Doctor Who: The Power Of The Doctor Review - 5 Ups & 7 Downs

It’s tempting to give the long overdue inclusion of some classic companions an up, but we just can’t. Their presence is entirely wasted here, and should've been in its own episode. Just compare the reunion between these two and Thirteen to that of Sarah Jane and Ten, and you’ll see just how wasted the storytelling potential was here, with Ace and Tegan barely sharing the screen with the Doctor at all.

The hint of a story is in there, trying to break out, with Tegan’s bitterness and Ace’s unresolved conflict with the Doctor. We’re even treated to all of one second of Yaz realising she’s replaceable, something that you'd think would be a good thread to run with in the story where she bows out of the show.

The classic companions aren't given the best material to work with here, don’t get us wrong, but their scenes seem surprisingly ungenuine. Sophie Aldred certainly puts in the stronger performance of the two (as expected), but Janet Fielding, we hate to say, feels a little off. Sacrilege, we know.

This isn’t to say that their scenes are completely without merit, however. We enjoyed Ace going old-school with a baseball bat and explosives, and the two taunting the Master was also fun, mocking his weird cat phase in classic Who’s final serial, Survival.