Fandom, TV

Doctor Who and the POA

8,947 Comments

I’m now starting to feel that the new Doctor Who series has disturbing parallels to the Alfonso Cuarón era of the Harry Potter movies.

When Cuarón helmed the third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, fans rejoiced. Most fans rejoiced. I did not. The tone of the entire series darkened, most strikingly, visually. Figurative darkening was a necessity, as the source material was becoming more dangerous and entangled, but visually, the movie felt as if it had been shot through fog and the world seemed dim as a result. The sets showed the darkness, too. Everything began to look dilapidated and uninviting, even Hogwarts, which had seemed magical and bright in the previous films. This hazy, dark look continued throughout the films and was the primary reason I stopped watching them.

Steven Moffat, similarly genius in his storytelling, appears to be doing the same to Doctor Who. His Series 3 episode “Blink” is universally considered one of the best episodes of the modern era. As a standalone ep, I agree, it’s striking in its difference. As the tone of a series, it’s depressing and dull. I allowed the thought that Series 5 was a bit less colorful because of the transition to our Eleventh Doctor. I, like all of fandom, was feeling him out along with the new sassy companion. I was pleased. As this season began, we were hit with too many cliches and teases in the first two episodes. Following the convoluted story of the opener, we were treated with two dark, dank episodes that did little to harken back to the glory days of FUN Doctor Who, and I fear we will not return.

My fear is that I am alone in my distaste for the new style. I was completely isolated in the HP fandom as someone who preferred that a children’s story (and regardless of what is said, Harry Potter is a children’s story) remain a bit fantastic and bright. The response to last night’s cheerless episode “The Doctor’s Wife” written by Neil Gaiman has been exceedingly positive. Having several scenes of suffering and misery seems to appease fandom, and on that count we differ. I accept and appreciate darkness in the right fandom (BSG, GoT) but this is still, at heart, a show for younger fans with a fifty year tradition that should be respected.

8,947 thoughts on “Doctor Who and the POA”

  2. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love Eleven and Matt Smith. I loved Amy Pond (the new companion) prior to her elevated importance. If you think Rose was bad, I can’t wait until you meet Amy. 😆

    I still love the show, it’s just that the alarms are ringing that the tone is more serious than I would prefer.

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  3. :clap: I hear ya. You’re absolutely not alone. I keep reminding myself that this show is supposed to intended for kids and yet… it feels dark and depressing most of the time. I did really like the episode “The Docotor’s Wife” simply because it had some humor and an interesting look at the Tardis. It (at this point) seems to be a self contained story not having any significance one way or the other to the arc of the season, but as a whole I feel this season is getting too convoluted. I don’t mind a good mystery and timey-wimey craziness but I kind of take offense to a show runner trying to prove on a weekly basis how much more clever he is than everyone in all of fandom. It strikes me as especially narcissistic when you consider this show really is intended for kids (or rather maybe pre-teens) at this point. Anyway, I can’t pin point it exactly but the storytelling this season just rubs me the wrong way. *shrug* Maybe the second half this fall will bring it all together…?

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