Doctor Who – The Robot Revolution ending explained: Why can't Belinda go home?

We've been introduced to new companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), who's taking absolutely none of the Doctor's nonsense. Plus, she somehow knows what a TARDIS is - is there more to her than meets the eye?

We also saw the return of Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson), who made a very swift exit when Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor risked seeing her, and were introduced to the robots of Missbelindachandra One and the menacing AI Generator.

Here's everything you need to know about how The Robot Revolution ended.

Doctor Who – The Robot Revolution ending explained: Why can't Belinda go home?

The Doctor and Belinda can't return to Earth on 24th May 2025 due to a currently unnamed force repelling them from landing there.

Belinda refuses to be one of the Doctor's adventures, asking him to take her home, which he agrees to. But the TARDIS clearly has some issues returning to the point in space and time where he picked her up from.

Belinda asks if it's all part of the process, for the TARDIS to "bounce" its way there - but the truth seems much more sinister.

The Doctor says that something is bouncing them off Earth on the day that they left - but he doesn't know why. Could it be Mrs Flood? Or a new villain we're yet to meet?

He discovers that the TARDIS has taken them to a point halfway between Missbelindachandra and Earth, and declares that they'll have to take "the long way round".

But when the TARDIS vworps away, we see fragments of Earth floating in space - a London black cab, the Eiffel Tower, a fragment of the Statue of Liberty, and tons of debris.

We also see Belinda's star diploma and a calendar turned to May and crossing off every day up to 23rd May.

But what could this mean? Has the Earth been destroyed? Could it be something to do with a parallel Earth? Is someone keeping the Doctor away from Earth on that day to prevent humanity from calling for his help?

It certainly isn't looking good for planet Earth - or for the Doctor and Belinda.

How did Belinda defeat the AI Generator?

Belinda used her star diploma to create a temporal explosion, atomising the AI Generator (who is then cleaned up off the floor by the adorable polisher droid).

The Doctor discovers that there's a time fracture on Missbelindachandra One, with the border between that world and Earth jumping about. It resulted in Belinda leaving Earth on 24th May 2025, but the Doctor, who followed her, arrived six months before her.

The Doctor points out that Belinda has one star diploma, while the AI generator has another version of the exact same one, meaning the robots must have obtained it from the future.

When they brought it to their planet, it blipped in the time fracture, going back 5,000 years and becoming a foundation myth - hence Belinda becoming the planet's queen!

Belinda puts a question to the Doctor - when two versions of the same thing cross over in time, don't they explode? Yes they do. "Kaboom!" as the Doctor puts it.

The Doctor keeps the the diploma safe for Belinda until she encounters the AI Generator (AKA, her menace of an ex-boyfriend, Alan) at the end of the episode, delivering it to her by means of the polisher droid. Kaboom!

The Doctor absorbs the energy from the temporal explosion, with the time fracture sending him through Belinda's entire life.

Alan is turned microscopic, becoming a sperm and an egg, with the polisher droid cleaning him up off the floor.

Meanwhile, the war raging on Missbelindachandra One has ended, with the robots and humans living in harmony and promising to rebuild.

But now, the Doctor and Belinda must continue their journey home the long way round - and next up is a trip to 1950s Miami!

Doctor Who continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 19th April 2025.

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