Doctor Who Rewatch: The Thirteenth Doctor
Before the Thirteenth Doctor’s run, I had an optimistic outlook about Doctor Who because the show needed an update and some fresh ideas.
Steven Moffat’s run at the helm of the show and Peter Capaldi’s time as the Doctor ended with a whimper. Both were reportedly set to step away after series 9 but were asked to stay for another season. While Moffatt led many of the greatest Doctor Who story arcs and created some iconic characters like River Song and the Weeping Angels, he seemed to coast through to the end. The final season with Capaldi had some high notes but seemed disconnected from so much of his previous run. The last episode, a tacked-on Christmas special, featured the Twelfth Doctor’s regeneration because the new showrunner wanted to begin his time on a season premiere.
For the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker became the first female version of the Doctor, and Chris Chibnall began as the head writer and executive producer. The show had already established Time Lords could regenerate across sexes, most famously and effectively with Missy being the female Master. I had (and still have) no objections to the idea of a female Doctor. That change opened the door for some interesting concepts and stories that could be explored.
The specific combination of Whittaker and Chibnall excited me because of their work on the gripping crime drama Broadchurch. Because of that show, I knew Chibnall could write a complex, interesting story and Whittaker was a phenomenal actress with emotional depth.
So I went into the Thirteenth Doctor’s run hoping and expecting the show would succeed. While there were a handful of interesting stories and poignant moments, this was the low point for Doctor Who since the 2005 reboot. This has nothing to do with the fact the Doctor was a woman, except that fact seemed to limit the storytelling more than provide a boost.
They often seemed stuck between not wanting to make the Doctor too feminine (which was not something they tried to avoid with Missy) and wanting to coast off the sheer fact that she was a woman. Unlike other Doctors, Whittaker’s Doctor never seemed to have a character flaw she needed to recognize and overcome. If she had one, it was that she cared too much, which felt almost like a parody.
In reviewing The Marvels, I said the film was forgettable but fun. You might not remember the plot a month later and you probably won’t remember the name of the villain driving home from the theater, but you will at least remember that you had fun at the movies with the lead characters. Unfortunately, for the Thirteenth Doctor, her run was forgettable without the fun. So many episodes felt preachy toward a specific type of cultural propaganda but without being memorable at all.
In rewatching previous seasons during this rewatch, the moment I turned on certain episodes, entire storylines and characters came flooding back to my mind. Despite the Thirteenth Doctor being the most recent one, I barely remembered anything or anyone from the show. Part of that may stem from everything seeming over-crowded. For two seasons, there are three full-time companions. The fact that nothing stood out is even more interesting since the show took significant risks and big swings with the Doctor’s history. It delves into the character’s beginning and gives her numerous previous incarnations she knew nothing about.
Returning showrunner Russell T. Davies said that he was not going to “unwrite” some of the more controversial decisions Chibnall made with the origin of the Doctor, describing them as canon. But that doesn’t mean, he’s going to focus on them either. Doctor Who has a long, complicated history as a show of combing and smoothing over contradictions that arise over decades of stories and creators.
While the run was a disappointment, I don’t want to make it seem as if everything was a failure. The overall storylines fail to capture viewers, but a few stellar episodes shine during the three seasons. Below, I’ll give you 10 highlight episodes and we’ll focus on one that within itself demonstrates some of the highs and lows of the Thirteenth Doctor’s run.
Previous rewatch episodes
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