Twenty years on from the revival, has the franchise lost its way?
★☆☆☆☆
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for season two/series fifteen of Doctor Who.
There was a huge sense of excitement when, in 2021, it was announced that Russell T Davies, the former showrunner of Doctor Who, would be returning to the helm once more.
It was Davies who, almost 20 years prior, had intially revived the show, after it had been off the air for over a decade and half. With the casting of Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa in the lead role, as well as a deal with Disney on what was dubbed a new ‘Season 1’ (as opposed to series 14 – or season 40, if counting the original series), this news seemed to promise a fresh start after a turbulent few years for the franchise.
The initial run of episodes that aired over last year largely proved to be a mixed bag however, with some high points, but also some noticeable lows, and a continual decline in ratings. With Gatwa’s two seasons being partly filmed back-to-back, it remained to be seen if this would remain the case for the subsequent season, which premiered on BBC One and on Disney+ from this April.
In a surprise twist not revealed until the final episode, The Reality War, the season has seemingly proven to be Gatwa’s last in the role. Gatwa remains likeable throughout, though his incarnation of the Doctor is one that still seems lacking in development, and perhaps too reflective of the actor himself. Scenes where he discusses experiencing racism, for example, as seen in the episode The Story & the Engine, allow for an effective moment of vulnerability, but nevertheless takes away somewhat from his characterisation as an alien figure who is thousands of years old. Meanwhile, scenes where he taps more into the characters darker side, as in The Interstellar Song Contest, do not feel as natural, and are quickly moved past.
The newest addition to this season is Varada Sethu, who appears as companion Belinda. Sethu had previously made a one-off appearance last year and impressed the production team enough to be brought back as a series regular. Her character’s journey starts out positively, in that she is someone who actively does not want to travel in the TARDIS and asks to be taken home. This arc initially helps to shift the shows dynamic, after several seasons of the show actively avoiding any real conflict. However, this aspect to her character never truly gets built upon, and ultimately just feels like setup for the finale, which takes this drive away from the character in favour of a storyline entirely focused on her becoming a mother.
Much of the focus in this finale instead goes to previous companion Ruby, played by Millie Gibson, who is perhaps the standout of the season. Episode Four, Lucky Day, is a really interesting one for how it explores the aftermath of her travels in the TARDIS, as we see Ruby dealing with the constant expectation of something around the corner, in a way that is portrayed as being similar to PTSD. Another scene in the finale, where she is the only one to realise as the child Poppy is wiped from reality, reacting first with confusion and then horror, is also played really well on her part.
Whilst these performances are strong however, the episodes themselves feel pretty disposable. The episode Lux, which features a sinister cartoon come to life, is one with a creepy, inventive concept. However, it’s an episode that largely drops any weight there is to this for sequences that get increasingly meta, something which serves only to takes viewers out of the episode.
Similarly, the following episode, The Well starts out with an intriguing premise, it taking place in a far-off outpost that has been wiped out by an unknown entity. The episode could have been brilliant if allowed to stand on its own but instead is refitted to function as a sequel to the 2008-episode Midnight. It’s a move that cheapens both this episode and Midnight, an all-time classic of the series that goes beyond the shows usual conventions and more resembles something out of The Twilight Zone. Here however, we lose all the subtlety seen in that episode – the entity in question going from a largely psychological threat to a more run of the mill monster throwing people around the room.
Throughout the season, the stakes never feel as high as they should, with plot mechanics and resolutions coming off as rushed and ill thought out. Clumsy dialogue is used to propel characters to where they need to be, with attempts at political commentary that feel forced and on the nose. Cameos from celebrities in episodes like The Interstellar Song Contest take the shows inherent campiness to another level, with little real sense of danger or believability to any of the proceedings. Even for a show that has always been aimed primarily at children, this season feels particularly juvenile, with an emphasis on spectacle over any sense of internal logic.
At the same time, paradoxically, it seems utterly reliant on the nostalgia of young adults and fans who grew up with the show. The finale brings back as its villain The Rani, a character from the eighties whom non-fans may be led to think is a big deal, but who had only ever functioned as a pantomime villain in two of the worst stories in the shows history. As such, her inclusion here ends up feeling more like an attempt at fan service than a meaningful resolution to the story arc that had been teased over the past two seasons.
Throughout both the finale and the rest of the season, there are continual cuts to footage from past episodes, as well as inclusions of legacy characters such as Susan and Omega that go nowhere. This culminates with the twist at the end, where we see Gatwa’s Doctor regenerating into a new incarnation, played by former companion Billie Piper. There’s no doubt that Piper herself is a talented actress and likely more than up to the job. But coming as it does two years after David Tennant’s reprisal of the role, it’s a move that just feels desperate.
It’s difficult to believe the showrunner for this season is the same one as for Tennant’s run, not to mention shows like A Very English Scandal or It’s A Sin. A key strength to Davies’s writing prior was in placing character first and generally only bringing in elements from the shows past where it made sense for the story and carried weight. Here though, it seems as if any attempt to attract new viewers has been left entirely by the wayside.
Ultimately, this is a season that feels like it just does not know what it is anymore. Even when trying to evoke the shows past, it feels entirely divorced from the tone it once had, focusing on fantasy rather than sci-fi. It’s as yet to be confirmed what the future of the show will look like or how long Piper is expected in the role, following the ratings hitting an all time low. The current run however is one that feels tired, and which actively prevents audiences from engaging with it in any meaningful way.
The Verdict
The latest season of Doctor Who continues with the fantasy focus of the previous season, with plots that feel over the top and which fail to meaningfully build stakes, whilst leaving it’s main characters feeling underdeveloped. In spite of being from the same creative team that had revived the show in the first place, its a series that seems to repeat many of the mistakes that led to its cancellation, ultimately coming off as a pastiche of itself, with little idea of who it is for.
Doctor Who is now available to watch in its entirety on BBC Iplayer for UK viewers, and on Disney+ for international viewers.
Words by Daniel Goldstraw
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