{"id":1559,"date":"2014-11-07T14:53:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T19:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/?p=1559"},"modified":"2014-11-18T13:50:37","modified_gmt":"2014-11-18T18:50:37","slug":"some-thoughts-on-the-doctor-who-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/some-thoughts-on-the-doctor-who-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Thoughts on the Doctor Who Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition of Channel Chaser! This week, I\u2019ve decided that it is long overdue that I throw my hat into the ring on the current debate surrounding one of my favorite TV shows, the British sci-fi series Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"WhoCapaldi\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With the show\u2019s eighth season coming to a close, fans are more polarized than ever before over a number of different issues: from the characters, to the writing, to the show\u2019s overall tone and direction\u2026you name it, and it\u2019s probably up in the air. This is kind of inevitable, given that Doctor Who<\/em> is one of those rare long-running shows that changes its entire cast on a regular basis, leading to all kinds of uncertainty and stress as new actors try to mesh with each other and make the series their own, but it seems that Peter Capaldi\u2019s introduction as the Twelfth Doctor has sparked the most intense round of argument yet.<\/p>\n

As I see it, the detractors of this past season are divided mainly into three camps: people who don\u2019t like the new Doctor, people who don\u2019t like Danny Pink, and people who just don\u2019t like the direction the show is heading in. I\u2019ll address concerns about the Doctor first, because that seems to be the issue with the smallest amount of debate.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit it: I really didn\u2019t like Peter Capaldi at first. I respected how the show-runners were trying to shake things up by introducing a character so vastly different from the Doctor\u2019s more recent incarnations, but I was so pained by the departure of Matt Smith\u2013my favorite Doctor, in case you hadn\u2019t figured that out by now\u2013that for a while I really didn\u2019t think I could give Capaldi a chance. It didn\u2019t help that his lead-in episodes \u201cDeep Breath\u201d and \u201cInto the Dalek\u201d were nothing special. But then I saw \u201cListen\u201d: a masterpiece of an episode that convinced me that Doctor Who<\/em> still had what it took to be a great show. It had everything: action, mystery, suspense, and some serious character development for both the Doctor and companion Clara Oswald.<\/p>\n

Sure, there have been some other not-so-great episodes like \u201cIn the Forest of the Night\u201d, but that\u2019s the same as in every series of Doctor Who<\/em>. The first season with a new Doctor is always a challenge for the fans, and I feel that people are overreacting to it even more than usual because the Doctor is no longer the goofy, spastic, and loveable chatterbox that he\u2019s been for years now.<\/p>\n

I really believe that the writers were using this season to take Doctor Who<\/em> back to its roots and remind everyone that while he may have good intentions, the Doctor is not human. He may have developed an understanding and compassion for humans over time, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of things about us that he can\u2019t figure out. It also kind of goes with the idea that a consequence of his whole new regeneration cycle\u2013Smith\u2019s Eleventh was technically supposed to be the last\u2013all the progress he has made as a character is erased and he sort of has to start back at square one in terms of personal development. It\u2019s actually a smart move because if they left him as he\u2019s been for the last few years, where would the show go from there?<\/p>\n

My last word on this is that, to steal a quote from The Dark Knight<\/em>, Peter Capaldi may not be the Doctor we\u2013or anyone in his fictional universe, for that matter\u2013need right now, but he\u2019s the Doctor we deserve. When you get too complacent with such a fundamentally alien character, as Clara did with the Eleventh Doctor, you\u2019re guaranteed to get burned at some point. That aside, I find Capaldi\u2019s dry, quiet sense of humor and reserved personality a refreshing dose of realism on a show that frequently gets carried away with its own nonsense.<\/p>\n

Honestly, this season might be more about Clara than about the Doctor. The long-running companion has developed in leaps and bounds this series, something that is long overdue since her default cheerfully bossy attitude got really old in season seven. It\u2019s all the more meaningful since the writers haven\u2019t been making it easy for her. I really, really want to like Danny Pink\u2026but I just can\u2019t. Compared to similar characters in past seasons, he\u2019s gotten virtually no screen time and no meaningful development.<\/p>\n

It might have helped if Danny actually had the chance to get in the TARDIS and travel somewhere with the Doctor and Clara, but the writers seemed intent on avoiding it for some reason. Many opportunities that could have opened Danny\u2019s mind a bit and made him a more likeable and relatable character were ignored or shut down, to the point where I think that his \u201cdeath\u201d in \u201cDark Water\u201d is probably the best thing that could have happened to him. As it is, I feel that Danny was criminally neglected by the show\u2019s overarching story, and I really can\u2019t understand what Clara sees in him without more evidence than we\u2019ve been shown so far.<\/p>\n

In terms of the writing overall, one thing I am excited about is the return of the Master. Not that it was surprising, though: I and pretty much everyone else had already figured it out. The big twist reveal of Missy\u2019s identity was overall kind of disappointing, especially since she\u2019s working with the Cybermen now. I liked it a lot better when the Master was sort of a lone wolf, and Cybermen aren\u2019t known for being great villains, so I\u2019m not sure how it\u2019ll play out. I am excited, however, to see the Doctor\u2019s greatest nemesis back in action, and Michelle Gomez has been playing the new \u201cMistress\u201d version to creepy, obsessive perfection so far.<\/p>\n

\"DocMissy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m even more excited with the possibilities it opens up for the series proper. So Time Lords can regenerate into Time Ladies? This opens up a new level of interaction between the Doctor and the Master, as well as a new uncertainty about the Doctor\u2019s future. Is this a subtle hint that, one day soon, we\u2019ll have the first woman Doctor? I feel that it\u2019s a move whose time has come, for a lot of reasons.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit the writing for this series hasn\u2019t been the best\u2013episodes that could have been great like \u201cDark Water\u201d, \u201cMummy on the Orient Express\u201d, and \u201cKill the Moon\u201d were just fair and seemed like missed opportunities. But I feel that people are being a bit too harsh in their judgments so early on in Peter Capaldi\u2019s career. He is a good and potentially great Doctor plagued by bad writing\u2013bad in that the writers just haven\u2019t figured out what to do with him yet apparently. Can he be silly, like in \u201cRobot of Sherwood\u201d, or do they want him serious and contemplative like in \u201cListen\u201d?<\/p>\n

Oh, and then there\u2019s that whole thing about Gallifrey not being destroyed and lost somewhere in time and space. Are we ever going to talk about that again? Steven Moffat, quit slow-rolling it and own up to Day of the Doctor<\/em>, for crying out loud. Is the reappearance of the Master a hint that this may be coming? Here\u2019s hoping.<\/p>\n

One thing\u2019s for sure: Moffat and the Doctor Who<\/em> crew are intent on using Capaldi\u2019s Doctor and this new series to shake veteran audiences out of their comfort zones and make them think again. Controversial? Yes. Jarring? Definitely. But how will it stack up in the years to come? I guess we\u2019ll just have to wait and see.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Channel Chaser is written by Kyle Robertson. You can check out more of his work on his\u00a0<\/span>website<\/a>. Check back every Friday for new articles.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition of Channel Chaser! This week, I\u2019ve decided that it is long overdue that I throw my hat into the ring on the current debate surrounding one of my favorite TV shows, the British sci-fi series Doctor Who. With the show\u2019s eighth season coming to a close, fans are more polarized [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1559"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1561,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559\/revisions\/1561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}