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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Written by

Chris Chibnall

Directed by

Jamie Magnus Stone

Runtime

88 minutes

Time Travel

Past, Present

Inventory (Potential Spoilers!)

Sonic Screwdriver

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth, England, London, Russia, St Petersburg, UNIT HQ

UK Viewers

5.3 million

Appreciation Index

82

Synopsis

Famous paintings have been mysteriously defaced around Earth, seismologists have gone missing, there is strange activity occurring in volcanoes and across the stars a bullet train is pursued by CyberMasters. The Doctor doesn't understand how it all connects. All she has is a message from an old enemy - "this is the day you die"...

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Reviews

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7 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

Fourteenth Doctor is born in 2022 now first doctor and sarah jane smith have 3 child now


This review contains spoilers!

Honestly might be one of Jodie's best episodes.

Sacha Dhawan carries most of the episodes he's in, including this one as Rasputin.

The return of old Doctors and companions for the centenary is a highlight

Personally this could've been the 60th anniversary for Doctor Who


Genuinely, what in the hell is this?! Listen, I wasn't a fan of 13's era, don't get me wrong I like the Doctor herself but she was really let down by the writers (I'm really excited for Big Finish's series actually) but this was terrible.


The Power of the Doctor is the new series Caves of Androzani. It's an utter masterpiece and succeeds as both a regeneration episode and a Centenary Special.


This review contains spoilers!

Mission Report by UNIT Agent Bill Filer to Trap One - Subject matter: The Power of the Doctor

I love this one. It came out right at one of those times where life had decided to continuously kick me in parts best left unmentioned. Things changed in my life right around then and left me able to enjoy things I hadn't in a long stretch of time and watching Jodie Whittaker's swansong just rekindled my love for Doctor Who in the best way possible. I love the way stories sometimes just gets intertwined with your life, stories becomes more than the sum of their parts.

This is roughly the same storytelling technique Chibnall used in Flux. It's a great big tapestry of scenes like puzzle pieces that you have to do some of the work yourself in piecing together.  It is filled with delightful scenes, moments, lines and cameos, almost to the point where the narrative becomes secondary in nature. Sophie Aldred and Janet Fielding were so fantastic, they really portrayed their characters as having lived full lives after their individual travels, while remaining true to the core personality of their roles. If I were to write out all the positives I find in this story we would be here for a while. But I will say, seeing Ian in the companions' support group brought a tear to my eye.

"The Blossomiest Blossom" surely would get most Classic Who fans thinking of Jon Pertwee and the "Daisyest Daisy", but it is also a quote from a playwright called Dennis Potter. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer he used that phrase to describe how he saw the beauty in the little things knowing the end was near - what could be more apt for a regeneration scene? And Jodie's Doctor saying "Tag you're it!" before exploding in regeneration energy in what I think is the most visually stunning regeneration in Doctor Who history was sheer perfection for me. It was Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall passing the baton to a whole new era in the best way possible - with joyful expectation of the future, it might be the end but the moment had been prepared for.

End of report. Logged and filed at The Black Archive.


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Statistics

AVG. Rating640 members
3.69 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating426 votes
3.85 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating119 votes
3.55 / 5

Member Statistics

Watched

1152

Favourited

137

Reviewed

7

Saved

4

Skipped

0

Owned

7

Quotes

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DOCTOR: Oh, the blossomiest blossom. That's the only sad thing. I want to know what happens next. Right, then. Doctor Whoever-I'm-about-to-be. Tag, you're it.

— Thirteenth Doctor, The Power of the Doctor

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Transcript

[Spacetrain]

(Cutting through the bulkhead.)

HALAZ: Emergency transmission from the Toraji Transport Network. This is an urgent request for immediate assistance! This is an all-frequency appeal for help. We're under attack! We've been hijacked!
HALAZ: All passengers down here! Marshals, to your posts.
ARNHOST: Who is it? Who's attacking us?

(Cybermen open fire, but get cut down themselves.)

HALAZ: Be careful.
ARNHOST: It's all right, they're dead.
HALAZ: Go through. Head down the train. There are more marshals. Secure passenger safety.


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