"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Series 13 Wish List (Doctor Who)


Today, I’m staying home for Colin Baker.

I don’t do this after every new season, but I think I’m ready for one here. I’ve had complicated feelings so far about the Thirteen era (or, I think more precisely, the Chibnall era, which in turn reflects back on Thirteen.) While I don’t think Chibnall’s work has plumbed some of the depths I personally saw in both the RTD and Moffat eras – two examples that spring to mind for me are “The End of Time” and “The Time of the Doctor” – he hasn’t reached their heights either – such as “The Fires of Pompeii” or “The Lodger.” His seasons have felt a little more middle-of-the-road, and while I found series 12 to be an improvement over series 11, his era of the show still feels a little held back from quite being great. Here are some things I’d like to see next season to push it over the top (includes some 12 spoilers.)

Dig Deeper into the Companions

It’s been two seasons, and I still feel like we only know Graham, Yaz, and Ryan on a fairly-surface level. The moments where I think, for instance, “That’s so Ryan,” don’t come as often as I’d like, and I don’t necessarily know what makes them tick. I’m not sure whether we’ll have all three again going forward, but no matter how many there are, we need to understand them all as individuals, and they each need their own particular relationship with the Doctor. And on a related note…

Balance the Cast

Especially if we’re going to have another three-companion TARDIS. I think series 12 pushed things in the right direction, but the balance can still feel off sometimes, and the show seems to use the companions to their best advantage when everyone is separated from one another, which deprives us of one of the best parts of Who, the Doctor-companion and inter-companion relationships. I came away from certain episodes this season realizing that, all far as valuable contributions go, all three companions could’ve been removed and not affected the overall outcome of the story (heck, that’s basically what happens in “Fugitive of the Judoon.”)

Maintain a Good Mix of Arc and Space-Time Romp

It would be a waste to press ahead and ignore the Timeless Child revelation with all its implications for the Doctor. She should want to hunt for and explore the past lives whose memories she’s lost, and it wouldn’t feel right if the show didn’t follow up on that. But by the same token, I don’t really want to see a whole season of just that (especially since I’m not wild about the whole Timeless Child thing anyway.) It’ll be important to strike a balance between more arc-based plots and fun/cool/fascinating one-offs exploring neat story ideas, wild new locales, or old enemies – preferably one that’s considerably less all-or-nothing than wide swathes of, say, series 6.

More of the Master!

Look, I’m not saying this needs to be like classic Who series 8, where the Master’s around all the time. I’m just saying, this Master is fantastic, and the Doctor’s scenes with him absolutely crackle. At the very least, I need some sort of confirmation that this regeneration is still alive, because he’s way too good to be a one-season Master.

Something Awesome for the Doctor in Every Episode

I’m 100% putting this down to a writing issue. When a writer can’t think of how to solve an episode’s problem inventively and coolly, that means the Doctor winds up being portrayed as less inventive and cool than she is, and I’m not down for that. I’m not saying the Chibnall era does this all the time, but there are certain episodes where the big outcomes feel kind of “meh,” which isn’t good enough for me. I’m calling on the writers to use all their cunning and creativity to make sure that the Doctor is always that magnificent, quirky little hero that we know her to be. That doesn’t mean she can’t make mistakes, and it doesn’t have to be a big showy victory in every episode, but each week, I want at least one fist-pump moment that makes me go, “That’s my Doctor!”

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