Dr Who: what happened at the end of the second special, “Wild Blue Yonder,” starring Bernard Cribbins?

The second of three Doctor Who specials has taken place overnight, with the three-story arc once again bringing together David Tennant’s popular Fourteenth Doctor alongside his companion Donna, played by Catherine Tate. Wild Blue Yonder continues from where the last special, The Star Beast left our heroes. 

In the aftermath of The Star Beast, the latest special unfolds with the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna finding themselves transported to an abandoned spaceship. Their predicament takes a perilous turn when the TARDIS, instead of risking exposure to a nearby hostile entity, mysteriously disappears, leaving the Doctor and Donna stranded. 

The enigmatic threat is eventually unveiled as the Not-Things: shape-shifting entities from beyond existence, determined to sow chaos across the universe.

Heavy spoiler warning ahead if you’ve not managed to catch up with the episode just yet, which features the final appearance of the character “Wilf,” played by the late Bernard Cribbins in what would ultimately be (for now) his final television role before he died in 2022. 

What happened at the end of “Dr Who: Wild Blue Yonder”?

As the climax of "Wild Blue Yonder" approaches, our protagonists seek refuge in the captain's quarters. They are faced with a daunting challenge in the form of the Not-Things, who possess the unsettling ability to mimic the Doctor and Donna, replicating not only their appearances but also their memories. The protagonists are on the verge of being outmanoeuvred several times, making their situation even more precarious.

During a critical moment, the Doctor manages to figure out what happened to the missing captain. The captain, who had realised the intentions of the Not-Things, ejected herself into space and activated the ship's self-destruct mechanism to protect the ship and the universe. She made sure to conceal the activation of the mechanism from the entities. The captain's clever move turned the spacecraft into a huge bomb with an extended countdown. The Doctor's realization led to a frantic pursuit by his Not-Thing doppelganger to reach the detonation controls. 

The final scenes of "Wild Blue Yonder" have many unexpected twists. At first, the Doctor and Donna seem to lose the race against their Not-Thing counterparts. But the TARDIS reappears just in time, rescuing them as the explosion looms. The Doctor mistakenly pulls Donna's Not-Thing duplicate onto the TARDIS, leaving the real Donna in danger. However, the situation takes an unforeseen turn. The Doctor recognizes the Not-Thing's telltale signs and rescues the real Donna just before the spaceship explodes. The end of Wild Blue Yonder provides a thrilling and suspenseful conclusion with clever misdirection and the Doctor's quick thinking.

Where can I watch Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder on demand?

The two Doctor Who specials, along with an archive featuring episodes across the 60 years that Doctor Who is celebrating this year, can be found by visiting BBC iPlayer.