Series 10 was another strong and consistent year for Capaldi's Doctor, arguably the strongest run for an entire Doctor since Tennant, or even Eccleston...though the length of the tenures leads me to think more of Tennant. There were episodes I thought could've been stronger (I personally didn't think the Ice Warriors story was that entertaining), but there were some stories among the best Who has to offer (I mean what an exciting story "World Enough and Time" was). All in all, I really liked Series 10, and while in someways I still think Series 9 was Capaldi's strongest outing, I think Series 10 is a strong contender.
I think the opener to this series did one of the best jobs of any modern Who openers of reaquainting the audience (both old and new) with the concepts of the show. We introduce a new companion, reintroduce the Doctor and there is a new layer of mystery to him and what he is doing for even longtime fans (with Nardole and Vault and his gig as a Professor), and throughout the opening episode introduce a new scary monster, and the concept of the TARDIS (the whole size thing, that it can travel in Time and Space), and did it all in a fast paced entertaining jaunt.And then that was followed up with the usual RTD style intros of an episode in the future, and then an episode in the past...and then were off an running with an old dark house episode, and then the fantastic "Oxygen," which perfectly blended entertainment, scares, and social commentary...and then another solid run with the Monks Trilogy, which I personally really enjoyed. I mean it is a hell of a run.
And while I didn't find "The Empress of Mars" to be as cracking as others did, I still found it passable entertainment, certainly more enjoyable and fun than the offering Gatiss gave us last year ("Sleep No More," ugh...what a bore), and that lead us into the decent "The Eaters of Light" which I liked, and then the phenomenal ""World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls" two-part finale that lead right into Capaldi's final outing at Christmas, which was a lovely send off for the Twelfth Doctor. In the end, Series 10 was another winner for Moffat and Capaldi. They managed three strong seasons, the most consistently entertaining run since Tennant left in my opinion.
Capaldi lucked out in a way I think Smith did not. Moffat tried a lot of new things under Smith, not all of it worked, and some weird season breakages definitely took their toll on the consistency of Smith's output. Capaldi's tenure marked a consistent return to the format set up by Davies, at least in the sense that each year was a straight run of episodes (though the dropped the season episode length by an episode), instead of being split up and released almost as half seasons. Series 7 had been so rough and tonally different in it's two halves, and it lead to an underdevelopment of Clara and a rushed somewhat unsatisfying story thread. Whereas after Series 7 and the 50th extravaganza, Moffat settled down for Series 8, and just made a strong run of episodes, reigned in the convoluted plot devices and time travel wackiness, and just told simple classic Doctor Who stories. So Capaldi had a more restrained run of stories, and had a more subtle and restrained grumpiness for his Doctor, as opposed to the wacky and strange Smith...so everything just seemed more grounded. And the show needed that to survive, and I think in many ways Capaldi had the better overall run.
But I should point out that part of me does kind of miss when Moffat was trying new and weird things with the show under his run. He didn't just stick to the RTD format that had worked so well, gained a major following, not just in the UK but around the world, and he was handed a show that was just breaking out throughout the world, and had the perfect opportunity to really have it blow up by starting fresh with a new Doctor, new companion, and new everything, all with the show now consistently playing in the US on BBC America and a growing fanbase ready to bring in all their friends on this new easy to jump on point. And then he didn't get complacent and just repeat the style (I know some would say he repeated story beats or plot devices), but he played with the format, tried a more complex season running thread (the saga of River Song as opposed to some mysterious keyword or phrase or crack in the wall)...and he just played with it. Part of me just missed that during the very back to basics classic Doctor Who storytelling of the Capaldi run.
But only a real small part of me, mostly I loved it. Because I love Classic Who, and Capaldi's era was the closest to the style of Classic Who of any Doctor's since the show returned in 2005. Eccleston and Tennant's was entirely about updating Who, mixing the old and the new to keep the show fresh, and Smith's seems in some ways more about the new than the old. Capaldi's felt far more concerned about reliving the past than the others. And that isn't a complaint or a criticism, because the show still felt fresh, but it felt more in line with the Doctors of the 60s and 70s in terms of the kinds of stories it told.
Series 10 also wrapped up the tenure of Steven Moffat as Head Writer/Executive Producer/Showrunner, a position he has held since 2009/2010, since Russell T Davies moved on. Moffat ran the show for 8 years, and contributing one story for each of the 4 seasons under Davies (not contributing to the 2009 Gap Year as he was busy prepping for the launch of his first year as showrruner). So Moffat has been a big player in the world of Doctor Who since it's revival in 2005, he has been working behind the scenes in big and small ways for 12 years, including his stewardship through the 50th Anniversary, which he did splendidly I might add. Some may not have liked his convoluted plots and time travel experimentation, and some may have lamented the change of formats for the show during the Smith Era, and while I can see legit complaints here and there, overall, he has kept the show afloat despite a few budget cuts, and he gave us two great Doctors, both Smith and Capaldi were great additions to the show...and if anything you have to be happy about that.
So we move onto yet another era, a new showrunner, a new Doctor, a new direction is sure to come our way, who knows what is coming our way now!
NEXT TIME: The Time Lady
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