“Resolution” Two archeologists in the London subway revive a long-dormant Dalek.

“Revolution of the Daleks” The Doctor escapes from prison, thanks to Captain Jack. Chris Noth returns as Robertson, whose business empire is overrun by Daleks.

“Eve of the Daleks” Daleks again. Groundhog day at a storage facility.

“Legend of the Sea Devils” Chinese Pirate Madame Ching.

“The Power of the Doctor” The Master returns. Again. Daleks and the Cybermen also return.

Spoilers and nostalgia (mostly in the final one) abound.

Full disclosure: had I watched these in the order aired, instead of saving them all for the end, I might well have a less… critical… opinion. It doesn’t help that I’m not a huge fan of either Daleks or Cybermen. They’ve become boring, predictable, and just not at all interesting any more. So not having them bunched together might help a tad, but then again, clearly they are considered the “go to” for big events. Unfortunately.

The first special is the scariest of the bunch, which is the best can be said of it. The second sees the return of Chris Noth who expertly chews scenery but still can’t really save it. The third is the most tedious with the time loop.

With two exceptions, the Dalek episodes blend and are unremarkable and not memorable.

The first exception is Captain Jack. It’s such fun to see him again, and the character remains as vivacious and incorrigible as ever. He breaks the Doctor out of jail, so it’s thanks to him we have further adventures. We also get a reminder of the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey nature of the Doctor’s existence in that the respective lengths of the Doctor’s and Jack’s incarcerations (he got himself arrested to break her out) matched neither each other nor how much time had passes for those waiting back on Earth and searching for her. Jack’s a welcome breath of levity and fresh air.

The second exception is the nostalgia factor of the final movie, which I’ll get back to.

In the meantime, though, the Sea Devils. It was fantastic to see a nemesis other than Daleks or Cybermen. Yes, I know this is isn’t their first appearance, but their last one was in the 1980s, so that’s more than plenty of time to avoid overuse. One quibble about the staging/directing: why is their underwater lair dry? Yes I know the real reason is due to filming by and for air-breathing humans, but it looks odd/silly when aquatic creatures don’t have aquatic surroundings. On a positive note, their ship does a vivid job of conjuring the Flying Dutchman: ghostly and menacing.

Then we have the pirate queen Madam Ching, presumably based – loosely – on a real-life pirate. Very loosely, because the real pirate commanded hundreds of ships and thousands of crew, something the episode does not even hint at. Noteworthy, but not an issue, as it doesn’t fit with the story they tell. Overall, it’s still a good story with lots of time jumping back and forth.

Another aspect of this episode is a focus on the unrequited love between Yaz and the Doctor. While neither good nor bad per se, it’s been done before and thus loses points both for lacking originality, and for just plain not being all that well done. Although skillfully portrayed by both actors, it adds nothing to either the plot or the characters.

Which brings us to the finale. The nostalgia factor is going full blast in this one, with a total of eight Doctors appearing in some form, either as a memory or a hologram for six of those cases, with the final two being the Doctor herself, and her regeneration. In addition, Ace, Tegan, and Kate Stewart put in appearances and it’s wonderful to see them.

At her core, the Doctor is a reactive character. The inciting force in almost every tale is the Doctor answering a call for help, or seeing a problem then fixing it. Also, no matter how brilliant and knowledgeable, the Doctor has never been infallible. The thing is, the Doctor is then normally really skillful at finding/executing the fix.

Here the stories and especially the finale really let Jodie Whittaker down. I’m most familiar with the ninth Doctor on, and in comparison, she is far more hapless than any previous incarnation. It’s almost as if the writers couldn’t simply write the character. They seemingly couldn’t get past her being a woman, and either deliberately or subconsciously had to keep reminding the viewers. And apparently a woman couldn’t be too much in control. This Doctor is very much a Damsel in the worst possible sense. She spends the bulk of the finale trying to get back to herself, although at least her hologram pops in to help the others at times. Even the delightful guest appearances can’t elevate the plot.

The final scenes between the Doctor and Yaz after the Doctor realizes she will soon regenerate are so impressive: poignant and wonderful and heartbreaking, masterfully played by both actors. It can be difficult to evoke emotion when viewers know exactly what’s coming, but they succeed brilliantly. It makes for a lovely coda to the show.

Then the coda gets a coda as the thirteenth Doctor regenerates – into the tenth (now also the fourteenth) Doctor.

Again, perhaps subconscious, but it’s almost as if they needed the show to end with a man. Who knows why they didn’t just use Gatwa, except perhaps for the shock/surprise value. Tennant’s appearance detracts from the beautiful ending Whittaker gave viewers. Whittaker did a magnificent job elevating the material writers gave them. She is now my favorite Doctor. The rest of the cast did a superlative job as well. That said, the person she bumped to second is Tennant. It’s a thrill to see him return. I adore his characterization of the Doctor as well. So I’m not knocking him when I say his appearance – now instead of in the opening of his episode – is a huge misfire in that it totally pulls focus from Whittaker as the show so often did. Very disappointing.

Verdict: As with Whittaker’s entire run overall, collectively neither terrible nor stellar. 7/10

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com