‘THE POWER OF THREE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Cubes with the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory

I really like this ‘Doctor Who’ episode featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. This happens to be Chris Chibnall’s second contribution to Series 7, since his first one was ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’.

This is an earthbound story focusing on Amy and Rory’s ordinary life with the Doctor popping in and out now and again. It happens during the slow invasion of the cubes that appear everywhere on Earth.

This is a character-driven episode for Amy and Rory, which I’ve enjoyed and found to be very good. This episode portrays Amy and Rory in a broader light and I’ve appreciated them more as characters after this episode.

Matt Smith, Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill give brilliant performances as the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. They work well as a trio, and you can see how they enjoy being with each other in this episode.

My favourite scenes in this episode are with the Doctor who gets easily bored when waiting for something to happen with the cubes. He finds himself still in Amy and Rory’s lounge as this happens.

The Doctor tries to be busy with kicking a football; mowing the lawn in the garden; hoovering the house; sorting out the car; etc. He does all this in one hour and becomes bored again, which is funny.

I loved it when the Doctor treats Amy and Rory to a wedding anniversary present at the Savoy Hotel, which gets invaded by Zygons. Also, when Amy accidentally agrees to marry Henry VIII was funny.

I enjoyed it when Amy, Rory and the Doctor enjoy eating their fish fingers and custard whilst they watch ‘The Apprentice’ with Alan Sugar on TV. It was a nice moment seeing this TARDIS trio together.

I also love that scene between the Doctor and Amy when they talk about whether she and Rory will be staying on Earth permanently or not. It’s a lovely character scene between the Doctor and Amy.

Mark Williams returns as Rory’s dad, Brian Williams. I like Mark’s performance as Brian and love his character. I wish we could have seen more of Brian in the series with the Doctor; Amy and Rory.

I love Brian’s daily log on the cubes and it was funny when Brian gets asked to stay in the TARDIS to watch the cubes. Four days later, he’s still in the TARDIS when the Doctor, Amy and Rory find him.

Jemma Redgrave makes her first appearance as Kate Stewart, daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. Kate is in charge of U.N.I.T’s scientific division and works on the ‘slow invasion’ of the cubes.

Steven Berkoff guest stars as the alien Shakri of Time Lord legend. The Shakri was interesting behind the slow invasion, although he appears briefly in the climax of the episode which was disappointing.

The episode ends on a high where Brian allows Amy and Rory to go off in the TARDIS to travel with the Doctor after the slow invasion is over. This shows how Amy and Rory love being with the Doctor.

This adventure marks how Amy and Rory have the Doctor as part of their lives and how they are part of his. It’s a lovely piece of well-written drama and provides an interesting side to Amy and Rory.

The DVD/Blu-ray special features for this episode are as follows. There’s the ‘A Writer’s Tale’ behind-the-scenes featurette.

‘The Power of Three’ rating – 9/10

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The previous story For the Eleventh Doctor was ‘Pond Life’ (Webcast) For Amy was ‘A Town Called Mercy’ (TV) For Rory was ‘A Town Called Mercy’ (TV)	The next story For the Eleventh Doctor is ‘Sleepers In The Dust’ (Audio) For Amy is ‘Sleepers In The Dust’ (Audio) For Rory is ‘Sleepers In The Dust’ (Audio)
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