Review: Doctor Who 2008
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008Let’s get this out of the way: if you stare too closely at the details of a Russell Davies’ Doctor Who story, you might fall through a plot hole and end up in a paradox. Nobody wants to be stuck in a paradox, so just go with the intent of the story and ignore some of the pesky little details that geeks love to argue about. Stick with that mindset and you’ve opened yourself up to a fun journey through series four.
In my previous reviews of the show (review 1, review 2) I thought the episodes (and the finales) kept improving from series to series. Does that hold true for the 2008 episodes?
Looking at series 4 overall, I’d have to say that episode for episode, 2008 didn’t quite live up to 2007 (series 3). On the whole, there were more great episodes last year than this year. That said, this year had some excellent stuff. I don’t think anyone would argue that the “Library” 2-parter was one of the top 3 stories ever written for Doctor Who, for example (in fact, most reviews I’ve seen would put it at number 1). It also boasted the most guest-star-filled episodes ever (with the possible exception of the original show’s “The Five Doctors” - though I’d give “Journey’s End” the edge).
Since this is Russell T. Davies’ final year as the show runner, it was built as the wrap-up to the major threads he began in 2005 when he brought the show back. Even the Ood had a sense of closure this year. As such, this series (and in particular, its finale) will probably be looked at as one of the most important of the reborn show, even if it wasn’t the best in terms of consistent quality.
Some general statements:
- I like that Donna was not a participant in the “unrequited love” subtext that pervaded the previous years of the show. [Note to Steven Moffatt: let's have more of that! Get back to the way companions used to be handled in the original run!]
- There were some great moments in this year. I particularly liked the Latin-to-Celtic translations bits in the Pompeii episode.
- I loved how the finale episodes were rich with callbacks to not only this year but previous years, even including a couple references to the original show!
Best episodes:
- As mentioned, the Library 2-parter
- The three-part series finale
- “The Doctor’s Daughter” and “The Fires of Pompeii” each have some important elements, but as stand-alone episodes they don’t quite make the “best” list.
Because of the nature of the finale, I must now employ my newly acquired, dimensionally transcendental spoiler saver (it is, after all, bigger on the inside — though it apparently doesn’t work in RSS, so if you’re reading this in a feed reader, stop reading here unless you want spoilers)…
If you look at all 4 years as a single story, this series serves as a satisfying ending, in my opinion. There were certainly problems with it on its own, but as a piece of the larger pie, I’m happy with it.
Looking forward to the specials, and then to the full return with Moffatt in the lead.
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