I don’t often talk about pop culture or specifically television shows on my blog, but I want to take a moment to discuss the new season of Dr. Who on BBC. If I were to describe the new season in a word, it would be “milquetoast”.
The new season brings us a lot of changes. A new actor (Matt Smith) plays the Doctor. We have a new companion (Amy Pond played by Karen Gillan). And most remarkably, writer Russell T. Davies was replaced by Stephen Moffat as lead writer. It is this last change that I think has sent the series off the rails.
What made previous seasons of the series (since it was revived five years ago) so entertaining was the remarkably creative writing, especially the larger-than-life character of the Doctor (e.g. the line “Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!”). Companions with strong personalities also brought vigor to the shows.
While Moffat has been on the writing team since 2005, the latest incarnation of the Doctor lacks that wild, whimsical energy that Davies (and actors Eccleston and Tennant) brought to life. No outrageous lines delivered with powerful energy. No swagger.
The new doctor is bumbling and mumbling (half the time I can’t understand a word either Smith or Gillan are saying). And the plots are rehashes of previous episodes, paling in comparison to the original.
This is not sour grapes from losing David Tennant. While I thoroughly enjoyed Tennant’s version of the Doctor (as I did Christopher Eccleston’s), I was looking forward to where Matt Smith would take the character. But either he is too shackled by lackluster writing or he simply lacks the charisma of his predecessors.
In short, Doctor Who 2010 needs a doctor. Or I’m cheering for the Daleks to exterminate the whole milquetoast mess.
while i agree that this season is starting out fairly lame, i have to jump in to defend moffat just a bit. episode 3.10 “blink” is my absolute favorite episode of dr. who, and moffat did an excellent job with the plot, the characters and the witty lines.
i don’t know that the problem is entirely matt smith or karen whatshergoof. it could be a little bit of everything. personally, i hated all of the martha-era episodes, except for the aforementioned “blink”. i think her character was obnoxious, and it all seemed kind of forced. maybe i was still mourning over rose, but i don’t think i would have loved the episodes even if she hadn’t left. i fell in love with donna toward the middle of season 4, and i think it’s because the writers went back to the roots, to seasons 1 and 2. season 5 seems somewhat lackluster with a few “woohoo!”‘s mixed in.
amy pond, while somewhat irritating, is intelligent and funny. she’s solved a lot of the mysteries with little help from the doctor. i feel like there’s something weird with her, but i can’t quite put my finger on it just yet.
as for the doctor… matt smith lacks the enigmatic presence of eccleston and tennant. i sort of like that he’s calmer and quieter than the others, though. he’s making the character his own, and i think he’ll eventually grow on all of us. he’s not a bad actor, though i agree about his speech being a little muddled.
so, to end my rant: i’ll keep watching, with reservations. 11 is not 10 or 9, and amy is not rose or donna, and i’m incredibly glad she’s not martha (or at least she seems not to be, the last episode was a bit strange with the kiss and all). if matt smith doesn’t improve his presence (and his speech) then they’re going to lose viewers and eventually the entire show.
I’ve been feeling very blah about this season. For me it’s the rehashing of old villains and old plots. I used to watch Doctor Who as a kid, I grew up on Tom Baker and after almost 20 years of the show I can safely say I’m bored to death of Darleks, Cybermen, and any other old school villains. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see them again when they started the show up again but honestly, enough is enough.
I thought that the The Beast Below was an awesome episode. I believe in Matt Smith as the Doctor and I love Amy pool. They have everything they need to make it successful if only they could stop dredging up the past.