Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop, Sophie Aldred, Janet Fielding, David Bradley, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Jo Martin, David Tennant, Sacha Dhawan, Jemma Redgrave, Jacob Anderson, Bradley Walsh, Patrick O’Kane, Joe Sims, Sanchia McCormack, Danielle Bjelic, Anna Andressen, Richard Dempsey, Jos Slovik, Nicholas Briggs, Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg, Bonnie Langford, Katy Manning, William Russell, Simon Carew, Jon Davey, Mickey Lewis, Chester Durrant, Felix Young, Richard Price, Andrew Cross, Matt Doman.
The Power Of The Doctor was promised as a love letter to the fans, to those that kept the adventures of the Time travelling mad man in a blue police box during the years that it was kept off air by executives and dogmatic haters, for the ones who embraced it when it was returned in glorious appreciation in 2005, and for the hardy souls who had taken to its from the very start, either back in 1963, or the ones caught in the wake of history from the moment they saw for the first time the one who would become their doctor, their hero.
Love letters promise a lot of things, fidelity, unending adoration, and for the most part these letters are but keepsakes for the receiver, a reminder of the passion fleetingly displayed, and a keep note in which to judge other relationships by.
Chris Chibnall kept the very best till last, and that love letter, that posted symbol of creativity, meant every word he had written for Doctor Who, and whilst it is argued many of the stories missed their mark, whilst the more ardent, almost fiery disciple like will forever decry the supposed cultural interpretations of the show during Jodie Whittaker’s duration as the Timelord, there is no doubt that the promise, that the assurance was not only dangled before the viewer, it was fully met…and then some.
The power of the Doctor is not only in their belief, their ability to save the world countless times, but in their friends, those who choose, and who are chosen to keep the name of the Doctor true, to not allow any besmirchment to be enforced, no skull doggery to be played out in their name; the power of the doctor is in their companion, and that was the backbone of the 90 minute episode, a companion is always for life, even in death, in loss, in abandonment, the doctor never forgets who stood by their side in battle.
The Power Of The Doctor is arguably the highlight of the celebration of a hundred years of the B.B.C. and whilst the corporation has at times been the architect of its possible destruction, the inability to assure its viewers that its house is in order, Doctor Who is, for fan and observer alike, a shining jewel in its, sometimes, tarnished, crown. This feature length episode exemplifies this statement, a story that encompasses all that made it wonderful, all that made it a must watch during its golden period, and one that brought back the basis of the show, its companions, and in excellent performances by the likes of Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, the marvellous Sophie Aldred as Ace, and the ever green William Russell reprising his role as the first televised male companion, Ian Chesterton, the show renewed its contract with the fan; the love letter rewritten with stronger emphasis on the future.
There will be many moments for the fan for which they will remember the show, whether it was in the progression of former doctors, the effervescent Colin Baker and the sublime Paul McGann for example, the surprise twist of regeneration at the episode’s finale, or even in Sacha Dhawan camping it up completely whilst dressed as the mad Russian monk, Rasputin, the show promised, Chris Chibnall assured, and both delivered without impunity.
The Power Of The Doctor might be tested in the future, and there will always be those who sneer, they will make their points and hope to demolish the allure and honesty, but for now, for a moment as the show looks to its own 60th anniversary, it shone like never before.
Ian D. Hall