Wish World notes
Pretty white horse
Bavaria 1865. I wonder what’s special about that year?
Very fairy tale atmosphere
It’s the new Rani
Frau Rani
Herr Zufall. Seventh son of a seventh son. And his 7th
son was just born
Do not hand your baby to this woman.
If she hadn’t, would the Rani have had control over the baby’s
powers?
Bavaria is kind of the home of fairy tales
They’re very much setting the atmosphere by associating this
with the foundation of so many fairy tales. The 7th sons, and the
woodcutter, and the cottage in the forest and all that
Good on you Violett
How is the Rani magically turning women into violets? Cool
effect though
The Rani has always stood for the opposite of this magic
stuff
All of her transformations are fun to watch though. I like
the ducks
Does this track with the Rani we’ve always known?
What’s the one very special wish.
We totally expect the alarm to be stopped by Ruby, but it’s
the Doctor in bed with Belinda???
London 2025
Where does the Doctor go to work in this reality?
It’s Poppy ??? from Space Babies! I think it’s the same kid
Conrad has a breakfast TV show? And is in sharge of making the weather??
This is all VERY WTF??
We’ve seen altered realities before, but have we ever seen
the Doctor this emeshed in them?
*** And now, it’s time for today’s story. ‘Doctor Who and
the Deadly Wish’
The book is clearly meant to be echoing the Harry Potter
style of covers. That’s sad now.
I should mention missing the giggle in the Mastro’s episode
Belinda’s very 60s housewife doing laundry and shopping. It
feels weird that the Rani would make things so heteronormative
Amma is mother in Hindi. I love it when they make the effort
to get the details right
The Doctor and Belinda make a really cute couple
Tomorrow is the notorious May the 24th, which everyone
is treating as a big holiday.
Belinda is going to make biryani – a rice/meat stew common
in india and Pakistan. Have we ever heard if Belinda is Indian or Pakistani? I don’t
recall them ever mentioning her religion. Am I just forgetting?
We saw him put the mug in the middle of the table, but it’s
off screen when we hear it break
And Ruby is at his front door, but he doesn’t recognize her
Ruby: I’m sorry about this, but… do I know you?
Ncuti looks amazing in the 60s pinstripe suit and bowler hat
Someone showing up at your door and telling you that your
daughter isn’t real would be very upsetting.
There’s a phone tip line to turn in anyone expressing doubt.
Nice that they establish it being used on a perceived stranger and not being
used to betray a loved one.
Mel is their next door neighbor and breaks a lot of mugs
Whatever the 5/24 celebration is, Mel is just going to sit
and be silent because she doesn’t have any family in this reality
What the actual fuck are the huge skeletal dinosaurs???
Apparently the locals aren’t startled by them and think they’re
beautiful
I kind of like the framing device of Conrad telling stories
on the TV
Shirley Anne Bingham is a street begger
OK, I adore the Mad Men redecoration of UNIT HQ
The Doctor: I did work late last night.
Kate: Time carries no favors.
Love everything about the look of this scene. The set, the
costumes, everything
Hey, it’s Susan Twist!
Conrad: All the Time Lords were killed, and Doctor Who was the
only one left
The Doctor is giving Ibrahim tips for wooing Kate
It’s undignified for a woman to work in this reality. Again…
rani?
Ah, just the barest hint of gay subtext and everyone freaks
out. And the Doctor’s falling in line.
That would be strange for any Doctor, but especially Ncuti
Amma and Auntie
Auntie has a bindi, which indicates they’re Hindu, so India. Still wish I could remember if they’ve ever
said.
It’s gross hearing Conrad being lionized like this when he’s
such a dick
Belinda can’t remember Poppy’s birth. Weird glitch in the
world
And a few broken mugs with that amount of doubt.
Everybody seems to totally understand that doubting is what
breaks the crockery. That’s a weird thing for them to be aware of?
Of course, Belinda’s only been here a few hours, hasn’t she
Running through the woods echoing the opening scene
OK, so everybody knows about the Rani and that she’s a time
lady, but she’s like a mythic level figure you only ever get a glimpse of in
the distance if you’re lucky. That totally tracks from what we know of her
The Doctor is much less in synch with this reality
OK, Archie on the flying scooter is a fun image
Mortadella?
The Rani: But human’s seem to like it. Let’s keep the boy
happy.
Mrs. Flood: Is that a salad or a sandwich
OK, the visuals of the women in black latex with fingers connected
to the tables is haunting and fantastic. Very Clive Barker
They seem to want more doubt and are monitoring it.
Mrs. Flood is just the Rani’s errand girl now
I like the collected book set on the desk.
Conrad: It’s such hard work. All the thinking.
His shitty mother experience makes him easy prey for Mrs.
Flood.
Mrs. Flood: Would I lie? Well, yes I would. But not this
time darling.
So they chose Conrad to be responsible for the wish sustaining
this world because he ‘wants the world to be better’. But he doesn’t. He’s just
a cruel asshole who doesn’t even believe his own lies and only wants attention
There’s the god giggle letting us know the baby’s part of
the pantheon
Conrad: He’s amazing, isn’t he?
Mrs. Flood: He’s terrifying.
Conrad: He’s absolutely terrifying.
The Rani has the vindicator and has fitted it into the
gigantic clock, which is a cool visual metaphor
Why does the Rani have a freezing balcony?
Mrs. Flood: It could be said that you sprang from my loins.
The Rani: That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard.
The Doctor’s doubts are key to her plan
Tonight they find ‘him’ – the one that was lost
The giant dino skeletons are intangible
In Conrad’s story the Rani wanted to be the Doctor’s friend
All the different Conrad posters are fun
All the disabled have been discarded. That’s very Rani. And
us.
Little bit of social commentary here.
Shirley: Pardon me if I don’t frisk you, but you seem very
non-disabled to me.
It’s very traditional for the Doctor or companion to be the
one person in an overwritten reality who starts to realize that things are
changed. Here it’s the disabled people
because the Rani didn’t think they were worth incorporating properly, which is
interesting and very much in character for her.
Nice flash to 73 yards
Carla betraying and throwing away Ruby YET AGAIN. I hate how
often that’s a thing
The disabled don’t have matching mugs. Nice detail
Good point Shirley on realizing that having that wheelchair
doesn’t make any sense with living on the street
You can get arrested for saying you don’t trust Conrad
So Conrad is technically in charge/God and not the Rani, she’s
just entirely behind the scenes getting shit done.
Conrad is basically telling us in advance what the Rani’s
secret plan is. The depths of time lord history indeed.
Flash of Susan!
Ah! The entire Conrad program is designed to increase the
Doctor’s doubts. That’s why he’s being told this story. It didn’t make sense
otherwise.
OMFG Rogue!
Right after Conrad said the Doctor was weak. Is this not
really Rogue? Is this just to manipulate him into doubting more?
Rogue: And this Hell dimension is sliding into the pit. I
don’t know if I’m going to survive. Thank you for that, you know?
Rogue still loves the Doctor
Rogue: Tables don’t do that.
Conrad underscores the point that the Doctor is learning a
secret that will change reality. It feels like the whole Rogue clip was a trap
Mug manufacturers must make a fortune here
It’s surprising to see the Doctor still taken in this far
into the episode
The third time the tip line is used = the most personal
against the Doctor. Nicely structured
Doubters are taken away by the police. Very dystopian and
happening right now in the US
Mrs. Flood is back in police clothes.
Did Belinda’s mum call the tip line too? She’s apologizing
like she did
They’re really doing a good job showing a fascist police
state
UNIT is an insurance company here. That’s actually pretty funny
Shirley has an iPad from the real reality. What are they
hoping to accomplish?
They don’t really have a very clear plan other than lure Conrad
out of the bone palace. Probably more will come of that next episode.
Ruby’s whole plan is to remember the Doctor. See previous
note.
It’s the same robot things that didn’t matter in the song
contest
So the threshold is a forcefield around a protected space
when reality disintegrates?
The Doctor is still very supportive of Belinda even without
being able to remember her or himself
The clone type classiforms are so cool looking.
The Rani is really loving knowing things the Doctor doesn’t
and lording it over him. No pun intended.
Yeah, where is his TARDIS after the doors exploded?
Belinda’s request is very mother-truthful
The stolen iPad is really just a countdown clock for the
people on theground.
Evil time lords always have to have a needle drop for their
big plan, don’t they. At least this is a
classy dance piece
I like to think that the Rani istelling the truth about
having danced together. Were they lovers?
Lovely homage to Kate O’Mara. I approve.
Archie’s costume has some nice callbacks to Kate’s in Time
and the Rani
Archie is chewing the scenery in the most delightful way
The pantheon was sleeping before the Doctor stirred them up?
And that led to the birth of Desidirium, the god of wishes
All this from the stupid salt line bit in Wild Blue Yonder.
Conrad’s still burned that the Doctor told him he was
nothing. He DOES just want to feel important
The Rani: No God of Wishes could have infinite power, or we’d
be drowning in a universe of breast milk.
Not clear how the Vindicator plays into anything other that being
a neat visual on the clock.
I guss it amplifies the god’s power? Feels unnecessary
She needs to increase the Doctor’s doubt as much as she can
to rip open all of reality.
She made a shitty world so that the Doctor would doubt it
and his doubt would shatter it to free what’s beneath reality. I kind of love
that
The Underverse
Mel really hasn’t had much to do in this one
Omega???
Quick clip show of all the Doctors and the Doc has his memory
back
VERY late in the episode. The last scene.
What was the point of the ghostly dinosaur skeletons?
I like the Rani’s sonic design.
They actually made the Rani cool. Or do I just like Archie
Panjabi?
Everything is falling into the Underverse
What’s the significance of ‘Poppy is Real!’ It’s placed like
it’s going to be a big turning point issue next episode.
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