Dr who returned to our screens with season 9, and of course everyones “favourite” doctor, peter capaldi who has been commented by many people as reasons they have stopped watching the show. On top of his breaking of the fourth wall to explain a plot last season, and constantly insisting he’s cool and things he does are cool just like a dad trying to insist to his children he’s actually cool he has now gone on to break one of the majorly established elements of being a doctor.
The doctor has always had his big blue box, the tardis trapped in the guise of an old telephone box despite the fact that this is irrelevant pretty much everywhere in the universe and space time. However he has also had for some time, and especially through every incarnation of the new season his sonic screwdriver in various forms, changing this to another form of sonic was acceptable however removing the screwdriver aspect and turning them into a pair of sunglasses is about as cool as those pathetic slatted sunglasses or wearing 3d glasses in the 80/90’s and also breaks one of the main characteristics of being the doctor, changing from a sonic screwdriver is essentially the same as changing the form of the tardis from an old telephone box, especially to something as stupid and douchey as a pair of sunglasses, it’s almost as though he’s trying too hard to insist he’s cool when sunglasses aren’t really cool fashion and haven’t been for a long time, sure they’re effective for blocking the suns rays and good for helping you see in bright light, but as a fashion accessory they’re rather stupid and as a sonic tool quite stupid considering how much harder it is to put on a pair of sunglasses in order to activate something.
Perhaps had he simply kept them as an additional tool for seeing things possibly it would have been fine, but to remove the screwdriver because he doesn’t want to be seen waving a magic wand essentially around is just silly in my opinion. Let’s face it holding out the sonic screwdriver and pointing it at something or holding it up like a sword ready to use at enemies is far more impressive visually than someone putting glasses on and putting their hand to their head.
This isn’t the only fault with season 9 however, additional problems come on the fundamental plot-lines which are reminiscent of 60’s batman serials, where every episode is essentially a two parter, and for the majority either the doctor or his companions, or in the case of last week pretty much the entire of the uk were dead, and stay tuned for next week to see how what happened at the end of the episode or in the teaser doesn’t actually happen and how he’s actually alive, the world is safe and nobody was actually ever in any danger as expressed in the end scenes.
The world is currently in jeopardy, the uk has been replaced with an army of shape-shifting aliens, which actually may have turned the humans into their form as they are constantly requesting for the truth to come out and for them to have their planet and their life back (whoops is that potential spoilers, I’m no insider but that’s the obvious solution, with the feared box perhaps being the key to the transformations and to put everything right) Will it be down to the doctor escaping from a plane about to be exploded by a heat seeking missile, probably using teleportation technology held by the dr who fangirl who wears nods to his past live’s outfits and keeps photo’s of them within unit on the walls as easter eggs to see.
Maisie williams was introduced as a new immortal in the only episode to not have anyone dead at the end, sure masie died but he implanted her with a chip to make her live forever much like captain jack harkness, and the teaser there was that she would live to see the annihilation of the entire world with what appeared to be a nuclear explosion behind her. This would hint along with word that was spread that torchwood would be returned that she may be the new leader of a torchwood team for her own series, put this together with the world jeopardy and unit being destroyed the perfect opportunity for her to step in from her established position of watching over the doctor (shown during a photograph in the end of an episode with her watching behind him in a previous plot)
With the doctors sidekick deemed to be cocooned, although she could easily be infiltrating pretending to be the alien in order to foil their plot and the doctor in trouble it could come down to masie to save the day with torchwood, possibly saving the doctor then stepping in to help take back the world and prepare to launch a season of torchwood during the doctor who season break. If they do not bring masie in to do torchwood it does feel like a missed opportunity having established her as a pseudo jack, another immortal to live forever but follow the timeline never to time travel and be stuck on earth in the perfect position to defend them, having established this would prevent her going insane in her previous plotlines.
I personally think the whole everyone’s dead, oh wait they’re not dead, oh we broke the established rules of what happens when the tardis explodes but that didn’t happen, on next weeks episode we never really destroyed it bullshit rather boring and predictable and seemingly inflating deliberately false plotlines. All of this is so old fashioned and pathetic and likely to destroy the entire franchise, I would like it to go back to how it had been, with intricate well woven plots along with individual episodes that wouldn’t necessarily tie together and never having this falsely implied death principle repeating over and over every single time.
Using it on the first episode fine, but now it’s been used 4 times over this season it’s dead and buried, and don’t bring it back alive next week this is one thing you should leave dead in the ground and get on with actually writing some good episodes before you kill the entire franchise. Also get rid of the sonic sunglasses they’re as offensive as if you change the tardis to a portaloo, he might as well be flying around space time in a turdis with his douche glasses and a sonic e-cigarette with weed in to provide all the aliens a sonic e-toke and mellow them out so the only thing they wish to exterminate is the contents of the fridge… in their stomach. At least an E-spliff would be more impressive than sonic sunglasses.
I like dr who a lot, and I gave the new doctor his chance but he’s gotten progressively worse, I know it’s established he’s meant to become the enemy of the universe, but that’s meant to be in show, he’s not meant to be destroyer of the franchise, just destroyer of worlds.