[For those of you looking for a review of The Snowmen: I’m sorry; I’m afraid you’ll have to wait another week. I haven’t had time for a second viewing and analysis yet.]
Recently, the comment thread on another post led me to reflect on one of my biggest pet peeves as a neowhovian who has become a fan of the entire fifty year run of our show: RTD’s removal of the Time Lords for the series relaunch in 2005.
Why, you may ask, do I care?
First, it puts a huge, rather stupid wrench in continuity between the two eras of the show. I honestly don’t know what RTD’s motivation for inventing the Last Great Time War (LGTW) was, but I’ve heard it said that it was because the Time Lords would be too confusing for new fans. I hope that’s not the case, because that just tells me that RTD basically thought I – and others like me – must be dumb.
I mean, really; how hard can it be? We already know our protagonist is alien; we’re with you there. He’s got advanced, alien tech and can travel anywhere in space or time; still with you. He has a rocky relationship with the authorities on his home planet, such that he ran away and only works with them when he has to; nope! Sorry, now I’m lost. (Oh, wait… No, I’m not.)
Seriously, give your audience a little credit. If you’re going to throw in all the Bad Wolf references throughout anyway, surely you’re expecting us to have at least two brain cells to rub together. Why wouldn’t we be able to handle the existence of the Time Lords? Or maybe it’s the Doctor’s on-again-off-again relations with them, sometime eschewing them entirely, and other times being Lord President that is supposed to throw us into a tizzy? Whatever the case, the idea of the Time Lords gets brought back up over and over, even just in Series 1 (sorry, for those of you who’d prefer I call it Series 27; I’m sticking with modern nomenclature for now).
Maybe that’s the answer, though – it gets brought up again and again as we get to know Nine, so maybe it wasn’t that RTD thought his audience was stupid, but that he wanted to find a really intense emotional wound with which to saddle this Doctor to try to make him more mysterious and interesting. Or that his series-long plot arc needed more gravitas. Or that he didn’t need any antagonists but the Daleks (sorry – wrong rant).
Going from that assumption, the whole thing makes more sense, but I still think it was a bad idea. The Time Lords were a great foil for the Doctor, always being slightly underhanded and corrupt in their own ways – which is a great background for why he might have wanted to leave it all behind in the first place – and yet having a certain amount of influence over him. He had a sense of loyalty to his home and his people, even if he didn’t like what they became.
By throwing the LGTW into the mix, RTD wrote himself (and all subsequent “showrunners”) into a corner, as we rather saw in The End of Time three years ago. Sure, you can devise a way for the Time Lords to come back (at least for a while), but you can’t let them stay. Otherwise, the Doctor’s horrific decision to commit a double genocide just to end the LGTW and defeat (~rolleyes~) the Daleks would be meaningless. He couldn’t allow the Time Lords to continue in their corrupt ways (so he said in TEoT), so bringing them back would be the height of folly, both from an in-universe and storytelling point of view.
All that being said, I’d still love to see it happen. I loved the interplay between the Doctor and the powers that be among his people; I’d love to see it again. I simply don’t think there’s a feasible way to bring them back that would make sense within the story of the Doctor’s life as its been set before us these last few years.
C’mon, Moffat. Prove me wrong.
Not Giving in to the Fanbois
I agree that it is unfortunate that the Timelords are effectively cut out of the programme, until the Grand Moff finds a timey wimey bollocksy wollocksy way of reinstating them. However, I think it could have been too easy for RTD to draw on the mythology when rebooting and I can imagine that the public response might not have been as positive as it was.
As a fanbois I was disappointed at how little Season 27/1 drew on the programme mythology but I think it was the right decision, if reached with unfortunate consequences as far as the timelords are concerned
Delicate Balance
I’ll admit, RTD had a tough row to hoe, striking a balance between keeping long-time fans happy and engaging a new crop of viewers. Obviously, he had to include the Daleks, and he had to cut other stuff. No matter what he cut, someone would be upset, so I’m just taking advantage of my Fan’s Perogative to bitch. 😉
The “Lonely God” Archetype
Good points – after I learned more about the pre-hiatus episodes, I too, wished for the Time Lords to be on the show.
I think RTD really (and I don’t agree with this at all), wanted to keep the Doctor mysterious, aloof, and the “survivor” of a race of aliens – as you mentioned, to saddle him with “I’m the last of my species.” I think RTD really bought into the Doctor as a lonley man, never finding a companion that would stay, always being the “survivor,” and forever the tortured genious who is the only one of his kind.
I think we really saw RTD’s ideas concerning the Doctor come to fruition in “The Waters of Mars.” It was evident that the Doctor was becoming arrogant, and never came closer to acting like a “god,” than in that episode. He was even declaring that it was his “power” that decided life or death. I think that RTD had this type of doctor in mind when he planned the re-launch – who better to play the troubled loner than Christopher Eccelston?
All in all, RTD made him the single survivor so he could build upon that type of psychology with the Doctor – just my theory. The lone god deciding life and death by “saving” the universe countless times – and who was he to chastise his younger, cloned self, for eradicating the Daleks! How preachy RTD became; come on, the Daleks, if anyone, deserved their fate. They sought to destroy all life in the universe – but I digress.
The Doctor remains a flawed character, more “human” than anyone. He mirrors our own traits so much that we really know his lessons our are own. RTD chose an archetype for the Doctor, and was committed to it. Making the Doctor a sole survivor made him more attractive to the audience – at least that is what I think RTD thought. His persona was attractive to Rose, Martha, Donna, River, Amy, and now a new companion. The Doctor is all but begging to be nurtured, hence River and Amy’s dictate, “Don’t ever travel alone, Doctor.”
Just my thoughts on why RTD chose to lose the Time Lords. A sorry decision, indeed.
Nice interpretation
I think that’s all very apt. I’ll point out, though, that Donna also told him he needed someone (between Rose and Martha). 🙂
It seems to me that RTD had a serious case of “I know what’s best for the Whoniverse, and you don’t.” ~shrug~ We get what we get, and write fanfic if we don’t like it. 😉
Thanks!
You’re absolutely right about Donna! Sorry I forgot her. I, too, get the impression that RTD had an attitude about his interpretation, as you say.
I get the sense Moffat isn’t as bad, but still has his own ideas. But much better than RTD in that regard. However, his changing of the opening format, TARDIS (all understandable), would indicate such. One thing I don’t agree with, though – is his decision to break each series into two parts. I don’t know if it’s just him, or pressure from the network to increase ratings, but I don’t like such a huge amount of time breaking up the series. It’s seems to lend an air of detachment to it all, and to a “separation” in our minds, ie., END with Rory and Amy, BEGIN with Clara….plus, they make more money selling the separate, and whole DVDs of each series!
Business
I’m sure much of it is business, yes. I don’t like it either. I’ve felt pretty detached from Series 7A, so we’ll see if that changes for 7B…