Review of Power Play by thedefinitearticle63
14 October 2024
This review contains spoilers
This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.
Previous Story: The Guardians of Prophecy
I definitely wasn't expecting the return of Victoria Waterfield. I'm somewhat disappointed that it happened in a somewhat mediocre story though. It doesn't help that she's mind-controlled or hallucinating for half the story, at one point trying to kill the Doctor. It just screams of 80s Who, bringing back a character and putting them through the wringer. I'm also not a fan of the last part, it all gets quite messy as all the plot-threads converge and I don't like how it resolves what up until then was a very good mystery.
That mystery is the only thing really keeping this story as a 6/10 for me, I love seemingly low-stakes earthbound mysteries and this was a perfect example of that. I didn't really like the alien police sideplot but I did like how it tied into the main plot atleast. The music was distracting at times and didn't feel like something to come out of the particular era this story is emulating. Overall, a really interesting mystery story that gets muddled by trying to juggle a companion reunion, a corporate mystery, an environmental message and an alien police chase.
Next Story: The First Sontarans