The Power of the Doctor

The real Rasputin, also known as “the mad monk”, was a mystic and holy man who befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II, gaining a great deal of influence over ...

There was even a brief window of time when “The Power of the Doctor” might not have been Rasputin’s first Doctor Who appearance on screen- and as we’ve already mentioned, this story would have seen Rasputin revealed to be a rogue Time Lord in disguise. The Third Doctor encounters Rasputin a good deal later down the timestream in the novel, The Wages of Sin, by David A. [“The Time Meddler”](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Time_Meddler_(TV_story))). (To be clear, this joke was written before the author had actually seen “The Power of the Doctor” – that’s how obvious it is that he’s One priest, named Iliodor, was part of a group of figures who tried to drive a wedge between Rasputin and the royal family. In this story, the Doctor’s companion Jo Grant meets Rasputin and finds him to be a pretty sound bloke, but to protect the time stream Liz Shaw still gives him Prince Felix’s dinner invitation anyway. Only a few years after that, one of his followers waited outside Rasputin’s home and stabbed him in the stomach. He was accused of spreading heresy, and was denounced by the local clergy. [The Power of the Doctor](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-the-power-of-the-doctor-review/)”, you can’t accuse it of not having enough ideas. It’s the kind of reputation that gets a person enemies, and the intrigue around Rasputin soon grew dangerous. Here's who the real-life Rasputin was, and his previous adventures in the Whoniverse. Others suspected he was a con-man who’d talked himself into the highest halls of power.