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Doctor Who: Series 12 - An Arc Too Far?

Updated: Aug 9, 2022


I've started writing this post late on a Wednesday night, my brain keeps trying to tell me it's a Thursday in between trying to get me to sleep but it isn't... Anyway, so after a long day of A-Level studies I was thinking, what's the best thing I can do for my first post? I considered doing an introductory piece but then I figured I'd have a bio on my 'About the Author' section soon enough so I decided against it.


Instead, I consulted my list of post ideas to look for something that made a statement and would set the tone for my blog. I didn't want to be over-analytical but at the same time, I didn't want to be as basic as ranking my favourite Doctors or something like that straight off the bat. It didn't take much thought to decide on this topic because I'd felt similarly moved to talk about this three days ago. At the time of writing this, ‘The Timeless Children’ first aired on the Sunday just gone, and in hindsight, after such a momentous episode, perhaps a Doctor ranking would've been interesting after all, if perhaps a little difficult. But on that Sunday, I was doing some reflecting on my own written works of Doctor Who fanfiction and the entirety of the Chibnall/Whittaker era thus far, and I felt the need to tweet about my realisations. Maybe that sounds sad, but there was something that never quite sat right with me - 13 isn't my favourite Doctor (top 5 maybe, but definitely not number 1), neither Yaz, Graham, nor Ryan are my all-time favourite companions and none of her episodes nor either of her series are my all-time absolute favourites either, yet I feel a strangely strong connection and an almost sense of belonging in this era. Now, to be clear, that's not to say that I hate everything the era has to offer, I love and admire the bravery of this era, giving us the first two main female Doctors (the second of which being the first BAME actor to ever take on the role), a black companion with dyspraxia, another companion with Pakistani heritage, whose faith in Islam is both relevant to her storyline yet also creates positivity in a time of great Islamophobia generated by the media and also the first non-white Master, whose performance by Sacha Dhawan remains one of the best ever. But that's a whole different story, and this diverse representation is one that I will definitely come back to.




However, in this post, I want to talk about Chibnall's writing style as a whole. Looking at individual episodes would be counterproductive for the point I'm trying to make, considering the divisiveness and inconsistency of Series 11, comparing ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’ with ‘The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’. I'm not here to criticise Chibnall - he gets enough of that from the infamous NMDs - I'm here to say I kind of understand him.


When I went off on a tangent about belonging earlier, I did have a point to make. At the time of that original tweet, I wasn't sure why I felt that way, but upon reflection it could be for a variety of reasons such as the inclusivity and diversity of this era living up to the “Space for all” moniker it's promoted, or the fact that the scrutiny that the series has come under has ignited a passion to fight for it, but primarily, I put it down to identifying in Chibnall's creative choices.


Since taking the reins, it's fair to say Chibnall has received an unfair amount of criticism for his storytelling. Series 11 was comprised of 10 standalone episodes of mixed success and one of the major critiques that were attributed to this was issues with pacing through the episodes. Trying to cram an entire story into 50 minutes isn't always easy and when Chibnall's biggest success, 'Broadchurch', ran on series-long stories it may seem unsurprising that there were some teething issues with adjusting to the story-of-the-week format that the show has been used to for 56 years now. However, when considering Broadchurch, and its series-length storyline, it does seem a little odd that Chibnall chose not to have a noticeable story arc running through his debut series. Well, at least it did seem that way.


Whilst arguably, the Series 11 arc was about the character development of the companions (well, Graham and Ryan anyway...) it was, as a whole, rather inconsequential. Having now watched the entirety of Series 12 (more than once I might add) I believe the arc-lite approach to Series 11 to be a deliberate creative choice by Chibnall so as not to alienate casual viewers and try to entice higher ratings by keeping the plot easier to follow without getting too wrapped up in the half-century canon. Whilst ratings may not have increased has Chibnall hoped this series, it remains, to me, one of the best series there has ever been of the show and in answer to the question in the title of this post, no, the arcs running through Series 12 are definitely not a step too far. In fact, this is the most engaging the series has been in a while. And whilst there was a lot to unpack, Chibnall masterfully resolved it all in a satisfying revelation that left no loose ends as had become customary under Moffat's overly-convoluted storylines that often‘’ left plot threads hanging or were resolved in throwaway bits of dialogue. (I'm looking at you, Series 9... The Hybrid resolution may have had an answer, but that doesn't automatically mean it was the best it could've been...)


I suppose I do disagree with the idea of not having at least a small kind of story arc running through, like what they tried to set up with the Stenza, because character development should happen anyway, though I can see it as a good thing for setting up the bigger ideas explored through Series 12. I won't say the way Series 11 did that was perfect but it did what it had to, in order to set up the many mysteries of Series 12.


I came to this realisation when I was laying out the storyline for the second instalment of my own Doctor Who fanfics - for a number of different reasons my first volume was a far more simplistic run of stories, rewriting Peter Capaldi's final series as the Doctor, alongside Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas as Bill and Nardole respectively, albeit with my own original characters and a story arc running through, culminating in a couple of original adventures thrown in too, for good measure. Overall though, comparing it to its second volume, the first volume of ‘Adventures in Space and Time’ is far simpler than the second volume currently in development. In volume 1, there's only one real story arc running through it that's entwined with book one of the Torchwood prequel trilogy, which can both be read easily enough without reading the other. However, looking at Volume 2, because of all that Volume 1 established I'm now working with about 9 different arcs within this book because it's all been set up and they all go hand in hand together so nicely, I just find myself going “Ooh... that could work with that...” That's the way I write - storylines come to me in fragments and I link them together like puzzles.


So in summary, if Chibnall's creative choices have all been as deliberate as I believe them to be then he has been incredibly successful in establishing a revitalised sense of mystery within the show and has resolved his arcs wonderfully whilst also leaving some enticing threads open for Series 13 and I for one cannot wait to see what happens next, and I just hope I can take some of that panache in my own writing. Only time will tell...


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