The Rani is back and things are completely awry in Doctor Who’s universe. Season two’s penultimate episode sets up perhaps one of the most dire situations that’s ever happened in the universe. And, through this strange and frightening turn of events, the show continues to honor its decades-old roots while also tying into its recent past. There are quite a few Easter eggs and callbacks in Doctor Who season two, episode seven, aptly titled “Wish World,” and we have them below just for you. While some are more overt than others, it will give many fans more to explore in the show’s deep history.
What Happens in Doctor Who‘s “Wish World” Episode?
First, let’s break down the episode a bit. The Doctor and Belinda wake up in a very different version of Earth that’s very 1950s sitcom-esque with a twist. They don’t seem to remember who they are, instead living a very traditional life as a married couple with a daughter.
However, in this world, when people have doubts, they are disrupted by coffee mugs breaking. Women are “good little wives and mothers,” men work and cannot compliment another man, and anyone who doubts the system could end up imprisoned. There are only a few people who have strong enough doubts to reject the system yet stay under the radar, like Ruby Sunday. The most frightening part is that Conrad is always on some screen and people treat him like he’s Jesus. Gross.
We eventually discover that the baby kidnapped by the Rani is actually Desidirium, the god of wishes. And that baby is unfortunately in the care of Conrad, who created this wish world and runs it like a god. The baby god’s power combined with the Vindicator made this power possible and also brought the Doctor right into her clutches. The Rani (well, Ranis, I guess) want to use the Doctor’s all-consuming doubts to rip open the fabric of reality (and kill everyone) to find the One Who Is Lost.
Whew. Now, let’s get into the Easter eggs and callbacks that we see in Doctor Who’s “Wish World.”
Poppy From “Space Babies”
In this world, the Doctor and Belinda’s daughter is Poppy, whom we’ve seen before. She was one of the space babies from an adventure that Ruby and Fifteen went on early into their time together. In fact, Poppy is the captain of Babystation Beta.
Strangely, we also saw Poppy briefly on the streets when Belinda was searching for the Doctor in Africa. Why did this sweet little face stick in the Doctor’s mind? We don’t know yet but apparently the concept of her being real matters, which the Doctor yells at the end of the episode. Let’s see how this Doctor Who callback plays into the finale.
The Doctor as John Smith
Sometimes, the Doctor goes through an experience that forces them to forget that they are the Doctor. The Doctor also goes undercover and needs to seem like an unassuming human or keep his true identity a secret. In this episode, the Fifteenth Doctor is caught in Conrad’s wish world and doesn’t remember who he is. So, he goes by John Smith, the most boring and perhaps most common name ever.
This is the latest of several times that the Doctor used this specific name. The Tenth Doctor used John Smith a few times, including in “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” when he had to hide his Time Lord essence in a fob to prevent a collective from using his life force to prevent their own demise. In that two-parter, he became a teacher at a school who fell in love.
He also used the moniker to introduce himself to his former amnesiac companion Donna Noble to protect her mind, to a man who thought he was a Time Lord in “The Next Doctor,” and to his former companion Sarah Jane Smith, who didn’t recognize his new form, in “School Reunion.” That guy really loved playing a teacher.
The Second Doctor cheekily calls himself John Smith in “The War Games,” after several failed attempts to get others to address him as Doctor. The Eleventh Doctor had a card with the First Doctor’s face on it and “John Smith” as the name. And the Twelfth Doctor uses John Smith as his moniker when he poses as a caretaker at Coal Hill School in “The Caretaker.” There are other instances for sure, but these are a few memorable ones.
Conrad’s Story About All the Time Lords Dying
Throughout the first part of the episode, Conrad entertains (??) people by telling the story of the Doctor, written by a guy with a familiar last name. (More on that next.) A big chunk of his tale involves the Doctor being the last of the Time Lords.
That comes from the Ninth Doctor era. This incarnation was fresh off of the Time War, a battle between the Daleks and the Time Lords that he believed killed all of his people and his planet. Discussing the Time War and how that feels incredibly different now with new revelations about the Doctor’s true heritage is a post of its own, but this is where the idea came from.
I.M. Foreman
The story that Conrad is reading, Doctor Who and the Deadly Wish, is written by I.M. Foreman. In Doctor Who’s very first episode, the Doctor parks his TARDIS in a junkyard owned by someone with this same name. This is where Susan gets her fake last name from to use at school.
While we never get into who Foreman is in the TV series, the Interference Doctor Who books does give this character a backstory. In those stories, he’s a Gallifreyan monk who is not a Time Lord but has the ability to regenerate thanks to some sketchy bio-engineering by Rassilon (more on him later). At some point, he came to Earth and crafted this space, which the First Doctor eventually uses. What a clever Doctor Who Easter egg.
The Doctor Working for UNIT
Funny enough, the Doctor’s job in his wish world is with UNIT. But, instead of it being the powerful intelligence agency that we all know and love, it is the Unified National Insurance Team. However, this is far from the first time that the Doctor has been on UNIT’s payroll. The Third Doctor found himself exiled and stuck on Earth, so he worked with UNIT to defeat baddies. We later see the Seventh Doctor team up with the organization too.
The Tenth Doctor also worked with UNIT briefly while his former companion Martha Jones was under their employ. More recently, UNIT is a major part of Doctor Who and the Doctor’s life, with people like Rose, Donna, and Mel working there in some capacity.
The Doctor and Belinda’s Townhome Number 11
Okay, so this one might just be a reach in my mind. But, when Belinda has a great moment of doubt, she runs out of the front door and looks back at the house. We see the number 11 as plain as day over the door. In “The God Complex,” the Eleventh Doctor is stuck in a weird space hotel with a force that entices people to go into rooms containing their greatest fears.
For the Doctor, that room is number 11, which contained the crack in reality that had haunted him for a while. And what does this episode have? The Doctor causing a break in reality that allows for Omega to return. This Doctor Who Easter Egg is worth exploring, even if it is not intentional.
Omega: The First Time Lord
Speaking of Omega, he’s a Classic era character that’s likely to come back in this season’s finale. The episode explains him a bit as the first Time Lord and the most terrifying one of all. He’s a galactic engineer who harnessed great supernova power to make time travel possible. Now, the one who was lost for so long is back, thanks to the Rani.
Ruby’s “73 Yards” Time
While speaking with a group of disabled doubters, Ruby vaguely recalls that she’s been in 2025 before and it was nothing like their current reality. We see flashes of her from last season’s “73 Yards,” which took her through several decades in a world without the Doctor.
Rogue’s in Hell Dimension
Rogue lives… or at least we think he does! Last season, we saw the Doctor and Rogue begin to fall for each other. Of course, the Chuldurs’ plans ruined this love story, which ends with Rogue getting yeeted to another dimension that’s impossible to locate. Well, he somehow gets a massage to the Doctor via the television in this episode.
He says the Hell Dimension around him is threatening to end and to remember that “tables don’t do that” before essentially admitting to loving the Doctor. That weird bit of advice is what begins to spark the Doctor’s serious doubts and leads to him being in the clutches of the Rani.
It is not clear if Rogue’s dimension is still there at this point. Hopefully, he can find a way to get out of there.
Seal of Rassilon
One of the first things that the Rani points out to the Doctor is the Seal of Rassilon. In the Classic series, it is a symbol used by the Time Lords and created by Rassilon, a founder of the Time Lord civilization along with Omega. The Seal of Rassilon’s symbol had many uses, including acting as an identifier of Time Lords and warding off evil. Time Lords often wear it on badges, robes, and, for the Seventh Doctor, it was on his TARDIS key.
It appears throughout the show’s classic and modern history. It’s on the outside of the infamous TARDIS blue diary about River Song and the Eleventh Doctor’s adventures as well as a few TARDIS interiors of previous Doctors. The Rani would obviously have a connection to the Seal of Rassilon as a Time Lady, which is why it is in the Bone Palace.
Rani and the Doctor’s Dance in Persephone
The Rani grabs Fifteen and wraps him up in a dance, asking him if he remembers their dance in Persephone as fire raged on. This doesn’t tie back to anything we’ve seen on screen, but it is just a general reference to the Doctor and the Rani having more run-ins and a deeper relationship than what the series was able to explore.
This all sets up an explosive finale that will hopefully give us more ties to the show’s roots.
The post All the Easter Eggs and DOCTOR WHO Callbacks in ‘Wish World’ appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
All rights reserved to : USAGOLDMIES . www.usagoldmines.com
You can Enjoy surfing our website categories and read more content in many fields you may like .
Why USAGoldMines ?
USAGoldMines is a comprehensive website offering the latest in financial, crypto, and technical news. With specialized sections for each category, it provides readers with up-to-date market insights, investment trends, and technological advancements, making it a valuable resource for investors and enthusiasts in the fast-paced financial world.