After a transitional trilogy of specials that saw the return of the popular Tenth Doctor David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and introduced his successor Ncuti Gatwa, followed by a Christmas special that brought his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) on board, “Doctor Who” starts on Friday. in its new official complete season, the first on Disney+.
Gatwa is the first black Doctor (and the first openly queer actor to play him and, for what it's worth, the first to wear a moustache), and indirectly follows Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor. Wake-up cries from change-resistant fans declaring the series dead to them were expected, but have happily been drowned out by the cheers that have greeted the charismatic Gatwa (known for the “Sex Education” series) since his election.
Being a “Doctor Who” fan who resists change is certainly a contradiction, given that 14 actors have canonically played the time-space traveler since 1963; I've liked them all, retrospectively or contemporarily, whatever their form, accent, costume or headdress, and I'm always happy to see the show back, and different. (And also the same).
It may be easy, but I am not uncritical; Not all episodes are winners. I thought Chris Chibnall's time as showrunner might have been more helpful to Whittaker, to put it mildly, than many others, and while Davies' immediate successor, Steven Moffat, created some of the best concepts and characters in the series, the “I am a good man?” I found the existential beating assigned to Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi tedious. (Not that I didn't love Capaldi).
Most significant for the series going forward, apart from the visibly larger budgets and global visibility afforded by the BBC's distribution deal with Disney Branded Television, is the return of Russell T Davies as showrunner. It was Davies who revived “Doctor Who” for television after a 16-year hiatus, elevating the series from its low-budget, 20th-century Saturday afternoon roots, making it more dramatically complex, while preserving its endearingly cheeky humor. , its British provincialism and its style. sense of adventure. He writes as a fan, as someone who only wants the best for the Doctor, for yourself and for himself; he's not afraid to get a little cheesy, a little fabulous, a little wacky, a little poetic. (Or, actually, a lot).
Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in “The Devil's Chord,” where they visit Abbey Road and the Beatles.
(Bad Wolf / BBC / Disney+)
While one would certainly expect dark turns ahead (and each episode brings with it the danger of personal, global or universal annihilation), Davies' second era has been a sunny one. For starters, he brought back Tennant's doctor and partner, Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), whose knowledge of her time with him had been erased to prevent her head from exploding. Davies restored his memory and, in a charming case of having his cake and eating it too, left the Fourteenth Doctor in a unique location as a sort of off-duty Time Lord, to enjoy the company of his favorite people on his favorite planet. , while the Fifteenth recovered. Let's get on with business. New rules can always override old ones.
The shine continues in the new season. “Space Babies,” the first of two episodes premiering Friday, features talking babies on an abandoned space station and is driven by snot and fart jokes. The second, “The Devil's Chord,” takes us to the EMI studios on Abbey Road, where the Beatles are recording their first album and a flamboyant new villain, the Maestro (two-time “RuPaul's Drag Race” winner Jinkx Monsoon ), is causing musical chaos. (The Beatles will appreciate the look of “Mrs. Mills' piano.” And, naturally, the Doctor knew Mrs. Mills.)
There's a bit of expository dialogue for newcomers to Disney subscribers, who haven't followed or encountered the series in any of its previous locations in the United States, including what the TARDIS (named after the Doctor's larger police box in the form of a cabin). the inner space-time machine means. (Time and relative dimension in space). For the initiated, there's a flashback at the beginning, when the Doctor points across London to show Ruby where she once lived, in Shoreditch, with her granddaughter Susan. The TARDIS also recalls the white, circled design of the original.
As for our new heroes, it takes no time to accept Gatwa's Doctor as the absolutely genuine article. He is a hugger, full of heart and brings an energy not foreign to that of his predecessors, but amplified. He is a Doctor who dances, a Doctor who sings, a Doctor who is playful, flirtatious, fit and stylish. (Unlike his predecessors, his costume changes frequently.) And like Ruby, Gibson is a good match; he is young, bright and brave; It's amazing how quickly these kids can get used to running around the universe and through time. They are fellow foundlings and the question of their ancestry is positioned to drive the season.
Of course, the Doctor is a complicated figure, as anyone who has been alive for a thousand-odd years and regenerates regularly would have to be (or at least since 1965, when Patrick Troughton replaced an ailing William Hartnell). But he was also born a children's TV hero, and while revisionism in intellectual property is all well and good, the Doctor also needs to be a wacky adventurer, fun for all ages. And this one is a lot.
“I am the last of the Time Lords,” says the Fifteenth Doctor, “and I am very, very glad to be alive.”
