As I explained in my last Season Review, I've decided not to wait for the next anniversary year to express my sentiments on any new season that comes out. Instead I'll do it shortly after the run concludes.
There is an interesting contrast between Ncuti's two seasons. A more mean-spirited fan might say something to the nature of: "The first one is really bad and the second one is less bad". But I'm not that kind of fan. In fact, I'd go so far to say that people who do talk like that about the show should probably stop calling themselves fans!
The contrast lies more in what I'd like to call the distribution of quality. It's a pretty ridiculous term, I'll be the first to admit. What exactly do I mean by it? Well, you'll have to go through a story-by-story review (unless I start getting too wordy again - then I'll compress things a bit) before you get that answer.
JINGLE BELLS (OR IS IT ANOTHER CHRISTMAS CAROL?!)
If you bother to go back to my Review of the last season, I was not particularly happy with Church on Ruby Road. The fact this was meant to be Ncuti's first real story made me all-the-more bothered by it. It really was poorly-constructed. It's one of those situations where, perhaps, the Headwriter was stretching himself a tad too thin with the writing of so many episodes at once. The Christmas Special ends up suffering for it.
What a nice change Joy to the World was. If this really is Moffat's last script for Doctor Who, then he went out with style. The plot's central conceit is a cool one. Especially since it answers the Great Question: Why do hotel rooms have those locked doors that don't seem to serve any real purpose?!
The whole thing is a decently ripping little yarn. The Doctor grabbing the rope from the mountain climbing expedition and using the momentum of the train to solve a major problem was especially clever. But we all know what the best part of the story really was:
Anita.
It was a pretty big risk, really. Bringing the entire plot to a screeching halt so the Doctor can complete a bootstrap paradox. A lot of the success of the sequence depended greatly on the acting chops of Gatwa and Steph de Whalley. In a handful of brief scenes, we have to become enchanted by the friendship that blossoms between them. But they totally pull it off. We are so damned heartbroken when the Doctor goes back to the Time Hotel. Even though we know he needs to get there.
Joy to the World is a very successful Christmas Special. The fact that it will become more than just an enjoyable stand-alone tale gets us to love it even more. Anita's return appearance later in the season is nothing short of awesome.
THOSE REVOLTING ROBOTS
And then we get into the Season Proper. While I actually thought Space Babies was half-decent, I still think Robot Revolution is a much better opener. There's still a bit of silliness to it. But it's more in the visuals than the actual plot. The robots, themselves, and the spaceship they fly in have a very Astounding Stories aesthetic to them. Which does generate some degree of campiness. There is, however, a sort of internal logic to it all. It is Alan the Incel who now runs the world. So he may have made a conscious choice to imitate the old pulp fiction magazine.
Ultimately, Robot Revolution's strongest point is that it actually has a pretty damned good plot. It doesn't rely on gimmicks like talking babies or fart-propelled spaceships. Instead, it uses time travel in an interesting way. On top of that, we finally get a proper version of the Two Brigadiers in Mawdryn Undead Rule. When two things from different Time Zones meet, there's a violent reaction. There have been multiple occasions in New Who where people or objects from two different time periods make contact to little or no effect. But when the two certificates touch, we get that explosion that made the climax of Mawdryn Undead so clever.
The Robot Revolution also has the important task of introducing Belinda Chandra (Ms.). A companion I immediately like way better than Ruby Sunday. And I quite liked Ruby. It's just that Bel is far more interesting. Particularly since she has no real desire to travel with the Doctor. Like Ian and Barbara, she just wants the Doctor to get her back home. This creates a very fun arc throughout the whole season. .
LUX
On to the next story: Lux is quite wonderful. Another God from the Pantheon makes his appearance. What I like about the whole concept of the Pantheon is that each member of it is very unique. It's not just someone else who is just like the Toymaker showing up over and over.
We love Lux. He's a cute cartoon character with a very sinister edge to him. As the story progresses, he becomes more and more terrifying. Particularly when he realizes he can steal the Doctor's regeneration energy to achieve corporeal form. Those images of him becoming three-dimensional just before Belinda stops him are quite nightmarish. It's a great moment. Especially since we love Belinda even more for saving the day.
Like Joy to the World, however, it's a much smaller component of the plot that stands out the most. Something we've probably been expecting to see happen in some way for a while, now.
At long last, the Doctor steps out of his own show and gets to meet his fans. I couldn't help but notice how carefully-crafted the scene was. Some mockery of fandom does occur through the three characters, but we only get picked on so badly. Production is smart enough to not bite the hand that feeds them too hard!
Nonetheless, it's a very fun scene. I do like that the three fans are shown to have survived, after all, as the credits roll. I honestly thought more would be done with them later in the season (was certain they would, at least, somehow, turn into the Gods of Ragnarok) but that didn't end up happening. Perhaps we will see them again someday (or, perhaps, we already have. Way back in Greatest Show in the Galaxy).
MAKING A WISH
And then along comes The Well: A great little sequel to a much-loved episode What I enjoy most, however, is that the story stands up just fine on its own without being a sequel to Midnight. Adding that little nuance just made the whole tale that much more great.
Probably the most interesting part of the story, however, is Shaya Costallion's sacrifice. Doctor Who has a long history of supporting characters allowing their lives to be taken for a greater good (conveniently-placed within the plot so that the Doctor and/or the companion don't have to die to solve the problem). Many of them have these great scenes that make them intensely heroic. But very few of these moments are as emotionally-resonant as Shaya's passing. The shots of her running to her death as an adult cross-cutting to her running for her life as a child are quite stirring. Things are enhanced all-the-more with music and a voice-over narration. All of this becomes intensely touching. I've yet to be able to watch the sequence with a dry eye.
We knew, of course, that Shaya's sharp-shooting abilities would have some kind of role to play in how the conflict would be resolved. But we had no idea that it would be used this well. It's an excellent story that ends quite beautifully.
At this point, I'm also starting to notice something interesting about the whole flow of the season. The range of stories is really diverse. Thus far, we've gotten a fun space opera, a thoughtful period piece and now a full-on sci-fi horror. I love it when the show goes in wildly different directions during each episode. It just makes for a richer season.
LOVING TO HATE CONRAD
Lucky Day takes a number of interesting risks. The biggest one being that it's another "Doctor lite" story. Ncuti did have somewhat limited availability for some of the filming of the last season. So to take him out of most of a story again this year could have been potentially upsetting for viewers. But RTD decides to give Millie Gibson another opportunity to show off just how well she can carry an episode all on her own - even though she's no longer travelling aboard the TARDIS.
Lucky Day takes even bigger risks, however, by just having a very strange vibe to it. At points, it resembles Love and Monsters. During other moments, however, it becomes the polar opposite of the tale it was imitating. Whereas Elton was a fan of the Doctor and was trying to find him, Conrad seems to hate everything the Time Lord ever stood for and is not pleased when they finally meet at the end.
The story, in general. veers off in any number weird directions. It starts as a fairly well-told romance. We really are happy to see Ruby falling in love. Which makes the betrayal Conrad eventually orchestrates all-the-more bitter of a pill to swallow. As things evolve, the plot eventually becomes a fully-fledged UNIT story. And lots of fun plot twists occur in the narrative to get us to all of these odd, unlikely places.
As much as I admire this adventure for being so wonderfully bizarre in so many ways, it remains the weakest link in the season. Still not a bad story, though. There's much to like, here. I quite enjoy the whole plot twist that happens about halfway through the episode that reveals who Conrad truly is. And Kate losing all sense of mercy and just letting the Shreek stalk Conrad is a gloriously chilling moment. It's even more disturbing when Colonel Ibraham tries to talk to her about it later and she just brushes him off. The story reveals a darker side to Kate that we've never seen before. One can't help but wonder if this will lead to something much more dangerous in the future.
BARBERSHOP QUARTET
Like the episode before it, a bunch of risks also get taken, here. The difference, however, is that Lucky Day is the weakest story of the season. Whereas The Story and the Engine achieves the exact opposite. The chances it takes pay off and it is probably the best episode of the year. I'd even go so far to say that it's only a hair's breadth away from being considered a Classic.
For just one night, Doctor Who transforms into an old African Legend. Yes, the people trapped in the barbershop share with us a bunch of old myths (I love how we get just a snippet of the famous tale of why the shells are cracked on the backs of tortoises), but it's more than just that. The actual storytellers behave the way characters in an old African Legend would act. Particularly near the end of the episode. In the mythologies of most other cultures, wrongdoers tend to get their comeuppance. But in a lot of old African Legends, a much better lesson is taught: the baddies are forgiven and allowed to start anew. It's all quite beautiful. I especially love it when the captives of the barbershop prostrate themselves before Abena and then run off to get their lives back. The episode is chocked full of the sort of great images that are often depicted in the ancient stories that Africans still share. I really do love that the show makes this sort of leap and gives us something truly wondrous and unique.
Doctor Who has, traditionally, been quite lucky when it places heavy restrictions on the locations an episode can use. Boom, Heaven Sent and Midnight have all done an excellent job of staying in more-or-less one place. We can even go all the way back to an adventure like Horror of Fang Rock and be quite impressed that the whole thing takes place in a lighthouse and doesn't go much beyond that. But every time the show tries something like this, it runs the massive of risk of finally misfiring and coming across as horrifically boring. .The Story and the Engine rolls that dice, again, by being mainly situated in a barbershop. But, like the other stories I've mentioned, it becomes an even more enjoyable story because of the limitations it imposes upon itself.
Also, just like everyone else, I love the super-brief cameo by the Fugitive Doctor!
SOME SEASONAL OBSERVATIONS:
I know I should probably just stick to my whole story-by-story motif, but there are a few things going on in the season that I feel the need to make observations on. The comments don't really fit in with an individual episode analysis, so I figure I'll just put them in a separate section of their own.
1) We have started experiencing one of the few issues in this season that I really have any kind of genuine problem with. Belinda was getting some great focus on the first half of the season. In the beginning, it does feel like she's making some genuine contributions to every plot she's in. But, from Lucky Day onwards, she gets neglected a lot. Obviously, in the Doctor-lite story, it becomes more about Ruby so we won't see much of her. But she's also forced into the background quite a bit during The Story and the Engine. And it feels far more like Ruby is the companion in the season finale than Bel.
2) An interesting through-theme seems to be defining itself. Most episodes this season seem to feature a character that either overcomes or is broken by a difficult past that they have been put through. Shaya from The Well, for instance, grew up in an extremely hostile part of the galaxy, As an adult, however, she joins the military so she can be the sort of protection she never received when she was a child. Conrad, on the other hand, had an abusive mother. But, in his case, the difficult upbringing that he experienced seems to have turned him into a pretty horrible person.
3) A less-frequent and more subtle recurring concept is also working its way through the season. Certain characters get pushed past their level of tolerance and start crossing the personal lines that they've drawn for themselves. Kate Stewart seems quite happy to let Conrad get devoured by a Shreek during Lucky Day. And, in the next episode we're about to cover, the Doctor starts torturing the Hell out of poor Kid.
4) I have greatly enjoyed every episode we're getting, thus far. But I am starting to develop what I like to call: End-of-season paranoia. While I don't think Empire of Death is as bad as some people claim it to be, it's still a bit of a let-down. I'm worried we're going to get the same sort of finale this year, too.
DUGGA-DOO
As the trailers for this season started coming out, the premise of The Interstellar Song Contest seemed like a fun one. As a Canadian, I'm only so familiar with the actual competition that it's based upon, but I knew it well enough that I figured I would get whatever references were made. I also suspected that RTD is smart enough to not get so specific with British culture that oversea fans would be lost.
What intrigued me more was what they were actually going to do with the story beyond making it a sci fi version of the Eurovision Song Contest. Were we just going to watch various musical acts from different planets and find out who was going to win?! Or would there be more to it than that? Doctor Who is not afraid to do some really weird, experimental things - so these questions aren't that ridiculous. We really could have just gotten a singing competition with aliens for an entire episode!
Fortunately, we did get more than that. Quite a bit more, in fact. The plot to Interstellar Song Contest goes in several different and very interesting directions. I'd even go so far to say that it's the most tightly-written episode of the season. There's some great world-building being done with the prejudice that's been engineered against the Hellions. There's also a very nice obscure continuity references being done by mentioning Trion ("That's where Turlough's from!" I immediately exclaimed the first time they said it).
Interstellar also has quite a few "magic moments" to it. Mrs. Flood is revealed through a bi-generation. The Doctor saves himself from the void of space with a confetti canon. Susan starts appearing in dream sequences. And, of course, there's the Dugga-Doo song!
THE END - BUT THE MOMENT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR!
....And we'll just tackle the season finale in one section rather than giving each episode separate coverage:
Admittedly, Wish World does use a trope as its main premise. But I'd hardly call it a worn out one.
Characters suddenly trapped in a false reality (particularly an Orwellian one) has been seen many times before in various forms of entertainment. Even on Doctor Who, itself. But it's a central conceit I never seem to grow tired of. I love watching the struggle that goes on as people attempt to figure out what's "real" and then try to bring themselves back to that place. If done correctly, it's a narrative that I always find compelling.
But the real trick with a well-used storyline like this is to introduce some interesting variations. To make sure we're not just getting the exact same plot that we've seen countless times before. RTD does a great job of giving us something new and different. I love how a coffee mug shatters as a distraction every time someone starts noticing inconsistencies in Conrad's World. There's also a great twist at the end when we discover the whole reality was constructed to actually generate doubt so that the Rani can use that energy to get to Omega.
Archie Panjabi's portrayal as the Rani immediately rivals the one Kate O'Mara did way back in the 80s. She has just as much fun with the part and is an absolute delight to watch. It is a bit of a pity that the character is so short-lived. But the double-act with Mrs. Flood is also great fun. If one of them had to flee to fight another day, I'm glad it's the Anita Dobson version. She is something very different from what we usually see from the character. Which makes her more interesting to explore further. If we require a nastier version of the Rani, then they'll just regenerate her when necessary.
There seems a general sense of disappointment from fans regarding the Return of Omega. People weren't particularly happy with how he looked and seemed to want him to have a stronger presence in the story. Whereas I'm quite fine with everything. The real battle, here, was between the Doctor and the Rani. I fully expected Omega to just be some nasty monster that only appeared briefly and was sent back to Hell before causing too much trouble. At the same time, the Time Lord Hero has never kept a consistent form so a thirty foot tall skull-headed giant makes perfect sense. It was also cool to see Ncuti go a bit badass with the Vindicator in order to defeat him.
All in all, there was no reason for my end-of-season paranoia. In my opinion, we did not get a repeat of Empire of Death. Even though both seasons were recorded back-to-back, RTD seems to have learned lessons from the mistakes of the first one. The biggest one being: Don't actually allow your Returning Universe-Destroying Foe to actually destroy the Universe. Nip him in the bud before he becomes too big of a problem and make the real conflict be about something else.
BYE-BYE NCUTI
After endless amounts of speculation, my worst fears come true: Ncuti is only doing two seasons. Once more, the Doctor regenerates far sooner than I want him to.
I will, however, take the time to comment on how well the whole regeneration was handled. Not going the usual route of heavily publicizing that the latest Doctor was leaving and a new one was coming in was a great way to do things. While leaks were coming out all over the place, no one was truly certain if they were accurate. As far as I was concerned, the regeneration really was a legitimate surprise. And I loved the effect that it had on me as I watched it play out. It was a great new way for the role to change hands.
Having said that, it still really sucks that Ncuti's leaving so soon. I absolutely adored his Doctor. I especially like that there was a concerted effort to make him different from what I like to call "the generic New Who Doctor". Fifteen behaved in a whole new way than what we'd been seeing from the New Who Doctors before him. The fact that he cried so much is one of the simpler and more obvious examples of this. But there were all sorts of nuances to the character that made him so delightfully unique. His departure was very difficult for me to watch. I wanted this version of the Doctor to be explored more deeply.
FINAL VERDICT:
Way back at the beginning of this Review, I was discussing some sort of nonsense regarding the distribution of quality between Ncuti's first and second seasons. Let's finally explain it:
In the first season, we get some Absolute Classics like Boom and 73 Yards. With them, however, came significantly weaker episodes like The Church on Ruby Road and Empire of Death. Whereas the second season is full of very outstanding stories - but it has no legitimate Classics. The Story and the Engine comes quite close, but doesn't quite make it there.
I am much happier with how the second season plays out. I'd rather have all the stories be very strong in quality than deal with peaks and valleys. If every season of the show were made this way, I'd be quite fine with this. Maybe we'd still get a Classic once in a while. But, even if we didn't, I'm much more content with consistency from a TV show than sitting through stuff that can, sometimes, be a bit embarrassing to watch. I know that makes me sound "less artsy" - but I'm fine with that!
Would I call this season absolutely flawless? Of course not. There are a few problems that are, for the most part, pretty minor. I've discussed, already, the back seat Belinda takes during the second half of the season. I'm also a bit annoyed that we're never given a proper explanation of why Mrs. Flood can break the Fourth Wall (I thought it would have been cool if she, somehow, knew that Omega was watching the whole time and was addressing him!). These elements, however, do little to mar my enjoyment of what we got this year. Overall, it's an excellent season.
FINAL VERDICT - THE SEQUEL
Bringing up Mrs. Flood makes me realize there's still one more thing I need to comment on.
If you've bothered to read my Season Reviews during the Sixtieth Anniversary Year, you'll know that I'm actually only so fond of RTD's first era. My biggest gripe being that things just felt too damned formulaic, sometimes. You knew, for instance, that the Doctor was always going to meet a famous person from history once every season (Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie). Or that each year would feature a recurring term that foreshadowed the season finale (Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Vote Saxon, Medusa Cascade). Personally, I find paint-by-numbers writing to be quite lazy. Which is why I'm also not particularly fond of the Third Doctor Era. This period of the show is also very predictable.
When it was announced that RTD was returning, my greatest fear was that we would get more of this sort of thing. Each season would be something we could easily set up a bingo card for. It might not be the same repetitive traits that we got during his first era, but the show would still be very formula-driven.
Some of this is still happening. It's a bit odd, for instance, that women keep following the Doctor all the way through time and space as he travels the Universe. Sutekh's harbinger does it in his first season and then it's the Rani during the second. One or two other patterns of this nature do occur throughout Ncuti's era. But, for the most part, RTD almost seems to be trying to do the opposite as much as possible. Particularly during the second season. I've commented earlier in the Review about how diverse all the stories are. Each one feels radically different from the others and stands out quite beautifully. Which makes me ridiculously grateful that RTD made the decision to come back. I actually appreciate him far more than I did during those first four seasons.
In fact, I'd go so far to say I enjoy RTD2 way better. The writing, here, is much stronger. Which is actually what I was expecting. The man's had a bunch of time to hone his craft since his first run.
Still, if you're aware of my notorious nickname, you're probably laughing a bit to yourself, right now. While the rest of fandom seems to view RTD's first period as the Head Writer as a "Golden Age", I don't enjoy it that much. And while everyone in the world seems to be tearing his most recent work to shreds, I think this is some of his best stuff.
The Great Contrarion strikes again!
And thus endeth my latest Seasons Review. Sadly, this could be the last one for a while....
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