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Doctor Who: The dawning of a new era

Guest post by Jenny Fell

Doctor Who is the longest running sci fi TV show in the world. Since it was revived in 2005, it has once again gained a massive cult following containing a mixture of fans who have watched it since 1963 and others who have only become Whovians within the last ten years.

To say I am a fan of Doctor Who would be a massive understatement. I started watching during David’s Tennant run and have been hooked ever since. For me, it is pure escapism, and I love the fact that the show really can go in any direction with its storytelling and is not confined within one location or era. I believe this is one of the many reasons why the show is so successful, as it can appeal to a wide range of audiences.

_72561968_capaldiIt is always an exciting time in the world of Doctor Who when a new Doctor or a new companion is introduced. When it was announced last August that Peter Capaldi was taking on the role of the Doctor, I for one was incredibly excited. Watching him recently in The Musketeers as Cardinal Richelieu only fuelled my curiosity to see what sort of Doctor he will portray. Peter Capaldi recently described his Doctor as ‘difficult to keep up with and more alien than perhaps we have seen for a while.’

The two most important questions that are raised when the Doctor regenerates are what sort of Doctor will he be and what will his relationship with the companion be like? I am hoping that we will see a darker version of the Timelord. As much as I enjoyed the incarnations of 10 and 11 (David Tennant and Matt Smith respectively) their versions of the Doctor were very similar in a lot of ways, and I feel it is time to break away from the flirtatious relationship the Doctor often has with his companions into something completely different.

For me, the first interaction the companion has with the Doctor is always the most engaging. The first episode is set to concentrate on Clara and her ability to cope with the fact that she is now face to face with a completely different Doctor. This is something that hasn’t really occurred since David Tennant’s first episode (The Christmas Invasion), which saw Billie Piper’s Rose attempting to do the same and believing that the Doctor had abandoned her. The companion has to learn to trust the Doctor again and rebuild their relationship with him.

There are several things I am looking forward to seeing developed in the new series…

Clara

6487210-low_res-Now that it has been established who Clara actually is and why the Doctor kept meeting her at different points throughout history, I’d like to see more of her background. It is always entertaining watching the companion attempting to explain to friends or relatives who the Doctor really is and how they will cope with their double life.

It has also been reported that Sam Anderson will be joining Peter and Jenna as a character called Danny Pink who works with Clara at the school and eventually joins the pair on their travels. What is interesting about the arrival of this new recurring character is how he will enter the Doctor’s world and for what reason. It will change the initial interaction between him and Clara as she will have to justify to him why she has been keeping this a secret. In a recent interview for the BBC, Jenna Coleman stated that ‘Clara gets herself caught in this web of lies’ and that ‘it becomes a theme in the series, lying.’

Story Arc

Ever since the first series of ‘NuWho’, there has been a continuing story arc that appears through the show’s run, building to the finale. It is subtly referred to in more or less each episode and leaves the viewer guessing right up until the big reveal. Since Steven Moffatt took over (something I was very happy with at the time, as his episodes were my favourite and usually the ones that stood out in series 1-4), the story arcs have become more complicated and continue even onto the next series, usually leaving an unanswered question at the end of the previous series.

Doctor-Who-Peter-Capaldi-12th-DoctorIn addition to this, the one thing I am most looking forward to is that this year it will be an uninterrupted run of 12 episodes, which has not occurred since Matt Smith’s first series in 2010. While there must have been some logical reason to split the past two series, it was slightly frustrating waiting for the rest to begin as well as the usual wait for the start of the series after the Christmas Special.

I am positive that this year’s series is going to live up to the hype and will not disappoint. I am joining the Doctor Who social media pages on the countdown to Saturday with much anticipation! Geronimo!

 

Jenny Fell is an Aberystwyth University graduate who is fanatical about television, particularly sci fi and other such geekery. She currently works in publishing, spending her free time attempting to run as well as write and finds herself frequently visiting various pubs around the country to see different groups of friends.

About Megan Leigh

Writer and editor of Pop Verse. Co-host of Breaking the Glass Slipper. My special interests include publishing, creative writing, and geekery.

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