doctor Who has always been a fairly episodic show: even when there are subtle throughlines that bind seasons together, the episodes are typically very self-contained and allow audiences to jump in wherever they see fit without missing too much context. This is what’s made Doctor Who such a profitable show over the years, and it’s something that Season 15 Episode 7 seemingly forgets about this long-running sci-fi property.
“Wish World” is a very clumsy and scattered opener to this season’s two-part finale, bringing every conceivable loose thread from the previous episodes and throwing them together haphazardly without much direction or purpose.
The concept of “Wish World” is admittedly an interesting one: The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Belinda (Varada Sethu) wake up in an alternate reality with no memories of their true selves, living as a married couple with a young baby named Poppy (Sienna Robyn Mavanga-Phipps). As the pair slowly begin to doubt their existence, the cracks in this new reality grow clearer and hints of the real world start bleeding through. Meanwhile, The Rani (Archie Panjabi) works alongside Conrad (Jonah Hauer-King) to get the Doctor’s attention and set their devious plan into motion.
The main problem with Season 15 Episode 7 of Doctor Who is that for the majority of the runtime, the audience has no idea what’s happening and none of the clues seem to lead anywhere. It’s clear that something is wrong with the Doctor’s world, and that Conrad and The Rani are behind it, but the details are never really explained until the final moments. And those moments are filled with messy exposition and repetitive dialogue that’s becoming an unfortunate trademark of recent Doctor Who finales. This whole story feels like an underwhelming setup for the real story that’s coming next week, and that’s a huge waste of time for an otherwise exciting idea.
Thankfully, Panjabi does an excellent job of bringing The Rani back to Doctor Who after more than thirty years. Her performance is delectably camp in a way that’s very reminiscent of Kate O’Mara’s original take on the character from 1985’s “The Mark of the Rani”, toying with the Doctor’s emotions in a way that only another Time Lord could possibly achieve. However, it rarely feels like “Wish World” is taking advantage of this iconic character’s return to its full potential: audiences have rallied around The Rani coming back to Doctor Who for decades, and now that it’s finally happened, it seems like she’s merely acting in service of another returning villain. There’s just so much happening in this story that nothing is developed fully, and that’s a huge shame given how excited Doctor Who fans were to see these ideas.
Episode 7 of Doctor Who is what happens when a show gets too concerned with leaving clues and hints throughout previous episodes without ever considering how these clues are going to pay off in the end. It feels like “Wish World” exists solely to answer any lingering questions (many of which weren’t even necessary in the first place) before actually getting to the central mystery in next week’s The Reality War. There are several brief cameos that serve little purpose, callbacks to previous episodes that don’t directly connect to this one, and character decisions that feel forced to make the story move in a certain direction.
When Doctor Who’s previous season was announced with Russell T. Davies taking over as showrunner, the vast majority of the marketing was assembled around the idea of this being a perfect place for new audiences to get into the show. It was supposed to be a soft reboot, with new characters and original stories that didn’t require too much context to understand. “Wish World” is the complete opposite of that: a story that feels like it was written exclusively for returning fans (thanks to that major reveal at the end), but one that’s forced to remain accessible to newcomers and constantly feels like it’s holding itself back as a result.
This has been a major problem with the new Doctor Who era, and “Wish World” is such disheartening evidence that this trope isn’t going anywhere. Newcomers to Doctor Who don’t care about classic villains like The Rani, or Sutekh, or The Trickster, and long-time fans don’t want to see their favourite characters’ returns muddled with endless exposition and context. It’s such a strange way of handling the show’s legacy, and it leaves audiences questioning exactly who this show is for anymore – its obsession with the past means it’s clearly not the reboot it marketed itself as, but the writing and storytelling don’t feel anything like the previous eras of the show.
Doctor Who Season 15 Episode 7: “Wish World” Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
The Doctor and Belinda wake up in The Rani’s alternate universe, where Conrad Clarke has imposed his skewed perception of reality upon the people of London. As the Doctor slowly regains his memory, the villainous Time Lady begins to put her world-ending plan into motion.
Pros:
- A unique atmosphere that has a very socially charged message.
- Major character appearances that long-time fans will appreciate.
- An entertaining performance from Archie Panjabi as The Rani.
Cons:
- Dense and overstuffed writing that feels like nothing but exposition for the upcoming finale.
- Rushed cameos and callbacks that don’t add anything to the story.
- A continuing reliance on nostalgia that proves Doctor Who’s era can’t sustain the concept of a soft reboot.
Episode 7 of Season 15 (also known as Season 2) of Doctor Who, named “Wish World” is now available to stream globally on Disney+, and on the BBC iPlayer in the U.K.
