Empire of Death, pondered.

This was not just about the Doctor going head to head with Sutekh. This was about Ncuti Gatwa going head to head with Gabriel Woolf. And what struck me more than anything, is that Ncuti Gatwa in affirmation of life was at least as rhetorically impressive as Gabriel Woolf’s hymn to universal death.

I can’t help but think that the cliffhanger ending was in the wrong place. The Doctor’s howl of pain as he stares out of the TARDIS to view a universe of dust was the place to leave us. It’s all very well to have wrinklies like me gasp at the re-emergence of Sutekh but I think it would have been neater to end things with the end of all things.

Because the show shouldn’t be being made with me in mind. It should be made with intelligent young adults who haven’t necessarily heard of Sutekh in mind – first and foremost. If I end up liking it too – well – that’s just goal difference.

Some people were disappointed by Ruby’s very ordinariness. Personally, I was reassured by it. The notion of an Egyptian (“cultural appropriation) Deity being defeated by someone perfectly ordinary chimes with all my sense of the Whoniverse’s best instincts. It’s part of the reason why the Timeless Child narrative troubles me a bit. I want the Doctor’s heroism to be self-fashioned – not genetically encoded. The idea of of an ordinary Time Lord who stole a TARDIS because they were a bit bored appeals to me far more than a mysterious megabeing from being the known universe…

We still don’t know who Mrs Flood is. We don’t know if she’s malign or benign. We only know that Anita Dobson is magnificent at fourth-wall shattering acting. And I think we know that the Doctor is committed to finally (60 years on) make good on his promise to catch up with Susan.

Ncuti Gatwa is the Doctor. He owns it already. His version of the Doctor is characterised by the courage to well up with teary-eyed love. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Many people have condemned Russell Davies for his shameless sentimentality – the slowness and thoroughness with which he sets about jerking tears from people. What can I say? At the conclusion of this season finale, I was welling up. Salt water was spilled. If he’s a cynical sentimentalist then I’m his perfect victim.