If there’s anything that draws wayward eyeballs back to Doctor Who, fans who have perhaps given up following the show’s every new adventure, it’s a regeneration episode. Right up there with round-number anniversary specials and holiday specials, they’re sure to reel in even the casually curious. And if you have a regeneration episode that coincides with either a round-number anniversary or a holiday special? That probably means even more curious viewers sampling the Doctor’s adventures than usual.
The Power Of The Doctor was already known to be the episode in which Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the Doctor on a regular, ongoing basis, would be bowing out, and it also coincided with the BBC’s centenary celebratory programming – as if it was a tacit admission that, no matter how aghast certain high-ranking members of BBC management past or present might view it, Doctor Who is one of the BBC’s more enduring contributions to popular entertainment and television over a century of broadcasting. (Spoiler: Doctor Who is, in fact, one of the BBC’s more enduring contributions to popular entertainment and television over a century of broadcasting.) This special automatically ticked two of the boxes right there.
Instead of blowing everyone’s speakers out, Segun Akinola – the show’s resident composer since 2018 – exhibits remarkable restraint, opting for ominous undertones and subtlety instead of trying to top “Vale Decem”. The score gets plenty of moments in the show’s sound mix to stand alone, but listening to the entire thing on its own gives one an appreciation for the somewhat doom-laden atmosphere of the music, and the sonic textures that accomplish that feel. After the boisterous beginning that accompanies a Cyber-Lord train heist (and naturally, it’s a space train), things quiet down a bit into a more ominous whole-note mode as the story’s various players move into place. Several of the tracks top six minutes, and considering that the special itself had an 87-minute runtime, with a 77-minute soundtrack, it’s clear that the music was expected to do a lot of heavy lifting. (And keep in mind, of the ten minutes not covered by Akinola’s score, there’s at least a minute or so of Boney M’s “Rasputin”, not included on this soundtrack.)
The soundtrack worked exceptionally well as part of the show, but depending on your mood, may or may not make an ideal listening experience on its own. (I like it quite a bit, but the abundance of slower pieces may not be to everyone’s taste.) The highlights include the opening volley of “You Shall Not Disrupt Our Mission” and the more contemplative “We Are Not Finished”, the accompaniment for the scene where the Doctor talks to past incarnations. The regeneration scene itself, “She’s The Doctor”, loops around to the theme Akinola established for Whittaker’s Doctor in 2018, but played out in a grand, momentous fashion, tying off her era of the show beautifully and triumphantly. “She’s The Doctor” indeed: yes, she was, and it was better than some awfully loud corners of fandom gave it credit for.
One of the things I’m least excited about with the return of Russell T. Davies as Doctor Who’s showrunner is the exit of Segun Akinola as the series composer in favor of Murray Gold, his predecessor. Not that there’s anything wrong with Gold, but Akinola’s music was so fascinatingly different from Gold’s sound, and after 12 years of that sound, Akinola was a much-needed change of pace and style. But apparently it’s been decided that we need to snap back to the show’s past – and as much as I try to hope that Doctor Who will only go from strength to strength, I can’t help but worry about what seems like a desire to change back for a show that has changing and moving forward in its DNA. Whether or not this particular score is the best specimen of it is open to debate, but I’ll miss Segun Akinola’s music for Doctor Who tremendously.
- You Shall Not Disrupt Our Mission (6:54)
- We Should Go In (2:52)
- Why Would I Ever Trust You? (6:59)
- Dealing with Multiple Somethings (6:37)
- Magnificent Attention to Detail (3:19)
- A Calculated Risk (5:40)
- Say Hello to My Friends (4:34)
- I Am The Doctor (2:36)
- We Are Not Finished (6:01)
- What’s The Plan? (7:46)
- Reunite (7:16)
- All Hands On Deck (3:29)
- Activate Everything (6:11)
- She’s The Doctor (7:19)
Released by: Silva Screen Records
Release date: December 16, 2022 (digital) / January 13, 2023 (CD)
Total running time: 77:33
