Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor

And now, after many moons, the Chibnall-Whittaker era of Doctor Who has come to an end. My thoughts are many.

I have not been the biggest fan of this era of the show. Jodie Whittaker is appealing enough, but I have found her performance too broad to be actually engaging. In spite of the occasional bright spot, Most of the stories have been either underwritten or badly written, and filled with bland characters and uninspiring plots. There have been a handful of “shocking plot twists” that were memorable for all the wrong reasons, which leaves one tempted to rant that the last three seasons haven’t only failed to move the show forward in a positive way, they have actually done the series a bit of harm.

But of course, that’s just a grumpy old fan ranting away. What about The Power of the Doctor itself?

Spoilers Lie This Way

Stuff I’ve Read, Watched, Done – May 12, 2022

In the last two weeks, my wife and youngest daughter have been away seeing my oldest daughter as she has finished her missions training program.  Then they went onto another place to see my wife’s family, including her father who is hot well.  My middle (and arguably nerdiest) child has remained home with me, as she is in the midst of her Year 12 studies, which are pretty demanding and certainly require her consistent attention.

But this has opened up room for a whole lot of TV and movies.

Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils

Once upon a time, a new episode of Doctor Who was something to get excited about. These days, not so much. The latest special–the second of three to air this year–is a bland affair. It’s not egregiously bad, but is certainly drab and uninspiring. I almost skipped out on writing about it, it was so unmemorable. And strangely cheap looking.

Spoilers, I guess. But really, with an episode so unmemorable, who cares?

Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks

When Doctor Who: Flux was approaching, my expectations were not high. Two seasons (plus specials) of underwhelming and frustrating episodes under the auspices of Chris Chibnall had made sure of that. But when the episodes hit I was, for the most part, pleasantly surprised–there was some stuff I didn’t like but a solid majority of the story was fun and entertaining and even occasionally brilliant.

So as Eve of the Daleks approached, I was cautiously optimistic. After viewing the story, my sense of universal order in chaotic times is somewhat restored, as Doctor Who reverts to the same sort of flippantly sloppy storytelling that has characterized the last few years. In other words, I was disappointed by the special, both in the sense that it wasn’t very good, and that I had actually allowed myself to think it might be better.

Doctor Who: Flux: Chapter Six: The Vanquishers

Doctor Who: Flux concludes with the last episode of the season, The Vanquishers!

Survivors of the Flux Extra Thought: A Corporal in 1967

I already wrote about my feelings of the most recent episode of Doctor Who: Flux, entitled Survivors of the Flux. Without prattling on about it again, suffice to say my impressions were pretty negative.

Doctor Who: Flux: Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux

Doctor Who: Flux continues, and so do my attempts at describing some quick impressions.

Doctor Who: Flux: Chapter Four: Village of the Angels

Doctor Who: Flux continues. Not Doctor Who: Fluxx–that’s a card game, which I also wrote about recently. But the new season of the long-running TV series.

Doctor Who: Ranking the Modern Series Openers

I was listening to an old podcast the other day about Asylum of the Daleks, recorded shortly after the episode aired, and in it they mentioned that this was one of the better season openers, with, I think, only The Eleventh Hour and Partners in Crime as rating higher. 

(Daily Doctor Who #362)

Doctor Who: The 51 Episodes I Love the Most – Analysis

Quite some time ago, I posted a video about the 51 episodes of Doctor Who that I love the most. I’ve always had it in the back of my mind to do a quick analysis of my choices. Today, that idea has gone from the back of my mind to the front of my mind to my fingers to this blogpost and now soon, into your brain. After that, who knows?

(Daily Doctor Who #359)