Between rumours that its current lead might have been planning an early exit, plummeting viewing figures and seemingly never-ending criticism that ‘Doctor Who’ has gone woke, there is a low-level murmur of online speculation that the BBC might be about to, or indeed should call time on the long-running show.
If the TARDIS’ current inhabitant Ncuti Gatwa does decide to put down his sonic screwdriver, I wouldn’t be surprised. He was cast as The Doctor off the back of a breakthrough performance in Netflix show ‘Sex Education’, quickly going on to star in box office hit ‘Barbie’. He’s taken a leading role in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at the National Theatre, and one would assume casting directors are queuing up to pitch him their next big thing.
He’s also already got two series in the bag, and while that might not seem like many, it’s hardly out of line with the show’s trajectory. William Hartnell originated the role with just three series and seven of his predecessors – including all but Christopher Eccleston in the revived era – followed suit.
Yes, the series are now considerably shorter and have been getting so for a long time, but making a show spanning all of space and time is both costly and time-intensive. And who can blame an actor at his peak for not wanting to be tied to the same role forever?
Ever since ‘Doctor Who’ was revived by Russell T Davies, a man who at that time was most famous for shows like ‘Queer as Folk’, concerned citizens of the online variety have been clutching their pearls, worried about what stories the show would be presenting to primetime viewers. However, it was under subsequent showrunners that the accusations, such as they are, of ‘wokery’ and ‘brain-washing’ ramped up. There have been countless column inches – mostly in the Daily Mail – bemoaning pregnant men, characters being told off for assuming other characters pronouns, transgender and non-binary characters, the casting of an actor who is also a drag queen, The Doctor having a crush on Isaac Newton (who coincidentally was being played by a non-white actor)… the list goes on.
The truth is, I don’t really know if ‘Doctor Who’ has gone woke or not.
Firstly, because the word has been so used and abused over the last decade that it has lost all meaning. Having a woman, and then a black man, play a 900-year-old alien after 60 years as a white man doesn’t seem innately woke, especially when Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa are two phenomenally talented actors and the BBC was lucky to land them.
What is more objectionable is the seemingly clunky way these concepts and storylines play out. Science fiction has always been a genre where storylines which could be deemed ‘woke’ have been able to exist. It is about aliens, other planets and travelling across time and space. If alien species all looked, sounded and acted just like us, that wouldn’t be terribly imaginative. The idea that aliens might breed in a different way to humans shouldn’t be controversial, but if it feels like the concept has been shoehorned into a story to prove a point rather than arising organically, then what you actually object to is poor writing.
And the second reason I’m not obsessed by The Doctor’s latest antics is because I’m 33, childless and it is, after all, a children’s show.
I’m sorry if that offends anyone, I know that the longevity of the show is in part due to legions of fans whose love for the big blue box has spanned generations, but it is at its heart a show about aliens and time travel designed for teens and pre-teens.
I was an avid watcher of the revival (crucially, aged 13) and stuck with it as David Tennant took over. I even retained a residual interest into the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi years, but eventually you do have to admit that, as an adult, there are better things to watch on a Saturday evening.
It says a lot that, when viewing figures did dip, the BBC turned back to Davies – hoping to capture some of the magic of the early revival. Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t seem to have worked. It’s hard to capture the joy of a show returning after 15 years off air without actually having any break. Perhaps what The Doctor ordered isn’t less wokeness, but a bit of time off.
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