Looking Forward to Season 1

Did we ever think in 2024 Doctor Who’s home in most of the world would be Disney? That Mickey Mouse would be living it up in his headquarters, rolling around in his money, hungry for the prosperity our humble little British show will bring him? Imagine all the cheese he’ll be having. Say what you will about the show’s so-called ‘Disneyfication’, but recently we have had a flood of trailers, news of a double premier, and all eight episode titles for the new season! So, count me happy, even if the mouse is richer than is probably necessary.

With that jovial commentary of corporate entertainment out of the way, let’s get into the fun stuff. Episode titles! It is fun to speculate, and it is fun to get excited. We have so much to be excited about. Doctor Who has a huge budget. It has the hip and talented Ncuti Gatwa in the title role. Russel T Davies is writing! Mel, Rose Noble, Kate Stewart. A hologram of David Tennant. New ideas, echoes to the past (don’t pretend you don’t like nostalgia!).

I’m so excited that I am compelled to write about the episode titles for Season One of this brand-new era of the show. What are my first impressions? What do I think they mean? Do any of them signal the return of K9? Grab a cuppa, and let’s take our Voyage (of the Damned).

Episode One: Space Babies

Written by Russel T Davies

We have seen from the trailers that there are indeed titular space babies in this episode (presumably) that speak.

OK, I know Doctor Who is weird, but what is the plan here? The babies want to take over Earth and the Doctor has to stop them? The babies are adopted like Ruby and just refuse to grow up? No. The babies are all Benjamin Button-types put under a spell by the episode’s true antagonist: the beastly sharp-toothed-looking thing we saw in the preview clip in the Christmas episode of Doctor Who Unleashed. Or maybe all three of those are true.

To be quite honest, I don’t think these space babies will be the centre of the episode. I have a funny feeling this beast of the ship which is home to the babies will be another misunderstood alien who is actually protecting the kids.

What I much prefer the focus to be is the premise introduced in the trailer of Ruby remarking ‘What if I change history by stepping on a butterfly?’, only to do just that. What a fun idea! I’d much prefer this wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey-focused narrative to kick-start the show, especially if many are tuning in for the very first time on Disney+. Would space babies and the main plot be too weird for first-timers?

Given that most of what we see in trailers of Ruby in this episode is not her as a lizard person, we can assume that the butterfly thing gets sorted very quickly. So, space babies it is.

But, if we are counting The Church on Ruby Road as a faux ‘episode one’ of this season, you could argue that is the more accessible jumping on point before we get to the spaceship with a Xenomorph and talking infants.

You know, just writing that sentence has made me realise that Doctor Who is a hoot and really shouldn’t dull its weirdness for anyone. If audiences on Disney+ don’t like it, they can stream Pirates of the Caribbean instead!

Episode Two: The Devil’s Chord

Written by Russell T Davies

Oh, this one I am looking forward to.

The hotly anticipated musical episode is set in the 1960s with the Beatles at Abby Road Studios. They could very well have actors playing them with terrible accents, and Abbey Road looks more like Cardiff (See? Still the same show!).

Of course, we aren’t 100% sure this is a musical episode, but ALL the signs point that way. Dance choreography in the trailers, Ncuti singing once more, Jinks Monsoon’s piano-themed attire, the Doctor and Ruby’s full-blown musical number in the Christmas special, the inclusion of one of the finest bands in the history of music… I mean, come on?

I’m ready to jam to this episode. This will surely be the most fun Doctor Who has had in a while.

And lastly for this one, who is Jinks Monsoon’s character? A new incarnation of a legacy character? An entirely new villain altogether? Either way, they ooze charisma in the promotional material, so I’m sure they will be a great addition to the episode.

Episode Three: BOOM!

Written by Steven Moffat aka the Moffball aka the Moffbag

First off, if we are right about where the scene is placed, this episode contains the most awesome line from the trailers (well, apart from ‘GIVE ME THE LOVIIIIIIIIING!’)

“I will shatter this silly little battlefield into dust. In a heartbeat. Into dust.” – The Doctor

I mean… Moffat’s writing, Ncuti’s acting. How can this not be good?

After Steven Moffat stepped down as showrunner, I truly didn’t realise how good we had it. For all his faults, he would write with such iconography, creativity, humour, horror and goofiness. He was a credit to the show, and I am so happy he’s back for more.

So what is BOOM! all about? Well, we can expect explosions I’m guessing. Looks like an action-packed, gun’s blazing affair. Something tells me that Moffat has something more than a romp action ride, however. Not least because he describes the episode as ‘Hitchcockian’. I hope this means there is something more thrilling and suspenseful behind the scenes here because from the outset, it looks to be a bit of a superficial pew BOOM! smash kind of episode.

I have enough faith in Moffat to not disappoint, however. I’m sure he’s lined up an absolute cracker, as always.

Episode Four: 73 Yards

Written by Russell T Davies

Very little is given away about this episode. We see the Doctor and Ruby land somewhere near a coastline and standing… I’d say, 73 yards away(?)… is a mysterious figure.

And that’s it.

Now Russell said in Doctor Who Magazine last year that this is one of the greatest things he’s ever made in his life, which is a huge prerequisite. Thinking about how little we know about the episode, it all feels quite ominous to me. So I would love it if we got another of Russell’s creepy scripts like Midnight or Wild Blue Yonder. I want to be freaked out!

Moreover, if those coastline scenes are from this episode and the promotional title card is anything to go by, I am getting the feel of an episode set somewhere pretty remote. Maybe a rural area of present-day Earth? Are sinister alien forces starting to eat up the universe from somewhere in the middle of nowhere?

Sounds like a great set-up for an episode, amongst the space babies and musical numbers.

Episode Five: Dot and Bubble

Written by Russell T Davies

Another one we know nothing about. The promotional title card and similar-looking scenes in the trailers suggest a very technologically focused episode… maybe some form of suspicious virtual reality gear used in the far future?

I come to this conclusion because we see these slug-looking creatures with infographics in front of them. Plus Russell says ‘I think (the episode) might have more FX shots than… well, anything ever.’ Not to mention, Millie Gibson said one of the episodes this season was very ‘Black Mirror’, and those infographics look like something Charlie Brooker would envision.

So for me, it all adds up. This is the technology/social commentary episode. I’m prepared for something either very spooky or very thought-provoking.

One more thing: Russell also said in the Magazine ‘…is this Murray’s greatest score?’. Better than Heaven Sent? Better than I am the Doctor? Better than You Put the Devil in Me? Better than the full-on musical episode a few episodes prior? Consider my expectations sky-high!

Episode Six: Rogue

Written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman 

OK, the main premise of the episode, I am not too excited for.

My very humble preference is for Doctor Who episodes with wacky science fiction over historical adventures unless it is a period I am interested in (Victorian times, like The Crimson Horror) or a particular individual (like William Shakespeare in The Shakespeare Code). Regency? Hmm, I can’t say I’m dying to watch it.

But I shan’t write it off. We have two promising new writers on this one: Kate Herron who directed the first season of Marvel’s Loki which in many ways felt similar to Doctor Who, and will even be directing some of the second season of The Last Of Us. Now, besides Doctor Who and Supernatural, The Last Of Us is another of my favourite IPs. So if Herron can be trusted in two out of the three, I am sure she will create something awesome.

As for Briony Redman, she has had several writing and acting credits before Doctor Who, but this is what you could consider to be her first ‘well-known’ project. Though it is slightly disappointing that Russell, Moffat and big-name director/writer Herron have written the majority of this season, it is still good that we have room for someone less well-known and probably equally talented. But more new writers in the following seasons, please!

So we have two promising writers on board, for one thing, and I am more than happy to be introduced to this regency era (who knows? I might even wanna watch Bridgerton after). Also, the episode looks like a stunning production. What we have seen so far of the costumes and locations rival full-blown period dramas. As well as Ncuti and Millie (who I am certain will bring the charisma week after week), we have something of a Whoniverse legend in Indira Varma (previously Suzie Costello in Torchwood) and actor and singer Johnathan Groff. Will there be some cheeky romance between his character and the Doctor? And maybe even a song (which may become pretty standard in this new era, let’s be honest)? Crossing my fingers.

If we’re lucky, I reckon we will be in for a really fun historical episode. Something with the level of banter that The Aztecs or The Romans had. Now that would be a very fun time indeed.

Episode Seven: The Legend of Ruby Sunday

Written by Russell T Davies

Shot in the dark here guys… I reckon this one will focus on Ruby!

So it seems that we have another companion character who is more ‘special’ than someone simply along for a fun ride through time and space. Not a Martha Jones or Yasmin Khan who simply rock up to kick ass and take names. More like a Donna who is the most important woman in the universe or a Clara who has been present in the Doctor’s entire life. And is the reason he chose a specific TARDIS. And was there when the Doctor was a child and convinced him to essentially become the Doctor we know and love. And is basically the sole reason for the entire –

Woah woah WOAH there I have to stop. That’s about as much Clara as my brain can process for today.

Now do I think it’s an inherently bad thing if a companion of the Doctor has some mysterious, super deep meaningful twist around them that provides universe-altering consequences? No, of course not. Because the way I see it, if all of them were simply ‘there for the ride’, after six decades that would get very boring. You’ve got to reinvent the wheel.

However… I want to be surprised here. I don’t want to roll my eyes thinking ‘ergh, we’ve been here before…’. You can only have so many ‘most important women in the entire universe’. I want whatever this ‘Legend of Ruby Sunday’ is to be something surprising. What that would look like, I have no idea. But I basically don’t want a repeat of storylines we have seen before.

And perhaps more than anything else, I don’t want to be TOLD that Ruby is an amazing character. I want to be shown through the writing, Millie Gibson’s performance and her chemistry with Nucti Gatwa that she’s an amazing character. Too often, we were told Clara was an amazing character when for the most part… she was OK. So to be honest, I couldn’t give a monkeys what the deal is with this legend if Ruby Sunday isn’t legendary in of herself.

Episode Eight: Empire of Death (and also, my conclusion)

Written by… you guessed it! Russell T, the Davies

Not really much to say here, because there really is not much to go on. It is a generic-sounding episode title, but I like it. Empire of Death… very Doctor Who-ey. And obviously, like every other series finale, it is promised to be ‘the biggest and greatest and most epic’ finale ever. Heard it all before.

But this is good! Because in amongst the glitz and glamour of Disney’s/BBC’s Doctor Who, we can clearly tell it’s the same show. Reusing the same tropes because they are familiar and we love them. They feel safe. Of course, every ‘greatest threat in the universe’ is greater than the last. And the next one, I reckon, will be even greater!

So I say ham it up. Make the title of the finale sound as stupidly dramatic as possible. And have the Doctor and his companion go through their darkest hour for the millionth time. And have Daleks… please have Daleks! Are they scary any more? No! But they are my comfort villain.

I think what I am getting at here is that Doctor Who, though it must go through big shifts to stay alive for years to come, must also maintain those familiar tropes and not lose its identity under the banner of Disney. We can expect a lot of ‘new’ in this series (always the case with the introduction of a new Doctor and companion), but I think a little bit of that familiar ridiculousness won’t hurt when trying to onboard new Whovians.

It’s hard to tell if this series will be a hit. But I gotta say… I have a good feeling.

I’m gonna need some caffeine to stay awake for the midnight release. Better stock up on Coca-Cola…