Best of 2017 Awards: The Winners (Part 1)
Connor Johnston presents the first set of results of DWTV’s annual awards as voted for by you.
2018 will see Doctor Who return with a new showrunner, new set of supporting characters and most importantly, our first female protagonist in the form of Jodie Whittaker’s thirteenth Doctor. Akin to every time the show undergoes such a drastic behind the scenes shift – the level of intrigue and excitement embodied by Doctor Who fans is well and truly off the charts.
However, let’s not let the fact that our sights are set so passionately on the future stop us from celebrating what a successful and overwhelmingly well-received year we’re leaving behind. Driven by the talents of departing showrunner Steven Moffat and the immensely talented Peter Capaldi, it was the energy and charisma of newcomers Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas that ensured even though an era was ending – in many ways Series 10 still felt like a new beginning.
Ever since Peter Capaldi’s first series we’ve accompanied the results of Doctor Who TV’s “Best of” polls with a retrospective of the year gone by. It’s a tradition we’re delighted to continue once more this year with the first five categories: Best Pre-Title Sequence, Best Visual Effects, Best Music Score, Best Director and Best Writer.
BEST PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE: Twice Upon a Time
Runner Up: World Enough and Time
Often described as the most valuable part of an episode when it comes to ensuring viewers attentions are grabbed from the very first second, this year’s pre-title sequences left little to be desired in terms of variety and action. We laughed in “The Pilot” when Bill confessed to having ‘fatted’ one of her crushes, we were strangely scared by emojibots in “Smile” and even found ourselves bopping along to Little Mix in the opening of “Knock Knock”… however it was the previously trailers to end all previously trailers in this year’s Christmas special that steals our first victory today with 41.39% of the vote.
“709 episodes ago” began Twice Upon a Time – airing scenes recorded over half a decade ago and through the magic of television embedded with a new sense of relevance as David Bradley’s first Doctor is brought to life. There’s something about classic Doctor Who set to Murray Gold’s stunning score that sends a shiver down my spine in the best possible way. Whether fans were familiar with Hartnell’s era or not, the excitement of two eras of who interacting is utterly contagious – opening in style an episode that celebrates the past as much as it fuels the future.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: World Enough and Time
Runner Up: The Doctor Falls
The world of Doctor Who is as wonderful as it is absurd, often tapping into the most unique and bizarre corners of our imaginations to capture the scale and diversity of the universe. The job of making our imaginations a visual reality falls to that of the MILK VFX team, whose work has once again kept Doctor Who’s visuals the most impressive on television. From a spontaneously historic pyramid to a Martian tomb, creatures who live underwater to creatures who are made out of water: Series 10 of Doctor Who threw away the limits of our own minds and replaced them with an unlimited array of the inconceivable. Despite strong competition, it is both parts of our finale that claim victory at the top of the poll today, with World Enough and Time taking the crown with 28.12%.
From the chilling imagery of Bill’s wound to the scale of a spaceship flying away from a black hole, there was much to marvel at as the stage was set for what would turn out to be the 12th Doctor’s final battle. A spaceship that appears to hold entire worlds on each level seems like an impossible brief, even for Doctor Who. Somehow, through a marriage of concept and execution, Who’s team took us to a farm, a city and a flight deck while having all appear through the magic of visual effects as different parts of the one location – an achievement that is far too impressive to ignore.
BEST MUSIC SCORE: Twice Upon a Time
Runner Up: The Doctor Falls
If rumours persist, it would appear that 2017 will mark the final year that Murray Gold – a creative force who has contributed so much to the world of Doctor Who in a collaboration that has included over a decade of memorable melodies – will be at the helm of the show’s music score. Of course, Gold’s work remained impressive week after week last year, however it is no surprise that what could be his final credit in Twice Upon a Time has been voted as his best with 47.28% of the vote.
Gold’s work on this year’s Christmas special shows just how much a score can dictate and enhance the tone of a piece. Almost like a farewell tour, Twice Upon a Time included musical call backs to years gone by including theme variations on Doomsday, The Face of Boe, All the Strange Creatures, The Majestic Tale of a Madman in a Box, Heaven Sent, Clara’s theme, Bad Wolf and countless others.
BEST DIRECTOR: Rachel Talalay
Runner Up: Charles Palmer
Directing not only the series finale, but also this year’s Christmas Special/regeneration, Rachel Talalay’s role in the conclusion of Capaldi’s era can not be understated. Her talent, vision and passion for the show has seeped through her work since 2014 – which is why it is no surprise that for the third eligible year in a row (discounting of course 2016), Talalay has claimed victory yet again with a stunning 88.37% of the vote.
From Bill’s cyber skewed identity crisis to Capaldi’s fall on the battlefield, from one of the most heart-warming scenes set in world war trench to one of the most heart-breaking (yet hopeful) regeneration sequences in the show’s history: Every setting was perfectly utilised, every reveal suspended for dramatic effect and every action shot delivered with a punch. Talalay’s devotion to her craft is so obvious in every piece of work that she delivers, and I’m sure I can speak for the vast majority in hoping that despite already producing a stunning portfolio of Doctor Who, Talalay’s talents survive through to Jodie Whittaker’s first series.
BEST WRITER: Steven Moffat
Runner Up: Jamie Mathieson
A brilliant mix of Capaldi era staples and impressive new talent formed the writing team for 2017. Frank Cottrell-Boyce returned to pen Smile that was received far more favourably than his Series 8 masterpiece (fight me) In the Forest of Night; Sarah Dollard’s Thin Ice delighted in a far more standalone (though similarly impressive) fashion as 2015’s Face the Raven and for the first time in over a decade of the revival, a classic Who writer crossed the generational gap with Rona Munro penning the poetic The Eaters of Light. With Oxygen Jamie Mathieson returns to this poll’s runners up podium, having claimed the same position in 2014 with Flatline and Mummy on the Orient Express. However impressive the line-up was in 2017, it simply wouldn’t be right without Steven Moffat’s final presence on this poll to not be one of victory, earning 71.68% of the vote.
Moffat’s legacy is something impossible to capture in a simple paragraph. Limiting our view to our contributions in 2017 alone we have new companions in the form of Bill and Nardole, new monsters in the Pilot, the Monks, and Testimony, a regeneration, a multi-Doctor special, a multi Master special and a series arc revolving around one of the most complex and historic relationships in the show’s history. He is a writer whose creativity and wit have emboldened Doctor Who’s place in the hearts of so many, and a showrunner who will be sorely missed.
Join us tomorrow for the next set of winners.
