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Spoilers The Power of the Doctor grade and discussion thread

How do you rate The Power of the Doctor?


  • Total voters
    68
I'm pretty sure one day we're going to find out that if Moffat hadn't carried on way too long, and if Chibnall hadn't taken the job at all, that the show might have come perilously close to another hiatus.
Oh, I have absolutely no doubts about that. And we also came close again after Chibnall except they somehow got RTD to agree to come back. No RTD, no DW for a while.

I think we'll also hear one day what it took for them to get RTD to return!
 
I actually have a gut feeling that future fans will look upon Jodie's run more forgivingly. Much like the Star Wars prequels and Star Trek Enterprise.

(And as that observation will probably produce thread tangent, I'll just beat the rush and say I've actually come around a bit on the Star Wars prequels. I believe they were all one rewrite and a better director away from being classics. The sequels are still an incoherent mess. And I actually now have a harsher opinion of Star Trek Enterprise than I did at the time.)
 
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The character is obviously a major part of the Who mythos but it's time (no pun intended) to move on and bring in someone new, IMO. It won't happen, of course, but it ought to.
If I had my way, the Master would have been retired after The Doctor Falls, and the Daleks after Dalek back in series 1. Both were the perfect ways to end their stories for good.

Let's have new iconic villains and monsters. Or bring back more obscure ones that have potential. That's what I'm hoping for with the 60th assuming NPH is the Celestial Toymaker.
 
I feel like some people forgot this was an anniversary special. They've always been over-the-top ridiculous affairs.
I did very much enjoy parts of this special. All the classic companions and Doctors and their moments together really made it nice for me. The regeneration scene and the time with Yaz leading up to it were beautifully done.

Chibnall got everything right with the characterizations. The exception being Dan's departure. Seems like he was jettisoned early to make way for a bunch of extraneous plot points (e.g., Vinder among others). I like how it mirrored Tegan's departure, but it came across as awkward.

I do wish Chibnall was more selective about the plot elements and getting everything to actually work together, at least mostly. There were so many unnecessary elements jammed in and they didn't really work together. I won't rehash all of them, but I agree with other comments about this aspect. But, why oh why did the Master want to force the Doctor to regenerate into him?! He could've just travelled in his own TARDIS saying he was the Doctor. But so much else didn't make sense and/or led nowhere.

A+ for characters. D for plotting. Overall I gave it a B because I did largely have fun watching it.

I really feel like people forget about some of the crap Davies and Moffat gave us.
You're right on about that. I do like Davies and Moffat's eras more than Chibnall's, by quite a bit honestly. However, RTD had some atrocious finales that suffered many of the same problems as this one. There were particular aspects of RTD that really wore on me over time.

By the time RTD left, I was honestly thinking it was a good thing. So, I'm lukewarm about him returning in a been there, done that way.

But we'll see. It's a good thing Chibnall is leaving but I'm wary about the path forward.
 
why oh why did the Master want to force the Doctor to regenerate into him?! He could've just travelled in his own TARDIS saying he was the Doctor.

Well, yes. But the Doctor would have stopped him (there's a nice prose story about a similar scenario in the Twelve Angels Weeping anthology). This way, he killed the Doctor, stopped any future regenerations of the Doctor and (unstated but quite possibly) managed to hijack the Doctor's Chibbers-continuity infinite regenerations. AND shat on the Doctor's legacy. Or would have. Except the Doctor stopped him anyway. Because it's the Doctor.
 
Let's have new iconic villains and monsters. Or bring back more obscure ones that have potential.
Either way would be far better than the constant retread of the same baddies over and over and over. But unfortunately it won't happen.

I'm lukewarm about him returning in a been there, done that way.

But we'll see. It's a good thing Chibnall is leaving but I'm wary about the path forward.
I'm not at all enthusiastic about Davies returning, and equally indifferent to what lies ahead. I know myself well enough to know I'll give it a go, but...yeah.

I'm seeing it pointed out in various places that the empty chair in the support group scene was likely a tribute to Elizabeth Sladen, and now I'm crying again. :wah:
If that's the case, what a brilliant tribute. :(
 
How did The Master get from 20th century Russia to his Tardis (empty when The Doctor entered it) on the Cyberplanet ?

Tardis transporter beam. Probably something handy on type 72s. A more pressing problem is ‘why did he go from unit, back in time to be Rasputin, when if he was successful in the past at cyberising, none of that would happen… so the Daleks having a re-run of their invasion is even more confusing…’ but this episode treated the Doctors timestream as apparently all occurring in real time with events in other places.
 
It's been almost fifty years since we had a Master like that. Chibnall's not to blame for any of the Masters between Delgado and Dhawan.
The Master is supposed to be the Doctor's intellectual equal. Hard to show when carrying on like a pork chop. I want to see a smart Master again.

There's no question that the vitriol he attracts is very much over the top at times, though.
Mmmmm... no. I never want to watch a script by Chibbers in anything ever again.
 
Watched the regeneration scene but have yet to see the episode itself (have to wait 6 months for that). I wasn't bothered by the clothes changing this time and there is a very logical reason dramatically for them to skip it this time. Having the doctor running around in their predecessors clothes for part of the episode highlights to the audience that they are no longer who they were - as both the Doctor and us the audience discover their new "self." When the doctor first chooses their costume, it symbolizes them realizing and embracing their new persona. Since they went back to an established doctor now, there's no need to go through that process - doing so would needlessly slow down Tennants first episode. Or I guess his second first episode. We know who he is, he know who is, so get on with it. And as mentioned upthread, there is precedent for the clothes to change with regeneration

I don't even think they should address it - the big question is why the doctor "degenerated" to a previous form. With all the revelations and left turns thrown into the matter of regeneration and counts, clothes are the least of the problems and inconsistencies to contend with.
 
All these questions of why did the Master do this and why didn’t he do that all assume that he is a rational actor.
He is very smart, but also certifiably obsessed with the Doctor, over the top theatrics, an Ego as big as the Moon and into a weird type of fun.


Degeneration is the obvious consequence of forcing one just five minutes prior.

why though did both the Doctor and Yas treat the regeneration as the inevitable end of their travels together?
The Doctor has carried many companions through to the next Doctor before.
 
Tardis transporter beam. Probably something handy on type 72s. A more pressing problem is ‘why did he go from unit, back in time to be Rasputin, when if he was successful in the past at cyberising, none of that would happen… so the Daleks having a re-run of their invasion is even more confusing…’ but this episode treated the Doctors timestream as apparently all occurring in real time with events in other places.
What ?

WHAT ?

:lol:
 
All these questions of why did the Master do this and why didn’t he do that all assume that he is a rational actor.
He is very smart, but also certifiably obsessed with the Doctor, over the top theatrics, an Ego as big as the Moon and into a weird type of fun.


Degeneration is the obvious consequence of forcing one just five minutes prior.

why though did both the Doctor and Yas treat the regeneration as the inevitable end of their travels together?
The Doctor has carried many companions through to the next Doctor before.

A line of dialogue would have explained why he wants to steal the doctors body for any reason other than out of habit.

Edit: and I don’t mean the cheesy ‘I release you doctor, do t make me go back to being me…’ which was just yet another borrowed line.
 
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