"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"

"Legend of the Sea Devils"

The sight of the Sea Devils in the trailer for this story made me incredibly happy. I have loved the aquatic saurians (and their land-based allies) since I was a child. The setting for this adventure, the last century of the Qing dynasty, is a fascinating one and, again, we meet a notable figure from that period, Madam Ching. Yet, with these ingredients, the blend is uneasy, due to a script that barely deserves to be called a first draft. This is not the first time in the programme's history that a script has been filmed before it has been properly fine-tuned, but the way in which the plot fails to properly hang together, how the two main journeys – Madam Ching's quest to regain her crew and the Sea Devils' plan to flood the Earth – fail to resonate with each other are a serious problem. Worst of all, we have short-cuts made for the convenience of the writer – Dan scythes through a squad of Sea Devils, like he's suddenly the TARDIS weapons expert. Chibnall co-writes with Ella Road, a promising playwright (although I am unfamiliar with her work) but neither should be proud of what they have written.

The guest cast is good. Amongst the humans, Crystal Yu brings effortless charisma to her portrayal of Madam Ching and with the reptiles, we have the return of Craig Els, but this time as the Sea Devil leader. The regulars do their good work, although their roles in the main plot are very functional. However, in the more emotional scenes, the strengths of the regulars is put to good use. The relationship between Yas and the Doctor is very well written and beautifully acted by Jodie Whittaker and Mandeep Gill. John Bishop's charisma goes a long way to compensating for the very poor character writing for him.

The triumph of the story is in its design. The look is magnificent, redolent of the vivid colours of wuxia graphic novels, with the beautiful blue sky and the green ocean. We have the wonder of the TARDIS on the sea bed and the sight of the Sea Devil ship flying over the sea. the titular saurians themselves instantly impress. Unlike the Silurians, there are only slight tweaks to the look of the Pertwee originals and I love the way in which their moving lips do not seem to be intoning English. However, whilst Haolu Wang makes it look fantastic, there are problems once the shot-length reduces and parts of the fight scenes flow very poorly as if, they too, have suffered under time constraints, as there are some shocking editing failures.

The production of modern Doctor Who makes it impossible for a story to fail in the same way as, to pick a random example, Warriors of the Deep. The script we have is less polished than the one for the Sea Devils' last appearance, although it's refreshing that Chibnall has not applied his palaeontological expertise to the Sea Devils' back story. however, as a whole, the script shows every sign of carelessness and even indifference to its eventual effectiveness. I really enjoyed "Eve of the Daleks" and I find it sad that, in the penultimate story of his era, Chibnall exhibits most of his worst tendencies.

NEXT: "The Power of the Doctor"

"Eve of the Daleks"

The Daleks return to herald the new year for the third time. The previous year had seen a rather soulless Chris Chibnall script saved by a very confident production. This time, we have the Daleks and a closing time loop. It's a simple story but one that has, possibly the best script that Chibnall has written to date. There is little fat in the story and the dialogue has a lightness and humour that feel like the effortless sparkle of the Davies and Moffat eras - “Good hearted weirdos are actually the keepers!” is a line truly definitive of Doctor Who itself and one of the finest lines of the era. The Daleks themselves are merciless and constantly adapting and the constant “Daleks do not...” lines go through repetitive to being funny. The events of Flux are dealt with quickly, so we can truly enjoy this episode alone.

There is a very small guest cast, but it is one of the most effective that the programme has ever seen. On paper, Nick seems too bizarre a character to work – a man who hoards his exes' detritus and has an unrequited love could be off-putting, to say the least. Yet Adjani Salmon projects a really likeable sense of naivety that truly defines the good hearted weirdo. However, the main guest role of Sarah is filled by Aisling Bea, one of the funniest, most charismatic and likeable comedians in the world. Bea seems real, sympathetic and hilarious in every second of her screen time. She is so good, that you can imagine a version of the story without the Doctor and her companions, with just Bea and Salmon. 

I loved Graham and Ryan, but the blossoming of Yas has been truly wonderful to behold and the duo of Yas and Dan has succeeded as in a far shorter time than the Fam.  We have a companion in love with the Doctor again, but it's in a more realistic way than ever before – for the first time, Chibnall has handled something better than his predecessors. Dan is the loveable, yet resourceful scamp that he always is. Perhaps necessarily, the Doctor is written rather thinly, but Jodie fills in the gaps magnificently.

The limited locations mean that there is no need for the widescreen vistas and extravagant special effects of past weeks. Yet the production is tight as a drum and even something as mundane as a storage centre is built, lit and shot with care, with Annetta Laufer making something that is, by its nature, repetitive seem constantly fresh. Personally, without being disparaging, 'Beef N' Beans' is one of Chibnall's best gifts to the Whoniverse!

"Eve of the Daleks" was transmitted exactly 50 years after the first episode "Day of the Daleks" and it does its illustrious predecessors proud, a pride that Chibnall has earned the right to feel for himself. I sincerely hope that he won't let us down in the final act of his era.

NEXT: "Legend of the Sea Devils"

Flux

The first full series to be made after the first waves of the COVID pandemic (and the last full series for Jodie Whittaker) was to be one multi-part story which brings to mind the last time such a task was attempted. Although, unlike in 1986, Doctor Who's future is very much assured, the fact that it is not gaining the viewing figures it used to, immediately make one think of the end of the Colin Baker era. Flux is only about 30 minutes shorter than The Trial of a Time Lord, but is closer in structure to its '60s predecessor, The Daleks' Master Plan, in that it is one narrative that has some episodes that form discrete individual stories. Those 20th Century four bears have very different reputations, so to say that Flux falls between the two in terms of quality, is not very helpful! Flux is, however, very much Chris Chibnall's final statement on how he sees Doctor Who, so here we go.

The good news is that Flux contains some of the best episodes yet of the Chibnall era. "The Halloween Apocalypse" sets up things very well, with a wealth of memorable scenes and dizzying concepts and in its follow-up, "War of the Sontarans", we have a fun little alternate history/reality distortion story, where Russia has been replaced by a Sontaran bridgehead, resulting in the Sontarans being the masters of Earth, making the Crimean war a very different conflict. A fortnight later, we were given the pinnacle of Jodie Whittaker's tenure, "Village of the Angels". This story is lesser to the Weeping Angel stories written by their creator, but only by comparison, and is a tense, scary joy from beginning to end and proof that it is possible to make a fresh and surprising base-under-siege story, a story that ends with one of the best cliffhangers in the show's history (not affected by a bizarrely placed mid-credits scene). The remaining episodes are purely part of Flux's narrative. Of these, "Once, Upon Time" is a mind-bending puzzle box but, crucially, expands on the characters with some deft writing and performances that sets up what could be an intriguing finale . However, in the final two episodes, "Survivors of the Flux" and "The Vanquishers" that is not quite what we are promised. Although Chibnall's solution isn't the cuniculus ex capellum plot contrivance that I was fearing, there is the sloppiness in plotting that has been all too common. It seems that Chibnall is sometimes lacking confidence in his own creations; the Passengers are never sold as what they feel like to the viewer – an evil version of the TARDIS, which would have made the solution far more resonant. In addition, as I said, many, many moons ago in commenting on the resolution of "Last of the Time Lords", Doctor Who should be grounded on a contemporary Earth that is relatable to the viewer. Whilst it seems we have this, there is no indication that the effects of the Flux have been reversed. We are left with a universe of only a handful of galaxies and we are explicitly shown the destruction of Jupiter – something that would have cataclysmic effects on the movement of everything orbiting the Sun.

However, something that goes a very long way to compensating for the plot problems is the best character writing Chibnall has done to date. The Doctor's allies are a very appealing cohort. Chibnall has always been keen to bring back more of the educational aspect of Sydney Newman's vision (for history that is; the less said about the science, the better!) and we have appearances by Mary Seacole and, most wonderfully, Joseph Williamson, a person of whom I had not heard, but is integrated into Doctor Who better that any historical figure to date. An outstanding performance by Steve Oram surely resulted in a spike in hits to Williamson's Wikipedia page.

Characters like Bel and Vinder would usually be ciphers in previous Chibnall stories, but they are used well in the plot and brought to life by likeable performances by Thaddea Graham and Jacob Anderson. More sketchily written is Claire, but her plot is fascinating and she is effectively played by Annabel Scholey. Unlike with the previous returnee actor from a 1984 story, it would have been a miracle if this had not been the best Doctor Who story that Kevin McNally had appeared in. Professor Jericho is a truly wonderful character that I am sorry could not have remained as a proper companion. Then there is Karvanista the Lupar. The prosthetics indicate a fun alien, like the Cats of New Earth, but Craig Els makes him so much more. The expression of fury and despair on Karvanista's face when he learns of the genocide of the Lupari is all the more impressive in that it is delivered by an actor wearing a dog mask. I really hope that Karvanista remains a permanent fixture on the programme. Speaking of which, Jemma Redgrave makes a long-overdue return as Kate Stewart and fits into this new era like a glove.

Flux is blessed with easily the most charismatic villains of the Chibnall era, in the shape of the Ravagers, Azure and Swarm. Rochenda Sandall and Sam Spruell thoroughly command the screen helped by the nightmare-inducing prosthetics that they have been given. The Sontarans are back, with a more rugged look, but still with the brilliant Dan Starkey as the lieutenant. Strax became too beloved a character for Starkey to be in command, but we have Jonathan Watson performing admirably in those roles. Hovering between tertiary and quaternary villain status is Craig Parkinson's Grand Serpent, whose louche style always makes for interesting villains.

I love the Fam, but, it must be said that Yaz really shines on her own, and Mandip Gill gives one of the all-time great companion performances. this is helped by the fact that Yaz never states verbally something that has just been shown on screen - a very annoying trait of Chibnall's in earlier episodes. As I am only really familiar with him as a comedian, I was very pleasantly surprised by how effective John Bishop was as Dan and Chibnall cannot be faulted in any way in writing his character arc; of especial notice is Dan's relationship with Di, which is totally convincing and is given a very real conclusion. As with the Fam's Sheffield-ness, the Liverpudlian aspect is really well emphasised, and is brought to a hilarious crescendo, when Dan and his parents are discussing woks, a word that doubles its syllable count in a Scouse accent. Jodie Whittaker is playing against historical figures, malevolent primordial entities, other people inhabiting her form and two different versions of herself and is thoroughly spellbinding throughout. I look forward to seeing what remains of this new TARDIS line-up.

The production has been kicked into overdrive with some spectacular imagery although some cracks show (notably where the Doctor has her astral conference with the Mouri, which is not significantly better than a 70s CSO scene). However, the scenes with the Flux itself are spectacular and directors Azhur Saleem and Jamie Magnus Stone helm a very talented cast and production team. The freeing of Swarm is a masterpiece of teatime horror and there is a refreshing 3-dimensional quality to the space shots – too many films and tv programmes forget that space is infinite in all directions.

Cryptically suffusing this new Whoniverse, is the Division. We are again given a few more scraps of the Doctor's hidden lives and Chibnall provides us with startling snapshots, and a great role for Barbara Flynn as Tecteun, but it's unclear if he will give his rewriting of the mythos the power that it needs; it has the potential to be as existentially diquieting as the theory exemplified as Liu Cixin's Dark Forest. Also intriguing is the concept of the struggle between Time and Space (which brings to mind Sapphire and Steel) but, again, i have some concerns as to whether Chibnall can pull off this conceptual turn.

Despite being considerably better in almost every respect, like Colin Baker's swansong, Flux is less than the sum of his parts. However there is simply too much good stuff to dismiss it in the same way and I keep my fingers crossed for the remainder of this era.

NEXT: "Eve of the Daleks"