Just like that, the Thirteenth Doctor’s (Jodie Whittaker) era comes to an end. And like much of her era, her final episode, The Power of the Doctor, is a messy mixture of fun and frustration. Though, luckily, it tends to be far more fun than frustrating. If Easter’s Legend of the Sea Devils was the dull kind of messy, then The Power of the Doctor is the polar opposite of that. It’s Doctor Who at its wildest. It takes a kind of kitchen-sink approach, packed to the brim with returning characters, more bombastic ideas than you can count, and a whole lot of Doctor Who nonsense. And if that sounds like an insult, it kind of is. But at the same time, what is Doctor Who if not a silly, silly show that wears its heart on its sleeve? And fundamentally, that’s exactly what The Power of the Doctor is.
Major spoilers for Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor follow. Read at your own risk.
Everything But the Kitchen Sink
Honestly, I’m not entirely certain I could explain The Power of the Doctor’s plot even if I wanted to. It’s not that it’s an incoherent episode, but there’s so much going on that it’s hard to fully wrap your head around what’s happening. As the episode begins, the Doctor, Yaz (Mandip Gill), and Dan (John Bishop) arrive on a space bullet train, hoping to stop an invading fleet of Cybermen from capturing the train’s cargo and killing everyone on board. After failing to stop them, the Doctor receives a distress call from a Dalek, asking for her help in stopping the rest of the Daleks from exploding Earth’s volcanoes. Meanwhile, seismologists and paintings have gone missing on 2022 Earth and the Master’s (Sacha Dhawan) pretending to be Rasputin in 1916 Russia. How do all of these connect, and what exactly is going on? Ehh, don’t worry about it.
Very Messy, But Still Fun
The Power of the Doctor is the kind of episode that doesn’t hold up under any real scrutiny but is a lot of fun to watch in the moment. It’s the kind of episode where you just need to go with it as it’s happening. Sure, you realize what you’re watching doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and isn’t necessarily good, but if you can turn your brain off, there’s still a lot of fun to be had. And there is a lot of fun to be had with The Power of the Doctor. As it turns out, all of these disparate plots were part of the Master’s ultimate plan. A plan that sees him try to force the Doctor to regenerate into him… or something. Look, it really is better if you don’t ask too many questions and just go with it.
The episode never bothers giving the Master much motivation, choosing instead to hand-wave at his continued hatred of the Doctor for being the Timeless Child (a plot point that gets absolutely no mention here). And as for why the Daleks or the Cybermen even needed to be involved? There’s really no good reason. The Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master are probably the most recognizable villains in Doctor Who’s history, so why not have them all together? And honestly, who cares? It’s just a bunch of fun. The Master’s whole plan is incredibly bonkers in the most fun way possible. It’s reminiscent of Freaky Friday, except we don’t get to see the Doctor wandering around in the Master’s body (which is totally a missed opportunity). But honestly, watching Sacha Dhawan parade about as the Doctor, gleefully causing havoc and mayhem, is well worth watching the episode all on its own.
A Love Letter to Doctor Who
Despite all the episode’s problems – and believe me, the episode has plenty of problems – it never fails to feel like an absolute love letter to Doctor Who. Sure, it’s not necessarily the best-written episode of Doctor Who that ever existed, but it is a fun one. Some of the most enjoyable parts of Doctor Who are how daft it can be, how often it has a good laugh at itself, and how often it doesn’t take itself too seriously. And that’s definitely the vibe here. The Power of the Doctor is a heartfelt, action-packed Doctor Who blockbuster from start to finish. In a way, it’s precisely what you imagine an episode of Doctor Who to be. A bit campy, a bit silly, a bit cheesy, and probably even a bit messy.
But more than that, it’s packed full of the kinds of easter eggs that are normally reserved for the show’s anniversary years. Besides the return of Classic Who companions Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred), both of whom are used well despite their relatively meager screentime, the episode features the return of six previous Doctors. There’s the First Doctor (played once again by David Bradley), Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor, and Doctors Five through Eight (Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann). And maybe, just maybe, there are even more cameos worth keeping a surprise. To say exactly how the episode uses these returning Doctors would absolutely spoil the fun of their return, but needless to say, it’s such a loving use of these actors. Those who found Day of the Doctor lacking in its callbacks to Classic Who will certainly appreciate how this episode uses these actors.
A Sense of Closure
The best part, though, is that The Power of the Doctor doesn’t just trot out all of these characters from Doctor Who’s past for nostalgia’s sake – though, don’t be mistaken, nostalgia absolutely plays a part in their return. Instead, the episode uses this as an opportunity to provide Tegan and Ace with a sense of closure – and to tie in their feelings towards their respective Doctors with Yaz’s growing frustration and sadness with Thirteen. Here, Tegan and Ace both get a chance to make peace with their respective incarnations, to finally say all of the things that have gone unsaid. And these scenes are genuinely moving in the way that only Doctor Who can be. They’re absolutely cheesy, sure, but in the best way. And as for Yaz, The Power of the Doctor acts as a goodbye for her as much as it does for the Thirteenth Doctor.
Yaz is the rare companion who’s stayed with a Doctor for the entirety of their era, and this episode certainly doesn’t forget that. Those hoping for more development on Yaz and the Doctor’s romantic relationship will certainly feel disappointed as that plotline gets all but dropped. Still, Yaz and Thirteen have cultivated such a loving, realistic dynamic with each other. And that dynamic is very much on display in this episode. There’s a sense of melancholy that pervades the episode, and it comes from the knowledge that both Yaz and the Doctor are leaving soon. And deep down, both of them know it. It’s lovely that Yaz gets a chance to fully come to peace with the time she’s spent with Thirteen. Maybe things didn’t play out exactly the way she’d have liked, but as the Doctor tells her in the episode’s final moments, “Nobody else got to be us.”
As For the Future…
As Power of the Doctor is a regeneration episode, things come to an explosive end as Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor regenerates into… David Tennant? Despite previously announcing that Ncuti Gatwa would be the next incarnation of the titular Time Lord, Power of the Doctor throws a bit of a wrench in that, confirming that not only would David Tennant be returning for the show’s 60th anniversary next year, but he’d be returning as an all-new incarnation of the Doctor. Lest you worry, though, Gatwa appears in today’s teaser trailer, strongly suggesting there’s something more going on with Tennant’s reappearance. Whatever’s going on, I’m definitely intrigued.
Plus, there’s the return of Catherine Tate’s Donna and the debut of Neil Patrick Harris and Heartstopper‘s Yasmin Finney to look forward to. And with Russell T. Davies returning to pen the 60th Anniversary specials – and Gatwa’s subsequent season(s) – there’s a new era of Doctor Who on the horizon, with new and returning faces alike. And despite some reservations about what we’ve been shown so far, I’m very excited to see what comes next.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, The Power of the Doctor is emblematic of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era as a whole. It’s packed full of interesting ideas, some of which get executed fairly well, some of which get completely forgotten as the episode careens recklessly down the path toward its climax. If you came here looking for answers to any of this era’s lingering questions, you’re not gonna get them here. This isn’t a Time of the Doctor or anything. And sure, that’s definitely annoying. I wish we’d gotten some proper answers for the Timeless Child arc, or even a real sense of closure after Flux’s intentionally teasing conclusion. But that’s not the route this episode takes, for better or for worse.
Is The Power of the Doctor a particularly well-written episode of Doctor Who? No. Does its plot make much sense if you think about it for too long? No. Is it overstuffed, featuring more characters than it knows what to do with, and enough plots to fill an entire Flux-length miniseries? Absolutely. But it never fails to be fun. And sometimes, that’s all an episode of Doctor Who needs to be. Few people will walk away from this episode ranking it among the best the show’s ever made. But I also don’t think many will walk away with a sour taste in their mouths. The Power of the Doctor delivers a love letter to Doctor Who as a whole. Yes, it’s a complete mess. But it’s a deeply fun mess. And, frankly, I’m okay with that.
Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor is available on AMC+. Previous seasons of Doctor Who are available on HBO Max.
"Doctor Who" says goodbye to Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor with an episode that's equal parts enjoyable and messy. The plot collapses under any serious scrutiny, but the episode never fails to be enjoyable. Sacha Dhawan's performance as the Master easily steals the show, as do the numerous cameos and callbacks to the show's past. But at its heart, "The Power of the Doctor" is unabashedly "Doctor Who" - for better or for worse.
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