Unlike the rest of my reviews for this season of Doctor Who, this review will contain spoilers for the episode. What marks this change is that Empire of Death is one of the worst finales of Doctor Who, and to efficiently discuss and critique the episode in a manner that will sufficiently clarify why, I am removing the shackles of spoilers.
The One Who Waits and Salt
The previous episode, The Legend of Ruby Sunday, ended with the great big bad reveal that the god of death Sutekh has returned. His first appearance in the show dates back to the 1975 serial Pyramids of Mars, where Tom Baker was the fourth Doctor. Russell T Davies is a self-proclaimed fan of the serial, including it in an episode of his hit TV show Queer as Folk back in 1999. The character is an alter form of an Egyptian deity – the likes of Set and Anubis are direct inspirations – and in the Classic Who serial, his ‘defeat’ came from sending him into the time vortex itself, of which he will supposedly die of old age.
Empire of Death retcons that ending. The giant CGI dog that is this version of Sutekh didn’t die in the time vortex but has instead attached itself to the Tardis for the last few thousand years of the Doctor’s adventures. Sutekh, the mysterious “one who waits” mystery box that has been purported for the past series, has been planted on the Tardis waiting for… something? It is mostly unclear as to what actually causes Sutekh to finally materialise after all this time.
An argument can be made that in the episode Wild Blue Yonder, when the Doctor invokes superstition over science, he brings back Sutekh just as he brought back Toymaker and Maestro. But this requires leaps of logic that contradict the dialogue Sutekh himself says in the episode. He states that he has been on the Tardis since Pyramid of Mars, and we witness as such. That he ‘only appeared’ after Wild Blue Yonder is the leap one can’t take with this since the idea of breaking the salt barrier (as lateral cause for Sutekh to appear) has not been reinforced within the text itself since the previous Doctor’s episode The Giggle.
Dusted to Disney’s Framework
The episode continues following the appearance of Sutekh, as the god of death reveals that he has been planting the image of Susan Twist’s character, Susan Triad, across time and space as a lure for the Doctor. More on this egregious level of nonsense later. These versions of Susan Triad have appeared wherever the Tardis has landed, and as Sutekh brings his “dust of death,” each Susan incarnation billows death dust from their orifices. This occurs across the universe, turning everyone except Mel, The Doctor and Ruby into dust in a way that is far too similar to Marvel’s 2018 box office behemoth Infinity War.
But why don’t our protagonists turn into dust, you might ask? Well, apart from being the plot armour trope, it is because Sutekh, with the universe laid to waste beneath his paws and his vast Empire of Death achieved, is invested in the mystery of Ruby Sunday’s mother. So invested that he needs the Doctor and Ruby to stay alive, just for them to solve the mystery. Even more on this nonsense soon.
That Disney-funded the production feels like a poisoned chalice. While the budget has increased in such a way that they can have these big lavish set pieces, these pieces feel like rehashes of Disney properties in a way that can’t be ignored. UNIT headquarters is a spitting image of the Avengers tower, which is seen as the headquarters for the superheroes. As mentioned, the universal decimation that turns everyone to dust is straight out of Avengers: Infinity War. You’d be forgiven for believing that the final shot of the UNIT crew amalgamating on the balcony is ripped straight from every superhero team-up ever, sans superhero poses. The only thing really missing here is a giant blue beam aimed skyward that opens a portal.
Memory Tardis and the Mysterious Woman
As the world is dusted away, the Doctor, Mel and Ruby – after a quick moped ride around London, the dust of death billowing around them showcasing Disney’s budget once again – jump into the Tardis; not the one mounted by the giant CGI dog, but the Tardis that exists within last episode’s time window subplot. The concept itself is the only idea that works in the episode. They enter a version of the Tardis that has been remembered, and thus is a janky amalgamation of the entire show as it bleeds the Doctor’s memories from him in a form of temporal stasis. It is a die-hard fan’s excuse to play Doctor Who ‘Where’s Wally,’ to pause on every shot for the nichest of references to past episodes – screwdrivers, clothing, even old signs. It’s fan service that has had love and thought put into it, unlike the nonsense that occurs with Susan Triad.
Now in the memory Tardis – which fans will recognise as the location where the Doctor introduces the Tales of the TARDIS special that detailed Sutekh’s previous incarnation – the Doctor screams about all life having died. This is reinforced by Sutekh stating the only thing that persists in this universe is “the secret the girl carries with her.” So when the Doctor lands on an unknown planet, and finds a random, unnamed woman (played by Sian Cliffords), it should be a big deal, but it is the same damp squib of a scene that every reveal has been. How this woman is there or is alive isn’t explained. The entire scene is perfunctory, feeling like a scene written to be a cold open. Instead, it appears around a third of the way into the episode, before a blink-and-you-miss-it mention in the final act. But then begs the question as to how this person is alive if the memory Tardis can land there, if it can only land where the Doctor has been before? If Sutekh has planted his harbingers everywhere the Tardis has been, she should be dead. Another, of many, singular scenes that make no sense.
Incoherence, thy name is Roger ap Gwilliam
The Doctor acquires a metal spoon from this woman to work as an antenna. Why he does this, when there are a myriad of metal objects, and a drawer full of sonic screwdrivers, is presented as a “shut up, this is happening” moment. It takes what was subversive about 73 Yards and uses it to confound to the point of incoherence.
An antenna for what, you may ask? An antenna that allows the evil politician that Ruby stopped in 73 Yards (or did stop in an altered timeline?) to be broadcast on a portable screen that the Doctor is carrying. This then prompts a eureka moment because if Ruby never stopped Roger ap Gwillam’s political career, that means his plan of collecting DNA from every person in 2046 occurred. Therefore, in world logic, Ruby’s mother will have had her DNA collected and they need to go to 2046 to find it. It’s briefly mentioned that the Doctor was around when Gwilliam came into power, which means that the memory Tardis is able to land there. But that this tiny line of dialogue can just wave a vital plot point in the finale is beyond frustrating when the visual medium you’re utilising is so malleable; it begs the question as to why the Gwilliam plot line wasn’t a storyline that occurred when the Doctor could be involved.
2046 and Ruby’s Sacrifice
So the Doctor and Ruby change into more ‘adventure’ clothes (the memory Tardis also apparently contains her size tank top) and they go to 2046 to find out if Ruby’s mother has her DNA on the system. Which they soon do very easily by just staring at a screen, as Ruby once again manifests snow while she does. The jargon around this, as previously stated in The Legend of Ruby Sunday, is that the moment of her abandonment is so raw that it bleeds through time. Quite how and why this event occurs to Ruby specifically should be answered by the identity of her mother but it is not, for reasons that are interesting and subversive but – say it with me now – more on this nonsense soon.
But let’s not forget that big bad Sutekh only let them live to find this out. Sutekh takes over Mel – in the only moment that Sutekh shows any kind of power that could elicit some intrigue – and turns her into one of his Harbingers. Ruby and Doctor are taken to Sutekh by Mel now that they know who Ruby’s mother is and as Ruby goes forward to reveal what she has found, she smashes the screen. Unequivocally, this is a great decision from a character and narrative standpoint. It is a sacrifice of information that Ruby has been searching for all season. It is a sacrifice that is completely moot within minutes but for one brief moment she took autonomy over the information around her mother.
A Hot Mess of a Narrative Resolution
So here we are, after 1400 or so words of arm-waving, carousel-riding exasperation, we finally arrive at the hot mess of a narrative resolution. Sutekh, god of death and having brought about his empire of death, is defeated by…taking him for walkies. Of course, this is not quite how Russell T Davies brings about Sutekh’s demise, but it is, in basic terminology, just that. Ruby attaches a rope (so-called intelligent rope) to Sutekh’s collar, the other end attached to the tardis console, and drags the beast back into the time vortex. This is basically – on a lower budget – what the Doctor did the first time he defeated Sutekh, but this time he isn’t letting Sutekh re-mount the Tardis. No, he blows a whistle and a giant laser beam blasts through Sutekh, disengaging him from the Tardis roof.
Instead, the Doctor, in Ncuti Gatwa’s attempt at rage, stands at the door of the Tardis and sorta-but-not-really explains what is happening. He screams into the time vortex about bringing “death to death” and lo and behold, the entire world is returning to life as we expected from the very first frame.
I’ve now watched this episode four times to really dig into this and can’t quite understand what this means. Dragging the embodiment of death along the time vortex brings life to the world, apparently. Is it like multiplying a negative number with a negative number, and getting a positive? But the reason I don’t understand it is because it is indecipherable, deliberately so, and made to sound good. Gatwa screaming about bringing death to death is the word of the day (nonsense) and is a hapless gesticulation.
It is careless writing, but because of the confidence in which it is presented, it almost feels like you should be understanding it. “Bring death to death” is a non-statement and it is here that we realise the limits that Davies has as a writer. Sutekh being dragged through the time vortex is an arresting image, as much as the CGI construct can elicit feelings, and tearing holes in the fabric of time is an idea that could bear so much fruit, and yet it feels like it’s presented as a first draft. Which is where we find ultimately the entire series’ problem: Davies’ mystery box laden narrative. Time to unravel the nonsense.
Nonsense & Bad Faith Storytelling
Part 1: Sutekh and Susan
So the episode tells us that Sutekh has placed a Susan Triad across all of time and space. Great! Interesting! But then we find out that this is to impel the Doctor to think that his granddaughter Susan was this Susan he kept seeing everywhere. But the entire Susan thread is a mystery box designed to get fans theorising. It’s not quite the level of pandering we find from other Disney properties (looking at you, Star Wars), but it’s disingenuous to set up narrative dominoes that when knocked down lead nowhere. This is because it’s only mere hours before Sutekh reveals himself that the Doctor first thinks that the character could be his granddaughter. So the idea that Sutekh has been planting the idea of Susan being his granddaughter across time and space is not just nonsensical – and written so audiences can be led that way – but it also causes Sutekh to be completely defanged as a presence.
Davies does nothing of note with Sutekh anyway (the canine makes one feeble paw in the third act, otherwise sits on his tardis throne the entire time) but to suggest that Sutekh cares about being manipulative only serves to dilute the character. His manipulations, based on eliciting the Doctor’s emotions, puts a stress on what makes Sutekh the kind of villain he is: that he doesn’t care about emotions. He is supposedly as cold and as callous as death is. But this Sutekh is all ponce and no pounce.
Part Two: Ruby, Snow, Mothers and a Carol
So, Ruby Sunday, and the mystery box of her mother? We’ve clarified that Sutekh only keeps them alive to know who Ruby’s mother is. This in itself could be interesting but the reveal that the mother of Ruby is just a random nurse doesn’t gel with what motivates Sutekh. It doesn’t gel because once again, Davies is writing it in broad ideas with no refinement. The Doctor states that Ruby’s mother, an NHS nurse, is important to Sutekh only because we (term used to define his posse of human companions) imparted importance onto her. But it is bad faith storytelling and narrative clickbait. Davies has suggested that the supervision occurring in The Last Jedi was an inspiration, but the entry into the Star Wars saga played on preconceived notions that have been festering for decades. We, as an audience, were invested in Ruby’s mother because we are led to do so. Ruby’s hidden song, the Carol of the Bells that exists inside Ruby (identified in Maestro) exists for no reason, it seems, as does her intermittent mention of television subjects which then manifest within the narrative, nor does her ability to manifest snow matter at all.
When revisiting Ruby’s abandonment within the time window in the previous episode the shadowy figure of her mother, who is cloaked in black hood like in some Dickensian novel, glitches out and ends up pointing at the Doctor. The memory itself has changed. This is not the audience imparting importance onto her; this is the writing guiding audiences in conferring about the mystery. This is the character itself bolstering their own mystery. That Ruby’s mother is a normal person is subversive to Doctor Who’s normal bandwidth, and the idea of her importance being akin to the mass hysteria that has led to war and religion, borders being enacted and ideas around societal segregation is a great concept. But at best the execution of it is bad faith, to suggest that the mother is only important because we (the audience) make it so. At worst, it’s condescending. This is made even worse with the single worst narrative thread resolution in modern Doctor Who. Ruby’s mother, the normal person who was doused in shadowy glitches and could change time itself, points at the Doctor but not really pointing at the Doctor.
Part Three: Louise Miller
No, Ruby’s mother was Louise Miller, a teenage mother who hid her pregnancy from her abusive stepfather and from Ruby’s father, William Garnet (oh god, do we have another lineage mystery next season?). I must reiterate that it is perfectly fine to have Ruby’s mother be this way but for reasons laid out above, it does not and can not work within this framing. As for Louise pointing at the Doctor? It is instead a gaslight of the audience, as she is actually pointing above the Tardis and at the road sign that says ‘Ruby Road,’ supposedly naming her daughter Ruby to absolutely no one in the vicinity.
We are presented with the mystery of Louise, and then chastised for going down the rabbit hole they are inviting us down. But the solution of the mystery then leaves gaping plot holes. In the futuristic-set Boom, Ruby is on the ground dying, as a futuristic ambulance tries to contact her next of kin through her DNA. The mystery of who, what and why Ruby’s bloodline cannot be identified is reinforcing the central mystery, but the resolution in Empire of Death is that they travel to 2046 and identify the DNA of Louise there. The resolution here blows a crater into Boom larger than what would have happened had the Doctor blown up atop of that landmine.
What does work is the reunion between Ruby and Louise. Russell T Davies became a household name with his down-to-earth dramas Queer as Folk before helming the revival of Doctor Who in 2005. His work on Years and Years and It’s A Sin are excellent because they function as character dramas of the marginalised, and in the former as sharp satire. He knows what works on a human, emotional level and the reunion is undoubtedly affecting. But it feels like the entire mystery of Louise has been reverse engineered, and been callously thrown together just to have this moving reunion.
Tainting A Strong Season With Disrespect and well…nonsense
While the Empire of Death might not be bad enough to ruin the season as a whole – Gatwa remains extraordinary – the minute details of each episode that pertain to this damp squib of a mystery are now tainted. In a prior review of the show, I suggested that this mystery really needs to stick the landing for how pervasive it has been throughout the series, but the journey has been exciting. So for someone who spent the opening few episodes excited for what unboxing would occur by the finale, this episode is a letdown on multiple fronts, not the least for how little respect Davies seems to have for an audience he also seems to want to pander to. The only thing left when unwrapping this mystery box of an episode is a cold hard lump of coal at the bottom.
Doctor Who is available to stream on Disney+.
You might also like…
