AUTHOR: Redaspie DATE: Friday, August 04, 2006 ----- BODY:

... of Doctor Who.

I've been meaning to do this for a while actually, particularly since the recent second season ended. Most reviews tend to just go over how good the individual stories were, or whether this season as a whole was better than that season as a whole, but I want to bring out some themes that I think we can see evolving throughout the first two seasons of the Who mark 2 (if you like) that we've had.

There are two main observations that I want to touch on, the first being the evolving politics of the series, or rather the de-evolving politics of the series. I have to say that I have a very serious problem with Russell T Davies' humanity-centred vision of the show. I remember very clearly, in one TV interview, that the series would be 'about humanity' and adding that 'if it's the zog people being attacked then I don't care'. Aside from the potentially pernicious implications of this attitude, RTD seems to have missed a trick here. If one looks back at the aliens in the old series, it is very clear that the aliens were not in fact aliens, but representative of some aspect of humanity. This is, I would suggest, equally true of many other science-fiction novels, films and TV series, for instance Star Trek. So the Daleks were clearly inspired by fascism, the Cybermen were a representation of the destruction of our humanity in favour of the mechanical, and other races likewise represented different political, philosophical, experiential ideas, as well as, in many cases, non-Western civilisations. In the latter case, they represented the other. And this is why RTD's ideas are so iffy politically, because by starting from the idea that people will only be able to identify with people like us, the new series has undercut the universalism of the old series. This is not an abstraction - if one looks at the first two series, with one or two exceptions, all the aliens have been hostile. At its worst, this implicit xenophobia resulted in The Unquiet Dead, a story which fan writer Lawrence Miles took to task in an admittedly over-the-top review for being a hostile allegory about asylum seekers, with the Gelth 'refugees' actually turning out to be evil parasites planning to destroy humanity and repopulate the earth with their kind. Now, I am not for a moment suggesting that Mark Gatiss, who wrote the story, actually believes that about asylum seekers (I don't know anything about Gatiss' politics) but the message sent out by that particular story was distinctly dubious.

Now this is a great shame, as there have been some very political progressive themes being put out by the programme, particularly during the first season. From the off, there was a political flavour to the programme, with the first episode containing an implication that the Nestene Consciousness was in fact peak oil incarnate ("It loves you... your planet's perfect - plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air"). Episode two contained an attack on the obsession with image, looks and celebrity, and various barbed comments about the behaviour of the wealthy and powerful. Later episodes featured satires of reality TV (Bad Wolf), a brilliant analysis of how the media operates to influence the way people think (The Longest Game - does RTD read MediaLens?) and, best of all, a satire on the British government's policies during the invasion of Iraq (Aliens of London - "there are massive weapons of destruction... that can be launched within 45 seconds") broadcast just days before the general election. In fact, it has to be said that the first season was in general pretty edgy stuff, and the above example was just one of several events that left me wondering how they'd actually managed to get away with it. Having Richard Wilson's face transform into a gas mask was another, and of course the violence in The Unquiet Dead resulted in questions in the House of Commons.

Season 2 has, by contrast, been something of a quieter affair. Certainly in dramatic terms the build-up to Rose's departure and the return of Sarah-Jane Smith meant there were plenty of headlines, but nonetheless a certain blandness crept in during the season. The most 'controversial' of the stories, The Satan Pit/ The Impossible Planet was really just a Halloween ghost story in space (albeit a terrifically good one) and other stories were essentially straight adventure stories with a couple of 'experimental' ones thrown in. Love & Monsters, however, was only ever going to be controversial among fans. The mildness of the series is also reflected in the politics, and nowhere were there the anti-establishment pot shots that were seen in the first season (hence my 'de-evolving' comment above). The Doctor's dalliance with Madame de Pompadour, a member of the French feudalistic ruling class, was nothing more than a romance story, and other opportunities were missed. School Reunion failed to say anything about current educational trends, the possibilities of an alternative world where the rich lived in zeppelins and the poor struggled on the ground (as portrayed in Rise of the Cybermen) were never utilised, and, most significantly, The Satan Pit, which included a race of slave aliens, quickly airbrushed any potential questions by assuring us that yes the Ood actually wanted to be slaves. Nothing to worry our consciences about.

Of course, RTD does not have a duty to be political, and I don't intend to imply that he does. Both seasons have been absolute zingers in terms of story quality, and even the worst of the episodes have been at least passible. However, it is absolutely the case that the second season had somewhat less variety in tone, less experimention, and was generally more stable and measured and less daring than the first. It was also an improvement in one key respect, which was that much of the rather juvenile humour that marred the first season was cut out.

And this brings me to the second observation I want to make, which is that the second season reflects a much higher level of confidence in the series than the first. Those who pay attention to such things will have seen how RTD, in so many interviews, discussed how utterly convinced he was during the making of the first season that it wouldn't find an audience, and how hard he tried to make it likely to be a hit. One might dismiss this as hyperbole on his part ("I was so convinced it would flop - but instead all my wildest dreams came true") but the first season does read as if the producion team were collectively shuffling their feet and going "er, yes we are making Doctor Who... but it's going to be good! Really!". There was a desperate desire to not to be seen taking this too seriously, so farting aliens, belching dustbins and general high camp. There was the introduction of a family and friends for the companion, allowing for the development of personal relationships to give the series a down-to-earth element not seen in the original series. No alien planets - all stories were set on or near Earth. There was the portrayal of the Doctor by Chris Ecclestone, which extended beyond his basic leather-jacketed appearance and Mancunian accent to the general portrayal of desperation and melancholy, of the Doctor as a man in trauma trying to do the right thing, and often getting it wrong. In short, as less than a hero, and a million miles from the renegade eccentric Time Lord of the old series. One could even see this in the use of political satire and horror tactics, the edgy and experimental air of the season. There was simultaneously, an attempt to pre-empt all the snide jokes Doctor Who fans have faced for years (even to the point of self-parody), and an attempt to mark the new series out as a different beast from the old, more serious, more weighty, more cool.

By these methods RTD tried to maximise his chances of holding the attention of a generation reared on soaps and reality TV, a generation he viewed as indifferent or hostile to SF. As we all know, the first season was a massive success, eclipsing even fan's wildest hopes. The second season then, was made in the knowledge that the series had found a big audience and had a guaranteed three-year run, and the resulting increased confidence shows. Much of the first season's infrastructure is undoubtedly there, and in particular the reliance on Earth-based stories and the importance placed on personal relations, but there has in almost every other respect been a reversal to type. The desire to experiment, to move away from the usual story format, has gone and the stories are recognisably traditional Doctor Who stories. The silly humour and campness has gone, or at least reduced to the level that was usual in the original series. Most importantly, David Tennant is recognisably the Doctor of old in a way Ecclestone wasn't - even down to the instantly recognisable funny costume. There's even a cautious use of alien planets for the first time.

The final episode would on the surface mark the end of the saga involving Rose and her extended circle of soap opera refugees. The next season will open with a new companion, and the possibility of the series letting go of the comfort blanket of a semi-regular cast of supporting characters, and return to the classic format of free-ranging adventure stories. The second season has been just as, if not more successful, than the first, and RTD has no reason to limit himself. The first two season have seen RTD keeping himself in check while waiting for the series to succeed. Now that it has, he can afford to let go. An audience awaits...

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: David Baldinger COMMENT-DATE:6:17 AM COMMENT-BODY:Excellent observations. I never was aware of the political implications before. Since I live in America, I have had a limited exposure to the older series.

Here is a question for you. How much do you think the need for expanded syndication revenue (meaning sales to the US) have to do with the increased slickness and shallower productions of these last two seasons especially considering the incredible budgets that must have been required?

I have all of the episode on my computer since only the series one v. 2 has been shown on American television. It was shown on a commercial network also and interrupted repeatedly by advertisements. The image quality suffered as well as the pacing of the episodes. Visually, they ll had a washed out murky quality that must have been caused by whatever transfer process they used.

It has been at least 20 years since our "public" TV ran any previous DW and then it was only the Tom Baker years.

Still, I believe that the new series are viewed as fun entertainment with not much thought to allegory. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Redaspie COMMENT-DATE:10:35 AM COMMENT-BODY:If you go back and read what I wrote again, it was only the second season (the one with David Tennant which I understand hasn't been aired yet) that was slicker. The first season, the Ecclestone series, was probably amongst Doctor Who's edgiest seasons in some respects. I take your point that the old series had its moments also, but I don't agree with the idea that the new series has 'lost' something that the old series yet *except* politically. There, RTD's vision undercutst the universalism of the old series. Nonetheless, the first season did contain a fair amount of allegorical moments, as I mentioned in my post. I'm actually very optimistic overall. RTD has successfully brought the series back, made it more popular than it's been for over two decades, and its fabulously well done in my view. Now that the series has established itself, the producers can affors to throw caution to the wind and I hope they do so.

I've just realised that you may be reading the terms 'series' and 'season' as meaning the same thing? When I mean 'first season' I'm talking about the Ecclestone season, not the original series of years back. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: David Baldinger COMMENT-DATE:11:00 PM COMMENT-BODY:Oh, I agree with you. I didn't mean to imply that I didn't like either series--2005 or 2006. What I meant by slickness was overall production values. The quality is fantastic. My fear is that DW would become too "Hollywood" and lose those elements that make it different. I certainly am looking forward to Fall episodes. I have all of the current episodes but haven't finished watching. I'm only up to "School Reunion." The Cybermen episodes look very good. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Redaspie COMMENT-DATE:12:58 PM COMMENT-BODY:They are, although for my money the killer episodes are The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Redaspie COMMENT-DATE:9:19 PM COMMENT-BODY:I thought the Cybermen stories were rather good - recognisably 'classic' Doctor Who. They weren't masterpieces but the story was a very enjoyable adventure. The Doctor's confrontation with the CyberLeader at the end was a classic Doctor Who moment. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:12:40 AM COMMENT-BODY:Very cool design! Useful information. Go on! » --------