Welcome to The Beat’s coverage of Doctor Who series 14 premiere, or season one depending on who you ask. Remember everything is wibbly wobbly, timey wimey. With the premiere of the new season of Doctor Who around the corner, we thought we’d introduce some of the The Beat’s Team TARDIS – Dan Morris, Dean Simons and Derrick Crow – their thoughts on the show, its history, and their hopes for the new season. As the Tenth Doctor said ‘Allons-y!”
What is your personal relationship to Doctor Who?
D. MORRIS: Much like the Doctor on the show, Doctor Who was something in background of my life before it became a big deal. I was aware of the Doctor Who comics thanks to reprints by Marvel in the early 90s and the Fox Network aired a Doctor Who movie (which introduced Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor. US shows like The Simpsons made Doctor Who jokes. So Doctor Who was something I was aware of but not fully invested.
But the show came fully into my life like it did for many older millennials with the revival which aired here on the Sci-Fi Channel starting in 2006. It’s hard to explain to those not there what a breath of fresh air Doctor Who felt like for US TV science fiction fans. At the time, I’d lost interest in both Star Wars and Star Trek so a science fiction series that could provide social commentary and never take itself too seriously was perfect. Also as someone who loves monsters and weird sci-fi stuff, Doctor Who was practically designed for me.
Like Star Trek, Doctor Who is something that I’ve bonded over with friends. In fact, Doctor Who was one of the things that my spouse and I connected when we started dating. Doctor Who is a huge part of our lives. So much so that the show was a huge part of our wedding. It never feels like Christmas for us if we don’t watch the Christmas Specials. We even have a TARDIS!
DEAN SIMONS: I am a very casual viewer. I am UK based. It was always kind of in the background when I was a kid in the ‘90s. Even though the BBC had retired it in 1989 (not long after I was born), I recall watching an occasional episode being rerun either in the UK or on BBC World when traveling with my family on holiday in France. It was always that odd little sci-fi show with the cheap costumes and funky dialogue that was curiously alluring. I didn’t dive in. It was old-TV and as a kid I liked the newer, shinier stuff. I also had no entry-point. Nor a reliable way to watch it (ah, the pre-streaming world…)
When the show was revamped and returned to TV screens in the UK in 2005, I was in my teens. I had long been sucked into various sci-fi TV in the interim years – Farscape, Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica – and was rather excited. Me and my sister watched the first season and I think the second season, every episode coming traditionally after Strictly Come Dancing (UK equivalent of Dancing With The Stars hosted by the beloved British entertainer Bruce Forsyth) on a Saturday night. It was our ritual for a little while.. It was a great combo…and great fun.
The Tennant years didn’t grab me as much at the time – maybe I was a little jaded by the departure of Eccleston so soon. I fell out for a while when I went to university, not least because the BBC had yet to figure out its own streaming service, the iPlayer – which would debut in a rudimentary form in late 2007. I lost interest as college life took off and Who stopped being go-to viewing for awhile.
Matt Smith’s run was the first I mostly watched beginning to end almost every week on iPlayer. From Peter Capaldi onward I would dip in for a few episodes, get a feel for the new Doctor and the writing, then either stick around or bounce. Often I was too busy to watch. Jodie Whitaker I was really excited about but wish the writing was much better. I barely managed more than about three episodes of her run.
I did usually watch the Christmas/New Year specials. It’s a British TV tradition. And I usually had nowhere else to go, nor anything to do (things tend to shut down at Christmas in UK). Quite liked the first Gatwa special. Not least because Ruby’s home street is near where I currently live in Bristol.
DERRICK CROW: Unlike most fans, I didn’t grow up with Doctor Who. In fact I didn’t get into it until after I was newly fresh out of high school, Matt Smith was the current Doctor, and one of my best friends was telling me I should give it a chance because he thought I would like it. So I started with Matt Smith. The irony in doing that, however, my friend had only up to that point watched Christopher Eccelston and David Tennant so even when I got into it we still didn’t have much to talk about at first.
I followed it closely after that, watching Smith and then going back and catching up on the previous two of nuWho. And when the 50th anniversary was coming up, my then girlfriend (now wife) decided she wanted to get into the show so we binged the three nuDoctors together and it was a wonderful bonding time for us. Back then I did a lot of research on Doctor Who, got into the wider parts of it where I could and I just fell head over heels in love with this show about a mad man with a box.
Unfortunately, life hit hard around Peter Capaldi’s final season and I didn’t finish it while it was airing. It took me a long time to make my way back to the show (I never stopped loving it, but I stopped prioritizing it) and I even missed out on all of Jodie Whittaker’s era. The return of Russell T. Davies and the announcement of Ncuti Gatwa, however, lit a new fire under me. I caught up on everything I missed, binged all of the spin-offs, started the Classic era finally, and thankfully the digital landscape has changed so much in the last fifteen or so years that access to wider Doctor Who media became easier to access. I haven’t looked back since. My passion for this franchise has only grown and will only keep growing from here.
Who is your favorite Doctor? Favorite Companion?
MORRIS: When Matt Smith took over as the Eleventh Doctor, he mentioned the 1967 serial “Tomb of the Cybermen” as his favorite and inspiration for his Doctor. I watched it and Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor very quickly became my favorite Doctor. He’s very silly but Troughton can make him a force to be reckoned with. The Doctor is best when he’s a bit eccentric and can put his foes off balance. Other doctors came along who perfected that quirkiness (Tom Baker and Peter Capaldi come to mind) but Troughton did it first. For the modern era though, I really loved Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, the madman in a box.
As for my favorite companion, it’s definitely Martha Jones. Freema Ageyman was great and I think is an under appreciated companion in the show’s legacy. Of course, Elisabeth Sladen’s Sarah Jane Smith remains one of the all time great companions. One of the smartest, feistiest, and bravest people who joined the Doctor on his adventures.
SIMONS: Probably Matt Smith. I haven’t watched every episode that ever existed of Doctor Who (not yet, anyway; it’s on the list) – so I can’t be classified a super fan – but I found Smith’s run saw a surprisingly little leap with plots. Plus he was a perfect combo of charming and goofy. Favourite companion? I really dug Amy and Rory. They were a fun couple.
CROW: I will probably always say Matt Smith, just because he was my first Doctor and I frankly think he’s amazing in the role; however, the more I experience Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor adventures – whether in the TV movie, novels, or audio dramas – he has quickly risen to close #2, if not potentially #1. He just embodies the Doctor in a way that works so well with his lively attitude, unintentional suave demeanor, and incredible empathic nature.
As for my favorite companion, that’s a tough one. I love Amy and Rory to death, as well as Martha Jones. I’m also a huge fan of K9. Of course, now combing through Classic Who it’s possible my answer to this will continue to evolve. I love Steven and Vicki, as well as Ben and Polly from William Hartnell (1st Doctor)’s era, and Jamie McCrimmon from Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor)’s era. Oh, and I love Charley Pollard who is an 8th Doctor companion. I don’t think I have a real concrete answer for this yet.
What is your favorite Doctor Who Monster or Villain?
MORRIS: I love the Sontarans, or as I call them, militaristic potato people. There’s something about their weird design that I find delightful, especially their shiny black jumpsuits and golf ball looking space ships from the seventies. Like any great Doctor foe, they’re a tad ridiculous looking but still threatening.
SIMONS: Probably the Daleks. An obvious answer but turning a salt shaker with a plunger and death ray into a haunting villain is pure design genius.
CROW: The Weeping Angels. They’re such a cool concept and are always super scary in the episodes focusing on them. I used to have a changing screensaver on my computer that was screencaps of a Weeping Angel on a security camera moving closer and closer. I love them.
Which story or serial is your favorite?
MORRIS: As much as I want to say “Tomb of the Cybermen”, I have to go with “Genesis of the Daleks”. The Doctor bears witness to the birth of his greatest foes, meets the lunatic Davros, and gets confronted with a choice that has massive consequences for the universe. Tom Baker’s acting in the climax may be his best as the Fourth Doctor. The script by Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, is one of his best. This is Doctor Who operating on all cylinders.
SIMONS: My memory is failing me but I did a rewatch of ‘00s Who recently and the fourth episode of the second season, “The Girl in the Fireplace” was remarkably well done. A single episode where the Doctor features periodically in the life of the woman destined to become Madame de Pompadour, whilst at the same time mere minutes or hours have passed for the Doctor, who is trying to solve a mystery. Written by the soon-to-become showrunner Steven Moffat. Cracking stuff.
CROW: Easy, both Vincent and the Doctor written by Richard Curtis, and The Doctor’s Wife written by Neil Gaiman. One focuses more on the historical side of Doctor Who and the other goes hard sci-fi. Both are incredibly emotional, but also fun stories and ever since they aired have stuck with me as wonderful stories that should be experienced. In fact I once attended an anime club meeting when my wife was in college and the members there were open to checking out Doctor Who, so I showed them these two episodes specifically and most of them walked away interested in watching more. Mission accomplished.
What are you hoping for in this series of the show?
MORRIS: As I rewatch Russell T Davies’ first season on the show, I hope this first season sticks to that model. That first season largely ignored classic Doctor Who monsters and villains in favor of establishing who The Doctor was and what it was like to be his companion. There’s plenty of drama mined from Rose Tyler disappearing for long gaps of time. I hope this series of the show gets back to that human element. The Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday get more grounded conflicts that don’t revolve around Daleks, Cybermen, or the Master.
SIMONS: For the show to feel fresh and fun again without being bogged down by convoluted (and badly written) plots and dialogue. Also to see Ncuti Gatwa have a ball in the role.
CROW: RTD has said in interviews that he plans to focus on fun in this new era and I think that’s a great place to start. Doctor Who is at its best when it combines fun and strong emotion and I think we’re going to get that. Also personally I like when characters or monsters from the classic era return so for me that would be nice to see, but also give me some wonderful new monsters as well. I know we’re getting Mel Bush again so that’s exciting.
Since it’s already announced they’re filming the next series, what do you hope to see happening down the line for the Fifteenth Doctor?
SIMONS: Just a solid arc with plenty of bonkers episodes in between. Also that the show retains its uniquely campy, British essence…but with the added perks of Disney money.
MORRIS: As I rewatch that first RTD era, I hope that the Doctor and his companions can just be friends without romantic entanglements. So many love triangles in those early seasons!
CROW: I do hope we get something that’s actually emotionally resonant with the whole Timeless Child thing. Since it’s out there we need some sort of payoff that makes us really care about those changes. It’s something the Doctor has to reckon with now. I think RTD can handle that.
The season premiere of Doctor Who airs Friday May 11th on Disney+.
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