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andrasteReal Life got busy between upcoming Christmas and family birthday - my tiny niece is a year old! (But still tiny.) So I did not get around to writing episode reactions for either of the most recent Doctor Who episode - in which case, have both at once, plus some general thoughts on the season.
It Takes You Away was nice and weird. I'm going to have to watch it again to decide whether it entirely works for me or not, but I won't mind doing that because there was loads of interesting stuff in it. Then the finale was ... a finale? I guess it was fine? I felt basically the same way about it as I did about the last time Tim Shaw showed up, which is that it did its job without really impressing me.
... which might not be a bad description of how I feel about the whole series, in fact. It's nice that they're trying new things! I like the new companions and the new Doctor! But at the same time I really miss Moffat and his sparkly dialogue and over-complicated plots and Tweeeeeeeeeelve. I guess this was always going to happen: I've never had a favourite Doctor Who showrunner and Doctor leave while I was actually watching them. And it doesn't help that what they've been replaced with is a lot less to my personal taste in Doctor Who.
Which is not to say that there aren't things I enjoy about it. I love Graham - his Die Hard quote this week just reiterated that he is The Best. Ryan is also great, and he and Graham got their nice little character arc, the ending of which is my favourite part of the series finale. I have more mixed feelings about Yasmin, not because I don't like her but because I just don't feel like she got enough characterisation. I mean, it's lovely that she likes the Doctor, but I feel like some of the most important characterisation moments for Graham and Ryan were the ones where they argued with her, and Yasmin never really gets to do that. Partly because the Doctor doesn't want to argue with Yasmin. Which, again, lovely, but not all that interesting. I hope this is going somewhere at New Year's or next series - it would be a big deal if Yasmin and the Doctor did have a fight at this point, so that could be interesting.
That said, my concerns about the crowded TARDIS proved unfounded, and I appreciated the different dynamic of the 'fam' vs. the Doctor and a single companion or even a pair like Amy and Rory or Bill and Nardole. (I don't think the problem with Yasmin was really related to screen time, just that even when the spotlight did move to her I don't think we got enough of a feel for what makes her unique.) And I don't feel like they overshadowed the new Doctor - we just get a Doctor who works better in a group, like Eleven did, rather than one who likes to strike out on his own with maybe one trusted friend like Twelve.
As for the stories - I liked several of them a lot but always seemed to find myself saying '... that was great except the one part that didn't work for me.' So I hope there will be less of that in 2020. Is it too much to hope that taking another year off will have given them more time to workshop scripts and iron out a few details that could have used more work this series?
In any case: whatever happens next year, I am glad we have a new Doctor and her new fam.
It Takes You Away was nice and weird. I'm going to have to watch it again to decide whether it entirely works for me or not, but I won't mind doing that because there was loads of interesting stuff in it. Then the finale was ... a finale? I guess it was fine? I felt basically the same way about it as I did about the last time Tim Shaw showed up, which is that it did its job without really impressing me.
... which might not be a bad description of how I feel about the whole series, in fact. It's nice that they're trying new things! I like the new companions and the new Doctor! But at the same time I really miss Moffat and his sparkly dialogue and over-complicated plots and Tweeeeeeeeeelve. I guess this was always going to happen: I've never had a favourite Doctor Who showrunner and Doctor leave while I was actually watching them. And it doesn't help that what they've been replaced with is a lot less to my personal taste in Doctor Who.
Which is not to say that there aren't things I enjoy about it. I love Graham - his Die Hard quote this week just reiterated that he is The Best. Ryan is also great, and he and Graham got their nice little character arc, the ending of which is my favourite part of the series finale. I have more mixed feelings about Yasmin, not because I don't like her but because I just don't feel like she got enough characterisation. I mean, it's lovely that she likes the Doctor, but I feel like some of the most important characterisation moments for Graham and Ryan were the ones where they argued with her, and Yasmin never really gets to do that. Partly because the Doctor doesn't want to argue with Yasmin. Which, again, lovely, but not all that interesting. I hope this is going somewhere at New Year's or next series - it would be a big deal if Yasmin and the Doctor did have a fight at this point, so that could be interesting.
That said, my concerns about the crowded TARDIS proved unfounded, and I appreciated the different dynamic of the 'fam' vs. the Doctor and a single companion or even a pair like Amy and Rory or Bill and Nardole. (I don't think the problem with Yasmin was really related to screen time, just that even when the spotlight did move to her I don't think we got enough of a feel for what makes her unique.) And I don't feel like they overshadowed the new Doctor - we just get a Doctor who works better in a group, like Eleven did, rather than one who likes to strike out on his own with maybe one trusted friend like Twelve.
As for the stories - I liked several of them a lot but always seemed to find myself saying '... that was great except the one part that didn't work for me.' So I hope there will be less of that in 2020. Is it too much to hope that taking another year off will have given them more time to workshop scripts and iron out a few details that could have used more work this series?
In any case: whatever happens next year, I am glad we have a new Doctor and her new fam.