Why doesn’t anyone remember Earth in Doctor Who’s The Well? Season 15 storyline, explained

In Doctor Who Season 15, Episode 3, titled The Well, the Doctor and companion Belinda discover that the residents of a future mining colony have no memory of Earth or humanity. This suggests a broader mystery in the series and a possibility that, in the future, Earth will simply be non-existent, and therefore, people will not remember it.

According to reports, the episode also serves as a sequel to the 2008 episode Midnight, as the Doctor realises it is the same planet he visited previously. Belinda worries about the possibility of returning home, and the Doctor gives her a shallow assurance. They further face a mysterious entity, making the narrative even more horrifying.

Read on for the complete storyline.

Why doesn’t anyone remember Earth in Doctor Who’s The Well?

The disappearance of the planet Earth is a significant event in the timeline of Doctor Who. No one in this world knows or has heard about Earth or the species of Belinda who lives there. Though people from the Well look similar to humans, Belinda realises they could be aliens with a similar appearance. The series confirms that they belong to a species called the Lombardic.

During the Robot Revolution in May 2025, it is revealed that Earth was destroyed for good. The visual clue of floating planetary debris in the season premiere confirms that the homeworld of humanity is gone. Therefore, this might be the reason why, 500,000 years into the future, people have now forgotten that Earth even existed. Because humanity was wiped out in a single, devastating event—without time to escape or colonise other planets—there were no survivors to pass on history, culture, or even memory.

Doctor Who and Belinda encounter a mysterious creature

The Doctor and Belinda encounter a mysterious entity that behaves like a shadow and uses people as its host. It tends to kill anyone who comes behind it. Even killing the host doesn’t work, as the creature hops onto the killer. Aliss is possessed by the creature; therefore, keeping in mind the lives of the rest of the people, Shaya suggests that they should leave Aliss behind, to which Belinda and the Doctor do not agree. Here, the Doctor comes up with a plan to show the creature its own reflection behind it. They arrange some mercury, and when the creature attacks, the one behind it frees Aliss eventually. This comes as a respite for them as they immediately attempt to escape.

However, the episode ends by suggesting a horrifying possibility. One of the soldiers looks nervously behind Mo, as if something is there. This suggests how the creature always gets behind its hosts. This leaves Mo disturbed and worried.

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This proves to be a major twist in the show, as in one of the scenes in The Well, Belinda asks the Doctor if there are any humans left, and he instinctively reassures her by saying that humans always exist. His answer is based on everything he has witnessed across time—humanity thriving, colonising space, becoming pivotal in galactic events. But now, as the events have unfolded, it might be possible that the universe will now evolve without humanity ever becoming the major player it once was.

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