Doctor Who, Year Twelve (or Thirty-Eight)

So, following the pattern of pretty much every "Doctor Who" format or cast change since 2005, it took about a season and a half for everyone to settle into new roles, and a workable status quo to be established, before the show could really start getting good again. Jodie Whittaker's been strong since the beginning, but her Fourteenth Doctor wasn't given the best material. This year, however, things have improved significantly.

The biggest change has been the current writing staff embracing the show's extensive mythology, often to a surprising degree. Not only are old villains like the Cybermen and the Master (Sacha Dhawan) back in the mix, but this series actively digs into the history of the Doctor, the Time Lords, and the planet Gallifrey in a big ongoing arc. The Fourteenth Doctor is given the opportunity to show much darker shades of gray in several episodes, including the highlight of the Chris Chibnall era so far, "The Haunting of Villa Diodati." This is the episode I've been waiting for, where we finally see the Time Lord (Lady?) aspect of the Doctor rear her head, and the whole idea of the democratic TARDIS "Fam" is shown to be a sham.

I don't mind the current roster of Companions as much as the wider fanbase seems to. Graham fills a nice avuncular cheerleader/comic relief role, and Ryan's a bit of a Tin Dog. Mandip Gill is very strong as Yaz, but I don't feel like she's been given the chance to be memorable. Attempts at giving her some backstory this year were appreciated, but not very effective. And then we have the new Master, played by Sacha Dhawan, who is really having fun with the role. He's definitely committed to delivering old school, maniacal, over-the-top evil, and it works really well here. There's some good chemistry between the Master and the Doctor again, so I hope Dhawan stays around for a long while.

As always, there's a lot of variance in the quality of this season's individual episodes. I think "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" is the high point, but the premiere and finale episodes are also very strong, along with a great midseason episode, "Fugitive of Judoon," that looks like a typical monster-of-the-week story, but turns out to be much more interesting. There are also the usual duds, including the obvious low point of "Orphan 55," a far too ham-handed climate change cautionary tale with an awful closing monologue. I still get a sense that the Chibnall era is trying to be more educational and more forward-thinking, reflecting current events. Unfortunately, the show is a drag when it gets too self-serious and didactic. However, I do like the portrayals of the historical figures who are featured in various outings, including Ada Lovelace, Noor Khan, Nikola Tesla, Percy Shelley, and a horn dog Lord Byron.

As for the new additions to the show's mythology and the Doctor's personal history, well, they're probably going to make the die-hards upset, but I don't see them as anything really earth-shattering. Gallifrey gets destroyed and brought back over and over again. The Doctor has been revealed to be the exception to every rule in the show's universe, a Messiah figure, and a literal god more times than I can count. Having her revealed to be important and special among the Time Lords is kind of old hat. Clearly these are not developments I'm too excited about, but they're executed well and they give Sacha Dhawan an excuse to deliver some really good rants.

Looking ahead to future series, there is still a lot of room for improvement. I don't know that cutting down the number of Companions is actually going to help, but I guess it couldn't hurt either. I am glad to see more serialization, more mythology, and more angsty Gallifreyan melodrama. While the Cybermen have been overused in recent years, there were a couple of good twists on the concept this time out. The Daleks are expected back for the Christmas special, and I'm looking forward to it. Also, there are a lot of loose ends from this season that I want to see cleaned up. The Captain Jack appearance was a terrible tease, and he'd better show up again sooner rather than later.
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