But that\u2019s not all \u2013 some of the Doctor\u2019s more recent allies including Vinder (Jacob Anderson) and UNIT leader Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) were also revealed to be joining the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) once again. And\u00a0that\u2019s<\/em> not all \u2013 the Daleks, the Cybermen and Sacha Dhawan\u2019s brilliant incarnation of the Master were also shown to be returning<\/a>. Clearly, this will be a jam-packed finale episode for Whittaker.<\/p>\n But herein lies a potential issue. While all of these character returns are thrilling for fans, in an episode which should be Whittaker\u2019s final time to shine as the Doctor, it\u2019s possible to get the feeling that Doctor Who\u2019s Centenary special is at risk of being overstuffed.<\/p> This is a problem we\u2019ve seen hit showrunner Chris Chibnall\u2019s Doctor Who before. In last year\u2019s incredibly ambitious six-part story Flux, the show was eventually let down by just how much was crammed into such a small runtime. Flux was a story so complicated, the Doctor herself ended up having to be split into three parts in the finale in order to stand a chance of tying everything up.<\/p>\n Certain plotlines, such as Kate Stewart\u2019s Earth-based struggles against Craig Parkinson\u2019s wonderfully slimy Grand Serpent were, while intriguing, ultimately unnecessary. Even the series\u2019 apparent main villains Swarm and Azure (Sam Spruell and Rochenda Sandall) ended up feeling annoyingly in-the-way and insignificant. Overall, Flux was a series trying to do too much.<\/p>\n By contrast, Chibnall\u2019s era of Doctor Who has arguably been at its strongest in some of its most self-contained stories. Rosa (2018), Resolution (2019), or Nikola Tesla\u2019s Night of Terror (2020) spring to mind as excellent examples of Doctor Who at its best, reminiscent of previous focused Doctor Who successes like 2007\u2019s Blink or 2010\u2019s Vincent and the Doctor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, complex stories such as Flux\u2019s final episode The Vanquishers seem to run away from Chibnall\u2019s control. So is the Centenary at risk of having this happen again?<\/p>\n With so many characters already announced, and an expectation that the episode still hasn\u2019t shown all its cards, it\u2019s difficult to feel confident that the special will do all of its cast justice. It\u2019d be such a shame if so many amazing guest stars and characters are thrown away, especially in Jodie Whittaker\u2019s final episode.<\/p>\n And yet, there is still hope. For starters, it\u2019s worth keeping in mind that Doctor Who has had success in the past with busier, more involved stories. Complex episodes are a part of Doctor Who\u2019s DNA, just as much as the ones that give more time to pause.<\/p>\n Remember, Russell T Davies\u2019 Stolen Earth\/Journey\u2019s End (2008) successfully managed to cram numerous characters from his era of Doctor Who into a fantastic finale of universal proportions. Perhaps this Centenary special also has to risk the traps of being an overly-full finale to create a classic, long-remembered episode.<\/p>\n Plus, given the special\u2019s connection to the 100-year BBC Centenary, you could argue that Chris Chibnall simply has to go bigger and beyond to deliver a celebration of the show\u2019s biggest successes from throughout its history. Daleks, Cybermen, and companions old and new must all be present for this; anything less would be missing the mark.<\/p>\n Part of the joy of Doctor Who today is how large its universe is. Surely it would be wrong to ask for any outgoing showrunner to shy away from celebrating this, even if their track record is less than stellar when it comes to huge finales?<\/p>\n Encouragingly, the BBC has promised this Centenary special episode will be \u2018feature-length\u2019, meaning that unlike Flux\u2019s comparatively short and overstuffed episodes, this more self-contained narrative should have some time for all its moving parts. Perhaps this episode will finally give Chibnall a chance to show us that he can do Doctor Who at its busiest.<\/p>\n So, while there are just causes to be cautious ahead of this Centenary special, it\u2019s probably best to remain optimistic about all it promises to have in store for us. It might still be, as the Doctor would say, brilliant<\/em>.<\/p>\n Doctor Who returns to BBC One this autumn, with previous episodes available to stream now on\u00a0BBC iPlayer<\/a>. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi<\/a> page or our full TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Hannah Watkin Published: Wednesday, 27 April 2022 at 12:00 am In the thrilling trailer for the Doctor Who Centenary special, we discovered a whole host of exciting characters will be joining Jodie Whittaker for her final outing as the Doctor. Chief among those returning? \u201880s companions Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14474,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/is-doctor-whos-centenary-special-already-in-trouble-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Hannah Watkin Published: Wednesday, 27 April 2022 at 12:00 am In the thrilling trailer for the Doctor Who Centenary special, we discovered a whole host of exciting characters will be joining Jodie Whittaker for her final outing as the Doctor. Chief among those returning? \u201880s companions Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Ace (Sophie Aldred),…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/ace-tegan-doctor-who-faf3133.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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