So, the first preview of the up coming series 9 of Doctor Who has been unveiled, so therefore I must give my opinions on what I want to see or do not want to see in the up coming series, as I did last year. Only this year, I've only got 3 points each instead of 5, because we've had a series to get used to how the new style of the show is, so therefore less to really talk about. Enjoy.
♯3 Nay- Clara
Not being mean or anything, but if you payed attention to my reviews of last series you'll know why this is here. Clara doesn't do anything for me as a character and it's got past the point where I really have any reason to care. They had a good storyline going on with her and Danny Pink last series, but they've finished that, so what are they gonna do with her now? Either way, at this point I don't care what she does in this series.
♯3 Yay- Bring back the part-time companions.
Ok, last year I said I was meh on Vastra, Strax and Jenny being in more episodes. I've changed my mind. I want more Strax. I want to see people being offered grenades instead of assistance. I want to see the plotting of someones demise by way of a vat of acid. This guy is classic. And then we have River Song. Am I the only one who wants to see Peter Capaldi's Doctor interacting with River? It would be interesting to see their chemistry, to say the least. And she always got all the best scenes.
♯2 Nay- Reusing the same old villains.
So in the trailer we see the Daleks, Cybermen and Missy, all back for another go. Yeah, Missy is technically a "new" villain, being a new and completely different iteration of the Master, but still. Am I the only one who's kinda board of them bringing back the same old villains. However...
♯2 Yay- Reusing different old villains.
THE ZYGONS ARE BACK AGAIN!!!!!! This is excellent. They left the whole end of the Zygon plot in the 50th unanswered so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Can't wait for that episode. Otherwise, it'd be nice to see them bring back and update so other old alien/ monster designs. The Axons or the Sandminer Robots spring to mind, even the Sensorites. Give us some new old stuff rather than the same old old stuff.
♯1 Nay- STOP THE BAD EPISODES!!!! PLEASE
Ok. Even if you are the most avid Whovian in the world, you have to admit that the quality of the last series overall was much lower than any of the previous series since the revival. Sure you had some truly awesome episodes, such as Listen or Mummy On The Orient Express. But then you had episodes like Into The Dalek, the script of which might as well have been machine gunned considering the amount of plot holes, The Forest Of The Night, which was confusing and dull, and that Robin Hood episode, which was unwatchable. Previous series have had 1 or 2 weak episodes out of the 12 in the series, not an even split between the good, the ok, the weak and the truly bad. This series has been untouchable on it's writing up until Matt Smith's last series, when the cracks started to show with The Rings Of Akhaten, but last series really dropped the ball. So please pick it up again, run with it and score all the goals you can.
♯1 Yay- Improve The Doctor
And following on from my last point, Peter Capaldi's Doctor. There's nothing wrong with him per se, but he's very hard to like at times. He has failed so far to exhibit any of the charm that his predecessors had, and I'm not just talking about his immediate predecessors here either. Every Doctor has had his own charm (even Colin Baker) that made them likeable and made the audience invest in the character. So far Capaldi hasn't done that. He's had moments of brilliance (see season finale) but they don't soar as high as they should because the base line performance is lacking that little something. Maybe it's just how he's being written so far, but still, I have faith that Capaldi can be a great Doctor. He could combine the gruff old man charm of Hartnell with the authoritative presence of Pertwee and add just a dash of that prideful edge that Colin Baker had, and then give it his own twist. I know he can do it, he just needs to. A good Doctor can make up for a lacklustre episode (see most of Tennant's first series). And that could just be what we need, a strong hand to take the lead and drag the scripts from bad to good with excellent performances.
