Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 8, “The Reality War.”Doctor Who season 15, episode 8, “The Reality War,” turned out to be Ncuti Gatwa’s farewell as the Fifteenth Doctor, but he didn’t have to say goodbye alone. Although there was no one with him in the TARDIS at the time of his regeneration, “The Reality War” was filled with returning Doctor Who characters and brief cameos from familiar faces. Some hadn’t been seen since Doctor Who‘s classic era, although some were fairly recent additions and made their respective debuts in Doctor Who‘s Disney era.
Ncuti Gatwa’s regeneration scene brought back one of the aforementioned familiar faces, raising several questions about the next actor who’ll be leading the show if Doctor Who season 16 gets confirmed. However, not every returning character had a huge impact on the show’s future, but were instead added for flair, nostalgia, and a way of celebrating Gatwa’s era as Doctor Who‘s leading man.
8
Rose Noble
Played By: Yasmin Finney
Daughter of Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble, Rose was a notable part of David Tennant’s return as the Fourteenth Doctor in 2023’s “The Star Beast.” Since then, she has been relegated to brief cameos. Currently working in an intern-like role for Doctor Who‘s new UNIT team, she’s pretty low in the chain of command. Although she’ll likely be a major contributor to the organization as she learns, her responsibilities are quite limited at present.
Rose disappears from existence when Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King) uses Desiderium’s powers to transform the Earth into what Conrad believes to be an idealized form of human society.
Rose disappears from existence when Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King) uses Desiderium’s powers to transform the Earth into what Conrad believes to be an idealized form of human society. His problematic utopia pushes disabled people to the fringes and makes them functionally invisible to everyone else. For Rose, Conrad’s shuttered view of the world makes it impossible to even imagine the existence of a transwoman, so she only comes back when Fifteen opens the door to the Time Hotel in UNIT HQ, allowing real time to restore the room to somewhere near its pre-Conrad state.
7
Anita Benn
Played By: Steph de Whalley
“The Reality War” was surprisingly heavy in its references to Steven Moffat’s 2024 Christmas special, “Joy to the World.” The festive episode centered around a Time Hotel in the 43rd century, but also showed the Fifteenth Doctor living in a more traditional hotel on 21st-century Earth, with his TARDIS stranded in the distant future. The year he spends on Earth allows him to bond with the hotel’s manager, Steph de Whalley’s Anita Benn. “The Reality War” reveals she’s found her way to the Time Hotel and has ascended to the job of its manager.
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It’s made clear in “The Reality War” that Anita grew to see the Doctor as more than a friend during their time together, although Fifteen didn’t feel the same way. While using the Time Hotel to try and find the Doctor, Anita broke her own heart by discovering Gatwa’s character was already in love with someone else – Jonathon Groff’s Rogue. She is heavily pregnant with the child of a new love interest when they reunite, and is pivotal in helping the Doctor end Conrad’s Wish. Anita also reveals she has a connection to “The Boss,” an as-yet unseen villain.
6
The Eleventh Doctor
Played By: Matt Smith
Matt Smith has never officially reprised his role as the Eleventh Doctor since he shot a brief cameo for Peter Capaldi’s first full episode as Twelve in 2014. Regardless, Smith’s version of the Time Lord does appear in “The Reality War.” He is shown during Anita’s search for the Doctor as she searches his Timeline for the version she knows and loves. Before coming across Fifteen and Rogue during the events of their meeting, Anita spots Eleven.
There may be a greater significance to why Russell T. Davies chose this moment for Anita to see, or it may have just been chosen because the episode from which it’s taken is so beloved.
Smith’s presence in “The Reality War” is made possible by the use of archival footage. The scene was taken from Doctor Who season 6, episode 13, “The Wedding of River Song,” so the actor didn’t have to shoot any new material for Eleven’s cameo in Gatwa’s final episode. There may be a greater significance to why Russell T. Davies chose this moment for Anita to see, or it may have just been chosen because the episode from which it’s taken is so beloved.
5
The Third Doctor
Played By: Jon Pertwee
Pertwee last appeared in 1983’s “The Five Doctors” while Doctor Who was celebrating its 20th anniversary. Before then, he had led the show between 1970 and 1974. Just as Anita stumbled across the Eleventh Doctor while looking for Fifteen, she also caught a glimpse of Three. However, Pertwee’s Doctor is in a much more dire situation than Smith’s, despite Eleven being in the middle of a potentially deadly game of chess.
Three being incapacitated, Anita doesn’t step in to help, presumably because she has met Fifteen and therefore knows the Doctor survived the encounter.
Pertwee’s scene is taken from a 1972 Doctor Who serial called “Day of the Daleks,” which is a pivotal story for the franchise’s most notorious villains. Despite Three being incapacitated, Anita doesn’t step in to help, presumably because she has met Fifteen and therefore knows the Doctor survived the encounter. The choice of “Day of the Daleks” as an adventure to show is likely a reference to Gatwa’s frustration that he never got to face the Daleks.
4
Omega
Played By: Nicholas Briggs
Omega’s return was revealed in Doctor Who season 15, episode 7, “Wish World,” but he doesn’t actually show up until about halfway through “The Reality War.” Originally played by Stephen Thorne (and then by Peter Davison), Omega looks very different this time around. Portrayed via CGI, Omega has been physically transformed by his time in the Underverse and has taken on the form of a zombified, skeletal being.
Omega’s return was set up to present a much bigger threat than he turned out to be.
Omega is now voiced by Nicholas Briggs, who is most known for also voicing the Daleks and the Cybermen in Doctor Who‘s modern era. He has designs on becoming the Pantheon’s God of Time, but is quickly defeated by the Fifteenth Doctor and sent back to the Underverse. Omega’s return was set up to present a much bigger threat than he turned out to be, but it was arguably the Rani’s alterations to reality that caused the most danger in “The Reality War.”
3
Joy Almondo
Played By: Nicola Coughlan (Sort Of)
Anita and the Time Hotel weren’t the only parts of “Joy to the World” that factored into “The Reality War,” although they were the most important elements taken from the 2024 Christmas special. Although Nicola Coughlan doesn’t reprise her role of Joy Almondo in Gatwa’s final episode, the character does make an appearance in her new form. Since sacrificing herself to stop the Star Seed from destroying Earth, Joy has transformed into the Star of Bethlehem, and she appears near the end of “The Reality War.”
“I’m never alone with you!“
– The Fifteenth Doctor to Joy’s star in “The Reality War.”
Joy was Fifteen’s companion for parts of “Joy to the World,” although she didn’t spend nearly as long with Gatwa’s Doctor as Anita did. That said, Joy could be argued to be the only one with Fifteen during his final moments, as he takes the TARDIS to her new home in outer space before he regenerates, so he doesn’t feel alone. It is a nice moment, but one that’s easy to be confused by if “Joy to the World” hasn’t been watched recently.
2
The Thirteenth Doctor
Played By: Jodie Whittaker
As the last pre-Disney Doctor, Jodie Whittaker didn’t step away from the show that long ago, with Thirteen’s regeneration scene only happening in 2022. So, it came as a huge surprise when she popped up in Fifteen’s TARDIS ahead of Gatwa’s exit. It’s unclear exactly where Thirteen is in her own personal timeline for her cameo, but she has at least developed romantic feelings for Yasmin Kahn (Mandip Gill), so she’s likely toward the end of her life as well.
For all her era’s issues, Whittaker did an admirable job as Thirteen, so it was great to see her back alongside her successor, even if only briefly.
As the only main Doctor during Chris Chibnall’s time as showrunner, with the other being Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor, who also returned earlier in season 15, Jodie Whitter led Doctor Who during a very divisive era. Chibnall introduced the now-notorious Timeless Child storyline, which retconned the Doctor’s backstory and wreaked havoc with the franchise’s larger canon. For all her era’s issues, Whittaker did an admirable job as Thirteen, so it was great to see her back alongside her successor, even if only briefly.
1
The Sixteenth Doctor?
Played By: Billie Piper
Ncuti Gatwa’s exit resulted in Doctor Who‘s third gimmicky regeneration sequence in a row. After Whittaker regenerated back into Tennant in 2022, Tennant then bi-generated to spawn Gatwa. Now, Gatwa has regenerated into Billie Piper, with the actress most known within the franchise for playing Rose Tyler alongside Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor as well as Tennant’s Tenth. It’s unclear whether Piper has been cast as the Sixteenth Doctor, as the credits in “The Reality War” fail to confirm it. So, something else might be going on.
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While I think it’s unlikely that Piper is somehow returning as Rose, she does have another character in the Doctor Who universe she could be reprising – Bad Wolf. Rose’s powerful alter ego hasn’t appeared in the show for a long time, but with her being so closely linked to the TARDIS, it’s easy to see how Fifteen redirecting his regeneration energy into the central console could bring Bad Wolf back. I still think the most obvious answer is that Piper is replacing Gatwa as the Doctor, but only Doctor Who season 16 can confirm this shocking twist.
Doctor Who
5/10
- Release Date
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December 25, 2023
- Directors
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Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Richard Martin, Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, Lennie Mayne, Chris Clough, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Graeme Harper, Waris Hussein, Rodney Bennett, Mervyn Pinfield, Hugh David, John Gorrie
