"The Star Beast"

The brief era of the new Doctor with an old face begins with a surprisingly low-key romp, despite it being the first special to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the programme.. However, low-key doesn't mean low-stakes. This story looks back to the past in adapting a 43 year-old comic strip from Doctor Who Magazine. I have never been a regular buyer of the magazine, but Beep the Meep is one of those characters that is popular enough to transcend these origins. However, it is not just the story, but the storyteller that is key in this episode and we have a seismic change in that department. Although it contained some very good episodes, it was clear that the programme had lost something in the Chris Chibnall area. I have written again and again that he is nowhere near the writer that his predecessors are. Now, one of those predecessors has returned and the thought occurs – am I blinded by nostalgia, and willing to forgive faults that I would hold against Chibnall? After watching "The Star Beast", the answer is a clear and resounding "no". The strip is adapted with a deft hand, with the polished dialogue that has become very rare in the past 5 years, with musings about a gigantic sausage roll having more emotional impact that many weightier dialogue scenes scripted by Chibnall. The something that was missing was in the nuts-and-bolts writing, consistency and vibrancy of characterisation and incorporation of themes successfully into the plot.

I raved about how excellent David Tennant was at the time and, although I believe that Peter Capaldi is definitely at least his equal, I would not argue with anyone who still calls Tennant the best. He slips back effortlessly into the role, so much so that is futile to compare the Fourteenth Doctor with the Tenth – it's the same Time Lord after all. It is a true joy to see him climbing on the sets and dashing at speed around the TARDIS again, like it hadn't been 18 years since he first did so. Returning to great success is one of the all-time great companions, challenged since only by the wonderful Ms Potts. The temp from Chiswick is older, with more responsibilities, but is still the same, brilliantly shown by the DoctorDonna being more Donna than ever. Bernard Cribbins is much missed, but Jacqueline King is back with a vengeance. The key new character is Rose, brilliantly brought to life by Yasmin Finney. The theme of gender suffuses the episode and the first trans character played by a trans actor is addressed full on. It is laid on a bit thick at times, but the fact that, in recent times, the most marginalised group in the LGBTQ+ community has been under attack from all areas, means that perhaps it needs to be laid on thick.

We have a new UNIT scientific adviser in Ruth Madeley's sparky Shirley Bingham and in the alien camp, the (understandably) cartoon-like Wrarth are very vibrantly bought to life. The titular beast is voiced by the legendary Miriam Margolyes who gives the cutest psychopath in the Whoniverse real bite. Despite the return of his predecessor as showrunner, it is Steven Moffat stalwart Rachel Talalay who helms this colourful and spectacular story. It's no secret that the involvement of Disney has meant a cash-injection the like of which Doctor who has never seen. Before this, Doctor Who managed miracles on its budget, and it's only occasionally that the increased budget shows - that is, until we see the new TARDIS set, which makes its 21st Century predecessors look like their 20th Century four bears.

There were always differences in quality regarding stories, when it came to their sequencing."Partners in Crime", good though it is, is necessarily lesser than "Turn Left". However, there are very very few stories in the past few years that are of the same quality as this utterly joyous opener. Mr T Davies, I welcome you back with open arms!

NEXT: "Wild Blue Yonder"

"The Power of the Doctor"

"The Power of the Doctor" is one of the longest individual episodes of Doctor Who ever made. As the story was made in the year that the BBC celebrated its centenary the story has one eye on the past, with more callbacks to the programme's 59 year history, than in the previous 17 years combined. This is also an ending, with the final regular appearance of Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall's swansong as showrunner. It is designed to be a spectacular, a brief that it certainly fulfils, with memorable sequences aplenty to feast the eyes on. The problem is, it appears that Chibnall appears to have written arresting sequences – The Master as Rasputin, the raid on the space train, the child/Qurunx, the volcano plot – and then contrived a plot to connect them together. As the Master's Dalek Plan is to blow up the Earth with volcanoes, everything else is really only window dressing. Some sequences are cribbed from better stories produced under the aegides of his predecessors and with less effect.

As a nostalgic look back, the story is somewhat more successful. The return of Tegan and Ace are very welcome – as someone whose memories of the original run are from the 80s, they were my Jo and Sarah Jane. Both Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred put their all into their roles and it is truly wonderful to see them together for the first time. Then there are the returning Doctors. Colin Baker's role is rather small but Paul McGann again puts more Doctorliness into his performance in a few minutes than he did in his début. The interaction between Davison, McCoy and their old companions is something special. The scene with the companions' support group is sublime and it is a true joy to see so many familiar faces, with Ian being a particularly wonderful surprise. Kate is back, hopefully to be as constant a presence as her father.

The current roster are not to be forgotten. Dan has a more considered version of Tegan's leaving scene and we have a great performance from our other leading lady. Mandeep Gill has taken Yas way beyond the way she was written and the indescribable contradictory feelings stirred up by the shot of Yas and the Doctor eating ice creams sitting on the TARDIS, is a moment to treasure. Sacha Dhawan has an absolute blast as the Master, bonkers plan or not.

The production is startlingly good, masking the haphazard jigsaw of the plot. Jamie Magnus Stone is probably the stalwart director of this era, so it is fitting that he closes it. Rehashed though some of the concepts are, Stone and the production team make them work.

The Chibnall era was not the utter disaster that I was fearing and yet it can't be denied that the programme is not a patch on what it was from 2005-2017. There were some very good stories, but no real classics which, in hindsight, makes one appreciate all the more that in the RTD and Moffat eras, there were at least two stories per series that were amongst the best examples of television produced in that year. This curate's egg of a story is watchable, but doesn't stand up to repeated viewings, which is typical of Chibnall. Plotting is not his strongest asset as a writer, neither in resolving them or keeping an eye on the subplots. His strength was in quieter character moments and, in his choice of lead, he was helped immeasurably. Jodie Whittaker's charisma and talent papered over many cracks and, in her final moments, Chibnall's writing and her performance harmonise to perfection. After a sequence of potential portentous last words, her parting shot is a flippant quip and the gorgeous visuals of that regeneration give the viewer the ASMR it deserves.

However, I look forward to the return of one of the finest writers in the world to the helm, as he steers Doctor Who into uncharted waters with the casting of the utterly unique Ncuti Gatwa – after he goes into very familiar territory with Whittaker's immediate successor!

NEXT: "The Star Beast"/"Wild Blue Yonder"/"The Giggle"