Doctor Who Review - The Power of the Doctor

[@LeighMatsell]

This was a fitting send off for an uneven era of the show. Yes, there's fan service, but it's so heart-warming and nostalgic.

[@ForTheLoveOfWho]

Great episode 10/10, 22:44 The Timeless Child plot was conculded in "Flux" and is seemingly a continuation of the founding fathers plotline (sometimes known as the Cartmel Masterplan) from the 1980s, which was intended to bring back the mystery of the Doctor that was arguably lost in "The War Games" when they made him a Time Lord. Chris Chibnall has stated that he wanted to dispel what he calls the sense that there was a "locked-in, fixed myth" for Doctor Who. This is why the fob watch has been left in the Tardis for now, so the show has effectively been reset to the status quo of the 1960s, when the Doctor's origins were up in the air. I have wanted this personally for some time. The only plotline to tie up in this episode was the Master's return, which it did.

[@mariashelly4812]

I was really glad to see Colin Baker included. The only thing wrong with his Doctor was that costume!

[@CulturePhilter]

Agree completely that the classic Doctors scene was fantastic.

[@DalamReviews]

Unforgettable stuff, just delightful

[@antpearson9676]

Hello Phil have you found Dalam too. Dr Who's hidden treasure on YT Ant P UK teacher retired

[@android65mar]

7 and Ace's conversation wouldn't have had the same resonance as 5 and Teegan as we never saw Ace and the Doctor parting in the classic series (in the Doctor Who Magazine they killed ACE off whilst in Big Finish audios they are still knocking around with each other). Tegan's exit on TV was I think the second time she had left the Doctor and fthis time at the corpse filled climax of Resurrection of the Daleks it was kind of understandable

[@hgwells1899]

Luckily for me, Ace's wicked episode in the recent Tenth Doctor/Classic Companions set, sent me down a Big Finish Seventh Doctor and Ace sized rabbit hole, just ahead of The Power of The Doctor hitting the fans. I mean screens. Starting with Love and War - the very novel-adaptation which that "sorry I judged you, Professor" line references. So that moment resonated with me as one who is only right now undergoing a McCoynaissance... after loathing this pair for decades, I confess. Big Finish "Ace" is currently a student-Timelord on Gallifrey, as per the (ultimately unseen) Cartmel Masterplan/oldschool Ace having adventures with 7 in between the TV episodes/Ace from the VNA novels/and now, older Ace, who never went to Gallifrey, parted on good terms with the Doctor, has her own K9, and runs around saving the Earth, lately with David Tennant! So it's Choose Your Canon time and of course, The Power of the Doctor has now set that in stone: she judged, or misjudged (or maybe she was right all along), the old Chessmaster Doctor, and subsequently flew the nest. Is really all we need to know. Power of the Doctor was such an emotional rollercoaster. Everything that was good about the whole Chibnall era - all the "bats**t" reveals, and those fx, mostly - combined with every epic fail in terms of tone, writing, consequence, character... it was all there. But suddenly rendered next-level iconic by THOSE moments, the one's we're still talking about. I never expected Chibnall or Jodie herself to go out with such style. Somehow, they did it... and now we can climb out of that rut and begin to go forward with all our beliefs once more. Here we go again;)

[@matthewbolitho-jones]

I like The Power of the Doctor

[@bananasaregood8655]

A fun episode, but on rewatch and stepping back to look at it i think if you took off the nostalgia goggles it would be pretty poor. All the many many callbacks and cameos were delightful, but lets be honest that's what kept the episode afloat. The daleks where a waste of time, and the cybermen didn't really need to be in this either. Just typical chibnall packing too much into an episode. For me the episode only really picked up when the master took over the doctor's body. Before that i think the first half was pretty poor. The regeneration scene had beautiful epic music and visuals. The companion meeting scene at the end was great, teared up when i saw ian return. Never been a fan of 13 and yaz, but there final moments where actually pretty good for me. Well acted and quite sad :( would have been interesting if shasha's master started to regenerate into missy... overall i'd give it a 7/10

[@DalamReviews]

Yeah, that's a completely fair take. I wish there was less going on, in all honesty. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't age well for me, as there is quite a lot packed within this special. I had a blast with it, and hopefully I always will, but only time will tell where this one sits alongside the other regeneration stories.

[@bananasaregood8655]

@@DalamReviews for me the unbeatable regeneration stories so far are ‘the war games’, ‘caves of androzani’ and ‘bad wolf/parting of the ways’ Other than that i tend to find regeneration stories to be pretty poor.

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great review

[@antpearson9676]

really enjoyed this. And If I'm honest I think you would be a real Grinch. I think perfection is difficult if not possible to achieve. But progress is not. A good last husar! From Chinnall. Another smashing g review. Have you ever watched Blakes 7 Also all claasi Dr Who's can be found on Daily Motion Ant p uk teacher retired

[@sbi168]

Absolutely brilliant episode. Is the plots bonkers? Yep. Is it any more bonkers than a whole planet of the masters? Nope. Does it matter anyway. Hell no! 7 is my 3rd fave doctor behind smith and Capaldi respectively so his stuff and the stuff with ace is fantastic, it really is and got me in the feels. Unfortunately the episode reminds us that we do want a Mcgann spin off series! Sasha is my fave master so I adored him and I loved how bad ass ashaad was, no real character but he was a force of nature! Dan's exit was fine and quite fitting. Yaz was a let down. I loved the scene on top of the TARDIS but like you I felt she was cheated a bit as it didn't feel like she was set up properly outside of the TARDIS team. I think chibs deciding not to deal with most of the dangling plot threads was the right call and it made for a spectacular episode and I feel he knocked it out the park. It was what a special should be, a theme park ride of excitement and good fan service. Again as u mention plot armour was in plentiful supply here but I don't care about that stuff, as long as I'm in the ride (and I was) I can go with it. Music was great as always and I feel segun akinola is a really under rated part of the chibs era. I'm wary as hell about tenent being back as I don't like the show going backwards but I will see how it pans out. I'm all here for it still! Dude I can't wait until you get back to 7th docs era (season 25 and 26 anyway, 24 is rubbish) I think you will like it.

[@DalamReviews]

Yeah concerns about Tennant are reasonable, I'm expecting it will work well given that it's for the 60th specials, but it's hard to know without having seen them. And I also can't wait to watch Seven's era! I've heard lots of great stuff and am excited to see what's in store when I get there :)

[@josephryan362]

Power of the doctor is my favourite jodies era of doctor who

[@jamesa.fitzpatrick1566]

My favorite things about the episode were the resolution of the Timeless Child arc, the resolution of the Fugitive Doctor arc, the resolution of Thasmin, and the deft handling of the main characters as usual. No, this was a bad episode and thank goodness this team is GONE.