The Power of the Doctor (TV story)

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The Power of the Doctor was the 2022 Doctor Who Centenary Special, broadcast as part of the BBC 100 celebrations. Marking the end of Jodie Whittaker's tenure as the Thirteenth Doctor, this was also the final entry to be penned by Chris Chibnall as showrunner. It saw the return of the Spy Master and Ashad following their apparent demise at the end of The Timeless Children, and it marked the first time the Master, the Cybermen, and the Daleks all worked together onscreen.

Several past Doctor Who companions returned for the special, most prominently Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, Sophie Aldred as Ace, and Bradley Walsh as Graham O'Brien. Appearing in cameo roles were Bonnie Langford and Katy Manning as Melanie Bush and Jo Jones, with Langford returning to the television series for the first time since her exit in Dragonfire, and Manning returning to for the first time since her character's last appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor. Notably, joining Langford and Manning in a cameo role was William Russell as Ian Chesterton, marking the character's first appearance in the television series since The Chase in 1965, which Guinness World Records marked as the longest gap between televised appearances of a character still played by their actor.[1]

Also returning in mental manifestations of the Doctor’s consciousness were David Bradley, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann, all reprising their roles as their respective Doctors, with Davison and McCoy also reprising their roles through an A.I. version of the Doctor — which first appeared in the 1995 novel Infinite Requiem — with Jo Martin also returning as the Fugitive Doctor through the same manner.

The story notably marked the first televised degeneration, as well as the first forced regeneration since The War Games. With the Thirteenth Doctor's forced regeneration and the Master using the name of the Doctor, Sacha Dhawan became the first actor to have portrayed both the Master and the Doctor onscreen in the same story. The special also marked the third time the Doctor was seen to regenerate more than once within the same television story, following Twice Upon a Time and The Timeless Children, and marked the first time a single incarnation of the Doctor is seen regenerating twice within the same story, and the second time a single incarnation is seen regenerating twice in their tenure following the Tenth Doctor's aborted regeneration in Journey's End and full regeneration in The End of Time

In a twist, the special reintroduced Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor in its closing moments, marking the first time on-screen that the Doctor regenerated into a different incarnation who held the same appearance as a previous one, after such a phenomena was foreshadowed by the Curator in The Day of the Doctor, the latter having been played by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker.

Synopsis

Famous paintings have been mysteriously defaced around Earth, seismologists have gone missing, there is strange activity occurring in volcanoes and across the stars a bullet train is pursued by CyberMasters. The Doctor doesn't understand how it all connects. All she has is a message from an old enemy - "this is the day you die"...

Plot

On board a Toraji Transport Network bullet train hurtling through space, Train Marshal Halaz broadcasts an urgent request for help: they are being invaded by Cybermen! With her and Deputy Marshal Arnhost fighting back to save their passengers, several Cybermen fall, and the marshals consider the threat neutralised until they realise they are not just any Cybermen - they are CyberMasters and able to regenerate. Halaz increases her calls for help, only to receive a response from the Thirteenth Doctor who is ready to jump into action with Yaz and Dan, all wearing orange spacesuits.

Realising that the Cybermen are blocking the TARDIS from landing, the Doctor instead rolls out a metal ladder from the open door to the roof of the train, which she quickly realises is slightly too short, requiring a jump through open space to safety. The Doctor and Yaz make it, but Dan falters, eventually making a near-perfect landing. However, his victory is short-lived as the CyberMasters become aware of their presence, sending a group onto the roof as others search for the train's cargo. The Doctor sonics a hatch open, turning off the electromagnets and sending the CyberMasters flying into space, but at the expense of the three friends being forced to hold on for dear life. As he does, however, Dan is shot in the helmet and briefly exposed to the vacuum of space.

Back in the train, the Doctor and Yaz deal with Arnhost's injuries as Dan uses the sonic screwdriver to slow the train down. Finally, the Doctor meets with the Cyber-Leader near the cargo, revealed to be a young child. Promising to protect them, the Doctor is left in shock as the child is simply teleported away with the Cyber-Leader in tow.

Siberia, 1916. Inside a small house in the middle of a frozen landscape, a messenger asks the owner, Grigori Rasputin, for urgent help at the Winter Palace, as Tsarevich Alexei has been taken ill. As Rasputin turns to leave, however, he is revealed to be none other than the Spy Master, disguised with extremely long hair and beard and piercing blue eyes.

London, 2022. Inside an art gallery, Ace studies an empty wall where a painting should be. The curator insists that it has been taken down for restoration work, but Ace is less than convinced. Later, in the gallery's café, she video calls Tegan Jovanka, who is somewhere in Romania investigating a group of mysteriously missing seismologists. They note that fifteen famous paintings and twelve famous scientists have all gone missing without a trace, and Tegan is confused further by the presence of a package for her: a Russian doll box containing a toy Cyberman and a note from the Doctor, who she has not heard from in nearly forty years. Thoroughly confused, Ace decides it is time to go deeper.

The TARDIS lands outside where Dan's house should be at 37 Granger Street, Liverpool, ready to drop him off at his date as promised. However, having developed a sense of his own mortality, Dan decides that he does not want to continue and instead wants to get back to living his life, admitting that "my life's far from perfect, but... I need to get back to it. I need to attack it. And I can now... 'cause I've been with you." The Doctor reluctantly understands and returns to the TARDIS alone. Noting that he has no house after it was shrunk by Karvanista, Dan decides to go and visit his parents as he and Yaz joke about being glad to see the back of each other. Meanwhile, inside the TARDIS, a renegade Dalek contacts the Doctor, claiming to have decided the Daleks need to be destroyed due to them being a perversion of the Kaled race. It offers information about a plot to destroy humanity, promising to communicate a time and location before leaving just as Yaz enters. The Doctor tracks the young child's location to 1916 Earth but notes with dread that an extra planet has appeared in the solar system.

St Petersburg, 1916. In the Winter Palace, the Master, disguised as Rasputin, meets with Tsarina Alexandra about her son's haemophilia, which has seemingly worsened since the arrival of a second moon. He promises her that Alexei will improve soon, hypnotising her into believing him. Turning to Tsar Nicholas II, busy in thought about Russia's position in World War I, the Master hypnotises him too into taking a long holiday away with his family, leaving the Master in charge of the palace.

The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Yaz to the mysterious moon, revealing it to be a Cyber-converted planet. Before they can investigate, though, they spot a second TARDIS in the distance, with the writing on the door sign reading "HAHAHA" repeatedly. Looking inside, they find that its console has been tethered to the planet for some reason, but is indicating a second energy source outside. Sonicking away the Cybermen's cloaking shield, the Doctor discovers the child they were after, captured. Uncovering a further consciousness shield, she quickly realises it is not a child after all, but a Qurunx: an ultra-rare sentient energy being that disguised itself as something the viewer would most want to protect. The Doctor is interrupted once again by a group of Cybermen, who taunt her that she will not be able to stop their plan and that "your Master awaits" before shooting at her. The Doctor and Yaz barely manage to escape into the TARDIS before yet another distraction arises, this time a summons from Kate Stewart.

Arriving at the brand-new UNIT HQ, Kate informs the Doctor about the defaced artworks and abducted seismologists, but first allows her to reunite with Tegan and Ace, acting as new freelancers. Ace approves of her new look, while Tegan is put out at how the Doctor is now visibly younger than she is and hits back about having been abandoned by her for 38 years. Although upset by this, the Doctor identifies that all the paintings have been edited to include the Master as Rasputin's face, and he interrupts their conversation by forcing a video onto UNIT's screen. In his normal look, he announces that he is holding a conference at the International Seismology Memorial Conference in Naples and tells them to come along. The Doctor takes off, apologising to Tegan and Ace and giving them each a tap on the shoulder that bursts with static electricity before promising to return.

In Naples, the Doctor confronts the Master, giving a keynote speech to a room full of miniaturised seismologists. He explains that his dealings as Rasputin, the spare TARDIS, the cyber-planet, and the Qurunx are all "grandstanding" to attract the Doctor's attention and warn her that she will soon be erased from existence. However, he is quickly arrested by UNIT and forced into the Doctor's TARDIS before he can go any further. Yaz holds the Master at gunpoint as the Doctor promises that UNIT will keep him under armed guard.

In the midst of space, Inston-Vee Vinder hurtles out of a wormhole in a rapidly-breaking spaceship, having been on the trail of the missing Qurunx. He files a status report, admitting that although he has arrived on the cyber-planet successfully, using the wormhole was a "really bad idea" as it has destroyed his ship and left him stranded. He is shocked, therefore, to see the Master's TARDIS nearby.

The Master is apprehended by UNIT soldiers and forced into their high-security bunker, which pleases him greatly. Being watched on his way there, he takes the time to taunt his old adversaries Tegan and Ace and, with him locked up, the Doctor takes off again to meet with the Dalek traitor. Inside the TARDIS, Yaz admits her frustration once again that she is not being told any details, and the Doctor admits that she has no idea how the Master, Daleks, and Cybermen all connect.

The Doctor meets the renegade Dalek inside a volcano in Bolivia, where it allows her to extract vital data about the destruction of its race. Meanwhile, Yaz uncovers a much larger group of Daleks nearby operating heavy machinery, putting her on edge.

Inside UNIT HQ, Ace sets up a CCTV camera on the Master's cell. However, he begins to talk to them and reveals he sent a miniaturised clone of Ashad to Tegan, pretending to be the Doctor. The miniaturised Ashad enlarges and acts as a portal to bring a fleet of Cyber-Warriors into the HQ, forcing the women to hide behind a table and fire on them with gold bullets. Quickly realising this particular weakness is no longer effective, they run, and Ashad frees the Master as Kate announces that UNIT is under attack.

The Doctor discovers the Dalek traitor had been allowed to contact her by the other Daleks in order to lure her out, leaving the Daleks, including their commander, to kill the traitor and capture her. With the traitor's casing exposed, she is forced into it at gunpoint as it extends vine-like cables that force her to sit down inside before being teleported away. Yaz, meanwhile, returns to the TARDIS and, getting out her copious notes on how to control it, begs it to follow the teleport.

The Daleks take the Doctor to 1916 and hand her to the Master in the form of Rasputin, with the Cybermen in tow. Dubbing it the Master's Dalek Plan, he explains that his new "fam" has teamed up to make her undergo a forced regeneration, using Gallifreyan technology he salvaged combined with the power of the cyber-planet. While still captured, he taunts her by dancing along to Rasputin, to the surprise of even the Daleks and Cybermen, while the cyber-planet powers up and fires a beam at the palace. Meanwhile, Vinder uses his TARDIS communicator to try and ask for help from the Doctor but reaches Yaz instead. He is interrupted by a message from the Master, which Yaz urges the TARDIS to follow, allowing it to land in the Winter Palace. As the Master pushes the Doctor out of the Dalek casing and inside a narrow glass cubicle, he gets inside the second and begins the forced regeneration... to force her to regenerate into him. The cyber-planet sends its energy down into the cubicles, and despite the Doctor's desperate cries, it works. The Master finds himself, short-haired again, inhabiting the Doctor's clothes, with his previous body resting lifelessly nearby, and triumphantly declares that he is the Doctor now. Yaz exits the TARDIS and demands her Doctor back, but he refuses her while threatening her to follow him as his companion.

Back in UNIT, Kate, Tegan, and Ace run desperately from the Cybermen. Kate decides that she needs to lock down the building and urges Tegan and Ace to escape from the roof with parachutes. Just before they escape, however, Ace stops to pick up her classic bomber jacket and metal bat from when she was a teenager. As the Master fights for control of the Doctor's TARDIS, he explains that he now plans to erupt all Earth's volcanoes simultaneously to end humanity, then turn them into foundries for Daleks and Cybermen while he tarnishes the name of the Doctor. Meanwhile, Ace makes it to the roof of UNIT HQ, but Tegan refuses to go with her, accepting blame for bringing in the Cybermen. She is willingly locked inside the building.

The TARDIS lands on a distant planetoid somewhere in space, overlooking a vast scene of destruction as two neighbouring planets exchange heavy, constant fire. The Master emerges, now wearing a distorted amalgam of the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors' outfits, and proclaims to Yaz that he has stopped two sides warring by destroying them both. Spotting a hovering news camera approaching, he stoically tells it, "I am the Doctor, and I caused this". Yaz cannot bear seeing this any longer and shoves him over from behind, sprints into the TARDIS, and dematerialises, leaving him stranded. Pulling out the Second Doctor's recorder, he simply sits and waits for her to return.

The Thirteenth Doctor awakens. To her surprise, she finds herself standing in an endless rocky vista, with no landmarks except for a small boulder and a telegraph pole. Looking around, she hears a familiar voice remarking that "You're obviously one of the more determined of us". Sitting on the boulder, uncharacteristically wearing Gallifreyan robes, is the First Doctor. He remarks that she is refusing to pass through, and morphs into a visibly older Sixth Doctor to add that they need to solve her predicament so as to not ruin it for the next Doctor. Continuing to morph into older forms of the Fifth, Eighth, and Seventh Doctors, the figures describe themselves as the Guardians of the Edge; the Thirteenth Doctor is inside the Edge of Existence, a place in her mind where she would pass through upon regenerating. However, she has not yet made the journey, meaning the Master's hijacking can still be reversed. The Guardians remind her that the Master will still be vulnerable post-regeneration and that she must get help from the outside. Incredibly grateful for the help, she thanks them but notices that they have disappeared as quickly as they arrived.

Inside the TARDIS, Yaz is suddenly greeted by a Holo-Doctor. After explaining that she is an AI program the Doctor created and is responding to the emotional receptors she implanted via static earlier, Yaz explains her plan to get the real Doctor back. First, she lands on the cyber-planet and rescues Vinder, who she attempts to bring up to speed before taking off again. The Holo-Doctor explains that they have only one chance to revert a forced regeneration, and it could only work under extreme circumstances.

With a cyber-conversion pod created by Ashad in the Master's former bunker, Tegan returns to Kate, explaining that she needs to help her stop the Cybermen. After an impassioned speech, Kate relents and describes how the plan is to keep the Cybermen contained then completely level the building. A manual activation is hidden in the basement, which Tegan needs to somehow reach from the top floor. Kate distracts the Cybermen by promising them information, allowing Tegan to run. Meanwhile, Ace prepares to parachute-jump off the roof, but as she does, Ashad spots her and shoots her parachute. As she begins plummeting, the TARDIS materialises sideways on the side of the building and rescues her.

Yaz introduces Ace to Vinder as she looks around approvingly at the new TARDIS design. Yaz explains that she wants to drop Ace into the volcano in Bolivia to stop the Dalek operation. Drawing her bat, she declares it is "wicked!". Later, Yaz lands back on the planetoid to pick up the Master, seemingly apologising to him, but with Vinder hidden nearby in the TARDIS, blaster primed.

With Tegan hiding inside UNIT HQ, the Holo-Doctor appears to her, but quickly changes to become the Fifth Doctor upon reacting to her memories. He passes on a message of good luck and promises that he never forgot her after leaving her. Telling her "brave heart" one more time, he lets her go as she runs to a vast, empty lift shaft.

The Holo-Doctor next appears in front of Ace, ready to blow up the Daleks with her new Nitro-999. She again morphs, this time into the Seveth Doctor, who regretfully apologsises for falling out with her, admitting that he was just trying to teach her good habits. However, she is more than happy to make up with him, and he responds that "We're more than good. We're ace!" She heads off to fight the Daleks, but instead meets none other than Graham O'Brien, brandishing his psychic paper and proclaiming to be "Arnold Palmerson, volcano inspector" - however, it actually displays "Graham, friend of the Doctor, former bus driver, worried about the amount of Daleks in here and what he's going to do about it." The two hit it off immediately and work to destroy the Dalek volcano machine.

Kate is met by Ashad and his Cyber-Warriors. From behind a laser shield, she promises that reinforcements are on the way and that she can offer them vital knowledge of Earth. Despite Ashad's scepticism, she tells him that if he releases all UNIT staff from conversion, they can have her instead. He accepts, and she is dragged away, hoping that the Doctor will come back. Meanwhile, Tegan continues climbing down the ladder in the shaft when she slips. Ashad detects her and begins to fire, forcing her to slide down at full speed.

The Master lands the TARDIS back at the Winter Palace in 1916, telling the Daleks to start activating the volcanoes in 2022, and they begin to erupt in Bolivia, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Iceland. However, before she is killed, Yaz distracts the Master just long enough to activate the Holo-Doctor again, this time in the form of the Fugitive Doctor, who the Master does not recognise. Ordering his CyberMasters to kill the Holo-Doctor, they surround her and immediately drop dead, their shots having passed through the hologram and hit each other. Yaz and Vinder to capture the Master at gunpoint and force him to undo the Doctor's transformation, using the CyberMasters' regeneration energy to reverse the process. Knowing his time is up, he pleads with the incoming Doctor to "Don't let me go back to being me", but as the Edge of Existence begins to break down in her mind, the Doctor finally reawakens in her own body, weakened and somewhat shocked at her new wardrobe, but pleased that her hologram worked, which then disappears.

Captured by Ashad, Kate is forced into the conversion chamber and the process begins as she screams in pain. Meanwhile, the Holo-Doctor reappears to help Tegan destroy the converter. It works, and the reversal of energy attacks Ashad and the Cybermen before they convert Kate.

Back in her normal clothes in the TARDIS, the Doctor comes up with a quick fix for both the volcanoes and the cyber-planet. Meanwhile, inside the volcano, Ace takes her bat to a Dalek eyestalk and starts setting off the Nitro-999 to destroy the device. Despite their worries about making it to the surface alive, the TARDIS lands and picks them up, to the Doctor and Graham's mutual surprise, and they dematerialise just as the volcano blows up, destroying the remaining Daleks in the process.

Tegan and Kate sprint out of UNIT HQ, having activated its self-destruction, and the skyscraper collapses in on itself seconds after they escape. The TARDIS is already there to pick them up, with Tegan pushing her way in and allowing Kate her first time inside. With six companions arranged properly around the console - Tegan, Ace, Kate, Yaz, Graham, and Vinder - the Doctor tells them they all play a key part in saving the world, even though none of them fully understand what is going on, and according to Graham, Ryan is busy in Patagonia. Kate, meanwhile, is still in awe at the ship being bigger on the inside. Realising that Vinder's ship still needs fixing, the Doctor runs with him onto the surface of the cyber-planet and fixes it up, allowing him to escape while the wormhole is still there. She passes on her love to his family and lets him go.

The Doctor next makes her way into the Master's TARDIS, still in the form of her own after he burnt out most of its systems by powering the cyber-planet. Calling her companions in her TARDIS, she explains that she is using hers to jump-start his, doubling their power. They activate the controls and, as Vinder successfully escapes, the two TARDISes work together to dematerialise the entire cyber-planet and make it reappear in 2022. They then activate its conversion beams, which target the erupting volcanoes and freeze them into solid steel, saving the Earth and creating public art installations to boot. With one last problem to solve, they all land back on the cyber-planet for the Doctor to let the Qurunx free, but she asks it to use its incredible energy power to destroy the planet first. It complies, but suddenly the Master reappears, back in his original Rasputin-disguised body, badly injured and dying after the forced degeneration. Defeated, and with a cry of "if I can't be the Doctor... neither can you!", the Master channels the Qurunx's energy beam at the Doctor, mortally wounding her and causing her to begin her regeneration.

With the cyber-planet rapidly collapsing in on itself and the Master lying motionless, Yaz risks her life to grab the Doctor and return her to the TARDIS. She has one last look at her "extended fam" before passing out. When she wakes up, the TARDIS is empty save for Yaz, having dropped them all off in Croydon. Noticing that her regeneration has already started, she asks Yaz where she would go for one final trip... and what flavour ice cream she would choose.

Later, the two best friends sit eating ice cream on the roof of the TARDIS, hanging in space overlooking Earth. The Doctor eulogises about the time they spent together, claiming it to have been "so special", but admits that she needs to go on alone. With tearful smiles, they decide to not say goodbye. The Doctor takes Yaz home, landing her in a park as they share one last longing look. Yaz quickly bumps into two unexpected figures: Graham and Dan, arguing over map directions. They ask if she did not get her invite.

Yaz sits down with a group of former companions including Graham, Dan, Ace, Tegan, and Kate in a meeting room. Graham talks first, admitting that since he returned home from his travels with the Doctor, he has never been able to tell anyone on the basis of sounding mad, and wondered if there were any others who could relate to, and he was correct. Looking around at his friends, alongside Ian Chesterton, Jo Jones, Melanie Bush, and one empty chair, Graham declares that they can all share their stories together. With the mood lightening, Kate jokes that she may recruit them for some UNIT work, while Dan jokes that he already misses her, despite being pleased that he will no longer be exterminated. Ian in particular is taken about at Dan's use of the word "her", while Mel and Jo wonder how many more Doctors are out there. Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, the Doctor lands for the final time and, with her regeneration glow intensifying, tells her ship to look after the next one as she leaves to take in one last sunrise. Tegan and Ace ask Yaz if she and the Doctor are OK; Yaz responds that the Doctor will always be OK.

The Doctor finds a seaside cliff to regenerate upon. She says a fond farewell to her current self before saying to her next self, "Right then, Doctor whoever-I'm-about-to-be... Tag, you're it," and regenerates into her next incarnation. After the explosive regeneration finishes, resulting in a male incarnation once again and also a change in his clothes, the Fourteenth Doctor immediately realises something is not right. By checking his teeth, he realises out loud in a very familiar voice and accent that he actually knows the feeling of his new teeth. Alarmed by this, the newly regenerated Doctor begins to examine his new body. Recognising his new hands before noticing his predecessor's clothing has also completely been altered by the regeneration, the Doctor feels the shape of his new face and discovers to his shock that he has regenerated into a body virtually identical to his tenth incarnation. The new Doctor - or should that be the old Doctor? - can only exclaim in amazement and utter confusion, "What? What? What?!"

Cast

And Introducing David Tennant as The Doctor

Uncredited cast


Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.


References

The Doctor's clothing

TARDISes

Culture

Locations

Story notes

Contradictions with expanded media

Details from script release

  • The bullet train pre-credits sequence has many changes:[17]
    • The CyberMasters entered in the wrong carriage because Train Marshal Halaz deliberately shuffled the carriages.[17]
    • On the train, Dan and Yaz reminded the Doctor that she forgot to tell them the plan.[17]
    • When Dan's helmet got hit, his face got suctioned toward the rupture and his nose plugged the gap.[17]
  • Dan's departure speech was completely different, with the Doctor giving a response.[17]
  • During its first meeting with the Doctor, the Dalek traitor revealed more of its background such as identifying itself as an elite biological combat engineer whose mission was to devise strategies to ameliorate any Dalek defeat in battle, its work resulting in a genetic code which was to activate and self-execute Dalek creatures in the event of a threat to Dalek supremacy in battle, causing their casings to flood with toxic radiation and detonate, fatally damaging all enemies within a broad radius.[17]
  • To start the Rasputin song, the original scene had the CyberMasters activate panels on their arms and the Master used an old iPod to play the music instead of the TCE.[17]
  • Originally, three planets were at war instead of two and the devastation would be seen up close.[17]
  • The Eighth Doctor Guardian was seen as a separate figure instead of being part of the one figure in the final version.[17]
  • The original script had the Master arrive in the Tunguska forest in Russia in 30 June, 1908. Additionally it had a whole scene with a Russian woman watching in horror as the "first experiment" with the cyber-planet went wrong and squashed many miles of forest. The Master claimed he sent himself to Siberia as "punishment".[17]
  • Tegan was seen more heavily injured after her fall, with an injured her ankle and wrist, whereas she only had a slight limp in the final version.[17]
  • The feedback was revealed to only have knocked Ashad unconscious and an additional scene showed Ashad wandering the UNIT hallways as the building collapsed around him.[17]
  • The original script had a scene, set after he was returned to his old body, with the Master as Grigori Rasputin meeting with Russian Prince Yusopov, who, in keeping with historical fact, would have "Rasputin" shot and put in a sack by two henchmen to be dumped in the river, only the bullets were not seen hitting.[17]
  • During the Companion Support Group scene in the script the laptop was suggested to be for Martha Jones, Ryan Sinclair or, somehow, Jackie Tyler.[17]
  • The Thirteenth Doctor's final scene in the script was originally different, with the Doctor sitting rather than standing, and her last lines being switched around, with her final words being, "I bet it's going to be brilliant.", echoing back to her first words "Oh, brilliant." in TV: Twice Upon a Time.[18][17]
  • Due to the fact that Chris Chibnall did not know anything about the future of Doctor Who, the regeneration scene was left open ended, with the last shot being the Doctor mid-regeneration.[17]

Ratings

  • Overnights: 3.71 million[19]
    • Regeneration: 4.04 million[19]
  • Consolidated: 5.30 million[20]

Myths

  • Yasmin Khan would be a victim of the Tissue Compression Eliminator. (This turned out to be false. The rumour started when a promotional picture was released of Sacha Dhawan as the Master holding a tiny figurine resembling Yaz)
  • Dan Lewis would die. (This ended up being false. The rumour came about as no promotional material depicted Dan outside the space bullet train mission)
  • Kate Stewart would either die or be converted into a Cyberman. (Both of these ended up being false. Although she was shown going through the conversion process, which was halted by Tegan)
  • Vinder and Bel were to be revealed as the Doctor's parents. (This was proven false [this rumour had been circulating since "Once, Upon Time"])
  • The Doctor was to regenerate on top of a cliff or drown in the ocean. (Cliff was proven true)
  • The Doctor's regeneration was triggered by being shot by Yaz, who was under the influence of the Master. (This was proven false, although the Master was responsible for the Doctor's regeneration)

Filming locations

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Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • The Master's incarnation of the Doctor loses the Thirteenth Doctor's earring after changing his clothes. It momentarily returns during one scene, before disappearing once more until Jodie Whittaker's return to the role where it returns permanently without explanation.
  • The Doctor says that 2022 is in 'the second decade of the 21st century'. It's the third.
  • On the ABC, "Qurunx" was misspelt as "Quaranx" in the subtitles.

Continuity

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-william-russell-ian-chesterton-return-newsupdate/
  2. ↑ https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/latest-doctor-who-episode-starred-7744832
  3. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-2022-specials-chris-chibnall-newsupdate/
  4. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11325209/amp/Jodie-Whittaker-distraught-filmed-final-Doctor-scenes.html
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://twitter.com/NicholasPegg/status/1584288414907498496
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://twitter.com/dorsetmuseum/status/1584279562623406080
  7. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-63378170.amp
  8. ↑ https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/liz-truss-resignation-helps-jodie-7727285
  9. ↑ https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/doctor-who-fans-treated-return-28310752
  10. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/sacha-dhawan-rasputin-doctor-who-dance-exclusive-newsupdate/
  11. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-classic-companions-interview-exclusive-newsupdate/amp/
  12. ↑ Edited version of Melvyn Bragg's interview of Dennis Potter on March 15 1994
  13. ↑ https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/bbc-and-disney-branded-television-join-forces-on-doctor-who
  14. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-david-tennant-regeneration-costume-twist-newsupdate/
  15. ↑ https://cultbox.co.uk/news/thirteenth-to-fourteenth-doctor-regeneration-how-it-was-completed
  16. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/david-tennant-added-line-doctor-who-regeneration-newsupdate/amp/
  17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 17.15 https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/doctor-who-the-power-of-the-doctor-chris-chibnall.pdf
  18. ↑ https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a41748744/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-final-line-different/
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Overnight ratings - UK
  20. ↑ UK Final ratings
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Doctor Who television stories
 
Seasons 1-4: William Hartnell
Season 1: 1963-1964
Season 2: 1964-1965
Season 3: 1965-1966
Season 4: 1966
 
Seasons 4-6: Patrick Troughton
Season 4: 1966-1967
Season 5: 1967-1968
Season 6: 1968-1969
 
Seasons 7-11: Jon Pertwee
Season 7: 1970
Season 8: 1971
Season 9: 1972
Season 10: 1972-1973
Season 11: 1973-1974
 
Seasons 12-18: Tom Baker
Season 12: 1974-1975
Season 13: 1975-1976
Season 14: 1976-1977
Season 15: 1977-1978
Season 16: 1978-1979
Season 17: 1979-1980
Season 18: 1980-1981
 
Seasons 19-21: Peter Davison
Season 19: 1982
Season 20: 1983
Children in Need 1983
Season 21: 1984
 
Seasons 21-23: Colin Baker
Season 21: 1984
Season 22: 1985
Season 23: 1986
 
Seasons 24-26: Sylvester McCoy
Season 24: 1987
Season 25: 1988-1989
Season 26: 1989
 
TV Movie & 2013 specials: Paul McGann
TV Movie: 1996
Specials: 2013
Minisodes
 
Series 1: Christopher Eccleston
Series 1: 2005
Regular episodes
 
Series 2-4: David Tennant
Series 2: 2005-2006
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Series 3: 2006-2007
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Animated special
Series 4: 2007-2010
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Minisodes
Animated special
Seasonal specials
 
Series 5-2013 specials: Matt Smith
Series 5: 2010
Regular episodes
Series 6: 2010-2011
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: Apr 2011)
Regular episodes
(Part 2: Aug 2011)
Minisode
Series 7: 2011-2013
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: 2012)
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
(Part 2: 2013)
Specials: 2013
 
Series 8-10: Peter Capaldi
Series 8: 2014
Regular episodes
Series 9: 2014-2015
Christmas Special
Minisode
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
Series 10: 2016-2017
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
 
Series 11-13: Jodie Whittaker
Series 11: 2018-2019
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 12: 2020-2021
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 13: 2021
Minisodes
Regular episodes
Seasonal specials
Eve of the Daleks • Legend of the Sea Devils • The Power of the Doctor
 
60th Anniversary Specials: David Tennant
Specials: 2023
Minisodes
60th Anniversary Specials
 
Season 1 (2023)-present: Ncuti Gatwa
Season 1: 2023-2024
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
v • e
Regeneration stories
The Doctor
TV series
Comic Relief
Comics
Prose
Audio
Home video
Webcast
The Master
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
Alternate universe
Romana
Television
Prose
Audio
Other
Time Lords
Television
Prose
Audio
Comics
Non-Time Lord Gallifreyans
Prose
Shobogans
Television
Proto-
Time Lords
Television
Audio
Others
Television
Prose
Comics
Audio
For the purposes of this list, a "regeneration story" is one in which a regeneration is actually and initially depicted. For this reason The War Games is not included below, even though it is commonly thought of as a "regeneration story". It doesn't actually include a clear scene of regeneration, and the preponderance of stories in other media confirms that the Second Doctor did not regenerate at the end of it.
Additionally, immediate post-regeneration stories, like the 2005 Children in Need Special Born Again — and ones like Castrovalva, where the regeneration sequence was replayed — are not included.
v • e
Spy Master stories
Television
Prose
Comics
Substantial appearances only; see a full list of appearances here
v • e
Dalek television stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
First Doctor era
Dr. Who films
Second Doctor era
Third Doctor era
Fourth Doctor era
Fifth Doctor era
Sixth Doctor era
Seventh Doctor era
The "Wilderness Years"
Ninth Doctor era
Tenth Doctor era
Eleventh Doctor era
Twelfth Doctor era
Thirteenth Doctor era
Fourteenth Doctor era
Fifteenth Doctor era
Because of the ubiquity of this race, no attempt will be made here to list every appearance in every medium. Instead, we focus on televised appearances here, and invite you to explore a complete list of appearances elsewhere.
v • e
Cyberman stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Cyberman story" is one in which one living, authentic Cyberman plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as Dalek are absent due to only featuring deceased Cybermen on display. Stories like Carnival of Monsters, A Good Man Goes to War and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Cybermen's appearance being of little consequence to the plot of the story.
Television
Webcast
Audio

Sword of Orion • Spare Parts • Real Time • The Harvest • Silver Lining • Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Crystal of Cantus • The Reaping • The Gathering • The Blue Tooth • Human Resources • The Girl Who Never Was • The Ultimate Adventure • Kingdom of Silver • Legend of the Cybermen • The Silver Turk • Last of the Cybermen • Return to Telos • The Isos Network • The Tyrants of Logic • Code Silver / Master of Worlds • Hour of the Cybermen • Conversion • Return of the Cybermen • The Gates of Hell • Scourge of the Cybermen • Altered Status • Monsters in Metropolis • Secrets of Telos • Way of the Burryman / The Forth Generation • Bad Day in Tinseltown • Willkommen • Wulf • Übermensch • Auf Wiedersehen • The Great Cyber-War • Sins of the Flesh

Cyberman
Prose
Novels
Short stories
Features
Comics
The Cybermen
Supremacy of
the Cybermen
prologues
Video
games
Complete list of appearances
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