Four episodes down, one to go, and finally we get to spend a bit more time with the Ponds. But lest we forget that this is a Chris Chibnall episode, and there's yet to be a truly great one. Okay I'm selling Power of Three a bit short there, because compared to Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, Three is an absolute masterpiece. In truth there's lots to like here, especially for long time fans of the show, but childish antics from the Doctor early on and an underdeveloped third act make Three another disjointed mess.
For the second episode running, we start here with a somewhat pointless voice-over. Last week it was the little girl who had absolutely nothing to do with anything, this week it's the turn of Amy Pond, spelling out that what we already know or that what is happening on screen. Before the opening credits have even rolled, all intrigue surrounding the little black cubes has been eliminated, for as Amy so pointedly tells us, this is the year of the slow invasion.
But of course, this is Doctor Who. We could guess that little black boxes appearing all over earth has something to do with an alien invasion. Cue: the Doctor. But this is the year of the slow invasion. The answers aren't coming thick and fast here, and while it presents a refreshing change of pace for the show, by the time the ball does get rolling there is little reason left to care. Three is an episode of two halves: one part Doctor Who, one part day time soap opera; and while both have their merits the two halves don't compliment each other, and both suffer from some questionable writing.
First up, it's the return of Pond Life, Chibnall's five minute 'prequel' to the series, which, as usual, became less about the Ponds, more about the Doctor. And there's something about Chibnall's Doctor that makes me feel like I'm too old for this show now; for while it will undoubtedly get a raise out of the younger audience, a rapping, surf-boardng, fence-painting, Wii-playing, football bouncing Doctor makes me cringe. We get it. He doesn't do well with the mundane. He's a man out of his element. But somehow, not even Russell T Davies's attempts at making the Doctor relatable to the kids were this out of character.
Thankfully the Doctor of old is back before too long, and in more way than one with the added presence of U.N.I.T and, in a welcome throwback to the classics, a Lethbridge-Stewart. But now we enter the disjointed second half, and one where the title - The Power of Three - should really come into it's own, but doesn't. As the Doctor points out, the three refers to himself, Amy and Rory, but here's where you realise that despite being set on their home turf, once again Amy and Rory just don't do anything. As the Doctor faces off against a projection of the episodes' big bad, Amy and Rory are given the challenging task of rescuing Rory's father, which they presumably perform admirably, off-screen. Earlier on in the episode it wasn't the Doctor, Amy and Rory who studied the cubes, it was the Doctor, Amy, Rory, Brian and U.N.I.T. Maybe if the number had further resonance in the episode; if, say, the cubes had counted down from three instead of seven, the title might have held more relevance, but as it stands these last four episodes haven't done much in convincing us that there is any more power within their trinity than any of the Doctor's previous companions. Presumably we're in for a major revelation next week that will forever change the status-quo, but by that time will it be too little, too late?
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