The new Dr Who logo. Not sure about it
So over Christmas David Tennant stepped down as the doctor, and marked the end of a remarkable period in the Dr Who series. Let me just say that David Tennant is responsible for everyone in my house loving Dr Who. From my wife to my children they all think it is a great show, and it is mostly down to him. Billy Piper and Catherine Tate have been stand out assistants who have has astounded me with their ability to take on the role and make more than just a side kick.
So it is unfortunate that David Tennant’s final show is also the weakest of all the episodes he has done.
How can you end it?
I suppose one of the real problems for the show has been how do you kill off the doctor. It has become so popular that no matter what you do you are not going to satisfy everyone. But it seemed to me I wanted something much more intimate from the final show than what we got. It is something Tennant can do and has done amazingly well and their was a brief flicker of it right before the end that made me smile. But as far as I was concerned the rest was a complete shambles.
John Simm is another talented actor, and while I thought he hammed The Master up a little more than he needed, he was still a convincing villain. But the villain turned psychotic was a step just a little too far, and one of many plot points that I didn’t think the episode needed.
This one was a story I just didn’t connect with in any way. Most of the others I have enjoyed and they have been surprisingly moving at times. Showing the frailty of the human condition with the death and destruction the doctor brings in his wake. Thought provoking at times, and even genuinely frightening in my favourite episode “Blink” . That one also stands out for me as a brave choice as the doctor is hardly in it at all and you seeing from another perspective.
Christmas Specials
For some reason the Christmas specials have never quiet worked. The format doesn’t seem to work well at the longer running time, and I always got the feeling the writers were trying to hard to make those stories bigger than they needed to be. The “Star Ship Titanic” episode (Douglas Adams reference in there for anyone who didn’t know) was a good story but didn’t hit the mark. The “Spider Queen” episode was fun but flat.
But I am not complaining, any Dr Who is better than no Dr Who. But they don’t need to make Christmas specials, Dr Who just doesn’t need it.
Long time fan
I have loved Dr Who for a long time. It seems to be becoming a theme of mine my obsession with British Sci-fi (maybe there is another blog in that). But there is nothing better than watching an entire story of Dr Who on a Sunday morning. That style of story telling is something I am surprised has not crept back into Dr Who. It used to be that a story was played out of about six episodes, so you had the first one where most things seemed normal. All the way through the middle as it became creepy, then the final pay off when the doctor normally saved the day. I enjoy this style because it slows the story and usually makes you engage your brain a little. While the current style is single story episodes, they work just fine. I do sometimes wish they would spend a little more time on some of them.
Who was your doctor?
My doctor (the one I can actually remember sitting down to watch was Silvester McCoy (1987 – 1989). I do remember a little of Colin Baker, and a little more Peter Davidson. But McCoy was the one when I was just the right age, and if I am honest I really like him as the doctor. He is a little hammy and whimsical, and his question mark umbrella is a little over the top. There are moments when this fades away and you are left with a much more sinister character, one of the key marks of the doctor.
McCoy always seems to be dismissed as the doctor, and that is a shame because not only was he fun to watch he also had the best companion. Ace (Sophie Aldred) the loud, rude, obnoxious and clever one who could easily keep pace with the scenes and developed her own character into something that was just as much fun to watch.
A wimper, not a bang!
So Tennant’s stint as the doctor ends not on the high note I would have liked, but well enough. Now is the time of the new doctor and I am afraid to say I don’t have much hope for him. Like all actors following the previous one it hard to see how they will take over. There will only be one way to find out and that is to see how he does in the new series starting in just a few months.