Doctor Who: Season 14

 

Created by: Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, Donald Wilson

Written by: Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Kate Herron, and Briony Redman

Starring: Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson

Doctor Who season 14 trailer: 

Please also see my review of Jodie Whittaker's final season here and my review of all previous "New Who," or the 2005 reboot, here. Though bear in mind these are much older blog entries! 

There are several terminology disclaimers I'd like to make before diving in. First, I refer to seasonal batches of episodes as "seasons" instead of "series," which I think is an American thing. I'm pretty sure if you Google "season 14," you'll get stuff from the '60s. For me, saying "series" would refer to the entire televised franchise as a whole, 1960s-present. 

Second, BBC marketed season 14 as "season 1" to encourage new viewers to tune in, touting the fact that newbies wouldn't be required to know anything going in. Much like they did for Jodie Whittaker's first season. While I understand the sentiment, I think this is silly and will refer to the season in this post as 14. 

Finally, BBC also refers to Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor as 15, citing David Tennat's brief reappearance for three episodes as an official 14th Doctor. I think this is also very silly, and will be petty in this blog post and refer to him as 14, after Jodie's 13th Doctor. I might have to change my mindset in the near future for the sake of my sanity, though. 

Now, without further ado! 

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Put succinctly, I loved this season. Ncuti shines BRIGHT and he and Millie had perfect chemistry. 

With Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, I don't know-- I loved her performance, but I kept having to mentally compare her to Tennant's (my favorite Doctor) performance as a standard. I wanted to leave that mindset behind, but I never fully could, and I don't understand that. I don't understand my own mindset in that capacity and why I always had a hard time fully embracing her in the role. But alas, there it is. 

But with Gatwa, that wasn't a problem. I think it may have been due to his strong charisma and energy, which enabled my mind to fully accept him within his first full episode. But I realize that doesn't quite track against Whittaker because I think her performance had all the same flare. 

14 and Ruby :)

It occurs to me that I should backtrack and do a brief review of Tennant's specials that aired before Gatwa came on board. Same thing: I loved them. All three of them featured Tennant's return, directly after Whittaker regenerated, and Tennant spends these episodes with Donna Noble (reprised by Catherine Tate). The three specials tackle the issue of the tragic state Donna was left in, with her memory wiped lest the vast knowledge returns and fatally overwhelms her brain. Donna was one of my very favorite companions for her good-humored sass and the banter between herself and the Doctor, and seeing them return (as "partners in crime," if you will) felt like a soothing salve to my soul. The collective plot of the three specials also serves to provide Donna with a "fix" to her previous tragic fate, giving her character a happier sendoff. I personally felt that it was a little too perfect, erasing any form of sacrifice or challenge, but I'm still overall glad for it. 

Tennant's Doctor and Donna Noble's return was soul-healing for me

"The Church on Ruby Road" then ushers us officially into Ncuti Gatwa's era and introduces us to Ruby Sunday. It's a great kickoff, giving us a strong glimpse into Ruby's life pre-TARDIS, showing us who her character is and immediately presenting mysteries to her character and life that become season-long subplots. This episode also gave us a very unexpected treat: a brief singing duet between Ruby and 14 that has lived rent-free in my head ever since I watched! The pair are crashing a dangerous goblin event, and to provide a distraction while he thinks of a plan on the spot, the Doctor breaks out into song, forcing Ruby to reciprocate as his on-stage partner. The moment could've easily been cringey and weird, but the Doctor's brilliant energy and charisma carries the moment, which Ruby takes in stride. Now I would like to share it with all of you: 

The Doctor and Ruby singing. Sorry in advance of the video is taken down or otherwise stops working! 

The next episode, "Space Babies," is the only one I want to pretend didn't happen. I'm not a fan of babies, and they were the entire episode. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't for me. Moving on. 

I thought "The Devil's Chord" was just mediocre, though it did an important job of further ushering in the season-long villain, which was previously introduced in Tennant's third special "The Giggle." The difficulty is that this season's villain seems to be a family of god-like deities, which transverse from Doctor Who's generally sci-fi territory more into the realm of fantasy and magic. I appreciated that "The Devils Chord" showed 14 feeling overwhelmed, beyond his abilities as the Doctor. He's presented with a nearly omnipotent villain who isn't constrained by the laws of science and physics, and he has to think more outside the box to defeat them. 

The Doctor and Ruby visiting 1960s London

"Boom" through "Rogue" were all basically perfection. Each of them were completely tonally different, with "73 Yards" veering into supernatural horror while "Dot and Bubble" is social commentary, which provided very nice contrast and variety. One thing I especially appreciated about "Dot and Bubble" is that the commentary was subtle, nearly between the lines. The ending is a bit more heavy and revealing, but it's never outspoken, and most importantly, it affects the characters. The social commentary becomes personal for the characters and we see just how the injustices of society affect those we love on screen, and this awakens the viewer to want to take action. By contrast, much of the social commentary in Whittaker's era was more outspoken and felt like preaching directly to the viewer, with little affect on the characters themselves. 

Ruby forced to strike out on her own in "73 Yards"

The Black Mirror-esque cynical yet realistic depiction of a future in "Dot and Bubble" in which people are "in front of screens" all the time, as the screen is projected in front of our face

Another important aspect of these episodes was that they took our characters out of their comfort zone. "73 Yards" left Ruby on her own for almost the entire episode, forcing her to take on a plot that was way above her head as a companion. It showed her true mettle and intelligence, and who she is outside of the Doctor's shadow. Similarly, other episodes placed 14 in unique situations without Ruby where we got to see who Gatwa's incarnation is under pressure as well. 

The season finale was a bit more mixed for many viewers, including myself. I think it was extremely well done, but the writing was just a bit questionable. There was a major twist at the end, which was hilariously foreshadowed with a literal song earlier in the season proclaiming "there's always a twist at the end!" I didn't entirely like the twist itself, though. It could have been pulled off in other contexts, but I think the way this season was written and with several subplots leading up to it, it just kind of fell flat. 

The only thing I'm truly disappointed by was the fact that Ruby seemed to exit at the end. This season was only 8 episodes long and Ruby and the Doctor's chemistry was fire. We spent so long getting to know Ruby herself and the pair of them. I would truly love Ruby to stick around for at least one more season, if not more. Hopefully they'll pull a "Rose," who left the TARDIS just to return again for a major season finale later on. Still, I'm not quite ready to have to get to know a brand new companion quite yet.