13.31: Redacted
In which we see how good Doctor Who with a radical social agenda actually might have been.
Broadcast: April-June 2022.
Listened: October 2022
I re-listened to this, partly because I loved it, but mostly so I didn’t end my three-and-a-half year pilgrimage on Legend of the Sea Devils because bloody hell how bleak would that have been. At the time it felt like a weirdly-shaped Doctor-lite episode; now it feels more like a spin-off. So I’ve got no plans for a write-up of season 2, sorry.
“Didn’t you do your Duke of Edinburgh?” “Yeah, not in a skirt, though.”
No, I’m not gonna do individual episodes, even though they’ve all got titles, are you mad?
Anyway! It doesn’t go anywhere, at least some of the interesting things about it are cliches - it’s Love & Monsters, or TNG: Lower Decks. But it’s still hugely entertaining and thought provoking in precisely the way so much of this era failed to be, and it works - possibly even better - the second time round.
The podcast bit is almost too accurate: every time we hear it it’s a bit shit and self indulgent (Rani Chandra, in the middle of an alien attack: “I’ve heard your podcast, it’s good! Okay it’s fine. And you all need better mics. But-”)
But it’s the right fit for a deeply progressive and queer story that’s fundamentally about the validity of alternative perspectives. Cleo, who it becomes clear fairly quickly is the lead, is a great character. Probably the single best moment in it is when a man in a uniform tries to intimidate her and she furiously replies that she’s scared every time she uses a public loo, so try harder. Her brother Jordan is great, too, if a bit wish fulfilment-y maybe?
It’s also *incredibly* fannish, proper wilderness years level stuff, using existing continuity as fuel. Its ramble through Who continuity from the perspective of an outsider reminds me of the 1996 novel Who Killed Kennedy - so much that I genuinely wonder if Juno Dawson, who devised it, has read it? It also feels like it was made by people who grew up with New Who in a way my lot did with the old series: it’s like hearing a generational shift, live.
If I have a complaint, it is that I’m not sure that story and theme lineup. Is it about people forgetting you/vanishing when you become your real self? Doesn’t quite mesh?
A question I had while listening the first time is - is this about resetting the universe? Like the Time War or the crack in the universe? But no, they wouldn’t do that in a radio spin off, so it’s just a fairly inconsequential space virus thing of course.
LOL that “The Doctor destroyed the universe and didn't even notice” feels like a comment on Chibnall’s writing process, though.
Other things...
Juno Dawson is lead writer but there are seven others. I'm not sure how that works, but cool. [It works fine, past Jonn, it’s entirely inexplicable: you're just trying to hammer this into the shape of a story not a season because you've been writing these notes for years and have gone slowly mad.]
Some continuity. Larry from Blink doesn't marry Sally. Vastra’s Jenny is long dead. Both Partners in Crime and Smith & Jones are dated to 2008. Dr Morganstern from the latter story became a conspiracy theorist; now he is a nice man explaining how women be crazy sometimes. Hilariously, he novelised Smith & Jones, lol.
Rose was Cleo’s baby sitter, which is how she's involved, because her dad died during the red hatching... but that happened in Blink, which was Martha? Hmm.
The portrayal of UNIT is really interesting - they sort of show us two consciously different versions, the scary authorities in uniform one, and the fun, progressive “Hey guys, let's learn about aliens!” one. The recruitment ad we hear makes that explicit: “If you have a passion for the unexplainable OR a passion for shooting weapons AT the unexplainable…”
Also, in the UNIT basement there are 862 objects though 97 are completely missing. LOL.
A thing I am not sure about - we’re meant to be happy at the end when Abby leaves her terrible controlling boyfriend to be with Shawna. But… isn't she also kind of controlling? She gets really annoyed with Abby every time she doesn't do what she wants, shits on her interests, accuses her of betrayal...? Can't work out if this is deliberate. [From season 2, in which Sawhna continues to be toxic, it is still entirely unclear.]
“I am Silurian and yes I like to wear dresses.” Presumably they re-cast Vastra because Neve Macintosh wasn’t available? Anyway, Doon Mackichen is great.
The running “alien foetus in a jarA joke is amusing. The way they build Vastra’s advisor up as if it’s the Doctor but then it isn’t, it’s just an alien foetus in a jar, is annoying.
There is a slight lack of unity between the “Cleo's dad disappeared/was murdered by aliens/her mum couldn't cope with her being trans” stuff, but that’s me being picky.
One slight problem with this on broadcast, that didn't bother me now... if you make anything 10 parts long it will feel important, when it’s just another silly Doctor Who story whose ending is inevitably nonsense. This is not helped by the brilliant cliffhanger to part 9 - Cleo thinking she's vanished - is immediately undone.
The story ends with the Doctor discussed as a sort of guardian or possibly a literal god... Basically, it nicks the ending from Last of the Time Lords and message from Twice... Told you this thing was drowning in continuity.
Rani has written for the New Statesman, so the thought occurs that in the Doctor Who universe I probably spent 2019 dealing with her angry emails about her invoices not having been paid.
Oh crap, I’ve just realised I need to rewatch Power of the Doctor now.