Doctor Who: Series 12 (3/5)
...whoo boy, do I have some stuff to talk about.
For starters, I want to clarify that I'm not including Revolution in the overall assessment. I intended to, but the special is separate from the overall arc of series 12, ergo, I'm not including it. Touching on it by itself, it's good. Daleks have overstayed their welcome, but it still manages to make them intimidating again, even if the episode skimps over how many people die - oh sure, the love interest gets saved, but what about all the people the dalek kills before that? And who the hell decided to disband UNIT? Meh, whatever. Episode's still good, let's move on.
So that brings us to series 12. I won't comment on each episode individually, but the funny thing is, series 12 actually has the opposite problems of series 11. Series 11 lacked a strong connecting plot, and its weakest episodes were at the start and end of the season, coupled with an extremely weak villain. In contrast, its strongest episodes were stand-alone, and based in historical fiction. Series 12, on the other hand, has its best episodes at the beginning and end of its run, with strong connective tissue, coupled with a strong recurring villain (two, technically), but on the other hand, unremarkable stand-alone episodes. I'd say that series 12 is the better of the two overall, but they're like two sides of a flawed coin.
Some flaws remain. For instance, the companions. There's nothing wrong with them, but there's nothing remarkable about them either. I definitely prefer the method of NuWho of having 1-2 companions at a time, introducing them slowly, whereas Chibnall has gone for a quantity over quality approach. Whittaker however, continues to do a good job as the Doctor. An even better one than before, because the writing has again shown the Doctor's inner darkness, and Whittaker is able to harness that. But better than the Doctor here, is the Master. I mean, holy shit, he might be my favourite version of the Master I've seen. It's like the BBC asked Sacha Dhawan if he could channel John Simms, only more crazy, and Dhawan said "hold my beer," did that, and made the producers say "okay pal, you're scaring us." His take on the master is like 50% insane, 50% genius, with 50% humour, 50% terror, and I love it. Yes, it's reflective of the trait as to how nothing stays dead in this universe (certainly not the Master, among other things), but you've got to take what you can get. I really hope that this isn't the last we see of Dhawan, because he's brilliant in the role. As far as recurring villains go, he and Tim Shaw aren't even in the same universe. Luckilly, what IS in the same universe is Ashad. Again, excellent villain, even though we probably won't see him again.
So Series 12 has a strong opener and strong ender, with some dud episodes (e.g. Orphan 55) and some decent episodes (e.g. the Haunting of Villa Diodatti) in-between. But let's get into the crux of the matter, and that's the plot point of the Timeless Child. If you follow Doctor Who, you know what I'm talking about, and if you don't, then tough, because I could spend a lifetime explaining how convoluted the lore's become as a result, in a setting where canon is as flexible as spaghetti. But this revelation pissed off a lot of Whovians, so how do I feel about it? Truth be told...I really dislike it, but not necessarily for the same reasons as a lot of people. You see, the Doctor being the Timeless Child and being the reason the Time Lords became the Time Lords? That does bug me. But what bugs me more is the knock-on effects that this has, and how we see those knock-on effects in this very season, and how it arguably harms earlier seasons retroactively.
If the Doctor had incarnations before Hartnell, then this gives the writers licence to do pretty much whatever they want. We see this with Ruth being supposedly a pre-Hartnell Doctor, before the mind wipe or whatever occurs. Now, I like the episode itself, but nothing about Ruth makes sense. She's pre-Hartnell, but calls herself "the Doctor," despite the fact that Hartnell is meant to be the one who chose the name. She has a TARDIS that looks like a phone box, despite the fact that the only reason the TARDIS does look like a box is because the chameleon circuit busted at the start of the series. It's not like the series hasn't done this kind of thing before (see the War Doctor), but that was driven by necessity, with Eccelston refusing to return for the 50th Anniversary. Ruth, however? Well, she's fine as a character, but this isn't a choice of necessity, this is a choice of trying to give the writers carte blanche. And, notably, it allows the writers to slide in as many female Doctors pre-Hartnell as they want, and say "see, we planned it all along, how dare you say the whole gender flip thing wasn't an awkward!" Yeah, usually I roll my eyes at the whole 'feminization' of media, but Doctor Who is an exception. I like Whittaker as the Doctor, that doesn't mean I have to approve of the politics behind it, and how awkwardly it was handled in the leadup to it.
But there's also another reason this bugs me, and that's TechVera (sp.) If she's the one who found the Doctor, then either she's his mother (as seen in The End of Time), or the Time Lady there isn't his mother, and Chibnall retconned Davies. Again, retcons come with the territory, I accept that, but it does undermine a lot of the emotional connection that scene has. I could go on, but the short version is that I really dislike this plot twist. What's more, the episode doesn't even do much with it. The Doctor comes to the conclusion that she's still the same person and none of this affects her. So, okay then, why should it affect us? Oh, and Gallifrey's destroyed. Again. Yay.
I could go on, but being beaten up on one specific plot point isn't really a review, and the episodes where the revelation feature remain solid. At the end of the day, the season was still a net positive, and still better than its predecessor. But at the end of the day, I can only call it "okay" rather than "good." I might have to accept that I may have grown beyond Doctor Who, as this is a show that's designed for families rather than adults, and while there's plenty of good writing, there's plenty of clunky writing as well. I have to accept that maybe the problem wasn't with moffat or Chibnall, it may have been me. But, whatever the case, these are my thoughts.
Alonsy.
(Oh, and Jack Harkness is still Jack Harkness, a.k.a. awesome.)
