It is hard to judge Wish World on its own merits. Nominally, it is the first part of a two-part finale for Doctor Who: Series 2.Given that, it is largely focused on setting up what comes next. It does that beautifully, with some amazing visuals and a lot of big ideas. However, without a clear payoff, it is seemingly shallow in what it accomplishes beyond exposition and building off the season to date.

Our story opens in London, where John Smith works a job in insurance to take care of his wife, Belinda, and daughter, Poppy. The world is run under the aegis of Conrad; a god-king who controls the weather, yet still finds time tor reading comforting fairy tales on the telly. It is a perfect world, so long as you don’t express any doubts about how wonderful everything is. Unfortunately, John Smith is starting to doubt how wonderful his life is, even before a woman named Ruby shows up on his doorstep asking for a Doctor…

Russell T. Davies spins a heck of a story here, presenting a twisted world full of familiar characters, seemingly modeled on the heteronormative ideals of Conrad – the villain from Lucky Day. One of the better ideas is that Conrad, being an ablest homophobe who wishes that he couldn’t see the differently-abled, is literally unable to see anyone who is in a wheelchair or displays any “deviant” behavior. This leads to a resistance forming among the homeless outcasts, who have to make an effort to be seen by anyone in this “perfect” world.

It’s an brilliant metaphor for life as a differently abled or LGBTQ person in the Western World with just one problem; the resistance made of Shirley, Ruby, and their friends doesn’t actually manage anything in this episode. Presumably they will have a role next week, but it does take the shine off of Wish World when so much time is devoted to a subplot that seems completely pointless beyond making a statement. That’s a problem with most of the ideas in Wish World. For instance, giant dinosaur skeletons walk all over the landscape of Wish World. Why? It’s a cool visual that indicates something is wrong to the outsiders, but there’s no apparent reason beyond that.

Davies manages somewhat better with the more subtle irony of Conrad’s perfect world being handed to him by the real villains: The Two Ranis. It goes unremarked that Conrad’s rise to power only comes about because of two women, born of an alien race he denied existed. This is even more darkly amusing once the Ranis’ real plan and purpose in creating Wish World and empowering an idiot like Conrad is revealed.

Beyond the return of the Rani, there are a number of Easter eggs for Classic Who fans. However, these fans are more likely to be annoyed by these nods than enraptured. For instance, the Rani now seems to be more of a witch than a mad scientist, at one point changing a family into, respectively, six ducks, an owl, and a pile of violets. No explanation is offered for this, though it does establish the Rani as a bad woman who will hurt people just for getting in her way for the benefit of new viewers.

The acting is top-notch all-around, though Varada Sethu has little to do beyond scream about missing her daughter this time around. It’s possible that Wish World will shine brighter in relation to next week’s season finale. As a single episode, however, it is merely passible.