10 Doctor Who Stories With WORSE Endings Than Flux

Graham's wife and Ryan's grandmother Grace was killed in defeating the villainous Tim Shaw. On the planet of Ranskoor Av Kolos, the TARDIS team come face to face with the Stenza warrior once again.

The Vanquishers isn't even the worst season finale of the Jodie Whittaker era! That dubious honour belongs to The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, which closed out her first series as the Doctor. Whilst it fulfils the criteria of featuring a returning villain from earlier in the series, and wraps up the emotional character arc between Graham and Ryan, it also feels like a turgid mid-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The concept of a villainous alien pretending to be a god is a familiar trope in science fiction, and sadly Ranskoor doesn't push it in a new direction. Even the disagreement between Graham and the Doctor over how to deal with Tim Shaw isn't as fleshed out as it could be. Moral arguments between the Doctor and their companions have provided some classic moments in the series from as far back as the first serial in 1963.

Here, the material just isn't there for Bradley Walsh and Jodie Whittaker, which is a real disappointment. The two of them are great together and after the promise of The Woman Who Fell to Earth, it's a real missed opportunity not to bring the Tim Shaw story to a close in a more satisfying way.