If you are one of those who have never heard of Doctor Who or have never understood why it is so important, this article is for you. If, on the contrary, you know intimately the state of a classic in progress, a unique cult work, the only cult work still on the air, produced from the very beginning in the distant sixties of the last century, by a public broadcaster of the meanwhile practically extinct television: the BBC – including the series in question. Because for the first time, the entire world will simultaneously enjoy the transformation of a doctor – no more sending videotapes in the mail, no more hunting for DVDs with subtitles and no more episodes on streaming platforms. And with that in mind, it seems no coincidence that the nod to the past that awaits newcomers and followers of Gallifrey’s only former resident starting this weekend on Disney+, this Time Lord – jubilantly intelligent and ingenious – using his power – and his fabulous Tardis and his sonic screwdriver – forever.
Ncuti Gatwa as the fifteenth Doctor Who.
The three episodes with which the doctor finally lands in Spain are three special episodes that commemorate the 60th anniversary of the series – which was created in 1963, disappeared from the air in 1989, and was directed by Russell T. Davies (Years & Years) with a brief and, according to fans, disastrous foray from Chris Chibnall (Broadchurch) – and they do so by briefly bringing fan-favorite Tenth Doctor David Tennant back to life, in a clear nod to the past with the Intention to extinguish them the most immediate gift. The immediate present is the season written and directed by Chibnall, who made the mistake of experimenting with the single plot and eliminating the self-contained episode, and the whole thing didn’t work. It also happened that, unfortunately, he did it with the only woman who was a doctor in all those years, Jodie Whittaker, leaving him feeling unfairly terrible. The return of Tennant – and his companion Donna Temple-Noble (Catherine Tate) – turns everything on its head in a way.
Jodie Whittaker, as Doctor Who, is the only time the role has been played by a woman.
From Douglas Adams to Harry Potter
But who is this doctor? And why is he traveling in a police station that was located all over London in 1963 and that is actually a spaceship, the famous Tardis, which traverses time and space, has an unpredictable life of its own and is infinitely larger? inside than outside? Is it true that his sense of humor and impossible plot trained writers as diverse as Terry Pratchett and David Mitchell and enabled British creators, as well as viewers and readers, not to fear the fantastic? The answer to this last question is a resounding yes, which explains the instant success of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams – who, incidentally, was one of the most famous screenwriters of the early period of Doctor Who – and the way how the cult status of what they saw as children has blurred any line between the fantastic and the real in the UK: JK Rowling herself and her readers are in some ways descended from Doctor Who.
The doctor is a Time Lord, the only one of his kind. He travels to Earth, where he always chooses or meets a companion who will always help him save the world. In reality, the galaxy or galaxies are any planet, past or present, that is under threat. No matter how ridiculous the dangers or how unsettled the timelines, like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings, threaten to unleash chaos on the other side of the planet. He is pursued by the terrible and strange Daleks, robotic aliens who incessantly repeat a command whose tone is ridiculous but whose message is terrifying – “Exterminate!” – which illustrates very well the duplicity of an artifact’s condition Perfect for all viewers : Children find themselves confronted with an unknown world that sometimes becomes scary, and adults vacillate between wonder and absurdity, the wild and delicious satire that brings one world – that of “I wish I could still believe” and another – together. that of deformed reality.
David Tennant as Doctor Who in one of three special episodes celebrating the series’ 60th anniversary.
Its ubiquity in popular culture – don’t be surprised if, after watching an episode, you remember the many references to Doctor Who that exist in the genre: it’s been around for 60 years and it’s inevitably embedded in the DNA From almost everyone. Fantastic fiction that has been produced since not only because it paved the way, but because it has not stopped doing so – it is explained by its genius and its persistence. Because what started with the idea of providing an outlet for all kinds of surplus material – costumes and crazy props found behind the scenes of studios – and great, crazy ideas, and not to mention on a public channel, who still broadcasts the series today Just as you hold a kind of amulet in your hand, it has become something indispensable, in this kind of fiction that becomes part of the family. Or wasn’t it an always majestically brilliant Christmas Day special episode in which the doctor mutated and was replaced by another actor, showing how important genre fiction was to the main public broadcaster?
Peter Capaldi and David Bradley as Doctors.BBC
In Doctor Who everything is possible and time has passed, but the free spirit of the talented narrative pirouette that allows the character to remain nameless – all he answers the question is “I am the doctor”, and therefore the title “What?” Doctor” or “Doctor Who” – or change his appearance – and laugh about it when, for example, he went from young and sporty to old and gray: from Matt Smith to Peter Capaldi – or fix everything with a blank piece of paper or a Splashing screwdriver remains intact. And this freedom is used to shoot at everything, often unnoticed, or to feel the pulse of the moment. That the Fifteenth Doctor is Ncuti Gatwa (the brand new Eric from Sex Education), the first Doctor to be both openly queer and black, is great news in that sense, as is Whitakker’s. Everything has to change so that nothing changes, is the maxim, or better: Everything has to do it because everything does, and only in this way, openly and attentively, can a classic continue, perhaps never end.
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