ANALYTICAL: THE FINAL INCARNATION - HOW A TIME LORD DEALS WITH THE END

Here's another one of those "studies" I decide to do every once in a while... 

As someone who possesses the entire series on some form of tangible media, (which does make a difference - more and more stories are not making it into the archives of  the streaming platforms that have bought the rights to the show), I can select episodes that deal with specific themes and watch them all back-to-back. As I do this, I can also record some observations I made while viewing the content and share them with you in my cute little Blog. 

Hope you enjoy my latest subject of study.  

As The Deadly Assassin premiered, several hitherto-unknown saliant points regarding the show's Lore get established. The adventure, in general, has much to say. One of its most important messages, of course, is to stay away from railroad tracks (even if the trains look pretty small). But, in terms of creating new canon, it presents a major detail concerning the lifespans of the Gallifreyan Elite. In an almost off-hand way, it gets mentioned that a Time Lord is only capable of regenerating twelve times. Meaning that, after thirteen incarnations, that's the end for them. They must accept death.  

It seems the main reason this new "rule" was created was to take the Master's character in a new direction. But it still caused some long-reaching consequences for the entire thrust of the show. If anything, it gets us to ask one Huge Question: What happens when the Doctor reaches his final incarnation?

Which is, eventually, a dilemma that we arrive at. Many years after the Master faces this deeply-troubling limitation, the Doctor must deal with it, himself, in Time of the Doctor. But, between those two point, the "Only Thirteen Lives" Rule has a significant role to play in the life of, at least, one other Time Lord. 

The purpose of this entry will be to examine how getting to that last incarnation influences the behavior of the Doctor and those other individuals who have found themselves in this situation. We'll see that, in every case, a Time Lord accepts their mortality in a different way. 

PROPER DEFINITION

As is often the case in these analyses, we need to make things as clear as possible: 

Over the many seasons of the show, we've seen any number of Time Lords face their mortality in all sorts of ways. In fact, the very second Time Lord that the Doctor meets once he flees Gallifrey is murdered by an execution squad in Part Nine of The War Games (even though every fan in existence seems convinced that he regenerates from the incident!). This sort of thing is not just limited to the Time Lords he meets, though. The Doctor, himself, seems convinced he's reached his end in episodes like The Wedding of River Song or The Magician's Apprentice. 

If we want to get really technical, there's been any number of instances throughout the whole history of the series where the Doctor thought he was going to die. Particularly as he reaches a cliffhanger. Part Two of Trial of a Time Lord, for example, ends with him actually uttering: "I really think this could be the end!". But there are any number of other occasions where his reactions express that same sentiment without him actually verbalizing it. Time Lords (including the Doctor, himself) often seem convinced that they are on the verge of death. 

In order to clear up any sort of confusion, we need to create a nice specific definition of what we're going to discuss, here. So, to be concise: In this entry, we are looking at Time Lords that have reached their final incarnation. We will examine the sort of ramifications that ensue when they arrive at such a point in their lives. 

Unlike other situations where a Time Lord thinks they might die, we will look at instances where they really do know they've reached their end. In most other scenarios where a Time Lord thinks they're in fatal danger, there's a little bit of hope. They believe they might still find a way out of their deadly predicament. If nothing else, they might actually regenerate from the whole thing. But not this time. This time, they truly are done. That "I might just regenerate" option has been legitimately exhausted. If the Time Lord is lucky, they might just age to death in their final incarnation. But if something unfortunate does happen, it's definitely going to kill them.    

Clearly, such a state of being is going to affect a Time Lord in a very unique way. They're going to have a different outlook on their life. They might accept their inevitable fate. Or they might do everything they can to fight it. They might even find a way to use the whole misfortune to their advantage. 

And that's what we're going to look at in this entry. We're, basically, going to examine the different sorts of attitudes we've seen a Time Lord exhibit at the end of their regeneration cycle.  

THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENS 

So we're actually going to tackle this one in a linear fashion (odd choice for a show about time travel, I know!). We'll start with the first Time Lord we witness suffering from this problem. The scoundrel who this whole rule was created for: the Master! 

The Master is probably the best example ever of a Time Lord refusing to accept the inevitable. Which makes sense for the character. Megalomaniacs tend to crave immortality. It would be even worse for the Master since he was now on his final incarnation and still hadn't achieved his greatest ambition of conquering the Universe. There's no way he'd let himself die before accomplishing his ultimate dream. Bur even if he was ruling all of Time and Space, he's not ever going to let go of that title, easily. He would resort to anything in order to extend his lifespan or even just dodge the problem altogether by, somehow, achieving immortality.

In order to avoid his Final End, the Master hatches some mad schemes. His first plan displays just how massive his hubris is. There are, of course, some tactical advantages to returning to Gallifrey and robbing the Eye of Harmony of all its power. He'll be able to navigate his way through Time Lord society efficiently since this is where he hails from. But there are any number of huge risks involved in such a venture. There are Time Lords that he's trying defeat. Immensely powerful beings that even the Doctor admits have beaten him. The Master is practically a fool for pitting his will against them. But, mad egotist that he is, he still tries. 

His second plan of becoming the Keeper of Traken was far easier to execute. But he intentionally chooses to try the more challenging gambit, first. It's just one more thing that shows off one of his more prominent core traits. The Master is completely delusional. We see it in the way he wants to take over the Universe. In the way he refuses to accept death. And even in the way he creates his plans to avoid his demise. His massive conceit is at the center of everything. Which means, of course, that there is no room in his ego for the humility required of him to bravely face his end. 

The Master will fight the consequences of being in his thirteenth incarnation until his dying breath. 

SOME QUESTIONS....

While the Master's attitude during his final incarnation is quite straightforward, his whole experience in this state raises a lot of questions. 

The biggest one being: why does a man who was once a Handsome Roger Delgado suddenly appear to be a corpse? Is this what becomes of a Time Lord when they hit the thirteenth incarnation? Or did something else happen that caused him to look this way?    

Fortunately, we've seen other Time Lords reach this point and not become some emaciated skeletal being. So we know it was something else that caused the Master to take on such an appearance. However, nothing has been said on the show that offers any kind of clear explanation. 

Other forms of media have tried to give a backstory. The most popular one stems from the novelization of Deadly Assassin. It seems that, sometime after Frontier in Space, events start occurring in the Master's life that cause him to rapidly move through his regenerations. Something goes wrong with a plan that causes him to get badly injured or he needs to assume a very quick disguise or other such incidents that precipitate a sudden regeneration after going through the process only a short while previously.. Regenerating so often in so short a time creates a sort of "burn out" that causes him to look so hideous in his final incarnation. 

It's a solid enough theory that I'm willing to subscribe to. 

The other problematic issue is the fact that a different actor is brought in for Keeper of Traken to play what is meant to be the same incarnation of the Master. This new actor isn't required to shout his way through a fright mask like the previous one. He's given a make-up job, instead, to achieve the corpse-like appearance. So he looks and even behaves quite differently but is still supposed to be the final incarnation of the Master. Again, no explanation is given within the context  of the show for why we have a Master that seems so different. 

I like to think that the Master did manage to tap some of the energy from the Eye of Harmony and use it to trigger a sort of partial regeneration. He's still in the same incarnation but has used the power he stole from the Time Lords to rejuvenate himself slightly.  

It's the best the evil renegade could do, under the circumstances, to extend his lifespan a bit more. 

If you should desire to check it out, I explore both of these concepts in greater detail in these entries:https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-master-part-1.html and : https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-history-of.html

AT LONG LAST, A NEW BODY

Hell-bent on not submitting to his fate, the Master's determination pays off. He lives beyond the thirteenth incarnation by being able to summon a certain amount of energy during his brief Keepership. With such powers, he hijacks Tremas' body (with a name like that, the poor guy never stood a chance!). 

The Trakenite body does seem to last him quite a while. This is, in fact, the only version of the Master that faces off with the Doctor in several of his incarnations (okay, John Simm kinda does it too but it's a bit of a cheat!). Quite a few years seem to pass from Fourth Doctor to Seventh, which would indicate a decent amount of longevity for the Ainley Master. Eventually, though, that version of the evil renegade seems to reach its end. As we get to Doctor Who - The Movie, we see him ever-so-briefly in one body played by Gordon Tipple and then he takes over an unfortunate ambulance driver portrayed by Eric Roberts. 

We could analyze these events in greater detail, here. But we are actually falling out of the parameters of our study. Ainley, Tipple and Roberts do not constitute "final incarnations" of the Master. At this point, the renegade is just body-snatching to keep himself alive. Which, to me, creates a very different mentality for a Time Lord. In his thirteenth body, the Master's fighting against the Laws of Nature. But, after Keeper of Traken, he's full-on breaking them. 

JUST A BIT MORE ABOUT THE MASTER....

There is one more important point that we should bring up before closing the book on the Master. It's that all-important scene in The Five Doctors where he's summoned by the High Council of the Time Lords and asked to sit in on one of their board meetings. The Council wants him to go into the Death Zone and save the Doctor. At first, they try to appeal to his better nature. But the Master quickly shows them he doesn't have one. So Borusa makes him an offer he can't refuse. If the Master cooperates, he'll be granted a whole new regeneration cycle. 

This scene is important for several reasons. Firstly, it shows that twelve regenerations is not some sort of naturally-occurring biological limit that Time Lords are stuck with. It is, in fact, a rule that is imposed upon them by the society they live in.. 

More importantly, though, it is a rule that can be broken. Under the proper circumstances, the High Council will grant extra lives to a Time Lord. If they deem it fit.  Which means, of course, that there is now some kind of hope for the Doctor when he reaches his final incarnation. 

It should also be noted that, although the Master did not receive the reward Borusa offered him, we can safely guess that, when the High Council resurrected the evil Time Lord  to fight in the Time Wars, the Master was given the new regeneration cycle he so badly needed. This is re-enforced by the fact that we have now seen several incarnations of him (or her) in the New Series. 

One can't help but wonder how much longer he has before he uses up all his bodies again. Or what sort of damage he might do, this time, to artificially extend his life once he reaches that point. 

THE MASTER OF JOCUNDA 

While the Master did the worst job of accepting his mortality, the next Gallifreyan we meet who's in the same situation seems to be the polar opposite. Out of all the Time Lords we've seen that have reached this point in their lives, Azmael from The Twin Dilemma does the greatest job of handling his final incarnation. 

This is probably displayed best when he actually tells the Doctor that he can't regenerate anymore. It's not some great admission of shame or inadequacy or some other such melodramatic declaration. He's very matter-of-fact about it. Even a bit brutally honest. "I'm really not that useful, these days." he's plainly stating, "I can't even regenerate anymore." This indicates a very comfortable adaptation to his current situation. He's near the end of his existence and he's pretty okay with that. 

The little backstory that we get about him seems to reinforce this idea. Apparently, he was a well-respected professor at the Time Lord Academy for a good chunk of his career. But he chose to leave the position as he got older and even decided to depart from Gallifrey, itself. One gets the impression that, as he reached his thirteenth body, he felt the need to retire. More than likely, he wanted to just live peacefully on a nice planet like Jocunda. But the inhabitants were so impressed by his knowledge and wisdom that they asked him to become their ruler. 

What truly shows his calm acceptance of the inevitable is the fact that he realizes his inability to regenerate can actually be used to his advantage in his fight against Mestor. With the consciousness of the evil gastropod trapped within his body, Azmael literally wills himself to death by trying to induce a thirteenth regeneration.  

It may be the story that ends up on the bottom of most fans' lists, but that's still a pretty clever way to resolve the conflict! 

ELEVEN IS REALLY THIRTEEN 

Finally, many years after the Big Revelation in Deadly Assassin, the Time Lord we're most concerned about reaches his last incarnation. As Moffat takes over as Head Writer, the Doctor is now on his thirteenth body. Ironically enough, we don't realize he's arrived at that point until he's nearly at his end. 

Some bizarre things occur during New Who that really start messing up the Incarnation Numbering System. The first complication that we experience happens towards the end of Series Four. Ten does that weird thing where he regenerates back into himself. As we see this happen, we have to consider whether or not this constitutes a "real" regeneration. If we do consider it to be "proper", then Eleven won't actually be Eleven. He'll be Twelve.     

And then we get to the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. Moffat decides to drop a huge bomb. There's been a "secret" incarnation of our hero that, apparently, existed during the Wilderness Years. He's a version of the Doctor that fought in the Time Wars that he doesn't like to talk about. Which means, of course, that if Ten changing back into Ten counts as a valid regeneration, then the Doctor is now on his last body. 

One gets the impression that, during Eleven's reign, Moffat waited till the absolute last minute to make that crucial decision about Ten's regeneration at the end of Series Four. Without a doubt, the War Doctor counts as a legitimate incarnation. So the Doctor is definitely on his twelfth body when he transforms during Part 2 of The End of Time. But what about that crazy cliffhanger resolution for Stolen Earth? Does that actually put him at Thirteen? 

Moff really doesn't seem to truly make up his mind on the matter until we get to Time of the Doctor. Where Eleven sits with Clara in the clock tower in the town of Christmas and explains to her that he's truly at his end. Until that moment, it really does seem like he still has a regeneration to go. There are any number of instances during Matt Smith's three seasons that seem to indicate this. 

Or are there? Let's take a specific look at the various situations where the Doctor seems confident that he can still regenerate. There are some interesting nuances to those moments that create a certain degree of ambiguity. Which suggest that maybe Steven Moffat had made up his mind a long time ago that the Eleventh Doctor really was the final incarnation. 

A CERTAIN LACK OF CLARITY

To make this part of the analysis a bit easier to process, we will properly number the various instances where it's indicated that the Doctor can still regenerate. We will then point out that those moments are "greyer" than they seem: 

1) River Shoots Him

This one is pretty cut-and-dry. At the very beginning of Series Six, we watch the Doctor get assassinated by a mysterious astronaut that climbs out of Lake Silencio and shoots him dead. After the first shot is fired, the Doctor begins to regenerate. He's shot several more times so that the regeneration process is halted and he dies, instead. 

This one gets dismissed pretty quickly. As we would later learn, we're not really seeing the Doctor, here. But rather, it's the Teselecta impersonating him. Which means, of course, that it's just creating the illusion of an attempted regeneration. The real Doctor inside the Teselecta might no longer be capable of regenerating, but the vehicle he's traveling in can fake it quite easily. Especially since the people operating said vehicle know that the regeneration won't complete itself. Just gotta project some golden energy for a few seconds and then drop to the ground. Nothing too difficult. 

So seeing the Doctor attempt to regenerate in this scene has no real bearing on whether or not the Doctor really is capable of still doing it. It's all just a bunch of fakery.

There is still one thing that doesn't quite make sense. Who, exactly, is the Teselecta creating the false regeneration energy for? Amy and Rory don't really know the rules of regeneration, so why would they need to see a failed attempt? River Song, as we would later learn in Husbands of River Song, knows that Eleven represents the last incarnation. So a regeneration attempt could potentially confuse her. 

My guess is that River is still not sure, at this point, that the Doctor has used up all his regenerations. So that little display does make things more convincing for her. I'm also guessing that the Kovarian Schism of the Silence is watching the whole proceedings from a distance (Amy did, briefly, see one of their priests and then forgot about him). The Doctor would probably not want them to know he's on his last incarnation. So he would have the Teselecta create a failed regeneration to keep them fooled.

2) and 3) Poisoning and Illness

The next two instances that hint at the Doctor still having a regeneration left can both be tackled at once. They involve him being poisoned by River Song in Let's Kill Hitler and his attempts to avoid contracting Chen-7 in The Girl Who Waited. 

In both instances, the idea of regenerating from the harm of the poison or disease is discussed. We are told that regeneration won't work under these circumstances. We presume that effects from either of these toxins are so powerful that the process can't actually ensue. 

But what if it was something else entirely that was affecting the whole situation? During Let's Kill Hitler, for instance, the TARDIS Interface simply claims: "regeneration not possible". We all assume that it's because of the effectiveness of the poison extracted from a Judas Tree. But what if the TARDIS is just simply stating a fact? Whether he's been poisoned or not, the Doctor just won't regenerate. 

The same can be said about all the Chen-7 that might be floating around the Wellness Centre on Apalapucia. When the Doctor says he won't regenerate if he becomes infected, he's not referring to the potency of the virus. He's actually just stating that he can't regenerate anymore. 

Listen carefully to the wording in both of those instances. It's not particularly specific. Which leaves things quite nicely open to interpretation. Perhaps we're talking about how certain poisons or illnesses can prevent regeneration. Or perhaps the conversation is about something else. 

4) Healing River's Hand 

For quite some time, this one seemed to strongly contradict that the Doctor was on his final incarnation. 

About halfway through The Angels Take Manhattan, the Doctor uses some regeneration energy to heal River Song's broken hand. If the Doctor is meant to be on his last incarnation, how would he be able to do that? He should be completely out of regeneration energy. But, somehow, he gives some to River Song. It doesn't quite make sense. If, perhaps, he still had "one regeneration bullet left in the chamber", he could borrow a bit from that one to help heal her. But if you no longer have the ability to regenerate, where does that energy come from? 

I created some head cannon for this, of course. But we do get an answer of some sort many years later in the story Lux. It does seem like the Doctor is capable of tucking away a bit of energy from his latest regeneration to save it for a rainy day. When he needs to quickly cure a light wound, he can tap into that reserve. He explains this as he cures some burns he acquired to his hand while fighting Lux's attempts to imprison him within false realities. 

So we can safely guess the Doctor did something similar as he regenerated at the conclusion to End of Time - Part 2. He stored away a bit of extra regeneration energy from that transformation and decided to finally use it on River during Angels Take Manhattan.     

It's entirely possible that Professor Song, by this point, knows the Doctor is on his last life. It would help to explain why she gives him such a vicious slap. She's extremely upset with him for using whatever regeneration energy he has left on her instead of himself. He needs it way more than she does. 

5) Threatening the Cyberiad 

This one also becomes a bit difficult to rationalize without receiving a better explanation. During Nightmare in Silver, the Doctor appears to be having deep confrontations within his Id with the part of his mind that's being controlled by the Cyberiad. At one point, he points out to the Cybermen Hive-Mind that he could just initiate a regeneration and that would  "burn out all the cyber-widgets" in his head. He decides not to, however, and challenges his opponent to a game of chess, instead.  

But why would the Doctor say such a thing if he was out of regenerations? My only guess would be that he was still hoping to intimidate the Cyberiad a bit by threatening to burn him out of his system. But it was all just a big bluff. Stating such a thing, however, makes little tactical sense. Was he hoping his enemy would just leave his mind out of sheer fear of being "regenerated away"?! 

Unlike the situation with River Song in Point 4. we never get a future episode that explains a bit better what happened. And I doubt we ever will. I just can't visualize some kind of throwaway dialogue in a story where the Doctor says something to the nature of:: "Yeah. I tried to scare away the Cyberiad by claiming I was going to regenerate - even though I couldn't!"

DOES ELEVEN AND/OR MOFF KNOW OR NOT? 

Before we can actually get into the Doctor's attitude towards being at the end of his regeneration cycle, we need to look a bit more at this whole concept of whether or not it was always known that Eleven was on his final incarnation. In order to get some degree of clarity on all this, we need to try to determine what was the perspective of both the protagonist and the Head Writer. 

As careful as some of the wording could be when the subject of regeneration came up in a script, I'm more inclined to believe that Moffat just wasn't really sure if he should tackle this whole issue until he got to Time of the Doctor. The attempts to keep things fairly ambiguous during such discussions may have been intentional so that he could be allowed to think things over. Alternatively, he may have decided right upfront that the Doctor was on his last incarnation but wanted to keep that a secret throughout almost all of Eleven's tenure. Which could also explain some of that careful wording during regeneration discussions. But that does seem a bit unlikely. Particularly when you have instances like the Doctor threatening the Cyberiad in Nightmare in Silver. That one really points strongly to the idea that the Doctor can still regenerate. Which indicates to me that Moffat was fairly uncertain about what he was going to do about all this which incarnation is the Doctor really on? business. I suppose if I were ever able to sit Moff down for an interviewer, questioning him about this would be, pretty much, at the top of my list.

But things become even more complicated when we try to work out if the Doctor actually knew he had used up all his regenerations. Even if the Head Writer was probably uncertain about the whole thing, it's nice to try to work out some sort of internal logic to it all.  So we need to ask ourselves: Was the Doctor, himself, being intentionally vague when the subject of regeneration came up? And, if he was, then why?  

It's entirely possible that, like the audience, the Doctor also wasn't sure if his tenth incarnation changing back into himself was an actual regeneration. Because it didn't involve a complete change of appearance, it might just be some sort of "partial" regeneration that didn't use up the full energy. While some of that remaining energy was syphoned into a nearby bio-receptable, a lot of it may have actually returned to his body (or, perhaps, never left it at all - he may have only released just a bit of regen power in order to cure his wounds). So it just might be that the Doctor thought there was a possibility that he had used so little energy to heal himself from the Dalek death ray that he would still be able to induce a full regeneration after the one he had in End of Time. 

Or maybe he couldn't. He really wasn't sure! 

He may have also been a bit in denial about the whole thing. Maybe, in his hearts of hearts, he knew that he'd used up a full regeneration during the Series Four finale, but he just didn't want to face up to that fact. This would certainly account for those instances where he seemed more certain that he still had one more incarnation left after him. During those moments, his level of denial was quite high. The other times when he stayed more cryptic about things, he was being more honest with himself. 

I suspect that it was a combination of both uncertainty and denial. Sometimes, he was sure he'd reached his end but still didn't want to admit it. Other times, he really was at a loss.

AT TRENZALORE, THE DOCTOR FINALLY MAKES UP HIS MIND 

As Eleven soldiers on, he hears more and more doom and gloom about this world called Trenzalore. He even manages to dip into his own future and sees his grave on the planet's surface. Eventually, he arrives there "properly" and knows what fate awaits him. 

Shortly after his arrival, the denial and uncertainty die out. The Doctor, at last, reaches his conclusion on the matter. The "weird regeneration" he had during his last battle against Davros and his latest breed of Daleks counts as genuine. He is certain, now, that he's in his final body. 

Up until this point, his attitude has been more like the Master's. While he's not willing to destroy civilizations to maintain his existence, he still fights against his own mortality. In more subtle ways, of course, but he's still doing it. His general sense of vagueness whenever regeneration comes up in a conversation indicates a refusal to face the facts. He's not like Azmael, who admits quite openly that he's no longer capable of regenerating. He's the exact opposite. He seems to be trying to keep the whole thing a secret. In this sense, his behavior really does resemble that of his greatest foe: He won't accept that the end is near. 

But landing on Trenzalore does almost seem like a final submission to the inevitable. Once there, the Doctor adopts the mentality of his old mentor. He seems to go into a sort of retirement. Just like Azmael, he's still keeping pretty active. He's not ruling an entire planet, but he is defending a small town against invaders. Overall, though, he's settling down. He actually manages to stay in just one place in time and space for several centuries. This, alone, proves how determined he is to live a quiet life. Back in Power of Three, he could barely manage such a feat for even a few days! 

It is, perhaps, most interesting to note how meekly the Doctor accepts his fate when it finally arrives. For what he thought would be the final time, he climbs the bell tower and waits for his death at the hands of the Daleks. Had this been happening to the Master, he would have been dragged to the place kicking and screaming. But the Doctor has made his peace. He's ready to go. Only Clara's last-minute pleading with the Time Lords gets him a new lease on life.

FINAL ASSESSMENT

As we reach the conclusion of this whole Analysis, things actually seems to work out to a decent symmetry. We have a bit of a Goldilocks and the Three Bears pattern going on. The Master sits on one extreme of dealing with his final incarnation. He steadfastly refuses to die. Azmael is on the other end of the spectrum, peacefully accepting the inevitable. And the Doctor rests somewhere in the middle. Fighting his mortality for a time but, ultimately, facing his fate with dignity and grace.  

Admittedly, I am skewing things a bit with my own head cannon. At no point do we actually hear Eleven making claims to the nature of: "I'm really not sure if that time I regenerated but kept the same face actually counts." or "I know I'm in my final incarnation, I just haven't been willing to admit it to myself." Or words to that effect. The idea of the Doctor's uncertainty or denial over no longer being able to regenerate is something I came up with to explain the vagueness of certain discussions that occurred during Matt Smith's three seasons. My theory only holds so much water - it can't be entirely proven. But it does make some solid sense (if I dare say so, myself!). 

In the end, though, I'd like to think that the whole Goldilocks motif works fairly well. By no means do I believe it was done intentionally. There are just too many years between each case of a Time Lord being on their last life. I don't think anyone in production would play that long of a game. I can't picture Phillip Hinchcliffe sitting down with JNT in the early 80s and saying: "I showed the Master displaying one extreme of what it's like to reach the thirteenth incarnation. You need to make a story with a Time Lord that displays the other end of the spectrum." And then the Ghost of JNT appearing to Moffat many years later and saying: "The Master and Azmael were pendulum swings. Have the Doctor sit somewhere in the middle."  

In the end, it's all just a string of coincidences creating a theory that's being ever-so-slightly fueled by my own feverish imaginings. 

Always feels good when I do an ANALYTICAL essay. I'm actually doing some legitimate research when I write this. Rather than just spewing out the empty rhetoric of my overblown opinions! 

Since we're on the topic, there are certain fans who now believe that the Eleventh Doctor was never actually on his last incarnation. That the whole Timeless Child story arc nullifies the idea. I don't believe this to be the case. Here's why: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/05/fixing-continuity-glitches-emergency.html

 

  

 

 

   

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SERIES FIFTEEN (IS ANYONE ACTUALLY CALLING IT "SEASON TWO"?!)

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 episodes 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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UNADULTERATED BOORISH OPINION: WAS THE TREATMENT OF BELINDA'S CHARACTER SEXIST?

So I've noticed the arguments fans have been making about how Belinda's ultimate fate was handled at the end of the season. Both men and women seem to be taking a strong stance against how the character was treated. One that makes them seem like tremendous supporters of women's rights. 

Which, in many ways, is great to see. I can remember a time when very few people were taking a feminist stance on anything. Back then, even a  lot of women seemed in favor of stigmas that very much worked against them. So I'm happy to see that sensibilities have changed a lot over the years. 

There is still one problem, however, with being a feminist. And that is when you develop an  opinion that sounds like it's supporting equal rights for women but doesn't actually make any legitimate sense. 

Which is what I feel is happening right now with poor Belinda.

THE ACTUAL OBJECTION 

So the basic gist of the whole argument is that RTD is meant to be some sort of sexist. Or, at the very least, he's someone who doesn't write female characters well. Or, quite possibly, does a disservice to the women he puts into his stories. Or something to that effect. It all has to do with how he eventually resolves things with Belinda Chandra at the end of this latest season. 

At the beginning of the most recent, all-too-short eight episode run, we get introduced to the Doctor's newest companion. A strong independent woman named Belinda (or "Bel") who works in a hospital as a nurse. We are quite impressed with Bel when we first meet her. She is thrown into a completely insane situation with massive alien robots that whisk her off to another world. But she still keeps a relatively cool head about the whole thing. When a group of rebels come crashing in to save her, she launches herself into assisting their wounded with little or no thought. In a heroic act of self-sacrifice, she re-activates the cute little polish robot so that she can be traced by the enemy. Thus saving the rebels from being hunted by their overlords. This woman has bravery written all over her. 

On top of all that, Belinda is even more impressive in the final few minutes of the episode. As the Doctor tries to dazzle her into travelling with him, she completely calls him out. She doesn't appreciate the All of Time and Space Sales Pitch and just wants to go home. 

It's clearly established in the very first episode that Belinda Chandra is not a person to be trifled with. Or, more significantly, she's not some foolish, weakhearted woman. She's strong, intelligent and even a bit fierce. The sort of fictional character feminist fans can definitely rally behind. 

The Belinda Chandra we get by the end of the season, however, is the polar opposite (supposedly).  After various manipulations of reality, the companion's past is altered so that she is now a mother of a beautiful girl named Poppy. Because of her new-found responsibility (well, it's sort of new-found), she chooses to stop travelling with the Doctor in the TARDIS. 

According to some fans, this is the absolute most terrible thing you could do to a female character in a TV show. Belinda was this wonderful free-spirited woman. She was putting her career first and enjoying a life of adventure with the Time Lord. Now she's been reduced to some sort of doting Mom who had the audacity to put her child's needs over her own. 

Apparently, RTD is some sort misogynistic Neanderthal for assigning such a fate to this latest companion. What a horrible message he has sent to young girls. Insinuating that, maybe, being a Mom can be as noble a pursuit as wanting a career. 

A BIT OF PRE-QUALIFICATION 

No doubt, you're picking up on my sarcasm. I don't actually think making Belinda into a caring mother was some sort of assault on her feminist rights. RTD is not some giant sexist for doing this. If you want to believe that he is, then I suppose you're entitled to that opinion. Just as I'm entitled to think that you're wrong. 

Now I know there's some visuals to consider in all of this. Being the gender that I am (male, just in case you weren't sure) means that opposing a stance that certain people with feminist sensibilities might have could, potentially, make me look bad. This is one of those situations where I wish a woman was actually writing this particular entry. People would just be less prone to opposing her. Whereas, when I state my points, I'm fairly certain some of you will be thinking: Is he actually on to something, here? Or does he just have a problem with women?! 

To help quell certain suspicions, I want to spend a few brief paragraphs pre-qualifying myself a bit. Please bear with me.  

Even before I hit my teens, I actively made the decision to consider myself a feminist. It just seemed like a no-brainer. Women are our equals and, therefore, deserve the same rights we have. Any time someone stood in the way of them getting the fair treatment they deserve, that person needed to be opposed.      

One should keep in mind, however, that I am a pretty old fart. I was a teen in the 80s. Back then, there weren't a  lot of feminists about. Very few of them were male. And the women that used that title often seemed extremely radical. To the point where a lot of women did not want to be identified as feminists. It lumped them into a group they didn't want to be a part of. Even if what they stood for was helping them in enormous ways. .  

I also grew up in a rural area were conservative opinions were quite strong. They still, very much, are to this day. When I go back and visit I can hear some very crazy opinions expressed by the people that live there. I was catching up with an old neighbor not too long ago who was actually complaining that "A lot of Arabs are moving into the area." She was saying this in the 2020s. 

To be a young boy living in such a place and proclaiming myself a feminist invited a lot of trouble for me. My masculinity was frequently called into question. Some people employed some very homophobic terms to describe me (while I objected to the slurs they used, I didn't view being called gay as an insult since I also supported LGBTQ+ rights). 

What I'm, ultimately, getting at, here, is that I'm not just a feminist. But I'm someone who became one during a time and in a place where taking such a stance created a lot of difficulty in my life. But I didn't care since it was an important cause to support. 

Now, I know this is the internet. Making such a claim about myself can be difficult to verify. But I hope you will take my word on it. And I also hope that if I do express some things that you don't agree with that you don't just dismiss me as some misogynistic incel pig or something of that nature. All I'm really trying to do is point out some inconsistencies in an opinion that has a strong feminist slant to it. I don't actively fight against women having the same rights as men. That's not what I'm about. And I hope you will believe that.    

Having gotten that out of the way, let's now look at those inconsistencies I was just mentioning: 

 

Inconsistency #1: NOTHING REALLY CHANGED 

I've alluded to this a bit, already. But let's dive into the idea more thoroughly:    

RTD crafts Belinda's decision to be a parent quite carefully. Yes, she is now a Mom. Sacrifices will have to be made in order for her to properly care for her child. But none of this actually happens at the expense of the character's goals and ambitions. 

Essentially, Belinda is still working as a nurse. When her timeline gets re-written, that's pretty clearly established. She has to be home by 7:30 AM because that's when she's done her shift and needs to relieve her Mom of taking care of Poppy. 

If Belinda had decided to sacrifice her career because she'd gotten pregnant, I'd be more inclined to say that this was a disservice to the character and, perhaps, even a bit sexist. Especially if it was implied that she'd made a better choice by doing this. But, if anything, I see this as a testament to her strength as a woman. Even with what seemed like an unplanned pregnancy, she prevails over her obstacles and achieves her career goals. 

Inconsistency #2: NOTHING REALLY CHANGED - THE SEQUEL 

"Okay Rob," some of you are conceding, "You made a good point, Bel didn't have to give up her career in order to also be a mom. But you missed something important. She did have to give up travelling with the Doctor in order to stay on Earth and take care of her daughter. So, there you go. Motherhood still got in the way of her being able to do what she wanted. Her whole character arc is sexist, after all. Get out of that one Mister I Was a Feminist Before It Was Cool to be One." 

And, of course, I can "get out of it" quite easily. By applying the same logic that I did during the first Inconsistency: 

Once more, nothing changed. 

Right at the end of Robot Revolution, she tells the Doctor she doesn't want to travel with him. Throughout the rest of the season, she does have a good time with the Time Lord and enjoys the adventures he takes her on. But we still come back to the same thing over and over. As much fun as she's having, she still wants to go home. 

Of course, in the final episode we get a sort of rewind once the Doctor re-sets her timeline. We see various scenes throughout the season where Belinda is talking about her desire to be returned to her proper place in Time and Space. But, this time, she's also mentioning that she "wants to see her Poppy". Showing us that, regardless of whether or not she had a child, her desire was the same: Quite simply, she doesn't want to travel aboard the TARDIS.

Once more, becoming a mother did not rob her of anything she wanted to do. Her motives were the same before and after she became a parent.

Inconsistency #3: THE NOTORIOUS "REVERSE IT PRINCIBLE" 

I have used this trick before when discussing the way a marginalized group is being represented. If I'm not entirely certain about the depiction, I change the scenario a bit. I envision the same context being applied to a different group. 

For instance: I looked at the way they changed Isasc Newton's race in Wild Blue Yonder and thought to myself: "Should I actually be bothered that he's not white in this Doctor Who story when History says he was?" 

So I thought to myself: "What if they'd changed Martin Luther King to a white guy in the episode Rosa?" 

The answer quickly became obvious: It's wrong to change the race of a real person being represented on the show. Regardless of what their original ethnicity was.   

So now let's see if we can apply something similar, here: 

There is actually a situation that resembles this that occurred a few seasons previously but uses a different gender. 

At the end of Revolution of the Daleks, Ryan announces that he no longer wishes to travel aboard the TARDIS. The decision, of course, was first being hinted at way back in Can You Hear Me? But, at last, he's made up his mind. He wants to stay home. 

Up until that moment, Graham had made it clear that he wanted to keep travelling with the Doctor, But, upon hearing Ryan's choice, he changes his mind. As much he likes exploring the Universe, he doesn't want to miss watching his grandson grow up. 

Shouldn't there have been complaints similar to what we're hearing about Belinda? Shouldn't we consider Graham's desire to continue being a good grandfather to be an affrontery to his masculinity? Unlike Belinda, who never wanted to travel in the TARDIS to begin with, he really is making a sacrifice when he decides to stay behind and be with his grandson. So we should be even more outraged! 

Add to the fact that Ryan was, pretty much, a grown adult who can take care of himself, whereas Poppy is an infant who definitely needs close monitoring and we should get even angrier about all this. Graham doesn't really need to watch over his grandson. He's acting purely out of sentimentalism rather than legitimate necessity. We should be calling Chibnall a huge sexist (God knows, people have called him all sorts of other things!) for writing out a character in such a way. It's a massive affrontery to male independence!  

But that's not what happens. In fact, a lot of us were quite touched by the sacrifice Graham was making. 

I do get it, of course. There are some extra factors to consider. Society has had a long history of gender role issues that allowed men to not be as present in their children's lives as they should be. At the same time, women had to compensate for this by making far bigger sacrifices for their family than they ought to. So it does become that little bit easier to applaud a man who prioritizes his family but be upset when a woman does the same. The "Reverse It Principle" isn't quite so cut-and-dry, here. 

But, overall, it's still applicable. In fact, it's rather unfair to come down so hard on a woman for choosing to be with her family but praise a man when he does the same. If the choice is made free of any outside pressure, then we should just respect it. Which is what we see in both Graham's and Belinda's situations.  

Inconsistency #4: "IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DECIDE YOU STILL HAVE MADE THE CHOICE" - N. Peart 

In order to make my next point, we need to start diving a little bit deeper into the actual philosophy of feminism.

For me, the main goal of feminism has been to create a society where women can have all the same choices that men have. Even in my lifetime, I have seen that this has not always been the case. That the way women were treated when I was much younger is very different from the treatment they get today. 

I think, for example, of when I was going to school. At both a primary and secondary level, male and female educators would tell boys that, if they set their mind to it and worked hard, they could be whatever they wanted when they grew up. Girls, on the other hand, were still encouraged to apply themselves to their studies and get a decent education - but they were also told to not focus so hard on a career once they were adults. At that point in their lives, their biggest priority should be to find a decent man and be a good wife for him. Make him lots of babies and take care of things at home while he went out and earned a living. 

That sort of social conditioning at such an early age obviously made it difficult for women to empower themselves. We needed the feminist movement to come along and change the way children and youth were being educated. So that, when a woman reached adulthood, she could make clear choices about what she wanted to do with herself. 

Which brings me back to my main point. We need a society where women are allowed to choose whatever path they want in life. There should be no pressuring or cajoling of any sort as they make those decisions. Feminists are creating just such a society. There's still a way to go, but we're getting there. 

With that in mind, however, it does mean we should respect any choice a woman makes of her own free will. If she wants to be a big, tough career-centered person, then more power to her. But we also shouldn't come down on her if she decides to take a more domestic path in her life. Cause it's not about what she chooses as it is so much about allowing her to freely make her choices. 

Which, for me, deconstructs the outcry against Belinda wanting to be a Mom. If that truly is her desire, then we should just let her have it rather than claim that the whole resolution of her arc is some misogynistic piece of sexist propaganda. Provided it's presented properly (and I think, for the most part, it was) then we can still have female characters pick being a good mother over everything else. There's nothing wrong with a woman who genuinely wants to do that. 

ONE VALID POINT 

While I have gone to great lengths to negate the sentiment of certain feminists, there is one point that some of them are making that does have some validity to it. For the sake of fairness, I'll address it. And, to some extent, agree with it. 

It does look just a little bit like Belinda wasn't given a proper choice about becoming a mother a second time.. While she definitely wanted to raise Poppy before Conrad's Reality was destroyed, the Doctor does not do the best of jobs to make sure that she wants her daughter back. He does inform her of what he's up to once the girl has disappeared from existence. But then he departs pretty quickly after that to bring her back. Giving Belinda little time to voice any objections she might have had. 

Admittedly, RTD should have treated this particular moment more delicately. It would have worked better had there been a scene where, perhaps, the Doctor takes Belinda into the TARDIS and clearly explains her options to her. Just to really make sure that this is what she truly wants. The Doctor only should have departed to alter the timelines after Bel was given a good idea of her fate and allowed to voice a clear answer on the matter,

Having said all that, however, he did watch Belinda choose the risk of being trapped for all eternity in a Zero Room for the sake of her child's continued existence. That did, very much, tell him what sort of choice she was making regarding her desire to be a mother. But I do think an extra little scene where things are spelt out nice and clearly so that Belinda's sense of free will is truly respected would have sat better with everyone. 

So I will concede just a little bit to this whole idea that certain feminists are putting forward. In this aspect, things could have been handled a bit better. But, overall, I still can't get behind the concept that Belinda becoming a mother again is sexist writing. 

IF IT"S NOT SEXISM, WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE SAYING IT IS?! 

Hopefully, I've done a decent job or presenting my points in this whole discussion. Might some of you even be re-evaluating your opinions?   

Of course, in any debate of this nature, there is one fundamental concept that can dismantle the sort of contrary stance that I'm assuming: Why are people even forming this opinion if you claim it isn't accurate? Which is a valid point. If Belinda's ultimate fate isn't sexist, then why do some people feel it is? It reminds me of the old saying: If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck - it's probably a duck! Or: If the treatment of Bel's character looks sexist and seems sexist - it's probably sexist! 

I believe there are two root causes to why this opinion is being formed: 

1) In certain cases, feminists are reacting sincerely. They just, maybe, should have taken a bit more time to think their opinion through before expressing it. 

I get it, though. We've seen this sort of thing so many times in fiction before. Female characters get sold short by choosing to become mothers. It's even been a bit of a propaganda message created by sexist authors. You can't blame someone for "jumpin' the gun" over something like this. 

2) This is just another episode in the saga I like to call: The Great Witch Hunt. 

Doctor Who fandom is in a very dark stage, right now. We've seen this all before back in the late 80s. Sadly, history is repeating itself. Which means we know where all of this will be leading... 

A certain type of toxic fan has begun to rear its ugly head, again. This fan has decided that Doctor Who has become the most terrible of shows - with little or no redeeming qualities. It's their mission to constantly let us know of their disdain. They shitpost like crazy in various fangroups or even create Youtube channels where they rant endlessly from their mother's basement. You can even expect to be berated by them should you actually be enjoying what the show is doing. 

These so-called fans look for any little flaw they can in the show and exaggerate it out of proportion. Just like the prosecuting attorneys did back in the Witch Trials of Salem (hence the name I've given to this whole phenomenon). In some cases, if they can't see any faults, they "Find patterns in things that aren't there". Basically, they will invent problems. With the weakest of arguments, they will claim there's something wrong with an aspect of the show when it's actually perfectly fine. . 

I think that most of the comments I've seen complaining of RTD's sexist writing have been from this segment of fandom. I also believe that they are totally manufacturing a defect, here. It's not a real problem. 

They're particularly happy about all this since it makes them seem a bit enlightened in the process. Which is ironic, of course. These are often the same people that are against diversity casting. They are, literally, complaining that the show is hiring too many women! 

 

POINT OF DEBATE: DO I HAVE A NEW ALL-TIME FAVORITE DOCTOR WHO STORY EVER?!

So I've been thinking about doing this one for a while. You may have even noticed me mentioning it in a previous essay. Somewhere in the middle of my Season-by Season Reviews, I first started postulating about this. But I let it all simmer for a bit and focused on some other things I wanted to rant about.  

Finally, after taking a bit of time for some heavy reflection, I've decided the moment has come to face the issue head-on: 

Do I have a new all-time favorite Doctor Who story? 

Near the end of my first year of writing Doctor Who Blogs, I did a little countdown. Over the course of multiple entries, I listed my Top Ten All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Stories Ever. Lots of folks seemed to enjoy reading the whole thing. People still dig through my Archives and take the time to look at them. 

It was during this series that many first started recognizing me as "The Great Contrarion". Readers expected to see the usual suspects in this line-up. They thought they would read positive reviews of stories like Genesis of the Daleks, Caves of Androzani or even something more modern like Blink. No such stories made it into the line-up. The closest we came to a "stereotypical fan favorite" was Ark in Space (and, perhaps, Robots of Death). My list was comprised mainly of what I felt were extremely intelligently-written adventures like Kinda or Logopolis. Or dramatically-intense stuff like Earthshock. 

Coming in at Number One was, more-than-likely, a story no one was expecting. It's held in fairly high regard by most. But I don't think too many others would give it the status I have. But I am, in fact, quite proud of my choice and will stand behind it til the day of my death.

My All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Story Ever is.....  The Deadly Assassin. 

TIME MAY CHANGE ME

So I just used some pretty strong words, there. "I will stand behind it till the day I die." (love how the quote is only two sentences away and I still paraphrased). 

There is a pretty huge flaw in the statement I just made. Basically, new Doctor Who stories are being made all the time. It stands to reason that something might have come along since Deadly Assassin that I might enjoy more. Especially since it is a pretty damned old story. 

The stubborn old curmudgeonly side of me wants to deny this. "Nothing will ever top Assassin!" he proclaims, "It's the Classic to end all Classics! Shut up with that stupid stuff about something better coming along! That's never going to happen! Ever!" 

"You know what's wrong with kids these days?!" he continues, "They got no tenacity! The minute they run into a problem, they run away and move back into their parents' basement!" 

And then, suddenly, he becomes self-conscious.

"Sorry. I'm digressing. Stubborn old curmudgeonly people tend to do that!" 

As much as I want to fight the idea, the truth of the matter is: something has come along that may have actually beaten my all-time favorite Doctor Who story.      

I may actually like Power of the Doctor better than The Deadly Assassin. 

BUT I CAN"T CHANGE TIME 

It's a big choice to make, deciding you have a new all-time fave Who tale. It's not something you should rush. There needs to be a lot deliberation. The Pros and Cons of both the contender and the current champion should be heavily weighed and counterpointed against each other. You don't make up your mind about this sort of thing in the heat of moment. You need to keep a clear head. 

I've been thinking this over for more than a year. Some might even say that the moment I finished watching Power of the Doctor, this whole mental process began. But, for quite some time, I was reluctant to believe that I'd found something I liked better than Deadly Assassin. There was an extended period of denial before I finally faced the truth. 

To this day, I'm still not sure how I feel on the matter. I've loved Assassin for so long. Can I really just dump her like some cold-hearted bastard who's found something younger and prettier? That's just not me. I don't treat my all-time fave stories that way. 

And yet, I can't ignore my feelings for Power of the Doctor. She's sleek and enticing. She's the Real 60th Anniversary Special. She's got so much going for her: Old companions returning. UNIT. A rogue's gallery of old foes. Multi-Doctor bantering. The Master's absolutely ridiculous Doctor Costume. There's just sooo much going on! She's absolutely gorgeous. 

I just haven't been able to make up my mind. So I decided to bring the debate here to my Blog. To break both stories down to some of their basest components and see which one stands up better under heavy scrutiny. And so, for the rest of the entry, we will examine both of these tales in great detail and see what makes them so wonderful. Hopefully, the process will cause us to see which one is just that little bit better. And then, quite possibly, by the end of this little dissertation - I'll have made a decision. 

I doubt it, though! 

Here's What We're Going To Do:  While both these stories have many magnificent qualities to them, there's a few core traits they share that manage to elevate them above anything else the show has ever given us. I want to start by analyzing those characteristics and comparing them to each other. Under such heavy scrutiny, a winner just might rise to the surface. 

I still doubt it, though!

Trait #1: THE EPICNESS OF IT ALL

The thing that dazzles me the most about both of these adventures is just how epic in scale they feel. Particularly since this is Doctor Who: a TV show that is still made on a pretty limited budget. Making content feel grandiose - particularly in the Classic Series - was very difficult to achieve. I think of something like The Invisible Enemy: A story that was meant to be a big majestic space opera. It failed miserably in its effort to achieve that because a space opera needs some serious cashflow to create its effects. Invisible Enemy did not have this. The best it could do was make you a bit hungry for prawns. 

Around roughly the same time that Attack of the Prawns was made, however, we also got Deadly Assassin. A story that took the shoestring budget that it was handed and still managed to make us something truly awe-inspiring. Lots of stuff still looks cheap, but that doesn't seem to matter. A great big black obelisk, for instance, emerges from an impossible trap door through a clumsy edit and we still find ourselves interjecting: "Wow! That's the Eye of Harmony! The power source at the Heart of the Time Lord Empire!" It's really quite astounding. 

While of Power of the Doctor had a lot more budget put into it, it's still about all the high stakes that are at play within the plot. That's its true appeal. In fact, this all could have been done on Classic Who Money and it still would have worked just fine. The battle on top of the space train could have looked like absolute garbage and the Cyber Planet could have been yet another poorly-disguised quarry and it still would have taken our breath away. The Master's ultimate plan of revenge is what truly fuels the excitement we feel when watching this. Not the flashy visuals. 

Of course, both these stories use "cheats" to increase their sense of epicality (totally a word!). A certain amount of fan-servicing is going on to make these tales that little bit more exciting. 

In the case of Assassin, we even get some legitimate Lore-Building. This is the first story that allows a closer look at the Doctor's people and the society he grew up in. From this point forward, much of what we know about Time Lords gets established here. That definitely makes the whole adventure feel very important. 

Added to that, we get the return of the Master. We haven't seen him for many years. Frontier in Space. was the last time he came onto our screens. This is, perhaps, the most relevant appearance for the villain. Roger Delgado had left an almost indelible stamp on the role. When he tragically died in a car accident, many felt we'd never get the character again. While he's meant to be on the verge of death during the tale, his coming back actually signals a whole new lease on life for the evil Renegade. Which becomes yet another factor that makes Deadly Assassin feel much bigger than the sum of its parts. It's a vital component in a long, ongoing battle between two arch rivals. 

But Deadly Assassin can't even come close to the number of fan-pleasing gestures we get in Power of the Doctor. I've already given the grocery list of gigantic nods to the past that this story makes. But there a few more things going on that give the plot an even heavier weight in the overall continuity of the program.

Power of the Doctor came out the same year the BBC was celebrating its 100th Anniversary. At that point, Doctor Who had been involved with fifty-nine of those one hundred years. So executives asked Chibnall to create a story that would heavily acknowledge the show's history. This is part of the reason why the plot is chocked full of Daleks and Cybermen and the Master and Ace and Tegan and Doctors One, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and the Fugitive and a bunch of other stuff like that. It's not the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the show - that would be next year. But it's still a commemorative event.

It's also the final adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor. Jodie's leaving the role. Mandip Gill is also ending her stint as Yaz. Chris Chibnall is handing the Head Writer job back to RTD. Even Segun Akinola won't be doing the incidental music anymore (Hot Take: I like his stuff better than Murray Gold's). Basically, it's the end of an era. The story needs to be large in scale to give everyone the swansong they deserve. This is another reason why we get Daleks and Cybermen and the Master and Ace and Tegan and.... well, you get the point. 

In some ways, one might say that Power of the Doctor is the clear winner in this category. With everything that's packed into it, it's just going to feel ridiculously more epic than Deadly Assassin could ever hope to be. In this sense, you would be totally right in your opinion. There is just so much more going on in Jodie's final outing. You can't help but feel that it's far more grandiose in scale. 

From another perspective, however, we could be equally impressed by how epic The Deadly Assassin feels without having to resort to so many fan nods. Sure, there's still a few there. I won't deny it. But the fact that there's about 1 000% more of them in Power of the Doctor but the episode comes across as only slightly more epic in scale says something about just how great of a story Assassin is. It doesn't use a bunch of old characters or continuity references to create a massive sense of occasion. Instead, it relies on some really solid writing. 

Which brings us quite neatly to our next point....

Trait #2: REALLY SOLID WRITING (DIDN'T I JUST SAY THAT?!)

I can already envision what the Chib-bashers are thinking as they read this: 

"Come on Rob!" (it's quite funny how I believe that everyone reading this actually remembers my name!), "You're placing Chris Chibnall up against The Great Almighty Robert Holmes. We know, already, who's going to win this!" 

But it should be noted that even the most dedicated haters of the works of Chris Chibnall don't seem to complain about Power of the Doctor. It is an undeniably well-put-together script. 

Some might argue that we enjoy it so much because of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink continuity references that are made all over the place. But most will acknowledge that there's more to the story than just that. 

The narrative does have a gorgeous flow to it. Various plot strands are interwoven and build towards something huge and exciting. I'm not even talking about the story's actual climax. It's more the fact that we can tell the Master is brewing some kind of sinister plan that is meant to crush the Doctor once and for all. With the way the plot is constructed, we know this will be something truly brutal. Our jaws will drop when we finally see what the Master is up to.

There are, of course, any number of Doctor Who tales that have been put together in this manner. Dark Water/Death in Heaven would be a great example of this. Especially since it also uses the Master as the main antagonist. Dark Water definitely creates a vibe that this mysterious woman we've been seeing all season is up to something terrible with this strange foundation that is providing afterlife care to the rich. The very end of the episode is absolutely mind-blowing as we discover in rapid succession that the Cybermen are involved and that the Mary Poppins Wannabe is actually the latest incarnation of the Doctor's greatest enemy.   

But then we get to Death in Heaven. Not a horrible episode. I'd even go so far to say that there's quite a bit of good in it. It comes quite close to living up to the hype that was built up in the first part of the adventure. But it doesn't quite deliver the goods. Dark Water was moving towards something huge. Death in Heaven, however, just wasn't quite big enough. 

This is not an unusual thing for the show. Particularly in the Revived Series. Big plans by evil villains get constructed during the beginning of the plot. But, as those plans get revealed, we feel just a little underwhelmed.  

Power of the Doctor manages to avoid this pitfall. It is, perhaps, one of the greatest triumphs of the whole script. The Master's plot to just completely take over the Doctor's identity through forced regeneration completely satisfies all the tension Chibnall was creating as we moved inexorably towards this moment. It's utterly shocking as the transformation ensues. The ludicrous costume he puts together once he's taken over the TARDIS chills us to the very core. Even him just sitting around playing a recorder is completely disturbing. It's an excellent pay-off to everything that the writer was building towards.

But then we have to actually find a satisfactory way to unravel everything the Master has put together. To, essentially, not repeat the mistake of a story like Death in Heaven. This is an even greater achievement in the writing. Chibnall creates a very clever solution to the conflict. A solution that incorporates one of the coolest scenes in the whole history of the show. A scene that also satisfies a fairly long-standing fan theory: Somewhere, in the backwaters of the Doctor's subconsciousness, previous incarnations still linger. Some of them, of course, don't like to wear robes! 

This is where we have to truly marvel at the writing. In big stories like these, the pay-off to the build-up doesn't always land. But it all looks quite gorgeous, here. 

There are a few other outstanding accomplishments that occur in the authorship of this tale that bear mentioning: 

The insertion of Vinder into the story is quite brilliantly handled. Basically, he's a character who's not afraid to commit violence that needed to be present at a crucial moment of the adventure. He really was expertly-woven into the plot. It's excellent the way Chibnall placed him there. 

Even more impressive, however, was how he created Cyber-Masters a season earlier so that there would be sufficient regeneration energy available to undo the Master's take-over of the Doctor. That's some excellent arcing on Chibnall's behalf. It reminds me vaguely of what RTD did with the Doctor's hand during his first era, But Chibnall did it all in a considerably less "clunky" manner. .  

Altogether, Chibnall created a magnificent script. But how does it stand up against the Great One, Himself?   

Admittedly, I won't analyze Holmes' writing quite so deeply. I did so, already, in the post I made during that original Countdown so many years ago. I'd rather not get too repetitious (What?! I haven't posted a link to that entry yet?! What is wrong with me?! https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-1.html). 

I will say this, though: Political Thrillers are not to everyone's liking. I remember legitimately struggling with people a few years back because they refused to give the show House of Cards a  decent chance (although, I did stop pressuring them after the scandal about Kevin Spacey came out!). They "didn't like stories about politics", they would explain. And I can sympathize with what they're saying. Tales that heavily involve politics can be horrifically tedious. 

So it is truly a testament to Holmes' writing that he's able to make Deadly Assassin so intensely engaging. It's almost like he said to himself: "Hey! Let's prove just how amazing of a writer I am by working in one of the most boring genres in the world but still getting everyone to love it!" This trait, alone, shows the strength of his abilities. 

Along with making a political thriller engaging, Deadly Assassin gives us a whole delightful series of twists and turns that keep us glued to the screen every second. The Master's secret ally is beautifully masked. We don't see him coming. But, upon re-watch, we see that it was obvious the whole time. I love it when a writer hides something in plain sight and we still don't catch it.  

Comparing the two writing styles, however, is like comparing apples to oranges. The stories are very different from each other. Assassin is very dark and atmospheric. Power of the Doctor is a wild thrill ride. Even the core plot structures vary radically. In Chibnall's script, the Master's ultimate plan is revealed halfway through the narrative. The other half of the episode is about undoing what he's accomplished. Holmes takes a much more traditional approach. The Master's intentions are only fully revealed at the climax and are then quickly thwarted. 

Which means, quite naturally, that it's near-impossible to determine who wrote a better script. 

I am like most fans. I do think Robert Holmes was the best writer in the history of the show. But that's not to say that authors can't, sometimes, reach his caliber once in a while and produce a script that is equal in quality to one of his masterpieces.   

Trait #3: "QUITE MASTERFUL" 

The third and final trait that makes me love both these stories so much more than any other is the way they feature the Master. Both handle the character in a fascinating manner.  

Deadly Assassin does this in the most incredible of fashions. We have never seen the Master quite like this. Nor will we, again. It's curious that, even though he's meant to be the same incarnation in Keeper of Traken, he exhibits very different behavior from "the Corpse Master" we see in his first appearance. They're so unlike each other that I even theorize that a weird sort of partial regeneration occurs between the two adventures. (Read more about it here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-history-of.html). 

In this incarnation, it's like everything the Master ever did to make himself seem presentable has been stripped away. We are witnessing his bare soul. He's now this twisted abomination. Still brilliant. But fueled by the vilest of emotions: He's nothing but bitterness, hatred and complete self-interest. 

Which is, of course, the starkest of contrasts from what we got of the Roger Delgado incarnation. He seemed to be doing his best to hide all of those characteristics. In this new form, however, they're all prominently on display. Nothing is concealed. This is the purest, most undiluted version of the Master. I love this portrayal and wish we'd gotten more of it before handing the baton to Geoffrey Beevers. Who did a magnificent job in his own right. But, boy do I love this version of the Corpse Master!

But an equal amount of praise can be heaped on Sacha Dhawan for the job he did in Power of the Doctor. In all of his episodes, I've greatly enjoyed both what he did with the role and how the character was actually written. I appreciate that New Who has tried to add a lot of extra dimension to the Doctor's arch rival. Missy's redemption arc was particularly impressive. But I do love that the Dhawan incarnation was a much more Classical version of the villain. For the most part, he just wants to take over the Universe and crush the Doctor. There were moments that showed interesting nuances to the character. I was particularly fascinated by the way he'd wished that tissue-compressing the Lone Cyberman would have set off the Death Particle. In general, however, he was much more akin to Delgado, Pratt, Beevers, Ainley and Roberts than he was to Simm and Gomez. And I enjoyed that. It was nice seeing the Master go back-to-basics. I especially loved seeing the return of the tissue compressor! 

The Master wiping out the Doctor's identity and taking over her body was definitely the fulfillment of his Ultimate Goal (he's actually tried it a few times. ie: Keeper of Traken, Doctor Who - The Movie). For him to achieve this makes Power of the Doctor another "Special Master Story". No, he's not another super-unique version of the character like Pratt was, but he does something no other version of himself ever has. For a brief time, he well-and-truly defeats his greatest foe by taking over her life. It's all the more fitting that he is more in keeping with the way the character was crafted in the Classic Series. As this is more of a Classic Master Plot. 

Which means that, in the end, we come to a tie in this category, too. Both stories do something very special and unique with the Master. They just do it in different ways. 

OTHER POSSIBLE FACTORS:

Okay, so we examined those special core traits that make both these stories that little bit better than anything else in the show's long history. Thus far, we're just getting tie after tie. Let's see if there's any other aspects to these adventures that might, somehow, set one ahead of the other. 

Spoiler Alert: There probably won't be. 

Trait #1: ACTUAL FLAWS 

Nothing in life is perfect, of course. This even applies to what could be the two greatest Doctor Who stories ever. Both of these tales have problems. But they are marginal, at best. 

Could it be, however, that one story's flaws take up a bigger margin than the other? If so, might that help us to finally determine which is the better yarn? Let's take a look at that: 

The main problem with Deadly Assassin is highly debatable. In fact, some consider it the best part of the whole story. But then there are others who feel the exact opposite. That the whole adventure is dragged down because of this element.  

I'm referring, of course, to the notoriously divisive Episode Three. To some (such as me), it's a magnificent example of suspense and tension. With some delightful surrealism to boot. It's an excellent direction for the plot to suddenly go in for the duration of one episode, And then, suddenly, we're back into the political intrigue stuff. Because Holmes goes that way for an episode, though, that third part is a welcome break from all the politics and stops that element of the plot from becoming too dry and tedious. A brilliant choice for Rob Holmes to make in the structuring of the narrative. 

For others, though, it's just a Great Big Nothing Burger that you can easily skip and go straight to Part Four. Where the Doctor is back out of the Matrix and the Real Plot ensues. Aside from the revelation of Goth at the very end of the episode, there are no other developments of any significance. You, literally, can pick up where Part Two left off and not be all that particularly confused!

Ultimately, The Deadly Assassin's flaw can be viewed as a somewhat large one. After all, it seems to take up an entire episode! However, it's really a matter of taste that determines whether it really even is a problem. There are a lot of fans out there that adore Part Three. But there are some that grumble about it. 

Power of the Doctor's biggest problem is considerably more tangible. But not as big in size. And there is still a certain degree of subjectivity to it. But, when we get right down to it, we have to be honest about one important thing:     

The Daleks are really not all that necessary to the plot. 

It is, of course, the Daleks that lure the Doctor into the Master's Ultimate Trap. Which does make them a fairly important cog in the story's machinery. But, really, there are a thousand equally-effective ways to have captured the Doctor that don't require the Skarosian Conquerors. 

The only other role the Daleks really play in the whole tale is their plan to activate all the volcanoes on Earth. Why, exactly, they've chosen to do this isn't all that clearly explained. Perhaps they want to do like the Slitheen and change the Earth into a cheap energy source. Or something else like that. Because we're not told why they've created their Volcano Masterplan, however, it comes across more as the writer just saying: "Well! I have to give the Daleks something to do!" 

The issue does become somewhat subjective, though, for one simple reason: This is a story that is clearly celebrating some of the greatest elements of the show's past. Clearly, the Daleks needed to be in there, somewhere. And, even though they are somewhat superfluous, we still welcome them with open arms and are willing to let go of the fact that they don't really need to be here. Because, ultimately, they really do need to be here. 

If that makes any sense! 

Once more, there seems to be a tie going on. While the flaws that both these stories contain are very different, neither seems all that bigger than the other. 

Trait #2: ANY "SPECIAL BONUSES"? 

Now it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Let's try to find any little detail that either of these stories might possess that the other doesn't that might somehow put it ahead in the competition. Even if it's by only the slightest of margins, a winner is a winner! 

Power of the Doctor has a certain emotional resonance to it that its competition doesn't quite possess. It's achieved, mainly, in the "holographic reunion scenes" with Ace and Tegan and their respective Doctors. I find Tegan and Five to be especially heartwarming since we actually saw them parting on such bad terms. It really was touching to see old wounds healed. And it was just great to see former Doctors getting back together ever-so-briefly with their companions (I know we've been getting that a bit in the Memory TARDIS in Tales of the TARDIS - but it's not the same!) 

On the other side of things, however, Deadly Assassin is dripping with atmosphere. .There's barely a shot in the whole thing that doesn't look moody. In studio, this isn't so difficult. Those big gloomy sets make it much easier to achieve this effect. What's super-impressive, though, is when the story takes us into the Matrix. Which actually gets us to a bunch of outdoor locations. All these scene have a great filmic quality to them that adds tremendously to the vibe the story has created. 

Power of the Doctor is visually stunning in its own right. The battle on the roof of the space train looks especially stunning and is a great way to open up the whole adventure. The story does, in many ways, look spectacular. But it doesn't have the same sort of gravitas that the shooting in Deadly Assassin possesses. So, in this instance, Assassin gets the bonus point. 

Which means, of course, that we've got another tie. One adventure scores extra for its emotional resonance. The other wins a bonus point for atmosphere. 

As expected, there's still no clear winner to be found. 

SPECIAL NOTE: One should also mention the super-cool multi-incarnation stuff that occurs in Power of the Doctor and site it as another bonus point. But it is matched by the equally super-cool "Opening Scroll that was used even before Star Wars came out" that we se see in Deadly Assassin. So, no matter what Bonus Point you manage to find in one story, the other will still be able to tie it. 

FINAL ULTIMATE CONCLUSION

So, this debate ends exactly the way I expected it would. There's no clear decision on the matter. Mind you, it's easy to predict this sort of thing when you're the one creating the content that will lead to the ultimate conclusion! 

But the problem still remains: How do I get this all to fit into my Top Ten All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Story Countdown? It's a serious matter! 

I was rather hoping I would make up my mind by the end of this. That one story would rank as First and the other would become Second. And poor 'ole Logopolis would just get bumped out from Tenth Place. No doubt, as the story left, it would proclaim something to the nature of: "It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for...."!    

Am I hilarious or what?!   

Of course, there is one other alternative. I could rank both in First Place. Let myself have two All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Stories Ever. That way, Logopolis can still stay in the mix. I could even say that my Fave Who Story Ever bi-generated! 

And yet, it just doesn't feel right. To me, there should  be an ultimate victor. A single King that rules over them all. Or, as the Kurgan once said in The Highlander: "There can be Only One!". 

And so, I will continue to deliberate. I will contemplate deeply the merits of both those tales and try to reach an ultimate conclusion. Sadly, the writing of this post has done nothing to assist me in this whole process. This entire Blog is completely useless. 

But then, I could have told you that before I wrote this entry.

Which do you think is the best? Deadly Assassin or Power of the Doctor? Or are you one of those walking cliches that thinks Genesis of the Daleks is the greatest Who Story ever?!  

      

  

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