In this historical essay I will be analysing the extent to which Rasputeen was a cat that really was gone. I will also be evaluating the parameters by which it can be assumed he was a cat that really was gone based on the supporting evidence of the Moscow chicks thinking he was such a lovely dear.
I'm surprised Chibs didn't think about "Siberia" being the (sort-of) plural of "Cyberium", which could have explained the "Siberia 1916" bit, and why the Master was inspired to disguise himself as the _-Cyberian-_ Siberian Rasputin. It needn't have been forced, either - there's literally a line where "Masputin" tells Yaz that he'd ingested the Cyberium, so that was a natural place for him to make the Cyberia/Siberia joke.
Question. I've been a fan of Doctor who my whole life. This was Duering the wilderness years of the 90s. I was really glad when the TV movie happend. I had no problem with the half human thing. Why do other people hate it with such veomance?
@@superdoctor14 For me, it's because it's a bit of a SciFi cliché, most famously exemplified by Spock in Star Trek. We'd already happily related to the Doctor as an alien for 33 years before the TV Movie, so humanising him seemed an unnecessary step. Furthermore, during those 33 years, there was no mention of him being half-human, despite spending so much time among humans... to whom he explicitly declared his alienness on many occasions. Then along came the TV Movie, which tried to make a grab for the US market, and it seems the creative team felt they needed to make it more appealing to that demographic. So, it was set in America with an almost entirely American cast, with some Hollywood-esque clichés thrown in for good measure... hence the love interest, the kiss, and the creation of "Spocktor Who". Now, instead of a "pure" alien who so often defended and rescued Earth entirely from the kindness of his heart(s), we had a "hybrid" human who, conscious of his heritage, seems almost duty bound to side with his people. It's not quite as noble or heroic, somehow.
@@DarthRushy I mean that's what I thought too, but honestly I felt it kind of worked. In the original, she looks like she's about to knock off the plunger and the eye stock, but in this one she doesn't do nearly as much damage like that. She just kind of beats up its casing a bit. And honestly, I haven't actually listened to that many of her latest big finish stories, but maybe she's lived a life where she is unusually strong by this point. I don't know, I'm just speculating.
Stuart is even more of a prophet because in one of the season 12 streams in 2020 with jay exci he gets bored and starts saying random stuff including “David Tennant is the 14th doctor”
@@Stubagful from yours & Jay's podcast, the Nikola Tesla episode - v coincidentally I listened to it only yesterday and laughed aloud when you said it, ha!
It set an official world record as well. William Russell as Ian Chesterton after 58 years. The longest gap between appearances of same actor as same character in Television history. And, as it was the BBC 100 celebrations, an appearance by a 97 year old was appropriate.
When Jodie didn’t come out of the machine playing the Master, with Sacha playing her Doctor, the whole thing felt pointless. The Master hasn’t changed his appearance so why couldn’t he have got one with lying about being the Doctor anyway? Sacha saying “I’m the Doctor now!” was so pathetic. Did he really need to go to all that bother just to steal the Doctor’s TARDIS and raid the wardrobe of old costumes.
It would have been so cool if Jodie got to play an evil version of herself as the master. She could have minpulated the companions and have them all turn on her
Big problem with this story is that is has the same issues as any other Chibnall episode but it relies so much on nostalgia and fan-service that people are nice about it
I agree with you to a point, though with the return of Ace & Tegan & them getting closure with their versions of the Doctor gives the fanservice some substance. Compare that to something like series 12 which consists of a lot of references to the past that aren't used to tell a good story.
But as Stu said, the Chibnall tropes are just kinda cute at this point. Especially as we already know that this is end and we’re hopefully moving onto better things.
As a story? Meh. As a celebration? Pretty good. Like Moffat, when Chibnall goes for just celebrating the series (Tegan and Ace's conversations with 'their' Doctors) it's better than just shoehorning more crap in.
I wanted to point out another stupid thing about Master's plan: He's the Doctor now. And if he had his way, he would be the Doctor forever. But he's making the Doctor look bad, and making the whole Universe angry with them... So isn't he essentially just creating future problems for himself?
"Until Russell pisses everyone off again." What like by bringing David Tennant back as the 14th doctor and hijacking the 60th anniversary to to an RTD era special instead where he undoes the consequences of stolen earth/journeys end? Yeah he already pissed me off. But I agree with the point about the fandom never being happy the doctor who fandom is as bad as the star wars one in that regard (I still have no idea what star wars fans actually want, I don't think they do either).
To be fair, when it comes to bringing back David Tenant RTD was stuck between a rock and a hard place. There’s no way the BBC would let the 60th anniversary next year go uncelebrated after the commercial success of the 50th, so he had to do something. But with Ncuti Gatwa busy filming Sex Education and the Barbie movie, he didn’t have the time to film anything significant for the show. So that left RTD with the choice of either recasting Gatwa, or bringing in an older Doctor. He chose the latter as the lesser of two evils, and I think it was the right call.
If Tennant REALLY is 14th doctor and not just "inbetween" (i.e. because of this regeneration machine in which master done changes in the power of the doctor), then I will just count DW as dead thanks to fandom. (I don't think that providing something which SW fans want is too hard. Just don't piss off fans like sequel trilogy. Do some series which expand universe and some series which are focused on "and then everything explode". Like Star Wars Roque one is rather liked. Andor seems liked too. Mandalorian 1st season get mostly positive opinions. Hire screenwriters with experience instead of those with "I will insert myself to the story" like She-Hulk)
@@theoutcastboi Yeah it aged badly. Tennant being just 14th it's a weird fan fiction made by RTD, but next Doctor still seems interesting. Christmas special probably will be most important special of 2023 for many people (which is odd, when remaining 3 were labelled "60th specials", you know suggesting it celebrate 60 years of show and not just specific fan fiction about one doctor)
"Surely functionally there's got to be some kind of sacrifice." When that scene aired, I thought, especially given 13's stumbling back to the TARDIS, her body's recent experiences had caused damage that would soon lead to regeneration. Chibnall obviously couldn't think of that.
The 6th Doctor is my favourite Doctor so seeing him at all in a seires that has mainly ostracised him made me very happy though I'm also depressed he's the only one out of him 5,7 and 8 that we didn't see in full costume.
You know what's a wasted potential with MasterDoctor... I wish He was 14th. Just the posibillty of an incarnation of Doctor be actually the Master and he has to learn how to be Doctor again. It would also explain why Yaz wouldn't come seeing the man behind it is Master.
Back around the time of the Doctor Falls, there was a fan theory on the loose (based partially of Moffat's River Song) that the Masters were not appearing in the same order as the Doctors. If you go down that rabbit hole, you can have fun trying to pull canon into all sorts of shapes to figure out an order based on things they say, do, know, don't know, etc. For example, it posited that because Sims Master "died" in a similar suit and missing a similar component to what the Delgado Master was after way back in his first appearance (Terror of the Autons), so that could mean that Sims regenerates into Delgado and not Missy at all. And, the line in here that Sasha Master says to Tegan about her Aunt's fate referenced something Ainsley Master did in Logopolis, so then Sasha is later than Ainsley at least, but we know Ainsley Master came after Deadly Assassin Master due to Keeper of Traken, but who predated the DA Master? And so on... have fun head-canoning that one
Chibnall surely remembers that the only way the baseball bat moment In Remembrance works is because the Doctor previously enhanced it with the Hand of Omega and then It gets destroyed, right...? RIGHT??
An altercation with Daleks destroys her tape deck, but the baseball bat is ultimately destroyed not when she breaks off a Dalek's eyepiece, but when the Doctor uses it to damage an Imperial transmat.
The fans remember...but I'm willing to give it a ride for the sheer cool factor. Besides, there are far too many people who somehow slept through the bit with the hand in the first place and were whining about how UNIT soldiers couldn't defeat Daleks but a truant schoolgirl with a baseball bat could?
When they were in the booths, I thought that meant we were going to have two masters running around, possibly with the doctor trying to fight the personality thats been implanted in her and ultimately the two masters sabotaging each other because the Master hates himself. But then the Raspitan body never got out of his booth so that was a letdown. Before the regeneration gets undone, the Master says to himself in the booth, "please don't let me go back to being me" making me wonder if the Master's plan wasn't so much about becoming the Doctor as it was about him wanting to not be the Master anymore, but then he just does what he normally does so I'm not sure what the point was.
You completely missed that he went to try and kill the Doctor because "if I can't be the Doctor, then neither can you." It's very similar to the Missy and Master killing each other idea. That whole aspect worked wonderfully, I thought.
I thought when they reversed it, the Doctor's body would stay Sacha, and just as he was saying it didn't work, the other Master would get up and it would be Jodie in a false beard. And then they'd have to kill each other to force the other to regenerate back to normal. Though that would have meant that Sacha's Master was done, so I assume they didn't do this in case Russell wants to use him going forward.
Honestly can't fault them for just pulling out all stops to revive the show's mainstream popularity and bringing back both RTD AND Tennant (+ all the Classic Doctors and companions in this). This is easily the worst period for Who in terms of mainstream cultural presence since Colin Baker took over, and they're really determined to avoid history repeating itself. Just brushing all the controversial stuff from the Chibnall era under the rug where they previously shoved "half human on my mother's side" is also the right move IMO, beats trying to hamfistedly untangle that mess. I totally expect to see Big Finish trying to convolutedly explain it away 5 year from now much like the late 90s BBC Books (and early Big Finish) tried explaining away the half-human bit.
Exactly. The last thing it needs is a new era weighed down by the previous era's baggage. Besides, The Timeless Child was made as a response to the convoluted plot points of Classic Who (i.e. The "Morbius Doctors" and The Cartmel Masterplan) so the last thing RTD & co need to do is compound on that mess.
@@Myne1001 Timeless Child doesn't even explain those points though, the Doctor has no memories of previous doctors so how can they show up in his mind during a fight with Morbius, and how could the lines during Cartmel era be related if the Dr has no knowledge of the fact that they're not just another timelord
There’s a lot of *aspects* to Power of the Doctor that I like. I like that the Power of the Doctor itself *is* the companions, and everything about the Doctor/Companion relationship thematically is really smart and heartwarming. But all of the plot stuff just drags it down, and makes the episode as a whole feel less satisfying on a second viewing.
It was a mess, but an enjoyable mess. A bunch of stuff didn't make any sense, but the good parts outweighed the bad bits, so I was pretty satisfied with it in the end.
Apparently the Rasputin master thing was cannibalised from a series 9 episode script we’re the doctor is call by the meddling monk to come to Russia where he was mucking around with time and is now disguise as Rasputin
Power of the Doctor is basically Chibnall distilled; a lot of jangling keys in the narrative to distract from the lack of exploration of its core ideas. Its a bit better than most of his run because as the last story of 13 the indulgence is a bit more forgivable and the old Doctors and Companions are able to give the episode some gravitas. Honestly recent Who so commonly moves on from whatever big lore shakeups/revelations if offers that one could easily not notice this story all too neatly getting its pat ending (to have a clean slate ready for RTD) because that's basically what the show was already doing consistently. (I'm also amused that BF has already done a Doctor and Master body swap plot and was smart enough to make it the focus of its story.)
I think Yaz leaving could've been solved a lot nicer with The Doctor asking Yaz to stay even though she was regenerating, and Yaz turning it down saying that she's her Doctor and doesn't want to loose her etc. That way you can have it be that Yaz is moving on from the Doctor and letting her feelings go with her Regeneration.... As opposed to getting kicked out 😅
The problem is simple: Yaz and 13 had essentially zero characterisation, and no relationship building. They're basically just strangers. So when Chibnall had to come up with a reason to say goodbye, just dumping her off is exactly what you get.
i can't decide if chibnall's worst crime is the timeless children or the countless really good ideas that were completely wasted because it's chris chibnall writing them
@@soarel325 Pro-tip: Doctor Who does not need a "master plan" what it needs is good episodes and good characters. No grand schemes, just tell a good story.
Stuart: Wow, this 90s Doctor Who movie is so hacky, it gave Master EVIL DEMON EYES just so we know he's evil. No subtlety. Also Stuart: I'm gonna give Master Doctor EVIL RED EYES just so you know she's evil.
I think the idea was that the Master wanted to become the Timeless Child.... as he previously went through "all" of gallifrey's secrets. However they never gave him a second stage to this plan... he becomes the doctor and then what? There's no post regenerative plan.
The episode entertained me and I enjoyed the nostalgia. It was like a rollercoaster but the fun stops when you get off. When I actually thought about what I saw I started to see a lot of issues. I've seen a few people talking about Chekhov's gun - the fact that Yaz is given a gun and yet it serves no purpose. I do think your idea of her having to kill the doctor would have made sense and worked as a great reason for her to leave, traumatised with what she had to do. The plan just didn't really make sense. I guess the master was just trolling. He could have easily have tried to ruin her reputation without any of this. It was weird seeing him in 13s clothes but the plan itself just felt flat. I don't really get the whole volcanic thing. Also as expected it's never explained what state the universe is in after flux. I would have liked to see the companions with the doctor more and it would have been interesting to see Ian and the doctor unite considering he was the first (well pre the timeless child). William Russell is obviously getting old.
3:40 I'm surprised there wasn't a scene set in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Power of the Doctor... that's the obvious endpoint of Chibnall's place + year title card obsession/fettish. 14:40 And now a future showrunner will make them The Rani...
An easier way of transferring the Master into the Doctor's body and you could have Jodie play the Master in the Doctor's body, psychograft from new earth, but more refined, so then you have a new who reference, Jodie showing her acting ability and getting more screen time in her final episode and some emotional weight for Yaz as its the Doctor she loves and she knows she has to stop the master, possibly harming or killing the doctor. The cliff scene with old doctors and holograms still happen and the process gets reversed with the doctor and master, injuring them both in the process, episode them plays out as it does
Say what you will about the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors' regeneration stories, at least they (a) had their respective Doctors front and centre during the majority of the story, and (b) had the reasons for their regeneration be a representation of their character arcs (Ten is an arrogant selfish prick who has to put the life of a random unimportant nobody before his own; Eleven is an overactive manchild who is forced to stay in one place and grow old; Twelve started off unsure of who he is and ended by firmly living up to the promise behind his name). The Thirteenth Doctor meanwhile gets completely overshadowed by all the various fanservice elements and returning characters and goes out in an abrupt and anticlimactic way, like Chris suddenly remembered it was her regeneration story and had to find a way of killing her off. I'll admit her actual regeneration scene was a rather nice one, but for the most part this episode really didn't do this incarnation justice. Same goes for Yaz, who despite being the longest running companion since 2005 (possibly ever) just gets unceremoniously booted out for vague and ambiguous reasons. I definitely enjoyed the episode as a whole, but it's not a very good conclusion to this era or its characters' stories
If this story were split into three specials, this probably would've been Chibnall's magnum opus (An Ace and Dalek one, a Tegan and Cybermen one, and top it all off with that gorgeous idea of the Master regeneration). Chibnall ditched the overly complicated lore threads, the heavy-handed messages, and his usual formulas to create something bombastic, wildly creative, and just plain fun. Seriously, this is the most fun a Chibnall story has been in years! This episode is better taken as an event, because if you take a closer look at the writing it will fall apart. Which, honestly is a fine way to end. With how well this story honors the past of the show, it will forever be special.
I want to know why Peri didn't show up to have a reunion scene with a holographic simulation of her Doctor like Tegan and Ace got. Kind of sucks that Baker didn't get the same opportunity as Davison and McCoy.
For all the problems of the episode (and the run in general) I think this was another case, akin to the 5th Doctor. That the 13th's last episode was their best one.
For me, the best parts were the stuff with the old companions and Doctors. I wish they had more time on screen and that the holograms had stayed like them longer. I hadn't watched the show since "Arachnids in the UK" but I made a point to see this one when I heard the classic characters/actors were in it.
I think Chibnall wanted to do the timeless child thing to explain why the master wanted to take the doctor's body (infinite regenerations apparently). However decided to drop it because someone told him "no," or he could not be bothered by that point.
Am I wrong in getting strange Big Finish vibes from this episode. Maybe it's the classic Doctors and companions coming back or the nostalgia factor or the fact that Jodie keeps explaining what's in front of her as if we can't see ourselves, I'm not sure. Maybe it's just because Paul McGann is in this who knows.
I feel like with this episode I at least found it extremely entertaining, even if I couldn't call it good. Part of that was because I watched it with friends but also I think I appreciate Chris for deciding to go so big and stupid it wraps back around to being entertaining again, even if it's completely nonsensical
Did you know that another time lord was meant to have the role of Rasputin an earlier incarnation of the Meddling Monk played by Matt Berry who remained earthbound under the alias of Roger in the 70's was meant to become Rasputin to avoid a time paradox this was an unmade story in the Capaldi era.
Hey Stu, you ever gonna continue that retrospective of the Eighth Doctor BigFinish releases that vanished after you finished Doom Coalition? Would be great to hear your thoughts on 'Ravenous', 'Stranded' and the rest of 8's Time War shenanigans.
If people "remember" Power of the Doctor as time goes by, it will be for (a) nostalgia and/or (b) regeneration story. I doubt anyone will remember the 'plot' that was stuck in the middle. As another person who favours 7+Ace above the rest, it felt great to see them in the main show together (possibly for the last time), just like others probably got a kick out of seeing past Doctors or companions - but that's the only thing I remember about the otherwise chaotic and nonsensical story. It was clearly trying to shove 20 million elements into a small bucket with no time to breath.
Sadly for me, it was the Master's shrink ray weapon, that for all its decades of previous use was treated as having killed the individual. Including Tegan's relative, some Gallifreyan in that Assassin episode, and doubtless every other example in the show's history. Now! For reasons of plot contrivance and sheer laziness, it can re-animate and regrow a body, on a fucking timer! The Master doesn't even need to be present to make shit happen, now! I can't be angry or even disappointed at the incoherent story, that's just the standard for Chris' tenure.
It's interesting that literally all of the Chibnall companions bar Yaz just left because they were bored and afraid of dying. Yaz was just a clingy mean cow, but the clinginess appealed to this Doctor's pathetic need for human approval, so she felt comfortable both leading Yaz on and keeping her at arm's length. But as soon as The Doctor knew that the next regeneration wouldn't be saddled with JodieDoc's bag of insecurities, she just kicks Yaz outta the TARDIS and she goes to bloody Doctor therapy. Remember when it was a whimsical hero show?
Oh my... your alternative plot for Power of the Doctor is GENIIUS! That is becoming canon in my mind... I am so upset that isn't the real storyline!!!!!!!!!!!
Sacha Dawan has been one of, if not the only highlight of this era. He puts his soul into every part and outperforms the people around him, even if his character is a bit meh at times
and Nick Briggs plays a future version of the doctor. who directs these recordings of their adventures, And sells them for forty bloody pounds a boxset
Either the timeless child and the fugitive doctor will be forgotten or big Finish will pick it up like the did with how missy survived the doctor falls and how the lumiate becomes Sasha's master
It would have been good for them to use Mel being a super geek to help solve something as I can't remember it particularly coming up in the show, Mel's purpose as far as I recall was to use Bonnie Langford's scream that's been famous since Just William.
All I remember from his now no longer available 7th doctor retrospective is him opening the video with a surprise: "I f*****g love the 7th Doctor" before immediately acknowledging that exactly six out of his 12 stories are "complete a**e." I get that it's a pain, but I hope he one day uploads some of those videos again, because they were really-good.
I wasn't a fan of them personally. Back then he was overly negative, came off as a classic who snob & brought up some bizarre takes without elaborating (saying Terminus was good but the Sun Makers was shit). He's improved a lot over the past 10 years.
@@pcb1175 I agree, but at the same time I feel like it was part of the charm. Besides, without his older videos, there isn't really a way to see how much he's improved. But that's personally me just feeling that no piece of media that's ever made should ever truly be going forever. Maybe that's me just talking after learning so much about the Doctor Who missing episodes, but I felt the same way about unus annas. (The Markiplier channel that he deleted after a year for literally no reason) Most of my early videos involve a single take of my mom holding my low definition camera with no more than 12 minutes of room for videos, while I talk in my 12 year old high pitched voice- but they're fun to look back on🙃
@@carealoo744 I can see & kinda agree with you. What he could do is make the old videos (if they’re still uploaded) unlisted & put it in a playlist for those who are nostalgic for them or curious about the channel’s history. At the end of the day though it’s his channel & it’s his decision what’s public & what isn’t.
@@pcb1175 Exactly, the thing is though I think the reason they're not available is because they got copyrighted. There are still a select few videos that you can find of his early days that didn't get copyrighted, but most of them did.
Inclined to agree with that view. I was the type of fan I now take the piss out of on a regular basis. I probably still have copies somewhere but they're not worth bothering with to me cause I just cringe when I think about them
Thanks for the review, Stu. Tbh I forgot I had seen the power of the doctor. I had no investment in the story. It all felt a bit desperate to get the ratings. Bringing David back also feels like a cynical ratings grab. Your review seemed balanced and fair.
Well i was happy when 9 and 11 was a doctor since their stories were interesting to watch and gave me feeling that doctor is just a rebel time lord who want to do good things. They both hate themself that they coudn't save Galifrey.
I just want to toss in and one thing I've hated about NuWho from the start is their characterization of the Master. I can just about hack the idea that he's insane (just about) but the way they manifest his insanity is just entirely too much. Yeah, classic Who had a tendency to make him over the top but the way NuWho writes him he's practically the Joker. I wish they had used the resolution of the drum beats in his head to tone him WAY down into something much more sinister and threatening and way less goofy.
@@defaultx238 That is how he started. The whole insanity thing was the doing of Russel T Davies because, in his words, it was the only way the character made sense to him. I guess because the old series had a tendency to write him a bit broadly a bit like a stereotypical cartoon villain (or what the Brits call a 'pantomime villain'. The only thing is the longer he was on NuWho the more the writers ratcheted up the crazy and it has gotten out of hand.
Back when Davies first rebooted the show, when the Doctor started referring to himself as the last of the Time Lords, I had a chat with my best mate about how they might still bring back the Master. My thought was that he'd (naturally) escaped what destroyed Gallifrey and killed off all the other Time Lords and, believing (just as naturally) that the Doctor would have been at the forefront, and therefore very much dead and gone, had decided to take that name for himself. I couldn't quite decide whether he'd have done it to deliberately tarnish the Doctor's legacy, or if he was genuinely trying to turn over a new leaf, but the idea was that he'd end up causing havoc before disappearing... So, when the Doctor later arrives at the same place and introduces himself, whatever survivors - knowing through legends, word of mouth, etc. that the Doctor could change appearance - would instantly be on the alert. The Doctor would eventually catch up with the Master, for something like a 'Two Doctors' story, in which the Doctor would figure out that, regardless of any changes wrought by regeneration, this other Doctor - while certainly a Time Lord - was not a future version of him, with the Master eventually revealing himself. Perhaps the Doctor, relieved that he wasn't alone after all, might give him the benefit of the doubt and believe the Master had been trying to help all along, but made small miscalculations every time... but the Master, seeing the Doctor alive, would simply realise that he hadn't lost his nemesis after all, and go all-out evil again. There was definitely mileage in the Master masquerading as the Doctor during The Power of the Doctor... But Chibnall's story neither delved into WHY the Master would do that, nor how it was possible, nor adequately explore what he would do having claimed that identity... He just posted an intergalactic TikTok about being responsible for a couple of planets destroying each other (with zero evidence of any involvement, direct or indirect), and then got marooned on an asteroid for a few minutes... It was almost as if an entire serial got condensed down into the 90 minute special, losing most of the plot along the way.
