Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 14, 2022

They say that parting is such sweet sorrow, but after having watched Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor, even devoted Whovians may want to add that "parting, when dealing with BBC's now firmly entrenched tradition of "regenerating" the title character of this series, can be milked for all it's worth". That's a joke, hopefully obviously, but this "say goodbye" (to both Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill, as the supplements focus on) episode does something rather cheeky with the formula, and in a way it's kind of surprising that the showrunners of Doctor Who had never really thought of doing it before. Without spoiling all of the surprises waiting in store for longtime fans who haven't read anything about this episode (and I purposefully avoided doing so before viewing it), The Power of the Doctor offers cameos for all sorts of characters who will not necessarily be associated with this particular iteration of Doctor Who. It's a really fun, occasionally quite funny, and ultimately heartwarming aspect to an episode that can't help but have a melancholic undertone, despite a once again labyrinthine, time traveling plot that offers everything from so-called bullet trains in outer space to, well, Nicholas and Alexandra.

As with many of these "very special episodes", The Power of the Doctor is off and literally running from the get go, as that aforementioned bullet train in space ( don't ask questions is my advice going forward) is under attack from Cybermen who announce that they've evolved into Cybermasters. Doctor Who (Jodie Whittaker), Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) and Dan Lewis (John Bishop) spring into action, but (this being the opening vignette after all) fall just short of succeeding on their mission. Rather interestingly, the Doctor then receives a kind of cloaked transmission from none other than a rogue Dalek (!) alerting the team to yet another impending menace.

When the story suddenly segues to 1916 St. Petersburg, it is revealed that the Master (Sacha Dhawan) is Rasputin and has both Nicholas and Alexandra under his spell. This is initially not woven into the preceding story elements, but of course ultimately becomes salient after The Doctor, due to machinations on the part of a trifecta of villainous entities, the Cybermasters, Daleks and the Master, manage to capture her, which is when at least part of the Master's mad plan is detailed: he has a way to force the Doctor to regenerate, and even more troublingly, he has a way to force the Doctor to regenerate into him.

This is another patently goofy episode that ultimately involves volcano eruptions (I kid you not), but what gives things a really fun and whimsical air is the glut of "previously. . .on Doctor Who" characters who fill the sidelines of the story. I'm going to go out of my way not to actually name any of the folks who show up in this enterprise, but longtime fans are going to be celebrating "reunions" as much as they may be dreading "farewells". Without going into too much detail, one of the sweetest moments is actually a "support group" for the so-called "Companions" of many versions of the Doctor, and that may in fact be a wonderful idea for another Doctor Who spinoff down the road.

As the two supplements on this disc rather emotionally detail, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill have had an unusually close relationship through their three or so years together on the series, and that has translated palpably to the series itself. It's probably not that surprising, then, that ultimately the largest share of heartstring tugging material comes courtesy of the interactions between the Doctor and Yas, and the closing vignette, which sees them perched on an orbiting TARDIS while munching on ice cream (or perhaps ice milk given my joke above) and perusing the glory that is Planet Earth.

While fans of the series who keep up with such things probably already know who has been announced as the "next" Doctor, this episode ends with yet another really fun and funny cameo which may suggest that there's going to be more than simply one regeneration to get to the next level. Do yourselves a favor if you haven't seen this episode and stay away from any online posts, as the surprise is part of the fun.

Note: I've done my best not to give away too much even in the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, but there may be one or two "character cameo" spoilers, just so that everyone is forewarned.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. This is another really appealing looking presentation that was digital captured and I assume had a 2K DI. The palette is extremely well saturated throughout, and this particular episode tends to ping pong between cooler blues and warmer oranges and yellows, which can probably be gleaned by parsing through the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. While some of the CGI can be on the soft side, especially some of the green screen backgrounds, for the most part everything is really nicely detailed and practical aspects like props, costumes and, you know, actual human performers all feature excellent fine detail levels for the most part. I noticed no compression issues.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor features a fun and immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that really bristles with fulsome surround energy throughout the presentation, but especially in some of the big set pieces, as in the opening bullet train vignette or later when The Doctor and The Master supposedly switch places. Sound effects can ripple through the side and rear channels, and there are frequent rumbly bursts of LFE. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though per Doctor Who tradition, a number of the villains have kind of robotic electronic sounding "voices". Optional English subtitles are available.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (HD; 20:55) has a fun look at how some of the special effects were created, but will probably be of most interest for fans courtesy of several heartfelt interviews with Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill which are included.


• Farewell Jodie and Mandip (HD; 5:26) offers more of the same in terms of interviews, just in case that lump in your throat isn't already pronounced enough.


• Commentary features showrunner Chris Chibnall, Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill, and is accessible under the Audio Options Menu.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor actually struck me as one of the smarter "goodbye episodes" I've watched, if only because it features so many fantastic characters from this series' almost impossibly long history. Fans of the show will probably be verklempt by the ending of the episode, one way or the other. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements very appealing. Highly recommended.