Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Spoiler alert...









But the group of Whovian fans seemed kind of unreal because they​
were, in fact, not real. Though there's a bit at the end that shows​
that the manipulation that defeated Lux rendered the fans real,​
after all. Which was a bit of a stretch, I'll admit, but fell in​
with the sense of wonder-fulness.
  

    
The Whovian fans did seem to exist in a state of almost​
Heisenbergian uncertainty!

I'm not sure the script of `Lux made an awful lot of logical sense​
at any point, which to be honest is why I struggle with it. I like​
logical stories, not wild wacky surreal ones in which anything can​
happen at any time for any reason. It makes my teeth itch.

Doctor Who used to be firmly science based - no magic, no gods,​
nothing like that. But RTD has shifted that with the introduction of​
the gods of discord (I think that's what they are called? Please do​
feel free to connect me if I'm wrong) to give him more latitude to​
be inventive and creative on the perfectly understandable grounds​
that after nearly 70 years the show needs new, fertile ground to​
inspire brand new stories. But inevitably it means that some fans​
won't feel quite as at home in the new context as they did, and for​
me at the moment I'm one of those.

Which is not to say that I don't appreciate how well the episodes​
are done - the performances are wonderful (I'm particularly enjoying​
Belinda, she's so much more engaging than Ruby so far) and the show​
looks fantastic. Although I did think that Lux has some borrowed​
aesthetics - the robots looked like the ones from The Husbands of​
River Song (2015?) and their emoticon facial expressions were like​
the bots from "Smile". Little things like that distracted me this​
week.
  

    
Apparently the concept of the Gods of Chaos (or Pantheon of Discord)​
originated with the Trickster, which first appeared in "Whatever​
Happened to Sarah Jane" (2007).​
<https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Trickster#Early_life>
  

    
There's a lot of retrofitting going on here! I don't think there was​
any intention to link The Trickster to a wider array of​
pan-dimensional beings originally, but it's become an effective way​
of sweeping up a whole class of alien adversaries into one "all you​
can eat" buffet.

There's no question that in terms of the show, The Toymaker (hen​
known as the Celestial Toymaker, played by Michael Gough in 1966)​
came first when he popped up and was thwarted by William Hartnell's​
first incarnation.

Then there was Sutekh who was in one of the best loved Tom Baker​
stories, Pyramids of Mars, in 1975. There was no suggestion at the​
time that he was a "god", just an advanced alien entity, but Russell​
T Davies decided he worked well alongside the Toymaker and so​
promoted him to godhood to be the season 1 Big Bad. They also seem​
to have swept up the Mara (from Peter Davidson stories Kinda and​
Snakedance) as members of the pantheon. 

But the idea of unifying all this mythology didn't really kick in​
until Wild Blue Yonder (the second of the 2023 David Tennant​
specials) and the moment that the Doctor failed to cast salt along​
the threshold at the edge of the universe, allowing the banished​
gods access to our universe.

I think this is all very untidy, as is inevitably the case trying to​
make sense of 60+ years of television continuity created by dozens​
of different writers, producers and script editors down the decades.​
Other elemental beings in the Whoniverse include The Eternals (from​
Enlightenment) and the Guardians of Time (White and Black varieties)​
and I confess that I'm not remotely sure what links and comparisons​
there are between then all.

The Whoniverse is a big and complicated place sometimes.
  

    
So we're half way through the new season of Doctor Who, and we're​
happily chatting all about it inside the WELL (check out the​
<whovians.> conference and <sftv.> if you're a member and you​
haven't already.)

There's not been a lot of conversation here in the public-facing​
Inkwell but I'd love to hear what people are thinking about the new​
run. If you're not a WELL member then you can still send​
contributions by emailing inkwell[@]well.com.

To recap: I think there were mixed feelings about the first episode,​
"The Robot Revolution", which introduced the new companion of​
Belinda, who is great. I had to watch it twice before I warmed up to​
it. It was a bit too frenetic for me but I think that was​
intentional as it conveyed the sense of disorientation and confusion​
that Belinda was feeling, being swept up in all of this.

The second episode was "Lux" which was a very meta episode in which​
the Doctor confronts a cartoon come to life and even encounters a​
group of Who fans watching the show on TV. Everyone seemed to love​
this, but - while I admired the inventiveness and fresh energy of​
the episode - I didn't warm to it as much as others did. Am I a​
grouch?

The first two episodes had a very vibrant, day-glo sense to them -​
like watching the Batman movies made by Joel Schumacher. I much​
prefer the darker Burton Batman movies and so I was pleased when the​
new Who season returned to that sort of serious fare with the third​
episode, called ... "The Well". Naturally all of us here were rather​
invested in this one being a top episode!

And for me it was, the best of the season so far. Very much like​
classic episodes of old like "Earthshock" or "The Satan Pit". It​
actually turned out to be an unexpected sequel to a past episode​
(but not one of the ones just cited) and I really enjoyed that sort​
of thing. As was the most recent outing, "Lucky Day", which was​
Doctor-lite and concentrated on last year's companion Ruby as she​
attempts to reassimilate back into normal life. The only problem was​
that it felt a bit too similar to least year's "73 Yards" to me and​
as a whole came across more like older vintage Who than the rest of​
the stories so far this season.

Overall, the thing we're all waiting for is the Season Arc to​
emerge. So far it seems that the Earth has ceased to exist, which is​
inconvenient, but where is Russell T Davies doing with that idea?

Anyway, that's enough from me. What does anyone else think? Get in​
touch if you've been following this series or have thoughts about​
any Who-related aspects.
  

    
I liked "Lucky Day" quite a bit, though, because it made an​
important political statement about fascists using social media to​
disrupt real and valuable government operations. 

Meanwhile I'm bummed at reports that Ncuti Gatwa is leaving Dr. Who.​
But I've already thought of a replacement, Chiwetel Ejiofor...!
  

    
I liked "Lucky Day" too but there were definite echoes of past​
Dctor-lite stories going on there as well. No bad thing, those​
stories have generally been pretty good and some of the best Who​
episodes of the last two decades.

The important political statement felt to many that it was an​
uncredited script insertion by showrunner Russell T Davies. I can​
certainly see why people would say that. In addition it was a little​
too obvious and on-the-nose for many which has put some people off​
it. But like you, I thought it was much-needed and clearly something​
the author (whether RTD or not) felt strongly about, and gave a​
proper depth to the episode.

> I'm bummed at reports that Ncuti Gatwa is leaving Dr. Who.

I'm even more bummed by rumours that Disney is pulling the plug on​
its co-production deal and this would mean that the show as a whole​
gets mothballed. 

Given that these episodes were filmed at the start of 2024 before​
the last season aired, and there has been no news of new filming​
since then, it does feel rather like something should be happening​
for 2026 but isn't.
  

    
Though after 62 years of stops and starts, I wouldn't count 'em out.
  

    
It feels strange to talk about a show that stops and starts when the​
first run lasted 26 years and the second has been going for 20 which​
by almost every other show's standards is a model of longevity!

But you're right, it has been stop-start, and always seemingly on​
the edge of being cancelled. When the show began in 1963 it was​
given a 13 week deal. Then the Daleks came along and it became a​
cultural phenomenon and suddenly it was running year round (with a​
brief hiatus for Christmas). 

By the end of the 60s it seemed that the show had run it course. It​
was touch and go whether they carried on after Patrick Troughton​
stood down. Then bizarrely a format revamp and the casting of Jon​
Pertwee made it a huge hit again, and it only got bettr when Tom​
Baker took over. The BBC couldn't cancel if if they wanted to. And​
they did want to, behind the scenes...

TV changed in the 1970s and the series was gradually pruned down to​
26 weeks per year which was standard for the period (most hour-long​
shows only ran to 13 episodes per season in the UK). It jogged along​
pretty well until the infamous 'cancellation' shock where BBC​
controller Michael Grade put it on an 18 month hiatus in 1985 and​
only grudgingly brought it back due to petitions and protests. Even​
so, the break rather killed the show's fan base and when it was​
'rested' again in 1989, this time it didn't come back.

Well, it did - with a TV movie starring Paul McGann in 1996 which​
did well but not well enough to get a series order from Fox in the​
US. Then it was rested again until Russell T Davies came along: the​
BBC wanted to hire him away from independent networks and the only​
thing they had to lure him that no one else had was Doctor Who, so​
they offered him that. And it worked.

The show was pretty regular from then through the​
Eccleston/Tennant/Smith years but then the cost of making it had​
meant it's had a year off every now and then. Slowly it got tired​
and ratings went down: by the end of Jodie Whitaker's tenure the BBC​
plan was to 'rest' the show (translation: another 16 years of​
hibernation) but then RTD declared an interest in returning and the​
Disney co-production deal came along, and suddenly it was hot​
property again.

But I don't think the first Disney Who season delivered the ratings​
that the Mouse House was looking for. There's been something​
luke-warm about the way that the new series has been promoted making​
me wonder if Disney hasn't lost interest and is seeking a back door​
exit. If that happened I'm not sure whether there would be a way​
back for Doctor Who in future, or at least not for some time.