I first started watching the new series of Doctor Who at the beginning of the 4th season. I was hooked and immediately went back and watched the first three seasons so I could be caught up before the BIG season 4 finale. I didn't think it was the pinnacle of modern television, but it was certainly fun and had a lot of big ideas floating around.
That being said, I became even more excited about the 5th season when it was announced that Stephen Moffat, a writer who wrote literally all my favorite episodes in the first 4 seasons, would be replacing Russel T. Davies as head writer and Executive Producer. While I must give Russel T. Davies the credit for literally reviving the series, I can't bring myself to genuinely like the episodes he wrote, nor the aesthetic decisions he controlled as Ex. Producer. I am constantly finding things that don't quite make sense (beyond the science aspect) and thinking of things I wish he would have done instead.
It really hit me as I was rewatching the 2nd season finale earlier tonight (and It's why I'm writing this). I had numerous complaints about how it was wrapped up (even more so because I now know what has happened in the series since).
My first critical eyebrow twitch came at an exchange of dialogue between the two main enemies of the episode: the Cybermen and the Daleks. The exchange is as follows:
Cyberman: Our technology is compatiable; although your design is less elegant.
Dalek: Daleks have no concept of elegance!
Cyberman: This is obvious.
Is it just me, or does this sound like two drag queens trading insults of their outfits? It seems that way to me for two reasons: 1, I don't think such hostile species like Cybermen or Daleks would bother trading insults in the first place; 2, Russel T. Davies is known to be a very liberal homosexual who sometimes tries a little too hard to slip in his opinions into a children's television show.
Davies has continually tried to slip in his liberal (and in some ways, very weird) views into both Doctor Who and the spin-off called Torchwood (much more so in the latter). One thing that is very easy to notice is that nearly every romantic pairing is either mixed race or something other than a heterosexual relationship. Davies had commented on this saying that he wanted the show to be more progressive in it's portrayal of human relations. But personally, I think the way he does it actually makes these ideas cheaper and is actually more harmful than he thinks. I believe when you have to consciously decide "there must more racial diversity" you're really only adding to the problem. It's best to hire the people who are right for the job, race and ethnicity should be an afterthought (or not even a thought at all) as it only strengthens the idea that we are different and that those differences can be exploited.
Relationships like the one between Rose (white girl) and Mickey (black guy) is never given any reason for being. Once the Doctor comes along Rose completely forgets about him. Donna Noble is shown to be in two relationships in the course of the series, both to black men. Now I could understand that if it were a character trait ("she has a thing for dark meat") But in the back of my mind I'm always thinking "she doesn't really seem to like either of the men she dates: she's simply infatuated with the first and is actually quite demanding and critical of the second." What makes this idea even more damning is when it shows what happens to companion Martha Jones in the finale of the 4 season special episode "The End of Time." Earlier in season 4 (and even season 3 of Torchwood) Martha is said to be engaged to a man named Thomas Milligan (who is never shown onscreen) but she is shown in "The End of Time" to have randomly married Mickey. What are the odds that the only two significant black characters (who have never been shown to have met) would end up together? I don't know, but it seems truly pointless. It could have been said that they were merely business partners in alien hunting and Martha was married to Thomas. This nonsensical pairing actually seems to suggest that "black people should stick to marrying other black people... just because."
Davies also seems to be convinced that everybody can be turned into a homosexual. While this idea doesn't really come up in Doctor Who (other than a brief joke about Shakespeare's sexuality) it runs rampant in the spin-off Torchwood. Every main character in that series has some kind of homosexual experience at one point. While two are straight characters who wind up in these circumstances completely by accident and with little choice to the contrary, two other characters literally change their sexual orientation at some point. A character named Tosh becomes a lesbian after being seduced by a female alien (I don't care that it was an alien, they had sex involving two female bodies). Then another character (Ianto) transforms from a whiney emo who (literally) never stops thinking about his dead girlfriend into a gay man who takes every chance he has to get it on with the 5th main character Jack Harkness (who is an "omnisexual" man from the 51st century). This seems to suggest that being homosexual or heterosexual is a choice that we all make at some point. I have a problem with this because it lends credence to those jackass religious zealots who say they can "reprogram" your gay children to be straight.
But back to the episode I was originally speaking about: Doomsday. The ending involves the Doctor sending the Daleks and Cybermen into the Void between dimensions with Rose, Jackie (her mother), and Mickey ending up in an alternate universe in which Rose's dad (Pete) is still alive and seems to be the secret ruler/protector of the world. A major plotpoint of the two part episode is Rose narrating the beginning with the teaser: "This is the story of how I died." Even when I first saw these episodes I didn't believe she was going to die. "They'll find some way around it so they can keep the character in the back catalogue in case they ever need her again." And what do you know, I was right.
While I didn't really want Rose to die (although she is my least favorite companion) I thought it would have been an incredibly powerful moment for the series as well as for the Doctor himself if she had. If you've seen the episode, think back to when Rose almost fell into the Void with the Daleks and Cybermen. The Doctor continually refers to it as Hell. Now, think back even further to when The Doctor tries to explain how the other Universes exist. He says "Each decision we make creates a completely new reality," meaning every little choice we make can have huge consequences not just for us, but the entire world/Universe. Now, think back to when Jackie is reunited with her husband Pete from the other Universe (the one she knew had died before Rose was born). It's a sweet reunion until they all make the move to teleport to the other Universe for safety (knowing that they can never use the teleport technology as it is ripping holes in the two Universes) and Rose decides to stay behind in our Universe while Jackie is stopped by Pete from going after her. Jackie breaks down in tears at the idea of her family being forever destroyed simply because Rose decided to go back to the Doctor. Now bring all that information together with the idea that Rose actually falls into the Void, into Hell with the Daleks and Cybermen. Jackie is forever stranded in the alternate Universe with a man she may or may not really love. And the Doctor is forced to reflect upon his responsibilities for his companions. ALL because of simple choices that you wouldn't have thought could have had such an impact at the time. His carelessness and Rose's dependency on him got her sent to "Hell." Personally I think this could have given much more substance to how the Doctor treats his companions, whom he always seems to think will be perfectly fine no matter what manner of dangerous situation they're in.
Plus, with the 4th series we were always teased with the idea of Rose coming back. She showed up in the background of several episodes until the series finale... in which she does basically nothing. She just shows up on the scene with a big ass laser gun (seriously, what is it with sci-fi weapons being so big and cumbersome you'd need to be the Incredible Hulk to properly aim them?) and then basically stands around for the entire final episode.
Don't even get me started on the escalation of the first 4 season finales, but in brief:
1. Daleks want to conquer the Universe... okay, good start
2. Daleks/Cybermen want to conquer Earth... seems like a step backwards...
3. The Master wants to conquer Earth... not a step forward, but hey, a new enemy
4. Daleks want to destroy Existence itself... okay, that's pretty big, but what's the point?
All in all, I'm quite happy that the newest series is in the control of Steven Moffat for the forseeable future. You know you truly love something when you can enjoy it but poke fun at it as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-wDPoC6GM
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