A New Companion and a New Classic Who Blu Ray Collection

It was really obvious in some stories in Series 11 and 12 that having three companions was a very crowded place. The departure of Tosin and Bradley was an opportunity to go back to a more traditional pairing of one companion or so we thought. As we waved a welcome goodbye to 2020 entering 2021 with the New Year episode Revolution of the Daleks Chris Chibnall held its biggest surprise with the teaser at the end of the episode.

I did wonder whether we were going to get a role-call of guest stars as previously or glimpses of the 13th series but it was better than that with the Surprise introduction of a new companion “Dan” to be played by John Bishop 

And Dan makes three…

The choice of another older white male companion in their fifties will invite some inevitable comparison with Bradley Walsh. Considering the success of Bradley as Graham it’s probably a safe choice for Chris Chibnall to cast in a similar vein. The assumption from the newspapers before the reveal was it would be just the Doctor and Yaz for the next series. I haven’t been keen on the speculation of romance between the two characters. Fans have apparently been busy creating fan art and Mandip Gill herself fuelled the speculation saying she was ready with her lip balm to pucker up for a kiss! I hope with Dan on board that the show still doesn’t pursue the idea.

We have seen the effects of a “romance” before when Billie Piper’s Rose fell for the 10th Doctor and there was a focus on loss, jealousy, the fleetingness of human lives and longevity of a Timelord. Martha then came in with unrequited feelings for the Doctor which overshadowed her tenure as a companion so she wasn’t able to shine, in her own right, until the finale.

Considering the prospect of two females travelling in the Tardis its something that hasn’t been seen before but could have been an interesting choice to explore. We saw Clara and Ashildr briefly going off together in their Tardis but it’s an unusual dynamic for Doctor Who to use. Considering other similar genres such as fantasy/horror there are single strong female characters, around, for example, Lara Croft, Buffy Summers, Daenerys Targaryen but they don’t usually have a female sidekick even if they interact with other female characters. The only example of two female characters that I can think of is the fantasy series Xena, Warrior Princess, which aired in the late 1990’s where the central character Xena was accompanied by a farm girl Gabrielle who acted as a moral compass to remind Xena of her quest for good as redemption for her past sins.

There is something about the distracted nature of the 13th Doctor that I do wonder if Yaz could have been a strong enough foil for this Doctor’s current downbeat attitude. So far Yaz hasn’t been a Clara type character who has been blunt enough to challenge the Doctor as Clara did with the 12th on a regular basis. She’s too nice. There is as well the downside of a crowded Tardis where she lacked consistent character development in the first series using all those police officer skills she is meant to have. Also as this Doctor hides her feelings for most of the time and Yaz has a hero type crush it could be a little insular and clumsy exploring their relationship with no one else present to bounce against.

I get a sense from everything as well from I’ve read about the 13th Doctor era however that Chris Chibnall prefers writing for an ensemble group. For that reason, I am going to embrace how Dan’s presence as the 2nd companion, the newbie, will work with or change Yaz and the Doctor. I’ve tried to think of great scenes where Jodie’s Doctor connects easily with her companions on a one to one basis and I honestly can’t think of many scenes. The Doctor was very awkward with Graham when he brought up his cancer in the 12th Series in “Can You Hear Me?” and the conversation with Ryan in “Revolution” was very much her brooding on her origins rather than focusing on his situation. Has she had any scenes only with Yaz? Dan may bring some Liverpool humour to balance the 13ths reticent nature.

For John Bishop to triumph will also depend on some good writing in the scripts and being able to use his strengths as an actor. John Bishop has been in a few dramas such as Skins and Accused (by Jimmy McGovern) but is mainly known as a comic. It will be intriguing to see what he will bring to the role. Actors Matt Lucas and Catherine Tate both had backgrounds in comedy and defied initial expectations to become fan favourites. It doesn’t hurt the show either that John Bishop has a huge following of 3.5 million followers on Twitter either who may follow his adventures!

It’s not yet known whether he is in the first story or joins later but the BBC confirmed he will become “embroiled in the Doctor’s adventures” in the 13th series, where he’ll “quickly learn there’s more to the Universe than he could ever believe. ” Travelling through Space and Time alongside the Doctor and Yaz, he’ll face evil races beyond his wildest nightmares,”

The 7th Doctor is coming to Blu Ray 

A few days ago, there was a welcome announcement of another of the Doctor Who: The Collection (classic series) sets coming out. Season 24 is the first series starring Sylvester McCoy with Bonnie Langford and comprises of the stories “Tine and the Rani”, “Paradise Towers” “Delta and the Bannermen” and “Dragonfire”. To those of you unfamiliar with this season John Nathan Turner was the producer and Andrew Cartmel came in as the script editor.

I met Andrew Cartmel at London Film and Comic Con a couple of years ago and had a really delightful conversation with him about his Doctor Who. If you want to know more about the late eighties and McCoy era then I can’t recommend his book Script Doctor: The inside story of Doctor Who 1986-89 enough. It’s a fascinating read of the production of the series and is available in a limited reprint. 

 The 24^th season is a changing of the guard. It does feel like a season finding its feet with a freshly minted comedic Doctor and a new cache of writers. There are some interesting story ideas in this season and I can see the potential and change that they were trying to bring back to the show after The Trial of a Timelord. “Time and the Rani” has huge spinning bubbles that explode and kill people. “Delta and the Bannermen” filmed all on location is a guilty pleasure which puts a smile on my face. “Dragonfire” introduces the fiery Ace, as Mel leaves, and brings back Tony Selby as the opportunistic Glitz from season 23.

I suppose the downside is the lack of money does show at times in the interior sets for some stories and one notable comedy actor hams up his starring role. Its something we accepted in the 1980’s like the way it was but I’ve would have loved to see “Paradise Towers “(influenced from JG Ballard’s novel High Rise) remade with the money and care spent on the series today. Depending on your point of view Sylvester playing the spoons on Kate O Mara’s décolletage (ahem chest!) could be seen as either a hilarious or hideous moment!. You can decide. It’s available for pre-order Doctor Who – The Collection: Season 24 now at £44.99 from Amazon ahead of its release.