Some Thoughts about the Twelfth Doctor in Series 9

It’s weird.  Even though I feel like I have a strong understanding of who Twelve is, the writing for him can be all over the place at times (maybe it’s Peter Capaldi’s splendid performance holding everything together when the writing gets funky?  That’s what I’m going with.)  In general, series 9 feels like something of a course correction for his character, like the show feared he was “too gruff,” “too dark,” or “too something” the previous season.  But even within that, the writing can be both inconsistent and weird.  So help me, though, I still love him to pieces.  Some Doctor-related spoilers for series 9.

First things first:  the sonic sunglasses and the electric guitar.  Personally, I love the idea of the guitar, but the execution doesn’t work that well for me.  I always like details about the Doctor’s hobbies/interests, like Eleven playing soccer, Two wanted to build sandcastles on the beach (aw,) or Nine being a huge Dickens fanboy, and rockin’ Doctor seemed like a fun “thing” for Twelve.  But aside from really not liking how the guitar is introduced in the premiere, I don’t like how it’s used throughout the season, mainly Twelve playing it alone in the TARDIS during establishing shots.  Done that way, it just doesn’t have much personality.  I’d have prefer one really well-placed instance to a rather staid recurring feature – my personal fantasy would have been the Doctor and Clara traveling to some classic rock scene and contriving a reason to have the Doctor pick up a guitar in a club or something and wail on it, shocking Clara to see a new side of him.

But really, both the electric guitar and sonic sunglasses (which have their moments but, for the most part, are annoying bordering on irritating) feel weird, sort of artificial.  Like they’re both efforts to go, “Hey, guys, check it out!  The Doctor’s a cool dude!”, which is, of course, one of the least-cool ways to go about it.  Not only do they feel cliché and forced, they seem to suggest that the show didn’t think Twelve was cool, like he needed props in order to gel.  If that’s the case, boo to them for not appreciating Twelve in all his mad-genius cantankerous glory.

These things dovetail into the Doctor’s change of costume for series 9, with the zip-up hoodie and assorted T-shirts under his coat.  This is a change I like – much like the Doctor’s hobbies, I love the thought of a dressed-down Doctor, and the hoodie works for me just fine.  What I don’t like is how, at the end of the season, the show ties it (and the sonic) to the Doctor not being “Doctory” anymore, giving us the final shot of Twelve in the more traditionally Doctor-ish velvet coat and trading in the sunglasses for a new, proper screwdriver, with Clara’s parting entreaty to “Run, you clever boy, and be a Doctor.”  I dunno.  By definition, the Doctor changes, and I don’t like the suggestion that he needs certain trappings in order to “be” the Doctor.

The way the season kicks off with Twelve’s (in my opinion, obnoxious) farewell party to himself when he thinks he’s going to die in “The Magician’s Apprentice,” combined with these “cooler” changes and the seeming back-to-“normal” pivot at the end of the season, gives off the weirdest vibe.  Even though I still see Twelve very much as the Doctor – especially in “Last Christmas,” the underwater-army-base two-parter, and “The Woman Who Lived” – I get the impression that the show was going almost for “midlife crisis Doctor” here, and I don’t get why.  What were they trying to do?  Do they not have faith in the character they’ve written?  Do they need a lot of manufactured drama and forced humor?  Why try and mess so much with a good thing?  Bless Peter Capaldi for taking whatever they give him and still making it feel true.