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Newsweek
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
REVIEW: Doctor Who Wish World has Excitement and Surprises in All the Right Places
Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors Say what you will about RTD, but the man knows how to give us an awesome cliffhanger. Last week, I questioned whether revealing Mrs Flood's true identity as the Rani so early was the right decision, and it turns out that yes, yes it was. Last season, Sutekh's reveal served as the penultimate episode's cliffhanger, and he was a simple enough villain that we didn't need that much screentime with him to "get it" — once you've established a villain as the god of death, you don't need to cover much more ground. The Rani is different. Simply being a Time Lord immediately makes her an interesting villain that we want to see as much of as possible, especially after fans have been hoping to see her return to the modern era of the show for 20 years. Archie Panjabi has an incredible screen presence, whether she's bossing about her other self or weaving a tale around the Doctor's mind, it's enthralling to watch her command every scene she's in. The Doctor in a pinstripe suit and bowler hat. The Doctor in a pinstripe suit and bowler hat. BBC That said, I do have some quibbles about her characterization, as she's in danger of feeling like a "Master-lite" Time Lord, which is what I was worried about. When you've already got one evil Time Lord that's very well established in the modern era, you can't have the Rani feel like the same thing, and while the scene where she's pulling the Doctor into her trap helped her feel very different, some of the things she does – like bringing a disco ball down from the roof of her palace to dance with the Doctor – strays a little too close to that Master madness for my liking. I'm also still not sure having her Bigenerate from the Mrs Flood Rani was the right call, though I think that thread will come much more to the forefront in the finale next week. In this episode, Mrs Flood is just sort of there, occasionally commenting on the action but mostly just standing around in the background. From the few lines she has, the episode is clearly trying to endear us to her, so I look forward to her inevitable face-turn next week. One character who I'm desperately hoping doesn't get the face-turn treatment is Conrad, especially after this episode continued to go out of its way to establish him as the worst human being to ever live. After making him so easily detestable in Lucky Day, I don't like how this episode casts him as more of a prisoner, and I'm hoping this is the lead-up to making a point about the nutjobs who scream on Twitter about what would make the world better realizing they don't actually want that world once they get it. That said, using Conrad as the central cause behind the warped version of reality that we see in this episode is brilliant. While it was never actually said in Lucky Day, I think we all imposed several horrific beliefs, like extreme homophobia and ableism, onto Conrad, and this episode brought that to the forefront. Showing us this overly sterilized world full of 1950s nuclear families with working husbands and obedient housewives, only to later reveal that it's the ideal world Conrad wished into existence, was fantastic. Conrad sitting in a chair in a palace reading a book titled "Doctor Who". Conrad sitting in a chair in a palace reading a book titled "Doctor Who". BBC The scene where the Doctor casually describes another man as beautiful – something he does at least three times an episode – only for said man to completely freak out about it both deepens how uncomfortable we feel in this fake world, and gives us a glimpse into Conrad's psyche. It also makes a thematically satisfying moment when the Doctor's doomed-by-the-narrative boyfriend from last season is the one to reach out and help break him out of the fake reality. Rogue's appearance is a great example of another thing that I loved in this episode: surprises. This episode had a bunch of moments that caught me off guard in the best way. Rogue's return was one, but most impressive to me was the baby doing the Pantheon of Discord's laugh. We've seen several of those reveals over the past couple of seasons, and this is the first one that actually got me. I did not think the Pantheon would factor into this year's finale, and I'm excited to see how this baby god of wishes factors into next week's episode. The twist behind the purpose of trapping the Doctor in this fake reality was great too, and puts a Doctor Who-branded spin on a classic trope. As soon as we see we're in a false world, we immediately begin to root for our heroes to break out of it, we see the moments where they doubt the world around them, and want them to push against it. So it makes for a great reveal when the Rani shows that she was using those doubts as energy to fuel her plan and unleash Omega. It helps with the characterization problem I mentioned earlier, as it helps remind us that she is someone who understands the Doctor's mind and is able to use it against him. The two versions of the Rani and Conrad standing in the Rani's palace. The two versions of the Rani and Conrad standing in the Rani's palace. BBC So then we're left with our final reveal and cliffhanger: Omega is coming. Much like when Sutekh returned last season, this is a classic villain that I'd be willing to bet most modern fans don't know that much about, and I think that's a good thing. As we saw with Sutekh, it gives RTD a lot of room to reinvent the villain, keeping a few core tenets but redesigning just about everything else about them, and I'm looking forward to seeing what a modern incarnation of the first Time Lord looks like. Also – and I can't believe I'm saying this – but it also opens the door for the best use of the Timeless Child storyline to date, and I hope RTD goes for it. As soon as Chibnall's era came along and tore this catastrophic hole in the fabric of Doctor Who lore, I could imagine RTD sitting there coming up with ways to sew it back together, and maybe it's just the agent of chaos inside me, but I want to see him try. Still, I think it is an undeniably interesting concept in the lore. The Timeless Child storyline told us that the Doctor is the being from which the power of the Time Lords was distilled and created, so how does that interact with the being that was supposedly the very first Time Lord to ever exist? Mrs Flood in a police officer's uniform getting into a car. Mrs Flood in a police officer's uniform getting into a car. BBC The fact that it raises all of these questions is exactly what makes this such a fantastic cliffhanger. I've ranted about this before, so I'll keep it short, but I hate it when the show gives us "How will the Doctor get out of this one!" cliffhangers, because we all know that they'll get out of the immediate danger within thirty seconds of the next episode. What makes a cliffhanger so juicy is how game-changing it is to the stakes of the story, rather than how close our heroes are to imminent death. So, having Omega rise up with the power of the Rani behind him as the Doctor falls into an under-dimension of mystery leaves you with a thousand unanswered questions that make next week's finale unmissable. I said I was going to make that short, turns out I lied, but here we are. Like a lot of Doctor Who Part 1s, this episode will ultimately only be remembered for how well Part 2 delivers on what it sets up, but for what it's worth, I think Wish World does a fantastic job of putting all the pieces in place for a thrilling finale, hitting us with plenty of surprises on the way to make it an extremely memorable episode in its own right.
Metro
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Doctor Who fans are certain they've worked out this season's big twist
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Doctor Who fans think they have figured out the shocking twist in the season finale as the Doctor faces off against The Rani. The two-part finale kicks off with Wish World on Saturday as Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) and The Rani (Archie Panjabi) enact their plan that will destroy the Earth on May 24 (as ominously delivered by a holographic Graham Norton). Lucky Day conspiracy theorist Conrad (Jonah Hauer King) has been recruited to join their nefarious schemes and we know there is still one more foe lying in wait to complete this Unholy Trinity. When Mrs Flood revealed her true identity during the mid-credit scene after The Interstellar Song Contest and bi-generated, she quickly fell in step behind Archie Panjabi's 'upgraded' version. And in a sneak peek for the new episode we see Mrs Flood continue her servile persona as The Rani's punching bag after she quips that the imagery of being sprung from Mrs Flood's loins is the 'most disgusting thing she's ever heard'. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Now, up until this point, Mrs Flood has shown her nefarious side (lulling us into believing she would be a key nemesis at the end of this season). Whether through her terrifying speech to Cherry at the end of season one or her conniving plans to release Conrad from jail – plenty of fans have expressed their surprise at her sudden change in demeanour. As such, some Whovians believe we've not see the end of Mrs Flood's scheming and, provoked by The Rani's dismissive attitude, she'll turn against herself in a last minute twist to bring down her counterpart. In one theory posed by Reddit user Slight-Ad-4442, they wrote: 'We're all thinking that the new Rani is the evil one, but perhaps that's the point. Mrs Flood seems like a nice old lady but really is the more ruthless of the two.' And then took the theory further, adding: 'Turns out that Mrs Flood has a little bit of the Rani evilness in her, but a lot more goodness in her. She will betray the Rani in favour of her own survival or saving Belinda.' And it was speculation backed up by other fans who see the same trajectory for her. 'I totally see either one of The Rani's betraying the other!' Gold_Warning_3099 agreed. 'The two Ranis betraying each other seems on point. Different incarnations never seem to get on that well, plus the Master/Missy combo was already them killing each other. These kind of ideas tend to repeat,' Caacrinolass pointed out. Over on X, users had the same idea, although the jury seems to be out on which exactly how the betrayal will go down if the theory pans out. 'I'm putting money on it now, Mrs Flood will betray the Rani, especially with how much they've set up this hatred the Rani has for Mrs Flood already haha,' @whoronomy posed. 'Calling it now, Mrs Flood is gonna turn out to be the evil one and The Rani will have to help The Doctor,' luisthegardener said. 'I think Mrs. Flood is purposely messing with the Rani,' twistedtardis declared. Russell T Davies has opened up a bit more about the dynamic between the pair. 'What you get now is the two Ranis working together. Mrs Flood is still calling herself Mrs Flood. As viewers saw at the end of episode six, it's a fantastically servile relationship where she sort of becomes the Igor to the Rani's Frankenstein,' he told the BBC. More Trending And added: 'It's a delightful partnership. It's really fun, and very powerful. The Doctor is immediately up against two enemies instead of one.' Everything will come to a head in the final episode of the season, The Reality War in which 'battle rages across the skies as the Unholy Trinity unleash their deadly ambition. 'The Doctor, Belinda and Ruby have to risk everything in the quest to save one innocent life.' View More » Doctor Who returns this Saturday with Wish World on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Doctor Who and Coronation Street star Michael McStay dies aged 92 as family pay tribute MORE: 'My BBC drama did something rarely seen before on TV' MORE: Doctor Who will continue even if Disney drops out – but there's a devastating catch
Metro
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Doctor Who boss has teased a secret villain - meet the 11 sinister suspects
Ncuti Gatwa's second season as the Doctor is almost at an end as he faces down his 'biggest threat yet' – the Unholy Trinity. After Mrs Flood's (Anita Dobson) dramatic bigeneration into The Rani (Archie Panjabi) at the end of the last episode we know they have already recruited Lucky Day conspiracy theorist Conrad into their nefarious plan. However, as showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed – given that Mrs Flood and The Rani are essentially the same person – that leaves one more villain to stir from the depths of the show's 62-year history to come and haunt the Doctor and Belinda (Varada Sethu). Exactly how The Rani, her subservient counterpart Mrs Flood, Conrad and the mysterious final entity will destroy the earth – and with it the Doctor – remains to be seen. All we know right now is that it somehow involves Captain Poppy of Space Babies fame, the return of the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, oh, and an exploding Tardis. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. So, business as usual? Of course, Doctor Who wouldn't be Doctor Who without Whovians posing their wildest theories that sometimes turn out to be right on the money (emphasis on the sometimes). And what's the point in this beloved sci-fi show without us all overthinking every hint dropped until we're proven woefully, woefully wrong. So, without further ado, here is who we believe is completing this evil triad – from the likely candidates to the outlandish and everything in between. We might as well get the most obvious guess over and done with. You can't have a huicy evil Time Lord showdown without the defining (kind of) evil Time Lord of Modern Who – Missy aka The Master. Conrad aside, there definitely seems to be a powerful female aesthetic to our Unholy Trio so far which lends well to Michelle Gomez's iteration of The Master making a comeback (rather than the inimitable Sacha Dhawan). This is further backed up by Gomez's presence at the Doctor Who premiere – also attended by Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor who ended up making a sneaky cameo this season (with more to come…?). Nothing is off limits when you have over six decades of lore to delve into – as proven by Rani's return after 30 years. And so, naturally, we have to dig some Classic Who villains out from the debris and dust them off. For those not in the know, Omega is one of the founders of Time Lord society and ally to Rassilion (who we'll get to later). But his stature is even more relevant now we know about the Timeless Child and all the implications around how the Time Lords came into existence. The last we had heard, the intergalactic engineer who gave Gallifreyans the ability to time travel was dead, but hey, when has that ever stopped anyone in Doctor Who? Now, Russell T Davies is known for whipping out a wildcard villain and nothing says totally unexpected callback that will completely delight four Whovians like Mr Kandyman. Honestly, there's no real rhyme or reason for why this liquorice antagonist from 1988 would be the chosen one aside from The Rani aiming to confuse the Doctor so thoroughly that she successfully executes her plan. It's as good a reason as any! When it comes to the Doctor Who finale's Big Bad, you can never truly rule out the Doctor's ultimate nemesis – the Daleks. Or, in this case, their creator Davros. Especially if the theory that The Rani is attempting to create Time Lords is true, who better to team up with than a fellow maniacal visionary? And with Davros's knack for survival despite having large buildings crumble on top of him – we've no doubt he could make a reappearance. What's more, the Doctor himself, Ncuti Gatwa, has spoken about his dream to battle the Daleks. Could it finally be coming true? Sticking with the theme of Time Lord history, you can't get more iconic than Rassilon himself – the Lord President who the Doctor has had to defeat more than once. Both Russell T Davies and Steven Moffatt have brought Rassilon back into the reboot, most recently appearing in Hell Bent full of fury after being deposed as the top dog Essentially, he's got all the reasons in the universe to want to take the Doctor down a notch. Look, The Trickster has proven himself a formidable foe of Sarah Jane (and even the Doctor himself during David Tennant's 2009 special). Frankly, it would be epic to see him bring his full power to the main show. Especially as one of his brigade, The Time Beetle, caused such excellent havoc in season four episode Turn Left, just think the heights we could reach. It may be a long shot that some laugh off but The Trickster has real potential as the final ingredient in the Unholy Trinity. The Interstellar Song Contest introduced one of the most complex villain's of the show, Kid, who is tortured by the Doctor. In fact, during the episode he proclaims that he'll be back which is hardly an empty threat in Doctor Who. And if Mrs Flood can recruit Conrad, another familiar face from this season hell bent on revenge against the Doctor, then who is to say she couldn't easily bring Kid around? It would be especially interesting to see Doctor face more consequences for his behaviour and give a better resolution to this controversial loose thread. We already know Doctor Who legend Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) is returning in some shape or form after appearing in visions to the Doctor in The Interstellar Song Contest. But, could this simply be a trap for the Doctor to lure him right where The Rani needs him to be? Some eager-eyed people have pointed out that Russell T Davies has teased there is a 'third lying in wait, exactly 160 years away' which suspiciously lines up with when the First Doctor left Susan behind in the 22nd Century, promising to one day come back for her. Could it be a coincidence? Or is Susan not the loving and loyal granddaughter we remember her to be? Beep the Meep meets lots of the criteria to join the Unholy Trinity – a niche Classic Who villain with a grudge against the Doctor. And just like The Rani has made Mrs Flood her minion, perhaps Beep the Meep was ripe for the picking when it came to finding yet another subservient creature to stay by her side. Sure, it's a stretch, however, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Okay, maybe it is a little bit but don't say we didn't tell you so when Beep appears out of nowhere. Villengard may not be a person but who says it needs to be an individual foe? The weapons manufacturer that has followed the Doctor around throughout the reboot, most recently in Steven Moffat's Joy to the World, could very well be the final piece in The Rani's puzzle. Especially as Moffat himself said in an interview that he received the finale of season two to read over for 'reasons that will become apparent'. It also ties in with Belinda since it is one of her descendants who appears in Boom, yet another Moffat episode with a Villengard feature. Last, but certainly not least, we have the fan-favourite Trinity Wells who, as one X user Jax put it, is the literal 'harbinger of doom' that Davies has been warning us about. More Trending The news anchor has been with the human race through thick and thin – and it would certainly be a fun twist if such a familiar face was given an even bigger role than ever as part of the Unholy Trinity. We're not saying Trinity is a shoo-in as the mysterious villain but… we wouldn't bat an eye if she swaps the newsdesk out for universe-wide domination after everything she's been through. Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More »
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Evening Standard
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Doctor Who needs to stop lecturing us: its morality policing is getting hard to swallow
The whole thing comes off as clumsy, and detracts from the flow of the episode, none more so than in that Gatwa monologue in Lucky Day. I mean, sure, it was nice to see him make an appearance at the end of a Doctor-lite episode, and he sold it for all he was worth. But it went on just a little bit too long, and left me, as a viewer, feeling like I'd been lectured to.
Gizmodo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Doctor Who's Disinformation Episode Needed a Bit More Bite
Lots of things can be terrifying on Doctor Who. Monsters, of course, are terrifying. Standing the face of the unknown in a vast, undiscovered universe is also pretty terrifying. Our noble hero pushed to dark impulses, a terror in a more cerebral way. But sometimes, the most terrifying thing of all can just be a guy who really, really, really sucks. That Guy Who Sucks is Conrad Clark (played by Jonah Hauer-King, who does a brilliant job saturating Conrad with the most absolutely rancid vibes even before you get to his mid-episode 'twist'). At first, 'Lucky Day' introduces us to Conrad like many Doctor Who supporting characters before him: we get a brief whimsical encounter in 2007 where he sees the Doctor, Belinda, and the TARDIS, sparking a lifelong obsession with the alien and the unknown that eventually leads to him crossing paths with Ruby after he also witnesses her and the Doctor encounter a hunter-predator alien called the Shreek. What first begins as an awkward podcast interview becomes a slightly-less-awkward date, which then becomes several, and suddenly Ruby's post-Doctor life is looking nice and bright. She's got a new man, a happy family, and a cushy job at the child-labor-and-ex-companion-factory that is UNIT. Things first take a dark turn when Ruby and Conrad go on a countryside getaway together, only to discover that the Shreek have seemingly returned. Conrad has had a bit of a weird vibe to him at this point in the episode, but mostly in a 'slightly annoying but otherwise harmless' way, until he reveals to Ruby that he randomly decided to not take the anti-Shreek antidote she'd given him to protect him. And then, the vibe makes the aforementioned rancid turn when Ruby calls UNIT in to protect Conrad and his friends from the Shreek… and it turns out the whole thing is a hoax. There are no new Shreek, it's Connor's friends (in surprisingly good prosthetics for random weirdos!), and it turns out they're all part of a conspiracy theory group called Think Tank that is trying to expose UNIT as peddling disinformation and simply saying that aliens are real to control the population. This is where 'Lucky Day' gets simultaneously very interesting, and very dangerous if you begin thinking about it for more than five minutes. Again, it cannot be stated enough what a good job Hauer-King does of making Conrad feel incredibly hateful once the mask falls off, even if it is slightly weird that suddenly we get Doctor Who's second toxic boyfriend storyline of the season. Plus the prospect of Doctor Who finding its own way into a timely conversation about right-wing radicalization and misinformation campaigns—extrapolated through the reality that, 20 years into its modern run, we've just had to kind of accept a broad public awareness that monsters and aliens are a reality of the world—is brilliant, and the exact kind of thing the show can and should do at its very best. Things get even better ironically as things get worse and worse for Ruby: Connor and Think Tank's campaign keeps ramping up, UNIT comes increasingly under fire from a suddenly skeptical public, and even really on the verge of implosion, it seems, with double-agents leaking information and Conrad's goons doxxing every employee to the wider world, putting a huge amount of pressure on Kate. That pressure reaches its climax when Connor stages a one-man infiltration of UNIT's latest HQ, holding Ruby, Kate, and the command team hostage (including returning faces like Ruth Madeley's analyst Shirley and Alexander Devrient's handsome Chief of Security Colonel Ibrahim, who seems to now be in a relationship with Kate? Good for her!) in an attempt to expose them once and for all. But then Conrad makes a terrible mistake: on the verge of victory for his cause, he disses the Brigadier, as if we weren't already expected to hate him enough, and Kate snaps. We know it's bad, but also, as we've said already, Connor is an quantifiably awful person, so there's equal joy and terror in watching Kate cross the line and set the real Shreek out to not just scare Connor into compliance, but, until everyone else steps in to convince her otherwise, essentially attempt to execute him for what he's done. Doctor Who loves giving us a villain to hate, but rarely does it allow its heroes to actually hate them in turn, so watching Kate willingly go as far as she does is a boldness the show rarely allows itself. And even when the situation is diffused—in spite of herself, Ruby saves Connor from the Shreek, and even though it does chomp on him a little, he gets taken to hospital and then directly to prison, his live-streamed stunt this time re-shifting public opinion back in UNIT's favor—it's clear there's going to be consequences going forward for Kate and UNIT alike. These consequences will no doubt manifest if not by the end of this season (we know we're back with UNIT at some point in the next four episodes), then presumably by the upcoming UNIT-focused-spinoff War Between Land and Sea. It's here that things start getting a bit more complicated. While 'Lucky Day' is full-throated in its presentation of Conrad and Think Tank as not just wrong, but downright villainous, its alternative once they're foiled leans much more in the line of vindicating UNIT. Of course, we like UNIT, we're Doctor Who fans. We know they help our hero save the day all the time. But UNIT, especially in the current era's vision of the organization, is likewise not a flawless entity. In the name of safeguarding the world, we've seen them enacting far-reaching surveillance and monitoring of the public; we've seen them detain and arrest journalists to cover up operations. I joked earlier, but Kate has recruited multiple children onto staff! Children who now apparently got doxxed by this creep! As cathartic as it is to watch Kate go postal on Conrad, this is still the head of a government-backed organization attempting to extrajudicially murder someone while they're livestreaming to hundreds of thousands of people. A guy who is incredibly dislikable, sure, but still! It's all well and good that Ibrahim tells Kate there will be consequences for her actions down the line, but in the moment, 'Lucky Day' only offers trust and absolution of UNIT as an alternative to Conrad's misguided conspiracies—and even if there are consequences later, will they survive the next time UNIT helps the Doctor save the day? It's good that Doctor Who is willing to play with the mess of moral compromises that it does here, especially in the name of using it to comment on real-world issues. But taking those complicated ideas and filing them down into an either-or scenario that falls apart once you think about it beyond the moment of the episode, and robs that decision to play with something more nuanced and darkly toned of its effectiveness in the here and now, punting the resolution down the line to either be handwaved or absolved at a later date. 'Lucky Day' even manages to speed-run a condensed version of this compromised vision in its very closing moments. Rotting in jail as he recovers from his bite wound, Conrad finds himself suddenly whisked into the TARDIS console room for an absolute dressing down from the Doctor. Again, in the moment, this is brilliant. It's Doctor Who trading in any and all subtlety or layers of commentary to essentially have Ncuti Gatwa turn to camera and rage in equal parts against the show's detractors and the disinformation industrial complex at large. And even better, it gives Gatwa's Time Lord a chance to have a real element of darkness to him: he's not here, as Conrad mocks, to try and absolve him, he's here to tell him he sucks, he hates him, and even that the Doctor knows exactly what the rest of his miserable life is going to entail, including his untimely death, alone, imprisoned, and forgotten. The Doctor saves people, that's what they do, but sometimes there are people who can't be saved from themselves. If this was where 'Lucky Day' actually ended, then its mixed handling of the whole UNIT thing might be more excusable—exchanging a lack of bite there to give its titular hero a deliciously compromised character beat. Except, it doesn't. The Doctor dumps Conrad back in the prison where he will, apparently, eventually meet his end… only for Mrs. Flood, now a conveniently placed prison governor, to come to the door of his cell and let him escape, knowingly raise her eyebrow at the audience. We can't even be allowed the knowledge that this guy, the guy the almost entire episode has been dedicated screaming about how terrible he is, gets to suffer for what he did! Again, maybe it'll come up at some point again whenever the Mrs. Flood stuff pays off (maybe she's recruiting the Asshole Avengers for the finale?), but in the moment, it robs this particular story of taking a stance on the complicated scenarios it wants to play with. Doctor Who can, and should, use its voice to comment on very real issues our world faces, even if it is extrapolated through the lens of its surreal world of adventures in time and space. But if it's going to, it should be full-throated when it does, instead of standing on the edge of saying something and then backing down. Doctor Who can be brave in the face of fictional monsters, it should be brave in the face of real ones, too.
