To begin with let me say I'm sure many will criticise this episode for extremely stupid reasons. I think the focus on representation and having relevant conversations is important. While I don't think it was very well implemented that's not what made this episode a failure in my opinion. So let's get to it.
The 60th anniversary specials represent a key moment that will no doubt determine the future of Doctor Who as it enters a new era, and none of these is more important than the first episode.
Russell T Davies brings us back to the domesticity that typified his original run back in 2005. It's a welcome change and this focus on families and real life is sure to feed into the resolution of Doctor Who's most heartbreaking plot threads: Donna Noble's memory.
Due to some Time Lord regeneration mishaps, if Donna remembers The Doctor then her memories will come flooding back and destroy her. This is exactly the kind of powerful story we need at the core of these three specials. The resolution of a fan favourite character's story. One that's hung over The Doctor's head for 15 years. And yet...
Put it down to studio mandates or Davies' own preference but I strongly suspect that the idea for these specials was to create a new entry point to the series. In other words, these would need to be as close to standalone as possible while still giving long time fans the payoff they've been waiting for.
The result is that this first episode focuses almost entirely on an ineffectual 'twist' villain of the week whose spaceship needs to blow up London in order to take off. An insane piece of engineering by any standard but not out of place for a lot of weaker episodes of the show. But this needed to be so much more. It needed to focus on Donna's story, but it chose not to.
Relegating the emotional core of the story to a handwavey B-plot is a baffling choice. The Doctor functionally sacrifices Donna to defeat a beanie baby. She survives by pure plot contrivance and she and her daughter solve the Meta Crisis issue by just deciding that it isn't a problem anymore and shaking off some magic dust. They tell The Doctor that a male presenting Time Lord would never think to give up power, a strange thing to say to the most self-sacrificing character in the universe.
All of this presumably in order to make the following two episodes more self contained. So the result is the worst of both worlds: a lore-heavy first episode and a rushed conclusion to Donna's situation.
There's still hope for this era, but it's off to the worst start in long history of the franchise.
The 60th anniversary specials represent a key moment that will no doubt determine the future of Doctor Who as it enters a new era, and none of these is more important than the first episode.
Russell T Davies brings us back to the domesticity that typified his original run back in 2005. It's a welcome change and this focus on families and real life is sure to feed into the resolution of Doctor Who's most heartbreaking plot threads: Donna Noble's memory.
Due to some Time Lord regeneration mishaps, if Donna remembers The Doctor then her memories will come flooding back and destroy her. This is exactly the kind of powerful story we need at the core of these three specials. The resolution of a fan favourite character's story. One that's hung over The Doctor's head for 15 years. And yet...
Put it down to studio mandates or Davies' own preference but I strongly suspect that the idea for these specials was to create a new entry point to the series. In other words, these would need to be as close to standalone as possible while still giving long time fans the payoff they've been waiting for.
The result is that this first episode focuses almost entirely on an ineffectual 'twist' villain of the week whose spaceship needs to blow up London in order to take off. An insane piece of engineering by any standard but not out of place for a lot of weaker episodes of the show. But this needed to be so much more. It needed to focus on Donna's story, but it chose not to.
Relegating the emotional core of the story to a handwavey B-plot is a baffling choice. The Doctor functionally sacrifices Donna to defeat a beanie baby. She survives by pure plot contrivance and she and her daughter solve the Meta Crisis issue by just deciding that it isn't a problem anymore and shaking off some magic dust. They tell The Doctor that a male presenting Time Lord would never think to give up power, a strange thing to say to the most self-sacrificing character in the universe.
All of this presumably in order to make the following two episodes more self contained. So the result is the worst of both worlds: a lore-heavy first episode and a rushed conclusion to Donna's situation.
There's still hope for this era, but it's off to the worst start in long history of the franchise.
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