In this episode, the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) attempt to stop the god-like being Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf) from destroying all life in the universe.

The monitor responds to Ruby's memories and shows her a 2046 interview with Roger ap Gwilliam, the 'most dangerous prime minister in history'.

The Doctor uses a whistle to move his TARDIS towards him, killing Harriet in the process, and attaches the other end of the rope to its console, dragging Sutekh through the time vortex and undoing all the deaths he caused.

Davies stated that Sutekh was no longer an Osiran, as in Pyramids of Mars (1975), but had evolved into a god through prolonged exposure to the time vortex after clinging to the TARDIS.

Once the design was finalised, the team used various tools to visualise Sutekh's appearance in 3D space, including virtual reality headsets.

As Davies preferred the idea of Rey being "ordinary", he wrote the twist regarding Ruby's mother as his "response" to the films.

To make the set appear as London, it included a red double-decker bus, telephone booth, and London-dressed taxi cab.

A replica of the TARDIS console from episodes featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor was constructed and inserted into the ceiling of the set.

Davies eventually got the idea to re-use the set for Tales of the TARDIS as part of Doctor Who's sixtieth-anniversary celebrations.

In the scene in which the Doctor uses his whistle to summon the TARDIS, the possessed Mel and Triad are sent flying by it, which Davies described in the script as like "skittles."

[9] Also appearing in the episode were Jemma Redgrave, Bonnie Langford, Susan Twist, Yasmin Finney, Michelle Greenidge, Anita Dobson, and Angela Wynter.

[22] Other guest stars included Nicholas Briggs (voice), Gabriel Woolf, Genesis Lynea and Lenny Rush.

The website's consensus reads: "Closing out the season with some shaggy plotting and a reveal that will disappoint some, "Empire of Death" doesn't fully stick the landing but brings this round of adventures to a rousing enough end.

"[26] Will Salmon of Total Film praised the performances of Gatwa and Gibson, the execution of the plot and fan service, and the resolution to the storyline regarding Ruby's mother.

[33] Similarly, Stefan Mohamed of Den of Geek gave the episode a positive review, highlighting in particular the scene between Gatwa and Clifford, but felt the ending was weak due to the lack of emotional buildup throughout the season.

[30] Martin Belam of The Guardian praised the performance of Langford, calling it "genuinely chilling", and noted the scene in which Ruby reunites with her mother as giving the episode its emotional core.

However, he criticised the episode for a lack of stakes, noting that "once whole swathes of the recurring supporting cast had met their sandy end by Sutekh's minions it seemed obvious that there would have to be a great big reset".

[46] Ed Power criticised the CGI effects, and felt that the episode was a "bland" send off to Gibson and Gatwa.