Doctor Who
Oct. 24th, 2022 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llywelaSo. Doctor Who. End of an era, and all that.
Oh my.
I have a lot of thoughts and I have a lot of feelings. Some of them are good and some of them are bad.
I want to focus on the good.
So for the bad, I will simply say that this regeneration episode was very typical of Chris Chibnall. Kind of encapsulated his entire era. Nothing made sense, including most of the character motivations. If you stop to examine any part of the plot for even a second, it all falls apart. It was a mess, an overblown mess. Less is more, and I really wish that Doctor Who writers understood that.
And what kind of an exit was that for not one but two companions? Dan kind of just wandered off right at the start of the episode, in much the same way that he just wandered into the story when he first arrived. He was likeable enough, but never more than a cipher. Never more than a placeholder. He spent more time with Yaz than with the Doctor, though (they spent literal years together, trapped in the past) so it was fitting that Yaz was the one he actually said a proper goodbye to. And Yaz! What kind of exit was that for such a long-running companion? How was that the culmination of her story? Has Chibnall never, in fact, heard of a meaningful character arc? Yaz came aboard all ambition, abandoned all that ambition in favour of being with the Doctor, has been shown to be *so very devoted*, it's like, her most defining character trait, and then she just…left. Because she and the Doctor both simply took it for granted, without question, that Yaz couldn't or wouldn't stay once the Doctor regenerated? No explanation or actual character motivation offered, whatsoever.
And it means that after 17 years of New Who, we still haven't seen either a companion or a Doctor straddling the eras of different head writers, which I have wanted ever since Smith.
Also – hey look, there's Chris Chibnall sidelining the Doctor in her own story, yet again. He's done it too many times now.
How many UNIT soldiers died in this episode, exactly? And how many were killed by Kate Stewart and Tegan collapsing the building on top of them, instead of by the Cybermen? (RIP, new UNIT base, we hardly knew you). And how is collapsing the building on top of the Cybermen supposed to destroy them anyway, given that a) they are Cybermen, and b) they can now regenerate? (A plot detail I would really like to forget about, thanks.) And how exactly did Kate and Tegan escape intact, when no one else did?
Shouldn't Kate Stewart have been prepared for the inside of the TARDIS and known what to expect, even if she hasn't actually seen it before?
There is a lot more I could rant about, but I did say I wanted to focus on the good. So here are some things that I liked.
There were some really lovely little moments tucked away here and there through the episode, amid all the frenetic chaos. Every single one of them would have landed better if they'd all been given more room to breathe, but they were genuinely lovely, nonetheless.
I can forgive a lot for a good team-up, and – as long as you don't, you know, think about the plot or the details in any way whatsoever – that was a good team-up. A good team-up in the sense that we got to see a whole bunch of characters from different eras all interacting and working together, and I do always like that. I'm a sucker for a crossover.
I liked seeing Tegan and Ace again. I liked that Tegan was still spiky and Ace was still spunky. I liked that Tegan and Ace had clearly met independently some time ago, and teamed up to investigate weird things, because, knowing what they know, why not? I like the idea of UNIT recruiting former companions as freelancers, too, because it makes perfect sense to make use of that experience and expertise.
I like that it was Graham who finally set up a support group for ex-companions, because of course he did, he had the best characterisation of all Chibnall's companions and that was totally in-character. And I liked how random it was that he was in the volcano in Bolivia with Ace! Ties in with his last episode, when he talked to Ryan about investigating weird things off their own bat.
I loved that we got to see so many former companions on our screens again in the main show, even if only the tiniest glimpse. Jo Grant! Mel! IAN! I've longed to see Ian again for so very long, William Russell is 97 now, this might well be the last chance, and if Ian couldn't get to meet the Doctor again, at least he got to meet other companions and hear all their stories, and find out what a massive impact he and Barbara had on the Doctor, since it was 100% their influence that made him the hero he became. Seeing all those companions again meant so much, a proper on-screen acknowledgement that they existed, they were important, both to the Doctor and to the show, because they helped to build the legacy that has carried the show for so many years.
(I continue to wish that we'd had a scene like this years ago, when more of the former companions were still with us)
And while I disliked seeing the Doctor sidelined in her own show yet again, I did love that the companions – old and new – stepped up to be the heroes when she couldn't be, which is a powerful message to send. The New Who era has emphasised the legend of the Doctor so much, has built the character up so much – the Last of the Time Lords, the Lonely God, the Timeless Child, etc. But my favourite version of the Doctor has always been the Gallifreyan dropout who did badly in school and ran away to see the universe, and then learned compassion from a pair of human schoolteachers, and learned that lesson so well that they became a hero, simply because they realised that they could. Because that version of the Doctor reminds us that anyone can be the hero. Reminds us that the Doctor's companions aren't inherently special, either (Only takes the best? No. Inspires people to *be* the best). The Doctor's former companions are just people who happened to meet the Doctor, and learned from that experience and from that example, just as the Doctor learned from Ian and Barbara. Anyone can step up. Anyone could be capable of making those hard choices, if pressed.
Any one of us could be the Doctor's companion, in the right place or time.
And that's what has always made the Doctor special, right at the core of the character – the friendships they form, the way they inspire others to be the best they can be. That love and that hope have always been the heart of the show, and I love that this episode encapsulated that, even if the plot was a bit rubbish.
And that, of course, is what the Master has never, ever understood about their old rival. I have loved Sacha Dhawan's take on the character, though, especially in the quieter moments, when he is allowed to be subtle. I even liked that his plan was so over-the-top convoluted, full of details that made no sense, because that is 100% in character for the Master. If he can randomly be a scarecrow in a field, just on the off chance that the Doctor might pass someday, why shouldn't he also be Rasputin and install a sound system in the Winter Palace in 1916 just so he can dance to Boney M to taunt his old rival? That's just who the character is. And it was fun to see him in Jodie's costume, and then finding elements of other Doctors' costumes.
Also, I loved seeing so many former Doctors! I thought the concept behind that (both concepts) was clever, even if the writing for the concept wasn't the best. I can forgive a lot for getting to see Peter Davison and Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann being the Doctor on-screen in a proper episode of the proper show again. I squealed out loud, I really did! And I loved getting to see Tegan and Davison's Doctor interact one last time, and getting to see Ace and McCoy's Doctor interact one last time, that was beautiful.
Man, they even referenced Adric, and what a trauma his death was, both for the Doctor and for Tegan (and Nyssa, who wasn't here for this reunion.)
The Sarah Jane Adventures told us that Sarah knew of other companions, but had never met them. During the 2020 lockdowns, Russell Davies created a webisode called 'Farewell, Sarah Jane', which told us that many former companions attended her funeral and talked about their friendship with her – and that Tegan and Nyssa were living together on Earth at that time. So I am choosing to believe that Sarah's funeral hasn't happened yet. That Sarah is still alive to join Graham's support group (she was busy on the day of the one we saw, just like Barbara, obviously) and will get to know all those other companions through that group, and Nyssa hasn't made it to present day Earth just yet, but she will, and all that has yet to happen. Because the adventure goes on…forever.
(My niece has been watching the Sarah Jane Adventures again lately. That last episode still makes me really emotional, even now.)
Great to see Jo Martin's Doctor again, even if she shouldn't really be called Doctor, given where she seems to fit. I'd like to see more of her!
I liked seeing Vinder again too, even if it was totally random and not really explained at all, because I like the character and I like the actor, and that's enough for me. I like the idea that the Doctor has all these allies out there in time and space, and that they will step up to help when they run across the Doctor again - and I like it even better when the old friend who shows up to help is someone we've met before, someone whose first meeting with the Doctor we saw on-screen, rather than someone newly invented whose history with the Doctor happened off-screen.
I still find it weird that the Doctor can sometimes hold off regeneration for quite some time, but I like that she chose to regenerate *outside* the TARDIS this time. It still annoys me that New Who regenerations have become so violent, but if they must be so, better to do it in a way that minimises damage! I liked, too, that while the regeneration was bittersweet, it was also optimistic, looking forward with hope rather than backward with regret.
Which feels very right, especially since when the scene was initially written, there was no guarantee that the show was going to continue. If Davies hadn't agreed to come back, if Tennant hadn't stepped back into the breach to bridge the gap until a new Doctor was recruited, that might well have Been It, in which case the episode, I guess, would have ended at the moment the regeneration began. Tag, you're it - fade to black.
Instead of which, we get more!
And then there's the regeneration itself…
It's not just that the Doctor regenerated back into a previously-worn face. The *clothes* regenerated as well! I have to assume that was a deliberate choice that will mean something, since it has never happened before and both Chris Chibnall and Russell Davies know that. Was it simply that lanky David Tennant could not fit into any part of tiny Jodie Whittaker's wardrobe? Sacha Dhawan managed, but he is shorter, of course. No, surely there has to be an explanation coming up!
What number Doctor is this? Or is that the whole point, to emphasise that the numbering system is totally out of whack already? Maybe we should just give up and identify them by actor name, like we do with the Master and Romana?
Whatever, I am looking forward once more to what next year and David Tennant's specials are going to bring!
Oh my.
I have a lot of thoughts and I have a lot of feelings. Some of them are good and some of them are bad.
I want to focus on the good.
So for the bad, I will simply say that this regeneration episode was very typical of Chris Chibnall. Kind of encapsulated his entire era. Nothing made sense, including most of the character motivations. If you stop to examine any part of the plot for even a second, it all falls apart. It was a mess, an overblown mess. Less is more, and I really wish that Doctor Who writers understood that.
And what kind of an exit was that for not one but two companions? Dan kind of just wandered off right at the start of the episode, in much the same way that he just wandered into the story when he first arrived. He was likeable enough, but never more than a cipher. Never more than a placeholder. He spent more time with Yaz than with the Doctor, though (they spent literal years together, trapped in the past) so it was fitting that Yaz was the one he actually said a proper goodbye to. And Yaz! What kind of exit was that for such a long-running companion? How was that the culmination of her story? Has Chibnall never, in fact, heard of a meaningful character arc? Yaz came aboard all ambition, abandoned all that ambition in favour of being with the Doctor, has been shown to be *so very devoted*, it's like, her most defining character trait, and then she just…left. Because she and the Doctor both simply took it for granted, without question, that Yaz couldn't or wouldn't stay once the Doctor regenerated? No explanation or actual character motivation offered, whatsoever.
And it means that after 17 years of New Who, we still haven't seen either a companion or a Doctor straddling the eras of different head writers, which I have wanted ever since Smith.
Also – hey look, there's Chris Chibnall sidelining the Doctor in her own story, yet again. He's done it too many times now.
How many UNIT soldiers died in this episode, exactly? And how many were killed by Kate Stewart and Tegan collapsing the building on top of them, instead of by the Cybermen? (RIP, new UNIT base, we hardly knew you). And how is collapsing the building on top of the Cybermen supposed to destroy them anyway, given that a) they are Cybermen, and b) they can now regenerate? (A plot detail I would really like to forget about, thanks.) And how exactly did Kate and Tegan escape intact, when no one else did?
Shouldn't Kate Stewart have been prepared for the inside of the TARDIS and known what to expect, even if she hasn't actually seen it before?
There is a lot more I could rant about, but I did say I wanted to focus on the good. So here are some things that I liked.
There were some really lovely little moments tucked away here and there through the episode, amid all the frenetic chaos. Every single one of them would have landed better if they'd all been given more room to breathe, but they were genuinely lovely, nonetheless.
I can forgive a lot for a good team-up, and – as long as you don't, you know, think about the plot or the details in any way whatsoever – that was a good team-up. A good team-up in the sense that we got to see a whole bunch of characters from different eras all interacting and working together, and I do always like that. I'm a sucker for a crossover.
I liked seeing Tegan and Ace again. I liked that Tegan was still spiky and Ace was still spunky. I liked that Tegan and Ace had clearly met independently some time ago, and teamed up to investigate weird things, because, knowing what they know, why not? I like the idea of UNIT recruiting former companions as freelancers, too, because it makes perfect sense to make use of that experience and expertise.
I like that it was Graham who finally set up a support group for ex-companions, because of course he did, he had the best characterisation of all Chibnall's companions and that was totally in-character. And I liked how random it was that he was in the volcano in Bolivia with Ace! Ties in with his last episode, when he talked to Ryan about investigating weird things off their own bat.
I loved that we got to see so many former companions on our screens again in the main show, even if only the tiniest glimpse. Jo Grant! Mel! IAN! I've longed to see Ian again for so very long, William Russell is 97 now, this might well be the last chance, and if Ian couldn't get to meet the Doctor again, at least he got to meet other companions and hear all their stories, and find out what a massive impact he and Barbara had on the Doctor, since it was 100% their influence that made him the hero he became. Seeing all those companions again meant so much, a proper on-screen acknowledgement that they existed, they were important, both to the Doctor and to the show, because they helped to build the legacy that has carried the show for so many years.
(I continue to wish that we'd had a scene like this years ago, when more of the former companions were still with us)
And while I disliked seeing the Doctor sidelined in her own show yet again, I did love that the companions – old and new – stepped up to be the heroes when she couldn't be, which is a powerful message to send. The New Who era has emphasised the legend of the Doctor so much, has built the character up so much – the Last of the Time Lords, the Lonely God, the Timeless Child, etc. But my favourite version of the Doctor has always been the Gallifreyan dropout who did badly in school and ran away to see the universe, and then learned compassion from a pair of human schoolteachers, and learned that lesson so well that they became a hero, simply because they realised that they could. Because that version of the Doctor reminds us that anyone can be the hero. Reminds us that the Doctor's companions aren't inherently special, either (Only takes the best? No. Inspires people to *be* the best). The Doctor's former companions are just people who happened to meet the Doctor, and learned from that experience and from that example, just as the Doctor learned from Ian and Barbara. Anyone can step up. Anyone could be capable of making those hard choices, if pressed.
Any one of us could be the Doctor's companion, in the right place or time.
And that's what has always made the Doctor special, right at the core of the character – the friendships they form, the way they inspire others to be the best they can be. That love and that hope have always been the heart of the show, and I love that this episode encapsulated that, even if the plot was a bit rubbish.
And that, of course, is what the Master has never, ever understood about their old rival. I have loved Sacha Dhawan's take on the character, though, especially in the quieter moments, when he is allowed to be subtle. I even liked that his plan was so over-the-top convoluted, full of details that made no sense, because that is 100% in character for the Master. If he can randomly be a scarecrow in a field, just on the off chance that the Doctor might pass someday, why shouldn't he also be Rasputin and install a sound system in the Winter Palace in 1916 just so he can dance to Boney M to taunt his old rival? That's just who the character is. And it was fun to see him in Jodie's costume, and then finding elements of other Doctors' costumes.
Also, I loved seeing so many former Doctors! I thought the concept behind that (both concepts) was clever, even if the writing for the concept wasn't the best. I can forgive a lot for getting to see Peter Davison and Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann being the Doctor on-screen in a proper episode of the proper show again. I squealed out loud, I really did! And I loved getting to see Tegan and Davison's Doctor interact one last time, and getting to see Ace and McCoy's Doctor interact one last time, that was beautiful.
Man, they even referenced Adric, and what a trauma his death was, both for the Doctor and for Tegan (and Nyssa, who wasn't here for this reunion.)
The Sarah Jane Adventures told us that Sarah knew of other companions, but had never met them. During the 2020 lockdowns, Russell Davies created a webisode called 'Farewell, Sarah Jane', which told us that many former companions attended her funeral and talked about their friendship with her – and that Tegan and Nyssa were living together on Earth at that time. So I am choosing to believe that Sarah's funeral hasn't happened yet. That Sarah is still alive to join Graham's support group (she was busy on the day of the one we saw, just like Barbara, obviously) and will get to know all those other companions through that group, and Nyssa hasn't made it to present day Earth just yet, but she will, and all that has yet to happen. Because the adventure goes on…forever.
(My niece has been watching the Sarah Jane Adventures again lately. That last episode still makes me really emotional, even now.)
Great to see Jo Martin's Doctor again, even if she shouldn't really be called Doctor, given where she seems to fit. I'd like to see more of her!
I liked seeing Vinder again too, even if it was totally random and not really explained at all, because I like the character and I like the actor, and that's enough for me. I like the idea that the Doctor has all these allies out there in time and space, and that they will step up to help when they run across the Doctor again - and I like it even better when the old friend who shows up to help is someone we've met before, someone whose first meeting with the Doctor we saw on-screen, rather than someone newly invented whose history with the Doctor happened off-screen.
I still find it weird that the Doctor can sometimes hold off regeneration for quite some time, but I like that she chose to regenerate *outside* the TARDIS this time. It still annoys me that New Who regenerations have become so violent, but if they must be so, better to do it in a way that minimises damage! I liked, too, that while the regeneration was bittersweet, it was also optimistic, looking forward with hope rather than backward with regret.
Which feels very right, especially since when the scene was initially written, there was no guarantee that the show was going to continue. If Davies hadn't agreed to come back, if Tennant hadn't stepped back into the breach to bridge the gap until a new Doctor was recruited, that might well have Been It, in which case the episode, I guess, would have ended at the moment the regeneration began. Tag, you're it - fade to black.
Instead of which, we get more!
And then there's the regeneration itself…
It's not just that the Doctor regenerated back into a previously-worn face. The *clothes* regenerated as well! I have to assume that was a deliberate choice that will mean something, since it has never happened before and both Chris Chibnall and Russell Davies know that. Was it simply that lanky David Tennant could not fit into any part of tiny Jodie Whittaker's wardrobe? Sacha Dhawan managed, but he is shorter, of course. No, surely there has to be an explanation coming up!
What number Doctor is this? Or is that the whole point, to emphasise that the numbering system is totally out of whack already? Maybe we should just give up and identify them by actor name, like we do with the Master and Romana?
Whatever, I am looking forward once more to what next year and David Tennant's specials are going to bring!
