Doctor Who Series 5 in Review
Jul. 3rd, 2010 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labingiDoctor Who: Series 5 Review
Now that I've seen all but one or two episodes of DW series 5 (I missed a couple in the middle), I'm going to chime in with some sort of assessment. On the whole, I've enjoyed it. Beneath the cut, my good/bad breakdown...
The Good
* Eleven! I am very impressed by Matt Smith. In fact, there are times I think he's carrying the show, which isn't so bad given that it's Doctor Who, and he's the Doctor. I agree with those who say he feels old, despite being the youngest to play the role. If you're going to cast someone young, that's absolutely the contrast to go for, and they've accomplished it well.
* Less angst. Now, I like angst; it's been one of the draws of the New Who for me, but enough is enough, and it tipped over into bathos with Ten on occasion. The retreat from the angst is both refreshing and in character. It makes sense that Eleven would be less obviously scarred by the Time War, having had more time to process it. It makes sense that regeneration would be the catalyst to shock him out of a lot of his funk. It's nice to see the Doctor be on top of things again, functioning pretty aptly as a mentor and role model again.
* Return to the parent-child Doctor-companion paradigm. After several seasons pitched largely toward Doctor/companion romance (the big exception being Donna), it's nice to see a less romantic doctor with a more parental relationship with his companion. The romance between a 900-year-old and various barely adult human girls was always a bit creepy to me, and the Doctor-Amy-Rory dynamic reads as a lot healthier.
* The Doctor traveling with a married couple. Okay, maybe that will be more series 6. Still, yay! That's different, and there is not always enough difference between incarnations of DW.
* Amy and Rory: they're pretty good companions. I am not in love, nor I am generally annoyed. I see no major missteps with them, which is something to give thanks for.
* Vincent and the Doctor: As many have observed, this was just an awesome episode, one of those great surprises that did most everything just right.
The Bad--Or at Least Niggling
In fairness, a lot of what annoys me about series 5 is not series 5; it's New Who in general, and some of it is just DW in general, new and old. Way back in the day (by which I mean approximately Peter Davison), I enjoyed DW but knew I would never count it among my favorite science fiction shows (like Blake's 7, for example) because it was too kiddy and episodic for my taste. I seldom felt I got to know the characters or saw interesting issues addressed in the depth they deserved. (Hello, Turlough: you could have been a good character.)
Thus, when the New Who came around, I was not first on the bandwagon to see it because I was not expecting to be particularly impressed by it. I was wrong. Despite my complaints about it, I was drawn into the New Who in a way I never was by the Old because it found something of that depth and arc, seriousness, development, yes--angst. It was more adult. However, having had a taste of this, I quickly began to expect more than was delivered. DW remains mostly light and episodic and rather silly by nature and allergic to significant character arc and backstory. (As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
astrogirl2 has observed to me, the lack of Doctor-related backstory is probably a good thing since no one could do it without contradicting every fan's fanon.) So I've been persistently frustrated.
* Series 5 continues and somewhat accentuates this frustration. While it has plot arc, it does not seem interested in developing the Doctor's character. And I just wish it would. Having the treasure of a show with a 40+ year history, the routine unwillingness of DW to exploit that to deliver real depth and development never ceases to needle me.
* On that note, River Song. She's not "bad," certainly, but I'm sticking her under this heading because she does needle me. There are a lot of times I like her, and I like her dynamic with Eleven and Amy (does she have one with Rory?). But I have always had a problem with River as the "big thing" in the Doctor's life. I hold it to be a rule of thumb that when you have a character with a lot of history and you want to develop a story about what/who is "most important" to him, you should go into that history, not invent some new item and tell the audience it's "the one." Now, I accept that DW is different due to the time travel element, and I think episode-by-episode, series 5 handles this well. I like that Eleven is not as warm to River as River is to Eleven because, as she observes, he doesn't know her yet. But from a conceptual standpoint, it still feels like throwing away 40+ years of development so that the current writer can tell us his favorite creation is most important. Or in other words, if we really wanted to pursue a storyline about who is most important to the Doctor, who defines his life insofar as a single person does, it should be Susan.
* I miss the gayness. It was one of the big draws for me under RTD. In fact, for my money, the progressive sexual orientation discourse pretty much paid for all the pitfalls of RTD's tenure. It was a very sweet, special thing to see from an iconic British kids' show. And I miss it.
* I am sorry, however, that SM seems to be continuing RTD's disdain for science and the internal rules of the universe. I am speaking especially of the final episode. I have hopes that all the time line crossing will be dealt with in series 6 as a new and different (dangerous?) thing. But my hopes are not very high.
* Tired of young, contemporary British girl companions. Just in general. I like Amy. I like that she's Scottish. I just feel like it's time for something a little more different. (Again, this is kind of a frustration with all of DW... though the Old Who at least gave us some people from other planets and the future with math skills and stuff sometimes.)
* One meta annoyance: I'm tired of the reasoning, "It would be boring to do that because it's already been done," whenever it pertains to having a female Time Lord, when it doesn't pertain to having a male Time Lord or to having a endless stream of contemporary young, British girls.
In Sum
I liked it. It was an enjoyable light diversion that was fun more often than it was annoying. My expectations for series 6 are more of the same, depending somewhat on how skillfully the River story is developed. For now, Matt Smith will definitely keep me coming back for more, and I do hope he gets to meet Jack someday.
Now that I've seen all but one or two episodes of DW series 5 (I missed a couple in the middle), I'm going to chime in with some sort of assessment. On the whole, I've enjoyed it. Beneath the cut, my good/bad breakdown...
The Good
* Eleven! I am very impressed by Matt Smith. In fact, there are times I think he's carrying the show, which isn't so bad given that it's Doctor Who, and he's the Doctor. I agree with those who say he feels old, despite being the youngest to play the role. If you're going to cast someone young, that's absolutely the contrast to go for, and they've accomplished it well.
* Less angst. Now, I like angst; it's been one of the draws of the New Who for me, but enough is enough, and it tipped over into bathos with Ten on occasion. The retreat from the angst is both refreshing and in character. It makes sense that Eleven would be less obviously scarred by the Time War, having had more time to process it. It makes sense that regeneration would be the catalyst to shock him out of a lot of his funk. It's nice to see the Doctor be on top of things again, functioning pretty aptly as a mentor and role model again.
* Return to the parent-child Doctor-companion paradigm. After several seasons pitched largely toward Doctor/companion romance (the big exception being Donna), it's nice to see a less romantic doctor with a more parental relationship with his companion. The romance between a 900-year-old and various barely adult human girls was always a bit creepy to me, and the Doctor-Amy-Rory dynamic reads as a lot healthier.
* The Doctor traveling with a married couple. Okay, maybe that will be more series 6. Still, yay! That's different, and there is not always enough difference between incarnations of DW.
* Amy and Rory: they're pretty good companions. I am not in love, nor I am generally annoyed. I see no major missteps with them, which is something to give thanks for.
* Vincent and the Doctor: As many have observed, this was just an awesome episode, one of those great surprises that did most everything just right.
The Bad--Or at Least Niggling
In fairness, a lot of what annoys me about series 5 is not series 5; it's New Who in general, and some of it is just DW in general, new and old. Way back in the day (by which I mean approximately Peter Davison), I enjoyed DW but knew I would never count it among my favorite science fiction shows (like Blake's 7, for example) because it was too kiddy and episodic for my taste. I seldom felt I got to know the characters or saw interesting issues addressed in the depth they deserved. (Hello, Turlough: you could have been a good character.)
Thus, when the New Who came around, I was not first on the bandwagon to see it because I was not expecting to be particularly impressed by it. I was wrong. Despite my complaints about it, I was drawn into the New Who in a way I never was by the Old because it found something of that depth and arc, seriousness, development, yes--angst. It was more adult. However, having had a taste of this, I quickly began to expect more than was delivered. DW remains mostly light and episodic and rather silly by nature and allergic to significant character arc and backstory. (As
astrogirl2 has observed to me, the lack of Doctor-related backstory is probably a good thing since no one could do it without contradicting every fan's fanon.) So I've been persistently frustrated.* Series 5 continues and somewhat accentuates this frustration. While it has plot arc, it does not seem interested in developing the Doctor's character. And I just wish it would. Having the treasure of a show with a 40+ year history, the routine unwillingness of DW to exploit that to deliver real depth and development never ceases to needle me.
* On that note, River Song. She's not "bad," certainly, but I'm sticking her under this heading because she does needle me. There are a lot of times I like her, and I like her dynamic with Eleven and Amy (does she have one with Rory?). But I have always had a problem with River as the "big thing" in the Doctor's life. I hold it to be a rule of thumb that when you have a character with a lot of history and you want to develop a story about what/who is "most important" to him, you should go into that history, not invent some new item and tell the audience it's "the one." Now, I accept that DW is different due to the time travel element, and I think episode-by-episode, series 5 handles this well. I like that Eleven is not as warm to River as River is to Eleven because, as she observes, he doesn't know her yet. But from a conceptual standpoint, it still feels like throwing away 40+ years of development so that the current writer can tell us his favorite creation is most important. Or in other words, if we really wanted to pursue a storyline about who is most important to the Doctor, who defines his life insofar as a single person does, it should be Susan.
* I miss the gayness. It was one of the big draws for me under RTD. In fact, for my money, the progressive sexual orientation discourse pretty much paid for all the pitfalls of RTD's tenure. It was a very sweet, special thing to see from an iconic British kids' show. And I miss it.
* I am sorry, however, that SM seems to be continuing RTD's disdain for science and the internal rules of the universe. I am speaking especially of the final episode. I have hopes that all the time line crossing will be dealt with in series 6 as a new and different (dangerous?) thing. But my hopes are not very high.
* Tired of young, contemporary British girl companions. Just in general. I like Amy. I like that she's Scottish. I just feel like it's time for something a little more different. (Again, this is kind of a frustration with all of DW... though the Old Who at least gave us some people from other planets and the future with math skills and stuff sometimes.)
* One meta annoyance: I'm tired of the reasoning, "It would be boring to do that because it's already been done," whenever it pertains to having a female Time Lord, when it doesn't pertain to having a male Time Lord or to having a endless stream of contemporary young, British girls.
In Sum
I liked it. It was an enjoyable light diversion that was fun more often than it was annoying. My expectations for series 6 are more of the same, depending somewhat on how skillfully the River story is developed. For now, Matt Smith will definitely keep me coming back for more, and I do hope he gets to meet Jack someday.
