Jayne Gudkov Review: Series 6 Overview!

Wow, where to begin? Do I go on about how the whole “Doctor inserting himself in history to get our attention” thing made no sense? Why is a couple of relatively newlyweds catching up on history anyway as opposed to what newlyweds usually do, silently cursing each other's relatives for the goofy and somewhat useless wedding presents they were given and, of course, making babies. Was there no pub darts championship on the telly to keep them occupied?

Doctor inserting himself in history. He wishes.

Do I ask when the Doctor dropped Rory and Amy off after their wedding night on the Tardis and how they got on to their honeymoon on the Spaceliner – and what was up with the costumes?? (a little “Good Cop/Bad Centurion” anyone? Sounds like fun. “Where were you on the Ides of March big boy, while Caesar was being made a pin cushion of? Tell me before I . . . . . ”) We'll leave that scene for your imagination.

The real question here is when did Madam Kovarian lose that eye? Kidding, the real question is when did Madam K swap Amy out for her 'ganger? Hopefully the second half of this season will answer that.

All of that covers the time before we even get into the events of this season. And here we get into why I am really wondering about why I am still watching this show (an earth shattering thought since I have seen every episode available out there.

It seems as if Mr Moffat, etal, have been infected with what I call the “Lost Virus”. The “Lost Virus” being a malady where writers of TV series have to have a season long “mystery” or story arc that just has to be part of the production. While I applaud Mr Moffat, and Mr Davies before him, for lifting Doctor Who above the muck and mire of regular TV offerings, I think that Moffat has gone a little too far. Doctor Who under Steven Moffat has become a show that requires too much thought about the overall mysteries. I like a show that you can chat about what happened and I wish there was a little more of that at New London, but Doctor Who is not a show that should require a great deal of thought.

It's become that.

Under Mr Davies tutelage we haven't really had, outside of the Bad Wolf references of the 1st season and the references to the thing on Donna's back in Season 4, season long arcs where we had to keep track of everything that was going on. From the second that Prisoner 0 carried on about “The Silence will fall” we were all looking for clues, and then nothing happened. OK right at the end of “Vampires of Venice” everything went quiet, but it had nothing, as far as we know, to do with Prisoner 0. That all came to fruition in this season and I'm not all that sure that The Silents have fallen totally.

River? Water of a Doc's back.

River did a number on them when they rescued Amy, but did they really “fall”? Something tells me they will be back despite their death sentence at the hands of the Doctor. Yeah the Silents fell on the floor after she shot them, but the way it was said it made it sound more like an empire or a civilization would fall.

My point in all of this is that Doctor Who is supposed to be simple and escapist, there was almost no mythology involved in the show as there is with a lot of today's shows. You could plop down, watch an episode and be entertained without needing to know why the Master has drums going on in his head or that Time Lords could turn themselves into humans, or that there were cracks in the Space/Time Continuum following the Doctor around.

OK, there were the Time Lords and The Master and the whole Dalek and Cyberman histories, but other than those, pretty much every “Dr Who” story could stand on its own (OK except the “Key to Time” series and maybe the whole “Trial of a Time Lord” silliness with the Valeyard turning out to be a future evil incarnation of the Doctor).

Even at the beginning of 9's series, there were hints of the Time War with the Daleks and what he had had to do to save the Universe from both the Daleks and his own people, where I took it to mean that he was a much darker and more introspective and brooding time traveller (even his wardrobe seemed to reflect that), but there wasn't supposed to be anything to actually think about. It was just background information that, to be honest, made the character of The Doctor more appealing.

Don't get me wrong, I have been looking for a replacement for “Lost” and there is part of me that likes the “mythology” that has been built up since Mr Moffat has taken over, but when it comes to “Doctor Who” this really is not Saturday night television, not any more.

Score one to me Smithy boy.

Saturday night television, if you're even home watching it, is meant to be light and something you just enjoy, not something you have to watch every frame of to see who might have actually stolen Amy's baby or where she was swapped for her 'Ganger.

Mr Moffat has come out to say that kids watch every frame and get it. I seriously doubt that. Maybe we are looking too deeply into it, maybe this is a game between us, the viewers and Mr Moffat to see who lasts the longest. I hope not because I love this show and I would hate to see it become a “Lost” where it ended lamely after such a great beginning, middle and almost the end.

That's my commentary on the 1st half of Season 6 other than to say that I, like most, am not happy with the games that the BBC is playing with splitting the season (another game “Lost” played), or do I like the rumored extension of Season 7 into 2013 so they can celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the show.

I get the celebration and it should be celebrated, but there is a more “organic” way that it can be done without stretching Season 7 over 2 years, like having a Season 8 (in 2012) and a season 9 in 2013 that ends on November 23rd (A Saturday Night – Woo Hoo)

OK – no more rantings, next week we get into the real muck and mire of Season 6.

Jayne :)