Alright, so… I really enjoyed The Legend of Ruby Road. I thought it was really nice to delve into the standard NuWho mystery girl arc (which we’ve had since 2005) from the perspective of a procedural crime story. That was very cool.
The Empire of Death feels like it was scuppered by osmosis.
All of the chosen elements are quite good. They click together. There’s a lovely sense of confidence to the production. I love this depiction of UNIT and, especially, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart… But we live in the age of “We all jump up” endings where franchises are born of the backs of their guest stars.
Death is a slap on the wrist, and sorry, because of that, there’s no sense of jeopardy.
From the decisions made in the first five minutes of the episode, it was signposted that the changes made to the status quo weren’t going to stick. I could go along for the ride, but it was hard to get invested. This is a failing of this story, but also, it’s amplified by every other story before it that’s made this mistake, too.
If anything, going back to Bonnie Langford’s debut, Terror of the Vervoids… It’s an odd feeling that the ’86 serial feels more daring in its decision to play for keeps. Bizarre, actually, as Vervoids was regarded as quite a conventional story in its day.
This has been a great season. Far more good than bad. But, if we’re looking at Earth-shattering climaxes, I don’t think Empire of Death stuck the landing where it counted. The more you know of Who, the more unchallenging it feels, and for a story that relied on its Tom Baker predecessor so heavily…
That’s a shame. Everything else worked, except that climax.
(*psst* If you found this story wanting, go check out Magic Bullet’s Faction Paradox series. The Osirian Court’s depiction, there, is definitively excellent. Genuinely peerless.)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’/’Empire of Death’. I’ve noticed how people don’t regard the finale very highly, both from when I came out of the cinema and from reading news articles on the internet. It’s a shame that, and I’m looking forward to exploring why this two-part finale doesn’t work entirely in an in-depth review.
I’ll be sharing my general thoughts on Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson very soon on my blog. Stay tuned!
Quite agreeably, this finale might have been better. But it might at least be better than anything too extravagant or wild. In reflection of how the Whoniverse can often overwhelm us and indeed with a few episodes like Space Babies and Devil’s Chord, it might feel very refreshing to occasionally tone things down and even with a quite final defeat and demise of a villain like Sutekh. The fact that Ruby’s family mystery could be happily solved in the quite down-to-Earth way that it was is nice enough for me. Of course the demands for whatever the next series will have in store of us will be peaked. I’ll still keep tuning in for now.
I would have preferred Sutekh’s original look from ‘Pyramids of Mars’ than the over-sized gigantic CGI dog-like look he had, although it’s nice Gabriel Woolf returned to voice Suketh at 91. Also, I would have liked some of this story to be set in Egypt and we could have had the Osrian robot mummies making an appearance. At least I included them in my latest 60th anniversary ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’ recently
I do prefer the mask as well. There’s something quite expansive and dangerous about not being able to see Sutekh’s face.
It’s an interesting set of contrasts, this story. On the one hand, the smaller moments of charm (as Jon Pertwee would’ve called them) work extremely well. I’ll be missing this Doctor/companion team terribly. The decision with Ruby’s past made for a nice subversion of the long-time danger we’ve had of mythologising companions, rather than treating them like living people.
The grand-scale choices, though… That’s where the episode fell down. And it’s all the more damning because its direct and heavily referenced predecessor, Pyramids of Mars, didn’t need it. It’s predominantly set around an English priory and about trying to stop this cosmic horror from getting out. It hits so much harder with the Scarmans because we know there’s no reset button.
I think Empire of Death is, ultimately, a victim of its own spectacle. But, that’s nothing new for post-2005 Doctor Who. The blockbuster Marvel-esque aspect of it really hurt it, though.
I know that there’s a two-year plan in place for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor, so I’ll treat this as a halfway point, rather than a crescendo, but… Yeah. Less would’ve been so much more. Toned down or, alternatively, saved the whole second series for exploring that post-Sutekh Universe.
Yes, I get the feeling that Series 14 is like the first half of a season as opposed to being a complete one, especially since the filming of Series 15 was already underway before Series 14 was released on TV, BBC iPlayer or Disney+. I think Russell T. Davies is trying too hard with making Series 14 as epic than it needs to be and the blending of Suketh as a villain and the revelation of Ruby’s parents doesn’t entirely match.
I know there’s more to expect with Ruby’s character in the next season and I know RTD has essentially pressed the PAUSE button, but I would have liked it if Ruby kept on travelling with the Doctor, as I don’t like it when they in certain incarnations are on their own again at the end of every season, as that’s been done too many times in the original RTD era with David Tennant and quite often in the Steven Moffat eras.
I don’t know what to expect in the next season, but hopefully things will improve compared to what we’ve seen in Ncuti Gatwa’s first season. I hope we’ll see more of Ncuti’s Doctor compared to him being absent in episodes like ’73 Yards’ and ‘Dot and Bubble’. I agree that the resetting of everyone in ‘Empire of Death’ seems unfair when it can’t be done for the Scarmans in ‘Pyramids of Mars’.
Bradley's Basement 
I will miss Millie as Ruby. 💓
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Hi scifimike,
I believe Millie Gibson is back in Series 15 next year.
Tim 🙂
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Thanks, Tim. 👍🏻
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No worries. Thank, scifimike. Tim 🙂
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Alright, so… I really enjoyed The Legend of Ruby Road. I thought it was really nice to delve into the standard NuWho mystery girl arc (which we’ve had since 2005) from the perspective of a procedural crime story. That was very cool.
The Empire of Death feels like it was scuppered by osmosis.
All of the chosen elements are quite good. They click together. There’s a lovely sense of confidence to the production. I love this depiction of UNIT and, especially, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart… But we live in the age of “We all jump up” endings where franchises are born of the backs of their guest stars.
Death is a slap on the wrist, and sorry, because of that, there’s no sense of jeopardy.
From the decisions made in the first five minutes of the episode, it was signposted that the changes made to the status quo weren’t going to stick. I could go along for the ride, but it was hard to get invested. This is a failing of this story, but also, it’s amplified by every other story before it that’s made this mistake, too.
If anything, going back to Bonnie Langford’s debut, Terror of the Vervoids… It’s an odd feeling that the ’86 serial feels more daring in its decision to play for keeps. Bizarre, actually, as Vervoids was regarded as quite a conventional story in its day.
This has been a great season. Far more good than bad. But, if we’re looking at Earth-shattering climaxes, I don’t think Empire of Death stuck the landing where it counted. The more you know of Who, the more unchallenging it feels, and for a story that relied on its Tom Baker predecessor so heavily…
That’s a shame. Everything else worked, except that climax.
(*psst* If you found this story wanting, go check out Magic Bullet’s Faction Paradox series. The Osirian Court’s depiction, there, is definitively excellent. Genuinely peerless.)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’/’Empire of Death’. I’ve noticed how people don’t regard the finale very highly, both from when I came out of the cinema and from reading news articles on the internet. It’s a shame that, and I’m looking forward to exploring why this two-part finale doesn’t work entirely in an in-depth review.
I’ll be sharing my general thoughts on Series 14 of ‘Doctor Who’ with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson very soon on my blog. Stay tuned!
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Quite agreeably, this finale might have been better. But it might at least be better than anything too extravagant or wild. In reflection of how the Whoniverse can often overwhelm us and indeed with a few episodes like Space Babies and Devil’s Chord, it might feel very refreshing to occasionally tone things down and even with a quite final defeat and demise of a villain like Sutekh. The fact that Ruby’s family mystery could be happily solved in the quite down-to-Earth way that it was is nice enough for me. Of course the demands for whatever the next series will have in store of us will be peaked. I’ll still keep tuning in for now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I would have preferred Sutekh’s original look from ‘Pyramids of Mars’ than the over-sized gigantic CGI dog-like look he had, although it’s nice Gabriel Woolf returned to voice Suketh at 91. Also, I would have liked some of this story to be set in Egypt and we could have had the Osrian robot mummies making an appearance. At least I included them in my latest 60th anniversary ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Thirteen+ Doctors’ recently
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome and Sutekh’s original look is better for me too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do prefer the mask as well. There’s something quite expansive and dangerous about not being able to see Sutekh’s face.
It’s an interesting set of contrasts, this story. On the one hand, the smaller moments of charm (as Jon Pertwee would’ve called them) work extremely well. I’ll be missing this Doctor/companion team terribly. The decision with Ruby’s past made for a nice subversion of the long-time danger we’ve had of mythologising companions, rather than treating them like living people.
The grand-scale choices, though… That’s where the episode fell down. And it’s all the more damning because its direct and heavily referenced predecessor, Pyramids of Mars, didn’t need it. It’s predominantly set around an English priory and about trying to stop this cosmic horror from getting out. It hits so much harder with the Scarmans because we know there’s no reset button.
I think Empire of Death is, ultimately, a victim of its own spectacle. But, that’s nothing new for post-2005 Doctor Who. The blockbuster Marvel-esque aspect of it really hurt it, though.
I know that there’s a two-year plan in place for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor, so I’ll treat this as a halfway point, rather than a crescendo, but… Yeah. Less would’ve been so much more. Toned down or, alternatively, saved the whole second series for exploring that post-Sutekh Universe.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Wolfie,
Yes, I get the feeling that Series 14 is like the first half of a season as opposed to being a complete one, especially since the filming of Series 15 was already underway before Series 14 was released on TV, BBC iPlayer or Disney+. I think Russell T. Davies is trying too hard with making Series 14 as epic than it needs to be and the blending of Suketh as a villain and the revelation of Ruby’s parents doesn’t entirely match.
I know there’s more to expect with Ruby’s character in the next season and I know RTD has essentially pressed the PAUSE button, but I would have liked it if Ruby kept on travelling with the Doctor, as I don’t like it when they in certain incarnations are on their own again at the end of every season, as that’s been done too many times in the original RTD era with David Tennant and quite often in the Steven Moffat eras.
I don’t know what to expect in the next season, but hopefully things will improve compared to what we’ve seen in Ncuti Gatwa’s first season. I hope we’ll see more of Ncuti’s Doctor compared to him being absent in episodes like ’73 Yards’ and ‘Dot and Bubble’. I agree that the resetting of everyone in ‘Empire of Death’ seems unfair when it can’t be done for the Scarmans in ‘Pyramids of Mars’.
Many thanks and Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person