9 Reasons Why I’m Nervous About Series 9

Guest contributor Thomas Capon shares his concerns on Series 9.

I’m looking forward to Series 9. There, said it. So I’m not here to tell you why not to watch Series 9. Rather I have some concerns about Series 9 which I’d like to share with you, so that you don’t go into it over-hyped and end up as disappointed as I was by the time Series 8 had finished. I feel I should also stress that I don’t hate Series 8 and it’s not even my least favourite series of New Who, but it did disappoint me. So without any more delays onto my list (which incidentally is nine items long):

Missy and ‘death’

The latest incarnation of the Master has won over a large proportion of the fanbase. I confess that I’m still not particularly happy with the gender swap, but that’s not the issue I’m raising here. Rather it’s the problem of something being popular with the fans, Moffat seeing this and bringing it back straight away. Missy is already returning to Doctor Who despite being killed only two episodes ago. This rush to pay service to the fans could easily backfire unless Moffat genuinely has a good story to tell with the character. Past experience of Moffat doing this (with the Paternoster Gang and River Song) does not lead me optimistic as each quickly became controversial amongst fans.

It’s the fact that she was killed off in ‘Death in Heaven’ makes matters worse. Two years ago I wrote an article suggesting that Moffat’s handling of death undermines its true nature and impact. With both Missy and Osgood returning to our screens, one can only hope that Danny stays dead so that the audience is reminded that the show does have stakes.

Who is that woman? Again

The new trailer teased a new mystery for us, except for the fact that it isn’t new. It’s exactly the same mystery we’ve had repeating itself for the fourth time since Series 4: Moffat introduces a mysterious, reoccurring, female character whose identity is unknown to the audience and keep them guessing for several weeks until the truth is revealed. First River Song, followed by Clara Oswald, then Missy and now Maisie Williams’ character. Do something new!

Reused story ideas

Speaking of repeats, it seems that Moffat and team are slowly losing their originality. Last series saw a rehashed version of ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’ in the form of ‘Deep Breath’, a rehash of ‘Deep Breath’ in the form of ‘Robot of Sherwood’, a reuse of the ‘monster under the bed’ childhood fear in ‘Listen’ (previously seen in ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’), a reuse of the Doctor posing as a member of the staff at a school in The Caretaker (previously seen in the School Reunion) and Clara leaving the TARDIS for the second, third and fourth time in ‘Kill the Moon’, ‘Death in Heaven’ and ‘Last Christmas’ (previous time being left behind in ‘The Time of the Doctor’). Some would go further to state that ‘Into the Dalek’ is a rehashed version of ‘Dalek’, though I’m not sure I personally agree with that one.

Now reusing ideas isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if it happens too much, it can lead the viewers being disappointed and wanting a fresh take on the show.

Capaldi’s Doctor

The fact that Capaldi failed to make the shortlist of the NTA awards and the fall in viewing figures (Don’t quote the Live+ figures to me. There is no way of determining if the extra views are new viewers or old viewers rewatching. Whatever the case the figures are inconclusive and cannot be used for comparison to the non Live+ viewing figures of past series anyway) indicates that the British public are having a less warm reaction to Capaldi than the global fanbase is. I personally have enjoyed other performances which I’ve seen Capaldi give more than his portray of the Doctor (namely the Cardinal in The Musketeers). I suspect that this may be down to the writing of the Doctor as Capaldi is clearly a very capable actor. Hopefully this is just a first season issue and now that the writers are familiar with the Twelfth Doctor, we will have a more consistent character. However this brings me on to my next point:

‘An idiot’ or ‘Born to save the universe’?

Conflict! The writers writing different things in the space of a few episodes. In ‘Robot of Sherwood’, the Doctor claims he isn’t a hero. But in ‘Flatline’ the Doctor happily takes the mantle of hero only to throw it away in a confusing, nonsensical and frankly absurd speech in ‘Death in Heaven’. However the trailer for Series 9 has already revealed the line “I’m the Doctor and I save people” which indicates that the Doctor is back to proclaiming his hero status. Some consistency (or at least an explanation for his constantly changing mind) would be appreciated.

Mark Gatiss

Seven episodes in and nothing really impressive to show. Other than the fact that he is good friends with Moffat, I don’t know why Mark Gatiss is still writing for Doctor Who. He half-ruined Robin Hood (Tom Riley’s performance completed the wreck), introduced the Crayon Daleks (whom have quite rightly now vanished) and all in all written five mediocre scripts (I’m letting ‘Cold War’ and ‘The Unquiet Dead’ off the hook, but even they are only ‘good’ at best). There are plenty of other writers out there. Whatever happened to Tom MacRae’s script he was writing for Series 7? Can’t we have that instead?

Daleks

I know I’m not the only one who thinks the Daleks could do with a break. The Doctor has defeated them so many times that they are losing any scariness they had. Give the pepper pots a rest (and the Cybermen) before bringing them back to cause some proper havoc.

Clara

Clara has become like Marmite: Some love her, some hate her. I personally don’t mind her, but with a large number of fans regarding her as a Mary Sue, there is good reason to suggest that she could ruin Series 9 for quite a few people. There’s an old saying: ‘quit while the going is good’. Perhaps she should have gone by now, but let’s hope she proves us wrong.

Let Zygons be Zygons

Ok, this one is much less serious. The new Zygon’s face irritates me. It looks a bit too cartoony and smiley. I’m afraid that it looks like the kind of monster that the writers could end up using them as comic relief (akin to the Sontarans) which would be a tragedy. Let them be creeps from the deeps, not laughs from the lake.

Now my list has run to an end, but it’s not over until the fat lady sings. As she’s still warming up, I’ll give you a few things I am looking forward to:

A Whithouse Reunion

He’s back. Good old Toby Whithouse is back; penning his first story since 2012 (wow is it really that long) and doesn’t it look a whopper?! Creepy story set on an underwater base? Yes, please!

Vikings

Mathieson and Moffat combine to give us a Viking tale. Now if this isn’t the stuff of legends, I don’t know what is. Two brilliant writers joining forces to write about the warriors from yesteryear. Let’s hope 45 minutes is enough for this adventure.

The trailer

To be honest, the entire trailer was pretty brilliant (with the exception of the last scene between Maisie’s character and the Doctor). I’m genuinely excited for…..

Oh wait, I hear singing. It must be the end, but the moment has been prepared for. My article is ended, but the discussion is never over. What are you most looking forward to? And is there anything which isn’t exciting you? Please let me know in comments below. (Hey, I’m a poet and I didn’t know it.)