The Power of the Doctor (TV story)

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Stand well clear, Jo!

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The Power of the Doctor was the 2022 Doctor Who Centenary Special, broadcast as part of the BBC 100 event in celebration of the BBC's 100th anniversary. It would be the last story to be written 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 marked the first time the Master, the Cybermen and the Daleks appeared onscreen together. The special also sees the apparent end of the Spy incarnation of the Master following the defeat of his plans.

The special also saw the return of previous Doctor Who actors; with Janet Fielding and Sophie Aldred reprising their roles of Tegan Jovanka and Ace on screen for the first time in almost 40 years for Janet Fielding and 30 years for Sophie Aldred respectfully, with the special addressing the issue of how the Doctor gains friends only to seemingly abandon them for years, something that affects Tegan especially.

The story marked the first appearance of a mental landscape for Time Lords that represents the regeneration process known as the Edge, through this the special saw the return of previous Doctors, with David Bradley, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Peter Davison reprising their roles as their Doctors. Notably joining them is Colin Baker reprising the role of the Sixth Doctor, marking Baker's first onscreen appearance in a canon story of the show since The Ultimate Foe, and through the use of an AI version of the Doctor, Davison and McCoy had the opportunity to reunite with their companions for the first time since each Doctor's last appearance, with the AI Doctor also being used to bring back Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor.

The story notably marked the first onscreen Retro-regeneration, called a degeneration in this story, following the Master taking over the Doctor's body briefly, something he failed to do before to the Eighth Doctor, with this brief possession brought on by the first forced regeneration seen since The War Games and causing the possessed Doctor to take on the Master's appearance, and with the Master using the name of the Doctor, this technically makes Sacha Dhawan the first actor to have portrayed both the Master and the Doctor onscreen in the same story.

The special marked Jodie Whittaker's last regular appearance as the Thirteenth Doctor, however the story didn't end with the introduction of Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, instead, in a surprising twist, it introduced David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor in its closing moments rather than Gatwa, marking the first time on screen the Doctor had regenerated into a different incarnation with the same appearance as a previous incarnation, and making Tennant the third actor to have portrayed a different incarnation of the Doctor following Tom Baker and Colin Baker portraying the Curator.

Tennant's involvement caused a lot of commotion and many theories online, while it was known he would be involved in the 60th anniversary specials many took notice that he was wearing clothes his Doctor had not worn before, some theorising he was actually playing a different incarnation from the Tenth Doctor, something that was confirmed by Russell T Davis following the episode's broadcast, with the official designation being fourteen, making Ncuti Gatwa, who is shown briefly in the previews for the 60th anniversary specials, the Fifteenth Doctor rather than the Fourteenth Doctor as was previously believed.

Synopsis

Who is attacking a speeding bullet train on the edges of a distant galaxy? Why are seismologists going missing from 21st century Earth? Who is defacing some of history’s most iconic paintings? Why is a Dalek trying to make contact with the Doctor? And just what hold does the mesmeric Rasputin have over Tsar Nicholas in 1916 Russia?

The Doctor faces multiple threats…and a battle to the death[1]

Plot

to be added

Cast

And Introducing David Tennant as The Doctor


Uncredited cast

to be added

Crew

to be added

References

The Doctor's clothing

TARDISes

Story notes

Continuity

Footnotes