"Worst season of Doctor Who, ever!"
"It's soooo bad!"
"Satan now tortures people in Hell by making them watch Series Eleven of Doctor Who."
"My uncle could only get through the first two episodes of Series Eleven and then he threw himself off a cliff!"
"I don't like it very much. Oh. Sorry? We're talking about Series Eleven of Doctor Who? I thought we were talking about Red Bull Energy Drink. Series Eleven is an absolute abomination. As bad as Prime Energy Drink. Oh no. Wait. Nothing is as bad as that!"
These are the sort of comments we hear when discussions erupt regarding Series Eleven (although, that last guy seems a bit too obsessed with energy drinks!). In fact, these are some of the nicer things that I've heard said about this season!
Naturally enough, opinions of this nature would lead one to believe that Series Eleven was an absolute mess. I, however, have a very different view (are we the slightest bit surprised?!).
While there are some very strong negative ideas that have been expressed about Series Eleven, I also find them to be - for the most part - largely invalid. Which means, of course, that Series Eleven ain't really so bad. An honest objective look reveals it to be far better than the reputation some have given it.
There are two different ways to dismiss the idea that this is an absolutely terrible season. Both of which, I'm sure, will incense any number of people who may take the time to read this Review. Nonetheless, I can't resist expressing them. Regardless of the backlash I may get.
So, here they are:
1. Vocal Minority
There are not actually all that many people who genuinely hate this season so much. But the few that do feel they must let everyone know, all the time, just how much they despise Series Eleven. While there really aren't that many of them, they still constantly have to express their negativity in every forum. And no one, anywhere, can say that they like this season (or any other that featured Jodie Whitaker as the Doctor, for that matter) without receiving harsh opposition. These "fans" need to tell appreciators of Jodie and Chris that they are totally wrong to have the opinions they have. If you try, for instance, to post in a fangroup that you really like Yaz - this vocal minority will swoop down in the comments and call you a moron for feeling this way. "Yaz was terrible," they'll swear, "And you're a complete loser for thinking differently from me!"
Naturally enough, if you are enjoying the output from this Era, you're going to feel inclined to keep your views to yourself. Because, when you do state them, you get attacked. This sort of phenomenon skews things even more, now. For the most part, we're only seeing what the haters think. The Likers are quick to bite their tongues and stay out of it. And I don't blame them. Even I restrained myself when expressing my appreciation for this period on Fan Pages. Because I just go too much heat for feeling the way I did. But this situation will also project the image that there are far more people hating Jodie/Chibnall than there really are. Which means, of course, the season is actually better-appreciated than certain fans that like to bully would have you believe.
2. Sorry. But it really is sexism.
This one, I'm sure, will get me in some trouble.
Let me preface this by saying that I do genuinely believe that there are some people out there who really don't like Chibnall's style of writing. So, if what I'm about to say offends you, imagine that you're one of these people. Those other folks that I'm talking about fall under a whole other category that you don't fit in.
With that said, let me make my real point:
A lot of the people that are complaining so heavily about this era are actually just thinly-veiled misogynists.
It's a crazy conspiracy-theorist type thing to say, I know. But the fact that some of you guys protest so hard about all of this really does make me think I'm on to something. That it's not a genuine hatred for the content that you have but, instead, you're doing your damnedest to cover something else up.
Even though Moff wove Time Lord gender-changing into the Lore; even though JNT admitted on several occasions that he might finally cast a woman in the role (although, he was doing it partly as a prank that drew headlines); even though both Patrick Troughton and Sidney Newman claimed waaay back in the 60s that anyone of any race or gender could now play the role; certain fans still just weren't ready for the idea of a female Doctor. When it finally happened, they were furious.
I still remember how, shortly after the announcement, there were any number of people saying they didn't agree with the casting choice. And it wasn't that they, necessarily, didn't like Jodie Whitaker. Their choice of words was succinct: They didn't think a woman should get the role.
And then some other fans politely pointed something out to them:
"You do realize," they'd claim, "you're, technically, saying that playing the Doctor is a man's job that a woman isn't capable of doing, right?"
This seemed to silence the discussion fairly quickly.
Cause everyone kinda knows, these days, that sexism is a bad thing. And that if you get accused of it in any way, it doesn't go well for you. And, while some people of a more conservative bent may disagree, I actually think this is a good thing. Women have been denied rights for so long that we should all be a bit scared of being labelled a sexist. We all need to stop standing in the way of women receiving equal and fair treatment.
But, of course, there's ways around the accusation. You can still fulfill a sexist agenda but make it look like something else. And that's what I think happened when the episodes started rolling out. Those people who were convinced in their heart of hearts that a woman should not play the Doctor (even though the show's Lore completely supports the idea) decided they would voice their disdain in a different way. With a slight change in their tactics, the show still gets a poor image. Which is, ultimately, what they want. If Doctor Who appears to be failing, people will want change. And, hopefully, that change results in the Doctor becoming male again as soon as possible.
So they would attack the show in a different way. They wouldn't complain about the Doctor being a woman. Instead, they'll say that Chris Chibnall is a jerk. That he can't write worth a damn.
I liken this whole thing to when Barack Obama became president. Sadly, there were any number of people who felt the leader of the US should not be a Black man. But many of them understood that, like sexism, being called a racist could work horribly against them too. So, instead, they concentrated on Obama's policies and claimed all of them were terrible and would never work. That the decisions he was implementing would do irreparable damage to the country. In many instances, they were completely wrong. In fact, a lot people consider Obama to be one of the better presidents the country ever had. But it still didn't stop any number of racists from vehemently opposing all of his ideas while he was in office. And the amount of vitriol they used did come across as being more than just political convictions. It really seemed like something else motivating the criticism. And, on many occasions, I think it was.
The criticism was, essentially, thinly-veiled racism.
People seem to attack the Chibnall Era with that same zealot-like intensity as Obama detractors. Which is why I've reached the conclusion I have. Basically, the hatred of Chib's writing seems to run way too deep. Especially since he does have a pretty amazing track record as a TV writer. How did he suddenly become so terrible?! Because, quite simply, he never was. The real anger many people have with him has nothing to do with his scripts and everything to do with him making the decision to change the Doctor's gender.
They just know they can't openly say that. So, instead, they claim it's the writing.
So when we do hear all the nasty things that get said about this season, it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Problems are often being skewed or exaggerated. In some instances, people are even inventing things. Saying something is bad when, really, it's just fine. Or even quite good. But they've made a conscious decision to not be supportive of anything Chibnall is doing. Because there really is an agenda, of sorts, going on in their criticism. They can't openly hate on a female Doctor, so they hate on a different target that will still get them the results they want. Which means much of what they say cannot be taken all that seriously. It's a sort of false criticism.
What all of this, basically, spells out is: Once again, this season is not as bad as some people would have you believe.
I know I took a lot of time to explain this second point. And I did it for a reason. This opinion will ruffle any number of feathers. So I wanted to make myself as clear as possible.
THE GOOD THINGS CHIBNALL DID
Rather than just spend this entire entry defending Chibnall against the many strange and bizarre accusations that have been leveled against him, I'm going to actually list some things he did that had a huge positive impact on the show. I'll just talk about his really big contributions, here. There's plenty of other good stuff that he's done. The items I'm listing are the sort of things that he did throughout his entire era but got their start in Series Eleven.
Story Length
Without a doubt, the best decision Chibnall made. It brought me so much joy!
Since my Review of Series One, I've been bitching and complaining about plots being resolved in only 46 minutes. Oftentimes, they just feel too "light" or underdeveloped. Certain ideas needed to be fleshed out better but, quite frequently, there just wasn't time. In some cases, elements of the plot made little or no sense because explanations had to be rushed through. It just didn't lend itself well to how Doctor Who stories were meant to be told.
With one simple adjustment, Chibnall fixes the problem. He cuts down the number of episodes in a season but changes the run-time of each episode to one hour*
Now, even a single episode story feels like it has adequate time to breathe. The plot can develop at the pace it needs rather than get pushed along and scrunched up so that it can fit into what is often an inadequate time-frame. Yes, I still love a multi-parter. But we don't actually need them anymore if we don't get them. At the end of a one hour episode I can still sit there and say: "That felt like a genuine Doctor Who story." Whereas there had been so many previous occasions where it felt more like I was watching something rushed or even poorly-structured that was trying to be Doctor Who.
Best of all are the character moments a story can now have. We could still get them, sometimes, in a 46 minute format. But they were hard to come by. Whereas so many episodes this season could take the time to insert some nice little "two-hander" scenes where people can chat and reveal things about themselves to each other. Like when Graham takes a moment in Demons of the Punjab to point out to Yaz that things may be stressful, right now, but it is still great to be travelling with the Doctor. Or Ryan telling Yaz how he lost his Mom. Or any number of other great little scenes that add some gorgeous extra dimension to what's going on in an adventure. So that's it's not just the Doctor and his/her companion(s) sprinting through a storyline to get it to resolve itself within an all-too-short time limit.
It's so great that Chibnall made this change. I'm absolutely thrilled by it.**
* a fun objection to nullify: fans complained about how he had shortened the season. When, technically, he didn't. Ten one hour episodes amounts to a greater total running time than the twelve 46 minute episodes we'd been getting for the last few seasons. It's even ever-so-slightly longer than the thirteen 46-minute episodes we had been originally getting.
** the change in episode length does become a legitimate excuse for some of the disdain fans may have felt for these stories. Admittedly, adding all those extra minutes is going to really change the overall flow of a story. This meant that a viewer needed to adjust to this new pace and may have found that whole process unpleasant. Some of the content may have also had a few issues just because it was trying to find its feet in this new format. Still, I wouldn't call any of these stories genuinely bad. It's more that, after ten seasons of Who stories being told in one manner, the change in episode length takes some getting used to. Both for the writers and the audience.
A Moral Doctor
It's nice when the Doctor gets a little edgy for a few incarnations. He can be quite interesting when he doesn't hold himself to his usually lofty standards.
This was the sort of Doctor we were getting right from the beginning of New Who. Nine, for instance, is absolutely brutal in The End of the World when he just allows the Lady Cassandra to dry out to death in front of him. The edginess continues as he regenerates into Ten who, immediately, kills the Sycorax Leader with a satsuma.
This is not something that we've only been seeing in the New Series. Six, quite often, was not afraid to meet violence with violence. And Seven is still the darkest Doctor we've ever had. That abyss was definitely staring back into him as he stared into it (God, I love bastardizing Nietzsche!). I greatly enjoyed the turn the character took during this period of the show.
But then we got Eight. It was only for a brief time, of course. But we could see that the Doctor was restored to a high-principled character during this incarnation. He takes the police officer's motorcycle by pulling a gun on himself rather than pointing it at the cop. As the Master plunges into the Eye of Harmony, he still tries to save him. Actions of this nature are something I doubt we would have ever seen the two previous Doctors do. And I like this. The Doctor needs to revert back to this type on a regular basis for the grittier versions of him to work.
Unfortunately we weren't getting this in the New Series. The Doctor just kept being a bit of a ruthless jerk. Eleven, quite gleefully, sends Solomon to his death. Twelve seems to impale a cyborg on a church spire (we don't actually see it happen, but we're pretty sure he did!). I really do feel that we went way too long with darker versions of the Doctor doing very undoctorish things. We needed another incarnation like Eight far sooner than we actually got it.
But, at long last, we do get a more moral incarnation as Thirteen emerges onto the scene. It was so nice to, once more, see a Doctor that tries to preserve life at all costs. That avoids violence as much as possible. That genuinely hates guns but doesn't still try to fashion people into weapons. Finally getting this in the New Series was so wonderfully refreshing. I'm eternally grateful to Chibnall for bringing this back into the Doctor's character.
Sci-Fi That Challenges Its Audience
I still distinctly remember a comment on a Fan Page shortly after Demons of the Punjab came out. The individual making the post said that he did feel that the story was well-constructed. That it dealt with some very serious subject matter and was quite compelling. But he still didn't enjoy it because he goes to science fiction for escapism and didn't want something this heavy.
Now, I don't want to pick on someone else's opinion too hard, but the statement struck me as a bit ridiculous. On several levels, really. But what struck me as being the silliest was the implication that science fiction was a good thing to indulge in when you want to shut your brain off and just enjoy some fluff.
Personally, I seek the exact opposite from the genre. I want my intellect to be stimulated; my imagination to be stirred; or even my horizons to be expanded. I'm much happier watching Warrior's Gate than I am Horns of Nimon (or, if I want to be a bit more fair, Terror of the Zygons!). And I do feel that Series Eleven - and the Chibnall Era, in general - delivers a higher frequency of stories of this nature than RTD or Moff did.
That's not to say, of course, that the other two Head Writers didn't produce "heavier" stuff during their period. RTD gave us dramatically-brilliant stories like Midnight and Moff composed magnificently-layered scripts like Heaven Sent. At the same time, Chibbers did give us some gimmicky stuff like a Disneyesque creature that loved to eat everything in sight. But, overall, I felt a more consistent effort was made to bring us "deeper" stories when Jodie was the Doctor. In fact, much of Series Eleven feels like it wouldn't be out of place in either Season Eighteen or Nineteen of Classic Who. Which was a period that gave us the most sophisticated of tales. Adventures like The Leisure Hive and Kinda.
Series Eleven goes for a very similar vibe in several of its tales. Even something with a simpler plot like Ghost Monument, has a lot going on behind the core premise that elevates it, considerably. Yes, ultimately, it's just about two people in a space race. But there's much more there if you look for it (Kinda, ultimately, is about a guy who thinks the trees will kill him - but it's got a ton of subtext too!). Which is how I like my sci fi.
"The stories are awful"
"The writing's so bad!"
"Sometimes, late at night, I remember how Adric died and I cry into my pillow until well after the sun rises. Oh. Sorry. This isn't a therapy session? You're just asking me what I think about the stories in Series Eleven of New Who? Oops... Right... Okay then. What I meant to say was: The stories were crap! ...Can you not include that thing I just said about Adric?"
Thus far, this Review has been more about fan politics than anything. Although, in my defense, it's pretty hard not to discuss these sort of reactions when covering Series Eleven. But it's time to, finally, get into the meat of things. Let's look at the stuff that truly makes up a season of Doctor Who: The Stories.
RAIDERS OF THE NON-EXISTENT ARC
If you've been following these Reviews, you may recall me expressing in my previous entry how I was getting legitimately tired of season-long arcs. That it would be wonderful to get the occasional year of the show where the stories were, for the most part, independent of each other.
Thankyou Series Eleven for granting my wish!
There are hints of arcs, of course. The most prominent one being that we do have three whole episodes dealing with Tim Shaw and the Stenza (let's not forget that the planet in Ghost Monument is the result of Stenza experimentation). When there are only ten episodes in total, that does create a significant presence. We feel this all-the-more since Tim Shaw starts and ends the season. But it's still not quite a season-long arc. This still isn't like hearing "Bad Wolf" or seeing Cracks in Time during almost every story that year. It's just someone who shows up at the beginning of the season and comes back at the end. It's two appearances by a bad guy who we haven't seen since. Not a season-long arc.
Some might point out that the bond that finally grows between Graham and Ryan represents a season-long arc. But that's more of a character arc. Which I would consider different from a season-long arc. Even though the growth these two experience takes about a season to accomplish, it's still something going on exclusively with Ryan and Graham. Not a development that's affecting how the entire season is being formed. Which is what a season-long arc is. Series Eight, for instance, is all about discovering who this strange Missy character is and what sort of sinister plans she is hatching that the Doctor must try to stop as we reach the season finale. At the same time, however, Danny and Clara are falling in love over the course of that year. That second arc, however, is about two characters within the season. Whereas the first one is about the season, itself.
Ryan and Graham work in the same fashion in Series Eleven. Except, of course, there's no actual season-long arc to counterpoint what's going on between them. But it still amounts to the same thing.
"But wait, Rob!" you might be saying, "What about the rag monsters in Ghost Monument?! They call the Doctor 'The Timeless Child'! Isn't that an arc?!"
Well, yes, it is. But it's an arc that's going to span the entire Jodie Whitaker Era. So that, right there, disqualifies it as a season-long arc. It's more like a three-season-long arc. Besides, mentioning the Timeless Child once in the entire season really doesn't make it an arc at all. That would be like a "Vote Saxon" poster being seen in the background in The Lazarus Experiment and nothing else is ever mentioned before or after it during that season. Saxon doesn't get dealt with again until Series Four. The Master doesn't actually come back in Utopia. It's a totally different finale that year (which some fans might have liked!). You can't call that one Saxon poster in the background in Series Three an arc. It's a tease of something to come. That's it. The same applies to the rag monsters calling the Doctor the Timeless Child.
So, yeah. My wish came true. And I really appreciate that Chibnall finally granted it to me. Please, Showrunners of the future, do this again every once in a while.
THAT HINT OF AN ARC
I'm not exactly sure why the fans didn't appreciate Tim Shaw more. I rather liked his big, blue toothy face. I especially enjoyed the Stenza as a species. The Whoniverse is populated with any number of warrior races. But most of them, most of the time, just seem like Sontarans. There's a hint of a Warrior's Code going on that you can, possibly, exploit them for if it helps the plot along (like when the Fourth Doctor challenges one to a duel in The Sontaran Experiment). Other times, though, if it interferes with the narrative flow, then the militant alien will forfeit the code and just be a bully (like when the Second Doctor challenges one to a duel in The Two Doctors). That's, pretty much, what we see the Sontarans doing in the adventures that feature them. And any other race that's into conquering the galaxy but is still really "butch" about it, for that matter. I can think of several stories that didn't involve the Sontarans but might as well have.
But Chibnall creates enough differences in the Stenza that it gives us something new and refreshing. Like the way Tim Shaw must pass a test to become the Leader of his people in The Woman Who Fell to Earth. You don't see Sontarans doing that!
Tim Shaw's Hunt also presents a fairly simple and straightforward premise to the adventure. But there's still enough there to sustain the story. It allows for all the other things the plot needs to accomplish without it actually feeling like that the main thrust of the tale is being neglected. Yes, the Doctor's adjusting to her new body. Yes, we're meeting a whole bunch of new companions all at once. Yes, that bike never actually gets collected off that tree! But all of these things aren't executed at the expense of the real focus of the story. Tim Shaw's Quest to Lead the Stenza is still the centerpiece.
I actually think this is a nice start to a whole new era of the show. Again, nothing is too complex yet. We're keeping things fairly simple. Which is how it needs to be, for now. I also like the villain of the piece. He's more-than-worthy of a return. So I'm glad his species gets talked about some more in the second story and that he comes back at the end of the season.
That sense of simplicity does continue quite a bit in The Ghost Monument. Which, at this stage of the game, is still a good idea. Establishing three companions all at once needs some time and attention. Especially since two of them are now mourning the loss of someone they loved dearly. But, again, Ghost Monument is still, mainly, about a race and the various perils that must be suffered in order to complete it.
This is the first time that the one hour run-time really pays off. As Ryan and Graham try to fix the engine to the boat, they have a good-sized talk about their grieving process. The scene is given so much time to breathe and feel genuinely natural. As I watched it, I thought to myself: "There's no way in Hell we would have gotten a scene like this in previous seasons of New Who!" Even though Specials during RTD's and Moff's reigns lasted an hour, they usually took place during the holidays. So they were trying to keep things light. So a man mourning the loss of his wife who is also the grandmother to the other person in the scene would have been way too much of a downer to put into a Christmas Special. But it works quite beautifully, here.
And then we jump all the way over to the end of the season. Tim Shaw is back. This time, it's with huge iron lungs! I have quite enjoyed how the scope of season finales have changed over the last few years. Moff did a great job of having things happen on several different scales. Instead of saving the Earth or even the Universe, the Doctor is just trying to protect a small town on a colony world. Or stop himself from getting killed by his wife. So that, now that the Earth is being threatened again, it's interesting and refreshing! And it almost feels a bit incidental. Our world is only, technically, in danger for a matter of minutes. And then the plot gets busy with something else.
I also love how we discover the ultimate goal of the Stenza. Again, something that sets them apart from so many other Warrior Races. While most of them seem interested in plain old-fashioned military occupation, the Stenza want more than that. They wish to preserve all of their conquests in stasis. It's a neat little twist that vaguely resembles The Pirate Planet. But not so much that it feels like a rip-off.
The Battle of Ranskor ov Kolos also has a fantastic subplot. At that point, it hadn't been revealed which of the stars would be coming back for Series Twelve. So I did find myself genuinely wondering if Graham might kill Tim Shaw and get himself kicked off the TARDIS. It is a great moment when he takes Ryan's advice and chooses to be "the better man". How the two of them do, ultimately, take Tim Shaw down was a very powerful moment. Particularly as they tell him to remember Grace.
This whole thread reaches a fantastic conclusion. While all this great drama is going on with the two of them, the Doctor and Yaz also create a nice exciting solution to the problem of returning shrunken planets to their rightful place.
Chibnall's first season finale comes to a very satisfactory conclusion. And he didn't need to bring up the Medusa Cascade four or five times throughout the year or throw Missy inside a vault for a while. Everything went well without having to create a big build-up.
MIDDLE OF THE LINE
Like every season, Series Eleven has its peaks and valleys. The stuff with Tim Shaw and the Stenza I would definitely put closer to the summit. I felt it was above-average in quality.
Now we hit some plateaus. Stories that are not bad but not spectacular, either. In this season, I find there are two episodes that fit this description: The Tsurango Conundrum and Kerblam!.
In most cases, these sort of adventures are still quite enjoyable. Sometimes, however, they're just too damned bland. I think, specifically, of several stories from the early-to-mid Tom Baker Era. Stories like Planet of Evil or Face of Evil (putting the word "Evil" in a title, apparently, was a curse back then!) These tales were just so mediocre that I really don't get much enjoyment from them.
Does this sort of thing happen in Series Eleven, too?
A lot of fans don't seem to be happy with Tsurango Conundrum. To this day, I'm not sure why. It's got a nice brisk pace to it and an interesting supporting cast. I also love a story that features a cute-looking alien that's actually deadlier than a Dalek. There's an interesting side plot involving that pregnant man that seems almost extraneous. It does help the Ryan and Graham arc to move along. But it doesn't do much beyond that. But I quite like that it's there. I enjoy how the safe delivery of the child means as much to me as the main plot does. Speaking of which, this is a classic "Doctor using the energy working against her to her advantage" conflict resolution. I love when stories end this way. It shows the genuine cleverness of the protagonist. Also, the P'ting looks so cute drifting through space with a glowing belly!
Kerblam! is obviously taking a nice little potshot at Amazon.com. Quite honestly, it could have gone a lot harder. I'm quite disgusted by how the whole company is run. To the point that I will never make an Amazon purchase for myself. I even hate that I have bought gift cards for friends just because they really love shopping there so I knew it would be a Christmas and/or birthday present that they would really love. As far as I'm concerned, the episode could have laid in to the corporation just as strongly as South Park did!
Kerblam! still picks on Amazon quite a bit. But it also goes in a different but equally-interesting direction. It highlights how our obsession with automation could, easily, become the death of us. Which makes a good point. Fans also like to highlight how the whole thing does feel a bit like a Seventh Doctor Oddball Story. And I quite like that vibe.
Both of these stories, however, seem to be having a fairly big problem with structuring themselves according to the new format. The plotting just feels very "clunky" in places. Kerblam! more than Tsurango. But the problems exist within both of them. I would also say that I don't feel all that particularly connected to any of the supporting characters in Kerblam! Many of the performances feel just a tad too caricaturesque. I think there would have been a better flow to it all if the actors had played things just a little bit straighter.
While both these episodes have their fair share of strengths and flaws, I'd still put them at slightly above average. So I don't find them flat or boring like I do some of those middle-of-the-line stories I brought up earlier that hail from the Tom Baker period.
THE ONE THAT EVERYONE THINKS IS BAD
"Arachnids in the UK is an abomination to all that is good and decent."
"It's such an intensely awful episode. Truly a blotch on the show. It should be removed from canon."
"I wish I had a daughter so I could forbid her to marry Arachnids in the UK ... er .... I know that didn't make much sense but I just wanted to come up with an original-sounding comment. Although, it wasn't really all that original since I actually stole it from Douglas Adams!"
I remember how fans felt genuinely unenthused about the episode just from watching the trailer. Admittedly, it wasn't appealing to me too much, either. But I like to give things a fair shake before passing judgement.
After watching it, I found myself thinking Arachnids in the UK wasn't really all that bad. I'd even go so far as to say that it's okay. Not some great work of televisual brilliance. But I'd still take it over Idiot's Lantern or The Next Doctor anytime. And I definitely like it waaayyy better than Creature from the Pit! And yet, some fans would have you believe that this one is worse than the combined awfulness of all the stories I've just mentioned.
I quite like how, aside from the Doctor, there's actually no alien involvement in the conflict. This is one of the rare times that we see something like this in New Who. Rather than evil invaders from another world, it's good 'ole-fashioned pollution that's causing the problem. It's a bit like The Green Death all over again. Except that I really didn't enjoy Green Death! Whereas I do find this tale to be passable.
It's far from perfect, of course. This is certainly one of those plots where the coincidences do seem to be just a tad too heavy. Yaz's Mom just happens to be working at the hotel where the spiders have based themselves. The Kahn Family's neighbor just happens to be an employee of the research institute that's sending spiders to the landfill under the hotel. Or the weirdest coincidence of them all: a dead mutant spider just happens to be in Graham's attic!
But there's a few things about Arachnids that I think work quite well. A lot of it, admittedly, is subplot stuff. Graham seeing imaginary versions of Grace is quite moving. Ryan getting the letter from his Dad creates some interesting side-drama that will pan out later.
Mind you, there is some fun with the main plot too. The spider antics aren't just creepy, but they also seemed to be well-researched. The scriptwriter has taken the time to understand arachnid behavior fairly well. Also, though he's a bit over-the-top in places, Chris Noth does still give us a performance that makes Jack Robertson worthy of his return next season.
Speaking of Jack Robertson: I know a lot of folks aren't happy with how the issue with the super-big spider is resolved. I'm not one of them, though. I actually quite enjoyed the irony of it all. Robertson really did have the best solution to the problem. But we still think he's a jerk for doing it. And, as much as I love seeing a high-principled Doctor again, it's a mature approach to show that her morals don't always work in every situation. With so many interesting conflicting elements in place, I actually thought the whole scene was quite nuanced. It shows us that there are times when simple solutions only apply so well. Or, at least, that's how I perceived the sequence. I certainly didn't see it as the jumbled mess that some fans claim it to be.
All in all, I can't really come down too hard on this story. I do agree with some of the objections people have with it. And it's certainly one of the weaker episodes in the season. But I still wouldn't call it terrible.
THE ONE THAT I DO THINK IS GENUINELY WEAK
And now, my opinion gets even weirder. Not only do I think Arachnids in the UK is okay, but I feel the real "dud" of the season is actually The Witchfinders!
I still don't consider it to be absolutely awful. We're not in Underwater Menace Land, here. But I do find it to be fairly sub-standard.
It makes several of the same mistakes that have been bothering me since the First RTD era (we need to stress that, now!). We've got one of those paper-thin A Plots that barely holds itself together. Most of the narrative seems to depend on just enjoying the antics of King James. Don't get me wrong, Alan Cumming is absolutely brilliant in the role. He almost gets us to forget just how weak the main thrust of the story is. But, in the end, it's still not enough. I'm not sure why writers keep structuring their scripts in such a manner. Episodes that seem to place more emphasis on the subplot have been failing quite miserably since Series Two.
The ending also feels rushed and over-simplified. "Make some torches from the special tree. That will hold them at bay!" I get the symbolism that they're going for, here. But then, you'd have to be pretty oblivious not to! But is this really the image we want to give our heroes at the story's climax? Have them resemble actual witch-burners?! This one doesn't come across as a "nuanced scene" like Robertson killing the spider did. It just seems to have the wrong tone.
There's an extra silly moment that I particularly love to nitpick. As the Doctor and Fam are rallying for their Morax witch-burning, Willow insists she comes along. They try to discourage her.
"Only I know the way up the hill." she points out. So they let her accompany them.
But ... is it really that difficult to find your way up a hill?! Pretty sure you just need to keep walking up the incline and you'll be okay! It's a very petty nitpick, I know. But it just makes the conclusion to the conflict that little bit more of a mess.
The final scene is still quite nice, though. I like how the Doctor leaves on bad terms with King James. It's the sort of thing you often hear the Doctor talking about as he/she namedrops. But it's always fun when you actually see it happen in front of you.
SOMETHING TRULY AMAZING
And now we'll get back to praising Series Eleven. While I've had some fun coming up with fake criticism, I actually think there's quite a bit of this season that's quite outstanding.
Demons of the Punjab is definitely one of those highly-praiseable aspects of the season. I know it's not for everyone. Some go to sci fi for escapism. But I absolutely loved it.
If I had any real complaint about the story, it would be that it does seem to borrow a bit too much from other story ideas. Yaz asking the Doctor to meet her Nan feels a bit like Rose asking the Doctor to go see her Dad in Father's Day. The Thijarians seem a lot like Testimony from Twice Upon a Time. Which is an episode that only came out a short while prior to this tale. So it feels just a bit too recent to have a culture like this again, already.
Other than that, though, this story is brilliant. I actually enjoy it when the Doctor goes to "ugly" places in history and gets swept up in the events. It's interesting to see the character in a situation where she is, more or less, powerless to make a difference and just needs to get the Hell out. Tales like this can be traced as far back as The Reign of Terror in Season One (I guess you could say The Aztecs works in a similar way, but it's not as gritty and morbid!). I'll even sound a little SJW and congratulate the author on choosing such a dark time in India's past and bringing it to the forefront for all of us to learn more about. Before Demons, I'd only heard vague details of this event. I genuinely enjoyed the way the plot educated me on something we should all know more about. But History is often told from a highly-edited perspective so we don't see much of this kind of thing. It's for similar reasons that Hotel Rwanda is such a great film.
And then, of course, there's the actual story of what happened to Yaz's grandmother. The explanation of why she gives her favorite grandchild a broken watch is heartbreakingly beautiful. Prem walking out to meet his brother and the posse he's assembled is so brutal. I practically die as the Thijari appear to the TARDIS crew and say: "We've got things from here."
There's so much to love about Demons of the Punjab. It's a ridiculously-compelling piece of drama that is near-flawless. The Indian version of the closing credits is a great way to end it, too!
THE TRUE CLASSIC
While Demons of the Punjab is near-flawless, Rosa achieves absolute perfection.
There's not a second of this story that I'm not enjoying. Which is extra impressive since such a delicate subject had the potential to be really poorly handled. When I heard they were doing an episode about Rosa Parks, I even thought to myself: "Oooh! This could go bad!" The episode might not even be so ill-received in most parts of the world since race-relations are quite different from the situation in the US. But I'm quite familiar with the issue since I do live right next to the States. So if things had been depicted poorly, I would have definitely cringed.
Instead, Rosa manages to be quite beautiful. Vinette Robinson is incredible in the role. Rather than trying to make the character completely saintly, she still gives her some hard edges. Rosa has been made bitter by all that she suffers, but her spirit prevails. The song choice that is made as she refuses to abandon her seat is actually perfect. I'd heard it a thousand times before, of course. Since it was a huge hit at the time. But when used in that context, I was suddenly like: "This really does encapsulate all the character is going through." Like Vincent and the Doctor, this is one of the moments that merited a contemporary piece of music rather than the usual score that would get played over it.
I'm quite fond of the subtleties in this story. I love how often the director cuts away to the expressions of by-standers when someone is being racially-persecuted. You get the impression by some of their reactions that they don't like what they're seeing. But they also don't feel like there's anything they can genuinely do about it. I also love how we see the many-varied hues of racism. I always find it interesting how "Jake the Snake" rationalizes away his poor behavior. "It's just the law." he says. Trying to make it sound like he's just doing what he's told rather than being a genuinely rotten bastard.
I really could go on, here. There's so much that I love in this story. Not just for its message and tone, but I do think it has a great plot to it, too. However, I have also noticed some people actually try to lay into the story pretty hard. Almost as if they feel as though they need to. This is supposed to be a bad season, damn it. But this story really is great. So they need to attack it extra hard. So let's examine some of the stuff they have to say:
THE STRANGE OBJECTIONS TO ROSA
1. The Villain is soooo Vanilla
I mean, yeah, he is pretty stoic. But I wasn't really counting on a lot of moustache-twirling from him.
Were we expecting him to jump out at Rosa as their paths and theme songs cross and cackle: "I'll get you, Rosa Parks! And your little dog too!"
He's a guy who's done some hard time in one of the most brutal prisons in the Galaxy. Yes, River Song was having some great shenanigans, there. But that's because the Doctor was breaking her out of the place on a regular basis to take her out on dates (she could even get herself out quite easily when she needed to). I imagine our futuristic racist got much harsher treatment when he was in Storm Cage. Most cons that do an extended stint of hard time learn to stay quiet and keep their head down. They also tend to maintain that personae once they're back on the outside. So I actually find that his behavior makes perfect sense. He's quiet and purposeful. But I wouldn't say wooden. He's just the right level of silently menacing.
But I guess some people need him to be more energetic. Clearly, when he sabotages Jake's bus, he should have proclaimed:
"Nothink in ze world can shtop me now!"
Or something to that effect....
2. It's a Cheap Rip-Off of Quantum Leap
There are many sides to this particular objection. The biggest one, I gather, is that people are saying it lacked originality and is just following the same pattern Quantum Leap used back when it ran.
Which strikes me as odd. Admittedly, I only know Quantum Leap so well. I watched it a few times back when it was on and enjoyed it. But never followed it that avidly. But I know it well enough to feel that Rosa vaguely resembles it, at best. Whereas I look at something like Brain of Morbius and how it uses a crap-ton of the tropes from Frankenstein Hammer Horror films. But, because it hails from an era that tends to receive universal approval, it's an "homage" rather than a rip-off. Which is an opinion I actually agree with. I don't feel it is stealing wholesale from the source material. But, if we took the time and trouble to really itemize what Rosa takes from Quantum Leap and Brain of Morbius uses from Frankenstein, we'd see that the 'ole Tommy Baker Tale is the much larger thief. So why don't these ultra-critical fans level the same accusation at it?
Another inference seems to indicate that Quantum Leap was an awful show and, since Rosa imitates it, it's awful too. Personally, I can't get behind this one. I like Leap and I really love Rosa. But, I guess if you dislike one, you'll feel the same about the other.
The final angle to this objection is that it resembles a badly-written episode of Quantum Leap. I guess I would also put this one down more to personal taste. So I can't say much against it. I think the writing for Rosa is great. Again, I only know Quantum Leap so well. But Rosa actually strikes me as being something better than anything we ever got from Leap. To the best of my knowledge, Leap never handles such sensitive material so well. It was just a straight adventure sci-fi series that was a bit more intelligent than most American shows that came out in the late 80s/early 90s. I could be wrong, of course. If you're a killer Quantum Leap fan - feel free to berate me!
THE WEIRDO
We've dwelt on Rosa long enough. Let's tackle the only story I still haven't covered yet.
It Takes You Away is another adventure I have deep feelings for. Admittedly, it does have a bit of that "clunkiness" I've spoken of previously. It struggles, here and there, to fit in the new run-time. But, otherwise, I love this episode.
Its greatest charm is its inherent weirdness. Not only is it different from the rest of the stories this season, it's not like anything we've ever really seen on the show. I love that Doctor Who can go on for this long and keep producing such new and original content. It says something about the creative talent that continues to apply itself to the series. And, most specifically, it speaks volumes of what Chibnall is achieving. Thirty Seven seasons in, and he's able to still give us something weird and wonderful like It Takes You Away.
Its most distinct trait is its absence of a real antagonist. We do get Ribbons of the Seven Stomachs for a while. Who is an absolute jerk. But he's not the real source of the problem. What's actually causing all the trouble is a lonely pocket universe. It's not intentionally trying to wreak havoc and destruction, though. It just wants a friend.
"But Rob!" some of you may dispute, "We did just have a story a short while ago where there was no actual villain: Twice Upon a Time. Remember?"
And that is true. Testimony seemed like they might be some sort of force for evil but they weren't. They were, in fact, doing something very kind and benevolent that only seemed sinister, at first. The Solitract plays a very different role in its adventure. It also has very kind intentions. But, because of its very nature, it's a legitimate threat to the Universe. But this isn't like the Daleks building a Reality Bomb or the Master trying to commandeer Logopolis. There's no genuinely evil intent, here. It's just an innocent being that wants some company. So, while the Solitract isn't a legitimate villain, it still poses a real problem that the Doctor must fix. Whereas, when he discovered what Testimony was really about, the Doctor could just leave them alone to keep doing what they were doing.
And I do actually love how the Doctor resolves the conflict. No deft manipulations of the forces being used against her. No convenient use of the sonic screwdriver. Just an impassioned speech to a talking frog in a white void about how real friends call each other out on their BS. Just one more great way in which this tale is so weird and different from anything else that's come before. It's great how, when the Solitract does finally dispel her, the Doctor is a bit sad that she's lost a friend.
There is, of course, a very important subplot that starts resolving itself in this story. Ryan calling Graham "Grandad" in the last few minutes of the episode is a great moment. Unlike so much other New Who, it doesn't get too oversentimental about the whole thing. He just finally says it and then makes a joke that Graham is getting old and hard of hearing! It's all-the-more touching because it remains understated.
I also love that their bonding won't truly be complete until they fist punch!
THREE COMPANIONS
"Giving the Doctor three companions was Chibnall's dumbest move ever!"
"The format of the show can't support that many principal characters. It just doesn't work."
"Chibnall is a complete and utter moron for thinking he could cram that many people into the TARDIS. I know! I know! It's dimensionally transcendental. It can easily fit that many people. That's not what I meant you obsessive/compulsive pedant!"
"He should have looked back to when JNT did three companions in the 80s. The stories became too cluttered when they tried to fit Tegan, Nyssa and Adric in all at once. And it's happening again, now... Speaking of which: you're definitely not using that bit where I confess to regularly crying into my pillow over Adric's death, right?!"
First off: to that guy who got, perhaps, a tad too attached to Adric - I actually liked the Season Nineteen Line-up. For the same reason that I like the Series Eleven and Twelve dynamic. Basically, it allows for a lot of interesting side drama. When it's just the Doctor and one companion in the console room, the dialogue can really start to feel limited. We're just seeing how one person relates to this strange, eccentric character.
But, when you start sticking more people in, things become more interesting. Each character responds to the protagonist in a different way (one of them, for instance, could even fall in love with her). And, of course, the companions spark off each other at the same time. Creating what could amount to some compelling side-plots. Three people in the TARDIS, for me, is the magic number you need to really create some genuinely stimulating chemistry.
The arc Graham and Ryan go through is, in fact, the best "companion storyline" the show has ever created. The one-hour long episode format really helps with this. Throughout the season, we've had great little moments that allowed the two of them to develop empathy for each other and grow closer. I really don't think that sort of growth could have occurred naturally within the old episode structure.
The criticism that Yaz gets neglected this season strikes me as unfounded (even though Chibnall even apologizes for it). We get stories like Demons of the Punjab or The Witchfinders that really delve into her backstory. Even Arachnids in the UK let's us see her family quite a bit. Ryan and Graham do have such a great subplot, though, that it does almost overshadow her a bit. But I wouldn't say she was being ignored, either.
The other great advantage to three companions is that they can really help with developing various plot strands within a story. Everybody splits up for a bit to do their own thing and then come back together to wrap it all up. This makes things flow so much smoother. Anytime there's action in a story that's not involving a principal, it has the potential to drag things down a bit. This becomes an almost non-existent problem when you have so many companions to scatter about.
The writers did a great job of using this device to their advantage during this season and the next. We don't even get any real "Let's throw Nyssa in the cupboard" scenarios like we did back in the 80s. Everyone gets plenty to do in every episode.
This asset will continue to develop in the next season as the crew get better and better at working as a team. To the point where we get a story like Praxeus. In which the Doctor can confidently scatter her companions to the Four Corners of the Earth in order to save the day. But, even in Series Eleven, we're seeing that start to happen. In fact, it's quite beautiful to watch the way all three of them believe more and more in what the Doctor is doing and want to help as much as they can. The Doctor sends her companions off on all sorts of little missions and they jump in to their tasks with their sleeves rolled up. Particularly Yaz. Before climbing aboard the TARDIS, she was a police constable. A profession she chose because she wanted to make a difference. She definitely sees her time with the Doctor as the ultimate opportunity to do that. She's not just settling parking disputes, now. She's saving worlds. It's no wonder she stays for as long as she does.
FINAL CONCLUSION
And there you have it. My potentially hot take on Series Eleven. I hope I don't get too much vitriol hurled in my direction. I'll have to sit back and see what awaits me!
If you labored your way through this entire entry, you already have a pretty a good idea of where I stand with this season. I don't deny that it had some problems. Both RTD and Moff "came in swinging" with their first seasons. In both cases, their initial year was their best. Whereas Thirteen's Era definitely seems like something that improves with each season. Which means that Series Eleven is the weakest.
I'd say what damages this season the most is that Chibnall probably tried to change too much too quickly. Which caused a few stumbles along the way as he gave the show new legs to stand on. And, of course, it created a bit of consumer resistance, too. There were a lot of things the audience had to adjust to all at once. That can always create extra problems that will just add more gas to the misfires you're making as you're taking things in new directions.
But I still can't call Series Eleven terrible like some folks do. There are some significantly strong moments, here. And really not all that much that I had any kind of real problem with.
In fact, a very interesting thing happened on my latest re-watch. It had been quite a while since I'd put a Series Eleven DVD in my player. I had, in fact, leant the box set to a friend who was interested in getting into Doctor Who (they greatly enjoyed it and are watching more episodes). I kept meaning to ask for it back when they were done but just never got around to grabbing it. Until, of course, it came time to write this Review.
Being away from the season for so long almost seemed to have cleansed my pallet a bit. Having not seen it for a while allowed me to watch it with a fresher pair of eyes. Free of all the negativity that had surrounded it when it first came out. Which, in turn, changed the level of regard I have for Series Eleven.
Just for fun, I've ranked the seasons of New Who that we've covered so far into tiers. As is the case with tier lists, each category is based on a level of quality.
Top Tier: (Above Average or even Amazing)
Series One
Series Five
Series Ten
Mid-Tier: (Troubled in places, but still Quite Strong)
Series Three
Series Six
Series Eight
Series Nine
Bottom Tier: (Weak or even Genuinely Bad)
Series Two
Series Four
Series Seven
If you're wondering why Series One and Two are underlined, it's an attempt to emphasize that each season represents, respectively, the Best and Worst of New Doctor Who. I would consider Series One Amazing and Series Two Genuinely Bad. The rest of the seasons fall somewhere into greyer areas.
Up until my latest re-watch, I would have put Series Eleven in the Bottom Tier. It's still, by no means, as awful as Series Two. I probably even like it better than Four. And it ties with Seven. But it had its fair share of problems. Which dragged the whole thing down enough to place it in this category.
But all that ultra-criticism that followed when the season first came out has had some time to subside. Particularly since I just didn't go near Series Eleven for a bit. It seems that the negativity that was initially circulating as the episodes were transmitted genuinely affected my outlook on things. Even tainted my perspective a bit.
This time, I went in to this season with a lot more objectivity. I still can't quite put Series Eleven in that Top Tier. And I doubt I ever will. But I definitely think it belongs in the Middle one. It's genuinely better than I recall it to be.
And, as I've emphasized several times already (but is worth repeating just one more time): It's not as bad as some people would have you believe.
BUT WAIT ROB, WHAT ABOUT THE NEW YEAR'S SPECIAL?
Thankyou, Chibbers, for killing the Christmas Special.
This was yet one more New Who tradition that was wearing a bit thin for me. Yes, I have enjoyed watching Doctor Who on Christmas Day with family members that weren't as in to the show as I was but still enjoyed the time we spent together. But that's still not enough to eliminate the drawbacks that the content would suffer from. Christmas Specials just tend to be a bit more shmaltzy or even cringe-worthy. And, of course, everything's kept pretty light most of the time. Don't want to upset the casual fan watching it on Christmas Day.
I'd even go so far to say that the Doctor should almost get suspicious over just how often he seems to get dumped into Christmas on his travels. It should almost be like how he starts noticing Bad Wolf everywhere during Series One. A Christmas Special should get made that reveals that some greater force has been guiding the Doctor's life(ves) over the last little while and forcing him to participate in Holiday Seasons on a regular basis. Perhaps, it's the Daleks trying to eliminate Christmas altogether. All these trips the Doctor keeps having during this particular time of the year will eventually cause Christmas to be erased from human memory. Causing a serious blow to the morale of humanity and allowing the Daleks to finally conquer us!
Or something like that.
A New Year's Special is a great way to avoid all that mawkish sentimentality. We're in a very different mindset during this holiday. Which means, of course, that a very different kind of story can be written. And I was desperate for this. I really was getting tired of watching writers find some new way to weave Christmas into their latest plot without just cranking out another Runaway Bride. Where you, basically, just put out something that had all the elements of a previous Christmas Special but create a slightly different storyline within it.
I love that pushing back a Special just one week eliminates all this.
But Resolution has another significant landmark to it. After an entire season of only featuring new creatures and characters, we finally get Chibnall's first stab at a recurring baddie. Turns out he writes old foes better than anyone else. By giving us another story of a single Dalek trapped on Earth in a state of disrepair, he restores these monsters to the state of menace they had way back in Series One. It was a great choice to make. From here, he really can build them back up to their former glory.
The episode does have a few problems. The biggest one being that Ryan and his Dad in the coffee shop really does go on for far longer than it needs to. It's one of the few instances of this era where having the time for a "character moment" doesn't work. But, aside from a few minor flaws, this is a fantastic episode. It accomplishes two great tasks: It makes the Daleks great again (someone should put that on a ball cap!) and it allows me to not have to endure Christmas Specials for a few years!
Thankyou, Resolution. You made me very happy. Also, you're the beautiful foundation for an awesome sequel.
SPECIAL CODA: THE RATINGS
There's always a few of you who will make this point when I express my pro-Whitaker/Chibnall sentiments:
"You're wrong, Rob!" you'll spew, "Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Chibnall's writing is awful! And I have the proof! The fact that will destroy any point you made about the quality of his work!"
You take a moment to wipe away the foam that has gathered around your mouth. Then you smile triumphantly as you say:
"The ratings were bad!"
First things first: Poor ratings are not, necessarily, an indicator of poor quality. There are all kinds of factors at play that can influence viewership. Poor promotion of the show is usually the more genuine contributor to this problem.
"Not a solid enough answer!" the Chib-basher will persist, "Back your point up with facts!"
When someone starts spitting in my face like this, I love to cite Seasons Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six. Seasons that are considered, by most, to have some of the best stories the show has ever created. We got Classics like Remembrance of the Daleks, Ghost Light and Curse of Fenric. Really amazing stuff like Happiness Patrol (although a bit controversial), Greatest Show in the Galaxy and Survival. Even Battlefield was pretty damned good. Only Silver Nemesis was considered a bit of a "miss" by some (others, like me, still quite liked it). It's safe to say that I'm not alone in my appreciation of these two seasons. In terms of story quality, most agree that this was a great time for Doctor Who.
And yet, these two seasons of Doctor Who had some of the lowest ratings in the history of the show.
But wait! There's more! If the Whitaker/Chibnall era received low ratings cause it was so awful, then why are the ratings for Moffat's and Capaldi's final season just as poor? Did the material in Series Ten just suddenly take a huge dip in quality? Or were there, as I said, other factors at play? Factors that continued to affect the next three seasons after it?
I'm sure at least a few of you who read this are gigantic haters of this season and will be ready to throw this argument at me. So I'm taking a preventative strike by adding this Special Coda.
The Poor Ratings Argument holds no water. Find something better.
\
