July 5, 2007
Is Dr. Who about to jump the shark?
So, another season of Doctor Who is over and with it, a disappointing season finalé. Unlike Richard I didn't really think much of the ending this year - I was expecting more, especially after the ending for season two which, again, I thought was rushed and poorly conceived.
So much more could have been done with this season ending I barely even know where to start. After the absolute triumph of the 'Human Nature / Family of Blood' two-parter and 'Blink' and what happened in 'Utopia' being a bit of a sideswipe I really had talked myself into thinking this would be wonderful.
It wasn't!
It was very disappointing. I actually thought that John Simm's portrayal of the Master, while a bit pantomime, was pretty good. However, the finalé essentially could have been renamed "How Martha Saves the World and turns The Doctor into a Demi-God for five Minutes". The whole thing of her walking round the world telling everyone to think of the Doctor at a particular time was just ludicrous.
I knew it must have been bad when a colleague who is Dr. Who mad texted me after it ended with "Don't know if you watched it live but all I'll say is... Disappointing." Now, for him to say that I knew that Russell T. Davies must have really written a clunker. I was actually just about to settle down to watch it (gotta love Sky+) as it happened and my reaction to the first words of the episode (One Year Later) was one of incredulity. I just could hardly believe that a "Meanwhile..." plot device had been used.
Anyway, Martha leaves (and I'm OK with that - I was pretty sick of the mooning and puppy-dog eyes for the Doctor) which was a bit of a surprise. However, the Beeb have very widely trailed that she'll return in Season 4 and she's going to be in a few episodes of Torchwood.
So, that leaves us with "Who's (sic) going to be the new assistant? PLEASE let it be Carey Mulligan who played Sally Sparrow in Blink."
Nope, it gets announced and it's Catherine Tate. You're kidding me, right?
Russell T. Davies, let it be known that it seems like pretty much the entire Whoniverse is against this move. I've barely spotted a positive reply in over 2,500 posts.
Given the weak finalé and my personal opinion of the episodes he's written I would be happy for Russell T. Davies to step away from a writing role to a pure producing role and I suspect a lot of others feel the same.
Is Doctor Who about to Jump the Shark? I hope not, I really really do. However, this latest move (unless, of course, it's a massive bluff) makes me very nervous.