Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 15, episode 8, “The Reality War.”Ncuti Gatwa has now made his Doctor Who exit, with the shocking reveal that Billie Piper is set to return to the show and lead the cast, but Gatwa’s era failed to address the biggest headscratcher of the Fifteenth Doctor’s time in the TARDIS before moving on. Showrunner Russell T. Davies has focused more on supernatural storylines than sci-fi ones since his return, and while many of his new additions to Doctor Who canon have been explained by the end of “The Reality War,” I’m still waiting for something massive to be properly addressed.
Despite Billie Piper stepping in as the show’s new star, Doctor Who season 16 isn’t yet confirmed. So, it remains to be seen how long fans will be waiting to find out if Piper is playing the Sixteenth Doctor or if something else is going on. One possibility is that Doctor Who‘s Disney era is drawing to a close, with the BBC returning to producing the show alone. However, this hasn’t been confirmed. Regardless, Doctor Who‘s future has some interesting loose ends to tie up if and when the show returns, and one stands out far more than the others.
Doctor Who Never Addressed The Numerous Fourth Wall Breaks In Ncuti Gatwa’s Era
Fifteen’s final story felt like it might have explained the Disney era’s most self-aware moments
After David Tennant left as the Fourteenth Doctor, Davies wasted no time penning scripts for Gatwa that toyed with the show’s fabric of reality. At the end of 2023’s “The Church on Ruby Road,” which was Gatwa’s first episode as Doctor Who‘s leading man, Anita Dobson’s Mrs. Flood looked directly into the camera and spoke to the audience. Mrs. Flood (now revealed to be the Rani) isn’t the only character to break the fourth wall since, and she also went on to do it several times afterward.
Even the Fifteenth Doctor himself broke the fourth wall on a number of occasions during Gatwa’s two-year run.
Even the Fifteenth Doctor himself broke the fourth wall on a number of occasions during Gatwa’s two-year run. As early as 2024’s “The Devil’s Chord,” he looked into the camera and winked, and also made a reference to “non-diagetic” sound in the same episode. Jumping forward to Doctor Who season 15, episode 2, “Lux,” he yelled “Cut!” to no one and even seemed confused about his outburst. Not to mention the scene that showed the Doctor meeting Doctor Who fans, which also happened in “Lux.”
“Diagetic sound” exists within the world of the show. For Doctor Who, this would be things like the whir of a sonic screwdriver, the TARDIS dematerializing, or even something as simple as dialogue. “Non-diagetic” sound is intended to be heard only by the audience – this includes things like a score/soundtrack, or a narrator’s voice.
The show felt like it was building to a big reveal when it came to these various fourth-wall breaks, with many viewers believing the Doctor was going to properly realize he was little more than a fictional character in a sci-fi show called Doctor Who. Unfortunately, Davies abandoned the trope in season 15’s two-part finale, leaving me wondering why he’s written so many meta seasons for his characters. “The Reality War” even seemed to end with a similar instance, as Billie Piper’s character looked pretty much directly into the lens as she said, “Oh, hello!“
Breaking The Fourth Wall Might Just Be Something Doctor Who Does Now
RTD could just be trying to set his new era of Doctor Who apart
As is often the case when there’s a change of showrunner, Doctor Who transformed once again with Russell T. Davies’ 2023 return. His current era has some similarities to his original time in charge of the show, but there are also some notable differences that go beyond Doctor Who‘s glossy new aesthetic. So, his characters acknowledging the audience, whether directly or indirectly, may simply be one of the ways Davies is separating his two eras as the Doctor Who showrunner.
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I really wouldn’t like this to be the case, but seeing how little it has factored into the story, I think it’s a very plausible explanation. On the surface, it’s a fun little addition to what is essentially a family show. On the other hand, Doctor Who fans are incredibly meticulous when it comes to details like this, and they immediately begin to come up with theories about what it could all mean. Frustratingly, it may not mean anything at all.
Doctor Who Breaking The Fourth Wall Feels Like A Red Herring
Mrs. Flood stopped talking to the audience as soon as she bi-generated
If all the fourth-wall breaks really are just a canonically unimportant addition to Doctor Who‘s current era, then it doesn’t make much sense for Mrs. Flood to have spoken to the audience as often as she did when compared to other characters. It felt like a massive clue to the mystery of who Anita Dobson was really playing, with some initial theories suggesting she was a member of Doctor Who‘s Pantheon or some other omnipotent being.
When Mrs. Flood was revealed as the Rani, this particular character quirk all but fell away, so I think it was an intentional attempt by Davies to throw viewers off the scent.
When Mrs. Flood was revealed as the Rani, this particular character quirk all but fell away, so I think it was an intentional attempt by Davies to throw viewers off the scent. There were far softer fourth-wall breaks from the Rani after her bi-generation scene, as she used self-aware terms like “villains” and “exposition” when giving her big villain monologue in “Wish World”, but they felt otherwise separate from the mystery of her identity that had preceded her.
There Is Still Time For RTD To Solve Doctor Who’s Fourth-Wall Breaks
Doctor Who season 16 can continue the follow the mystery of RTD’s most meta scenes
Doctor Who lacks a concrete future at the moment, but it is largely expected to carry on at some point. What mainly remains to be seen is whether Disney will continue to co-produce the show or whether they’ll step back and let the BBC carry on alone. Either way. Davies is slated to stay on as showrunner, and has already teased his intention to continue certain storylines that began at the beginning of the Disney era and have not yet been resolved.
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So, even though what remains of Doctor Who‘s fourth wall hasn’t yet been directly addressed, it could come back as a more prominent storyline in season 16, with Billie Piper leading the cast as whoever she is playing. The fact that Davies reminded everyone that “The Boss” exists with a quick name-drop in “The Reality War” gives me hope that he won’t continue to ignore his characters pretty much stepping out of the screen and shaking the audience’s hands.
Russell T. Davies has gone as far as admitting that he has plans in place for two more seasons of Doctor Who.
Russell T. Davies has gone as far as admitting that he has plans in place for two more seasons of Doctor Who, and if he keeps going with the show’s newfound love of fantasy tropes, then the scenes that break the fourth wall could reasonably factor into the showrunner’s long-term plans. He is no stranger to slow-burning storylines, like Bad Wolf during his first time in charge of Doctor Who, so I’m willing to wait a little longer to see if a proper explanation is given about the Rani’s weird new power.
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
