The Power of the Doctor: Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who finale – live
Jodie #Jodie
Jodie Whittaker ended her time as Doctor Who in a feature-length episode that was crammed with special guests and returning cameos, with a towering performance by her nemesis the Master, and a smattering of showpiece showdowns with Daleks and Cybermen. And then we got David Tennant – and Ncuti Gatwa!
“I secretly implanted a holographic chip in your shoulder and that explains why we look older” might have been a clumsy plot device, but the scenes that saw 1980s Doctors Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy resolve differences and reconnect with their now older 1980s companions Tegan and Ace was both overt fan service but genuinely touching.
Sacha Dahwan’s Master stole the show though. Whether it was the gif-able Boney M Rasputin dancing scene, his Doctor cosplay, or his taunting of Unit staff and companions, he positively revelled in being centre of attention and had all the best lines. It would be a shame if we’ve seen the back of him on-screen.
In advance an episode that promised a regeneration, Daleks, Cybermen, the Master, Vinder, Ace, Tegan and Kate Stewart felt like even over 90 minutes it would be a struggle to fit it all in, and yet even more ingredients had been held back. It was nice to get a little bit more of Jo Martin in a role that she excelled at when actually given screentime.
And what about William Russell eh? For the BBC’s centenary they bought back one of the original stars from 1963. Russell may have only had one line, but what a delightful recognition of how it was the cast and crew who made that fledgling programme 59 years ago who did so much to establish it as a success that will continue into its sixth decade.
Just don’t think too hard about how well the Master’s evil plan hung together.
Sum it up in one sentence?
The Master steals the show as show as a host of familiar faces turn up to send off Whittaker’s era in style.
Life on board the Tardis
There was an extremely abrupt and early exit for Dan (John Bishop) who had appeared in some pre-publicity for the episode but clearly hadn’t been around to film much of it. At least Chibnall remembered that he’d previously shrunk his house to nothing.
Yaz (Mandip Gill) did not get her happy ending with the Doctor, or even a kiss. There will be some fans you suspect who will argue that the whole “Yaz fell in love with the Doctor and the Doctor wanted to reciprocate but wouldn’t” plot thread has not been handled completely brilliantly, and has ended up being a bit of a bolted on tease.
Fear factor
Dahwan’s Master always seems most ominous when at his peak charming and normal – the lecture theatre full of tissue compressed seismologists showed him at his most calmly unhinged.
The Daleks were a bit part here, and Ashad remains the only Cyberman that can shoot straight when needed. The scene where the Cybermen were bursting through the walls to get at Tegan managed to exploit a fear of falling and a fear of enclosed spaces at the same time, and was a highlight.
Perhaps the biggest fear is someone having to explain why the Earth’s volcanos are now frozen steel and that doesn’t have long-term consequences.
Deeper Into The Vortex
Boney M’s Rasputin joins a select band of contemporary music appearing in Doctor Who. The Master sang along to Scissor Sisters in Last of the Time Lords, while Foxes sashayed to Don’t Stop Me Now in Mummy On The Orient Express. Still the best music gags though are Britney Spears Toxic being introduced as “a traditional ballad” in The End of the World in 2005, and Vicky observing a clip of the Beatles in The Chase in 1965 and saying “They are marvellous! But I didn’t know they played classical music!”
On screen we only ever saw happy partings with the Seventh Doctor and Ace in both Survival – “Come on, Ace, we’ve got work to do!” and at the end of Dimensions in Time. Expanded media have had Ace and the Doctor go their separate ways under duress in several different unpleasant ways. That’s why the McCoy-Aldred scene was partially framed as forgiveness and reconciliation.
The Master asks after Tegan’s Auntie Vanessa. He killed her in 1981 episode Logopolis.
Kate Stewart has become an expert at avoiding conversion. The controversial CyberBrig managed to save her during Death in Heaven.
The Master’s Tardis is a type 75. The Doctor has a Type 40, which was mentioned for the first time in The Deadly Assassin in 1976, the story which also introduced for the first time the idea that Time Lords could only regenerate twelve times.
A snap verdict on the Chibnall era
With The Halloween Apocalypse, War of the Sontarans, Village of the Angels, Eve of the Daleks and tonight I think in the last twelve months he has significantly improved the ratio of decent episodes to clunkers in his tenure, which has always looked great, but has sometimes felt like a chore to watch rather than a joy.
Eras of Doctor Who are often looked back on more fondly than they were received at the time, and Chibnall managed to sign off tonight with a special that exuded warmth, fun, had some lovely throwbacks to nearly six decades of the show’s history, which I think will help gloss his reputation over time, and I would shamelessly give tonight’s episode five stars if I could work out how to add review stars to a live blog. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
And next time
There’s nothing officially confirmed, but we expect there to be one, two or possibly three 60th anniversary specials next year, at least one of which features Tennant, Tate and Cribbins. When do we see Ncuti? After him saying “Someone tell me what the hell is going on here?” in the trailer that followed, who knows? Who knows.