Doctor Who: The Power Of Three Review

Quality To The Power Of Three? Our Verdict!
It's fairly safe to say that this season of Doctor Who has retained a remarkable consistency in episode quality, with none of its stories so far scoring below a strong 4.5/5 (or even 5/5 for some) here, and thankfully The Power Of Three more than continues that happy trend. Sure, there are some imperfections here and there, but on a whole Chris Chibnall has provided us with another genius adventure that spends a little time delving into the psyche of the Ponds before their departure next week.

At first, the trailer campaign promoting the 'slow invasion of the Cubes' made Power sound a little dull to say the least, yet to a large extent it evoked a real sense of the Russell T Davies era of Who, packed with celebrity cameos (Alan Sugar! Brian Cox! Steven Berkoff!) and brimming with a knowledge of modern tech (Facebook! Twitter!) to enable a real confidence in its storytelling. Matt Smith interacted with the narrative's take on the Doctor well once again, and Chibnall wrote a truly captivating scene of the Doctor and Amy essentially discussing 'The End' by the riverside, which was rather lovely and touching. Jemma Redgrave meanwhile was beautiful in the role of the Brigadier's daughter and UNIT's new scientific leader Kate Stewart, someone who I'm sure long-term fans will be more than happy to see in the future. On top of that, the special effects on the bizarre nurse 'foes' and indeed the spaceship in the climax were very impressive.

Any flaws? Just one pressing one of note, really- the ending. Much as the final scene with the Doctor, Amy, Rory and Brian was a suitable send-off of sorts for this wonderful foursome, the preceding scene which dealt with the Shakri menace felt too cramped in the 3-5 odd minutes it seemed to have to wrap up the Cube storyline. What would Phase Two of the invasion have been? Were the Silence involved, given the use of the hologram? We'll see, but clearly not yet, as Power was far too busy rushing towards its end. On the plus side, though, this solitary shortcoming has little effect on the sheer enjoyment that The Power Of Three exuberated once again, another fine showing of Doctor Who that proves the programme is in mighty health for its seventh season!
4.5/5