REVIEW: Doctor Who: Series Twelve

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I think having an episode about an epidemic virus in the smack dab of 2020 was a bit on the nose (and ironic, to be honest).

This series was definitely a lot better than Series 11, and for that I’m grateful- but I still don’t think we’ve reached the level of enjoyability that we experienced with prior showrunners.

First off, Jodie was phenomenally better as the Doctor. I don’t really understand the complaints people still have about her as the Doctor, she has substantially grew since Series 11. Those still complaining about the Doctor being a woman need to grow up.

Next, the companions. I’m still heavily disappointed by the fam. Their acting and characterization is still at rock bottom, and I’m honestly hoping we will get new companions soon. The only companion I found myself truly liking Graham, even if it was just a little bit. Yaz and Ryan were very disappointing once again and left more to be desired.

Two characters I really did enjoy were the new incarnation of the Master and the new Fugitive Doctor. The Master, now played by Sacha Dhawan, is reminiscent of Simm’s Master but with a touch of new personality. I still don’t understand how he exists, though, if Missy didn’t regenerate in The Doctor Falls. Maybe he is a Master from before Missy?

As for the Fugitive Doctor, I loved how mysterious and fun she was. I didn’t like, though, how she has now ruined the Doctor timeline, being before Hartnell incarnation. Hopefully this can be retconned in future series.

The cameo return of Jack Harkness was… underwhelming. Especially with the controversy surrounding John Barrowman, his return was not a very welcome one. However, it was kind of nice to see Chibnall reference former showrunner eras. Fortunately he only stayed for one episode, however it’s looking that he may be returning for the New Year’s Special.

I had two ‘ick’ feelings in this series, where the Doctor felt very much not like the Doctor. First, when she exposed the Master’s true race to the literal Nazis in Spyfall - Part Two. That was extremely jarring and felt very offensive, I never thought the Doctor would be that cruel towards anyone.

Second, the scene in Can You Hear Me? where Graham confides to the Doctor about his fears of cancer coming back, and the Doctor replies with “well I’m socially awkward” instead of comforting and reassuring him. That was extremely insensitive and out-of-character for the Doctor, and it made me feel uncomfortable. Why would you say that to him, who in their right mind would say that to anyone?

In the end, it’s the writing that makes these two moments absolutely awful. In fact, the writing is still pretty comparable to Series 11 in that it was almost just as bad. However, the entire series isn’t absolutely horrible. I can only hope that Chibnall continues to improve and gives us a better series in Series 13.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2024 Reading Wrap-Up

Image
Happy end of year everyone! This one has been absolutely crazy for me, dealing with some of the uppiest ups and the downiest downs. I would summarize this year in one word: a rollercoaster. But throughout this year, one thing has been pretty consistent for me, and that would be reading. Through all of the crazy events of my life this year, it was rare when I was without a book (or e-reader) in hand. I actually read so much, that... I read 110 books this year! Go me! I'm very proud of myself for achieving this goal, as I've never read 100 books before, much less 110. My previous record was 79 books in 2021, and my original goal for this year was 80. I credit my ability to read so much more due to two things: one, the Kindle Fire HD 8 I received for Christmas in 2023, and two, my job allowing me ample reading time (while the kiddos sleep, of course). And with so many books comes many feelings, particularly of like and dislike, some of which I felt stronger for than others. Listed...
Read more

The Disappearance of Mekayla Bali

Image
Every person interested in true crime has that one case that sticks with them. The one case that keeps them awake at three in the morning, the one case that boggles the mind. For me, that case is the disappearance of Canadian teen Mekayla Bali. Why? Well, there’s so much coverage of her last movements before her disappearance, and yet no one knows where she is- or if she’s still alive. So, who is Mekayla Bali? Mekayla Margaret Kim Bali (formerly Niebergall) is a Canadian teenager from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. She lived with her mother, Paula, her two siblings, Joshua and Eliyora, and aunt, Rhonda. She had interests such as The Hunger Games and video games like League of Legends. She enjoyed playing the violin and accordion, and nature photography. She wanted to go into a career working with children or animals. She was just a normal teenage girl… However, there may have been something darker going on behind the scenes. Bali had multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts, including an Inst...
Read more

From The Vault: Speculation On the Upcoming Vault Tracks from Reputation (Taylor's Version) and Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version)

Image
With the Tortured Poets Department era seemingly coming to a close soon, considering the speculated upcoming announcement for Reputation (Taylor's Version) , my mind has been on the vault tracks lately. In particular, the countless possibilities for the Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version ) vault tracks. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of interest in the Reputation vault tracks, but we don't have much knowledge on what those might be. Beyond possible re-recorded versions of "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" with ZAYN, Taylor-penned Rihanna hit "This Is What You Came For," as well as scrapped Lover track "Need," we only have one other known song from this time: "Family," a song registered by Taylor in May of 2018 on GEMA and mentioned in an interview with Scott Swift, is the only unreleased song from the Reputation era that the public is aware of. Other than that, we're in the dark as to what Taylor may release from her sixth album...
Read more