Doctor Who never shies away from high-concept storytelling, and in Season 15, the show dives headfirst into one of its most mind-bending plots yet.
The return of THE Rani—a villain from the classic era—brings a staggering twist to Doctor Who’s current narrative.
While layered in illusion, identity, and cosmic power, her plan has a unifying objective: to access a force buried deep beneath reality itself.
The birth of Desiderium and the power behind the Wish World
In Doctor Who, Season 15, Episode 7, “Wish World”, The Rani makes her presence known in 1865 Bavaria, arriving at the Zufall family’s home just as their seventh son is born.
She names the infant Desiderium – later revealed to be the God of Wishes, a member of the Pantheon. Though Desiderium is too young to control his power independently, Rani sees potential in directing his abilities for her grand scheme.
The creation of the Wish World, a distorted but idealized Earth, is made possible through the combined effort of the Rani, Desiderium, and Conrad Clark – a man yearning for a better world.
But this perfect reality is far from utopian. Conrad envisions a society where disability and differences are masked or hidden, creating a disturbing undercurrent to the illusion.
This twisted paradise exists only because Desiderium’s powers were amplified – first through Conrad’s influence and then through The Rani’s manipulation of the Doctor’s journey through time.
The Rani’s real target in Doctor Who: Doubt, Omega, and the Doctor
Despite appearances, Rani’s true objective isn’t global control or the illusion. Her real focus in Doctor Who. She doesn’t seek to convince the world of a new reality – instead, she needs the Doctor to question it.
In her own words:
“Doubt can crack open the world – but the doubts of a Time Lord rip open the structure of reality.”
The doubt becomes the very key to accessing the Underverse, where the character Omega lies trapped.
Omega, long associated with Doctor Who and its mythos, was once heralded as a hero who helped develop Gallifrey’s time travel capabilities but was lost in an experiment gone wrong.
Now, residing in the Underverse, The Rani worships Omega – and it becomes increasingly clear that her entire strategy is built on freeing him.
Using the Doctor’s emotional connection to the illusionary world – including a fabricated marriage and daughter named Poppy - The Rani channels his inner turmoil to crack the false reality. The Doctor pleads:
“Don’t you understand? I have a daughter! Poppy is real. Don’t you know what that means?
Whether Poppy is truly his daughter or a creation made from his and Belinda’s DNA remains unclear. But as the Doctor falls through the edge of the universe, Rani’s plan appears to be working.
Rewriting the lore: The Rani’s true intentions and her relationship with the Doctor
What elevates the storyline beyond typical villainy is the emotional subtext tied to Rani’s motivations in Doctor Who. She is not merely a conqueror or agent of chaos – she desires life.
She asks the Doctor:
“People said we were lovers – can you remember if that’s true?... the tragedy is, we were never enemies – every villain you’ve ever fought wanted death I only wanted life, remember?”
This quote reframes their dynamic entirely and casts a shadow of ambiguity over everything the fans thought they knew.
Their relationship here is a bold move that challenges fans to reconsider decades of canon and leaves the door wide open for even more explosive revelations to be unveiled in the future.
Doctor Who has never been short on complex storytelling, but the Rani's plot in Season 15 is among the most emotionally charged and thematically rich.
With the lines between illusion, memory, and reality dissolving, and with Omega's return, the stage is set for a finale that could redefine everything we knew about Doctor Who.
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