Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor Reactions Flood In
Jodie’s farewell, The Master, Ace and Tegan and THAT regeneration – the BBC Centenary Doctor Who episode sent critics and fans into meltdown
This article contains SPOILERS for The Power of The Doctor
‘The Power of the Doctor’ was one of the most hotly anticipated Doctor Who episodes in the show’s history, as we prepared to say goodbye not just to Jodie Whittaker but Mandip Gill, John Bishop and showrunner Chris Chibnall, plus rumours circulated wildly about an unexpected regeneration twist.
When the episode aired on Sunday night, fans and critics alike ate it up, live-tweeting their reactions with gusto – and from the reactions so far, ‘The Power of the Doctor’ certainly didn’t disappoint.
Here’s how the action unfolded on Twitter:
SERIOUSLY SPOILERS: don’t read on unless you want to find out everything that happens
Dan’s shock exit at the start of the episode left fans emotional, and some felt the abruptness of his goodbye was a bit jarring:
It’s a testament to how wild this episode is that the Daleks and Cybermen were one of the smallest talking points, although fans did enjoy their return:
When the Doctor was reunited with Ace and Tegan, fans were quick to spot a nod to Ace’s old jokey tendency to call him by another name:
But fans were quickly distracted by seeing The Master’s face on some of the world’s most famous artwork, which proved a comic hit – with some pointing out its unexpected cultural relevance:
In fact, The Master’s (and Sacha Dhawan’s) performance in general was a huge hit with fans, as ever. There were particularly strong reactions for his Rasputin disguise, Boney M musical number, and his sartorial choices references nearly all the past Doctors after he forced her to regenerate into him:
And then, of course, the fandom was treated to brief cameos from some of their favourite past Doctors, including Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and David Bradley as William Hartnell. Whovians were particularly enamoured by Paul McGann’s return:
Although some felt like there were other characters who should have made a brief return:
As if this wasn’t enough emotional turmoil, we then saw some incredibly moving reunions between Tegan and Ace and their Doctors:
And then, out of nowhere, Graham appeared and everyone lost their minds:
Jo Martin’s return was also popular, as was Ace getting out the old baseball bat to show some Daleks what for, but then the fandom seemed distinctly unimpressed when several characters were tasked with manning the TARDIS, a nod back to Journey’s End:
And then, sh** got real once again, as the fandom had to face the reality of saying goodbye to Yaz, and Yaz saying goodbye to her Doctor – with many feeling sad they didn’t get a particularly romantic farewell:
Before the final scene, we got another set of surprise cameos in the form of Graham’s support group for the people the Doctor left behind:
And then, it happens. The regeneration we’ve all been waiting for. David Tennant returned. And the reactions were pretty much as hyperbolic as you’d expect:
And there we have it. The episode was over, and Twitter seemed collectively emotionally drained. The episode reviews came in (you can read our The Power of the Doctor review here), and were on the whole very positive:
We’ll leave you with the sneak peak at what’s to come:
What did you think of The Power of the Doctor? Leave your reviews in the comments…
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Laura is a freelance writer and social media pro specialising in entertainment, food and drink and charities. She also writes novels, sometimes badly. She's a huge…