The thing that's bugging me about season 8 of Dr Who... [spoilers]
Spoiler-free introduction
This season so far is absolutely solid stuff. Gone are the days of the weird jaunty camera angles and strange purple backlighting of the Russel T. Davies era. Gone too are the manically rushed, EVERYTHING'S EXPLODING, massively overly-complicated stories of the previous Moffat seasons. We also lose the "children are mysteriously disappearing" default plotline which was happening almost every other episode in previous seasons.
Instead, we have relatively grown-up plotlines (still mental as hell, otherwise it wouldn't be Dr Who) developed at a sensible place and shot with sensible cinemetography. Children are barely present; this is probably a good thing as the last time we saw a kids-oriented episode in the Moffat era it had child acting so bad it could induce dysentery in those of a nervous disposition. Many of the stories are now too adult and scary for children, which is a shame because generations of British kids have grown up hiding behind the sofa, but also a good thing because stories for kids are necessarily more limited.
Spoiler-prone assessment
But what's actually bothering me is Clara. Yes, Jenna Coleman's performance has improved by about twenty orders of magnitude, and this is a Very Good Thing. And Clara's character is also about nine thousand times more interesting than previously, and this is a Very Good Thing too. The problem is staggering, overpowering inconsistency with the established character. The prime example being the question, "Am I a good man ?", to which Clara's answer is, "I... don't know."
YOU WHAT ?????
This is coming from someone who has hopelessly idolized the Doctor probably more than any other recent companion, who scattered herself throughout the whole of time and space to save him. The answer just doesn't make any sense.
The latest episode "Kill the Moon" saw the Doctor magnificently doing nothing and letting Clara make a Big Decision. Big. And of course, she makes the correct decision. After which the Doctor gives an inspiring speech, and Clara attacks him for letting her make the decision. Makes. No. Sense. Now, there has always been an element of moral ambiguity surrounding the Doctor, but never expressed this directly by a companion. Much worse, though, is that Clara would never ever have said this to Matt Smith (with whom she faced down a planet-sized God with a leaf). Peter Capaldi's Doctor may be infinitely more acerbic and insulting, but his actions are absolutely consistent with the previous Doctors. It comes across as being grossly unfair and more than a little cruel ("go back to your lonely Tardis !" - WTF did he do to deserve that ?).
Revising Clara's character to be less unnaturally competent and more human (e.g. frightened every once in a while) was a massive improvement, but this is offset considerably by making her stroppy. The Doctor gave her a choice to make without him; instead of feeling gratified that he has that much faith in her (for once, rather than the other way around) she feels insulted he wouldn't help. And that's not something I can get my head around.
Conclusion
The latest Doctor is very much in the post-heroic phase. Still absolutely fundamentally good (whatever nonsense Clara might say, this is unequivocal), still doing whatever it takes to save the day, but now also taking a step back when appropriate. Clara, however, is not able to accept this. It seems that despite the excellent speeches of the first episode, she hasn't moved past the Doctor's regeneration. I much preferred the way Martha (an otherwise extremely uninteresting character) was written out of the show; a character enriched by the experience who goes on to improve her own life without the Doctor. I don't really see any value in having a character who suddenly stops being able to handle the lifestyle. A more gradual realization of the dangers might have been more convincing; Clara's occasional but massive doubts are very jarring.
The blatant next-companion looks more interesting, possibly someone who will stand up to the Doctor from the word go, rather than falling head over heels for the pretty man in the box. I also approve of taking a failing student instead of someone as hopelessly professional as Clara. But we shall see.
Simon Barton Oh I like that. Clara sees the Doctor as the Doctor (thus saving the excellent speeches and sentiments of episode 1), but doesn't realise their relationship has nonetheless changed (thus making sense of her otherwise strangely insulting speech in episode 7). She's blowing a gasket, lashing out because she doesn't understand what's happening. I'll buy that.
ReplyDeleteInteresting discussion in "work" today about this. I seem to be a lone voice in saying that this series is a big improvement on the previous; although it's getting good reviews and high ratings, the junior physics researcher crowed apparently think otherwise. However, some consensus :
- Peter Capaldi is a very, very good Doctor, but doesn't get enough screen time. He's acting the part very well, but there just isn't enough for him to do.
- Jenna Coleman is excellent, but gets far too much screen time. The show is now told pretty much from Clara's perspective, but we'd rather it was more about the Doctor and less about Clara. This could become even more important if and when Clara leaves (presumably before a regeneration).
There was also some discussion about the creature in the episode 7 being a plot device as opposed to a fascinating creature in its own right; I personally don't mind that in this case, but I would hope the show generally sticks to showing exploration as a worthy endeavour in its own right, rather than being exclusively focused on character development. It is a little bit too character focused at the moment for my liking. But I don't see that as a major concern yet.
There was a lot of disagreement on whether the storytelling has improved in this series. Personally I find that overall it's much better (despite some oddities, but that's normal for Who), though most people disagree and I'm not sure why. Though that's highly subjective.
One point I did think was self-evident was that the show is no longer a child-friendly show, but I was heavily outvoted. Yet it seems to me there is a lot of slow dialogue that just wouldn't interest children (particularly Clara and Danny, admittedly that stuff isn't very interesting to anyone else) and Listen would have had be scared witless for weeks. That the plots have become simpler does not mean they are child friendly, in my opinion.
This series is definately an improvement on last series. The later Doctor Who's have mostly been about the companions and how they change in response to the Doctor and adventures. But first season with Clara and it's like she wasn't there, as a companion. She was the mystery and the adventure. Now, she's definately growing as a character and it's getting interesting.
ReplyDeleteI really like Simon's take on it. That clarifies things for me as a good explanation for Clara's reactions to new Doctor. Can't wait to see how things play out with Danny Pink. What if he goes off with the Doctor and Clara stays home?
Danny and the Doctor might be interesting, but he's already so anti-Doctor I don't see it happening. Danny provides an interesting context to the Doctor - he may be a hero, but he's not usually perceived as one. That's something that was a re-occurring theme in the Tenant era, but fell back a bit during Matt Smith's days. It might be interesting to have him in the Tardis for a while - if only to help shift the focus a bit - but somehow I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteThe other minor thing I miss by having Clara as a companion is that unlike other recent companions, she doesn't have a stereotypically normal, gormless relative for occasional comic relief. She herself is a consumate professional, so is Danny. I found Rose and Donna more interesting because neither of them are obvious candidates for sci-fi heroes - they were just absolutely normal people (and their relatives even more so). I have high hopes that Missy can start to take on that mantle. (Amy Pond could have been interesting, but suffered from an unfortunate amount of backstory)
I hope you're right that the focus will shift back to the Doctor. It does seem like a natural route to take. The Doctor is continually losing companions, it will be interesting to see how Capaldi's particularly socially graceless Doctor handles it. So far he's had far less human warmth than Tenant or Smith (this is a good thing), we've yet to see him really upset.
Capaldi reading Jackanory... that I'd like to see. :) Blink is still one of may favourite episodes. Moffat can be superb when he's writing short individual stories. I thought Russel T Davies handled the epic finales much better though - there was a degree of subtlety in introducing the underlying story arcs, leading to very simple, fun and satisfying endings. They were immensely cheesy, but that's OK because it's not like there's a lack of bleak shows out there.