The new Doctor Who seems to have been a big hit with reviewers, long time fans, and outsiders. The last is a demographic which became increasingly marginalised over the final years of the Moffat era. When Russell T Davies brought it back in 2005, he used the “Time War” as a plot device for ridding himself of as much baggage as he wanted.
He could, and did, let the old monsters come back, on a gradual basis, and so we had the return of the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Master, the Time Lords, and later under Moffat, the Ice Warriors and the Silurians.
But under Moffat, and partly as a result of the story arcs, the stories became increasingly referential to their past, either the post-2005 past, or even back to a more distant past, which made it increasingly difficult for the casual viewer to follow.
Story arcs first appeared in the Russell T Davies era, more or less by accident with “Bad Wolf”, and then planned with Torchwood, and the return of the Master, with the Harold Saxon parts. But under Moffat they became increasingly complex and so it could be difficult to follow, and the storylines themselves became convoluted.
It was rather like the difference between a word search puzzle and a fiendishly difficult crossword puzzle and it led to some very unwatchable episodes for the outsider, who after all, is the main demographic Doctor Who should be aiming at.
Russell T Davies had experience in writing for soaps, so his characters, and even the more marginal characters were recognisable as real people – Rose Tyler, Micky Smith, Jacqui Tyler were all ordinary people from a London council estate, the kind of people who might even have turned up in Eastenders. Martha Jones family was more on the margins, not as well fleshed-out, but she herself was very much so. And the lower middle class family of Donna Noble – her mother, her grandfather – were so well drawn that the grandfather Wilfrid Mott would even feature as a companion himself.
This grounding in the everyday (or what some critics unfairly called "soap opera") gave it a good deal of strength. One of the scenes deliberately in “The End of the World” is set among crowds back on the return to the present time, and they smell chips and go off to get chips on a sunny London afternoon. That short vignette grounds the far future alien world they have visited.
But that kind of grounding became increasingly thin with Stephen Moffat. While there was a nice cameo by Mark Williams, the characters of Rory and Amy were not quite as well fixed in the present day as Rose Tyler or Donna Noble.
He could, and did, let the old monsters come back, on a gradual basis, and so we had the return of the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Master, the Time Lords, and later under Moffat, the Ice Warriors and the Silurians.
But under Moffat, and partly as a result of the story arcs, the stories became increasingly referential to their past, either the post-2005 past, or even back to a more distant past, which made it increasingly difficult for the casual viewer to follow.
Story arcs first appeared in the Russell T Davies era, more or less by accident with “Bad Wolf”, and then planned with Torchwood, and the return of the Master, with the Harold Saxon parts. But under Moffat they became increasingly complex and so it could be difficult to follow, and the storylines themselves became convoluted.
It was rather like the difference between a word search puzzle and a fiendishly difficult crossword puzzle and it led to some very unwatchable episodes for the outsider, who after all, is the main demographic Doctor Who should be aiming at.
Russell T Davies had experience in writing for soaps, so his characters, and even the more marginal characters were recognisable as real people – Rose Tyler, Micky Smith, Jacqui Tyler were all ordinary people from a London council estate, the kind of people who might even have turned up in Eastenders. Martha Jones family was more on the margins, not as well fleshed-out, but she herself was very much so. And the lower middle class family of Donna Noble – her mother, her grandfather – were so well drawn that the grandfather Wilfrid Mott would even feature as a companion himself.
This grounding in the everyday (or what some critics unfairly called "soap opera") gave it a good deal of strength. One of the scenes deliberately in “The End of the World” is set among crowds back on the return to the present time, and they smell chips and go off to get chips on a sunny London afternoon. That short vignette grounds the far future alien world they have visited.
But that kind of grounding became increasingly thin with Stephen Moffat. While there was a nice cameo by Mark Williams, the characters of Rory and Amy were not quite as well fixed in the present day as Rose Tyler or Donna Noble.
And Clara was a very poorly drawn character, suffering from the same problems as Turlough back in the 5th Doctor’s time once her basic story had revealed why she was “the impossible girl”, and an attempt was made to give her a boyfriend, who is cursorily killed off in an unseen road accident. The final season with Bill Potts did see an attempt to address this grounding better, and she was probably by far the best companion of the Moffat era.
Chris Chibnall has brought the Doctor back to earth with a thump. Like the Russell T Davies era, it is grounded in a realistic time and place, in this case Sheffield, with characters who would not be out of place in Broadchurch or even Law and Order UK, two of the other shows Chibnall has worked on.
Chris Chibnall has brought the Doctor back to earth with a thump. Like the Russell T Davies era, it is grounded in a realistic time and place, in this case Sheffield, with characters who would not be out of place in Broadchurch or even Law and Order UK, two of the other shows Chibnall has worked on.
That gave it a very real feel, and the Doctor’s amnesia also meant an opportunity to discard some of the baggage. Cleverly, losing the introduction sequence gave extra minutes for story time, and the Doctor, when she does appear had a wonderful way of improvising solutions, working things out as she went along, which we haven’t seen for a long time.
And along with that went a funeral. On the whole, Doctor Who has avoided funerals – people die and vanish from the story. But in this case, there was a wonderful speech from Bradley Walsh’s Graham, which was thoroughly realistic, and perfectly delivered by Bradley.
Where in the past have we heard a character tell us how he was in remission from cancer, and how he met and fell in love with his oncology nurse? This was another example of how good the new Doctor Who promises to be, and how far it has come.
And along with that went a funeral. On the whole, Doctor Who has avoided funerals – people die and vanish from the story. But in this case, there was a wonderful speech from Bradley Walsh’s Graham, which was thoroughly realistic, and perfectly delivered by Bradley.
Where in the past have we heard a character tell us how he was in remission from cancer, and how he met and fell in love with his oncology nurse? This was another example of how good the new Doctor Who promises to be, and how far it has come.
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