As long time readers will know, I am a Whovian. Yes, you can bundle me in with nerds, geeks and whatever you like for the fact the I am a Whovian. And a Trekkie to boot. But I don't like Star Wars. Not everything that is science fiction is good. Far from it. But Doctor Who...in general ...is very good.
I go back as far as 1961 which means I can just about cloudily remember the very first Doctor Who, William Hartnell. I can even now remember the regeneration scene for his transformation to Patrick Troughton and thinking 'this isn't Doctor Who' before falling into Troughton's cleverly played clownish spell. I remember the change to Jon Pertwee and the court hearing of the Timelords exiling the Doctor to Earth and him choosing his new look.
I don't pretend to have understood much of this and this was many decades before the internet and such ideas as 'canon' and backstory became freely available to edge Whovians like me. I just knew that this iconic show kept me spellbound, thrilled, scared and anxiously awaiting the next episode during those formative years. I remember being at a cousin's house where tey had a cupboard for coats. It was always our TARDIS though. Many a happy time was spent there fighting Daleks and Cybermen and Ice Warriors as a young boy. Those old episodes haven't always worn well due to the production values and technology of the time, but they can still be watched and enjoyed with that modern day context in mind. I'm still saddened to this day as to how the hawaiian shirted wankers such as john Nathan-Turner and his ilk allowed the programme to become the butt of jokes through piss poor stories and dreadful effects. They had no inkling that good stories don't need effects. Less can be more.
The rebooted Who from 2005 is a very different animal though. Budgeted beyond the belief of most Whovians it was written with vast story arc concepts building through apparent stand alone adventures. It was sharp, witty, convincing and above all introduced the very human element of emotion. It was in a word....sassy. I along with many Whovians on the edge of geekdom were very pleasantly surprised (having seen the rather dull Paul McGann film). Christopher Eccleston bought gravitas to the role with humour some of which was very dark. it introduced backstory intrigue with the 'last of the timelords' and 'time war' arcs. it gave Billie Piper the role of a lifetime and her character Rose brought the Doctor closer to millions of younger viewers. It was a huge success.
Over the years that followed it has grown and become a staple of BBC success worldwide in the same way Paramount had global success with Star Trek. Not many programmes can claim that. It's had it's wobbles in my view. Some appalling episodes (The Peter Kay one and the living fat one for examples) have crept through the filtering process, although both of those I note were very popular with younger viewers, so maybe this was deliberate. Matt Smith never really grabbed me like Tennant and Eccleston until the 50th anniversary episodes and his exit episode when his true 'tour de force' as the Doctor arrived. I was never enamoured with Amy Pond and Rory as companions either. But then....then came Peter Capaldi.
In all my years as an fringe Whovian, no-one has come as close as Capaldi in representing the Doctor. Eccentric, cranky, detached, compassionate, dark and light. Capaldi seemed to harness everything that was good about most of the preceding Doctors. The last series was quite simply the best to date, not least of all because of the inspired additions of Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole (Matt Lucas) along with the continuing presence of Missy (Michelle Gomez) and the reappearance of The Master (John Simm). The last 2 episodes had everything from humour to tragedy to darkness. As an ensemble piece it was superb from start to finish with true moments of horror. But at the centre was Capaldi flexing every acting muscle in his body to put in a truly inspiring and emotional performance as the Doctor coming to an end. I genuinely had tears in my eyes at the ending for both Bill (yay) and him.
And so it moves on and in a brave and welcome move, we have Jodie Whittaker as the first woman Doctor. As changes go, its merely a variant on all thats gone before. I don't know much about her as an actor but I'm sure she will nail the role. It's shame that it appears to have bought a lot of closet sexists and misogynists to the fore across the media and various web forums. Some of them have made me feel ashamed to be a man. A programme predicated on the changing nature of its main character has merely made a change to reflect an increasingly egalitarian society. Jodie Whittaker should be measured on her ability to play the Doctor, her ability to 'pretend' as actors do and not on her gender. I for one welcome the change. Break a leg Jodie. Welcome to the Tardis.
Later Mugs
