Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor is frightening fun as Jodie Whittaker bows out-Gabriel Tate-Entertainment – Metro

Jodie Whittaker took her final bow (Picture: PA)

You can tell a lot about a Timelord – and the actor playing them – by the manner of their regeneration.

David ‘I don’t want to go’ Tennant would surely have happily played out his career in the Tardis; Peter ‘I let you go’ Capaldi was defiant, professorial, eccentric.

And Jodie Whittaker was sentimental, big-hearted and positively thrilled for her successor Ncuti Gatwa (under the guidance of the returning Russell T Davies): ‘Tag – you’re it!’.

As well she might be – Chris Chibnall’s divisive period at the helm came to an exhilarating climax with the Doctor’s greatest foes united by a common enemy.

With the Cybermen bringing the muscle and the Daleks the guile, Sacha Dhawan’s convincingly deranged Master recruited the Doctor’s unwitting allies to become the newest Doctor, turning everyone against everyone else in apocalyptic fashion.

Temporarily, of course. With the support of past Timelords (Colin Baker! Sylvester McCoy! Peter Davison! Paul McGann! Jo Martin! David Bradley as William Hartnell! Obviously no Christopher Eccleston!) and Mandip Gill’s Yaz wrangling a few companions (Sophie Aldred’s Ace, Janet Fielding’s Tegan, Bradley Walsh’s Graham), alongside some boneheaded miscalculations from a wildly overconfident Master, the tables were turned and the universe saved.

The Doctor faced her oldest enemies (Picture: BBC Studios/James Pardon)

She also said goodbye to companion Yaz (Picture: James Pardon/BBC Studios)

The callbacks and reunions warmed the heart without dominating the story (a spin-off series of the companion support group would be a treat), the villains were truly diabolical and it looked terrific.

If the resolution never quite lived up to the build-up, no matter. This was frightening fun in the show’s best traditions.

The Power of the Doctor is available for catch-up on BBC iPlayer.

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