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Power of the Doctor reaction post
I haven't been keeping up with the Thirteenth Doctor's era, and I almost didn't watch this episode tonight, but as I didn't have anything better going on, I decided to give it a try.
There was a LOT of fanservice, but I did enjoy most of it. It was fun seeing Tegan and Ace, and of course Ace got to hit a Dalek with a baseball bat again. I appreciated that the Master recognized both of them, and there was even a shout-out to "Survival." I was not expecting Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann to show up, but I really enjoyed their bits at the Regeneration Lobby Cliff. I also loved the moments where Tegan and Ace got to talk to their Doctors, and the bit where Five mentioned Adric was genuinely moving. We now have official canonization of the Companions of the Doctor Support Group, and yay for the quick glimpses of Jo Jones and Melanie Bush! Plus Ian Chesterton with his name tag so we would know who he was. I did feel sad that of course Sarah Jane wasn't there, but she did get a very subtle call-out when Yaz said she dropped everyone off in Croydon.
Since I haven't been keeping up there was a lot of stuff I didn't get, like all the stuff with Vinder. The Gallifreyan Cybermen were cool, but were they new, or have they been on the show before? How can they regenerate?
As for the actual plot, I mostly found it confusing. What was all of that with the Master regenerating into the Doctor? I don't get it. When the Doctor regenerates, they get a new body, but stay themselves, right? So this was the Master finding a way to take over the Doctor's body? Why? The Master has their own body. Why do they want the Doctor's? And meanwhile, what happened to the Master's body? It looked like it just hung out in that glass cylinder. Was the Master planning on keeping it there forever?
The rest of it was a lot of running around with Cybermen, Daleks, and special effects. I didn't get too invested in any of it, but at least I didn't find it as boring as most of Chibnall's episodes.
Then came the final regeneration, and wow, I did not see that coming! I genuinely yelled at the TV screen in a way I haven't since Moffat left. I knew we were getting DT back for the anniversary special, but I assumed it was going to be a regular multi-Doctor appearance, or maybe even Duplicate Ten dropping in from Pete's World. I am genuinely excited now for the 60th anniversary, and it feels so good to be excited about Doctor Who again! Welcome back, RTD!
There was a LOT of fanservice, but I did enjoy most of it. It was fun seeing Tegan and Ace, and of course Ace got to hit a Dalek with a baseball bat again. I appreciated that the Master recognized both of them, and there was even a shout-out to "Survival." I was not expecting Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann to show up, but I really enjoyed their bits at the Regeneration Lobby Cliff. I also loved the moments where Tegan and Ace got to talk to their Doctors, and the bit where Five mentioned Adric was genuinely moving. We now have official canonization of the Companions of the Doctor Support Group, and yay for the quick glimpses of Jo Jones and Melanie Bush! Plus Ian Chesterton with his name tag so we would know who he was. I did feel sad that of course Sarah Jane wasn't there, but she did get a very subtle call-out when Yaz said she dropped everyone off in Croydon.
Since I haven't been keeping up there was a lot of stuff I didn't get, like all the stuff with Vinder. The Gallifreyan Cybermen were cool, but were they new, or have they been on the show before? How can they regenerate?
As for the actual plot, I mostly found it confusing. What was all of that with the Master regenerating into the Doctor? I don't get it. When the Doctor regenerates, they get a new body, but stay themselves, right? So this was the Master finding a way to take over the Doctor's body? Why? The Master has their own body. Why do they want the Doctor's? And meanwhile, what happened to the Master's body? It looked like it just hung out in that glass cylinder. Was the Master planning on keeping it there forever?
The rest of it was a lot of running around with Cybermen, Daleks, and special effects. I didn't get too invested in any of it, but at least I didn't find it as boring as most of Chibnall's episodes.
Then came the final regeneration, and wow, I did not see that coming! I genuinely yelled at the TV screen in a way I haven't since Moffat left. I knew we were getting DT back for the anniversary special, but I assumed it was going to be a regular multi-Doctor appearance, or maybe even Duplicate Ten dropping in from Pete's World. I am genuinely excited now for the 60th anniversary, and it feels so good to be excited about Doctor Who again! Welcome back, RTD!
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Tegan and Five and then Ian especially at the end between them made me cry so much (William Russell speaking on my DW in 2022, and all this after the Timeless Child hurt me so hard in the First Doctor era above all), but for the first time with CC, in the right way. <3<3<3
but she did get a very subtle call-out when Yaz said she dropped everyone off in Croydon.
Yeah, I liked that. Even though you wouldn't have wanted everyone there in that first meeting anyway, it did hurt a bit knowing who was missing and why. (I don't mean to be greedy, but in companions still canonically on earth and with living actors, I am a bit sorry they didn't also get Anneke!)
But, yeah. CC didn't mess with Tegan and Ace; in fact Tegan was really done right, which made me so happy (I hear that they took a lot of input from Janet, which no doubt helped) - and Graham and Ace suddenly teaming up to fight Daleks was great.
Not bad, and at least Sacha Dhawan remains a saving grace of the bits that were a complete mess.
(I may not be entirely coherent, and I spoilered myself. I can't imagine suddenly getting all that without even knowing it was coming!!)
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LOL yes, I was thinking about this last night and I realized that Russell has gotten to choose who the Doctor regenerates into three times, and all three times he chose David Tennant! He might want to go talk to a therapist about that.
That said, I was not spoilered for the moment and it really, truly was a shock. So now I just want to see where Russell is going with this. It also helps a great deal that I know the next Doctor has already been cast and we're only getting David again for an episode, not a whole series.
in companions still canonically on earth and with living actors, I am a bit sorry they didn't also get Anneke
I did the same thing -- I started thinking through who else could have been there but wasn't. I wanted Frazier Hines, then realized that it wouldn't make sense for Jamie to be there, rats. Polly would've been great, but I also get why they didn't pack the scene with everyone they could. I still got a huge fuzzy feeling from the ones who were there, though (especially Katy Manning).
Tegan was really done right, which made me so happy
OMG yes, so many great and perfect moments with Tegan! My favorite was when she said she would come into the TARDIS, thank you very much. Although I did wonder about her bringing the TCE-ized Cyberman with her, because I was thinking that Tegan is the rare companion who wouldn't have carried around a weird gift from the Doctor with her. Character-wise, wouldn't it have made more sense for Ace to bring it? But I guess they needed a reason for Tegan to decide to go back and fight the Cybermen, which was totally in-character. I also loved that she and Ace already knew each other and were investigating weird things together. Someone has to go write that fanfic now on how they first met up.
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LOL!! He really, really might. XD
Someone just told me on my post that Polly WAS meant to be there - the empty chair in the scene was really for Anneke, but she just pulled out at the last moment. Which, tbf, is a very Anneke Wills thing to do. But aaah. So nearly!!
I wanted Frazier Hines, then realized that it wouldn't make sense for Jamie to be there, rats.
They did, though, have a nod to him with the Skye Boat Song and since he's one of the ones who couldn't be there, I thought that was pretty much perfect and it made me cry. (So much made me cry in this; it's terrible. But then The Timeless Child genuinely broke my heart and though I've sorted myself out since, this is the first thing that's truly unbroken it a bit, so I suppose I was guaranteed to be even more emotional than I otherwise would have been.)
I still got a huge fuzzy feeling from the ones who were there, though (especially Katy Manning).
It is always SO GOOD to see Katy it almost goes without saying, which of course, it shouldn't, because she is just lovely as ever.
OMG yes, so many great and perfect moments with Tegan! My favorite was when she said she would come into the TARDIS, thank you very much. Although I did wonder about her bringing the TCE-ized Cyberman with her, because I was thinking that Tegan is the rare companion who wouldn't have carried around a weird gift from the Doctor with her.
OTOH, would she leave a weird gift from the Doctor back at her home and unattended? It's fair enough, really. BUt, yes, so much! <3<3<3 It's no secret I adore Tegan - and I just did not have any faith in CC doing her anything but disserice. I'm delighted to be proved wrong for once! And I loved the Master recognising them both and him taunting Tegan about Aunty Vanessa while Ace had the come back of last seeing him being "half-cat."
ETA: I also loved that she and Ace already knew each other and were investigating weird things together. Someone has to go write that fanfic now on how they first met up.
This special needs so much fic! And I think it does make sense - it's implied they met through Kate recruiting them, which, of course she would, because they're two of the companions who actually met her father properly in the 1980s.
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Oh good! I'm glad Anneke was busy instead of left out.
But then The Timeless Child genuinely broke my heart
Yes, I still feel like Chibnall murdered my favorite show. My biggest wish for the next Doctor's era (what are we calling him now -- Fourteen or Fifteen?) is for RTD to completely and utterly ignore everything about the Timeless Child. Or else for him to do a fix-it episode to retcon it away somehow. Crossing my fingers!
would she leave a weird gift from the Doctor back at her home and unattended?
Ah, yes, excellent point! So she brought it because she didn't entirely trust it, and wanted to keep an eye on it. I can go with that.
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It genuinely took me 8 months or so to find a way to working ways out to still keep bits of it - relistening to Eight and Charley, and beginning to cope with Moffat era stuff because it felt far enough away from the foundational damage. And so many of my flisters really couldn't find any way at all.
This doesn't make up for it, but it does finally help a bit. And, yeah, I would not say no to a full retcon! BUt the good thing about the rest of the Chibnall era being such a mess that makes no sense and everything getting dropped means I feel I have a right to question the truth of what the Master said in The Timeless Child after all that anyway.
Ah, yes, excellent point! So she brought it because she didn't entirely trust it, and wanted to keep an eye on it. I can go with that.
It's weird, hand it in to UNIT! XD
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Yes, Tegan was just acting sensibly, as usual! And I have to admit that as much as I love Sarah, she totally would've fallen for the Master's trick and committed to carrying around any old memento she got from the Doctor. I mean, she must have had broken K9 in the boot of her car for ages, and just think how much room he took up. Could she even do the shopping? "Oh sorry, there's no room in my boot because of my broken robot dog. Just put the bags in the back seat instead."
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LOL!