Doctor Who Revisited: the 60th Specials

 

So NO Doctor Who Is NEW post this week.

After waiting for OVER two years to see what Russell T Davies was going to do with his return to Doctor Who (the announcement of his return was made in September 2021), we've blown threw the three 60th anniversary specials with David Tennant and Catherine Tate,  

We stand on the threshold of a new era with new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa with a new special dropping on Christmas Day. (My Doctor Who Is NEW post on that will appear on Wednesday, December 27th.)  

But let's take a moment and reflect on what we've experienced so far from the three 60th anniversary specials. 

Whovians have developed certain expectations around anniversary specials. The template was established in 1973 for the 10th anniversary when Jon Pertwee's Doctor met his previous incarnations played by William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.   

There was a lot of expectations that at least somewhere over the course of 3 specials, Russell would find somewhere to do some version of a multi-Doctor story. 

Well, he did but it wasn't what you're expecting. Instead of Tennant's 14th Doctor interacting with a previous incarnation, he teamed up with the next one, Gatwa's 15th Doctor. 

The phrase "it wasn't what you're expecting" can be applied to everything Russell did with these three specials. The specials were a celebration of Doctor Who's 60 year history if you were paying attention.    

The first special is a basic "alien threat to Earth" story that draws in regular people who are instrumental to helping the Doctor save the day.  It's an archetype of a classic recurring motif in Doctor Who throughout both the classic series and the modern era.  "The Star Beast" is a celebration of a basic truth of Doctor Who: the Doctor may be the star of the show but the heroes are the people who help them save the day.  

Russell kept a tight lid on what the hell "Wild Blue Yonder" was about and all of fandom just KNEW there were big surprises in store. That would be where we would get the multiple Doctors showing up. Nope! What we got was a tribute to that classic staple of Doctor Who story telling, the "base under siege". From the 1st Doctor's "The Tenth Planet" to the 13th Doctor's "Eve of the Daleks", the story of the Doctor stuck somewhere and unable to leave until the threat is resolved  is a long time element in the Doctor Who mythos. 

And "Wild Blue Yonder" also acknowledges the undercurrent horror that lurks underneath the shiny veneer of a "children's science fiction program". Shows like the 4th Doctor's gothic mystery "The Horror of Fang Rock" or the 7th Doctor's "The Curse of Fenric" or Russell's own 10th Doctor adventure "Midnight" reminds us that the Doctor's journeys take him into the light as well as into darkness.  

"The Giggle" gives us a classic recurring trope of the Doctor vs. an adversary with power, real power to shatter worlds and render life into dust. Any given Dalek story applies here as well as the original appearance of the Toymaker against William Hartnell's Doctor in 1966. Or any time the Master shows up and thinks the solution to what will make him happy is power! The Doctor beats power with wit, intelligence, wisdom and cunning. 

Basically, the 3 specials revisit the tropes of Doctor Who both classic and modern but with enough twists to challenge our expectations.

Next week for the Christmas special, the Doctor and new companion Ruby Sunday go up against space goblins with the life of a baby at stake.

And how best to convey that threat than through a musical number.

Yeah, that'll get the kids and a lot of adults hiding behind the sofa.