Doctor Who breaks the fourth wall in most meta moment yet – and pokes fun at fans

In the adventure, our heroes faced off against Lux Imperator (voiced by Alan Cumming) – a god of light who takes the form of animated character Mr Ring-a-Ding, Lux describes himself as "the dazzle at the heart of the Pantheon", and like the Toymaker, Maestro and Sutekh, he possesses incredible powers that enable him to reshape reality to his will.

Having trapped 15 innocent citizens of 1950s Miami in a roll of film, Lux subsequently transforms the Doctor and Belinda into cartoon characters when they attempt to investigate.

Though they're able to regain some corporeal form by opening up about their inner-most fears – as they go deeper and reveal more of themselves to each other, they literally become more three-dimensional – they eventually realise that in order to escape from Lux's trap, they need to "go out".

Heading directly towards us, the viewer, the pair push their way out of the film and clamber out of a television set... into a room of waiting Doctor Who fans, who just like us have been watching the latest episode unfold.

Two of the fans – Hassan (Samir Arrian) and Lizzie (Bronté Barbé) – are stunned by this turn of events, though a third – Robyn (Steph Lacey) – is non-plussed, claiming she "knew this would happen because it was leaked online", adding "hashtag RIP Doctor Who".

It appears as though the Doctor and Belinda have stepped into the 'real' world, with the fans telling them that they've "seen every single episode" of Doctor Who – their favourite instalment is, of course, Blink, or "the story where you’re not allowed to blink", which Belinda sarcastically remarks "sounds like an absolute epic".

The Doctor, meanwhile, seems vexed that the trio are less keen on his more recent adventures, including "the one with the goblins" (aka The Church on Ruby Road), the time he "met the Beatles" (The Devil's Chord) or the time he was "standing on a landmine" (Boom).

Robyn even criticises the episode they've just been watching, arguing that it's "a bit obvious" how the episode will end, calling out the earlier pointed reference to the film stock in the picture-house being explosive.

She also provides the Doctor with a clue that will eventually lead to Lux's defeat: "What does he not do?" (The answer, we later learn, is "go outside", as exposure to the sun's rays will cause him to effectively "drown" in light.)

But all is not as it appears – we're not actually in the 'real' world, and the Doctor and Belinda's adventures are not really happening as part of a television show (at least not from their perspective).

This scenario is all part of Lux's trap, an effort to "play with [the Doctor and Belinda's] minds" – and it's actually Hassan, Lizzie and Robyn who are fictional.

The Doctor and Belinda depart the living room, and even though their leaving will mean that the fans will "blink out of existence", the trio face their tragic fate bravely – grateful for the time they had together, as friends, watching Doctor Who.

It's a poignant moment – though a mid-credits scene reveals that the fans have in fact survived after all, by means unknown, and will live on to continue over-analysing and criticising a show that they nonetheless love unconditionally.

The episode concludes with one final meta moment – Lizzie had previously lamented that she and her friends were "the sort of characters who don’t have surnames", but the end credits in fact grants them all full names: Hassan Chowdhry, Lizzie Abel, and Robyn Gossage.

And so, with a wink to the audience and a leap through the screen, Doctor Who continues to delight in rewriting its own rules...

Read more:

• Who is Lux in Doctor Who? Alan Cumming character explained
• Doctor Who's Mrs Flood promises terror ahead in intriguing new cameo

Doctor Who continues next Saturday (26th April) at 7:20pm on BBC One, with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK. The series will be available on Disney+ outside of the UK.

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