Unimatrix Two

I recently finished Series 4 of the revived Doctor Who. In many ways, the finale wrapped up and tied together the last four years of programming, as Russell Davies is moving on to other projects. The finale was a slam-bang affair, one comparable to ST:TNG’s “The Best of Both Worlds” in breathtaking moments and an edge-of-the-seat cliffhanger. However, the finale underscored certain themes of Davies that I hope to see put to rest.

Originally, the Doctor was a political fugitive from his people, but he eventually evolved into a crusader of Time and Space, saving individuals and entire planets from oncoming disaster. His fourth incarnation sacrificed himself to save the existence of the universe from one man’s foolishness. The Doctor was clearly fulfilled by his never-ending quest.

When the Doctor returned to television, he was in some ways a broken man. He had been at least partially responsible for the destruction of his race in an attempt to prevent an apocalypse (a futile attempt, as it turned out). Other characters made much about the Doctor as the bringer of Death. Of course, he repeatedly staves off even greater death and destruction, but apparently one gets minimal points for that.

Rose Tyler’s love healed the Doctor, and in fact he began to return the emotion openly for the first time in the 40-year history of the show. But he then regenerated into a new body and personality, and Rose was forced to leave him, and he sank into depression and despair. The crusader of Time and Space was replaced by a sad, lonely immortal who kept on keeping on mainly because he didn’t have anything better to do.

When the villain of the finale mocks the Doctor for creating a band of “Children of Time”, willing tools who will aid our immortal in the destruction of lives and worlds, it’s completely unfair, and yet the Doctor shows hurt and shame. What he’s really done, of course, is give a succession of companions a broader perspective, the skills and the confidence to defend themselves and their loved ones, and the ability to make the awful decisions at times when the Doctor isn’t around. They are “Grown-ups of Time” now, but the Doctor is too busy wallowing in failure to deal with that.

The new helmsman, Steven Moffat, has written episodes that temporarily bring back the crusader. While Moffat’s Doctor in these tales retains a vulnerability that the older series did not give him, he remembers his role as the defender of Life, and revels in the challenge. I absolutely hope that future seasons return to that philosophy, as the worn-out, depressed Doctor is a shadow of the beings he once were, and I become sadder with every episode in which he flails about desperately.

Why have I gone on at length about this? Because the older Doctors, the Fourth especially, represent in many ways the person I’ve always wanted to be. Assertive, cheerful, full of wonder, and up to the challenges of life. Frankly, the Doctor these days has a far emptier life than I do, and it’s hard to see the fictional hero I’ve felt so connected to suffer so. I guess this is something of a “Get Well” card to my old hero.

Talking more about the actual episodes: it’s worth noting that the Doctor himself takes very little action in the finale. Much of the plot is supported by random chance, and the eventual saviors of the day are his Grown-ups: Sarah, Rose, Jack, Martha, Donna, and (in an awesomely heroic scene) Harriet Jones, former PM. (You know who she is.) We can’t discount his human clone, though the Doctor seems almost angry that the clone was willing to do something… that, well, he was willing to do an incarnation or two ago. (I’d say to much better effect, but let’s face it, the Daleks are just ‘resting.’)

Also, I’m amazed that we are to take seriously Davros’ curse naming the Doctor as “The Destroyer of Worlds”. Once more, let’s state for the record that the Doctor (and friends) have prevented the destruction of an infinity of worlds. In fact, all that is destroyed is the Dalek spaceship and it’s inhabitants – which as Donna points out, is a direct result of his attempt to kill her. There’s not an ounce of guilt due the Doctor… but he seems to find some and accept it anyway.

Now, I certainly squeeee’d like a fanboy every time old companions appeared – especially the one that Davies doesn’t even have the rights to! But when all was said and done, there were more characters than the episode could comfortably hold. On the gripping hand, the continuity nods were lovely – Davros recognizing Sarah, the TARDIS flying gracefully and precisely under control of six pilots as it’s designed for, mention of Mr. Cooper from the Titanic episode. Nice.

The fanboys who were so angry at the Eighth Doctor’s claim to be half-human should be thrilled that the Tenth contradicts that – though there may still be weasel room in the contradiction if necessary. Personally, I thought the concept explained a lot.

The end of Donna’s tenure as a companion… infuriates me. We’ve just thrown away an entire season of character arc so that Tennant could wear that sad mooning look on his face at the end. Rose could be the freaking Bad Wolf and survive, but Time Lord intellects are speshul, and oh gosh the Doctor has to kill the Donna that traveled with him to save her life. Oh grief! Oh angst! Oh get over yourself, Davies.

(And really – the Sun and Moon disappear. 26 alien planets fill the sky. Daleks shoot holes in cities all over the world, and kill uncounted people. There are news stories, web sites, pictures, video, missing friends… and Donna is supposed to think that the whole thing was a put-on by her drinking buddies? Did the Doctor make her a complete moron when he retrieved his noggin? (I know she deluded herself out of remembering previous invasions… but there comes a point.))

Let’s end this on a high note. The return of Davros was well handled, and he’s absolutely the type to wipe out every Universe ever just to show ’em all. It was great to meet the Shadow Proclamation, and thrill upon thrill to see all the old companions return. Rose especially showed herself ready to take up Earth Defense, reminding me a bit of the literary version of Ace. Three cheers to Martha for facing down her Kobayashi Maru: If the human race is going to die anyway, why not save reality in the process? Insane Dalek Caan lent a wonderful note of surreality, foreshadowing that things might not play out as planned; and DoctorDonna had me nearly howling in delight. What a shame it is to lose her!

Ah, well. Another season over. I hear this year’s Christmas Special will have Cybermen.

Tags: doctor who, fandom, philosophy, tv

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 2:33 pm by Mikhail and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.