History Recap / DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Cybermen aren't good at checking what's behind their target. When the Fugitive Doctor shows up in the Czar's palace, the Cybermen surround her and start firing... in a circle. Since she's an hologrqam, they all end up shooting themselves.

** The Master demonstrates his ability to hypnotize people by staring into their eyes, a classic trait of Creator/RogerDelgado's version. He even compels one of his victims into repeating his old {{Catchphrase}}, "You are the Master, and I will obey you."

* BookEnds:

** This is the first time that the Doctor's clothes changed during the regeneration since the very first one from One to Two.
** The boots regenerated along with the Doctor from Four to Five.

** Ace still refers to the Doctor as "Professor", and mentions that the Master was [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival half-cat]] the last time they met.
** The ''[X] of the Doctor'' title alone brings to mind the trilogy of 50th anniversary episodes that closed out Creator/MattSmith's tenure on the show ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of the Doctor"]], [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], and [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor "The Time of the Doctor"]]), as well as the tie-in [[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor minisode]] that saw Creator/PaulMcGann regenerate, and the special guest star appearance of Sir Creator/JohnHurt as an unnumbered Time War version of the Doctor who regenerated after his story received closure. Fitting then that this is the swan song for both Creator/JodieWhittaker and Creator/ChrisChibnall's time on the show and it leads into the 60th anniversary specials. Likewise, the "Power" prefix recalls [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "The Power of the Daleks"]], the first post-regeneration story in the show's history.

** The Master also makes tasteless jokes at the expense of his captors and their imminent deaths, just as he had done a couple times as Missy. He also snarks nastily to Tegan about [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis how he'd tissue-compressed her aunt]].
** The Master notes that the Time Lords forced the Doctor to regenerate [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames once before]].
** The Thirteenth Doctor's muttering about a "blossomiest blossom" refers to the Third Doctor's famous speech about the old hermit who lived near and counselled him on Gallifrey in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster The Time Monster]]", where the Third Doctor referred to "the daisiest daisy".
** Lying in the TARDIS, fatally injured, Thirteen looks up and sees her friends surrounding her; she smiles and whispers, "Extended Fam", just before she passes out. This recalls [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis the Fourth Doctor's dying moments, as he smiles to see his companions at his side and speaks reassuringly to them]].
** [[Creator/DavidTennant When the Tenth Doctor first appeared]], his first words were commenting about his teeth. [[TheBusCameBack Once Fourteenth realizes he's taken on a familiar form...]]
--->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "I know these teeth..."]]''

* ChekhovsGun: One that took almost a decade to fire: In [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], the Eleventh Doctor meets the Curator, who's heavily implied to be a future incarnation who regenerated back into Creator/TomBaker, and is told that he'll find himself revisiting some of "the old favorites" in the coming years. Come this story, and the Thirteenth Doctor regenerates back into Creator/DavidTennant, one of the most popular Doctors since Baker himself.

** UNIT's guns are loaded with gold bullets when fighting the Cybermen, nodding back to both the gold allergy introduced in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen "Revenge of the Cybermen"]] and a scene in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield "Battlefield"]] where the Brigadier explains how UNIT started investing in ammo specifically designed to combat the Doctor's foes. Unfortunately, these Cybermen are more advanced and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver totally immune to gold]].
** When the Master takes over the Doctor's body, he assumes a costume including several iconic clothing items from past Doctors' costumes, including Four's scarf, Five's celery buttonhole, Seven's question-mark sweater, and Ten's tie. He even plays Two's recorder!

** Ace retrieves her jacket, backpack, and baseball bat from a storage area in the new UNIT HQ.

** The Master's plan centers on triggering a forced regeneration, and he mentions [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames this having happened to the Doctor before]], maybe [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren more than once]].

** Tegan, on receiving the shrunken corpse of Ashad (which is supposedly a present from the Doctor), says that the Cybermen are "not a fond memory" as far as she's concerned, alluding to how they were responsible for Adric's death.

** An emergency hologram of the Doctor appears in the TARDIS again, as in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "The Parting of the Ways"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]], and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before the Flood"]].

** The Toraji Transport Network who operate the bullet train appears to be named after the Torajii sun from Chris Chibnall's first televised story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 42]]".
** Having crash-landed on the Cyber-Moon, Vinder uses the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E3FluxChapterThreeOnceUponTime phone the Doctor left with him]] to try and contact her. He gets Yaz instead.

** Ace is still wearing several badges on her jacket that were seen during the classic series, including the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Fanderson badge]], and Flowerchild's earring, which she had picked up on [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowintheGalaxy Segonax]].

** The special also contradicts Tegan's fate in Big Finish's audio drama ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho087TheGathering The Gathering]]'', as she was in her mid-40s at the time of that drama, which took place in 2005, and was said to be suffering from a terminal illness. Also the fact that this story establishes she's not seen the Doctor since the 80s. Here, she's in her early 60s and there's no mention of her ever having been ill, much less terminally. As for her being in a same-sex relationship with fellow companion Nyssa, as stated in the lockdown special "Farewell, Sarah Jane", this too is contradicted. Tegan is single when the events of "The Power of the Doctor" take place, but mentions that she has been married twice, both times to men.

* EmbarrassingFirstName: The Master calls Ace "Dorothy" to get a rise out of her. In her debut story, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire "Dragonfire"]], Ace makes it clear that she considers Dorothy to be "a naff name".

* EvilCounterpart: The Master has always been this, but he's never taken this trope so literally before; He becomes an evil version of the Doctor.

* ExtraLongEpisode: The story clocks in at 87 minutes, making it the longest single episode of the Revival Series and the third-longest single episode in the show's history overall (behind the 89-minute [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie TV movie]] and the 90-minute [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]]).

-->'''Doctor:''' Now, do I win a prize if I guess how this all fits together or are you just going to tell me why you're grandstanding?
-->'''Master:''' Be patient. We'll get there.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Six's complaint about Thirteen being forced to regenerate into the Master instead of being allowed to regenerate naturally doubles as a comment about the role of regeneration episodes in the real world: "This is supposed to be handed over, you can't ruin it for the next one." The fact that ''Six'' says this is doubly significant, given that Creator/ColinBaker was fired and he declined coming back to "hand over" the role to Creator/SylvesterMcCoy (who instead {{Fake Shemp}}ed as Six for the regeneration scene at the start of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani "Time and the Rani"]]).

* MythologyGag: The Master dubs his plan to take over the Doctor's body [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Master's Dalek Plan"]].

'''Eight:''' ''(regards his outfit for a moment)'' [[FashionDissonance I don't do robes]].\\
'''Seven:''' ''(rolls his eyes)'' There's always ''one''. Has to be "different".\\

* RetCanon: The scene between Ace and the hologrammatic Seventh Doctor in the Daleks' cavern indicates, without describing the details, that she stopped travelling with him after a serious ethical disagreement between them. This echoes her first, temporary, departure in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' continuity.
* RiddleForTheAges: Subverted in regards to how Mel got back to Earth after the events of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]'', as she was last seen leaving with Sabalom Glitz in the far future. ExpandedUniverse material such as books and audios gave different explanations, but all show that she eventually met the Doctor and Ace again before returning home.
* SeriesFauxnale: The future of ''Doctor Who'' was in doubt at the time of Creator/ChrisChibnall's exit as showrunner, with no confirmed successor or direction in place, so this was written under the impression it might be the last ''Doctor Who'' story in the event of a potential third hiatus. It shows, tying up not only many of Thirteen's loose ends, but also connecting more of the modern series to the classic era and providing closure for Doctor and companion arcs dating back to the 1980s, as well as bringing back many fan favourite companions and giving them one last day in the limelight, with the episode itself originally rolling the credits before the Doctor's regeneration finished. Eventually, Creator/RussellTDavies was announced to be returning as showrunner and the series would continue on well beyond this point for the foreseeable future.

** The paintings the Master has vandalized by putting his own face on them are Art/TheMonaLisa, [[Art/TheScreamMunch The Scream]], The [[Creator/HieronymusBosch Hay Wain]], Art/GirlWithAPearlEarring and Art/TheLastSupper.

->''"Right then, '[[Creator/DavidTennant Doctor]] [[TitleDrop Whoever-I'm-about-to-be]]'. [[PassingTheTorch Tag, you're it]]."''
----
-> ''"[[CallBack I know]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays these teeth.]]"''\\
''[[FlatWhat What?]] [[TripleTake What?]]'' '''''[[BigWhat WHAT?!]]'''''

-> ''"[[CallBack I know these teeth.]]"''\\

** No explanation is given for why the mental and hologrammatic images of Five, Six, Seven, and Eight look much older than they did at the time of their canon regenerations.

JustForFun/{{The one w|ith}}here ''Series/DoctorWho'' celebrates [[Creator/TheBBC Auntie]]'s [[MilestoneCelebration hundredth birthday]] with a cake, topped with [[Creator/SophieAldred candles]], and baked by a [[Creator/JanetFielding mouth on legs]]. It's such a big deal, even [[Creator/JodieWhittaker the Doctor]] got [[TheNthDoctor dressed up]] in [[Creator/DavidTennant an old outfit]] for the occasion.

It's also the one where the Master [[MemeticMutation gets his groove on]] to Music/BoneyM's "Rasputin".

** [[Creator/DavidTennant When the Tenth Doctor first appeared]], his first words were commenting about his teeth. [[TheBusCameBack Once Fourteenth realizes he's taken on a familiar form...]]]

** [[Creator/DavidTennant The Fourteenth Doctor's first words...]]

-> ''"[[CallBack I know these teeth]]'."''

----

It's also the one where the Master [[MemeticMutation gets his groove on]] to Music/BoneyM.

* EvilCounterpart: The Master has always been this, but he's never taken this trope so literally before; He becomes
an evil version of the Doctor.

** Once again, the Doctor is forced to regenerate after an [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis incident]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie involving]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime the]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls Master]].

** Thirteen's [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime first]] and last appearances both feature Creator/DavidBradley filling in for Creator/WilliamHartnell as the First Doctor. Also, her first and last full episodes both feature her dropping onto a moving train.

-->'''Fifth Doctor:''' "This is the place you pass through during the process of regeneration. Go past here, there's no way back."

** Tegan and Ace's holograms of the Doctor change from Thirteen to their respective Doctors, Five and Seven, albiet older due to interference.

-->'''Doctor:''' "Now, do I win a prize if I guess how this all fits together or are you just going to tell me why you're grandstanding?"
-->'''Master:''' "Be patient. We'll get there."

--> '''Thirteen:''' "Sorry, why are you not wearing...?"\\
'''Eight:''' ''(regards his outfit for a moment)'' "[[FashionDissonance I don't do robes]]."\\
'''Seven:''' ''(rolls his eyes)'' "There's always ''one''. Has to be "different"."\\
'''Eight:''' ""I am a manifestation of our consciousness. I can wear what I ''like''."

-->'''Yaz:''' "Just in case you're wondering, all this I'm-messing-with-your-mind chat, I've heard worse on a Friday night in Sheffield."

-->'''Holo-Seven:''' "It's never fine to blow stuff up. Sometimes, sadly, it's the only solution. But only after [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou fair warning]]."

** The Thirteenth Doctor wakes up in a void and meets someone in Gallifreyan robes. The camera pans up to reveal... the First Doctor (as played again by Creator/DavidBradley)!

** As ''Creator/JodieWhittaker'' has her big regeneration scene, the energy fades. And standing there is not Creator/NcutiGatwa, but instead ''Creator/DavidTennant'', who looks as shocked as the audience is, because he's had this face before!

* The Master later drops this almost verbatim when Vinder has his gun on him, reasoning that the Doctor wouldn't have a companion who would go around shooting people. One laser in the shoulder later, and Vinder helpfully informs him that he's not a companion; he's freelance.

It's also the one where the Master gets his groove on to Music/BoneyM.

-->--'''[[Creator/JodieWhittaker The Thirteenth Doctor]]''', during the final moments of her lifetime.

-->'''Fifth Doctor:''' This is the place you pass through during the process of regeneration. Go past here, there's no way back.
* AmbiguousSituation: Holograms of the Fifth and Seventh Doctors are able to converse with Tegan and Ace, respectively. While this is stated to be an AI interface, a line a from Thirteen implies these are the actual Fifth and Seventh Doctors using the interface to communicate from inside the Doctor’s Forced Regeneration.
* ArmorPiercingResponse: While trapped in the invaded UNIT Base, Tegan is visited by the Hologram Doctor, who has taken the form of the Fifth Doctor, assuring her that the Doctor remembers everything. Tegan snappily asks what being surrounded by all of these Cybermen reminds her of, with the Hologram Doctor sadly responding with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Adric]]". This instantly causes Tegan to rapidly deflate.
* BackForTheFinale: Graham, Vinder, Ashad, the Spy Master and the Fugitive Doctor all return to close out both the Thirteenth Doctor's run and the end of the Chibnall era.
* BatmanGrabsAGun: When [=UNIT=] has captured the Master in his lecture hall, the Doctor demands that one of the soldiers give Yaz his sidearm so that there's that much more firepower covering him.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The Master is revealed to have been (or at least impersonated) UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin. Either way, while it's not explicitly stated, the Master's alien technology and Gallifreyan physiology could easily be used to explain Rasputin's 'magical powers' and how he survived so many assassination attempts. The script on the BBC website outright states that he ''is'' Rasputin because there's a deleted scene where he gets thrown into a bag by a Prince who historically did that.
* BigDamnHeroes: The Fugitive Doctor (or rather, a hologram AI of her) arrives just in time to distract the Master from committing a murder and assist with undoing his regeneration takeover of the Doctor.

* BillionsOfButtons: Tegan moans that the controls to activate the demolition look like an airliner cockpit. Fortunately she has the required buttons to be pushed written on her hand, and the Doctor hologram to advise her how to do some added reprogramming that will ReversePolarity the cyber-conversion unit.

** The Thirteenth Doctor's [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime first]] and last appearances both feature Creator/DavidBradley filling in for Creator/WilliamHartnell as the First Doctor. Also, her first and last full episodes both feature her dropping onto a moving train.
** Both the Twelfth Doctor's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls regeneration]] into the Thirteenth Doctor and the Thirteenth Doctor's own regeneration are caused by something the Master did, which notably both involved the Cybermen. Likewise, the Master is last seen in both episodes blasting a Time Lady with a laser while dying and eventually expiring themself.

** The Doctor regenerates outside of the TARDIS for the first time since the Eighth Doctor's regeneration.

** This is the first time that the Doctor's clothes changed during the regeneration since the very first one from Creator/WilliamHartnell to Creator/PatrickTroughton (unless you count the Fourth Doctor's footwear changing into the Fifth's).
** For the first time in the main series since Series 3's Martha Jones's departure in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]], all the departing companions of the incumbent incarnation left on their own terms, without any of them being separated by outside forces.
* BroadStrokes: Most of the classic companions who return in this episode have their post-TARDIS histories treated as blank slates, with many details of their lives given in the ExpandedUniverse ignored including details officially given by Creator/RussellTDavies. Ace's "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor A Charitable Earth]]" foundation is never mentioned, Tegan is single rather than [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresSpecialFarewellSarahJane married to Nyssa]], Mel is inexplicably back on Earth instead of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire traveling with Sabalom Glitz]], and Ian is shown to be an elderly man, as opposed to the implication that his and Barbara's travels in the TARDIS [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor rendered them ageless]].

** Tegan and Ace, for the first time since "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks Resurrection of the Daleks]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival Survival]]" respectively. Likewise, they both are forced to deal with the Master again, who recognizes them.
** The Master, for the first time since "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]", with his henchman being a clone of Ashad, the Lone Cyberman, who last appeared in the same episode. The corpse of the original Ashad is also used by the Master to summon the clone and an army of Cybermen.
** UNIT has been reestablished, with Kate Stewart at the head, since her last appearance in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E6FluxChapterSixTheVanquishers The Vanquishers]]". Vinder also makes his first appearance since that episode, but without Bel, their child or Karvanista this time.

** The First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctors appear as visions to Thirteen after her forced regeneration.
** The Fifth, Seventh, and Fugitive Doctors also appear as talking AI holograms.
** Jo Grant, Mel Bush, and Ian Chesterton are among the members of Graham's society of former companions. For Mel, it's her first TV appearance since "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]"; for Jo, it's her first TV appearance since ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' episode "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor Death of the Doctor]]"; and for Ian it's his first since "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase The Chase]]", back in '''1965''', with a ''57 year gap'' between appearances.[[note]]In fact, William Russell's appearance in this episode genuinely set a Guinness World Record for longest time an actor has gone between appearances as the same character.[[/note]]
** Creator/DavidTennant as... ''The'' '''''Fourteenth''''' ''Doctor''...

** To Ace's past adventures:
*** Upon meeting the Doctor again, she still refers to her as "Professor".
*** She wears her original jacket, then goes to blow up the Daleks with her homemade explosives, and even [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks gets to hit]] ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks yet another]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Dalek with what's mostly likely]] '''''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks the same baseball bat]]'''''...
*** When she meets the Master again, she mentions that the last time they met he was [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival half-cat]].

*** A further parallel to ''Logopolis'': the episode also has a sequence near the beginning where the Doctor explores the Master’s TARDIS, which takes on a police box appearance and drastically different lighting to mock the Doctor.

** The Master demonstrates his ability to hypnotize people by staring into their eyes, a classic trait of Creator/RogerDelgado's version. He even compels one of his victims into repeating his old {{Catchphrase}}. "You are the Master, and I will obey you." Later he inverts Delgado's catchphrase by proclaiming "I am the '''Doctor''' and you will obey me!"

** The Thirteenth Doctor's muttering about a "blossomiest blossom" refers to the Third Doctor's famous speech about the old hermit who lived near and counselled him on Gallifrey in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster The Time Monster]]" (where the Third Doctor referred to "the daisiest daisy").
** Lying in the TARDIS, fatally injured, Thirteen looks up and sees her friends surrounding her; she smiles and whispers, "Extended Fam" just before she passes out. This recalls [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis the Fourth Doctor's dying moments, as he smiles to see his companions (Tegan included) at his side and speaks reassuringly to them]].

--->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays I know these teeth...]]''
* TheCameo: At the ending of the episode Jo Jones (née Grant), Mel Bush and Ian Chesterton appear at the companion support group.
* CatchAFallingStar: Ace parachutes off UNIT headquarters but a Cyberman sees her and shoots her chute full of holes. Just then the TARDIS materializes underneath, on its side with the doors open. Ace falls inside...[[GravityScrew and finds herself standing upright]].

** Tegan, Ace, Mel, and Ian all appear to have aged naturally in the time periods since they stopped travelling with the Doctor. Despite the rumor that [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor Sarah Jane once told Clyde and Rani]], Ian and (presumably) Barbara have ''not'' become TheAgeless.
** No explanation is given for why the mental and hologrammatic images of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctors look much older than they did at the time of their canon regenerations.
** Of course, the Fourteenth Doctor looks slightly older than the Tenth Doctor for this reason.
* ChekhovsGun: One that took almost a decade to fire: in [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], the Eleventh Doctor meets the Curator, who's heavily implied to be a future incarnation who regenerated back into Creator/TomBaker, and is told that he'll find himself revisiting some of "the old favorites" in the coming years. Come this story, and the Thirteenth Doctor regenerates back into Creator/DavidTennant, one of the most popular Doctors since Baker himself.

** UNIT's guns are loaded with gold bullets when fighting the Cybermen, nodding back to both the gold allergy introduced in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen "Revenge of the Cybermen"]] and a scene in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield "Battlefield"]] where the Brigadier explains how UNIT started investing in ammo specifically designed to combat the Doctor's foes. Unfortunately, these Cybermen are more advanced and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver totally immune to both the gold]] ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver and]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver the bullets]].

** Both Tegan and Ace are shocked to see the Master again. The Master, when he sees Tegan, asks her how her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Aunty Vanessa is doing]], while Ace tells him that the last time she saw him he was [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival half-cat]].
** The Master also got into plenty of scrapes with Bridgadier Lethbridge-Stewart, which leads him to spitefully tell Kate that her father was an idiot (getting punched in the face and shot in the back didn't help his opinion).

** The Dhawan Master continues the Simm and Gomez versions' enthusiasm for cheesy pop music, dancing to Music/BoneyM's "Rasputin".
** To empathize with and comfort Tegan, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock the Fifth Doctor correctly guesses her sadness was due to Adric's death]] and tells her "[[CatchPhrase Brave heart]]".

** Tegan, on receiving the shrunken corpse of the Lone Cyberman (which is supposedly a present from the Doctor), says that the Cybermen are "not a fond memory" as far as she's concerned, alluding to how they were responsible for Adric's death. The Fifth Doctor later consoles her over it when appearing via hologram.

** An emergency hologram of the Doctor appears in the TARDIS again, as in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "The Parting of the Ways"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]], and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]].

** The Toraji Transport Network who operate the bullet train appears to be named after the Torajii sun fron Chris Chibnall's first televised Doctor Who story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 42]]".
** Having crashlanded on the Cyber-Moon, Vinder uses the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E3FluxChapterThreeOnceUponTime phone the Doctor left with him]] to try and contact her. He gets Yaz instead.

** No doubt remembering what happened last time she regenerated (and the time before that, and the time before that...) the Doctor parks the TARDIS down on a planet and goes outside to regenerate, rather than risk yet another crash.

** This episode and Sophie Aldred's novel ''At Childhood's End'' are incompatible as both depict Ace meeting Thirteen, Yaz, and Graham for the first time. That said, ''At Childhood's End'' does acknowledge that Ace's personal timeline had [[SchizoContinuity multiple potential futures]], including [[Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine dying young in the comic story "Ground Zero"]].
** The special also contradicts Tegan's fate in Big Finish's audio drama ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho087TheGathering The Gathering]]'', as she was in her mid-40s at the time of that drama, which took place in 2005, and was said to be suffering from a terminal illness. Also the fact that this story establishes she's not seen the Doctor since the 80s. Here, she's in her early 60s and there's no mention of her ever having been ill, much less terminally ill. As for her being in a same-sex relationship with fellow companion Nyssa, as stated in the lockdown special "Farewell, Sarah Jane", this too is contradicted. Tegan is single when the events of "The Power of the Doctor" take place, but mentions that she has been married twice, both times to men.

* CoolTrain: The beginning of the episode features the [=CyberMasters=] attacking a passenger train in space. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E8MummyOnTheOrientExpress It's not the first time that the series has featured a space train, either]].
* CrazyPrepared: UNIT have guns and parachutes hidden in the floors of all their buildings, just in case it gets attacked. Doesn't do them any good, though. Ace also found them, and secretly hid her stuff there, which ends up being slightly more useful.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: Once again the Master interrupts a UNIT briefing, inviting everyone to his seismologist conference.

* EmptyChairMemorial: At the Companions Anonymous meeting there's an empty chair between Jo and Tegan. Fanon is that it's for Sarah Jane Smith; WordOfGod is that it's for Polly, because Anneke Wills had to pull out of shooting late on. There appears to be a laptop on it, implying those who couldn't make it are there through Zoom or such.
* EnergyBeing: The "cargo" from the space train turns out to be a jellyfish-like energy being that the Master imprisons and drains to power his Cyberplanet.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: The Daleks and the Cybermen are just as taken aback by the Master's spontaneous dancing as anyone, silently staring at each other in confusion.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Ace, having a lot of bi subtext already, is appreciative of her Professor's female regeneration.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: After becoming the Doctor, the Master raids their closet and dresses up in a menagerie of incarnations' clothes, wearing the Tenth Doctor's shirt and tie, the Seventh Doctor's question mark pullover and tie, the Fourth Doctor's scarf, the Fifth Doctor's celery stick, and the Thirteenth Doctor's coat. He also has the Second Doctor's recorder. All of this is a clear mockery of the Doctor.
* EvilCounterpart: The Master has always been this, but he's never taken this trope so literally before. He becomes '''''an evil version of the Doctor'''''.

* FlirtingUnderFire: Ace and Graham take time to flirt while fighting Daleks inside an active volcano.

* ForDoomTheBellTolls: The TARDIS' Cloister Bell rings when the Master forces the Doctor to undergo regeneration and again when her actual regeneration begins.

** The energy being that the Master captures from the space train initially appears to be a human child, making itself appear to be something that the viewer would consider vulnerable and in need of protection.
** Tegan and Ace's holograms of the Doctor change from Thirteen to their respective Doctors, Five and Seven.
* FutureMeScaresMe: Yaz is visibly shaken on meeting two former female companions of the Doctor. She doesn't have to be told that this will be her own fate, getting old and abandoned by the one she loves.

* {{Handwave}}: Graham makes a return, but not Ryan (who is apparently also dealing with the various crises that the Master has unleashed, but in Patagonia).

* HopeSpot: The day is saved, the Master thwarted. All the Doctor has to do is get back to the TARDIS and everything'll be fine... then the Master grabs her attention, keeping her still just long enough for the alien that she let loose to inadvertently blast her with enough energy to kill her.
* IJustWantToBeYou: The Master attempts to possess the Doctor and steal her identity (albeit with the same face that he had before). He even begs not to be forced to go back to being himself when this is reversed, and ultimately kills the Doctor because he's not allowed to be her.

-->'''Doctor:''' Now, do I win a prize if I guess how this all fits together or are you just going to tell me why you're grandstanding?
-->'''Master:''' Be patient. We'll get there.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The Doctor's complaint about being forced to regenerate into the Master instead of being allowed to regenerate naturally doubles as a comment about the role of regeneration episodes in the real world: "This is supposed to be handed over, you can't ruin it for the next one." The fact that ''Six'' says this is doubly significant, given that Creator/ColinBaker was fired and he declined coming back to "hand over" the role to Creator/SylvesterMcCoy (who instead {{Fake Shemp}}ed as Six for the regeneration scene at the start of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani "Time and the Rani"]]).
* LuredIntoATrap: The Doctor is understandably dubious that a Dalek wants to turn on the other Daleks, and figures that it might be a trap. It is, but not the one that she thinks. The Dalek in question was genuinely trying to help, but the other Daleks ''knew'' they had turned on them, and were using them as bait to trap the Doctor.

** How Ace and the Seventh Doctor departed is only mildly alluded to, since her departure was never squared away in the televised canon and has received contradictory answers through the ExpandedUniverse. All that's stated is that she and the Doctor had a serious ethical disagreement that led her to leave and that she's regretted it ever since, which echoes how she departed (temporarily, before coming back as her "New Ace" characterization) in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' continuity.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Kate is visibly frightened when strapped into the cyber-conversion chamber, and has a look of fangirl eagerness when invited into the TARDIS for the first time.
* NotWhatISignedOnFor: Dan previously set up plans to go on a date, and put off his plans to keep exploring with the Doctor. When he almost gets shot in the face, the scare rattles him enough to reconsider his priorities, leave the TARDIS and resume his normal life.

* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Thirteen's visions of her past selves all wear Gallifreyan robes, except for...
--> '''Thirteenth Doctor:''' Sorry, why are you not wearing...?\\
'''Eighth Doctor:''' ''(regards his outfit for a moment)'' [[FashionDissonance I don't do robes]].\\
'''Seventh Doctor:''' ''(rolls his eyes)'' There's always ''one''. Has to be "different".\\
'''Eighth Doctor:''' I am a manifestation of our consciousness. I can wear what I ''like''.

* PlugTheVolcano: The Doctor uses the Cyberplanet to do this and create public art at the same time. You're welcome.

** Dan decides to leave the crew near the beginning of the episode, having been spooked by the NearDeathExperience that he underwent whilst on the passenger train. However he turns up at the end as part of Graham's ex-companion support group.

** Ian Chesterton appears alone without his wife and fellow companion Barbara Wright, due to her actress Jacqueline Hill having passed away in 1993.
** Creator/RussellTDavies remarked in an [[https://www.google.com/amp/s/gizmodo.com/doctor-who-david-tennant-regeneration-clothes-bigots-1849780477/amp interview]] that the Doctor's costume changed into a gender-appropriate wardrobe during the regeneration sequence because of the rise of mainstream transphobia in the UK since the late 2010s; consequently, Davies felt that putting Creator/DavidTennant in Creator/JodieWhittaker's outfit would be interpreted by the press as him mocking ''Doctor Who''. Ultimately, this is also a DoubleStandard, because Whittaker got to wear Creator/PeterCapaldi's outfit since a cisgender woman could be seen in it without raising much alarm, and it also ignores that The Master wore her clothes ''in this very episode'' too.[[note]](From a more practical standpoint, Whittaker is 5'6" tall, while Tennant is 6'2"; this would have resulted either in them having to create a version of Whittaker's outfit that would have fit Tennant just for the purposes of one scene, or it would have left Tennant wearing a comically undersized outfit post-regeneration, which would have distracted from the surprise of his return)[[/note]]

* RunningGag: Having never been in the TARDIS before, Kate of course asks, "How is it bigger on the inside?"
* SeriesFauxnale: The future of ''Doctor Who'' was in doubt at the time of Creator/ChrisChibnall's exit as showrunner, with no confirmed successor or direction in place, so this was written under the impression it might be the last ''Doctor Who'' story in the event of a potential third hiatus. It shows, tying up not only many of Thirteen's loose ends, but also connecting more of the modern series to the classic era and providing closure for Doctor and companion arcs dating back to the 1980s, as well as bringing back many fan favourite companions (including one from the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild very first episode]]) and giving them one last day in the limelight, with the episode itself originally rolling the credits before the Doctor's regeneration finished. Eventually, Creator/RussellTDavies was announced to be returning as showrunner and the series would continue on well beyond this point for the foreseeable future.

-->'''Yasmin:''' Just in case you're wondering; all this I'm-messing-with-your-mind chat, I've heard worse on a Friday night in Sheffield.
* TookALevelInBadass: The Cybermen. Not just with the return of the [=CyberMasters=], who can regenerate and stand right back up after being killed, but even the regular Cybermen reveal that they've evolved and adapted past their historical weakness to gold. Even being delivered in the form of bullets doesn't seem to faze them much.

* UnflinchingWalk: Yaz is unfazed by the crumbling planet as she carries the Doctor to safety.

* ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer: When the holo-Doctor approves of Ace's Nitro-999, she snarks that nothing's changed as it's alright to blow stuff up when the Doctor wants it done. The hologram then changes to "The Professor".
-->'''Holo-Seventh Doctor:''' It's never fine to blow stuff up. Sometimes, sadly, it's the only solution. But only after [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou fair warning]].
* WhamEpisode: The Thirteenth Doctor regenerates into.. ''David Tennant''?!
* WhamLine: "I know these teeth..." (rapidly checks self in shock) [[CallBack "What?"]] [[RunningGag "What?!"]] [[RuleOfThree "What!"]]

** The Thirteenth Doctor wakes up in a void and meets someone in Gallifreyan robes. The camera pans up to reveal... the First Doctor (as played by Creator/DavidBradley)!
** As the Doctor has her big regeneration scene, the energy fades. And standing there is not Creator/NcutiGatwa, but instead ''Creator/DavidTennant'', who looks as shocked as the audience is, because he's had this face before!
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It is unclear how the Master masquerading as Rasputin affected the real one. It is unlikely that Rasputin was subject to KillAndReplace, considering his [[RasputinianDeath infamous death in December 1916]] (though the script implied he was the real Rasputin and barely survived the execution). Similarly, the clean-shaven Master in UNIT custody simply vanishes from the plot (though it's implied he travels back in time to become the Rasputin Master).
* WhileRomeBurns: After Yaz takes the TARDIS and does a runner, leaving the Master stranded on an asteroid, he calmly sits down and pulls out the Second Doctor's recorder, playing it while the two planets that he's just ruined burn in front of him.

** The Master drops this almost verbatim when Vinder has his gun on him, reasoning that the Doctor wouldn't have a companion who would go around shooting people. One laser in the shoulder later, and Vinder helpfully informs him that he's not a companion.
** Earlier the Master says this to Yaz when the Doctor tells her to borrow a pistol off a UNIT soldier and keep him covered. He doesn't push his luck though, as [[PlayAlongPrisoner he's not planning to escape yet.]]

The episode starts with the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan receiving an emergency call from a space train owned by the Toraji Transport Network. When they arrived, they discover it's being attacked by [=CyberMasters=], who are trying to capture what appears to be a little girl. Afterwards, Dan decides to leave the TARDIS because he decides adventures in space and time are too dangerous for him because he came within a razor's edge of being killed.

Meanwhile, former companions and allies find themselves drawn into a series of major incidents caused by Dalek occupation in the depths of the Earth, shrunken stiffs who were tectonic experts, a Rasputinian painting defacement debacle and more [=CyberMasters=], with the Master at the helm of it all. He uses his usual brand of murder, sadism and trickery to lure in and ensnare the Doctor into a trap as she tries to free the little girl, revealed to be a psychic alien called a Qurunx that was assuming a form which was the most effective at conveying its distress. Its energy is being siphoned to fire deadly rays across space from a planetoid base on the move.

The Doctor soon discovers the Master's TARDIS, specifically mocking hers, and is quickly cornered by his forces for a diabolical experiment and a victory dance just to rub it in the Doctor's face. Once she cannot fight back, the Master inflicts a wicked, grandiose and self-indulgent fate on her: forced regeneration that overwrites the Thirteenth Doctor's existence into the Master, meaning ''he'' is the Doctor!!

Hope is not lost, however. Thirteen's consciousness remains intact, but on the precipice of no return. If she can fight back, she can stop this deranged Doctor-Master from wreaking havoc on the universe. Fortunately, she has many helpful individuals who've had enough experience to know how to clean house, but at the end of this conflict, there will be more farewells, and one unforseen consequence that cannot be undone.

** As the Doctor has her big regeneration scene, the energy fades. And standing there is... ''Creator/DavidTennant'', who looks as shocked as the audience is, because he's had this face before!