Looking Back at Doctor Who: Revelation

JACK MURRAY-BELL LOOKS RESPECTIVELY, FROM AN IN-UNIVERSE PERSPECTIVE, AT DOCTOR WHO’SS ECOND MOVIE FROM 2007

Hello and welcome to the next instalment of my lookback on the movies, this time, we'll be looking at Doctor Who: Revelation.

Let's start by going over my history with this movie. By 2007, I was already becoming a fan of Doctor Who, and I was really excited when I learned that a movie would be coming out, so my mum took me to see it, since the 12A certificate was thankfully well established by this point. I remember loving the movie when I first saw it. I later bought the Revelation DVD when it came out.

Now let's get on to the review.

The opening titles are pretty cool. While we don't get anything too exciting, I love how the combination of the music and the shot from within the hangar of a ship heading to Gallifrey gives off a tense atmosphere. Thankfully, the yellow version of the then Chapter Three logo is less of an eyesore this time.

So, the plot for the movie is okay. The concept of the Master making one last attempt to take back Gallifrey is good, but I would say that it needed a lot of work. For starters: why exactly did the Master want the Sash of Rassilon? Seriously, how does getting the sash help you become president? It's used in that ceremony when a Time Lord becomes president, but you don't become president just by stealing it. Wouldn't it have made more sense to hold the capital hostage and hold an illegitimate ceremony. Secondly: you kidnap your enemies and you don't try to kill them? Come on, Master, you have the freaking Lord President and some of his staff in your grasp, this is no time to gloat. There were so many better ways they could have gone about this plot.

Another problem I had with the plot was the padding. The virtual simulations could have been interesting, but they're just dull and not even remotely fun, then of course we have the big space battle, which starts out really well, but soon drags on for far too long … fifteen minutes … FIFTEEN MINUTES!!! Are you serious? A space battle in Star Wars doesn't drag on for this long. However, there are some things I did like.

Geoffrey Bayldon is once again amazing as The Master; being both intimidating and creepy while still having the character traits that have been consistent across all his incarnations.

The rest of the cast also do an amazing job as always with Anthony Head giving a great final performance as the Eleventh Doctor.

The ending scene served as a good end to the era, and you felt really happy seeing the Doctor 'finally' being able to travel again … however, a certain spin-off that started in 2020 has completely ruined this ending for me.

And of course there’s that amazing twist with the reveal that the Master we've been following is right before Delgado, though if the Time Lord judge from The War Games is also the Master, how come we never saw his face show up during the mind-bending contest.

The visual and special effects for this movie hold up really well, with my favourite effect being how they managed to make David Paymer look like Delgado. Also loved how the Doctor regenerated while walking.

John Debney once again provides a brilliant score, as he's done for the show. This movie also has one of my favourite renditions of the Doctor Who theme; managing to give off a creepy, John Carpenter-esque vibe.

Graeme Harper is in the director's chair this time and … it's Graeme Harper, the direction is good. Trust me, I'd just be repeating what fans have said for years.

Also since it debuted here, I'll give my thoughts on the Twelfth Doctor's console room: I like it. It's not too overcrowded, the lighting's just right and I get a warm, homely feel from this one. Also, I just can't bring myself to hate this interior, it was my first interior, so I'm nostalgic.

Overall, Doctor Who: Revelation is a pretty decent second outing for the movie franchise. Next time, I'll be looking at my personal favourite movie in the franchise: Doctor Who: Vengeance.

FACT CHECKER

Despite Jack's assertion that the 15 m inute space battle is too long and longer than Star Wars, I've done some research revealing that the average space battle length in Star Wars (from beginning to end, including other scenes intercut with it, just like Revelation) is 20 minutes. Episode 1's lasts for 16 minutes, Episode 3's for 22 minutes, Rogue One's for 27 minutes, Episode 4's for 12 minutes, Episode 6's for 29 minutes, Episode 7's for 21 minutes, Episode 8's for 12 minutes and Episode 9's for 26 minutes.