Image Credit: Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0, Flickr)

Image Description: Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill at a San Diego Comic Con panel.

It’s time for WhoSoc to give their final scores for the Thirteenth Doctor, as compiled by Olviya Silvary.

After just over four years in the role, Jodie Whittaker bowed out from her time in Doctor Who in The Power of the Doctor. Not only did it have to end the Thirteenth Doctor’s story, but, as Chris Chibnall’s final episode as well, it also had to wrap up an era’s worth of plot. As with all episodes, the society’s members were asked to give their thoughts on the special – revealing a divide at the heart of the membership.

For some, the episode represented a “beautiful celebration” of Chris Chibnall’s era, and Doctor Who more widely, which “flew by”. Over half of the 27 respondents gave the episode an eight out of ten or higher, with four giving it a perfect score. The most positive reviews tended to focus around the return of Classic Who companions such as Ace and Tegan, but the most warmth was saved for Ian, whose return garnered an “ecstatic” response. The special’s status as event television was also noted, being “a joy to watch surrounded by other fans” and “a fitting tribute to the BBC and to the history of the show.” There was also some praise for Chibnall “harnessing his manic energy to create an emotional and entertaining celebration”, which produced a finale which was “fun and a lot more watchable than The Vanquishers.”

Others, however, were less keen on Chibnall’s writing, with a smattering of threes and fours. One respondent argued that the returns of Classic companions showed that he “can’t write good TV, so he wrote a fanfic instead.” Power of the Doctor was “frustratingly bad” for some, and was “only saved because of the fan service.” Even its most vehement detractors still noted that the episode had its moments, from Boney M’s ‘Rasputin’ to the helpings of fan service, but still felt that it was “a slightly unsatisfying end to a slightly unsatisfying era of Doctor Who.” 

There was also a little disappointment of the roads not taken, with some viewers wanting to have a proper resolution to hints of a relationship between the Doctor and Yaz. “It was action packed, with lots of fanservice, but could have done with more Thasmin,” one said, while another said that “the lack of a satisfying resolution for Thasmin was the only disappointment.” 

That said, whether they loved or hated it, members weren’t keen on the fate met by the Thirteenth Doctor. The Qurunx was a blunt instrument to end a “horrendously rushed episode”, one said, and “it was a shame Jodie felt like an afterthought in her own swansong.”  This may have been because there were “too many loose ends” in the story, and while not all of them were the episode’s fault, “there were still too many to deal with.” The Thirteenth Doctor’s final moment, however, was a universal hit. “’Tag, you’re it’ sums up the joyful, hopeful tone of her era,” making “Whovian hearts explode a little bit.”

As Jodie Whittaker gave way to David Tennant, one member reflected on just how far Chris Chibnall had grown into the role: “It was miles away from the austere feel of Jodie Whitaker’s first series. Chibnall indulged his fannishness in a love letter to the series.”

Comparisons to the rest of the era

From 27 respondents, The Power of the Doctor received an overall score of 6.93, making the member who said that the story was “middling overall” extremely prescient. Among the 2022 specials, it comes above Legend of the Sea Devils, and below Eve of the Daleks, though only 0.3 away from the latter. Adding in Series Thirteen, and it still sits in the middle – sliding in just behind Survivors of the Flux to come in fifth out of nine. Looking to the Chibnall era as a whole, it’s not quite the median episode (that honour goes to Spyfall Part Two) but does sit 18th out of 31, making it pretty close! 

Comparing it to the polls the society has run since Series Ten, the 2022 Specials as a whole have an average ranking of 6.06 – which would be the lowest of the lot. That said, it only has three episodes, which makes it difficult to compare to the other series as the mean is more vulnerable to extremes. This is especially true in this case as Legend of the Sea Devils was deemed the worst of the Chibnall era overall. With Series Thirteen added in, the mean comes to 6.49, which is a little lower than Series Eleven’s 6.86 and Series Twelve’s 6.79 for but shows that the society had a relatively consistent opinion of Doctor Who throughout this period – even if these averages hide some significant highs and lows. It also means that Series Thirteen ranks below the average rating of the Chibnall era as a whole, which comes out as 6.76. 

As we leave this era behind, it’s time for the society to turn its attention to the Fourteenth Doctor’s specials, followed by the long awaited introduction of Ncuti Gatwa. Will they come out ahead of Jodie, or will the ‘Doctor of Hope’ reign triumphant? Time, as always, will tell.

Print copies of Tides 49 are, at time of publication, available to buy through this link

The Oxford Doctor Who Society’s Chibnall era rankings in full

Rank	Episode Title	Mean Rating
1	Rosa	8.52
2	Demons of the Punjab	8.21
3	Village of the Angels	8.00
4	Fugitive of the Judoon	7.94
5	The Haunting of Villa Diodati	7.73
6	The Woman Who Fell to Earth	7.61
7	War of the Sontarans	7.58
8	It Takes You Away	7.47
9	Spyfall – Part One	7.43
10	Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror	7.38
11	The Witchfinders	7.33
12	Eve of the Daleks	7.25
13	The Timeless Children	7.15
14	Ascension of the Cybermen	7.11
15	Kerblam!	7.06
16	Spyfall – Part Two	7.00
17	Survivors of the Flux	6.94
18	The Power of the Doctor	6.93
19	The Ghost Monument	6.89
20	Can You Hear Me?	6.62
21	Arachnids in the UK	6.38
22	Praxeus	6.29
23	Resolution	6.25
24	The Halloween Apocalypse	6.21
25	Once, Upon Time	5.84
26	The Vanquishers	5.70
27	Revolution of the Daleks	5.69
28	The Battle of Ranskoor av Kolos	5.33
29	Orphan 55	5.11
30	The Tsuranga Conundrum	4.53
31	Legend of the Sea Devils	4.00