10 Predictions For Series 10 (5-1)
Connor Johnston peers into his Who-infused crystal ball and makes his final 5 predictions.
5. Re-Unit-Ed (And it feels so Os-Good)
It’s no secret how much I have absolutely revelled in the re-invention of UNIT since Series 7’s “The Power of Three” – given I will take almost every opportunity I can to praise them. Not only has the ‘Kate Stewart Generation’ totally improved upon the hollow portrayal of UNIT during the RTD era – but in my opinion has also returned the Taskforce to a level of success that mirrors that of the first Golden Era in the 1970s.
“The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion” was a clear indicator in not only how successful their presence in Peter Capaldi’s era has been up until this point, but also how much more potential and worth the established characters have to give. Kate is a character that represents both metaphorically (in her characterisation) and literally (in her role throughout the episode) the human race as a whole. For all the strength, honour and ability there is equally a level of fear, sacrifice and most profoundly, mistake. It’s what makes Kate’s character so accessible, aided of course by a movingly honest portrayal by Jemma Redgrave. Osgood is someone that I’ve repeatedly praised throughout her numerous appearances, purely because of the utterly un-extraordinary premise of her character. While Kate serves to represent the human race as it is, Osgood instead is a benchmark of what the human race should strive to be like. It’s for these reasons and more that I have no doubt as to why a return is completely warranted – for both Kate and Osgood as well as the Taskforce they represent.
4. Class is in Session
While a complete series of Doctor Who in 2016 seems an impossibility, we mustn’t forget that an entirely brand new series of Doctor Who spinoff ‘Class’ awaits us. Already, the lack of information regarding the series has been met with a little confusion and even some unfair malice – and personally, I think that such a behavior (however minimal) is really unwarranted. With such a thriving and powerful legacy that Doctor Who has to uphold, there’s no doubt in my mind that such a drastic choice to put funding and time into creating a spinoff would have been made with the maximum amount of consideration.
The BBC don’t create TV shows flippantly when they show no promise, and the chances of that decrease even further if it would mean angering such a … ‘passionate’… and vocal section of the fan base. More Doctor Who is never a bad thing and being set in one of the most iconic locations of the show’s history, with a target demographic of zealous young adults as well as being written by one of the most celebrated authors in the YA industry are just 3 of the reasons that even at this stage I have complete faith in ‘Class’. Given the void in the Twelfth Doctor’s adventures between “The Husbands of River Song” and the premiere of Series 10, there’s also every chance Peter Capaldi’s Doctor may have a prominent role in some aspects of the show, with possible justifications including curiosity over his muddled memory of Clara Oswald and Danny Pink, or even the looming threat of alien visitors. Above all however is the fact that ‘Class’ may be our biggest chance yet at seeing a return from Ian Chesterton – which is just too big of an opportunity to waste!
3. Missing A Lil Bit of Missy
Even though the conclusion of Series 9 saw most of the most pressing mysteries and story lines find there own fulfilling resolutions, some of the more playful and deliberately open ended mysteries remained – specifically that of the Mistress’ fate following “The Witch’s Familiar”.
Surrounded by a group of Daleks and trapped in the carnivorous ruins of Skaro with no form of transportation at hand, the last we see of Missy is her shrugging off the severity of the situation by having a ‘brilliant idea’. What that idea is remains to be revealed, (and personally one hopes the mythic nature of her brilliance remains somewhat ambiguous), but what it does suggest is that Michelle Gomez will be back to offer havoc and hilarity at every opportunity. It’s no secret that the ‘spikiness’ of the Doctor and the Master’s friendship may be at an all time severity, though with Gallifrey’s return offering her many more morsels to feast on, the potential for her character has been once again reinvigorated. Just saying… The Mistress as the President of Gallifrey? She’s got my vote.
2. Big Names Behind the Scenes
The amount that we know regarding the lineup for Series 10 at the moment is extremely small – limited only to frustratingly exciting teasers and cryptic clues. Already Steven Moffat has been on the record to say that he’s secured 2 new writers that will ‘blow our minds’. On top of this the end of 2015 also saw the release of a hysterical video featuring critically acclaimed director Peter Jackson alluding to a contribution to Peter Capaldi’s next series.
With all this in mind it seems fairly evident that Series 10 will feature pretty big names behind the scenes. Who they will be remains to be revealed – but that doesn’t mean we can’t indulge the news by guessing! At the mention of ‘Mind-blowing’ writers my automatic response was ‘J.K Rowling’, though with 3 new ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movies and the ‘Cursed Child’ play debuting in 2016 her schedule seems pretty jam-packed. Other similarly exciting options include Anthony Horowitz, Nicholas Briggs, Joss Whedon and even Stephen Fry (who was in talks to write an episode for David Tennant’s era.) In terms of Directors, it would seem absolutely ludicrous for Rachel Talalay to not return after 4 incredible episodes. On the Peter Jackson front, things do seem to be headed in a more promising direction than in recent years… and with a remarkably clear schedule sitting in front of him for the first time in years, anything can happen!
1. Time to Venture out of this World
Peter Capaldi’s era so far has been utterly phenomenal, with both Series 8 and (more popularly) Series 9 offering ambitiously groundbreaking storylines. I’ve said it many times before – and I’ll say it again – with a history as vast and remarkable as the show already has it would be foolish to speak in superlatives, but personally the Twelfth Doctor’s legacy has already been incredibly impressive. However, if there is one aspect that I would like to see improved on, it would be an increase in the number of alien planets visited in the show. Even though it was certainly referenced that the Doctor and Clara had visited various different planets (see “The Caretaker” and “Face the Raven”), onscreen we’ve really only seen Capaldi step foot on Skaro, Gallifrey, Karn, Darillium, Mendorax Dellora and a number of briefly visited unnamed planets. Looking at his era by locations visited, it’s clear the one thing that is seriously lacking is some properly new alien worlds. The Twelfth Doctor deserves his own Akhaten or Midnight – and with a new companion to impress and introduce the wonders of the universe to, Series 10 seems the ideal time to venture ‘out of this world.’
