The Power of Three

"Invasion of the very small cubes."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 22 September 2012

Series: 7.04

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

There have been ways to invade Earth, and the Doctor has seen them all – or so he always thought. And then the human race wakes up one morning and discovers the world has been overrun by small cubes, which then proceed to do nothing at all. A plan is afoot, humanity is endangered but by what, and how, and above all, when? The Year of the Slow Invasion has thus begun. 

Verdict

The Power of Three was a great episode to continue the modern era rewatch with Series 7! Whilst this series is spread out in two parts, they do have a distinct feeling of being separate and with that in mind we reach the penultimate episode for Amy and Rory. My partner Gemma hadn’t quite realised how quickly we have reached this point and she was quick to comment on the amount of foreshadowing in this episode. That was really good and whilst I’m not a huge fan of Amy and Rory preferring the mundane reality of a normal life to that of the TARDIS, it’s good to build towards their departure. Rory in particular really does seem disinterested in the Doctor’s lifestyle now and much more interested in his own job. Given his profession and the way he can help people that’s understandable, but he feels like he’s doing it in an on the nose way. He’s almost confrontational towards the Doctor when he’s annoyed at the slowness of real life which felt a little off. I wasn’t a huge fan, but at the same time I can appreciate the injection of realism. The concept of a slow invasion is really good and the simplicity of numerous black cubes all bearing the same look and physical makeup was fantastic. They just come and do nothing. And that frustrated the Doctor spectacularly. I thought this was a stellar performance from Matt Smith as the Doctor because he was able to go from the frustration of waiting around for the cubes to do something, to then confronting the Shakri in defiant defence of the human race. I think this story could have done with being a two-parter in all honesty as it does feel that we don’t enough time with the Shakri as by the time they’re revealed it’s time to defeat them! I loved how the Doctor thought they were a myth and actually used as a bedtime threat for the Time Lord children. His quick retort about the werewolf in your grandma’s dress for Little Red Riding Hood was excellent. I thought the debut of Kate Stewart here was wonderful and it’s so fun to rewatch this after seeing how far she has come with the Doctor now. Hell, she’s head of UNIT at a time where we’re getting them involved in a brand new spinoff series! She looks so young here as the Head of Science, but she holds her own with the Doctor. They honour the Brigadier spectacularly and I like how she is amazed by how good the Doctor is. I mean that’s understandable given that the Doctor essentially resurrects a third of the human race! The purpose of the cubes in causing cardiac problems was brutal but it provided strong comedy when one of the Doctor’s hearts stopped. That was tremendous. I thought the conclusion was a little quick but it was rather triumphant also for the human race to walk again. That wouldn’t be a contagion destroyed before they could colonise space as the Shakri wanted. Overall, a great episode! 

Rating: 8/10