'Doctor Who': How Jodie Whittaker's 'The Reality War' Cameo Highlights The Thirteenth Doctor's Lost Potential

WARNING! SPOILERS for Doctor Who 15x08/2x08 'The Reality War'.

Aside from Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa's unexpected regeneration and the subsequent speculation over whether Billie Piper is actually playing the next Doctor, one of the biggest moments of Doctor Who season finale ‘The Reality War' was a surprise cameo from Jodie Whittaker, reprising her role as The Thirteenth Doctor.

For the most part, fans were pleased to see Thirteen again. In fact, some have expressed surprise at just how pleased they were to see her. This seems to confirm a widely held belief in some pockets of the fandom that the lackluster reception to The Thirteenth Doctor's era had nothing to do with Whittaker’s Doctor. The stories she was given were the problem. In just one short scene in ‘The Reality War’, The Thirteenth Doctor was used better than she was in the majority of her own series.

The Thirteenth Doctor Takes Charge

Following her official debut in Series 11 premiere 'The Woman Who Fell To Earth', The Thirteenth Doctor becomes the first NuWho Doctor to have three regular companions: Ryan Sinclair, his Step-Grandfather Graham O'Brien, and local Sheffield Police Constable Yasmin Khan. Thirteen soon affectionately dubbed the trio as 'The Fam'. A four-person Tardis Team had been the norm in the early days of Classic Who, and it worked fine back then, when a story lasted 4-6 episodes.

Unfortunately, having a four-man Team in the day of NuWho, where stories are for the most part wrapped up in fifty minutes or less, came with its issues. Especially since we were still getting to know a brand-new Doctor and all three companions at the time. The first order of the day in most episodes was four the group to split up, and for that reason it, was often difficult for The Thirteenth Doctor to fully take charge of a situation in the same way as her predecessors, as the companions would regularly spend parts of the adventure without her. She sometimes felt like the group's quirky driver moreso than a leader.

This wasn't the case during Thirteen's 'Reality War' cameo. She enters the scene and immediately takes charge, letting The Fifteenth Doctor just how potentially disastrous his plan to shift reality could be. Of course, in true Doctor fashion, she never intended to actually stop him, but that doesn't ruin the impact of the moment.

Joining in the joke

The Thirteenth Doctor, unlike The Fifteenth Doctor, did in fact face classic Doctor Who enemies such as The Daleks and the Cybermen. However, then-showrunner Chris Chibnall enjoyed putting a twist on these classic monsters, for example, regularly taking Daleks out of their weaponised casings.. which are a large part of what makes them dangerous and scary in the first place. This, coupled with the massive retcon of The Doctor’s origin in the Timeless Child storyline, sometimes makes Thirteen feel a little less connected to the show’s history than her predecessors.

Her scene with The Fifteenth Doctor course corrects this slightly, when she makes a comment about Fifteen’s Tardis:

“You’ve redecorated.. I don’t like it.”

A previous Doctor disliking a later incarnation's Tardis interior is a long-running recurring joke in Doctor Who. Allowing Thirteen to become a bigger part of that running joke helps give her a greater tie to the show's history, even if a small one. Thirteen and Fifteen's later shared use of 'Timey Wimey' adds to this further.

The Thirteenth Doctor gets a chance to use her intellect.

After The Twelfth Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver is broken partway through his tenure, he replaces it with a pair of Sonic Sunglasses. These no longer appear to be in his possession at the time of his regeneration into The Thirteenth Doctor, so in the latter part of her first episode, 'The Woman Who Fell To Earth', she builds her own Sonic Screwdriver as a replacement.

Many Whovians enjoyed this sequence at the time, expressing excitement at the idea of the series leaning into a 'Mad Scientist' vibe for Thirteen. Unfortunately, this proved not to be the case. While The Thirteenth Doctor, like all Doctors, was clever, and described as a tinkerer, a lot of what could have been her best work seems to happen offscreen between scenes. One of the biggest criticisms of the Chibnall era is the tendency to have The Doctor explain how she saved the day after the fact, rather than showing the audience as she does it.

This isn't a problem in 'The Reality War', as The Thirteenth Doctor enters right in the middle of The Fifteenth Doctor's reality-shifting plan rather than after it is all over, and lets him know exactly why she thinks it is a bad idea, but also offers advice to make sure he is successful.. with the advice she offers being clever enough that Fifteen had not already thought of it himself.

As great as the scene is, it also made some fans feel more disappointed at what the Chibnall era lost by not leaning into Thirteen's 'Mad Scientist' potential.

The scene adds depth to Thirteen and Yaz's doomed romantic connection.

During series twelve of Doctor Who, it was hinted that companion Yasmin Khan may have had romantic feelings for The Doctor. The latter part of Thirteen's run suggests that The Doctor shares these feelings, but will never act on them due to the pain that inevitably losing Yaz will cause. The almost-relationship could have been beautifully tragic, but apart from a few poignant moments, suffers from Chibnall's 'Tell, don't show' writing style.

Despite the issues in the canon writing, there is large support for the 'Thasmin' ship within the fandom, so those fans were delighted when The Thirteenth Doctor's 'Reality War' cameo more explicitly confirmed her feelings for Yaz, after Fifteen tells his departing predecessor that he loves her.

Fifteen: I love you, Doctor.

Thirteen: We never say that..

Fifteen: That's why you got me.

Thirteen: I should say that to Yaz!

Fifteen: You never do.. But she knows.

The exchange is sold by Whittaker's performance, with the way her face falls after learning she never told Yaz that she loved her adding a bittersweet layer to the relationship that should always have been there in the hands of a more talented writer.

In one piece of good news, Thirteen's cameo has increased interest in Big Finish's upcoming Thirteenth Doctor Adventures audio series, which will see Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill reprise the roles of The Thirteenth Doctor and Yasmin Khan. Big Finish has previously been credited with raising the profile of the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker.

Hopefully, The Thirteenth Doctor may get another chance to grace our screens again in a future multi-Doctor special.

Check out the full clip of Jodie Whittaker's return as The Thirteenth Doctor here: