10 Reasons RTD's Doctor Who Return Failed

RTD clearly envisaged the two Fifteenth Doctor finales as action-packed Marvel blockbusters, with the Doctor fighting iconic returning bad guys supported by UNIT’s best.

But in execution they were all style and no substance, with far too much going on.

They had way too many characters. It gets to the point where it’s just embarrassing, because you’ve brought back an '80s companion to 'do her justice', only for her to play second fiddle to the current ones. And you’ve got Rose just stood in the background, tapping on an iPad. And Anita holding open a door. Did nobody point any of these things out?!

The use of Sutekh and Omega was also questionable, with them being far too obscure for general audiences to get excited about, and so far removed from their original versions for fans to get onboard with. They literally pleased no-one.

But above all else, the Season 1 and 2 finales were simply just average, at best. The Reality War is a decent fun time for that middle 20 minutes but is mostly a hot mess, and Wish World is absolutely honking. Empire of Death tainted the entire season with its confusing/underwhelming answers to the Ruby mystery, while The Legend of Ruby Sunday is nothing but buildup.

With only eight episodes in a season it's crucial that these big moments hit, and they just didn't. Getting something on the level of World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls wouldn't have saved the era, granted, but it wouldn't have hurt either!