The Power of Three
Review
Immediate Reaction
Credit where it’s due – Chris Chibnall has managed to
stretch Doctor Who’s format in a fresh
new direction. The idea of an invasion that lasts a year, forcing the Doctor to
take the slow path lends the episode a sense of magnitude lacking in others
that take place in a more condensed timeframe. Chibnall has in two episodes
eradicated all fears that his writing isn’t up to Doctor Who standard. The Power of Three is his best effort so
far, and I would look forward to any future contributions from him.
For three quarters of its duration, The Power of Three is an engaging mystery framed within a beautiful
investigation of just how the Doctor and the Ponds work as a relationship. It sheds
new light onto how companions view the Doctor, painting him as a force of
nature who disrupts normality and leaves his friends unable to rejoin the real
world without difficulty. We’ve seen this difficulty in Sarah Jane Smith in her
spin-off series and here that theme is put firmly under the microscope.
There is a beautiful scene just outside the Tower of London
where the Doctor explains why it is he keeps running. It’s not, as Davros once
claimed, because he is scared of looking back, but more because he is scared of
missing out on the wonders the universe holds. The Doctor’s speech here rivals
any justification the series has ever offered for his desire to travel and in
many ways gives us the definitive reason.
The episode is packed to the rafters with little moments of
pleasure. The fan-pleasing references are weaved into the narrative nicely,
from the teasing mention of the Zygons (who are long-overdue an onscreen
return)to the salute that the Doctor offers
Kate Stewart, poignantly referencing his parting gesture to the Brigadier
in so many of his past incarnations. The revelation that Kate is the Brigadier’s
daughter provides the series with a great way of preserving Nicholas Courtney’s
legacy and honouring him. Now we need to see Clyde and Rani in some way to
honour Elisabeth Sladen in the same way.
The standout character is again Brian, whose thoughtful ways
and diligent approach mark him out as one of the great
companions-who-never-was. He is as endearing a creation as Wilfred Mott and I
sorely hope they can find some way to bring him back, although I get the
growing sense that after next week, there’s no way back for the Ponds.
As I said at the top, The
Power of Three is most of a brilliant story. What lets it down is the
slightly fluffed resolution to the whole cube mystery. The Doctor’s recognition
of the alien force behind the invasion and the way he is able to destroy the spaceship
with no resistance whatsoever comes too easily. What happened to the two
cube-mouthed orderlies? They seem to just vanish. It’s also a shame that Steven
Berkoff wasn’t given more time, as he is one of my favourite actors. He creates
a great impression in short space of time. Maybe availability was the issue. After
all, he’s a very busy actor.
As a last hurrah for Amy and Rory, the story shows them at their
best, resourceful and brave and able to carry on the Doctor’s work in his
absence. Their decision at the end not to give up travelling with the Doctor is
going to cost them dearly though, and I have a horrible suspicion about how
next week’s Angel spectacular will pay out.
We’re in uncharted territory for modern Doctor Who, with four successes out of four. This season is shaping
up to be the best in a very long time, and The
Power of Three continues Doctor Who’s
rich vein of form. Another good ‘un, I reckon.
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| 'And with dress sense like that, you must be the Doctor.' |
Considered Opinion
(After Second Viewing)
Sadly for The Power of
Three, it’s the first story of Series Seven that in part doesn’t stand up so
well to a repeat viewing. That’s not to say it’s not good. Far from it, Three is packed with sparkling dialogue,
laugh-out-loud moments and a surprising amount of heart. So what’s changed my
opinion of The Power of Three then?
The main criticism of the story, and this is in no way the
fault of Chris Chibnall, is that the first half is virtually a rerun of The Lodger, with Rory and Amy replacing
Craig as the hapless foils for the Doctor’s impatience with being trapped in one
place and one time. The structure of both stories is almost identical at times,
and Three suffers greatly from being
the later of the two tales. Matt Smith clearly enjoys the fish out of water
stories, but The Power of Three is
the third time in three seasons we’ve seen the Doctor having to blend in and
try to be normal, if you count Closing
Time alongside The Lodger.
Despite Chibnall’s best efforts, that particular plot idea is starting to get a
bit stale.
I think Chris Chibnall knew this, and that’s why we get a
great interlude in the middle of the episode when the Doctor whisks Amy and
Rory off to celebrate their anniversary and inadvertently runs into trouble on
two separate occasions. It’s telling that for some viewers, the off-screen
adventures are actually better than the one we are watching, particularly the
Zygons under the Savoy Hotel.
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| 'Bit of a shock. Zygon ship under the Savoy. Half the staff imposters.' |
Adding to this seen-it-all-before feeling is the reuse of
celebrity cameos for the first time in an age. Russell T Davies used them
effectively to ground Doctor Who in
reality, but Steven Moffat’s vision for Who
is much more based in fairytale imagery, so the cameos in this case, although
nicely observed and portrayed, are slightly out of step with current Doctor Who.
It’s a fine line between using elements the series has
employed successfully in the past and merely reheating old ideas, but Chibnall
gets the balance right all the way through. The UNIT base under the Tower of
London makes a reappearance here without a fanfare, but is really a backdrop to
allow the touching conversation between the Doctor and Kate about her
recently-deceased father. The reuse of the Tower in this respect is good
continuity rather than unnecessary stealing from the past. It also moves UNIT along,
giving them a much-needed modern face and ideology, although the grunts are as
faceless as ever.
The central cube mystery is still engaging though. The
little black boxes pose a very different kind of threat to Earth than we have
ever seen before, and it is quite incredible to think that Doctor Who has never
depicted an invasion by such stealthy means before. The revelation of what the
cubes were actually doing and how they are being used to wipe out mankind is a
neat one, if scientifically flawed. That the Shakri go for the heart allows
Chibnall to pass comment on humanity’s biggest weakness and also its greatest
strength.
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| 'You just married Henry the Eighth. On our anniversary.' |
In a way it would have been perfectly acceptable for the
story to have concluded with no threat from the cubes at all, merely a huge
cosmic practical joke. But instead we have an ending that has too many ideas to
fit into its timeframe and is therefore rushed, trite and worst of all, morally
wrong in part.
The Shakri’s role as universal tally-keepers for the
universe is a new twist on alien aggressors. Steven Berkoff’s role is small but
very effective and the fact that he wasn’t actually there leads me to hope that
one day he can return in a much fuller role and reveal more about this
fascinating new race. The Shakri’s ‘look’ is a little generic though, which is
a shame.
The Doctor’s ‘one wave of the magic sonic screwdriver and
everything is alright again’ scene is a weak resolution to the story, yet we
must remember that The Power of Three
is about the Doctor, Amy and Rory, not the actual black cube invasion, so it
makes sense for that threat to be eliminated summarily. After all, there’s no
complaint about similar scenes in The
Christmas Invasion or indeed Human
Nature/ The Family of Blood (which incidentally is my favourite modern Doctor Who story and quite possibly my
favourite of all time, so that’s placing The
Power of Three in very auspicious company). In all three cases, the plot is
ancillary to the characters, and that’s perfectly acceptable.
What’s not so acceptable is the apparent ignoring of the
fate of the other hostages on the Shakri spaceship. Rory and Amy save and
rescue Brian, but there are quite clearly others in the background moments
before the Doctor destroys the ship. Why didn’t Rory and Amy help them too? A simple
line about them being beyond help would have solved this problem, but as it is,
we are left with the uncomfortable thought that the Doctor and his friends
merely left these people to die. I’m certain that wasn’t intentional, but
there’s the unfortunate connotation that the TARDIS trio are a little bit
self-serving here.
If this analysis comes across as nitpicking, it’s worth
remembering that The Power of Three
is still Chris Chibnall’s strongest script for the series so far. In any other
season, this story would be near the top of the pile, instead of around the
middle, but that’s a testament to the strength of Series Seven so far. And it’s
worth remembering that The Power of Three
contains what may be the finest scene of Matt’s Smith’s tenure to this point
and possibly the greatest rationale for the Doctor’s continuing travels in Doctor Who’s nigh-on fifty year history.
And it’s miles better than The Lodger ever was.
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| 'Where's the Doctor?' 'On the Wii again.' |
The Power of Three’s
ten brilliant bits
1.
There are two notable celebrity cameos in the
episode. Sir Alan Sugar’s is a witty use of The
Apprentice, but it is the scene featuring Professor Brian Cox that’s the
best. It doesn’t hurt that Cox is so personable and nice anyway; nevertheless his cameo is one of the most entertaining
the series has yet produced. ‘They’re not space debris,’ Cox tells us with a
knowing twinkle in his eye. ‘Are they extra-terrestrial in origin? Well, you’ll
have to ask a better man than me.’ I really hope Cox is a Doctor Who fan (he is!), because his sheer delight at appearing in the
series is obvious and infectious.
2.
Mark Williams once again shines as Rory’s Dad
Brian. His quiet and careful appraisal of the Doctor and his thorough approach
to the cubes bring him to the Doctor’s attention enough for the Time Lord to
consider him worthy enough to be offered a place aboard the TARDIS. He gets a
multitude of brilliant moments, from the realisation that he has been watching
a cube on board the TARDIS for four days straight to his Brian’s Log video
journal, ignoring the laughter of his son. His conversation with the Doctor is
celebrated further on, but I sincerely hope his decision to encourage Rory and
Amy back onto the TARDIS doesn’t come back to hurt him. I rather think it
might.
3.
Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart is a prime
example of the series celebrating its past and using it to build for the
future. Her role is chiefly designed as the most effective way possible of
honouring the late Nicholas Courtney. Yet Redgrave does more with it than that.
She manages to portray a sense of quiet effectiveness and also to give UNIT a
new face to lead it in future stories, in a way that Colonel Mace couldn’t quite
manage in The Sontaran Stratagem/ The
Poison Sky. Her highlight is the scene where the Doctor reveals he knows
she is the Brigadier’s daughter. ‘Don’t despair, Kate,’ he says. ‘Your Dad never
did.’ Kate reacts with pleasurable surprise as the Doctor tells her it was
obvious who she was. ‘When did you drop Lethbridge?’ he asks her. ‘I didn’t
want any favours,’ she tells him. ‘Though he guided me, even at the end.
Science leads, he always told me. Said he learned that from an old friend.’ The
Doctor smiles at this acknowledgement. ‘We don’t let him down,’ he decides. In
this little exchange we get the backstory for the Brigadier that we’ll sadly
never see. It’s all the backstory we need. The Brigadier gave his all until the
end, and that’s how we would want it to be. He’s passed the mantle to his
daughter, keeping the Lethbridge-Stewart legacy deservedly alive– let’s see her
again soon.
4.
The jaunts to other adventures are inspired.
Taking Amy and Rory to an anniversary meal at the Savoy Hotel in 1890, the
Doctor discovers, off-screen, a Zygon ship under the hotel and half the staff
already replaced. We cut to the end of the mini-adventure, with the three
regulars sitting in front of the remains of the Savoy, teasingly deprived of
even a glimpse of the much-loved monsters. Then we see Amy, Rory and the Doctor
under a bed as Henry VIII comes in. Amy has accidentally married him on her
wedding anniversary, much to Rory’s annoyance. These little vignettes are
fabulous and it’s a shame we’ll never see them in their entirety.
5.
Brian’s little talk with the Doctor reveals the
heart of both characters. Brian has been quietly assessing the Doctor for a
while. At the Ponds’ anniversary party, he finally corners the Doctor. ‘What
happened to the other people who travelled with you?’ he asks pointedly, not
making eye contact with the Time Lord. Already respecting Brian, the Doctor is
uncharacteristically honest with Rory’s father: ‘Some left me. Some got left
behind. And some – not many but some – died. Not them. Not them, Brian. Never them.’
That plays two ways. For newer viewers, that means Astrid and possibly Donna,
whilst for older viewers that means Adric. Thank God the Doctor stopped short
of naming the latter. I would hate to think of curious kids searching out his
stories and discovering an alarmingly camp plank of wood in a set of pyjamas.
6.
The heart of the episode is the Doctor’s
conversation with Amy, in front of the Tower of London. As I stated earlier,
this speech represents some of the finest writing the series has ever seen, and
for that reason alone Chris Chibnall deserves future episodes. ‘You’re thinking
of running away,’ the Doctor states matter-of-factly. After some initial
bluster, Amy tells him that the travelling is starting to feel like running
away. The Doctor replies with one of the all-time great monologues. ‘I’m not
running away. But this is one corner of one country in one continent on one
planet in one corner of the galaxy that’s one corner of a universe that’s
forever growing and shrinking and destroying and never remaining the same for a
single millisecond. And there’s so much to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I’m
not running away from things. I’m running to them before they flare and fade
forever.’ ‘So why do you keep coming back for us?’ Amy asks him. ‘Because you
were the first,’ the Doctor says, a sad smile on his face. ‘The first face this
face saw. And you were seared onto my hearts. Amelia Pond. I’m running to you
and Rory before you fade from me.’ In one screen minute we get the best
explanation for why the Doctor stole a TARDIS in the first place and one of the
most poignant explorations of what it is like to live for so long and love so
much. Sublime writing. Completely sublime.
7.
The cubes all perform different actions designed
to explore humanity to the fullest. So when Amy comes across the cube that blares
out The Birdie Song over and over
again, her reaction to it is priceless, all widening eyes and pout of disgust.
The laugh-out-loud moment of the season.
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| 'On a loop!' |
8.
Steven Berkoff has long been one of my favourite
actors. While I am slightly disappointed he wasn’t given more screen time, what
we do get is wonderful. The rhythms of his speech patterns and that little laugh
could only come from him: ‘The human contagion ONLY... must be el-im-in-at-ed.
The Shakri SERVES the TALLY!’ Coupled with those mad, mad eyes, it’s a rich and
fruity delivery by a great actor. Let’s have him back alongside Christopher
Walken as another Shakri, please.
9.
The salute the Doctor gives Kate at the end of
the story, continuing the long-held tradition, brought a lump to my throat
that had a lot to do with this Doctor
Whoah! cartoon from Baxter published just after Nicholas Courtney’s death.
10.
The direction by Douglas MacKinnon may have been
less showy than Nick Hurran’s, but the use of different ways of showing the
passing months was great. The letters of each month were formed from a digital
clock face, the lights at a party, Christmas lights, sparkles from a cake and a
camera record button. My personal favourite was the letters made from meat on
the barbecue, slightly charred and browned by the heat. A lovely and easily
missed touch.
Although my opinion of the story has dropped slightly since
the initial broadcast, there is so much to love in The Power of Three. Its place in the season is to provide the final
hurrah for the Ponds, before they leave next week. It sets up that finale extremely
well, showing just how much the Doctor is about to lose. Amy’s departure in
particular will rival Rose’s in the impact it has on younger viewers. The Power of Three takes a chance and tries
to tell a fresh story. For that it deserves a lot of praise. It’s just a pity
it relies in part on tropes that the series has adopted too often in recent
years.
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| 'I'm running to you and Rory before you fade from me.' |
Overall Rating: 7 ½ out of 10
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