ANOTHER SPECIAL BONUS: APPENDIXES AND UPDATES

Happy New Year, everyone!!! 

In my constant effort to make sure that what's currently going on with the show lines up with the silly theories I postulate about in here - I find myself writing more and more Special Appendixes. Which is not really a bother for me. I still remember those sad Wilderness Years where there was no New Who being made. I'm far happier adjusting my opinions to new episodes than not having new episodes to adjust my opinion to! 

Usually, there's enough material in these Appendixes to merit a full entry. But, this time, I find myself in a situation that resembles my Quick Fixes Series. There's some things I'd like to discuss but they will only fill a few paragraphs, at best. So I'll just accumulate these short points into one entry and deal with them all, here. 




ANALYTICAL: THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND MULTI-INCARNATION ENCOUNTERS - APPENDIX A

In anticipation of Twice Upon A Time, I found myself thinking quite heavily about other occasions when the Doctor has had adventures with his previous incarnations. I decided to watch all those tales and see if they worked according to any patterns. I discovered that they did. And that those patterns might even have something to say about the Doctor's own psychological make-up. Here are the observations that I made: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/11/analytical-psychology-behind-multi.html

I was bold, of course. I came up with all these conclusions before Twice Upon a Time aired. It was entirely possible that this new adventure with more than one incarnation of the Doctor might flatly contradict a whole bunch of these "rules" that I drew out from the other stories. I was quite lucky. For the most part, what we see with One and Twelve agrees with the conclusions I came to in my essay. Let's take a closer look at them:

Similarities:

My biggest concern was a premise I put forward about large gaps between incarnations. I postulate that when incarnations aren't too far apart - they tend to argue more. But wider gaps tend to make the Doctor more at peace with himself and he can get along a lot better with his past.

In case you didn't bother to follow the link, here are my precise thoughts on the matter:

"Again, if we use this Doctor not being happy with himself model, it makes a sort of sense. A person who is heavily into personal growth would have more trouble seeing their more recent past. If I ran into a version of Rob Tymec from only two or three years ago - I'd probably be frustrated to see that I was a much more immature person in my recent past than I had remembered myself to be. But if I met me when I was only ten years old - I would be far more detached and understanding. I was just a kid back then. I'm allowed to be childish at that age. So I probably won't be so harsh with me. Whereas I really wouldn't like to meet me from only a few years back. I'm pretty sure I'd just want to tell myself off for still being such a twit when I should've grown up, by now.

Perhaps it works in a similar way with the Doctor. To go back only an incarnation or two is like a human seeing himself from only two to five years ago. Depending on the human's personality - he's probably not going to like what he sees. But a Time Lord going back three or more incarnations is like a human encountering himself from twenty or so years ago. He's just too far-removed from who he once was and it's not so tough on him, anymore, to see himself behaving so poorly. Essentially, t's easier to forgive a considerably younger version of yourself. With the Doctor, of course, it takes a bigger set of years for him to feel this way. His longevity gives him a greater breadth of vision. So even if there might be a century or two between incarnations that are back-to-back - that's not long enough for him to not be awkward about what he's seeing"

Naturally enough, my big fear was that we would see One and Twelve fight like cats and dogs throughout the entire story. This would get my Gaps Between Incarnations theory to fall completely to pieces.

Fortunately enough, the First and Twelfth Doctor tend to get along fairly well. Twelve, being a bit wiser and more experienced, actually tends to bark out a fair amount of instructions to One. One doesn't put up much argument when he does, The closest they come to a legitimate debate is when they're approaching Rusty's Tower on Villengard and Twelve wants to go up alone. One fights him for the briefest of moments. But, when Twelve points out the danger of the two of them going up together, One sees the logic of it all quite quickly and falls into line. It's very similar to the fight Five and One have in the TARDIS during The Five Doctors. There's the slightest hint of resistance but One yields quickly when presented with solid logic.

Slight Contradicitons:

I will be the first to admit, the Gap Between Incarnations theory doesn't fit perfectly with this story. There are moments where these two incarnations do still "rankle" each other slightly. But their reactions aren't nearly is volatile as, say, the fights Two and Three have had. In fact, their disagreements manifest themselves' in far gentler tones.

In the case of One viewing Twelve, he does become a bit disappointed in some of the choices he's made. He certainly isn't pleased with the sunglasses. But even in his harshest moment of criticism (throwing the shades on the floor) it's handled fairly lightly. Especially when you consider how vicious One usually was when he disagreed with someone. He does become a bit angry with Twelve as he brags about how he will escape the Testimony and fight them. He quite disagrees with such a flagrant display of bravado. But the tetchiness is pretty short-lived. He gets on with just cooperating with Twelve and following his cues as they grab on to the chains hooked into the TARDIS and escape.

The times Twelve disagrees with One are largely overshadowed with embarrassment rather than anger. I know some fans disagree with how old-fashioned Moff made the First Doctor seem. But, the truth of the matter is, those moments are there in his actual episodes (it especially helps re-enforce this idea when he had One directly quote himself from Dalek Invasion of Earth, at one point). We don't usually see them in such great abundance in just one story but we can't deny that the First Doctor could have some pretty conservative values. This clash with more modern ideas was even seen back in The Five Doctors when One tells Tegan to make some refreshments for them.

When One displays his outdated ideas, Twelve tries to brush the whole thing under the carpet rather than directly scold him. Again, this isn't like the usual banter we would see between different incarnations that are closer together. I wouldn't even see these reactions as contradictions to my theory. But rather, special nuances that occur between distant incarnations. Especially since this is the greatest gap we've seen, so far, in a multi-incarnation story (a good 1 500 years by Twelve's estimation). Essentially, even with a great age difference, two Doctors will disagree. But when they're so far apart, the disagreement tends to be far less rooted in anger. "Softer" negative emotions like disappointment or embarrassment tend to come into play.


One Other Important Similarity:

Another important moment that we see over and over in most of these types of stories is the Doctor making peace with himself. This usually happens just before the incarnations are about to separate again. It happens in Twice Upon a Time as the two Doctors enjoy the Christmas Armistice of 1914. One finally has made his choice about regenerating or dying. Just before he leaves, he turns to Twelve and indicates that he doesn't care what Twelve's choice might be. It's not for him to make the decision (well, not yet, at least). But One does shake his hand and wish him good luck. I actually love that we almost always get a moment like this in a multi-incarnation adventure. It says a lot about the type of person the Doctor is.




UNADULTERATED BOORISH OPINION: THE SILLINESS OF GENERAL FAN CONSENSUS - APPENDIX A

I really thought this particular essay was going to get me more flack than it did. But perhaps it's because you haven't read it, yet. So, here it is:

https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/07/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-silliness.html

My main point in this particular essay is how often fans like to scream "re-tread!" when it really isn't. We might be seeing slight similarities between two things from two different stories - but this is hardly a re-tread. It's just two things that resemble each other slightly.

To be clear, a good example of a re-tread would be The Force Awakens in the Star Wars franchise. To me, it is a blatant attempt to re-create A New Hope. Both stories center around a droid trying to deliver an important message. We need to blow up another Death Star (Star Killer Base - same difference). There's another creature cantina scene. We have another tall, dark, masked villain (who doesn't really need to wear a mask - why does he wear that thing except to look more like Darth Vader?!). That's just a few of the more obvious similarities. There's plenty of smaller ones (evil villain tortures pretty heroine, big spaceship battle at the end, Death Star demonstrates its strength to the galaxy, a desert planet is a key location). When you have that many similarities (more, in fact, I just won't bother to highlight them because this is supposed to be a Doctor Who blog not a Star Wars blog), you can claim it's a re-tread and no one can really argue with you. The truth of the matter is: there's a lot of stuff in Force Awakens that imitates New Hope.

Who fans don't seem to work by that rule. They tend to see one slight similarity and have to scream "re-tread!!" at the top of their lungs. As I say in the essay itself, Sci-Fi has its tropes. As long as you explore a trope in a new and different way every time you use it - I think that's fine. The Weeping Angels and The Silence can do something nasty to you as you look away from them. But they both do very different nasty things. Weeping Angels send you back in time. Silence just makes you forget about them. There's a world of difference there - so I don't consider that a re-tread.

See how that works?

Unfortunately, some fans still don't. I'm seeing stuff in fan groups where folks are claiming that Jodie's introductory scene is an exact copy of Matt Smith's. Yup, there's one similarity going on: because the Doctor has held in his regeneration for too long, it appears to have damaged the TARDIS in some way. Making for a very nasty ride for the new Doctor. But, really, that's where similarities end.

Let's look at the differences (and there are plenty):

Matt Smith is getting jostled around a lot. The TARDIS just seems to be swerving and spinning a lot. During one of those nastier dips, it causes Smith to roll out the door and nearly run into Big Ben. The TARDIS just manages to avoid the collision and Smith pulls himself back into the TARDIS to try to get it under control. Or, at least, land.

With Jodie, the TARDIS is very consciously trying to eject her. It's not dipping and swirling, it just flings open its doors and tilts at an angle that will make Whitaker fall out. Because Jodie clings to the console, it even seems to intentionally rip itself apart to throw her out. After a few seconds of serious flinging, she loses grip and appears to be plunging to her doom.

That's a bunch of variables there, guys. One Doctor is just getting bumped around a lot, nearly falls out of the TARDIS, nearly collides with a major monument and then lands. The other Doctor is - flat-out - flung out of the TARDIS and seems to be falling to her death. Yup, in both cases, a new Doctor is getting a bad first ride. But that's where the similarities end. So, seriously, if you want to claim copycat: go watch New Hope and Force Awakens back-to-back. You have every right to complain about that one. However, in the case of Smith and Whitaker - these aren't the re-treads you're looking for... 






A SPECIAL APPENDIX TO THE SPECIAL APPENDIX:

Just as I did in the original entry about multi-incarnation adventures, I'm going to add a special appendix about story structure. Twice Upon a Time uses several of the conventions that other stories of this nature engage in.

Threads:

We don't see a particular "scoop up moment" like we do in The Three and Five Doctors. Instead, we follow the plot thread of a previous incarnation until he meets the current Doctor. And then we see him returned to his timeline, afterwards. That thread, of course, is a loving re-creation of The Tenth Planet. We get actual footage from the story blended with a modern re-shoot. We are then returned to the conclusion of Tenth Planet at the end of the tale. Again, footage of Bradley and Hartnell are mixed together.

As is often the case when it's just two incarnations (The Two Doctors, Time Crash and World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls), the meeting occurs by timestreams accidentally intersecting. Generally, when it's more than two incarnations (The Three and Five Doctor and Day of the Doctor) an external force causes the incarnations to unite.

More Technical Glitches:

As is often the case, incarnations meeting each other create temporal anomalies. Most often, we see certain incarnations being caught in Time Bubbles of some sort. But there can be other repercussions. In this instance, One and Twelve feeling suicidal together interferes enough with the timelines to cause a scoop up the Testimony is attempting to go wrong. The Brig's Grandpa accidentally plops into the two Doctors' timestream and has an adventure with them rather than just being sent directly back to the time of his death.

There also seems to be some memory issues. Which doesn't usually happen with just two incarnations (even with the Simm Master and Missy reunion, I think she's lying to him when she says she can't recall the encounter). But Twelve can't remember anything that's happened with him and One on this adventure. More than likely, all the external influences of the Testimony have created some extra interference. Those time freezes within a temporal anomaly are making the timelines too tangled and the Doctor doesn't retain things, after all.   






All righty, then - that's all my latest appendixes covered. Everything feels sorted out in my convoluted Universe, again!