I know why the Doctor has Tennant’s face again! Well… I don’t know the narrative reason why, (and the behind-the-scenes reason why is to bring back old fans) but what I’m talking about here is the thematic reason why! He’s back to fess up, reflect and learn.
“Something a male-presenting Time Lord will never understand.”
“Just let it go!”
My thinking is that this combative and controversial slight at the Doctor from Donna Noble & Rose Noble is the core of WHY the Doctor has returned to his 10th face.
10th Doctor’s Character Flaws
The Tenth Doctor was a deeply flawed character which is a large part of what made him so understandable, relatable and beloved by fans. I’m going to first clarify that I resonate with him stronger than any character in any media. The Tenth Doctor is an incredible man who made mistakes (with many errors ingrained into his personality). He was the most human Doctor we’ve ever had for this reason. Also, character flaws are great. How boring would the show be if the Doctor was perfectly perfect in any given situation? There’s got to be tension and the Doctor has to have their volatile moments. It’s a drama!
I’ll refrain from using the phraseology of “toxic masculinity” to describe his laddish-drawbacks because I don’t think it’s fair or warranted to slap such a drastic, venomous insult onto his character. But his character flaws were certainly masculine-rooted. With an ego through the roof- Ten was the smartest person in the room; and he knew it!; and he made certain to tell everyone else it too. He’d also bottle up all of his emotions constantly until they’d explode out of him. Both of those led to his Shakespearian downfall under the Time Lord Victorious delusion.
And, of course, he was incapable of confessing his love for Rose, led on Martha Jones as a rebound and didn’t take the frantic begging of “no please no no” as an answer when wiping Donna’s memory. I’m not placing my opinion on any of those three events here and there’s obviously defences of each of those scenarios but the fact of the matter is that he did those things. Under this lens, the Tenth Doctor created a chain of hurt across the three women of whom he cared about the most.
In The End of Time Part 2, his ego and bottling up of emotions infamously exploded larger than ever when faced with having to self-sacrifice in order to save the life of Wilfred Mott. In a fit of rage, the Doctor screams, “LOOK AT YOU, NOT REMOTELY IMPORTANT. BUT ME, I COULD DO SO MUCH MORE! SO MUCH MORE!” before ultimately reflecting on his words and immediately shifting his stance to actually sacrifice himself to save Wilf’s life. He ego was evident throughout his whole run with a personality of sheer cockiness. Also, the Doctor was so emotionally detatched that Joan Redfern was sickened by his character after falling in love with his human alter-ego (John Smith).
The 14th Doctor- A Wiser Man
The Star Beast presented us with the 14th Doctor. A man & portrayal that is GLARINGLY similar to the 10th Doctor but this whole post is based in marking the differences. The 14th Doctor does not display any ego & is very in touch with his emotions throughout the episode. He’s seen to cry several times and says he loves Donna & Wilf on separate occasions. The Tenth Doctor I know burnt up a whole Sun to say goodbye to Rose & even then couldn’t say “I love you”. David Tennant’s first incarnation was very romantic but allergic to the word “love”. Clearly, the Doctor has evolved and learned from his past.
In the time between the 10th and 14th Doctors, the character has lived for about 1000 years (4.5 billion if you count the confession dial) across 3 different lives. That’s a lot of time for life lessons and experiences! Amy Pond taught the Doctor what it means to have a family. Through Rory Williams, the Doctor witnessed how amazing of a measure a man can be. River Song became his soul mate, his true love and wife. Clara Oswald uncovered every single aspect of who the Doctor truly is (making for the most toxic friendship). As the 12th Doctor battled the question of “Am I a good man?”, Clara, Bill Potts and the 1st Doctor helped him learn that he is indeed a good man & that the universe needs the Doctor. For Bill, the Doctor upper-cutted a racist and was an ally to her lesbianism. Then the Doctor became a woman & discovered the full range of lived experiences that being a woman entails (to the extent of even being tried as a witch under King James’ reign!).
Series 2 of the 13th Doctor comics sees the Doctor and her fam go back in time to 1969 wherein they meet a trapped 10th Doctor & Martha (during the events of Blink). Jodie’s Doctor laments on her past-self’s treatment of Martha and interrupts him every time he’s about to mention Rose. Also, she mutters a quiet apology to Martha from a distance whilst watching how the Tenth Doctor disregards her blatant feelings towards him. During her exit scene in Last of the Time Lords, the Doctor does not give Martha any form of apology and just stands there looking guilty.
Where Could This Growth Take The Doctor?
Okay, it’s all well and good the Doctor developing into a better, wiser man who has learned to become more humble, considerate and emotionally in-tune. However, those mistakes still need reconciliation. The Doctor carried his heartbreak from Rose up until his very final moments- we never actually saw him “get over” her. (Just like we never saw him tell Rose “I love you”). He never apologised to Martha for his mistreatment of her and I’m sure Donna will have some choice words to say to the Doctor about that whole forceful memory wipe ordeal. Also, it’s not like the Doctor stopped making mistakes after regenerating into Matt Smith. Remember when the 11th Doctor heartlessly abandoned an older version of Amy upon Appleapochia? When the 12 Doctor battled against everything to bring Clara Oswald back to life even though she didn’t want it? Or that infamous time when Graham told the 13th Doctor he was worried about his cancer coming back & she bluntly responded with “I don’t know what to say in this situation, I’m socially awkward”.
Day of the Doctor threw the Doctor’s past into his face for the 50th anniversary celebrations so how about we take that approach again? Wild Blue Yonder is set to be a horror episode with a mysterious, unannounced cast. Let’s see the Doctor get tortured by his whole past and grapple with the reconciliation and closure throughout the many walks of his lives. If anyone can act their way through that heart-war it is David Tennant! Show us a furious Susan who’s grandfather never returned to her. The zombified corpse of Adric. The 6th Doctor treated Peri awfully and the 7th Doctor manipulated Ace. Send the 14th Doctor back to Bad Wolf bay to witness Rose and the Meta Crisis Doctor live their who happily ever after and then show him Martha who’s emotionally damaged & unwilling to trust any relationship for the rest of her life. Make him face the abandoned variation of Amy Pond. If the horror episode is the pretence for bringing character’s from Doctor Who’s history back then this is the way I would do it.
The new Tales from the TARDIS miniseries had a main theme of closure and reconciliation so I certainly would not be surprised if this continued throughout the rest of the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.
Finally, the 10th Doctor was not ready to go. His final words were “I don’t want to go”. If his lesson truly is the whole: “Something a male-presenting Time Lord will never understand.” “Just let it go!” thing then, after taking the necessary steps required by his return, the Doctor will finally need to let go for that regeneration. Everyone in the world has guessed that his final words should be “I’m ready to go” and being told by Donna to “Just let it go!” certifies this.
I hope we do see Rose Tyler and Martha Jones. However, I also really hope the 60th specials act as a celebration of Doctor Who’s whole history- not just providing closure to 10’s run and fans.
Doctor Who hit our screens, for the very first time, on November 23rd 1963. Significant anniversaries of this date are typically celebrated by Doctor Who. The 20th anniversary saw the airing of the iconic multi-doctor serial The Five Doctors (1983). Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary episode, Day of the Doctor (2013), was simulcasted in 93 different countries and enjoyed a cinematic release. Soon, November 23rd will be marked by the release of a colourised version of Doctor Who’s 2nd ever serial- The Daleks (1963) in celebration of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. Of course the weekends following will also signify the anniversary when the show returns the our screens on: 25th November with The Star Beast (2023), 2nd December with Wild Blue Yonder (2023) and, 9th December with The Giggle (2023). Dubbed ‘Doctor Who Day’, November 23rd is a celebration of Doctor Who’s history and legacy.
It is apparent that ‘Doctor Who Day’ is particularly marked every 10 years. There is often the odd Big Finish or comic book tie-in during the years between but nothing major. Mainstream fanfare (and acknowledgement from the brand) is restricted to this 10 year rule. Brand events like ‘Doctor Who Day’ draw mass attention to the brand. 2013’s 50th anniversary special earned a Guinness World Record (for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama) to highlight how enormous it was. Such massive success will certainly be reflected in the coming month withthe release of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials. So, my question is, if it works so well from a marketing perspective (which it does) then why does this only happen once every 10 years? Now, you might say “Durr, this is what makes it special and a cause for celebration” and, to clarify, I do NOT mean there should be a celebratory episode every year because that WOULD be oversaturation. My point is that the brand should majorly mark the event each year across its marketing practices (social media, physical space and content releases). The main defence of this point, and inspiration for the idea, is May the Fourth.
Star Wars Day
It goes without saying that May 4th is ‘Star Wars Day’ in reference to the pun “May the 4th (force) be with you”. Since their 2013 acquisition of the franchise, Disney has annually officially recognised May 4th as a major Star Wars event across their Disneyland parks. Further, in the age of Disney Plus, every year (from 2020) has seen a bulk of Star Wars related content drop onto the service. Normally this is in the form of an animated series/a Simpsons short film/a trailer for an upcoming live-action project/a documentary. Accompanying this, toy brands like Lego and Funko will release products relating to the day whilst Star Wars related video games are often dropped in and around the event. Even watch manufacturers get in on the fun!
May the 4th is iconic and globally known. It serves as a constant mainstream reminder of the franchise, accompanied by exciting new releases!
What would an annual ‘Doctor Who Day’ Entail?
The answer to this question is quite simple. I envisionan annual ‘Doctor Who Day’ as a day where Whovians are fed with a bulk of substantial Whoniverse releases. Relevant book-tie ins, comics and Big Finish Audio Dramas are all a given. I would further suggest that a new series of Tales from the TARDIS should drop on this day each year as it is the PERFECT retrospective series that provides fan-service whilst directing new viewers to episodes of classic Doctor Who. Official fan events could be set up by the brand. Also, perhaps, the introductory (or finale) episode of a spin-off show could air on this day. Of course, a trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas Special would always be welcome here! Merchandising companies and social media strategies should also join in on the annual hype. Imagine if one year a LEGO Tardis was release and another year a AAA Doctor Who video game came out!! All of this does not feel like a huge ask yet would feel substantial in terms of building annual hype and media-attention towards the Whoniverse. Genuinely, I feel that there are only benefits for making ‘Doctor Who Day’ and annual event with fanfare. This is a perfect mechanism for building the brand and should be employed going forwards. Perhaps conversations regarding this are in motion due to the Disney+ deal as they’re the ones who mastermind the hype of ‘Star Wars Day’. Finally, my reasoning for this is not only on building the brand image for Doctor Who but mainly to celebrate the beautiful legacy of Doctor Who. It’s a show about time travel and is always moving forward- let’s reminisce at the history more often as well.
Yesterday, Tales of the TARDIS was released onto iPlayer (alongside the whole WHONIVERSE!). Tales of theTARDIS is a spin-off miniseries which introduces and bookends iconic episodes of classic Doctor Who (1963-1996) with brand new bonus scenes filmed entirely on a specially made set- the memory TARDIS! The concept of each episode follows a nostalgic reunion of old legendary characters in Doctor Who which shows were the characters have been since their televised endings, closes canonical gaps and projects the characters’ stories toward new their adventures! Making the canon feel huger whilst providing pivotal pieces of narrative closure is a amazing feat of this spin-off!
Personally, I think the concept is genius and beautiful. Top-tier fan service in the form of a show that exists to welcome new viewers to the classic era and celebrate the history of Doctor Who’s stories. The memory TARDIS set looks so cool with its inclusion of every console cluttered with loads of Easter-egg props from the show (note-to-self: rewatch this and scan every shot!). There’s substance to this show which truly makes it memorable. Clyde Langer and Jo Jones’s scene could have been a mere catch up for fan service but it is so much more than that. Both characters’ remain consistent with their ongoing activities in the expanded universe (Clyde, Rani and Luke’s post-Sarah Jane lives and careers; and Jo Jones losing her husband). Their narratives amalgamate to show a wonderful short tale of a grieving Jo urging Clyde to tell Rani he loves her. Daniel Anthony’s nervousness ticking at the mention of Rani and Katy Manning’s incredible performance of bittersweet tears mean the acting in this episode is glorious.
And that was just one episode. Those featuring the multiple Doctor actors tell us that separate timelines ARE canon- including ones where the Doctor lives out each of their incarnations into old age! This tells me that Rowan Atkinson, Peter Cushing, Richard E. Grant and David Warner are canonically the Doctor! What’s more is that we finally learn the reason why Ace left the Doctor & they’re able to talk it out. I am overjoyed at the conclusions showing that Ace and the 7th Doctor are travelling the universe together again (and 6 with Peri too!!). It reminds me of the heart-warming scene at the end of Farewell Sarah Jane when Rani tells us that she doesn’t believe Sarah Jane actually died but that the Doctor came back for her.
Under this concept, my imagination ran wild with how it could be continued into further Tales of the Tardis.
1. Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor and the current Rose Tyler (Rose)
This idea is gold. I would watch it through tears 76 billion times. Imagine it. Christopher Eccleston returns, under a pretence which aligns with his no multi-doctor rule, to see the woman Rose became. Rose was the Doctor’s first love and the 9th is who fell for her. In a return after 20 years off screen, we could see Eccleston’s Doctor finding out that Rose got to live out a human life with his next incarnation. And on the flip side, I can not even fathom what Rose’s reaction would be to seeing her Doctor again! Her pain is evident in Parting of the Ways and The Christmas Invasion in response to the Doctor’s regeneration. Now she has a chance to meet him again in this show. I never thought this would be possible so imagine how Rose would feel! Of course, they would be watching Rose to witness how far they have both came since their first adventure together.
2. David Bradley’s Doctor and the current Susan Foreman (The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
“One day, I shall come back”
This provides a perfect opportunity for the first Doctor to make true to his grandfatherly promise. It would show us why the Doctor took so long to return to Susan- with this being an opportunity for tension- and allow Susan to tell her grandfather all about the life she’s led since her TARDIS exit (which is a completely devastating story for fans of the Eighth Doctor’s Audio Adventures). Perhaps this episode would have been Doctor Who’s first episode, An Unearthly Child, but I’m not even going to touch that box of frogs. The Dalek Invasion of Earth is the no-brainer for this TARDIS tale as it is Susan’s exit from the Tardis so it works to contextualise their interaction. Perhaps this episode would also give an in-universe reason as to why the first Doctor no longer has William Hartnell’s face.
3. Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and Yaz (Rosa)
Okay, this one may be way too soon but many fans (including me) did not feel they received satisfactory closure to the 13th Doctor and Yaz’s story. It was leading up to what should have been an important moment in Television history of the Doctor sharing a lesbian kiss. They loved each other like 10 and Rose or 11/12 and River but unlike those love stories- this pair did not get a lifetime together aspect to their bittersweet closure. Peri and Ace are travelling forever with their Doctors due to this spin off- Yaz deserves that with hers as well!
4. Paul McGann’s Doctor and Charley Pollard (TV Movie)
Okay now I am really taking liberties here but at least this one is technically a classic Doctor Who story! When I called Rose Tyler the Doctor’s first love, I meant in the show. She was proceeded by Charley Pollard in the audios and Dr Grace Holloway before that in the movie! Each of these were with the 8th Doctor- a character who is always described as romantic. Fans are always clamouring to see more on-screen appearances of the 8th Doctor so how awesome would it be to see him and his defining companion, Charley Pollard, together in live action for the first time! Due to rights issues, the TV movie and its characters never get mentioned in the Big Finish audios. Therefore, the Doctor could be regaling Charley with the story of his first adventure and of Grace- cue the jealousy from Charley and the bickering that would unfold!
5. Tom Baker’s Doctor and Peter Capaldi’s Doctor (Ark in Space)
Peter Capaldi was a die-hard lifelong fan of Doctor Who before taking on the role of the 12 Doctor. He grew up with the show and his favourite Tom Baker episode was Ark in Space. This interaction would be a spiritual successor to Time Crash wherein the lifelong fan, David Tennant’s 10th Doctor, meets Peter Davison’s 5th Doctor. Much like Tennant before him, Capaldi could allow for his nostalgic fan love to carry his acting performance which would provide a perfect amount of retrospective passion required for Tales of the Tardis! Also, I love a multi-doctor interaction!
What are your thoughts? Do you think I’ve missed any good ideas? Do you think mine are too out-there? Hope you enjoyed reading!
During Peter Capaldi’s run as the 12th incarnation of everyone’s favourite time lord, the Doctor often opted for an electric guitar over his trusty sonic screwdriver (which he replaced with “sonic sunglasses”- freeing his hands for chords and strumming!). Growing up, Capaldi was briefly in an art collage post-punk band, The Dreamboys, with Craig Ferguson. Peter Capaldi has noted that the punk explosion began when he was 18 so he’s a huge fan of new wave music and rock’n’roll. Bowie, Lou Reed, Talking Heads and Sex Pistols were Peter Capaldi’s early & lifelong influences. He got into Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen later in life. It wasn’t until he was 63 that Peter Capaldi debuted his first solo album- St Christopher. Music runs in the Capaldi blood as his 2nd cousin, Lewis Capaldi, is a world-renowned singer-songwriter and musician. Peter Capaldi even utilised his acting talents for the music video of Lewis Capaldi’s most popular hit “Someone You Loved” which is a song that’s notable for being the longest-running top 10 UK single of all time by a British Artist. In an alternate timeline, perhaps “Pete’s world”, Peter Capaldi would surely be a professional musician rather than making his name through his incredible acting chops.
A notable trait of the 12th Doctor, besides grumpiness, is his affinity with his electric guitar. Since the very first moment of the show (Delia Derbyshire’s immensely iconic 60s synthetic theme tune) music has been the blood of Doctor Who. Talents such as The Radiophonic Workshop, Murray Gold and Segun Akinola have scored the show over the years with some of the most beautiful and nostalgic songs one could possibly conjure. And the Doctor himself has been no stranger to the odd instrumental performance. Patrick Troughton’s 2nd incarnation of the Doctor is known for playing the recorder at any given opportunity- his action figure comes with a tiny recorder accessory!- and Sylvester McCoy’s 7th Doctor plays the spoons everywhere he goes.
The Killers
In a BBC Radio 2 interview with Jo Whiley, Peter Capaldi disclosed that there were several songs that directly influenced his portrayal of the Doctor. These are the songs he performs inside of his trailer and on set in order to get in character for the role. Humans by ‘The Killers’ is the first of these songs (and a go-to karaoke song for Capaldi!). When talking about Humans, he states:
“I think there’s something otherworldly about that. I’ve never really figured out what the lyrics mean, buts it’s certainly some kind of discourse about human beings. Which an alien could be making.”
Existential and vague lyrical questions about humanity’s operation within social structures are asked by Humans. It’s clear to see how this song would inspire an objective detachment and perspective upon human beings as if they weren’t Capaldi’s own species.
In the fictional Doctor Who universe, Lucie Miller (the 8th Doctor’s companion) once claimed that ‘The Killers’ are one of her favourite bands!
Craig Armstrong
The other song to have the privilege of triggering Capaldi’s transformation into the Doctor is A Strange Kind of Love by Craig Armstrong. Peter Capaldi told Jo Whiley that he chose this song:
because the Doctor has a weird relationship with human beings and with his companions. And he loves them, but not in a human way.
There is a melancholic warmth to this soft, slow song. It presents a sense of pure aromantic comforting love with tragic undertones. Being a time lord, the Doctor is incapable of having typical human relationships. This fact is presented during the 12th Doctor’s run through his convoluted heartwarming/heartbreaking dynamics with Clara Oswald and River Song. However, due to his thousand-year lifespan, the 12 Doctor holds a wealth of other heartbreaks carried over from his past lives.
David Bowie
David Bowie is the closest thing real life has ever had to the Doctor. Songs like Starman and Changes exude the essence of the character! Capaldi has even been known to provide a guitar rendition of Starman to fans at comic conventions and has stated that “David Live” is one of his favourite records. Being a lifelong musical influence upon Peter Capaldi, Bowie’s fashion sense is also strongly echoed through the 12th Doctor’s costuming (alongside some David Lynch). The Bowie persona replicated by the 12th Doctor is ‘The Thin White Duke’. This was a controversial figure and Bowie would go on to describe this period as “the darkest days of my life”, akin to how the 12th Doctor is the darkest regular incarnation of the Time-Lord.
In 2015, Peter Capaldi announced publicly that he wished for David Bowie to be a guest star on the show- alongside an episode focused upon Jimi Hendrix! David Bowie had actually already had a near-miss from Doctor Who when he was set to play Sharaz Jek in the 5th Doctor’s 1984 story The Caves of Androzarni until it clashed with his Serious Moonlight tour. Bowie would have been a perfect addition to Doctor Who & I’m sure, in a future episode, the Tardis will go back in time to the 70s for an adventure with this music legend!
Though never performing any of Bowie’s work in the show, the 12th Doctor does have a habit of quoting Davie Bowie lyrics. In series 9’s The Magician’s Apprentice, the Doctor introduces the world to the English language “Dude” several centuries early. He has a crowd chanting the word after every expression he says. One such expression is “All the Young!” shouted to the cry of “Dudes!” in reference to Bowie’s 1972 release- All the Young Dudes. Furthermore, in series 10’s Smile, the Doctor says to an emojibot “I’m happy, hope you’re happy too” which is a lyric from David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes (1980).
A pair of comic covers for Titan Comics’ run of the 12th Doctor are pastiches of David Bowie album covers. The Twelfth Doctor Year 2 #3 is inspired by Bowie’s Heroes album wherein a black and white Doctor poses in a way that mirrors David Bowie. Also, The Twelfth DoctorYear 2 #9 replaces the album cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust but with an added Tardis and Cybermen.
Heroes coverThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust cover
Van Halen
In the most audacious introduction of all time, the 12th Doctor’s guitar is first seen during his debut scene in series 9 (The Magician’s Apprentice). The Doctor blasts onto our screens as he stands atop a military tank that drives through a fighting arena in the Middle Ages! Equipped with a Yamaha SGV-800 “Black Sparkle” guitar, the Doctor first shreds some Eruption by Van Halen before breaking the 4th wall with a spin on the Doctor Who theme tune with transitions into Queen’s Tie Your Mother Down. Upon acknowledging Clara and Missy in the crowd, the Doctor smoothly plays the iconic opening riff of Van Halen’s Pretty Woman where he leaves both women smitten.
An electric guitar-playing Doctor was a character trait conjured by Capaldi himself. He initially wanted a Fender Stratocaster but, in his words, it looked like he was having a mid-life crisis every time he tried one on. Therefore, he chose the Yamaha guitar which Peter Capaldi claims looks “like someone had described a Fender Stratocaster to somebody else & made it without ever seeing a picture of it”.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd’s relationship with Doctor Who is worthy of an entire blog post of its own. Pink Floyd have sampled and referenced Doctor Who in their music on several occasions- notably in the song One of These Days (1971) which contains the Doctor Who theme song. They are a favourite band of Capaldi’s predecessor, Matt Smith. In the expanded universe, the 6th Doctor reveals that he is a fan of Pink Floyd- particularly their The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) album.
In series 8’s The Caretaker, the Doctor mockingly whistles the antiestablishment (and anti-school) tune “We don’t need no education” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1979) whilst working as a caretaker for the same school Clara teaches at. In series 9’s The Woman Who Lived, the Doctor plays a segment of Wish You Were Here 1975 on his guitar.
Ludwig van Beethoven
The 12th Doctor strummed the opening bars to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony when explains the ‘Bootstrap Paradox’ in Before the Flood and, again, as Bill Potts enters his office in The Pilot. Perhaps jokingly, the 12th Doctor strongly implies that he went back in time and accidentally became the classical composer, Beethoven, himself before describing the real Beethoven as a “nice chap, very intense” and a man who “loved an arm wrestle”.
During Before the Flood, the Doctor erupts the 4th wall by performing the Doctor Who theme music which bridges into the time vortex title screen with an electric guitar mix.
Conclusion
The 12th Doctor’s music angle kicked into full swing from his initial scene in series 9. Series 8 had no electric guitar as it debuted iconically being played above a tank in the Middle Ages in series 9’s first episode. It was an intrinsic aspect of the reinvention of the 12th Doctor’s character. Having written this blog, I believe a portion of this reinvention worked to make the 12th Doctor’s personality more akin to his actors as Peter Capaldi evidently has a rich passion for music; and talent when it comes to performing.
It has been confirmed for over a year that several Doctor Who spin-off shows are in production. These TV shows are yet to be officially announced.
In the late 2000’s, the Doctor Who universe (when ran by Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies) was a television empire as the parent show aired during the same years as its ancillary shows: Doctor Who: Confidential, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Totally Doctor Who and Torchwood. None of these shows air anymore largely due to BBC budget cuts from Conservative austerity. Before returning in 2022 as Doctor Who’s showrunner, in an interview with Paul Kirkly, Russell T Davies famously critiqued the landscape of Doctor Whoamongst the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe and the multimedia diegesis’s of Star Trek and Star Wars by telling GQ that:
“There should be a Doctor Who channel now. You look at those Disney announcements, of all those new Star Wars and Marvel shows, you think, we should be sitting here announcing The Nyssa Adventures or The Return of Donna Noble, and you should have the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors together in a 10-part series. Genuinely.”
Russell T Davies (2021)
It was once widely rumoured across tabloids (sourced from The Mirror) that there would be five spin-off shows: A Dalek show, a Cybermen show, a Sea Devil show, a Weeping Angel show and a Sontaran show. I know better than to trust tabloid rumours but I also know they usually have semblances of truth. From this, I’d estimate that the 5 spin-off shows report is likely. Less likely- but still possible- is that each show will have those alien as its main villain. What I do not believe is that the shows will be centred on these aliens. In this article, I will present my best guesses for what I estimate to be the upcoming spin-off shows.
1. Doctor Who: Unleashed
Topping my list is a spin-off show which is definitely not just a rumour. Doctor Who: Unleashed is 100% confirmed as a reskin of the Doctor Who documentary spin-off series- Doctor Who: Confidential. Airing on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, Doctor Who: Unleashed will provide a behind the scenes peek behind the curtain to the creative process of Doctor Who as it shines a light on the work of the production team behind the cameras.
The Doctor Who website states that:
DOCTOR WHO: UNLEASHED is a new 30 minute factual entertainment series produced by Bright Branch for BBC Studios for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer. Host Steffan Powell (BBC Gaming Correspondent and former Radio 1 Newsbeat Presenter) has been given the keys to the TARDIS and, after every episode of Doctor Who, viewers can switch over to BBC Three or iPlayer as Steffan takes viewers on a journey showing them just how this out of this world drama is made.
Doctor Who: Confidential inspired a generation of filmmakers. Such individuals will likely make up a lot of the team filmed for Doctor Who: Unleashed. The existence of this show will inspire an entirely new generation of filmmakers who will surely be spotlighted in the Doctor Who behind-the-scenes show 20 years from now (Which I bet will be called ‘Doctor Who: Classified’ or something!).
2. U.N.I.T
As we head into rumour territory, a U.N.I.T spin-off show lead by Jemma Redgrave’s Kate Stewart is all but confirmed. This badly kept secret is ironic considering the fact that U.N.I.T is the Whoniverse’s highly confidential military organisation. U.N.I.T and Kate Steward heavily featured in the previous episode The Power of the Doctor and will continue to have a major presence in the 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who. Whole-heartedly, I think the 60th will act as a backdoor pilot to the U.N.I.T series by giving an audience a taster of what’s yet to come. (I also believe these specials could be a backdoor pilot to several spin-off shows & I’ll detail how when I get there!).
Perhaps as the modern answer to Torchwood, U.N.I.T provides a lot of promise as a TV show. During the third Doctor’s earthbound reign, he worked for them as a full time scientific advisor so perhaps we will finally see a recast of Jon Petwee’s Doctor (one of my absolute favourites) appear on our screens. Or his colleagues from the time could join the cast (Jo Grant, Sergeant Benton and Mike Yates). In the modern era, the red beret donning U.N.I.T has acquired several notable members such as Petronella Osgood (Ingrid Oliver), Professor Malcom Tyler (Lee Evans) and, most importantly, the Doctor’s former companion- Dr Martha Jones (Freema Ageyman). Appearances from any and all of these characters would be exciting. Big Finish have produced around 15 series of U.N.I.T audio dramas which proves there is certainly a story to be told here!
Of course, if there is a U.N.I.T TV show then it must certainly be dedicated to the late Nicolas Courtney as there would be no U.N.I.T without the incredible legacy of the great Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
3. A River Song show
I decided to throw a little bit of a curveball here with my next estimation. Its a less safe-bet than others but I still fully believe in it. Alex Kingston gave an interview with Doctor Who Magazine earlier in the year to celebrate 15 years of her character River Song wherein she strongly suggested that there is a lot more to come for River. This got my brain ticking when Big Finish announced the end of River Song’s popular audio drama series (it’s untimely, she hadn’t met the ninth Doctor yet!). Big Finish had to wait until Chris Chibnall’s era was over before they could utilise his characters so perhaps they’re unable to use River for now because she’s showing up elsewhere!
Again with the 60th anniversary specials backdoor pilot idea- I don’t think it’s impossible for River to appear as a nod towards her having an upcoming show. Donna and David Tennant’s Doctor were the first to meet her remember! Also, a River Song series would be bloody fantastic! Alex Kingston’s River Song novel The Ruby’s Curse is one of the most fun and best books I’ve ever read. Her story is the show is always heartbreakingly beautiful and Alex Kingston’s charisma explodes through the rooftops! She could absolutely carry a hugely successful TV show about her having edgier, spicier adventures through time and space than the Doctor. Again, such a show would helm the potential of any past incarnation of her husband and wife (the Doctor) to make an appearance. By my count, River has yet to meet the 2nd and 9th Doctor. Also, though she textually met Jodie’s 13th Doctor in The Ruby’s Curse, Alex Kingston and Jodie Whittaker have not starred together in the Whoniverse yet. Someone fix all this please and thank you! (P.S. I always thought River going to Pete’s world and meeting Rose & her meta-crisis Doctor husband has a great story potential!)
4. A Rani Chandra led show- (‘A Sarah Jane Adventures’ follow up)
Since her beautiful scene at the end of Farewell, Sarah Jane, I have seen Anjli Mohindra’s journalist character Rani Chandra pop up ALL OVER the multimedia-expanded world of Doctor Who. I remember Rani appearing in the storyline of the brilliant mobile app The Lonely Assassins. Following this, she appeared in the BBC Sounds podcast series Doctor Who: Redacted before leading several series of Rani Takes on the World.The Sarah Jane Adventures was cancelled due to the tragic death of Elisabeth Sladen and the stories of brilliant characters like Luke Smith, Clyde Langer, Rani Chandra, Maria Jackson and Sky Smith were left unfinished. Luke was due to come out the closet, Clyde had a relationship with a girl who vanished without a trace and Rani had an exciting journalistic career ahead of her- following in the footsteps of the amazing Sarah Jane Smith! The Sarah Jane Adventures was beloved by all who watched it and a spiritual successor would be very welcome!
5. Gwen Cooper show (‘Torchwood‘ follow up)
This is a rather contentious spin-off show idea. However, rumours and speculation for a Torchwood return have been rife all the same! Given that the Torchwood team are all dead besides Gwen Cooper- and Captain Jack Harkness played by John Barrowman who has been cancelled by the media and fans for alleged sexually indecent behaviour- a Torchwood series would likely surround Gwen’s leadership of a newly formed team. Eve Myles’ Gwen Cooper has always been the main character of Torchwood and it would be wonderfully poetic if a series began with her devising a team of her own (as the first series followed her joining Torchwood). I believe a potential Torchwood show would certainly respect the expansive lore garnered over the years and years of Big Finish Audio dramas as Russel T Davies is always conscious of having a consistently tight canon for Torchwood- likely becuase such a feat is impossible for Doctor Who!
I was apprehensive about tackling this one as the John Barrowman situation is very divisive. There would be fierce outrage if the Torchwood show returned with him and there would be equal or more outrage if Torchwood returned without him. I think this is likely why a U.N.I.T spin off show is highly likely- they’re both top secret institutions which tackle alien threats (U.N.I.T is a lot more militarised and political).
6. A Companion Based Series
Ok, so… in 2008 there was Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Now, U.N.I.T is likely going to fill Russell T Davies’ Torchwood slot of a top-secret Earth defence team so what will fill the slot of the humble, more grounded and family-friendly show following a former companion? The 7th Doctor’s companion, Mel Bush is returning to Doctor Who. Maybe it’s her? Or maybe the Noble family’s 60th anniversary appearance is another backdoor pilot? Russell did suggest a Donna Noble show in 2021 AND I think Yasmin Finney’s Rose Noble story seems to be only just beginning. Ace and Tegan have recently returned- could it be them? Rose Tyler: Earth Defence was once nearly a whole series- could we see a return to the Tyler family in the parallel world? Ryan and Graham’s exit certainly seemed like a set-up for psychic paper adventures and surely there’s more stories to be told of Ashildr and Clara’s immortal adventures in their diner Tardis…right?
Wait.
Oh my god…what if…what if…there’s an anthology series in the format of that final series of Skins (Which I never got round to). Each hour long episode shows where a companion (or group of companions) ended up post-Tardis with a respective alien adventure for each of them. That way we could return to Amy and Rory and watch their lives unfold (like an extended Up montage of the Ponds trapped in the past). Or we could finally see where the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan is- if you follow the Big Finish audio dramas that answer is heart-breaking.
7. An Eighth Doctor Series!
Right, I want this one more than any other suggestion on my list. I’m sure most fans would agree. I’m sure Paul McGann would even agree. Russell T Davies is the biggest Doctor Who fan you’ll ever find- he knows full well that fans are craving a Paul McGann 8th Doctor series and I’d bet he knows it would be magnificent! I adored his run on Big Finish & I’ve almost heard it all (Charley, C’rizz, Lucie, Mary Shelly, Liv and Helen). I envision this as a one and done miniseries. Our beloved 8th Doctor can be romantic and traditional or he can be dark and edgy. Paul McGann is a phenomenal actor who fully exhibits the role of the Doctor. And his companions are all remarkable too- except C’rizz! The man stands in the flux between the classic era of Doctor Who and the modern era, between an American reboot and British ties. Paul McGann’s Doctor is on the precipice of the Time War for crying out loud! But above all of this: he is a scouse Doctor! It is a crime that his on-screen appearances are so limited.
Conclusion
I’m overjoyed that the Doctor Who universe is expanding and would be excited if any of my guesses were correct. I’d be even more excited by a huge surprise I hadn’t thought of. I hope that happens! Feel free to give me your thoughts on potential spin off shows. I’ve left one beautiful idea off my list here because I dream of pitching myself it one day.
Thank you for reading and have a lovely day! – Kyle
On 28th September 2023, Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration was performed to a select group by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and The BBC Singers. Conducted by Alistair King and hosted by Jo Whiley, the beautiful event is now available for listening on the BBC Sounds app for the next 29 days. Further, it will be broadcasted on Sunday 15th October on BBC Radio 2.
Eagerly, I listened to the stream last night after having heard stories that the attendees were treated to glimpses of upcoming Murray Gold compositions and the new theme music. I was not disappointed and found that, even without these treats, the entire event is a joy to hear. Also, there were hints towards what future Doctor Who will feel like throughout the event and I will give my thoughts on this during my article.
Doctor Who @ 60
Doctor Who @ 60 truly was an adventure through the past, present and future. Encompassing musical arrangements of the classic era, the post-2005 NuWho era and the upcoming RTD2 era, the musical journey effectively covered 60 years of Doctor Who. Likewise, Jo Whiley’s interviewees were Doctor Who contributors picked up from different periods in the show’s history.
Aptly the event opens with one of Doctor Who’s most dynamic and exciting scores: I Am The Doctor (Murray Gold’s composition for the 11th Doctor that is heavily associated with series 5’s 2010 reboot of the show). Whiley describes the song as harbouring a “Distinct riff to let us know the Doctor had a plan”. Towards the end of the evening, Murray Gold commented that this 7-4 beat composition is “all about [The 11th Doctor’s] gangly walk”. This unforgettable theme goes hand in hand Matt Smith’s most memorable moments. It plays throughout the iconic series 5 trailer (Where the Doctor and Amy are stargazing before being jettisoned into the time vortex). It introduces the 11th Doctor during his defining Eleventh Hour scene- in which he drags the Atraxi back to Earth to assert that he IS the Doctor. Moreover, I am the Doctor bookends series 5 during the 11th Doctor’s powerful Stonehenge speech to all his enemies. Matt Smith had big boots to fill in replacing David Tennant and the transition was greatly helped with I am the Doctor’s supplementation- Matt Smith is the Doctor.
Following this, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales then performed 2007’s exhilarating All the Strange Strange Creatures. The song, whose title is inherited from a line in Murray Gold & Neil Hannon’s Love Don’t Roam, is heavily attached to the series 3/4 scenes of The Doctor and Martha/Donna running or facing intense climactic moments/cliffhangers. This song is used for the frantic chase down from the Futurekind in Utopia, Bad Wolf appearing absolutely everywhere at the end of Turn Left, all the companions banding together against the Daleks in Journey’s End or the Doctor’s triumphant return to Bowie Base One in Waters of Mars. If a moment in Doctor Who has ever thrilled you to the limits, All The Strange Strange Creatures was likely playing.
Next, love is shown to the Classic Era of Doctor Who as the Radiophonic Workshop’s music for The Sea Devils, The Curse of Fenric, The City of Death and The Five Doctors is showcased. The City of Death’s theme is the most fantastic piece of (non-theme tune) music from classic Doctor Who. Accompanying the Doctor and Romana’s scenic travels across Paris and Cambridge in The City of Death and Shada, the piece perfectly conjures images of green grass, dynamic costumes and beautiful buildings.
Jo Whiley then interviews the Radiophonic Workshop’s Mark Ayres and Peter Howell where in she rightly notes how Ron Grainer’s theme (“brilliantly reimagined by Delia Derbyshire”) is the very first thing we ever hear in the show. Peter Howell tells of how Ronald Grainer went on holiday having written a few lines on manuscript paper and, when he came back, he couldn’t believe the amazing effect of what Delia Derbyshire had done. He continues that Derbyshire had taken quite primitive sound-sources with a “sort of homemade guitar string thing” and painstaking oscillators, going through the most enormous amount of trouble to get the dynamics and everything in it. Mark Ayres then talks of how Delia Derbyshires enormous tape trailed down a massive corridor. Both mention the intense budget and time constraints of composing Doctor Who music in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Mark and Peter were emotionally touched and privileged hearing music they wrote 35 years ago being “realised in such a dramatic form”.
Abigail’s Song (Silence is all you know) from A Christmas Carol is played next (featuring the voice of Rebecca Lee) in a performance dedicated to the episode’s star Michael Gambon who tragically died on the 27th September 2023- a day before the Doctor Who @ 60 event. Former Steven Moffat then took to the stage and joked that he would only “Hope and pray that [the music] would play over the explanatory scenes quite loudly”. On a serious note, in relation to Abigail’s Song, Moffat claims that (in the episode’s script) he wrote ‘Could Murray just write a really good song here” to which Gold certainly provided. Steven Moffat then gives an insight into how he wrote the Doctor. With a new actor, he would always just write the Doctor because he knows how the Doctor thinks and then he would see how that plays out of a persons mouth. According to him, you could make Matt Smith’s Doctor as cold & terrible as you like and you’d still love him all the same. Inversely, with Peter Capaldi “you could put in as many silly jokes as you like…he will still scare the crap out of you!” in his mission to “consume the universe with eyebrows!”.
This Is Gallifrey and The Long Songproceed Moffat’s interview. Much like Abilgail’s Song, The Long Song was diegetic and heavily plot-relevant. It was sang, by a diverse array of hundreds of aliens, at the godly Akhaten in The Rings of Akhaten as a song of hope. “You wouldn’t do that in Star Trek!”, notes Moffat, “You’d have lasers but we have some nice singing because we’re British and we’re Doctor Who!”.
Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble & Amy Ponds beautiful and defining themes were then showcased in a very lovely Murray Gold piece called The Companion Suite. Rose’s theme has solemn beginnings which exudes into magnificence inspiring awe and wonder (yet somehow remaining solemn) much like Rose’s character journey. It leaves a listener wanting more as the Doctor similarly yearned for her return. Murray stated later on that “It wasn’t until Billie Piper’s (Rose’s) radiant smile staring out at the universe and then deciding the one thing she’d like most is a bag of chips that the themes of Doctor Who really started to land and cohere with the characters”. Martha’s theme projects intelligence, wisdom and inspiration- her character’s strengths. Suitably, Donna’s theme is loud, boisterous, funny and unpredictable- laced with a businesswoman air of sophistication (it has Donna written all over). Of course, Amy Pond’s theme is that of a whimsical fantasy accompanied by strong feelings of mourning.
Emily Cook, Doctor Who’s real-life companion-helper, was a saxophonist during The Companion Suite. Cook takes to the stage by laughingly admitting that she’s played the saxophone all her life but has never had a lesson. Jo Whiley talks to Emily Cook about how pivotal her global Doctor Who: Lockdown! Twitter simulcast rewatches were to inspiring the upcoming era of the show. Whiley states a claim (also made by Russell T Davies, David Tennant and me in my whole Masters Dissertation) that “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for you”, asking Cook, “do you think that’s fair?”. Humbly embarrassed, Emily Cook replies “I don’t know what to say Jo, it’s quite overwhelming, amazing and magical” contributing that “I think it’s just the power of Doctor Who […] I think the fans are the second beating heart of the show”. During Doctor Who: Lockdown!, an notable moment came when 300+ fans around the world virtually came together to sing a cover of The Long Song in both English and Latin led by German guitarist Borna Matosic. Matosic was in the attendance of Doctor Who @ 60 where she met her virtual collaborator Emily Cook in real life for the first time!
Borna Matosic performed alongside the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for their next song- the heartbreakingly devastating Doomsday. This piece followed Rose’s determination and tragedy at the climax of series 2 when, forever separated to parallel Earths, the 10th Doctor and Rose cry against a multiversally corresponding wall. She then follows the sound of the Doctor’s voice to Bad Wolf Bay for their final farewell. Whiley describes the song as “the sound of a million hearts breaking” at how memorably emotional the scene is.
Part one is closed by a Latin song led by the orchestra’s choir- Vale Decem. Another song with heartbreaking connotations for the 10th Doctor, Vale Decem (Goodbye Ten) is incidentally scored during his character’s death as he regenerates into Matt Smith’s incarnation during the End of Time Part 2. Vale Decem is the Ood singing the Doctor to sleep.
Opening part two, The BBC National Orchestra of Wales performed the 12th Doctor theme- A Good Man?. Murray Gold’s piece is described by Whiley as “heroic” whilst “hinting at a conflict for the troubled character”. It scored Capaldi’s incarnation’s introspection as he delved deep into moral self-examination with disbelief in the notion he is a good man. This moral conflict is resolved in his final episode (Twice Upon A Time) when he effectively proves to the 1st Doctor that their lives are worth continuing.I am a Good Manis a resolving sister song to A Good Man which plays during the 1st Doctor’s regeneration in this episode. It is wonderfully performed by the orchestra.
When Chris Chibnall took over reigns of Doctor Who’s showrunner in 2017 to write for the first woman Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Segun Akinola replaced Murray Gold as the series’ composer. Both Segun and Chris were interviewed together by Jo Whiley at Doctor Who @ 60. In a humorous moment Chibnall joked that he never noticed any levels of scrutiny of his controversial era. He stated that he was prepared for scrutiny & that he knew there’d be an attraction of more scrutiny from changing the Doctor gender. Unfortunately, Chris Chibnall’s assumption was correct but he lightly proclaimed “But that’s the fun of it! You’re doing something new and trying things out. You go in knowing you have to put your suit of armour on, pull your helmet down and do the thing you want to do creatively.”
On discovering Segun, Chibnall stated that he listened to a lot of composers and Segun’s name kept being highly recommended to Chris. He listened to Segun’s documentary work and thought “he’s really interesting!”. Laughing Segun described his experience of working on Doctor Who as “A dose of terror and then a little bit more terror and then a little bit of encouragement from Chris and then a bit more terror”. Chris Chibnall and Matt Streven’s advice to Segun was ‘Just do you!’ and that wonderfully paid off.
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales then performed Segun’s new suite(The Woman who Fell to Earth) which bombastically complied his compositions from The Woman who Fell to Earth, Spyfall and The Power of the Doctor. The suite begins with an aroma of the dawn of a new era with a refreshing feeling of newly-cut grass which conjures the image of Jodie Whitaker’s forestry Doctor reveal video when she unveils her hood. It jumps into action with the fun and mysterious brass instrumental vibe of a James Bond spy thriller which suddenly breaks into a very suspenseful string arrangement before a dramatic, threatening and ominous turn. With a drum section, the suite kicks into an action sequence that connotes to Jodie’s fam running before a slow, calming sting performance.
In the evening’s first taste of the upcoming instalments of Doctor Who, Ruby Sunday’s companion theme is gloriously revealed for the very first time. Composed by returning Murray Gold, The Life of Sunday, the waltz is performed by Catherine Roe Williams on piano. Softly dancing into a twinkle, the piece is certainly one for wedding songs. Around a minute in, it gets very high paced and tense for a moment before returning to its soft dance. Strings then heighten the dance into a beautiful celebration. If I were to predict Ruby Sunday’s character from this piece, I would say: she seems to be an elegant character, with a doe-eyed wonder for the worlds around her, whilst harbouring a sombre heart.
The evening’s star, Murray Gold, is the subject of Jo Whiley’s next interview. He describes his Doctor Who return as a “move back into a house you don’t quite recognise anymore”. He describes listening to The Life of Sunday before it’s usage in the show as exciting, noting how it’s an unprecedented one-off for playing an episode’s score before an episode before hinting “Well, actually, it’s a bit of a two-off…WINK!”. His working relationship with Russell is perfected by their shorthand that has developed over decades and is always able to deliver precisely what Russell wants.
Jo Whiley asked Murray Gold how he approaches composing a theme for a character to which he responded that, “How do they walk? How do they talk? Do I like them? What are they like? Are they sweet? Are they unsavoury?”. On Ncuti’s upcoming 15th Doctor theme, Gold hints that, “it tells you that he’s definitely the Doctor” who goes “running around the universe a lot- dragging people with him. Just a sort of wonderful character, his whole soul projects out of his face!”. The key hint, here, I believe is the sense of dragging people. When listing to the 15th Doctor’s bouncy theme I can envision him pulling Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday by the hand and enthusiastically racing off across time and space.
Immediately, 15’s theme hits you with excitement and unpredictability which only builds into a faster melody. One thing is for sure about the upcoming era of Doctor Who from this composition- it will be action-packed! The Doctor’s hearts beat through trumpets in this joyful song which gives me optimism that we will have a positive, hopeful Doctor- who’s hardships may be few. (I mean, come on, they’ve been through enough in NuWho! Give the Doctor a break!).
Russell T Davies gives us the final and most exciting interview of the night. He sarcastically says, “I think you can tell from the 15th Doctor’s theme that we’re coming back subtler than ever!”, referencing how relentlessly fun his theme is. He gives a shoutout to Murray Gold, Segun Akinola, Ben Foster (Torchwood) and Sam Watts & Dan Watts (Sarah Jane Adventures) noting that Sam and Dan now compose The Traitors who’s music is “very Doctor Who-y. It’s dramatic and full and brilliant!”. He states that all of the composers have something in common in that the “music gets to the heart of what’s going on”. Notable, he blurts “One year… series 4, I’m gonna write an episode that’s all music and no dialogue”. There’s three things I take from this: 1. We’re finally getting a musical episode of Doctor Who (yay!) 2. There’s at least a further 2 series of Russell’s showrunning beyond the series 14 & 15 we know of (yay!) 3. They may be resetting the series numbering back to 1 so new fans don’t have that massive 13 series catch-up backlog (yay!). If my final assumption is correct then NuWho is over and we’re entering an entire new age of Doctor Who- which feels correct but I wonder what they’ll name it!
Closing his interview, Russell gives a fantastical monologue about how viscerally unique Doctor Who really is. He says, “I think that called out to you when you’re 8 years old and beginning to realise that you’re unique. When sometimes you think you’re the only person who can think and round about that time you see this very individual show with a very remarkable lead character-it’s a man! It’s a woman!- it’s just so unique and I think something wraps itself into your soul at that age and just NEVER LETS GO! And may it never let go!”. Which perfectly describes my personal relationship with Doctor Who (and millions of others!).
Penultimately,the orchestra perform The Shepherd’s Boy with is a victorious song depicting the end of Heaven Sent as the Doctor breaks free from his 4 billion year Confession Dial trap.
Finally, we are TREATED to a listen to the brand new incarnation of Delia Derbyshire’s iconic Doctor Who theme for 2023. It is more grandiose than ever before! Running alongside the famous “oooo weee ooo” is a spin with an ever-building loud, dramatic rhythm which reminds me of an intense Mission Impossible-like spy scene. My absolute favourite part of the Doctor Who theme has always been the middle eight so I was overjoyed to hear that this part is uniquely sung by a choir! That was a risk which paid off big time! If I had to sum up the new theme in one word (after 25 listens)- Epic!
Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration is available on the BBC Sounds App & I would recommend this joyful listen to any Whovian.
On one of the most heart-breaking days of our collective lives, 1st January 2010, the Doctor Who episode The End of Time- Part 2 aired. The whole nation cried alongside David Tennant, as the 10th incarnation of the Doctor uttered his final words:
“I don’t want to go.”
My interpretation of that sentence is that it was being simultaneously spoken and felt by three different men: The 10th Doctor (the character), David Tennant (the actor) and Russell T Davies (the writer), all of whom were saying their final goodbyes in this moment. During this era of Doctor Who, the show was only going up and up. Merchandise was all over stores, some of the greatest TV episodes ever were being made and there were 5 spin off shows in the form of;The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, Totally Doctor Who, Doctor Who Confidential and Torchwood Declassified. This omnipresence was years ahead of everything that movie franchises (like Marvel and Star Wars) strive to be today. We even got our own version of Avengers: Endgame, 10 years prior, in the form of Journey’s End. The mentality behind David and Russell’s exit was to “quit while you’re ahead”. Maybe this meant that they had left before their time.
In the decade since the exit of David Tennant and Russell T Davies, the franchise has been on a rocky road (in every sense). Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker. I also have friends who hold each of those Doctors as close to their heart as I do with David. But, objectively, it is undeniable that the David Tennant era was a golden age of Doctor Who, British television and Sci-Fi alike.
David Tennant was my Doctor. My earliest memories of the show stem from when the first two episodes aired (with Christopher Eccleston as the lead) but I was 5 at the time and, therefore, the Moxx of Balhoon and Lady Cassandra gave me nightmares. It wasn’t until Christmas Day 2006 that 7 year old Kyle was captivated by the airing of ‘The Runaway Bride‘ and begged my mum to switch the channel back every time the Coronation Street Christmas Special went to an ad break. From that moment on, I became obsessed with Doctor Who and, more importantly, David Tennant became my role model in life. I pursued being an actor for ten years due to his inspiring performances. Recently, one of my lifelong dreams came true when I finally met him and he signed my arm, which I later got tattooed. I had planned on saying “See you in the 60th anniversary” but realised he’d probably get told or asked that same thing a thousand times on that day alone.
One time, in 2019, I was having an average, mundane shift in work when I heard from a colleague that Russell T Davies was watching a film in one of our cinema screens. Suddenly, I was overcome with excitement. This excitement was slightly punctured when a supervisor strictly warned me that I would be sacked if I asked him for a photograph or signature. I made sure I was there timely for the credits with my bin bag in hand & him (and what I presume to be his date) were the last to leave the screen. I thanked Russell for everything and asked whether he’d ever come back to do “a sneaky little episode” and he said something along the lines of “No, it’s like going back to an old job. You wouldn’t go back to an old job and neither would I” which was a sentiment I completely understood. He then asked whether I wanted a selfie and I said “No, I’ll get sacked if I do” and he told me “You won’t, I’ll make sure of it”. Two years later, in 2021, it was confirmed that Russell T Davies will be returning as the head writer/showrunner of Doctor Who from 2023 onwards. He had lied to my face and it was the best lie I’ve ever been told.
Since the announcement of RTD’s return (amazingly dubbed “RTD2”), we’ve heard that the Tennant era production team are coming back in the form of Bad Wolf Productions including Julie Gardener, Phil Collinson and composer Murray Gold. Hyperbolically speaking, the whole golden age team-expect Tennant- has been announced.
During lockdown 2020, the Doctor Who franchise persisted through it’s multi-media mega story Time Lord Victorious which expanded the plot of the 10th Doctor’s penultimate story. Spanning across books, vinyl’s, audio dramas, escape rooms, immersive theatre, mobile apps, magazines and comics, this event was brilliant. Though the 8th Doctor, 9th Doctor and, current, 13th Doctor were all involved in this story, the main character is clearly the 10th Doctor. Tennant’s incarnation of the Doctor also heavily starred in Big Finish releases that year and in a lot of Doctor Who merchandise. As a result, it became a meme that the BBC was placing Doctor Who on the back of a man who had left 10 years ago and, if they were, then it was clearly working- embodied by the fact that fan-organised Lockdown Twitter re-watches of 10th Doctor episodes eclipsed that of the official re-watches for Jodie Whittaker’s era.
In wake of all this, David Tennant is being heavily rumoured to be reprising the role of the Doctor. Now this is basically a given anyway due to the upcoming 60th anniversary (so obviously there’ll be some form of multi-doctor adventure) and something that is a matter-of-fact given wouldn’t garner paramount excitement. Steven Moffatt knew this and devised John Hurt’s incredible war Doctor for some major shock value for the 50th anniversary. Now, there is literally nothing else that comes to mind which would arise such a shock (whilst also reviving the show in the public consciousness) as Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor regenerating back into fan-favourite David Tennant’s Doctor. Any other possibilities have been done before such as the Doctor not regenerating and simply dying (The Impossible Astronaut) and the Doctor being revealed to have incarnations which predate their first (The Timeless Children). If I really racked my brain then the only other idea would be for the Doctor to regenerate into two separate people but this would not be the colossal shock-hit as David Tennant’s return to the main role would be. This is an obvious and easy victory for the show to magnetise an entire generation back into caring. If I know this then obviously the best writer in the country also knows this.
As previously mentioned, the Tenth Doctor’s final words were “I don’t want to go”. The Doctor did not want to leave that body. There’s a fan theory which I really like behind why he says this, which goes as follows: The 10th regeneration of the Doctor was the shortest & they only lived in that body for around 7 years which is a tiny amount of time when compared to the 200 years that Matt Smith’s Doctor lives during Time of the Doctor and the 4 billion years endured by Peter Capaldi’s in Heaven Sent.
Myself, and every other fan of my age, are nostalgic for the time when Tennant was the Doctor. The 10th Doctor, himself, was constantly nostalgic for his time spent with Rose (which made his death even more heartbreaking because he was only just starting to find who he was without her). Living in the past is a major theme surrounding this Doctor and if the Doctor truly felt that they didn’t want to go, then surely they could fix that for themselves. Literally repeating the past is just another Tuesday morning for the Doctor. Maybe this hypothetical new era could explore the dangers of living in the past and the acceptance of moving on- perhaps to the extent of the Doctor travelling back to 1920’s prohibition era America and gaining a homoerotic, Nick Carraway-esque companion who lives in respectful awe of him.
According to the rumours, Tennant would only reprise his role for three specials and then regenerate into the 15th Doctor and he would perhaps play the 14th with a personality/atheistic which would be distinct from the 10th. It sounds absolutely genius and fan-wanky at the same time. (Also, fuck anyone who complains about “fan service” because, when done right, fan service is absolutely MARVELous. Go and ask the highest grossing movie of all time). I believe that such a narrative approach would allow nostalgic fans, like myself, to receive suitable closure with the past and usher in an audience resurgence ready for whoever follows.
On a downer to argue the other side, the constant theme of Doctor Who is all about embracing change. This formally-obscure 60’s TV show is only alive today because of the phenomenal idea of regeneration to evolve the show so is looking backwards really the best idea? I mean… it is a time travel show after all so, I suppose it could be. Currently, the show is receiving record low viewing figures and, with the combination of a David Tennant return and arguably the best TV writer in the country, RTD could catapult the show upwards with his eyes closed. It just makes sense to me.
Other Possible 14th Doctors
Now, for the past year, I have had a £50 bet on Olly Alexander to be the next Doctor. His acting style absolutely has Doctor energy, which is obvious in Russell T Davies’ show It’s A Sin. Furthermore, Christopher Eccleston had Doctor energy in RTD’s The Second Coming immediately before being casted as the Doctor and the same goes for David Tennant in RTD’s Casanova. However, when the Olly Alexander rumours peaked, his agent came out and announced that Olly’s schedule was completely full due to the music success of his band Years and Years.
Recently, Hugh Grant was on tabloid cover pages as the rumoured next Doctor. His casting would also do amazingly for viewing figures and would make complete sense to me but, honestly, unless it’s David Tennant then I wouldn’t accept another cis-gendered, straight white man as the Doctor at the moment- especially proceeding Jodie Whittaker. I think this would be quite conservative of a choice.
Lydia West gets a lot of backing & absolutely deserves it. She’s fantastic in Russell T Davies’ Years and Years and It’s a Sin AND in Steven Moffat’s Dracula. If she gets cast as the next Doctor then I would be very happy.
Paddy Power listed both Katie Price and Katie Hopkins as potential bets for the next Doctor at 250/1 each. Take a moment to bask in the idea that there are parallel universes out there where this happens.
My dream casting for the Doctor is Danny John-Jules who is famous for playing Cat in Red Dwarf. He would bring so much fun, charisma, campiness and excitement to the show like he does as Cat.
Whoever it is (hopefully Tennant), I’m sure they’ll fit right in as the new Doctor always does.
My final Loki blog, ayyy! I’m not going to lie, I’ve been a bit burnt out on writing about Loki & I’m going to make sure the next blog I post is something I’m really passionate about. However, the subject matters are still really interesting to me (and sometimes terrifying!).
If you were the ruler of the universe, what kind of ruler would you be? Hopefully your answer is agood ruler. But how exactly do you define a what a good ruler is? Especially when being a lone ruler is to be a dictator, & probably an authoritarian one at that. I’m not going to go in depth about what being good means as I’ve already done that here when I spoke on Utilitarianism, Altruism, Universalisation and Deontology in relation to ‘The Good Place‘. What I’m aiming to do with this post is specifically look at Consequentialism.
Consequentialism theorises that an action is good or bad depending, only, on its outcome. You’ve probably heard it professed by some villainous fucks as “The ends justify the means“. Basically, if the final goal is good than it doesn’t matter how bad you act to get there. It’s an idea which instigated a certain prick (Hitler) into a pursuit of “world peace” by aiming to kill all other races, religions, sexualities and disabled people. Because Hitler is evil, does that make consequentialism evil? I, personally, say no as I’ve always been of the mindset of blaming the person and not the philosophy, which they have appropriated. Marxism is not to blame for the horrors of the Soviet Union- Joseph Stalin, and his interpretation of what Marxism is, is to blame.
In the finale of Loki, we discover that the entire MCU timeline is overseen by a person called He Who Remains. This man had rid free will from the universe, to prevent the timeline straying into a multiversal war, as a means to an end.
We’ve all done horrible, terrible, horrific things but now we have a chance to do it for good reason.
He Who Remains (2021)
If you’ve been paying attention to my posts then you may think that he’s not actually a bad guy for the act of taking away “Free will”. In our real-life universe, according to determinism, free will doesn’t actually exist because events are caused by what came before them and nothing can occur other than what occurs. That’s basically what He Who Remains is enforcing, something that is a true trait of life anyway (according to determinism).
On the flipside, He Who Remains is an authoritarian dictator and authoritarian dictators aren’t very cool. Ignoring the morality of the horrific means (or actions) for the sake of the ends (or goals), surprisingly, does not make you good. The example which always gets used in this circumstance is promises; if you make a promise with a person and break that promise then you have done something wrong, even if the consequences of breaking that promise are better.
However, He Who Remains was forced with the choice of two options: 1. Let the evil variants take over the universe or 2. Take over the universe himself. He chose the option which minimises pain, so is it fair to call his choice of ruling the universe an evil one?
Andthere we have it! Six-fucking-thousand words about the philosophical subtext of a show, which I think is a 7/10. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog series and also hope that I haven’t filled you with too much existential anxiety. And if the meaninglessness of living in a decaying body on a decaying rock in a decaying universe gets too much, the best possible advice I could give is to live in the moment.
In Latin, Nihil means nothing. Nihilism is the belief in nothing. It’s a very pragmatic belief. If you ask yourself “Why?” enough times about any part of life then, eventually, you will get stumped by the intrinsic meaninglessness of everything. Nihilism is often confused with pessimism (hopelessness) and cynicism (thinking everyone is full of shit) but, though those two attitudes are more in line with depression, a nihilist is not necessarily depressed. That’s not to say that a nihilistic perspective can’t spell depression but that nihilists can be content in life.
There’s multiple interpretations of the term Nihilism. The one I’ve been talking about, and will focus on for the remainder of this blog, is it’s broadly understood definition of life having 0 value/meaning- or, Existential Nihilism. Then there’s Political Nihilism, an idea that’s very in tune with John Lennon’s song Imagine, which suggests that the only way humanity can progress is by binning off all religions, societies and political orders. Ethical Nihilism rejects the ideas behind morality and ethics while viewing the concepts of “good” and “bad” as social constructs. Ethical Nihilists believe that freedom can only be found in us being able to do whatever we want.
God is Dead
Fredrich Nietzsche is famous for his proclamation that “God is Dead“, a metaphor for his assessment that people in the late 19th Century were turning away from their given meaning, which the church had bestowed (or forced) upon them, to create their own life-meanings. Following your own path and rejecting the status quo is a liberating thing for one to do. However, Nietzsche (an atheist himself) feared that this mentality would lead to the end of civilisations as “a river that has reached its end” because religion placed our communal sense of morality under the same umbrella. When we reject that & decided our own personal moralities then we are doomed to ALL eventually disagree and destroy each other (to see this in action for yourself, look at a website called Twitter!). From someone living 200 years after this evaluation- at a time where everyone is mentally ill, the planet is burning/flooding because of humanity, politics is a shitstorm, there’s a pandemic which is perpetuated by humans, there’s countless other major sufferings happening (which are too many to list) and technology is destroying/ruling the only aspects of our lives which we have left- I say to Nietzsche, “Yeah, you’re right mate! aHAhahHAHAhahahHAHfuck”. Diverting from the path of believing in a sky man is all well and good, if you have a path to divert to. Just as revolting against a dictator is great, if you have a manifesto in place for what happens when that ruler is overthrown. It’s like the fishes [I didn’t do a stupid here, fish is only the plural when they’re all the same species] in Finding Nemo (2003), them all still being in those bags fucked me up as a kid and now I know why…
Now, how does Nihilism relate to ‘Loki’ (2021)?
(I know I’ve taken a while to get to this but I’m much preferring to use Loki as a springboard for discussing a topic rather than analysing the episodes- which I still will do here!)
In episode 5 of Loki, Loki is swept into a purgatory that’s made up of everything which has been ‘pruned’ by the TVA- including a lot of variants of Loki. Here, there’s no point in anything and everyone is a nihilist for that reason. Because everyone’s a nihilist, trust is dead and all the inhabitants are constantly deceiving one another in a form of mass self-destruction (no pun intended). In this episode, Loki finds a small group of Loki variants who hide in an underground base. This base is eventually raided by the ruling party of Loki variants and, very soon, it’s a free for all as every Loki fights one another for ‘power’ over a barren wasteland. Our Loki stands back in detachment from the situation and shakes his head over how petty, trivial and meaningless it all is.
That free for all battle of Loki vs Loki hate is how Nietzsche predicted the world would become, as a result of everyone being disillusioned from societies & religions in order to create their own (intricate & specific) moral codes. And, now I’m seeing Nietzsche’s distant future play out before my eyes, I can’t help but agree with him. I’m not like the Loki who’s above it all and stands back judgingly shaking his head; I’m definitely guilty of scrapping with a defence of my political stances. Normally I love talking about existentialism & my existential dread but researching this topic has scared me because of how right Nietzsche’s prediction was. Take COVID for example; many people furiously defend their stance on this topic but the lack of black & whiteness (in terms of people’s differing opinions) creates infinitely more division through ideas about whether the virus is real, vaccines, lockdowns, masks, track & trace and the governments.
During this episode Mobius decides he wants to strive to tell everyone who works at the TVA the truth about the conspiracy (this is the MCU version of God is Dead) and then “Burn it to the ground”. But he makes no reference to what happens after that and there lies the doom, according to Nietzsche. So, if everything is intrinsically meaningless, why bother? Well, just because it is meaningless doesn’t mean we have to perceive it that way. We create our own meaning. The universe and the stars don’t care about whether we chose have a takeaway or cook for ourselves but we do. Just because things don’t have cosmic significance doesn’t mean they’re unimportant to us. I’ve said this before but Mobius will 100000% find his ultimate meaning in his passion for jet skiing.
However, I feel that it’s Loki who is (& will continue to be) a victim of Nietzsche’s threat through his discovery of the ultimate meaninglessness of everything as he found out infinity stones-which he was dedicated to collecting- are unimportant, every decision he ever made was not his own & the meaning he tried to create in a love for Sylvie ended in deception. That’s not forgetting that he rejected the offer of ruling the entire universe because even that is now too trivial and petty for his changed view of “the grand scheme of things”. The man who claimed to be “burdened with glorious purpose” became absolutely annihilated by purposelessness.
I like to end on a high, especially when my topics get too morbid, so what I will say is to take a step back. Meditate or go for a walk. Life is moving at a million miles a minute and the world is chaos but you’re not an ignorant, bad person for tuning it out every once in a while. Social media/phone breaks are a good answer. Go and have fun with the people that you love because life is to short to waste it in angst and loneliness (unless you’re in lockdown- in which case, go and have fun over Zoom or something!).
A Martyr is someone who faces persecution and death (usually by capital punishment or assassination) for advocating ideas which go against the general consensus. These individuals see the Reality of a situation amongst mass delusion. The time following their deaths is usually when people start to think, “Hang on they were a hero and they were onto something there”. Some of the most famous martyrs to ever live include Socrates, Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Ghandi, Harvey Milk, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Plato’s Theory of Forms
Plato is one of the most prolific thinkers in human history and is synonymous with his teacher, Socrates (who is also one of the most prolific thinkers in history). The Socratic method is a fundamental of Western philosophy and logic.
In 399 AD, Socrates was charged with impiety- the crime of speaking against the gods and “corrupting” Athenian youth in his incitement of young Athenian men into a revolution against Athens’ democracy. He had the options of 1. Leaving Athens 2. Conforming to the Athenian way 3. Paying a fine 4. Simply shutting the fuck up. Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock because he refused those options and, even then, could have escaped his death. But he stood his ground as Socrates stated that, “If I escape or propose any penalty or fine, however little, it would mean admitting guilt” and he did not want to set a bad precedent for others. Thus, he drank the hemlock and died.
The Death of Socrates- Jacques Louis David
In Plato’s The Republic, he compared life to being a prisoner trapped inside a cave and only being able to watch shadows which were projected onto the cave wall. These shadows were created by a perfect world (a world which is unbeknownst to the ones inside of this cave). The prisoners inside the cave perceive these shadows as reality, for example: if a dog walked past the cave, the prisoners would say the dog’s shadow is what a real dog is because they are not able to see the true dog. The shadows are flawed reflections of ideal forms. One prisoner escapes the cave and sees the world in its true form. Upon returning to the cave, the others all call him “stupid” and “blind” & violently resist the notion that everything they’ve ever known to be true could be wrong.
In episode 4 of Loki, Loki has learnt that the Time Variance Authority is made up of brainwashed people who were torn away from their previous lives and he sets about trying to break the news to his brainwashed friend, Mobius. After being informed by Loki that the TVA is lying to him, Mobius laughs in his face & throws this political criminal into the gulag imprisons him. It is only when Mobius sees physical evidence for himself that he becomes Disillusioned and begins to believe Loki, but even this is short-lived as the two are then “pruned” by judge Renslayer (another victim of TVA brainwashing) for holding such anti-establishment ideologies. Mobius lived in the cave but was set free to see reality and challenge authority which resulted in him being immediately ostracised and murdered.
Simply put, people don’t want to hear it. Ignorance is bliss. This mentality is part of the reason why the United Kingdom is such a mess at the minute. You’ll find that the people who’s lives are most ruined by horrendous political decisions are the ones who claim to not care about politics and probably do not vote. Being open to learning new information is very important when the morally corrupt people in power are thriving because of the sedation of the masses.
When finally confronting the infamous “Timekeepers”, Loki and Sylvie discover that it is all an illusion as the Timekeepers are literal puppets. They are shadows cast onto the walls of Plato’s cave, of which had been worshipped by the TVA agents. This echoes the Wizard of Oz who is presented as a metaphysical and omnipotent being but is actually just a man behind a curtain that gained status through deception. In this same vain, Boris Johnson is a puppet who made it to power with his constant lies and this puppet’s strings get pulled by incredibly rich men & companies.
Plato’s Theory of Forms does not only apply to a socio-political context as it can be taken in literal terms; the world we see may not be the real world. Philosophy was a precursor to science. Philosophy pondered questions about life and the universe for few millennia before science started answering them. Due to this, science still has a long way to go until all of these questions are answered. Personally, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave reminds me of the contemporary debate in physics about whether we live inside a simulation akin to The Matrix or The Sims. This correlation FACINATES me because Plato had no fucking clue what a computer is (for a start) and yet was able to ponder this theory 2000 years before it became a serious scientific debate? Like… what? In my opinion, surely he must have been onto something in that case!
In conclusion, we may be living in a false reality which is orchestrated by our authoritarian political leaders or we are living in a false reality which genuinely does not exist (or both!).
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