The final story and what could have been the last ever episode of the revived series, Power of the Doctor delivers a lot of great moments, a plot that achieves the bare minimum of coherence and thought too many other Chibnall episodes lacked, and even a handful of memorable moments I think will stand out in franchise history. For once.

Look, some of this review might seem backhanded and maybe even a little bitter, but the reality is Chibnall's era had a lot of problems to it from the ground up, and they are hard to ignore in a story that both celebrates and ignores it. So many plotlines, like the Timeless Child and even stuff like the Time Lord Cybermen, are effectively abandoned (sure, the Cyber Lords are here but their ability to regenerate might as well just be trivia at this point), yet it largely all feels for the best. Instead of trying to tie up any of that nonsense, we instead get a story with some potential where the Master takes over the Doctor's body.

This alone could have been so fun. You could have had Sacha Dhawan acting like the Doctor while Jodie Whittaker gets to be the Master. But no, it's barely explored or used at all. The fact that Jodie takes a backseat in this episode a bit just so Sacha can dress up like the Doctor and still act like the Master is pretty... empty, the more distant I get from watching the finale. What was the point? It does not help that both Dhawan and Whittaker have been weak as the Master and the Doctor in my eyes. The Master feels way over the top while Jodie feels practically disengaged at all times. Is it not telling that this episode feels like a decent farewell to Jodie even though she's not in it for huge chunks of the story? I don't think that would sit right with any other Doctor, but because 13 is such a non-character it doesn't even feel like that (or the full abandonment of Chibnall lore) matters in the slightest.

And for those to whom it does matter, that Jodie is not around for much of this story, and nothing up until this point in her story really matters for this arc, this feels like a bit insulting to those who actually enjoyed the metanarrative of Chibnall's era, because that Timeless Child arc, the Division - all of that is completely ignored and likely to not be brought up again for a long, long time. So I have to imagine Chibnall fans must find this episode... frustrating, on some level.

So even something like this, with, I admit, many, many moments and cameos I enjoyed, I still think it was just okay. I loved the stuff with the other Doctor cameos, including the Fugitive Doctor. Jo Martin consistently shows off how much better she would have been in 13's shoes. In spite of my issues with Dhawan as the Master, I like him as a performer and got a good laugh out of his dance scene, and Ace was pretty amazing any time she was around. Even Graham was a welcome sight.

Everything else... it just felt like good riddance to what I am increasingly convinced is the worst ever era of Doctor Who. I really hope we get past the editing, music, casting, writing, and so much more that was endemic to the Whittiker era. Just about everything in it outside of a handful of episodes just drained me of so much enthusiasm for this franchise. Even something as cool as this, bringing back Classic Companions and Doctors, the Eighth Doctor in all his glory, and even the wild fun of the ending moments with Tennant, the best Chibnall could do with all of that was a story that was just okay.