Changing the game
One of the aspects of nu-Who that I struggle with is all the hype. I know the show needs marketing and it generates revenue for the BBC but I slightly resent being told ‘this week’s movie event episode…’ and would rather make up my own mind.
One that is really ticking me off is the volume of hyperbola coming out around The Name of the Doctor. I thought I would air my annoyance and then talk about actual game changing - feel free to skip the rant then read the Key Moments in Doctor Who history section…
Rant
Here are some messages coming out from Mr Moffat and my reactions:
| It’s full of surprises and questions that have never been answered in the history of Who, including the Doctors greatest secret. We’re not pretending, we’re not kidding, it’s actually going to happen.The episode is called The Name of the Doctor and involves our hero in a conflict that is very, very personal to him. Usually he’s saving other people, but this time he might be the one who needs to be saved. | The implication here is that we learn the Doctor’s name and that is his greatest secret. If you read it carefully the two ideas are conflated (mixed together). I do believe he goes to Trenzlaore and that this might close off many threads no doubt adding to the Moffat is leaving speculation.Apart from the ‘name’ = ‘greatest secret’ teaser this statement is probably acceptable |
| We’ll also find out what makes his new companion so impossible and there’s a surprise that no one has got right so far, and one that will change the course of Who forever! | Pure hype to me; I’m sure many bits of speculation will have been close to the mark and I am sure Moffatt hasn’t looked for them.As to changing the course of Who forever this sounds like blowing one’s own trumpet to me. Let history decide I say. Clearly he could change the course - destroy the TARDIS, find a new Gallifrey and so forth, but let’s watch it and decide! |
| Matt Smith chips in: With the 50th, this is going to be by far the biggest year in the history of the show. And the finale is just the start. It focuses on a pivotal moment in the Doctor’s life and the life of his companion. It’s a complete game changer and it all starts now. | Happy to take most of this as read, I just have concerns over what constitutes game changing. To that end I have produced my own list of key moments when the game really did change… |
Key Moments in Doctor Who history
First of all what do we mean by ‘game-changer’? I think it marks any transition point after which something has been decided that can’t [easily] be undone. For me it is when a previously unexplored area gets covered in a definitive way. This will be more obvious from my examples.
Here then are my suggestions for those events after which the show was never the same again:
| Key Moment | Why is it a game changer? |
| Susan leaves the TARDIS at the end of Dalek Invasion of Earth | Because it mean that the cast can vary and viewers can’t assume companions will stay in the who |
| Katarina dies early in The Dalek’s Master Plan and that is followed by Sara Kingdom’s death | Because it means companions can die. Space-time is not a friendly place |
| The First Doctor regenerates at the end of Tenth Planet | Because it means he really isn’t human - although we knew by now he was an alien this made something substantial of that!It also means the show can run for decades! |
| The Time Lords appear in War Games | We knew implicitly that the Doctor must have a home world and now we learn of Time Lords (and the Celestial Intervention Agency) |
| We meet the Master in The Autons | This also gave us Jo Grant and Mike Yates but really this is when the Doctor gained an enemy |
| First mention of Rasillon and of a limit of 12 regenerations in The Deadly Assassin | This trip to Gallifrey painted a lot of the back-story of the Time Lords and gave fans much to speculate about now that we have already reached the Eleventh Doctor |
| The Doctor is part-human as revealed in The Movie | There is a fan debate about canonicity but given McGann appeared as a flash-back in The Eleventh Hour. This merely adds to the whole ‘Who is the Doctor’ and ‘how is he related to Susan’.
Both of these are good candidates for being ‘greatest secrets’ |
| The Time War | This cleared the decks between Classic and nu-Who, took the Time Lords off-stage and allows for any amount of updating to clash with old episodes / novels / audios / … |
I’m sure I’ve missed many others - do let me know!
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