Doctor Who: The Power Of The Doctor Review - 5 Ups & 7 Downs
4. UP - Sticking The Landing (For Once)
This is going to be a shock to the system, so we’re going to ask you to sit down and prepare yourself. Ready? Here we go: this episode has a well-staged, satisfying resolution that isn’t a total deus-ex-arsepull.
Doccy Who gets with the times and has the resolution of this episode put in motion by a Doctor AI powered by machine learning, installed via blink-and-you-still-couldn’t-possibly-miss-it electric shock, and activated in the event of the Doctor’s death.
The AI co-ordinates her extended fam and moves to outsmart the Master by fooling it with a Jo Martin hologram, before harnessing the regenerative power of the CyberMasters to turn herself back to normal. Thirteen uses the TARDIS with a full crew (as seen in Journey’s End), to bring disco planet forwards 100 years to 2022 (surprisingly subtle BBC centenary tie-in, Chibs) so that she can harness the sentient energy to transmute the erupting volcanoes into synthetic matter.
This is a multi-step resolution, which actually utilises elements introduced earlier in the episode and successfully flips every element of the Master’s elaborate plan back on itself. Dare we say, this may just be the most Doctor-like solution of the era, finally giving Thirteen the chance to outsmart her foe using the tools at her disposal.
Some agency, at long last. Took you long enough, Chris.