Doctor Who- Decoration of a cake with out the cake

Tv review- Doctor Who series 12 (2020)

The latests series of doctor who, that aired earlier this year, course corrected many of the problems people had of series eleven: the series arc was back, old monsters returned and the focus on historical episodes was working on the strengths of the last series. But, even with all this work in the right direction, it still feels like a hollow version of the old fantastic show. The problem is that all the positive changes are merely decoration, the flaws of series eleven were much more fundamental than any small course correction could mend. The show is struggling because of structural flaws in its storytelling. Whether that be through characters or the medium of tv narrative, the stories are left feeling half there. Without the fundamental changes to the shows writing of stories described below, then any course correction will remain skin deep.

The music of the chris chibnal era is certainly a major problem. You could feel the loss of Murray Gold in series eleven, but the lack of sufficient replacement is a glaring hole in series twelve. Every single episode is drenched in the same airy atmospheric generic sounds that nothing is distinct or memorable. Yes, the use of violins when the monsters appear in the Nikolas Tesla episode was interesting, but by the time of Can you hear me where the same trick is used it already feels over used. In nearly every episode with Gold there was a plethora of unique intriguing tracks, now we are lucky to get one. Golds work was another bow in the storytelling toy box that helped show the story rather than having the cast explicitly state everything they see, and damn does series twelve need something to help that. The atmospheric tracks don’t offer much tension or intrigue, they only fill the silent void. Music and sound is such an essential part of mystery and tension that it is the bread and butter of a show like Doctor Who. It’s loss makes every episode feel empty and at times awkward when it is meant to be tense.

Can you hear me was one of the better episodes of the series because it actually attempted to explore the companions lives. But, for any of the exposition to have any emotional weight then it should have been explored and developed over the course of a series rather than dumped in one episode. A lot of the problem occurs through how a lot of the companions backstory seems to just pop up and surprise the watcher without any ground work; it feels like every single episode is playing with a different set of companions and just adds random back story that fits the narrative they are peddling that week and for it to never be explored again. Compare this to Rose’s gradual love with the doctor, Donna nobles series softening, Amy’s battle between normal life and adventure or even Clara’s change into her own form of the doctor; each companion had their own arc and development that fit with their character. This is missing with our current three. Yes series eleven had the ryan and graham learning to like each other but that was haphazard at best, and it left nothing to explore in series twelve. Every one talks of past series mystery boxes (the continual thread of mystery throughout the series eg the cracks) and series twelve has the timeless child, but the mystery box isn’t the only nor the most important thing that weaves through past series, the companions development. They are the viewers vessel to explore the doctors world, so if they are not gradually learning or developing then neither are the audience.

One of the core components of Smith, Eccleston and Tenants dr was the underlying anger and sadness that occurred because of the time war. It meant that for all their whimsical fun there was genuine moment where the dr was scary and grounded and undeniably human. Chibnal never lets whitticker show off her emotional range as her dr is never vulnerable enough or inter enough, she currently doesn’t have the layers that past drs had. Her only defining trait is she’s a bit awkward and other than that there is not much to her character. One of the best scenes in series twelve was when the companions were questioning the drs mood and she snapped back at them, it is the only sign of character depth or any moment she was thinking about anything more than she’s willing to say. Though the timeless child is a controversial story line, if it means whitticker will be spending a series exploring her character and explore some depth, then it might be worth it.

Though Moffatts overuse of killing off characters to bring them back an episode later became tedious by the end, it meant that you were always tense for the characters lives. This new series has very few high stakes moments where you believe the companions are in true danger. One of the many hopes for the inclusion of three companions was that it would mean any good die at any moment, something one companion doesn’t usually allow for. But, two series in and there have been very few “oh my why meet lose this companion” moments. The best one was in the opening episode with yaz, but that resolved itself with minutes. If chibnall kept the companions seperate for a bit longer, then maybe we’d worry for them, but they are glued together.

Ultimately all of the problems of series twelve are narrative based: lack of development of companions or dr, lack or stakes or tension. It is for this reason that for many it feels like Chibnal starts with a political statement he wants to write about for each episode rather than good characters, stories or sci-fi concepts. In all past doctor who there has been political statements, but they’ve always felt secondary to good characters, stories and sci-fi that they’ve felt earned and poignant. It’s is like baking a cake by starting with decorating it, with out the solid foundations the decorations don’t sit well. Series thirteen must provide relatable characters with depth that develop over the course of the series as that is what anchors the show: series four is the best series because of how it is so rooted in the character of donna that every single episode hits emotionally.