To say I was disappointed by Matt Smith’s run as Doctor Who would be an understatement. Whilst Smith himself was not the issue, the writing was, and it was so unbearable that I abandoned the show midway through his tenure, and it’s taken me almost a decade to pluck up the determination to return and finish it. It was rough, and whilst there were some great aspects to that era of the show, for the most part I found it tiresomely tedious.
But now I’m in uncharted waters, and it could have swung one of two ways. It could have been a repeat of Smith’s era because Steven Moffat was still showrunner, or it could be that Peter Capaldi’s legendary acting skills might be able to claw the show back to the glory it once saw with David Tennant.
In Matt Smith’s final series, we are introduced to Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), The Impossible Girl who links herself with The Doctor’s timestream, explaining how she keeps popping up in different periods of time as different people. The two become very close and Clara begins to develop a romantic attraction to The Doctor, that is until he regenerates and is transformed into the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi).
Capaldi’s first series deals primarily with Clara coming to terms with The Doctor’s new face and personality, one she does not see eye to eye with and is not attracted to, her subsequent relationship with colleague Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson) and the introduction of the mysterious Missy (Michelle Gomez), A woman who is building an army of the dead.
In the final episodes it is revealed that Missy is in fact a regeneration of The Master, and her army of the dead have been transformed into Cybermen. Danny is also killed and turned into a Cyberman, leaving Clara and The Doctor to truly confront each other about their issues with one another.
The next series is quite unique in comparison to other series of the revival era of Doctor Who in that almost every episode is linked to each other to form one throughput storyline. Whilst plot threads have carried through from episode to episode in the past, it was rarely necessary to watch every episode in order to understand what was happening, but series nine looks into a being known as ‘The Hybrid’ as well as has Missy travelling with The Doctor and Clara for a short time. These episodes all build on the previous one, making it the most narratively cohesive series of the show to date, and giving its dramatic final episodes considerably more gravitas and emotional impact as The Doctor is confronted with Clara’s death and the return of the Time Lords. In a Christmas special we’re also presented with the final time The Doctor encounters River Song, and her first meeting with him, something Smith’s era had been building to throughout his run.
Capaldi’s final series deals primarily with The Doctor’s emotional instability following Clara’s death as he travels with a new companion, Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie). The Doctor has grounded himself to be caretaker of ‘The Vault’ with help from River’s companion Nardole (Matt Lucas). The Doctor shows Bill the wonders of the universe as he tries to fill the void left by Clara, only to place Bill in the same danger when he opens The Vault, freeing an imprisoned Missy, who on a journey encounters the previous regeneration of herself (played by John Simm).
But now I’m in uncharted waters, and it could have swung one of two ways. It could have been a repeat of Smith’s era because Steven Moffat was still showrunner, or it could be that Peter Capaldi’s legendary acting skills might be able to claw the show back to the glory it once saw with David Tennant.
In Matt Smith’s final series, we are introduced to Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), The Impossible Girl who links herself with The Doctor’s timestream, explaining how she keeps popping up in different periods of time as different people. The two become very close and Clara begins to develop a romantic attraction to The Doctor, that is until he regenerates and is transformed into the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi).
Capaldi’s first series deals primarily with Clara coming to terms with The Doctor’s new face and personality, one she does not see eye to eye with and is not attracted to, her subsequent relationship with colleague Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson) and the introduction of the mysterious Missy (Michelle Gomez), A woman who is building an army of the dead.
In the final episodes it is revealed that Missy is in fact a regeneration of The Master, and her army of the dead have been transformed into Cybermen. Danny is also killed and turned into a Cyberman, leaving Clara and The Doctor to truly confront each other about their issues with one another.
The next series is quite unique in comparison to other series of the revival era of Doctor Who in that almost every episode is linked to each other to form one throughput storyline. Whilst plot threads have carried through from episode to episode in the past, it was rarely necessary to watch every episode in order to understand what was happening, but series nine looks into a being known as ‘The Hybrid’ as well as has Missy travelling with The Doctor and Clara for a short time. These episodes all build on the previous one, making it the most narratively cohesive series of the show to date, and giving its dramatic final episodes considerably more gravitas and emotional impact as The Doctor is confronted with Clara’s death and the return of the Time Lords. In a Christmas special we’re also presented with the final time The Doctor encounters River Song, and her first meeting with him, something Smith’s era had been building to throughout his run.
Capaldi’s final series deals primarily with The Doctor’s emotional instability following Clara’s death as he travels with a new companion, Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie). The Doctor has grounded himself to be caretaker of ‘The Vault’ with help from River’s companion Nardole (Matt Lucas). The Doctor shows Bill the wonders of the universe as he tries to fill the void left by Clara, only to place Bill in the same danger when he opens The Vault, freeing an imprisoned Missy, who on a journey encounters the previous regeneration of herself (played by John Simm).
I was hesitant going into Capaldi’s era. I was mentally drained after Smith’s era, just because of how bad the writing was at times, and knowing Moffat was going to be the man in charge again made me want to stop before I’d even started. But surprisingly I may actually prefer this era of Doctor Who to Tennant’s. The three series run is filled with narrative complexities unseen in the series until this point, and Capaldi does an incredible job of playing The Doctor in ways that feel similar but also entirely new.
The show is considerably more mature in tone, but also more consistent. Where Tennant’s era started off relatively childish and became darker as it went on, and Smith’s era bounced wildly from slapstick comedy to gritty sci-fi drama, Capaldi is firmly rooted in maturity from the get-go, and I feel a lot of that has to do with the moral complexities brought to both The Doctor and his companions.
Capaldi’s Doctor is harsh, even mean at times. He’s blunt and unapologetic. He’s the smartest guy in the room and he knows it, berating others who think they’re more intelligent than he is. But this attitude regularly blows up in his face. He’s a know it all that gets his comeuppance frequently, and he grows because of that. He also undergoes considerably more pain and turmoil than the other Doctors of the revival era do to reflect this hostile attitude he has. Clara dies, Bill dies, he is forced to die repeatedly for millions of years in a prison designed specifically for him; he finally convinces The Master to be on the somewhat straight and narrow only to be betrayed by them once again. Almost everything he does, he does wrong. Nobody is safe from him, and he just sees those that lose their lives in his pursuit for personal justice as necessary sacrifices. It’s easy to see why he’s divisive as The Doctor because of this extremely dark portrayal of the character, but I’d argue Capaldi’s performance is so captivating as The Doctor that it becomes incredibly believable that he is still the same person, just damaged after everything he’s been through. This doesn’t mean it’s all doom and gloom though, Capaldi brings a hefty amount of comedy to the mix to lighten the mood. His humour is very dry at times though, which I feel blends very well with the darker tone, but again it’s something that may put people off, especially as it’s such a stark contrast to Smith’s portrayal of the character.
The Doctor isn’t the only one given a hefty amount of depth though. Clara is perhaps the most complex character in the show to date. Whilst her story starts with Smith, how she deals with the regeneration is extremely fresh. She treats Capaldi as a stranger in his own body, criticising everything he does and even leaving him because she doesn’t like the man he’s become. She has her own desires and complex moral quandaries, she isn’t always right, or likeable, much like The Doctor, and she manages to steer clear of being just another unrequited love interest thanks to the introduction of Danny. To be clear, I think Danny’s a bad character and very unlikable, but at least his inclusion contributes heavily to Clara’s story and shapes who she is and what she believes in. Following Danny’s death it’s really interesting to see Clara turn to desperation, threatening The Doctor and even becoming somewhat villainous in her intentions, threatening violence to force him to bring Danny back. But she never oversteps a line that she can’t come back from. There’s a lot to love in Clara because she feels more real than any other Doctor Who character up to this point. She’s driven by her emotions, and whilst in some previous characters that has been an issue, here it’s handled very maturely and acknowledging that sometimes people are capable of morally wrong things despite not being inherently bad people.
The show is considerably more mature in tone, but also more consistent. Where Tennant’s era started off relatively childish and became darker as it went on, and Smith’s era bounced wildly from slapstick comedy to gritty sci-fi drama, Capaldi is firmly rooted in maturity from the get-go, and I feel a lot of that has to do with the moral complexities brought to both The Doctor and his companions.
Capaldi’s Doctor is harsh, even mean at times. He’s blunt and unapologetic. He’s the smartest guy in the room and he knows it, berating others who think they’re more intelligent than he is. But this attitude regularly blows up in his face. He’s a know it all that gets his comeuppance frequently, and he grows because of that. He also undergoes considerably more pain and turmoil than the other Doctors of the revival era do to reflect this hostile attitude he has. Clara dies, Bill dies, he is forced to die repeatedly for millions of years in a prison designed specifically for him; he finally convinces The Master to be on the somewhat straight and narrow only to be betrayed by them once again. Almost everything he does, he does wrong. Nobody is safe from him, and he just sees those that lose their lives in his pursuit for personal justice as necessary sacrifices. It’s easy to see why he’s divisive as The Doctor because of this extremely dark portrayal of the character, but I’d argue Capaldi’s performance is so captivating as The Doctor that it becomes incredibly believable that he is still the same person, just damaged after everything he’s been through. This doesn’t mean it’s all doom and gloom though, Capaldi brings a hefty amount of comedy to the mix to lighten the mood. His humour is very dry at times though, which I feel blends very well with the darker tone, but again it’s something that may put people off, especially as it’s such a stark contrast to Smith’s portrayal of the character.
The Doctor isn’t the only one given a hefty amount of depth though. Clara is perhaps the most complex character in the show to date. Whilst her story starts with Smith, how she deals with the regeneration is extremely fresh. She treats Capaldi as a stranger in his own body, criticising everything he does and even leaving him because she doesn’t like the man he’s become. She has her own desires and complex moral quandaries, she isn’t always right, or likeable, much like The Doctor, and she manages to steer clear of being just another unrequited love interest thanks to the introduction of Danny. To be clear, I think Danny’s a bad character and very unlikable, but at least his inclusion contributes heavily to Clara’s story and shapes who she is and what she believes in. Following Danny’s death it’s really interesting to see Clara turn to desperation, threatening The Doctor and even becoming somewhat villainous in her intentions, threatening violence to force him to bring Danny back. But she never oversteps a line that she can’t come back from. There’s a lot to love in Clara because she feels more real than any other Doctor Who character up to this point. She’s driven by her emotions, and whilst in some previous characters that has been an issue, here it’s handled very maturely and acknowledging that sometimes people are capable of morally wrong things despite not being inherently bad people.
Bill is an interesting companion that I don’t feel was given as much depth or time to grow as would have been nice. A radical step into modern society, Bill is a black lesbian, a trait that is often brought to light. It’s refreshing to see Doctor Who try to tackle these themes, however I don’t feel like they’re given enough time or attention to really feel as important as they are. It’s progressive, but not as progressive as it could have been. Despite her departure from the show, I hope it’s something that continues in Jodie Whittaker’s run as The Doctor.
I also love that Missy is as large of a role as she in the Capaldi story arc. It presents The Master in an entirely new way, and you’re always second guessing her actions because she will so flippantly switch between doing something to actually help The Doctor or doing something to hurt him. The final episode where her and John Simm share the screen for a great portion allows for some great back and forth between them as two versions of the Master come face to face and battle on their differences. In fact the grand Series Ten finale is arguably some of the best Doctor Who I’ve ever seen, dealing with some really big moral issues surrounding the sanctity of life, the right to die, and the distinction between what’s right and what’s morally good.
Capaldi’s final episode, where he is battling against regeneration so that he can just die and he encounters his original form (played by David Bradley), is particularly poignant as it’s big on the nostalgia for long time Doctor Who fans and it also allows the themes brought up in the previous two episodes to have a thoughtful epilogue to them without a big battle happening at the same time.
I also love that Missy is as large of a role as she in the Capaldi story arc. It presents The Master in an entirely new way, and you’re always second guessing her actions because she will so flippantly switch between doing something to actually help The Doctor or doing something to hurt him. The final episode where her and John Simm share the screen for a great portion allows for some great back and forth between them as two versions of the Master come face to face and battle on their differences. In fact the grand Series Ten finale is arguably some of the best Doctor Who I’ve ever seen, dealing with some really big moral issues surrounding the sanctity of life, the right to die, and the distinction between what’s right and what’s morally good.
Capaldi’s final episode, where he is battling against regeneration so that he can just die and he encounters his original form (played by David Bradley), is particularly poignant as it’s big on the nostalgia for long time Doctor Who fans and it also allows the themes brought up in the previous two episodes to have a thoughtful epilogue to them without a big battle happening at the same time.
I think most of what worked is that many of the best episodes of the series are helmed by writer Rachel Talalay. Her commitment to making Doctor Who unflinchingly dark, without ever losing that family quality is a true testament to her skills as a writer. Her episodes always have the best character development, moral conflicts, and most unique stories. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though she’ll return for Whittaker’s run, but she may well be my favourite Doctor Who writer of all time.
As previously mentioned Moffat continues as showrunner, but it’s clear that he’s learned from the mistakes of Smith’s era. He’s less concerned with a convoluted multi-series spanning story arc, and more concerned with the minutiae this time around. He understands it’s the people that make Doctor Who, not the grand plots. His choice to allow the story to go to some dark and occasionally disturbing places was a gamble that I personally feel paid off in spades.
I’m really glad I powered through Smith’s era to experience what Capaldi had to offer. He was a fantastic choice for the leading role and he brings so much energy to it, trying to pick between him and Tennant as my favourite Doctor is an extremely difficult one.
I loved how the Twelfth Doctor’s era challenged everything the show had been known for since its revival in 2005. I love that it went to some dark places, I adore how funny it was at times, I feel like Clara and Bill are some of the best companions the show has ever had, and that allowing Missy to grow as a complex villain over several series gave the final episodes so much more impact. Everything about this era felt considerably more refined than any other era of Doctor Who I have ever watched, and without a doubt is my favourite era of the show thus far.
As previously mentioned Moffat continues as showrunner, but it’s clear that he’s learned from the mistakes of Smith’s era. He’s less concerned with a convoluted multi-series spanning story arc, and more concerned with the minutiae this time around. He understands it’s the people that make Doctor Who, not the grand plots. His choice to allow the story to go to some dark and occasionally disturbing places was a gamble that I personally feel paid off in spades.
I’m really glad I powered through Smith’s era to experience what Capaldi had to offer. He was a fantastic choice for the leading role and he brings so much energy to it, trying to pick between him and Tennant as my favourite Doctor is an extremely difficult one.
I loved how the Twelfth Doctor’s era challenged everything the show had been known for since its revival in 2005. I love that it went to some dark places, I adore how funny it was at times, I feel like Clara and Bill are some of the best companions the show has ever had, and that allowing Missy to grow as a complex villain over several series gave the final episodes so much more impact. Everything about this era felt considerably more refined than any other era of Doctor Who I have ever watched, and without a doubt is my favourite era of the show thus far.