Doctor Who is back on our televisions, and, as always, it’s about Time.

It has been far too long since the Power of the Doctor, and a part of me had gone back to thinking that Doctor Who is just something I listen to. But here it is, big and bombastic and as ridiculous as ever.

This was a story intended to tick all the boxes of what people were hoping for: a fun, fast-paced story, with plenty of returning characters and themes to satisfy our need for nostalgia (particularly given this is an anniversary story), but with enough new material to keep us watching for the rest of the 3-part special. The decision to make this a three-parter, and therefore avoid the risk involved with trying to put everything into one, big, epic story, was almost certainly the correct one, although it did leave us with actually quite an understated anniversary story, when taken by itself.

My initial take was about how much this story centred itself on returning to Donna’s story. This was not, for example, a post-regeneration story with a new Doctor. As much as his past is acknowledged, and the fact of his returning to this face is seen as the big mystery of the trilogy, the story and character is played as a continuation of the tenth Doctor’s incarnation. There are perfectly sound reasons for this: post regeneration stories are designed to introduce the audience to the new character, and all those eccentricities that are displayed by the character are about giving us all time to adjust and discover the character. That wasn’t what was needed narratively here, and neither did we really have the space to do so, considering the time limited nature of Tennant’s second run. Furthermore, this story was about trying to sell the series to a potentially much larger Disney+ audience and providing a constant anchor for that particular potentially new group – therefore, it wanted to sell a series that was clearly well established and very sure of itself. It absolutely was not the time for the Doctor to start strangling Peri.

But, that all said, it did mean that, in one sense, the references to 11,12 and 13 felt a little disingenuous. This was a soft-reset, and one that also apparently wanted to make sure it could directly appeal to that particular group of fans who hadn’t followed the series post Tennant. That’s a fact that will perhaps niggle a little even if I understand all the perfectly sensible reasons for doing it.

One thing that cannot be denied was how well all the cast, both new and old, settled into their roles. Tennant’s Doctor is a continuation, but one that’s matured: he’s a little wiser, little more able to recognise his flaws and not quite so willing to claim that he is the ultimate authority. In many ways, this was the point of the episode: previously, on Doctor Who, the Doctor had taken away a woman’s memories against her will because he knew best; then he had tried to absolve himself of guilt by giving her everything she could want (he gave her a shit load of money). This story was about recognising that easy fixes don’t work and that actually everything he did around Donna’s departure was a horrendous miscalculation, self-interested, and a a massive misjudgement of someone who he considered a friend. Meta textually, this was RTD acknowledging that same, previously unquestioned, mistake. As a theme, that’s drawn out throughout the story, right down to the beautiful way UNIT’s new scientific advisor takes him entirely in her stride – there was nothing here for the famously egotistical incarnation: just a recognition that life goes on without him and sometimes he has to face his own mistakes.

Donna, meanwhile has grown up in many ways, as has her mother. One of the most awkward things about Davies’ original run was the repeated motif of terrible, or at least highly problematic, mothers holding back their daughters. Here, we finally seem to have a different depiction of motherhood: one in which mothers are actually prepared to see their children (whether it’s Rose or Donna Noble) grow, flourish, and make their own choices in the world. Right at the end of story, it isn’t Donna’s mother telling her not to, it’s Donna herself balancing her responsibilities (true, Donna tells Rose not to, but the context for that feels different).

Rose was beautifully done. She was introduced seamlessly, and managed to be a meaningful character in her own right, rather than just a conduit to describe Donna’s character development. Yasmin Finney took to the role perfectly and it would be a great pity if she doesn’t return. I fully expect she will.

I was perhaps a little disappointed they felt the need to have the deadnaming scene, which didn’t really seem to add much to the story (particularly considering the following scene between Donna and Sylvia didn’t need it in order to explore their relationship to Rose, and Rose’s discussion of her difference and loneliness with the Meep also very effectively established what we all know she must have experienced), but I can understand why it was felt necessary to put it there – even if only to establish clearly in canon Doctor Who’s position on transphobia (and to respond in advance to anyone who was going to take issue with this particular piece of characterisation and casting).

Beep the Meep, of course, was in many ways the star of the show, even if the Meep had very little to do, and was, in many ways, the most generic of villains you could imagine. None of that really mattered, because we got a character that was instantly going to be a fan favourite, immensely quotable, and, unfortunately, bound to result in one of the most sought after toys of this season of Doctor Who. And wasn’t Miriam Margolyes sublime?

Before the night was out, the Meep was flooding the internet with memes. In many ways, of course, that means the Meep won.

All Hail the Meep!

Now we come to the Sonic Screwdriver.

There was a time, back in the 80s, that the screwdriver was felt to have had its time. And that was long before it started to become almost a self-parody in its ability to solve almost every problem. (What are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?)

Each incarnation of the Doctor seems to get a screwdriver that’s just a little more powerful.

Now…. We appear to have a screwdriver that creates an interactive computer screen and can built a solid force shield. Overpowered is the word making the rounds of the internet….. and, it’s not without validity.

It feels, unfortunately, that this was an aspect that was designed specially to appeal to the wider Disney audience. The Doctor might, in essence, be the hero who can think and talk himself out of every problem and who can save the world, but surely such an impressive alien wizard must have a few substantial and tangible assets that he carries around with him? Maybe I’m doing Davies an injustice here (although as well as Tony Starks holographic computer displays, we do also seem to have UNIT’s requisition of the Avengers building…), but it does feel a little needless. But, nevertheless, such an upgrade was probably inevitable eventually – especially the computer display, considering the insane quality of information the screwdriver is apparently capable of carrying these days.

I will mention in passing the resolution to the story. In many ways, the resolution to each adventure is often the least interesting bit (a fact that justified the screwdriver’s ability to be that resolution so often), and here, I did find the explanation and sequencing up to the resolution a little sloppy. I am absolutely overjoyed that resolved Donna’s story in a way that managed not to be as overblown as many of us had imagined it would be (fan theories about Donna regenerating into the 15th Doctor seemed to be the most popular in my corner of the internet). And I love that Rose was able to share in the solution. However, the explanation did feel a little too forced for my liking. For a start, the very fact that the Time Lord essence had been diffused between Donna and Rose meant there was no reason at all for Donna’s apparent death – sure, it made for a good emotional beat, but it made no sense, considering by that point the thing that was going to kill her was an ready diluted. But it was the explanation of why exactly Donna and Rose were able to let it go and why the Doctor neither could have done that, nor even conceived of the possibility that felt a little overdone: it reminded me very much of the conclusion to the Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.

As much as it felt a little forced, my feeling is that it was an explanation that, in many ways, was needed as a kind of apology for the mistakes RTD made with the original telling. In many ways, the Doctor deciding for Donna that he knew best, and being unwilling to consider any other possibility, was a very “male”, misogynistic thing to do. The idea that Tennant’s Doctor was so wrapped up in his own power and personality that he couldn’t conceive of anyone wishing to give that up voluntarily (I don’t want to go) is entirely on form. As such, the idea that this Doctor was too male to recognise the fault and the possibility that there was another option feels… fitting, even if it wasn’t necessarily executed perfectly.

So, final thoughts: the new TARDIS interior is great. Not quite as good as the later Capaldi one, but infinitely preferable to any of RTD’s previous console rooms (and, alas, the Chibnall era one). The theme tune and title sequence… is fine. A little overdone, a little trying to hard, but perfectly acceptable. The coffee…. Inevitable.

Overall though, I loved the episode – a great deal of fun that the whole family enjoyed (and prompted my daughters to go back and watch the Jodie Whitaker series), and I can’t wait for next Saturday.