The Many Regenerations of Doctor Who

Yes, I am a Whovian. I didn’t start with the original series. I began watching with the reboot, starring Christopher Eccleston. I immediately fell in love with The Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler and even Mickey Smith. Christopher Eccleston imbued the character simultaneously with both humor and a quiet sense of danger. From one minute to the next, you didn’t know if the Doctor was going to make you laugh or cry. This is due to the writing and plots provided us by Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies, which were witty, thought-provoking and entertaining.

I was introduced to the villains of Doctor Who; the Slitheen, the Cybermen and of course the Daleks. Yet after only a year, Chris Eccleston left the show. I was devastated. He was being replaced by David Tennant, an actor who I had seen in a few things, but frankly had never really left a lasting impression on me. I loved this show so much, and was worried that the show would forever be ruined. I decided to give David Tennant a chance and he didn’t fail to impress. Within the first episode, I loved him as the Doctor. His chemistry with Billie Piper was undeniable. This Doctor was a bit more of a joker, but also suave. Every time either of them were in danger, you could just feel their suffering. When I started watching season 2 episode 12 Army of Ghosts and heard the voice over from Rose, “This is the story of how I died,” I was positive it was just a plot twist. Of course, Rose and the Doctor would continue on together. Rose can’t possibly die! By the end of episode 13 Doomsday, I was sobbing uncontrollably. I still held out hope that Rose would get back to the Doctor somehow. How appropriate that they should have to say goodbye at “Bad Wolf Bay.” You could tell that the Doctor had actually fallen in love with Rose and was desolate. I freely admit, that every time I watch these two episodes, I still weep.

After the chemistry between Rose and the Doctor, I felt that the relationship between the Doctor and Martha was a bit of a let down. Martha Jones was not my favorite companion. The season did get better as it went on and I thought really started to pick up with the double episode, Human Nature and The Family of Blood, and I finally realized why I did not like Martha Jones. It was the fact that she was so obviously pining after the Doctor, in essence his rebound companion. He did fall in love with the local school nurse, Joan Redfern, when masquerading as human to hide from The Family of Blood, but the Doctor hadn’t gotten over Rose. Martha and the audience knew that the Doctor could never fall for her. I was not sad to see Martha Jones leave, especially since we were introduced to the Master at the same time. The Master was the antithesis of the Doctor. He took joy in the pain and suffering of others, yet the Doctor hoped he could get through to the only other remaining Time Lord. I enjoyed the Master and John Simm’s performance so much, that I hoped that the Doctor would succeed and would become the new companion.

But then, we were introduced again to the wonderful Donna Noble. The moment when they meet again in season 4 episode 1, Partners in Crime, was priceless. Catherine Tate’s portrayal was amazing. Donna didn’t take any guff from the Doctor. She called him out when she thought he was going to far to the dark side. I especially loved the repeated guest appearances of Donna’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott. Little did we know that he was going to play a large role in the Tenth Doctor’s end. When that moment came, I was absolutely shattered. Just as the character said, “I don’t want (him) to go!”

I had declared to myself that there was no way Matt Smith would win me over. No one could be as good as David Tennant as the Doctor. But win me over he did. I liked that both the Doctor and his companions were both new. It allowed the Doctor, Amy and eventually Rory to grow together. Yes, the Doctor did fall in love again, but not romantically, He fell in love with the family he finally had in them, and eventually his wife and their daughter, River Song. This Doctor brought a bit more of the silly and slapstick to the role, which grew on me. His bow tie and fez drew this “Raggedy Man” into my heart. While the eleventh Doctor had good chemistry with Clara Oswald, the most memorable episodes for this companion are the ones in which she died. In part, I believe her character was to assist in the eventual regeneration of this Doctor, because her life was intertwined with his. The “Impossible Girl.” We waited with anticipation to see how Steven Moffat would handle the fact that the Doctor was only supposed to have a total of twelve lives.

It was a bold choice casting Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, since he had appeared in the episode The Fires of Pompeii as Caecilius. I wasn’t overjoyed with the new Doctor, as much as I was hoping to. I found this new incarnation to be way to brusque and sometimes unfeeling. It was as if he had decided he really didn’t like the human race very much. But it all turned around for me during the episode, Heaven Sent. This episode showed what a toll regenerations can take on the Doctor. Regeneration is just another way of saying dying and what person wouldn’t be changed by this? Yet, I missed the whimsy that was part of the previous Doctors. It appeared throughout Peter Capaldi’s reign as the Doctor from time to time, for instance The Husbands of River Song, but all in all this Doctor was way to serious for me. The one aspect I really enjoyed during Capaldi’s tenure was the introduction of Missy. I didn’t think there was any way anyone could match or out-do the performance of John Simm as the Master, but Michelle Gomez did. While I had been disappointed when John Simm’s Master had initially died, I grieved at the death of Missy.

When it was rumored that the newest Doctor would be a woman, I was not happy. It wasn’t that I thought it was a bad idea to have a female Doctor, I just thought it was too close to the appearance of Missy, that I thought it was somewhat gratuitous. I thought, maybe we should have a Doctor of color first, just like I have thought that Idris Elba would make a great James Bond (but that’s another story). Then the announcement came that Jodie Whittaker would be the Doctor, at first I couldn’t place the name. So I looked her up and found that she had been in Broadchurch with David Tennant, I still wasn’t pleased. While I had enjoyed that series immensely, it was because of David Tennant and Olivia Coleman, it was not for Whittaker’s performance of Beth Latimer.

Along with the new Doctor came a new show-runner and lead writer, Chris Chibnall, creator of Broadchurch. Chris was not stranger to the world of Doctor Who. He was a writer on the spin-off, Torchwood. Under his direction, Doctor Who has returned to the less serious tone for the majority of the first twelve episodes, while still tackling important subjects. While I have surprisingly enjoyed Jodie Whittaker’s performance, I haven’t been as engaged in the content of the episodes as I have previously been. In part I believe it is because of the way this new Doctor has been written. She seems to be a little clueless. For instance, this Doctor keeps loosing the TARDIS! She has lost it at least three times in this first season alone. Is this the writers comments on women drivers? Do the writers feel that all women are scatterbrained?

I also am not thrilled by her three companions. It feels like there is one too many. The writers are trying to be way to PC with having the companions cover all spectrums of diversity at the same time; a person of color, a person with a disability and one of mature age. The question is, did they have to cover all their bases at once? Yasmin is intelligent and it could be interesting to see what the Doctor does through the eyes of law enforcement. I like the fact that Graham, while appearing to be older than the Doctor, isn’t. All the previous companions I had seen had all been twenty-something, so I like the maturity and experience that this character brings; however, I don’t like Ryan at all. Ryan Sinclair’s character has Dyspraxia. I had never heard of this disorder before, but this is not why I don’t like the character. It sometimes feels like his only purpose is to link the characters of Yasmin and Graham and explain why Graham is there. All the other companions seem to spend a lot of their time urging him on and bolstering his confidence. Frankly, I just find his character plain boring, but I hope I may grow to like this character in the future, as I did with the relationship between Clara and the twelfth Doctor.

I have read other reviews of the new Doctor and have found that many others feel that this season also had many plot holes. The Woman Who Fell to Earth ends with all the characters floating in outer space, but at the beginning of The Ghost Monument I didn’t feel like it was very well explained how they ended up on the planet. Also in The Tsuranga Conundrum , the episode doesn’t sufficiently explain how they get the TARDIS back in the next episode. It felt like through the entire episode the Doctor was being told that it was to dangerous for anyone to go back to pick it up. I want to love the thirteenth Doctor. I only hope that the next season will prove to be more engaging to the audience.