The Power of the Doctor promises to be an epic send-off for our Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker.
The Power of the Doctor is the third and final of our three Doctor Who specials airing in 2022, and will see Jodie taking her last trip in time and space before leaving the role behind along with showrunner, Chris Chibnall, who Russell T. Davies is replacing for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary special and seasons beyond.
This third special—which is part of the BBC's 100-year anniversary celebrations—will see The Doctor, Dan, Yaz, Kate Stewart, Vinder and a couple of ex-companions teaming up to take on Sacha Dhawan's incarnation of the Master, the Daleks and the Cybermen all at once.
Jodie Whittaker has described the special as "an absolute treat" for Whovians, adding: "We celebrate the old, the present and the new. It's a wonderful homage to the legacy that Doctor Who has had.
"It encapsulates all the things the fans love about Doctor Who - whether it be old monsters, returning characters, new elements, everything that unites Whovians is in this episode. If you haven't seen Doctor Who before this special will be sure to hook you in for you new Doctor", she said.
We're now just days away from seeing what the Doc will get up to, and now we know exactly when we will be seeing the special on TV.
Here's everything we know about the Doctor Who Centenary Special right now.
When will The Power of the Doctor be on TV?
The BBC has finally confirmed when The Power of the Doctor will be on TV! The final special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday, October 23 at 7.30 pm and will run for 90 mins. This means it's airing just days after the BBC celebrates its centenary on Tuesday, October 18.
In the US, the special will air at 8 pm ET on BBC America on October 23.
Is there a trailer for The Power of the Doctor?
On October 8, we were treated to an explosive new trailer which gave us a few more details about The Power of the Doctor. There's menacing new lines from The Master, explosions, chase scenes, and tense stand-offs with the big three villains of the piece.
Check it out below:
An earlier trailer reminded us of the prophecy that Time laid out for the Doc at the end of the last full season: "beware of the forces that mass against you - and their Master". In it, you'll spot the Daleks, Cybermen and the Master, with the latter welcoming the Doctor to "the end of your existence."
Who's starring in The Power of the Doctor?
With Sacha Dhawan returning to wreak havoc as The Master, The Thirteenth Doctor is going to need all the help she can get. Luckily, she's got a few key allies on her side this time around.
Her latest companions, Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) are both sticking around the TARDIS, and they'll be joined by Vinder (Jacob Anderson) and Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), who last cropped up to assist her during the Flux storyline.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for the special came when the BBC revealed that former companions Ace (Sophie Aldred) and Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) would be returning to the Whoniverse.
Both actresses are clearly hugely excited to be back in the Whoniverse. Janet Fielding said: "It took me oh, it must have been a whole thirty second to think yeah, I would (be interested!)", whilst Sophie Aldred has said that she "put the phone down and burst into tears" when her agent told her Doctor Who Casting Director, Andy Pryor, had been on the phone about bringing Ace back.
Will the 14th Doctor be in The Power of the Doctor?
Promo material for The Power of the Doctor has shown that we'll be seeing a regeneration scene in the upcoming special, though we still don't know whether we'll actually see her transform into the 14th Doctor, Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa.
Whilst talking to Empire about her regeneration scene, Jodie teased that it is going to be the emotional departure that we've come to expect. She said: "I love the dialogue Chris wrote for my regeneration. It captures my Doctor beautifully. It's simple, epic and beautiful", adding "When I could see the crew was happy with that last shot, that's when my bottom lip started going. I was like, 'Well, they can't say they need another take now because I've lost it!"
Whether or not Ncuti shows up in the Centenary special, the Thirteenth Doctor clearly has absolute confidence in the next Doctor Who frontman. In our interview with Jodie Whittaker, we asked what advice she had for the new Time Lord. She said: "It's yours for the taking. There's no advice I can give — I'm certainly not giving that phenomenal actor any advice, he doesn't need it from me! It's yours to own, and you've earned it."
What's the plot?
Chris Chibnall has promised that this last story will be a "fittingly thrilling, epic and emotional send-off for the Thirteenth Doctor", and the official synopsis for the episode definitely sounds like it'll be a successful send-off for Jodie.
The summary reads: "In this feature-length Special to mark her last adventure, Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor must fight for her very existence, against her deadliest enemies: the Daleks, the Cybermen and her archnemesis, the Master.
"Who is attacking a speeding bullet train on the edges of a distant galaxy? Why are seismologists going missing from 21st-century Earth? Who is defacing some of history’s most iconic paintings? Why is a Dalek trying to make contact with the Doctor? And just what hold does the mesmeric Rasputin have over Tsar Nicholas in 1916 Russia? The Doctor faces multiple threats…and a battle to the death."
At a press screening for the episode, we asked Jodie what it was like to watch her final scenes on the big screen. She said: "This [episode] has encapsulated everything that has come out of Chris [Chibnall, the Doctor Who showrunner]'s brain and his love of Doctor Who, and he's brought us along with him on this. I was emotional because I just always am.
"And with Sacha being in the episode, I think The Master and the Doctor having that [moment] is so important, and for me and Mandip seeing it out side by side, just watching it with everybody and knowing — there were gasps early on, and I was like, 'you wait!'. I started crying really early on, because I knew what was about to happen!"
