The first series of Russell T Davies’ return to Doctor Who – and Ncuti Gatwa’s first season at the helm of the world’s longest-running science fiction show – ended on Saturday with Empire of Death. But what did the show’s superfans think of its first Disney-backed season?
We spoke to four: Tony Jordan, 65, the coordinator of the Doctor Who Society, who has been watching since he was four; Lauren Amelia Miller, 31, a disabled writer and actress who has been a fan since the age of five and owns a Dalek nicknamed Woody; Zoe Butler, 23, a civil servant who started watching in 2005 and names David Tennant as her favorite doctor; and JJ, 28, who works in digital media, blogs on Doctor Who and has been a fan since 2012.
How did Ncuti Gatwa do it?
Lauren: Ncuti did a fantastic job. His angry speech at the end of Dot and Bubble felt less like Doctor Who and more like he was telling us his personal story. It was cruel and twisted. He is an extremely complex performer.
Zoe: There’s a certain atmosphere that’s nice, but he was also shooting Sex Education, so there’s a certain level of difficulty in connecting with the character. It doesn’t feel entirely his own.
Tony: I don’t think we’ve seen enough of him – we had two Doctor-lite episodes. I think he’s a great actor, but I’m not sure the role was written correctly for him. It’s a shame he cries every episode. He has a fantastic shine in his eyes, but the scripts need to be more challenging.
JJ: He has the potential to be one of the best Doctors we’ve had, but this season felt like a bit of a mess. Boom and Rogue gave me a sense of his specific Doctor, otherwise he was a generic mix of RTD-style technobabble, exposition, and pop culture references. I love the little quirks and flourishes he adds, but there were a few moments where he didn’t have an answer to anything and felt like a weepy passenger in the plot.
What has been Disney’s impact?
T: Negotiable. Disney wanted a lot of exposition for their audience. You can see the money on the screen, although it is not infinite. Some would say the Daleks drove around the Albert Memorial and Westminster Bridge in 1964 [in The Dalek Invasion of Earth] was more iconic and powerful than anything this year.
Z: I like the wardrobe, but not the special effects budget used as cover for a weak plot. Some of the best Doctor Who episodes, like Midnight and Blink, are born out of desperation and no money – so they work on the script to keep it going. Much of the tension and mystery in this series comes from special effects. The first 30 minutes of the episodes are good, then a lot of production money is spent tying up loose ends and making them look good.
L: I have friends in Orlando and Belgium who can now watch thanks to Disney, which can only be a good thing.
What do you think of the viewing figures?
T: Disappointing, but we are in a different world. We’re at 3-4 million but still in the BARB top 10. Linear TV is dying faster than anyone expected. I have no doubt that Davies is right when he says Space Babies had 5.8 million with BBC Three showing and iPlayer viewing.
What do you think of the metaplot?
T: The writers have created these stories well, but the fans create such wonderful stories in their heads that the real plot will sometimes disappoint them. I think that’s a risk Davies is happy to take.
Z: It felt a little rushed towards the end. Sutekh was a fun villain, but the idea of the God of Death being hampered by curiosity about Ruby’s [Sunday, played by Millie Gibson] The mystery was fun, but honestly made no sense. The snow was of no use. I didn’t like that plot at all.
And the individual episodes?
L: 73 Yards took the simplest folk tale and created something dark that reminded me of the Gothic books I read as a child. The Devil’s Chord touched me, not only because of Jinkx Monsoon, but also, as a singer, because of the fear that the music would be taken away. It was like the Weeping Angels, making us afraid of the simplest things.
J: The final twist of Dot and Bubble [the people who the Doctor was trying to survive turned out to be white supremacists and ultimately refused his help because he is black] may be my least favorite scene in the entire show, and it confirmed my concerns about the lack of black writers for the first black regular Doctor. The idea of laying breadcrumbs at the end for a clever racist “twist” just smacks of a white liberal writer patting himself on the back for “addressing the issues” with a flippant use of black trauma as a cheap shock tactic. That the Doctor’s first experience with racism is tied to the end of such a ridiculous episode shows that Davies didn’t really understand the depth of the issue. It was a moment that felt bizarre and insulting in both conception and execution.
What do you think of Millie/Ruby?
T: I thought she was the standout element of the entire season. A good companion is the viewer’s eyes and ears, and I appreciate Davies for making her smart and having her own storyline.
J: She didn’t get enough unique characterization. It felt like someone had taken the broadest characteristics of previous companions and made them Gen-Z and Northern. There were no scenes where she and the Doctor were just hanging out, which meant they felt more like colleagues than best friends.
And what about the bad guys?
T: Sutekh was well set up, but not very well served. I loved Maestro.
Z: The villains in this felt like the human race, which I liked. It’s more interesting and complex if the monster is a reflection of humanity. Maestro was brilliant as the villain – no notes on Jinkx’s performance, but I wish there had been a more satisfying tension between Doctor and villain.
What is your final report on Russell T Davies?
T: Could be better. There were good things in there. He laid it on sex and gender a little thick at first, but he got it out of the way. I wonder if we’ll see Rogue – Captain Jack 2.0 – again. I really liked Jonathan Groff. Another gay North American singer/actor – RTD is a creature of habit.
Z: The pace was too fast to build tension. I like the return to the camp feel and fun adventure, and many of the concepts are interesting, but they felt like remakes of better versions. He needs to slow things down, and his tokenism could be looked at. If you want to discuss issues, really dig into them, rather than using them as a cheap aside. If you create a well-thought-out episode, it won’t seem like you’re just trying to “wake up.”
J: I thought this season as a whole and on an individual episode basis was pretty weak. There wasn’t enough time to dwell on anything, which meant that each episode felt oddly paced and there was no room to add depth or explore the concepts introduced.
L: Doctor Who has always been hit and miss, but it’s not afraid to try something new, and this is its beauty. It was a wonderful “first” series for Russell T Davies. It wasn’t the most dramatic, but it spoke to the core values in dynamic families. It’s for a generation of people who know what they want and who they are. It may be tough for older fans, but I love that the show tackles disability representation and queer storylines.