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Prompted by yesterday’s Revolution of the Daleks, why is the #Chibnall era of #DoctorWho so vaguely unsatisfactory?
I don’t think it’s due to lack of talent or ability, but it might be due to a mismatch between showrunner and show
THREAD
1/21
I don’t think it’s due to lack of talent or ability, but it might be due to a mismatch between showrunner and show
THREAD
1/21
First things first
Opinions about last night’s special seem wildly polarised to me
It’s clearly not terrible, not even close, but equally it’s not great
It’s a C+ or B- kind of episode: entertaining but not especially memorable
2/21
Opinions about last night’s special seem wildly polarised to me
It’s clearly not terrible, not even close, but equally it’s not great
It’s a C+ or B- kind of episode: entertaining but not especially memorable
2/21
Let me also say straight away that I don’t agree with the #ChibnallIsAHack sentiment
His writing for Who is iffy, but the guy created and wrote Broadchurch, which is one of the best TV dramas of the last decade - series 2 stumbled, but 1 and 3 were near-perfect
3/21
His writing for Who is iffy, but the guy created and wrote Broadchurch, which is one of the best TV dramas of the last decade - series 2 stumbled, but 1 and 3 were near-perfect
3/21
So how come Chibnall is so good at kitchen-sink drama and mystery writing, but so shaky at Doctor Who?
Let’s first pull up the bits of Chibnall Who that are actually good
It’s all the grounded emotional stuff...
4/21
Let’s first pull up the bits of Chibnall Who that are actually good
It’s all the grounded emotional stuff...
4/21
... Think of Graham’s speech at Grace’s funeral, or Ryan struggling to ride his bike despite his dyspraxia, or Yaz’s family dramas, or the lovelorn archaeologists in Resolution whose relationship is so patiently set up before the Dalek gets loose...
5/21
5/21
... This is all good, solid drama
But this stuff is only a fraction of what Who is
The show is a rollicking science-fiction adventure that can feature almost anything
It needs creative aliens and monsters, and wild SF concepts...
6/21
But this stuff is only a fraction of what Who is
The show is a rollicking science-fiction adventure that can feature almost anything
It needs creative aliens and monsters, and wild SF concepts...
6/21
... For me it’s the SF concepts and adventure where Chibnall’s #DoctorWho falls down
There isn’t a single iconic new alien from his period in charge
Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat gave us Weeping Angels, Ood, the Silence...
7/21
There isn’t a single iconic new alien from his period in charge
Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat gave us Weeping Angels, Ood, the Silence...
7/21
... They also gave us good SF: the Time War and War Doctor, cracks in the universe, the backwards storytelling of River Song and Clara, spaceships experiencing time dilation, immortal beings forgetting their own names, the Master hiding at the end of the universe...
8/21
8/21
In contrast, Chibnall’s Who has no big ideas
It’s at its best in historical episodes that are mostly (you guessed it) human drama
The closest we’ve come to big SF was probably It Takes You Away, which he didn’t write...
9/21
It’s at its best in historical episodes that are mostly (you guessed it) human drama
The closest we’ve come to big SF was probably It Takes You Away, which he didn’t write...
9/21
... Instead Chibnall tends to hurl lots of familiar ideas into a blender to make an episode
Take Revolution of the Daleks, which has:
Daleks
Repurposed future tech
Mind control
Cloning and in vitro tech
Government sacrificing freedom for security
Corrupt businessman...
10/21
Take Revolution of the Daleks, which has:
Daleks
Repurposed future tech
Mind control
Cloning and in vitro tech
Government sacrificing freedom for security
Corrupt businessman...
10/21
... Two companion departures
Captain Jack returns
The Doctor in prison
Daleks obsessed with genetic purity
And probably more
The consequence is that it’s all a mishmash and none of the good ideas get explored
11/21
Captain Jack returns
The Doctor in prison
Daleks obsessed with genetic purity
And probably more
The consequence is that it’s all a mishmash and none of the good ideas get explored
11/21
Others have said this, but Daleks as police is a *potent* image in the year of Black Lives Matter, but the episode never exploits it
Similarly, we don’t see Ryan’s new life on Earth, so his attachment to it, and decision to leave, come out of nowhere
12/21
Similarly, we don’t see Ryan’s new life on Earth, so his attachment to it, and decision to leave, come out of nowhere
12/21
It’s not that the episodes are confusing, as Moffat’s sometimes could be
They’re always easy to follow
But there’s always a bunch of disparate ideas that don’t get properly exploited
13/21
They’re always easy to follow
But there’s always a bunch of disparate ideas that don’t get properly exploited
13/21
Some will say that leaning into Daleks as racist police would be the show getting too political, but IT ALWAYS WAS POLITICAL
Seriously
The first Dalek serial from 1963 is about the limits of pacifism
Not to mention Inferno, The Green Death or The Happiness Patrol
14/21
Seriously
The first Dalek serial from 1963 is about the limits of pacifism
Not to mention Inferno, The Green Death or The Happiness Patrol
14/21
People don’t mind political messages if the stories are exciting and the big emotional moments land
But Chibnall’s Who has stories that are simultaneously cluttered and predictable
Besides lack of SF imagination, I think this also speaks to a broader problem:
15/21
But Chibnall’s Who has stories that are simultaneously cluttered and predictable
Besides lack of SF imagination, I think this also speaks to a broader problem:
15/21
Chibnall doesn’t seem to have a clear vision of what his version of the show is
Don’t get me wrong, he made some good decisions: a female Doctor, Jodie Whittaker specifically, the more cinematic style
But the tone and structure are weird
16/21
Don’t get me wrong, he made some good decisions: a female Doctor, Jodie Whittaker specifically, the more cinematic style
But the tone and structure are weird
16/21
RTD’s Doctor Who was built like Buffy the Vampire Slayer: standalone episodes that seeded a final Big Bad, with emotional threads running throughout
Moffat’s was a fairy tale where the magic came from time travel, with romcom threads throughout and more involved arc plots
17/21
Moffat’s was a fairy tale where the magic came from time travel, with romcom threads throughout and more involved arc plots
17/21
I don’t know how to sum up Chibnall’s version
It‘s less campy and melodramatic than Davies’s, and it’s more straightforward than Moffat’s
But otherwise it’s not very distinctive...
18/21
It‘s less campy and melodramatic than Davies’s, and it’s more straightforward than Moffat’s
But otherwise it’s not very distinctive...
18/21
... I don’t think Chibnall has solved the problem of how to make Who a watercooler show in the post-Game-of-Thrones era
His big swings (Timeless Child, secret Doctor) are all aimed at hardcore fans
But there’s no big driving story arc to pull people in
19/21
His big swings (Timeless Child, secret Doctor) are all aimed at hardcore fans
But there’s no big driving story arc to pull people in
19/21
Chibnall also isn’t writing to his strengths. He’s good at mystery so maybe he should do season-long arcs based on mysteries the Doctor has to solve
Because so far he hasn’t managed to build a cohesive season and his longer arcs just sort of pop up at random
20/21
Because so far he hasn’t managed to build a cohesive season and his longer arcs just sort of pop up at random
20/21
It’s a shame because I think JW is pretty great as the Doctor but she’s not had the material
21/21
21/21
