Doctor Who Season 14 Episode 5’s Ending Addressed by Showrunner: “Do You Think Racism Is Only In The Past”
SUMMARY
- Doctor Who season 14, episode 5 explores racism through a powerful twist ending, challenging viewers to confront their own biases.
- Showrunner Russell T Davies wanted to highlight the reality of racism in modern society, not just in the past.
- The episode forces audiences to question why they didn’t notice the lack of diversity in the all-white cast sooner, creating a memorable moment.
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies is opening up about the stunning twist at the end of season 14, episode 5. After an entire episode focusing on Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor leading a group of wealthy internet-obsessed people to safety, he quickly learns that they would rather die than spend time with a Black man. The Doctor is left to mourn their coming deaths, while also considering the flaws of humanity. Doctor Who season 14 is filled with social commentary, but this episode directly addressed racism and slowly seeded the theme through the episode.
In the latest episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed, Davies opened up about the thought process that went into developing the episode. He was curious about when viewers would notice the all-white cast and how audiences would respond, especially since he wanted to directly address the reality of racism. While many would expect Gatwa’s Doctor to have problems in the past as the first Black Doctor, Davies wanted to emphasize that racism is not solely in the past. Check out his full quote below:
It’ll be interesting to see the response to this episode. I think the main response to this episode is going to be about that ending. What we can’t tell is how many people will have worked that out before the ending, because they’ve seen white person after white person after white person, and television these days is very diverse. I wonder, ‘Will you be 10 minutes into it, will you be 15, will you be 20 before you start to think everyone in this community is white.’ And if you don’t think that, why didn’t you? So that’s going to be interesting. I hope it’s one of those pieces of television you’ll see and always remember.
From the moment we cast Ncuti, everyone said to me, ‘Oh my God, what’s it going to be like when he goes into the past?’ Because a Black Doctor is going to face such racism . You sit there going, what about now? Why do you think racism is only in the past when you look at what’s happening to the world.
Doctor Who’s Twist Ending Directly Confronted Modern Racism
Davies Wanted To Ensure That No One Would Assume Racism Is Gone
The twist ending of episode 5, “Dot and Bubble,” is carefully hinted at throughout the episode. Lindy Pepper-Bean, the episode’s lead character, repeatedly insults the Doctor. She hints that he looks “stupid“, states that he needs to be “disciplined“, and blocks him without the Doctor committing any offense at all. She is much more friendly to Ruby Sunday, who she assumes cannot even be in the same physical space as the Doctor. The fact that the episode has an all-white supporting cast is also a notable hint, given that Doctor Who‘s season 14 cast is generally much more diverse.
All these hints lead to the eventual revelation that everyone in Lindy’s city is extremely racist. They refuse to associate with the Doctor even after he saves all of their lives. His attempts to bring them somewhere safer completely backfire, as the characters would rather risk death than associating with a Black man. It is extremely tragic for the Doctor, who wants nothing more than to save them, and Ruby is left to try to comfort him in the aftermath.
The harsh reaction in some corners of the Doctor Who community to Ncuti Gatwa’s casting likely sparked some of the ideas behind the episode. Still, the idea that the Fifteenth Doctor would only encounter racism in the past is why Davies decided to produce this episode in its current form. “Dot and Bubble” takes place in a futuristic world, yet racism still remains and controls the lives of its characters. In tackling racism, Doctor Who also addressed inherent bias in audiences, forcing a new discussion of modern racism.
