#aslanscompass reviews s11

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Doctor Who s11 analysis: (1/11) Promotion--or the lack thereof

With series 11 and the accompanying special over, I feel like it’s time to post some of my thoughts. Series 11 had the most changes of any season since I started watching; new Doctor, new companions, new showrunner, and new composer. I didn’t post many thoughts as the series aired, wanting to judge it as a whole. 

While I’ll readily admit I’m not fond of change, I’ve enjoyed many corners of the Whoniverse since joining in 2011.   NuWho, Classic Who, the Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, Big Finish, Titan Comics, novels, and more, have all found a place in my heart. But there were several aspects of s11 that just didn’t seem to work for me. 

One of the first aspects that felt “off” to me about s11 was the lack of pre-series information from the BBC. 

Peter Capaldi announced his plans to leave in January 30, 2017.  Series Ten aired from April to July of 2017, with the regeneration scheduled for the 2017 Christmas schedule  

Jodi Whittaker was announced as the Doctor on July 17, 2017,  two and a half weeks after the season finale and nearly six months after the announcement.  According to this article, that marks the longest second-longest announcement gap in the show’s history (only the break between the show’s revival announcement and Eccleston’s casting was longer). Many factors might have impacted the timeline; in hindsight, it set a tone for the upcoming series.

A costume preview was released in early November 2017, whetting appetites further. Whittaker debuted as the Doctor in “Twice Upon a Time,” the 2017 Christmas special. In slightly less than two minutes,  we got only two words of proper dialogue: “Oh, brilliant.” And a shot of her falling out of the TARDIS; completely falling,not just barely clinging on like Eleven had. 

Series Eleven was announced for fall 2018, but no specific date was given until September 5, 2018. With the premiere scheduled for October 7, that left just over a month to go. The air date trailer was simply a shot of the Doctor standing in a chapel-like room as a glass ceiling shattered around her. 

Other information from the series was similarly restricted. Author and director names were only revealed August 20, while the first two episode titles and synopsis were released September 18. Two days, the full trailer was released.  The season finale information wasn’t released till November 14,  three and a half weeks before it aired. 

For comparison, let’s look at information for series 6,  which aired from April 23 to June 4 (first half) and August 27 to October 4, 2011 (second half).  At the end of 2010,  almost all the episode writers were known, as well as some of the guest stars and summaries for four of the episodes.  By the end of March,  we had firm airdates, multiple teasers/trailers, a full list of writers, and ten synopses of varying lengths. 

The lack of information increased my anxiety about the show. With so many changes, the show had plenty of teasers available without touching any plot spoilers. Show us the new TARDIS interior.  Give some background on the new companions.  Sample some tracks from the new composer. Even something like “episode 3 is a historical in America” would have given me something to mull over. When all of time and space is a possibility, give us some hints.  

More installments at this link

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Doctor Who s11 analysis: (2/11) Companions

The choice to give Thirteen three companions is also a departure from most of the show’s history. The original TARDIS team consisted of the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and teachers Ian and Barbara. This pattern continued into series 2, with future traveler Vicki replacing Susan after the former’s departure.

The second Doctor also had three companions in his first season, with Ben and Polly joined by Scottish highlander Jamie. The next three-companion team wasn’t until series 18, when Adric was joined by Nyssa and Tegan for the Fourth Doctor’s swansong.

Five inherited this crew and kept a three-person team for most of his tenure, replacing Adric with Turlough.  After Nyssa’s departure in Terminus (s20), the rest of the Classic series had only one or two companions at a time.  

The use of reoccurring characters in the revival era complicates definitions; Jack joined Rose and Mickey; River frequently met Amy and Rory. But neither of those characters were full-time TARDIS traveler in the way we have in season 11.

The number of companions can also overshadow the backgrounds. Both Ian and Barbara and Ben and Polly joined as a unit, with identical historical backgrounds and at the same time. In both cases, however, the third companion was alien (Susan) or historical (Jamie.)  The Fifth Doctor’s crew was even more varied, with two aliens (from different planets) and one contemporary human.  The show has never had three companions from the same era at once.*

Graham, Ryan, and Yaz differ in age, ethnicity, gender, and marital status. But their common origins remove the potential for many differences of opinion. For example, in one of the Second Doctor’s episodes, Victoria (originally from 1866) wonders if her dress is too short. 

“I shouldn’t think so. Look at Jamie’s,” the Doctor says, pointing to the Scottsman’s (from 1746) kilt. 

This ties into my larger complaint that “audience identification figure” has been taken too literally in the revival series, but that’s another, longer story. Different perspectives are one of the benefits to having companions, whether it’s knowledge of alien life, use of violence, or skills. 

On an individual level,  each of Thirteen’s companions reminds me of other revival characters. That’s hardly surprising, but it also proves distracting. Graham has superficial similarities to Wilf; both are older gentlemen, widowed, with a grandchild traveling with the Doctor.  Yaz and Ryan are typical RTD-era companions: nineteen years old with starter jobs, living at home. While that’s a perfectly serviceable way to start the season, I never really saw any additional traits develop.  

The narrative does provide a rational for including all three in the Doctor’s first adventure--Graham is Ryan’s step-granddad, while Yaz and Ryan were in school together. And with Yaz as low man on the totem pole at work, it makes sense that she’d be sent out to deal with weird incidents.  Even all of them joining the Doctor (initially) makes sense; it was an accident. It’s not the first time the Doctor’s had stowaways or kidnapped people; not even the first time in the revival era. 

But even kidnap victims eventually need to make a choice. Given comments at the beginning of Rosa and Arachnids in the UK,  it’s likely that Arachnids marked the first landing in contemporary England since the season premiere. Even their statements at the end of the episode are a bit....flat....

DOCTOR: Proper goodbye this time. RYAN: About that. GRAHAM: Do we have to? You see, Doc, the thing about grief is it needs time. I don't want to sit around my house waiting for it to go away, cos that house is full of Grace and it makes it so much harder. But, er, being with you and seeing all these things out there, it really helps. DOCTOR: What about you? RYAN: Do you really think I want to go back to working in that warehouse? No way. DOCTOR: Yaz, you wanted to come home. YASMIN: I know. I love my family, but they also drive me completely insane. I want more. More of the universe. More time with you. You're like the best person I've ever met.

Compare that to Rose’s decision 

DOCTOR: What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere. ROSE: Is it always this dangerous? DOCTOR: Yeah. ROSE: Yeah, I can't. I've er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so...  DOCTOR leaves and re-materializes seconds later: By the way, did I mention it also travels in time? ROSE: Thanks. MICKEY: Thanks for what? ROSE: Exactly.  

Donna:

(Runaway Bride):

DOCTOR: Come with me DONNA: No. DOCTOR: Okay. DONNA: I can't. DOCTOR: No, that's fine. DONNA: No, but really. Everything we did today. Do you live your life like that? DOCTOR: Not all the time. DONNA: I think you do. And I couldn't. DOCTOR: But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful. DONNA: And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying, and you were stood there like, I don't know, a stranger. And then you made it snow. I mean, you scare me to death.

vs 

(Partners in Crime)

DONNA: That's my car! That is like destiny. And I've been ready for this. I packed ages ago, just in case. Because I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather. He goes anywhere. I've gotta be prepared. DOCTOR: You've got a, a hatbox. DONNA: Planet of the Hats, I'm ready. I don't need injections, do I? You know, like when you go to Cambodia. Is there any of that? Because my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and she.... You're not saying much. DOCTOR: No, it's just. It's a funny old life, in the Tardis.

and a few from Moffat’s era

Amy (Eleventh Hour)

AMY: Why me? DOCTOR: Why not? AMY: No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why me? DOCTOR: I don't know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason? AMY: People always have a reason.

Clara (Bells of St. John)

DOCTOR: You know, the thing about a time machine, you can run away all you like and still be home in time for tea, so what do you say? Anywhere. All of time and space, right outside those doors. CLARA: Does this work? DOCTOR: Eh? CLARA: Is this actually what you do? Do you just crook your finger and people just jump in your snog box and fly away? DOCTOR: It is not a snog box. CLARA: I'll be the judge of that. DOCTOR: Starting when? CLARA: Come back tomorrow. Ask me again. DOCTOR: Why?

CLARA: Because tomorrow, I might say yes.

Bill (The Pilot)

BILL: Yeah, because I think you're going to wipe my memory. I'm not stupid, you know. That's the trouble with you. You don't think anyone's ever seen a movie. I know what a mind-wipe looks like! 

DOCTOR: I have no choice. I'm here for a reason. I am in disguise. I have promises to keep. No one can know about me. BILL: This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my life. The only exciting thing! DOCTOR: I'm sorry. BILL: Okay, let me remember just for a week. Just a week. Okay, well, just for tonight. Just one night. Come on, let me have some good dreams for once. Okay. Do what you've got to do. But imagine, just imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you. DOCTOR: Get out. BILL: What? DOCTOR: You can keep your memories. Now get out before I change my mind! Don't speak, don't start, just run! Now. Go!  (later...) BILL: What changed your mind? DOCTOR: Time.

Some of those situations involve the companions actively setting terms--Clara, Bill. Even Rose’s decision is active, not passive. Graham, Ryan, and Yaz seem to slid into time travel. It’s fine to have an associate be less enthusiastic-- Mickey, Rory-- but it works best if played off an energetic companion.  If Graham had died, for example, Grace would eagerly join the team; Ryan would feel obligated to come and look after her.  

And with only ten episodes in the season, setting the “decision” moment in episode 4 leaves very little time to establish reactions. That’s only one component in a larger trend across the series. 

*Yes, you could argue that the UNIT era qualifies, depending on one’s definition of companion, but the whole point of that era was that the Doctor was stranded on Earth. 

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