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DOCTOR WHO IS BACK... MAYBE

6/1/2020

14 Comments

 
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I'm not sure I've ever written about Doctor Who on here. Growing up, it was in many ways the one nerdy genre thing it wasn't remotely acceptable to like. I never got any stick for being a Star Wars fan, but liking Doctor Who was akin to admitting you were in an unrequited relationship with a drain.

In short: being a Doctor Who fan was profoundly embarrassing. 

I get it. I mean, I've always been acutely aware of the show's flaws. Doctor Who - in its original 1963 - 1989 incarnation - was largely terrible; impenetrable storytelling, slow-paced stories, homespun production values, flat characterisation. It's almost impossible to defend loving something so, frankly, bad. Yet love it I did, for reasons I actually struggle to put into words, but can best liken to adopting a badly damaged orphan.

Don't get me wrong; some of the stories it told were near perfect - I'll defend City of Death, Remembrance of the Daleks, and An Unearthly Child until I'm blue in the groin - but alongside that you got Timelash, Delta And The Bannermen, and The Trial of a Timelord. 

Weirdly, I somehow have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the show despite struggling to make it through an entire serial since the original broadcast. You can put that down to being a subscriber to Doctor Who Magazine for as long as I can remember, reading the novels and associated reference books, and listening to Big Finish audio dramas.

When I bought the DVDs, it would be the special features I'd turn to first. How they made the show - with such limited resources - was often more fascinating to me than the actual show itself. I wanted to know how they'd conjure an entire universe from a sprinkle of imagination, a couple of washing-up bottles, and some bubblewrap. I probably wouldn't be doing the job I do now if it wasn't for DWM's behind-the-scenes articles. It was one of the only publications that managed to demystify screenwriting and TV production, and democratised it for all.

I think, perhaps, like many Doctor Who fans, I mostly loved the show's potential. As an idea, it's brilliant. Its mythos is equally genius and bonkers. Its visuals are iconic. And when it came back with Russell T. Davies at the helm, we finally got a show that lived up to the promise of its original run; it understood how ridiculous Doctor Who was and should be, but imbued it with more heart than it ever had in the entirety of its first incarnation.

What's more, when Moffat took over, I loved the intricacy of the storytelling and his wit, the cleverness of his ideas, and Matt Smith remains my favourite Doctor. It felt simultaneously right and wrong to have a version of Doctor Who that was consistently good, and enjoyed by almost everyone.
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BOIL
Admittedly, my love has gone off the boil a bit in recent years. I wasn't sure about the final series of Capaldi's run. There were highlights, and the performances were largely strong (though I wished they'd kept the rude, crotchety, Doctor from his first series), but I missed the sense of a larger, epic, storyline that we got during the Matt Smith years.

Like many, I did question whether Moffat was burnt out and overstretched from pulling double duty on both Who and Sherlock.

The time-spanning epicness was something I also missed during Jodie Whittaker's first series, with Chris Chibnall in charge. I thought casting a female Doctor had to be done, yet it still took me by surprise how little difference it made to the character. Whittaker just was a Doctor, albeit one hewn from the bones of Tennant. I guess there was a degree of playing it safe, but I sorely hope that the current regeneration finds a distinct voice soon. 

However, the stories in that first Whittaker series felt small and inconsequential to me. They seemed more serious, by and large, than we'd gotten before. I missed an arc, something which had become part of the show's format since it returned. I felt three companions was too many, and didn't leave room sufficient room for everyone. No returning monsters - barring a Dalek in the New Year's Day special - felt like a misstep which alienated (hilarious pun intended) the hardcore fans.

Consequently, as we approached New Year's Day 2020, for the first time ever I wasn't particularly looking forward to a new series of Doctor Who. I even wondered whether it was time to give the show a rest.

And I admit, I didn't love the first episode of this latest series either, though the final five minutes, with the reveal of The Master's return, gave me some hope that Chibnall was ready to start dipping back into the Doctor Who toy box. 

​And that hope paid off in episode two; it feels, at last, like Doctor Who is back on telly.
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A MESS
Don't get me wrong: Spyfall Part 2, narratively speaking, was kind of a glorious mess. It was all over the place - I didn't really understand the alien plot or its resolution - but it had energy, and pace, and epicness. It had a pair of laser shoes. It didn't take itself too seriously, plus it embraced the mythos - and then some - and more than hinted at a meaty arc for this series. It had a returning villain who hammed it up beautifully, even if I am disappointed by the reversal of the Capaldi years' development of Missy's character.

It kind of ticked all the boxes for what I want from Doctor Who, and at this point I'll take what I can get. Admittedly, it didn't quite reach the heights of the Davies and Moffat eras - yet - but it was a huge step in the right direction.

Besides, for me, the show should never be perfect - it should be careening all over the place, throwing ideas at the page and not bothering to hang around to see what sticks. Doctor Who is at its best when it's embracing nonsense and its own inherent absurdity.

I mean, that's why the outcry - albeit a rather impotent one - over the Doctor regenerating into a woman was so absurd. This is a show about an alien who lives in a phonebox that's bigger on the inside, who changes their appearance entirely every few years. Since the very start it has been necessary to suspend disbelief. It's meant to be ridiculous.

Arguing that such a move betrays the show is pointless, because it assumes there has been some sort of logic integral to its DNA, when Doctor Who's entire format is about the times it goes off-piste, and takes the audience by surprise. It's fantasy far more than it is science-fiction. Any objection to a female Doctor is rooted in misogyny, whether the individual is aware of that or not. 

So. We'll see. I want this run to succeed. I want the series to continue to have legs for years to come. I want Whittaker to become as iconic as every other Doctor. And I want Doctor Who back appealing to the entire family, as the most ludicrous, funny, exciting, thought-provoking, and heartfelt show on British television. 

That, for me, has always been Doctor Who: it felt like it could never have been made anywhere but Britain, a show that is entirely ours. We should never be embarrassed of Doctor Who, but proud that something so stupid should have this much longevity.
14 Comments
Flux
6/1/2020 11:34:21 am

I get a strange feeling Beanus could be perfect in Dr Who, although more as the Masters latest army of clones, but we can always intro the character in lovely ways, warming the audience up to him (like Nardol, or just warm like beans as London drowns in bean-juice)

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Alastair
6/1/2020 08:51:03 pm

Beanus in an update of the Happiness Patrol, with the Beeb and Biffo quickly sued by Heinz afterwards.

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Colm
6/1/2020 11:59:11 am

Nice review.

I tuned out a few episodes into Whitaker’s run. As you said, it all felt inconsequential and a bit dull. I loved the Smith-Gillan run the most: barmy, epic, intricate sci-fi. Chibnall seemed to have no interest in sci-fi, and his over-crowded tardis felt screechy and desperate.

It bugs me that I tuned out during the first female Doctor, and I feel the need to constantly defend myself that my reasons were because of the quality of the show.

Hopefully it’ll pick up. A return to its sci-fi roots, together with some barmy lore, would tempt me back.

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Adam
6/1/2020 10:03:34 pm

This mirrors my experience pretty much exactly. I had watched every episode of Nu Who but packed it in after about four episodes of the last series. It all just felt a bit pointless suddenly. Whittaker was the best thing about it, but even she felt a bit lightweight. Like you, I hated abandoning it just when they'd got a female Doctor (which I was fully supportive of) but there's so much other stuff to watch these days, and DW just wasn't cutting the mustard. Not sure I'll ever go back to it now. Shame.

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CJJC
6/1/2020 12:35:30 pm

I, too, am a Matt Smith guy. Would definitely not have expected a Doctor who debuted when I was 33 to become top of the pops.

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Handsome Crab
6/1/2020 12:42:33 pm

"Any objection to a female Doctor is rooted in misogyny, whether the individual is aware of that or not. "

Come on.

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Kensei
6/1/2020 01:21:35 pm

The female switch killed it for me, for entirely stupid reasons. Since 6 years old I deep down wanted to be the Doctor. Not Superman, not Batman, the Doctor. He was the nerdy kid superhero. But now the Doctor isn't like me anyone, and it just changed my relationship to the show. This is immensely stupid for a 37 year old man, and I freely admit that. I don't think it's a betrayal / end times / liberalism gone mad, I just feel different about it.

Secondly, I like shows that have some sort of commitment to continuity and internal consistency, and this is just the thing that has made me realise that all the time theorising about plots etc is pointless, because they make shit up and throw it at the wall, largely. For the record, Star Trek Discovery equally winds me up for changing the Klingons in a prequel series for no goddam reason.

Like, the first female Doctor shouldn't be another Doctor. How they act after being male for however many thousand years should be in there. How various places treat them and how they solve problems given new constraints should be in there. Otherwise, why bother?

Probably decent reviews would have enticed me back, but basically everything I read on the last series said it was dull.

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MENTALIST
7/1/2020 01:49:00 pm

Oh, come off it. The Klingons have changed several times. Enterprise even dedicated a storyline to trying to reconcile the differences.

All Discovery did was make a group of radical cultists shave their heads all the time, and after the war in season 2, they've even let them start growing it again.

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Kensei
7/1/2020 06:22:47 pm

Original to movies/TNH get a pass because they couldn't do the makeup.

But like, they spent all that time coming up for an in universe explanation and then just threw it out cos... Like they were meant to be predators and have senses there or something.

Discovery is a hot mess in so many other ways though.

Sedric-and-Charlie
6/1/2020 04:06:21 pm

Basically everything in Doctor Who that can't be traced back to those first four episodes in '63 is the writers makeing shit up as they go along. We only have regeneration at all because Hartnell was getting ill and that was a more elegant solution than having a yellow peril stereotype magically turn him into someone else. Ergo I can't be bothered with anyone insisting having a female Doctor is not "true to the show" or whatever. Honestly I think Whittaker's been cracking so far

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Mr.S
6/1/2020 05:46:16 pm

Mr.J (the wife) is a big fan of classic Who (although the original run ended just after his escape from the womb).
It seems he shares a lot of your opinions on the subject too, I’ve seen so many of those ‘making of’ videos on YouTube and the DVD extras!
But I do struggle with some of the longer classic serials due to my awful attention span!

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Lummox60N
6/1/2020 07:23:23 pm

I have to admit, I entirely tuned out during Capaldi's tenure. He SHOULD have been a great doctor, the first series highlighted his potential, but the storylines, and the character, just faded into blandness.
I gave the first season of Jodie a go, enjoyed what I saw, but, like you, felt that the sci-fi didn't quite work.
The first ep of the new series ignited a spark of hope...I'm yet to see the next, I've been side-tracked by The Witcher. Which is, it has to be said, a lot like Doctor Who in that it's all over the fucking shop temporally-speaking.

I've got nowt to add beyond that.
Wasn't Monday nice? No, you're right, it wasn't.

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Robobob
6/1/2020 07:57:01 pm

I gave the Whittaker era the first few episodes of the last series and tuned out. I thought I'd try again with Spyfall parts 1 and 2, mainly because it got trailed a lot and the rest of the New Year TV was rubbish.

But I'm afraid it hasn't changed my mind.

It's not about Whittaker, who is entirely...ok as the Doctor. She is neither a brilliant Doctor nor an awful Doctor. Just...ok.

But incredibly she's still far and away the best thing about the whole mess. The other companions are utterly rubbish, the plots are somehow simultaneously extremely basic yet incomprehensible because they just...don't make sense, the dialogue is drivel and there is far too much rambling exposition that breaks the whole "show, don't tell" rule of thumb.

The two halves of the story seemed almost entirely different episodes with the flimsiest of join. The first episode wasn't too bad and introduced some interesting aliens trying to invade the universe, but the second one was awful and pivoted to an almost entirely unrelated "make people into hard drives" sub-plot that was revealed and defeated almost in the same breath by JW just...saying things, except back in time, or something.

Like most here I think it peaked with the Smith-Gillan era, it was definitely my era. Maybe JW would be remembered as a great Doctor if she had the stories and writing of that era. Ditto Capaldi for that matter too, who was perfect for the role and should have been a great Doctor but basically just came to it too late, after it'd gone over the top and began only heading down, unfortunately.

The only thing I can really get on board with now is the revamped theme tune which sounds much more like the very early series. That's pretty cool.

If other people can find more to like about it than I do that's great - it's just not for me any more, sadly.

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THX 1139
7/1/2020 12:51:38 pm

Liking the Matt Smith appreciation, he kind of gets forgotten, but he's been my favourite of the new version, and I do like seeing how his career has gone from strength to strength, because he seems genuinely nice - same for Karen Gillan.

I had reservations about a female Doctor, but once Jodie was cast I realised I was just being silly, and I liked that they felt brave enough not to fall back on old villains for her first series, some of those episodes were real quality, like the Scandinavian one. That said, I did get a thrill out of the homemade Dalek episode, it reminded me of the things in the Doctorin' the Tardis video.

But grumbles about Doctor Who have always been with us, it's such a fun programme to discuss, it's like James Bond in that way. Even if there's a duff episode, there's no way I'm not watching the next. It is, as you say, a brilliant idea. Plus I'm intrigued by these new, ruthless Cybermen we're promised.

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