Doctor Who fans left disappointed by 'worst finale ever' as Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's season ends

The Doctor Who season finale aired on Saturday night (June 22), with a midnight screening and a huge hype surrounding the last episode; however, fans were left feeling “underwhelmed” by The Empire of Death, dubbing it “boring”.

Beware spoilers for Doctor Who below*

The finale began with UNIT team being reduced to dust by Sutekh, with friends of the Doctor, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and Rose Noble (Yasmin Finney) being caught up in the carnage. The Doctor managed to escape on a Vespa with former friend Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford), as Sutekh's deadly "death dust" destroyed every world the Doctor had ever touched down on.

The way to defeat Sutekh seemed to be connected to finding out Ruby’s origins, with Ruby’s parents seeming to be key to taking the villainous deity down.

This was realised in the form of a news broadcast from two decades in the future, with the then Prime Minister announcing they were introducing DNA testing for everyone, the Doctor was able to visit that point in time thanks to a “remembered TARDIS”, made up of all the elements from the Doctors who had been there before, in a bid to uncover the identity of Ruby’s birth mother.

Reported by the Mirror, Sutekh possesses Mel and forces her to bring The Doctor and Ruby to him. Once they confront Sutekh they use the “remembered TARDIS” items, with Ruby entrapping him with “intelligent rope”, whilst the Doctor blew a whistle to release the heart of the TARDIS, take back the ship and hurl Sutekh into the vortex.

The identity of Ruby’s mother was finally hinted at, putting to bed fan theories that she was her own mum. Instead, she was the daughter of Louise Miller (Fay McKeever), a 15-year-old teenager who had left her behind and was just an ordinary human, with the pair finally meeting and the Doctor leaving Ruby behind to venture onwards.

What have Doctor Who fans said about the finale?

The Doctor Who finale has not gone down well with fans, taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one viewer said: ”First 25 minutes I really enjoyed. The rest... just didn't really sit right. Performances were all brilliant though, and production wise was on edge if my seat..... but the last half just didn't do it for me #DoctorWho."

Another blasting the episode as “boring”, they said: “#DoctorWho finale was so boring! The entire storyline of Ruby and the mystery behind her birth is just useless. They kept building as it is some universe-altering event and ended up being a big bowl of nothing. This is what happens when the writers don't know how to end a story!"

Whilst a third added: “No even kidding this was one of the worst finales ever, At least the Timeless Child was eventful. #DoctorWho.”

Sarah McCann is a Trends Writer for NationalWorld. If you liked this article you can follow Sarah on X (Twitter) here. You can also sign up to her free weekly column in the NationalWorld newsletter bringing you the latest tv and film news every Thursday.