Doctor Who (2005): The Power of the Doctor - Part 2

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm still racing to get my thoughts on The Power of the Doctor typed up. You can find part 1 HERE and there'll be a link to part 3 at the end just as soon as I get it written and published.

SPOILER WARNING: I'm spoiling everything. Every Doctor Who episode up to this point is fair game.

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Previously, on Doctor Who:

HAHAHA HAHAHAHA HAHA HAH HAH AH AHAHAH HAHAHA H AHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHA H AHAH HAHAHAH AH HAHAHA HAHAH HAHA HA HAHA.

And now, the continuation:

Yaz confronts the Doctor over her habit of running around frantically and never explaining anything to her, saying they can't keep doing things like this. I feel like I've seen this exact scene in five other episodes already, but I bet they weren't framed so nicely.

Right now the Doctor's working under the assumption that the Cybermen and Daleks are working on two separate unrelated schemes because there's no way the Master could've gotten them to work together. Probably. And there's probably nothing suspicious about the way that Yaz is the next to get a mysterious static shock from her either. That's Tegan, Ace and now Yaz too.

The Doctor's going to have to try a bit harder if she's got plans to shock Dan though, as I doubt they'll find him randomly lurking around in a volcano.

That's where they've gone by the way. The Doctor's decided that she will meet with the Dalek informant, even though there's no such thing as a good Dalek and the Master told her if she didn't leave Earth she'll die. (I'm theorising that the cause of death might be 'inhaling burning hot volcanic gases').

While she does that, Yaz is going to do a bit of recon.

It's the Dalek traitor in person, and it's looking a bit battle-scarred. In the episode Dalek, Rose's touch gave a captive Dalek some time-traveller energy to repair its casing, so maybe the Doctor could give her new friend some help with that. Oh, but that Dalek became depressed after becoming impure due to Rose's DNA, so that would actually be bad. Though this guy doesn't even like pure Daleks, so... okay sorry I'll shut up.

Though I totally need to write about the episode Dalek at some point. I'll add that to the list.

The Dalek gives the Doctor permission to place a recording device on its shell to get the data needed to destroy all Daleks and save the Earth. These two really need to team up and go on adventures after this. 

Oh crap they're doing The Dalek's Master Plan drill scheme again! No wait, that's The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Sorry, wrong serial. I just hope they don't drill in the wrong place and release the apocalyptic goop from Inferno. Which is another good episode.

Back at UNIT HQ, Tegan and Ace are planning to take turns keeping an eye on the Master, when they hear the sound of a falling bag and notice the tiny Cyberman action figure has escaped

Now it's just standing there on the floor, staring at them. This thing might have been inspired by the killer doll in the serial that first introduced the Master: Terror of the Autons. Or it might not!

The Master starts talking to the security camera, telling Tegan that the Doctor didn't give her the shrunken Cyberman, he did! Come on guys, the Master just brought up he shrinks people into dolls when he was being dragged to his cell, how did this not occur to you?

The tiny Ashad figure grows to full size, opens up, and the real Ashad walks out, along with a bunch of his CyberMaster friends! It's like a Russian doll you see, because the Master's in a Rasputin mood this episode. It's a lot like the Daleks invading Torchwood from the Genesis Ark in Doomsday. And a lot like the Cybermen invading Torchwood in that same episode now that I think about it.

It's such a ridiculous concept to smuggle troops into UNIT HQ with a Trojan Cyberman action figure, especially as they haven't mentioned any shielding that would've stopped them just using their transmat device to teleport in, but it's the Master's scheme so it kind of works. He doesn't want to just conquer the world, he wants to conquer it using plastic daffodils, or by joining a pack of teleporting cat people, or by turning everyone into hard drives, or whatever.

Ace has clearly been working in this building for a while now, as she knows exactly what floor panel to open up to access a stash of assault rifles. Guns typically aren't the solution in a Doctor Who story but they're worth a try sometimes.

Both characters have killed Cybermen before and they're well aware of their vulnerabilities, so they've pulled a GoldenEye and loaded in some golden bullets for a one-shot kill. Unfortunately the Cybermen have fixed that vulnerability off-screen so basically their bullets do nothing. Wow, they really are part of UNIT now aren't they?

They switch to a classic Doctor strategy instead: running away. It's okay, this place is covered in railings and this is an action story, so the enemy's shots will never hit them. 

Meanwhile Ashad is going on a rampage in the bunker and it's all filmed in one long take. Well, kind of.

There's a flash from his wristed mounted gun and then 9 frames (1/3rd of a second) later the room looks like this:

It's like they pulled the camera back when they shot the second half of the scene, plus the guard he was holding is suddenly on the floor. It's so jarring when you see it in action.

Ashad fires a single shot at the Master's cell and somehow blasts open the bars and his handcuffs at the same time without even singeing him. Here we actually get an explanation for Ashad's return from the dead: the Master cloned him. He made an exact duplicate of the guy, even down to his unfinished Cyberconversion.

The Master smashes a light on the wall outside his cell and pulls out a hidden device that lets him teleport away, all the while talking about how good his plan is. I have questions about the plan though:

• What was the point of him being captured? To get the Doctor to focus on the Dalek threat for a bit? It didn't seem his presence was necessary to smuggle the CyberMasters into UNIT HQ.
• How did the transmat device end up hidden next to his cell?
• Why didn't Ashad v2.0 just bring him the transmat device?
• Why didn't Ashad v2.0 just transmat in?

Anyway, back in the volcano, the Doctor's meeting with the Dalek traitor is going well.

Until the poor guy gets exterminated by his friends. They cut open the casing and then shoot the Dalek inside just to be sure they got it. So I guess it won't be having adventures with the Doctor then. The sad thing is that the Dalek really was a legit traitor and other the Daleks were onto them the whole time.

Next they request that the Doctor climbs into the empty casing, which she chooses not to do.

But she backs away a bit too much and it grabs her with its tentacles.

It's just like when the Doctor hid inside the Dalek shell in The Space Museum, except slightly more worrying. Worse, I think the recording device fell off the top, so she's lost all that data on how to kill all Daleks.

They teleport the Doctor away leaving Yaz on her own, surrounded by Daleks in a volcano. So she ducks inside the TARDIS and dips.

It seems that she hasn't been taught how to fly it exactly, but she's been picking up things over time and writing it down on notes. The camera moves too quickly for us to read anything but with the power of screencaps I can see that this one says:

HUON ENERGY.
mentioned once by
the Doctor. only found
in the heart of the 
TARDIS

So TARDIS is written in all capitals! It's nice to have that confirmed, because I never know how to type it. Thanks Yaz!

ST. PETERSBURG 1916

The Daleks bring the Doctor to the Winter Palace in 1916, where she meets... the Rasputin Master. Okay now I'm confused, did the Rasputin Master scenes at the start come after he was arrested for seismology and art crimes in his personal timeline? I guess that actually makes a lot of sense.

It turns out that the Master kicked the Tsar out of his palace so that he could have a really nice looking room to arrange his allies in. They're just going to stand there in a circle while we get yet another scene where the Master explains everything while the Doctor's held captive and unable to do anything.

We get a Doctor Who: The Movie reference "Got to dress for the occasion," then he explains that this is 'The Master's Dalek Plan', which is actually pretty clever. Cleverer than when he came up with 'Genesis of the Cybermen' in World Enough and Time. It would've been even cleverer if the The Dalek's Master Plan was the episode where they drilled a hole into the Earth, but it wasn't, so no bonus points there.

Turns out that the Qurunx-powered Cyberconversion planet he's parked above the Earth is good for other kinds of conversion as well, like a forced regeneration. The Doctor already went through this once after The War Games when he was transformed into the Third Doctor against his will, and she's not keen on going through it again. I'm not sure why the Master didn't just shoot her with a gun, that usually forces a regeneration, but I guess I'll find out...

...just as soon as the Master's finished dancing to 70's disco hit Rasputin by Boney M. It's a very The Sound of Drums moment.

Fortunately Vinder's there on the planet right outside the Master's TARDIS! He doesn't know what's going on, but he has a phone from the Doctor and he needs help so he gives the TARDIS a call.

That phone has some extreme modifications going on.

1-02: The End of the World

In the past the Doctor would just open the battery compartment and slot a device inside, and then it'd let people make calls through time just fine. I guess the Doctor was bored this time and just started tinkering.

Well Vinder hasn't saved the day yet, but there's plenty of time as the Master's still dancing to this song.

The CyberMasters and Daleks are all just standing there in silence this whole time, though two of them do share a look. There's only two things that can bring these enemies together: their hatred of the Doctor and their bewilderment at the Master.

Okay Vinder, any time now would be good. You just have to go into that TARDIS and switch it off.

At least this laser beam's on target.

The Master's brought in two boxes like the weird radiation booths in The End of Time, but these are going to serve a different purpose: his sinister plan is to regenerate the Doctor into him! Like he did to everyone else on Earth in The End of Time. 

Yaz is a bit too distracted to by the live video feed of the regeneration to go help Vinder, so the two of them haven't shut the beam off, but no one's knocked four times yet so I think there's still a chance to save her.

You're cutting it kind of close guys. 

Damn, is this really going to happen?

Well, there you go, the Doctor is the Master now! I honestly never saw this twist coming. This is really interesting!

The Master's turned people into clones of him before, but this seems like more of a possession, like in The Keeper of Traken or Doctor Who: The Movie. When Romana regenerated into Princess Astra in Destiny of the Daleks she didn't take on her personality, she stayed herself, and the Master's Rasputin body has been left behind in the chamber, possibly dead, so I guess this is the Master.

Well at least now we know what happens when a Time Lord with a piercing regenerates. The Master has kept the earring! And the clothes, but then that's normal. In fact that seems to be the main thing he's gotten out of this switch, seeing as he's basically the same as ever. Well actually the main thing is that he's finally written the Doctor out of the story. Now there's no one capable of stopping him. Especially considering that Yaz came over and just let him into the TARDIS!

Back in UNIT HQ, Kate, Tegan and Ace are working on their 'building full of Cybermen' problem. 

Fortunately they've got parachutes to aid in their escape, and Ace had stashed her jacket and baseball bat in a panel under the floor! No one explains that the bat has enhanced destructive capabilities due to being imbued with the Hand of Omega’s power in Remembrance of the Daleks... possibly because that bat was destroyed at the end of the story. Maybe this bat's got powers too though!

Hang on, I think I just got the episode title. The power of the Doctor is the friends she's made along the way! 

The Master is really into being the Doctor, saying he wants to go save civilisations and rescue sick animals, and at this point it's hard to know what he's going to do. Does he really want to be the Doctor? Has he inherited some of the Doctor's personality? Or is he just tormenting Yaz. I think it's probably the last one.

He finally explains his three-pronged plan: the Daleks are drilling under the volcano to turn the world into a foundry to make more Daleks and Cybermen. And while they're busy doing that, he's going to go through history ruining the name of the Doctor. Just as soon as he can get the TARDIS to stop zapping him when he presses the buttons. There's a lot of static electricity in this story.

The TARDIS arrives on a mushroom planet with a breathable atmosphere and a really good view of a war between to neighbouring worlds. I mean these are really neighbouring worlds. They're so close that even JJ Abrams would start questioning the astronomical accuracy of this scene. Also those missiles are as big as cities.

The episode's a bit a vague about what exactly happened here, but the Master talks about stopping a conflict by making both sides wipe each other out, so I guess he had a whole Doctor Who adventure off screen. Or would it be a Master What adventure?

Anyway, the important thing is that he dressed for the occasion.

That outfit is actually amazing. He's dressed up as the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors simultaneously, and it somehow works. It definitely looks like less of a garish mess than the Sixth's Doctor's costume.

The frame's there because he's doing an interview for a passing camera drone, telling it that he's the Doctor and this carnage is all his fault. The funny thing is, he could've imitated the Doctor like this the whole time without taking her body and TARDIS. In fact the switch gave him the Thirteenth Doctor's authentic costume and he took it off to wear something else! I think it's safe to say that the Master has problems.

I mean he really has problems, as Yaz takes the opportunity to shove him outside and lock the door. Now he's stranded alone on a mushroom planet, playing the theme to Outlander on the Second Doctor's recorder to keep himself sane. Or insane. Whatever.

Meanwhile the Doctor's wandering around some other barren wasteland when suddenly the First Doctor shows up, played by David Bradley from Twice Upon a Time. So that's a bit of a surprise.

It turns out that the Doctor's mind hasn't been erased, so she can be restored just like the humans converted into the Master Race back in The End of Time. She's stuck in her subconscious though, talking to a manifestation of her past lives.

It shifts between the form of the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, with each getting their own costume. They also appear as if they're 30-40 years older than they did during their lives, because... I dunno, symbolism or something.

Meanwhile Thirteen is wearing the black version of her coat that showed up in Flux. It's also what Time wore when they met, and I've just realised that Time hasn't shown up in this story at all.

We're getting the multi-Doctor story a bit early, as the 60th anniversary isn't until next year, but they're mostly just playing the role of wise men passing on information she's not consciously aware of. She's on the edge of existence and time's running out as the Master's only vulnerable until the regeneration process finishes. Unfortunately she's completely reliant on outside help.

Outside help like this holographic AI she left behind. It was programmed to appear in the case of her death, like the message the Ninth Doctor left in The Parting of the Ways, and it does seem to start with an actual recording from the Doctor. But it's interactive, and has been trained on thousands of years of the Doctor's behaviour across all her incarnation so it can draw from her experience. This is what she was doing when she was giving everyone static shocks: implanting a sonically-triggered nano-implant. They remind me of the DNA bombs everyone got in The Woman Who Fell to Earth, except they're considerably more helpful. And unbelievably convenient.

But even though the Doctor's kind of back it's Yaz that's coming up with the plan and steering the TARDIS. She's doing a really good job of it as well. First stop: the CyberMasters' Cyberconversion planet to pick up Vinder.

Alright that's done.

I'm not sure how sentient this AI is, but she's not happy to hear that the Doctor's been through another forced regeneration. Though there might be one way they can undo it, if the circumstances are extreme enough to risk it.

Cut to UNIT soldiers getting dragged into UNIT HQ's bunker for Cyberconversion. It's like when Torchwood got taken over in Army of Ghosts! They were already pretty unstoppable before they started converting UNIT's army into theirs, so this is not a good thing.

I like Ashad as a villain, he's got a bit more personality than the average Cyberman even though he's mostly just angry. He's not getting a lot to say in this one though.

Meanwhile, at the top of the building, Tegan felt guilty about bringing the Cybermen in and left Ace on the roof while she went back down to help Kate. Actually that happened seven minutes ago, but she's finally made it down to Kate's office at this point.

Kate is a bit put off about having to factor Tegan into her plan, but Tegan gives her a monologue about her life that brings her around. Though the reason she's not happy to see her is that the plan is to blow up the building and entomb everyone still inside. She's going full Tomb of the Cybermen here. One of them will have to get past all the Cybermen and use a manual override in the basement. Which may or may not be below the bunker, I don't know how that works.

They decide that Tegan will go to the basement while Kate keeps the Cybermen distracted with a more tempting target: herself.

Damn, Ace is still here? I know the episode doesn't take place in real time, but it feels like she's been standing on this roof for ages.

If you're curious, this shot places UNIT HQ where the Leadenhall Building is in London. This is pretty much what the view from the top of it would be. It must be pretty impressive in person as Ace has been staring at it for ages. You're going to have to wait a little longer before she jumps though as I think I've hit my screencap limit for today.

TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART THREE

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NEXT TIME

Next on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the epic conclusion of The Power of the Doctor, along with the entire Jodie Whittaker/Chris Chibnall run of Doctor Who! Literally the end of an era.

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