Review of The Power of the Doctor by MarkOfGilead19
7 April 2025
This review contains spoilers!
This was the first episode I ever watched the day it was broadcasted (having just got caught up with New Who). I liked it, but as I hadn't watched Classic some of the references meant nothing to me. Now, this actually hits different. The story is still quite messy and it is one of the most nonsensical plans the Master has ever devised (which is saying something), but it is just so much fun. The nods to the Classic era are so well done, the characters are still as engaging as ever (Loved Ace being paired with Graham) and Dhawan's Master is one of the best (behind Missy for New Who imo). The last few scenes are beautifully written, the last conversation between Yaz and 13 is tear-jerking actually, I just wished her relationship would have been better developed across this era.
So yeah, great episode to end one of the most controversial periods of Doctor Who. As this is the last one, I'll say a few things about this era. I got to this part of my rewatch hoping that my negative views regarding 13 and her episode would change, and I can safely that they did! Mind you, there are some real stinkers here (Orphan 55, yes) but there were a few gems and some have even entered my top episodes of the whole show:
- The Haunting of Villa Diodati is, in my opinion, Jodie's (and 13's) best episode. The best showcase of how high her character could have gone with better direction and better scripts. I'm not going to beat around the bush, we got what we got, but she is a great Doctor and in some other episodes there are instances where you can see that, but there is no better example than in here.
- Demons of the Punjab is what I believe her era should have put the focus on. More historicals, with heart and hope as the focus of the story. Learning about different cultures and conflicts that have shaped our world (as this show was originally intended to do, juggling sci-fi episodes with pure historicals).
- Honorary mentions: Village of the Angels, It Takes You Away, The Ghost Monument (yes, I love it), Fugitive of the Judoon.
Plus, I'm actually a big fan of the Fugitive Doctor and Division. The scenes in Flux where the focus was on this part of the Doctor's life were my favourite of the arc.
And I can somewhat get behind the idea surrounding the Timeless Child (it could have been better handled, let's hope RTD2 does something interesting with it).
So yeah, this era was great in some instances, not so great in others, but at least it gave us Doctor Who at a point where the show could have ended (funnily enough it is a recurring theme in this fandom)

MarkOfGilead19
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