Doctor Who: The Perfectly Pleasant Present.

In the blog post from Tuesday, January 15, 2019, I covered the news that both the BBC and BBC America reported lower ratings for Doctor Who for the special airing January 1, 2019.

As I noted in that post, there are critics citing the low ratings for the New Year’s special as indicative of a downward spiral in interest in Chris Chibnall’s view of the Doctor Who universe.

I asked if there is any truth to that? And I ended the post with an ambiguous “Maybe. A little.”

So what is up with that?

Doctor Who Series 11 did well in the ratings, meeting or exceeding  benchmarks from previous seasons. Interest in the NEW Doctor Who was stoked to a near fever pitch with Chibnall and company guarding and controlling any and all advance publicity with little to hang a speculative fez on. Whatever the new Doctor Who would offer, we would discover it together when the episode aired. 

It was an effective tactic. For example, prior to episode 3, what little advanced peeks we could get at Doctor Who did not include the TARDIS. Would the Doctor actually be without the beloved police box for the entire season? I didn’t think this would be likely but damned if I didn’t feel a palpable sense of relief along with the Doctor when the TARDIS was finally discovered at the end of episode 2, The Ghost Monument. It wasn’t just a shared experience with everyone watching on their TV screens. It was a shared experience with the Doctor herself.

The problem with ratcheting up the tension on what exactly would we see next is there better be a delivery of something worth the tension.

The big reveal of the return of the TARDIS in episode 2 delivered on Chibnall’s strategy of playing his cards very close to his chest. Sadly, nothing else warranted the secrecy and tension.

I still think Doctor Who Series 11 was good. It just never ascended to great.

Doctor Who Series 11 was the present under the Christmas tree. You have no idea what’s under the wrapping and in the box. You speculate and puzzle over what is in the box.  Then comes Christmas morning and you rip off the wrapping and inside the box is a sweater. It’s a nice sweater. Well made. Comfy. Nice color. You could use a nice new comfy sweater of that color. It’s a good sweater. You like the sweater. You will wear the sweater.

It is a perfectly pleasant present. 

But really, when all is said and done, it’s just a sweater.

Doctor Who Series 11 was a nice new comfy sweater of an appropriately pleasing color.

I think when Series 11 came to its decidedly unclimatic conclusion with episode 10, the bloom may have been off the rose a bit. We had experienced a collection of competently assembled episodes that sated the appetite for new Doctor Who but that failed to fully satisfy the Whovian’s soul. 

Despite the trailers about a week out from January 1^st with the spine chilling screech of “Exterminate”, the capacity for excitement and tension on what will come next for Doctor Who had been eroded down to a dull luster.

Oddly enough, I think much of the problem was Chibnall's aversion to risk.

I say "oddly" in that Series 11 was filled with risks. Casting the first female Doctor. Avoiding previously established aliens and monsters. 

But I think Chibnall's focus on not scaring off new viewers led minimizing risks. Let's not frighten new viewers with previously established mythology. Let's not scare off the new viewers with any kind of story arc.

Avoiding these elements tended to take away some of the weight of the show. Each episode was a problem to solve and a crisis to endure then off to the next one. This approach may have been fine back in the classic era but modern TV watchers expect more. Even new fans of a show look forward to peeling back the layers of what has gone before. De-emphasizing arcs and mythology has its selling points but totally ignoring what has gone before can make a show seem less substantial. Less worth the effort.

I think it is possible that when Series 11 wrapped up, there was a diminished need to make the return trip to see what happens next. 

Well, Chris Chibnall and the gang have a full year to think about what they're going to do next. Hopefully Series 12 will find Doctor Who with a more satisfying balance between past and future.