The Doctor and Belinda only showed up at the beginning of Doctor Who season 15, episode 4, and then The Doctor showed up at the end. This episode was focused on Ruby Sunday and UNIT, bringing lessons about how easy it is to spread disinformation and fall for it.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Doctor Who season 15, episode 4.
The episode starts with Fifteen and Belinda finding themselves back in London, but it’s not in the year 2025. Instead, it’s 17 years earlier, with the two running into a young boy, who dedicates his life to figuring out The Doctor and believing in aliens. At least, that’s what we think.
Don’t trust a person you’ve just met in Doctor Who
We end up at some point during Doctor Who season 14, as Conrad ends up finding the TARDIS again, and he goes into the factory where there is a monster. Sure enough, some green goo ends up on him, and he watches as Fifteen and Ruby handle the creature that’s around. The Doctor tells Ruby that she’s been marked so that this creature can come after her again, but he gives her the antidote to it.
Little does anyone know but Conrad has also been marked. So, a year later, when he gets Ruby on his podcast, he shares with her a little of his journey and learns more about some of her work with The Doctor. She even shares a bit of it on his podcast, and that leads to a romantic connection between the two of them. Ruby also points out that he was marked by the creature, and she gives him the antidote to take.
After a few dates, the two end up going away to meet Conrad’s friends. That’s when the entire situation changes, as it looks like the creatures are back. Ruby calls Kate at UNIT, who confirms that the creature is still locked away. So, what is another one in town? Or is another one in town? Could Ruby just be paranoid?
Well, she ends up calling UNIT in when it looks like the creatures are back and Conrad shares that he didn’t take the antidote because he wanted to be brave like her. It’s all a trap, as we learn that Conrad and his friends set everything up to get UNIT in and show just how wasteful taxes are being spent.
A quick spread of disinformation in Doctor Who season 15, episode 4
Very quickly, Conrad turns the people — mostly the younger generations — against UNIT. Conrad and his friends claim that everything is done via special effects, and he even manages to get into UNIT with the help of someone in there to attempt to take them down.
We get a look at just how easy it is to brainwash people, and it happens in the real world. As more and more people turn to social media for their “news,” they start to turn against the traditional broadcasters and publications, viewing them as having an agenda. Little do they realize that people also have agendas on social media, and they have ended up falling into those agendas.
In this case, Conrad was angry that he didn’t get a job at UNIT. Kate could see that he wasn’t someone to be trusted, and he proved her right in this episode. Yet, it’s not like UNIT could just put it all out there to let the people know. They still have a duty to keep the world safe, and that includes those who don’t want to believe aliens are real.
Even when Conrad is faced with the real creature, he still doesn’t believe that UNIT has a purpose. However, everything is live streamed, and more people online start to turn against Conrad and support UNIT again.
Ruby realizes after all of this that she has been stuck in limbo since The Doctor took her on all those adventures. Is this a hint that she’ll actually go back and travel with The Doctor, or is she going to find a way to move forward with her life?
What happens to Conrad in Doctor Who?
Conrad is arrested, which is when The Doctor shows up once more.
This is before The Doctor has met Belinda, and I think we get a sense of why Fifteen wants to find Belinda in the Doctor Who season 15 premiere. Conrad put him onto that mission. However, The Doctor makes it clear that Conrad will die in prison lonely and angry.
Is that the case, though? After The Doctor leaves, Mrs. Flood turns up with keys to the prison door. It looks like she’s going to break Conrad free, and this cements the idea that Mrs. Flood is definitely a villain, but who is she?
Doctor Who airs on Saturdays on Disney+.
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