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Classic Doctor Who, Season 21 Review
I'm starting to write this review at 3AM on New Year's Day because I'm still buzzing from the residual energy of watching Revolution of the Daleks. Different eras, I know, but I've made a point to schedule my Classic Who binge so that New Who falls in between Doctors. And this season has the weird distinction of ending a Doctor's tenure one story before the end. So, as of this part in my review I have yet to watch The Twin Dilemma, as I wanted to start out by reflecting on the Fifth Doctor's run this season before the entrance of the Sixth Doctor dominates my attention. Last season, I was wondering if the show would be able to maintain the momentum it gained and I guess I got my answer. Like season 19, it was a decidedly mixed bag, but its stronger stories felt more reminiscent of how good Season 20 was. And I feel satisfied about that, especially considering the ones that really stuck the landing were the ones most important to the characters and the storyline of the show.
The Fifth Doctor's era was one defined by its characters in conflict. The TARDIS took the baggage from previous adventures over to the new ones, which is something that was done far less frequently with previous Doctors. Tegan's exit is abrupt, and the only reason it manages to work at all is because that character's been built up so much that her reasoning carries that extra weight. The Fifth Doctor dies saving a companion he's just met, rather than the numerous friends he's traveled with for so long and had so much history with. It reminds me of the end of the Fourth Doctor's era, when the show began letting go of what made his era what it was and began embracing what it would become. In that way, I get why they structured this season they way they did. They put the payoff of that transition at the very end: A swansong to the Doctor and the show that was, followed immediately by the Doctor and the show that will be.
And now comes the part of the review I had to rewrite because I lost my initial draft at some point in a month-long haze of depression. Which, if I go by some accounts, is the perfect mindset to tackle the Sixth Doctor's era with. And, especially considering how the Fifth Doctor's run ended, this definitely feels like a new era of the show moreso than the entrances of the last couple of Doctors did. I'm interested to see how I feel about this stretch of the show as I wade further into it, and I'm certainly not dreading it. I just kind of wished I could balance my final thoughts for one era without having to analyze a new one at the same time.
Like the previous twenty seasons, the serials are available to watch via streaming on Britbox. This season had seven stories, and mostly feels straight-forward ranking-wise. There just might be a tad too much distance between when I watched them and when I'm writing parts of this review.
( I'm not acting for anyone. I was just passing through. I happened to get mixed up in this pathetic little local war. )
The Fifth Doctor's era was one defined by its characters in conflict. The TARDIS took the baggage from previous adventures over to the new ones, which is something that was done far less frequently with previous Doctors. Tegan's exit is abrupt, and the only reason it manages to work at all is because that character's been built up so much that her reasoning carries that extra weight. The Fifth Doctor dies saving a companion he's just met, rather than the numerous friends he's traveled with for so long and had so much history with. It reminds me of the end of the Fourth Doctor's era, when the show began letting go of what made his era what it was and began embracing what it would become. In that way, I get why they structured this season they way they did. They put the payoff of that transition at the very end: A swansong to the Doctor and the show that was, followed immediately by the Doctor and the show that will be.
And now comes the part of the review I had to rewrite because I lost my initial draft at some point in a month-long haze of depression. Which, if I go by some accounts, is the perfect mindset to tackle the Sixth Doctor's era with. And, especially considering how the Fifth Doctor's run ended, this definitely feels like a new era of the show moreso than the entrances of the last couple of Doctors did. I'm interested to see how I feel about this stretch of the show as I wade further into it, and I'm certainly not dreading it. I just kind of wished I could balance my final thoughts for one era without having to analyze a new one at the same time.
Like the previous twenty seasons, the serials are available to watch via streaming on Britbox. This season had seven stories, and mostly feels straight-forward ranking-wise. There just might be a tad too much distance between when I watched them and when I'm writing parts of this review.
( I'm not acting for anyone. I was just passing through. I happened to get mixed up in this pathetic little local war. )