Empire of Death – As the finale of Doctor Who begins, The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) yells for everyone to get out and away from Sutekh. Susan Triad (Susan Twist) begins blowing sand toward people and killing them. The Doctor flees with Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford). Meanwhile, Kate (Jemma Redgrave), Morris (Lenny Rush), and the others try to kill the monster in front of them. Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) questions why she can’t see her mother. Sutekh is not fazed by the bullets. It begins using dust to kill everyone. Kate tells The Doctor she’s singing off with love. She asks him to send the monster back to hell. Everyone in the room is turned to sand. Mel tells the Doctor there’s nothing they can do except fight.

They speed through the streets while being followed by a sandstorm. Warnings are sent out to evacuate the city immediately. Carla Sunday (Michelle Greenidge) questions what’s going on from her car. Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) instructs Cherry Sunday (Angela Wynter) to tell her maker she will come to storm down his gates of gold and seize his kingdom in her true name. They end up turning into sand along with Carla. The Doctor makes it back to Ruby and tells her they have worse problems than her mother. He enters the Tardis and notices something. The Doctor explains it’s a Tardis remembered and it’s feeding off of Ruby. She manages to activate it before Sutekh arrives. The Doctor says it’s the greatest monster he’s ever fought. He remembers sending Sutekh forward to his own death.

Sutekh says he found a home by clinging to his infernal machine. He’s traveled with The Doctor for all this time. Now, Sutekh can bend the machine to his will. He explains how he made the trap and placed angels of death across the universe. The Doctor insists he will stop Sutekh. He asks why Sutekh is not killing him since he’s an extinction event. The Doctor asks Sutekh if he’s ever felt so alive. The Doctor and the others run into the Tardis. He explains it’s bits and pieces of every Tardis that ever was. It’s all held together by hopes, wishes, and luck. The Doctor admits he doesn’t know if it can fly but it does. They soon learn that they’re on fire. Ruby asks if every Susan Triad was innocent. The Doctor says one would roll out every time the Tardis would land.

She had history and managed to fit right in everywhere because of the perception filter. Each time, the woman would get stronger. Ruby questions what Susan did since Sutekh called her the angel of death. The Doctor opens the Tardis and notices the dust of death is spreading all over the world. He isn’t sure there’s anything he can do. The Doctor believes everything is dead. Mel argues there are places he hasn’t been that should be safe. The Doctor isn’t sure about that. He blames himself. Sutekh says one thing persists. One thing keeps living and it’s greater than the time lord. It’s a secret the child carries with her. He’s adamant that he’ll find them. The Doctor approaches a woman in a tent to ask where they are but she doesn’t know.

The woman (Sian Clifford) gives him something to drink. She has a baby called Brindle Dee. She explains that memories are dying. The woman can’t remember much about the planet or her husband who was tall. She tells the Doctor about an opera house that was nearby and how people would come from all over to see it. When the Doctor asks for metal, the woman gives him a spoon. The Doctor believes he might save the universe with the spoon. The woman thinks her daughter died and she forgot. The Doctor thinks she did. The woman eventually turns into dust and disappears. The Doctor returns to the Tardis with the spoon. He uses it to find out that the machine is still connected to the Time Window. The Doctor and Mel talk about the time they met Einstein. Ruby asks why Sutekh attacked now when he was hidden for so long.

The screen shows a picture of her cloaked mother. The Doctor believes the images are reaching out to Ruby. He says Sutekh became visible outside the church. When he landed in the Tardis in 2004, he saw one thing beyond his comprehension. That thing was Ruby’s mother. The Doctor says the point is that they don’t know who she is. He believes Sutekh is keeping them alive to find the answer. Mel hears Sutekh speaking to her. Ruby grabs the console causing the interview with Roger Ap Gwilliam (Aneurin Barnard) to play. The Doctor wonders why it’s showing Roger when Ruby hasn’t met him. He realizes that DNA testing became compulsory for the entire population in the United Kingdom. Ruby’s mother would still be on the record. The Doctor wants to take them to 2046 to find out the identity of Ruby’s mother.

Sutekh seems to be controlling Melanie. She’s told to bring them to Sutekh and find the mother’s name. Once they arrive, The Doctor says he was in the building for the overthrow of Roger Ap Gwilliam. They go inside a room where the Doctor connected the device. The DNA list was locked away under top security. The Doctor quickly unlocks it. He tells Mel to keep watch because Sutekh’s servants could be anywhere. Once she steps outside, Sutekh tries to get her to submit to him. The Doctor and Ruby search for information about Ruby’s mother. It begins snowing. A DNA match is found before Mel tries to attack The Doctor. Mel demands the man. Ruby questions what it means. All three of them are transported to the Sutekh. The Doctor tries to negotiate with Sutekh who attacks him.

Ruby offers to give them the name if they leave the Doctor alone. She says she doesn’t understand. Ruby breaks the device and slings a leash around Sutekh. The Doctor puts on a glove and says he knew. He uses the whistle to control the Tardis. They attach the cord to the Tarids and try to send Sutekh into the vortex. The Doctor makes Sutekh restore life. He tells Ruby that they’re bringing life to the whole universe. The kind woman is shown with her baby. The Doctor says they fought a monster, but he must now become a monster. He tells Sutekh that he prides himself on being better than him and he must represent life. The Doctor shuts the doors to the Tardis cutting the rope. Everyone gathers at UNIT offices moments later. The Doctor tells Susan Triad that she is who she is.

The God of death created life. Kate tells Susan that UNIT could use her. Carla thanks the Doctor for bringing her back. The Vlinx (Aidan Cook) confirms DNA retrieval is 100%. Ruby learns that her mother Louise Alison Miller (Faye McKeever). She was 15 when she gave birth to Ruby and her stepfather was trouble. Kate believes Louise did the right thing getting her out of that house. Her father is William Benjamin Garnet who was also 15 at the time. Louise moved to Coventry at 18. She got a degree and works as a nurse. They talk about how she defeated Sutekh. The Doctor explains they give things significance. He reveals that Louise was pointing at the signpost saying “Ruby Road”. He believes she was naming Ruby at that point. The Doctor and Ruby follow Louise and learn more about her.

He thinks they should leave it alone because Louise made her choices. Ruby goes into the restaurant where Louise is sitting. She sits nearby and tries to get Louise’s attention. When she does, Louise looks at her. The worker calls Ruby’s name. Ruby tells Louise she was named after a road. She tells Louise that she left her by a church 19 years ago. Ruby thanks her. Louise ends up going home with Ruby to meet Carla and Cherry. As they continue talking, Ruby returns to the Tardis. She tells the Doctor she won’t be long. Ruby says they can go wherever he wants after that. She asks the Doctor to join them. Ruby learns that they found her dad too and he lives at the same address. The Doctor tells her that her life is out there now and her advantage is just beginning.

Ruby isn’t sure they’ll ever see each other again. The Doctor says he’ll see her again because she changed him. He says goodbye to her. Ruby goes back inside and the Tardis leaves. Mrs. Flood claims the Doctor’s story ends in absolute terror.

 

Doctor Who Review

This series of Doctor Who has been a roller coaster ride with some ups and many downs. In particular, Boom was easily the strongest episode of the series. The others were mostly forgettable. The finale, Empire of Death, had the right ideas but it didn’t click into place as it should’ve.

There were moments at the end where it’d be easy to get emotional about the reunion of Ruby and her mother, Louise. However, it just wasn’t as impactful as it could’ve been and the whole Sutekh showdown was fairly anticlimactic. At the very least, viewers should be able to see that the intentions were good and the idea was strong.

On the other hand, the first three-quarters of the episode were a little dull. The showdown with Sutekh and everything leading up to that really didn’t make any sense. Someone probably could analyze it and put the pieces together, but nothing about that aspect of the episode motivated me enough to do it.

Ruby and The Doctor were obviously never in any real danger, yet it was a bit of a copout to undo everything that happened prior to Sutekh’s murderous spree. There should be some action of consequence in the finale. As for the final reveal with Mrs. Flood, that just fell flat too.

We get that it’s just a gimmick to keep Ruby traveling through time with the Doctor, but it does little to hype the next series. Overall, this was a fairly forgettable episode. The best bits were Ruby learning about her mother and getting to know her somewhat although that’ll likely be forgotten when the time-traveling adventures return.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Doctor Who can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent voice at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying about Doctor Who here.