‘This is the day you are erased from existence forever.’ This was conceived not only as Whittaker and Chibnall’s swansong, but also the final Doctor Who episode for the foreseeable future – the Survival of the 21^st Century series. It was also part of the BBC’s centenary celebrations. Thus Chibnall has to strike a balance between wrapping up the continuity of his own episodes, and making something that marks four, 17, 59, or 100 years depending on your point of view.

Wisely, I think, he leans into the old favourites – the Master, the Cybermen and the Daleks; UNIT; returning Doctors and companions. Ultimately, these were all trumped by the return of RTD and David Tennant, but it’s a good effort with an inbuilt sense of occasion and scale. It’s meant to be event TV – closer in spirit to The Day of the Doctor than The Time of the Doctor. The globetrotting is evident, but more restrained than some previous 13^th Doctor episodes, and most people watching might be expected to recognise at least some of the familiar faces (even if it’s only Kate Stewart and Graham).

The plot is just a frame for the celebrations: the Master’s done a deal with the Cybermen and the Daleks – in return for giving them the means to pursue their own wars (a Cyber Conversion planet and Earth reduced to foundries) and the death of the Doctor, the Master gets to take over the Doctor’s form (in a very similar manner to the TV Movie) and trash her reputation throughout the cosmos. It sounds like the premise for an anniversary DWM strip (not a criticism).

Everything else is pretty much a bolt-on. Like The Five Doctors, there’s a vague sense that this was written around whoever might be available and up for it. Tegan and Ace provide a bit of love for the Eighties after all the Seventies companions RTD brought back – but it would have worked the same had Chibnall instead got Bonnie Langford and Daphne Ashbrook. Tom Baker is missing from the Timewyrm: Revelation manifestations of the Doctor’s consciousness, but then, he was missing from The Five Doctors as well so even that feels on point. There are cute scenes for the fifth Doctor and Tegan, the seventh Doctor and Ace – but they’re inessential to the plot (the holo-Doctor just pops up to say “Hi!” and give a few words of encouragement). It’s all very fan servicey, but I am a fan and I feel served so I’m not complaining.

So, as a fun anniversary special I think this ticks the boxes. I think it’s less successful as a climax to the Whittaker/Chibnall years. On the plus side, the Fugitive Doctor, Graham and Vinder turn up for cameos, and Ryan gets a namecheck. But Dan is cursorily written out early on (which to be fair sidesteps one of my common gripes about Chibnall leaving a companion hanging round with nothing to do), long-suffering Yaz is unceremoniously put off the Ship when the Doctor decides she’d rather be alone, and there’s no closure to the Timeless Child plot.

After previous grumbles, you might very well imagine me giving a sigh of relief – my heart did sink when the mystery cargo turned out to be a child with strange powers that gets imprisoned by a wormhole, and I thought we were in for the “genesis of the Doctor” plot which seemed implicit in the episode’s title. But that’s avoided. As is any reference to the watch containing the Doctor’s hidden memories, or even a resolution to the Fugitive’s perplexing relationship to the pre-Hartnell Doctors. Having introduced all these things, Chibnall chooses to say no more and walk away. I grudgingly respect his refusal to tidy it all up, while also wondering what the point was.

Again, it’s the symbols Chibnall brings back, rather than their meanings. Ashad is back, but only because he’s a better CyberLeader than one with black handles. The 13^th Doctor dresses as Time in her mind because… she likes the dark blue coat? The Fugitive Doctor is just a hologram distraction, not even the real deal. It all looks cool while you’re watching, but there’s nothing that has any wider resonance for the era beyond the Master’s genuine hatred of the Doctor. Last time they met he wanted to destroy everything, including himself, because a piece of the Doctor was inside him; now he wants to turn the tables and entirely obliterate her with his own existence. Sacha Dhawan does the best ‘Doctahhhh!’ since Eric Roberts.

Reservations noted, I enjoyed this one. It has some typically cringe moments (Tegan miraculously survives a death plummet; the past Doctors seem to vanish in embarrassment when the 13^th does her inspirational ‘There’s always a way – things always work out’ bit). But it also has some good jokes (the Dalek and Cyberman exchanging glances as the Master does his Boney M impression). Whittaker’s final scene is sweet and life-affirming in a way few previous regenerations have been (especially the ones preceded by an endless soliloquy).

Mostly, there’s the guileless charm of a fan who genuinely loves the show, and loves seeing all those old companions together, sharing their stories. Yaz says: ‘You know the greatest strength my Doctor has? She’s spent her life gathering friends. She can’t help it. And she is loved.’ The real Power of the Doctor was the friends we made along the way. As a matter of fact, I agree.

Next Time: Destination: Skaro