Fans ofDoctor Whoare currently in a state of pure excitement, which is only understandable. After all, Nov. 25 will see the release of the first of the three 60th anniversary specials on BBC and Disney+. The specials will feature the return of fan-favoriteDoctor WhoperformerDavid Tennant, now as the Fourteenth Doctor instead of the Tenth, as well as of beloved companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). ShowrunnerRussell T. Davies, who was once responsible for reviving the classic British sci-fi series after a 15-year-long hiatus, will also be making a comeback. For many, this spells the return to an era of glory and wonder after the subpar seasons that sawJodie Whittakerat the helm of the TARDIS as the Thirteenth Doctor, under the writing ofChris Chibnall. The anniversary specials will also mark an important moment forDoctor Who: At the end of the three episodes,Tennant will be passing the sonic screwdriver toSex EducationalumNcuti Gatwa. Making his debut as the Fifteenth Doctor, Gatwa will be the first Black actor,the first queer actor, and, overall, the first performer of color to portray the titular Time Lord. AfterWhittaker became the first womanever to take over the role, this will be yet another milestone for the series that has been on the air since 1963.
But while Tennant’s regeneration into Gatwa is definitely a moment that fans are anticipating, it is also being overshadowed by Tennant’s comeback. As a matter of fact, Whittaker’s departure from the series is likewise being eclipsed by the return of a much more popular Doctor. Two extremely important moments forDoctor Whoare suffering due to the choice to bring back a past Doctor disguised as a new incarnation. Even worse, by calling back Tennant in such a way after a period of dwindling viewership, the BBC is basically telling Gatwa that it doesn’t trust him to regain the love of lost fans. Besides, considering that Donna and the Tenth Doctor were precisely the last Team TARDIS that Davies wrote for the show, their return also feels like a complete erasure of everything that happened in the 13 years since he left the series. To put it simply, Tennant’s return toDoctor Whoas the Fourteenth Doctor is, in all shapes and forms, a cop out.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who' is a classic science-fiction programme with a cult following. The Doctor is called a Time Lord', a time-travelling scientist from a far off planet, who travels through time and space in a shop known by the acronym TARDIS. A TARDIS is a machine that is larger on the inside than the outside and is supposed to change its appearance based on its surroundings. The Doctor is also able to evolve his biology, so he appears as many different people throughout the series. The Doctor loves Earth, so he makes many trips here to save the planet, or to enlist earthlings to help him with tasks in the galaxy.
‘Doctor Who’s Popularity Has Been Dwindling Over the Years
These may sound like harsh words, but, when we take into consideration the numbers surroundingDoctor Who, it’s hard to look at Tennant’s return any other way. Ever since Jodie Whittaker became the face of the series, the show’s viewership has been on a free fall. Hard numbers are tough to come by, but it is very telling thatonly 4.04 million people watched her regeneration into the Fourteenth Doctorin 2022’s “The Power of the Doctor” while 10.9 million tuned in for Whittaker’s debut episode, 2018’s “The Woman Who Fell to Earth”. According to the fan websiteDoctor Who Guide, in between Whittaker’s first and final year, the show lost about an average of 3.5 million viewers.
Likewise, social media buzz aroundDoctor Whohas also died down over the past few years. What was once a massive fandom that even had its own name - Whovians - was reduced to a handful of aficionados still religiously following every outing in the TARDIS. It is not hard to come across posts and videos by former fans that claim to have dropped the show entirely when Whittaker and Chibnall came along.
The Problem With ‘Doctor Who’ Hinges on the Writing For the Show
The core reason behind this drop in popularity seems to be Chibnall’s writing for the series. Indeed, back when he was just part ofDoctor Who’s team of writers, Chibnall was never quite seen as a maker of great episodes. During Davies andSteven Moffat’s tenure of the show, he penned five episodes for the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor’s, all of which, from Season 3’s “42” to Season 7’s “The Power of Three”, are, at best, boring. As a showrunner, Chibnall did not improve, and his writing for the show in many waysfailed Whittaker as the first woman to play the Doctor.
In contrast, Davies’ time asDoctor Who’s showrunner saw a big surge in popularity for the series. Again, according toDoctor Who Guide, in between the show’s return withChristopher Ecclestonas the Ninth Doctor and Davies’ final specials with Tennant, the series’ average viewership rose from 8.08 million to an all-time high of 10.70 million people. These numbers dropped a little after Moffat took over, withMatt Smithas the Eleventh Doctor, in 2010, but remained above 7 million up until 2015, whenPeter Capalditook over full-time as the Twelfth Doctor. Thus, though viewership troubles surely became more evident during Chibnall and Whittaker’s time, they were actually nothing new.
It is no wonder, then, that the BBC is trying to returnDoctor Whoto its glory days, in which more than 10 million people gathered to keep up with the Time Lord and his myriad of human companions. And there’s no more surefire way to reach this goal than to bring back the guys that made it all possible in the first place. However, in doing so, the BBC isn’t exactly facing the problem as it is simply rehashing the past. Instead of trying to create something new withDoctor Who, something that will draw in audiences once more, the network is merely going back to the time in which the show was a hit. In lieu of teaching an old horse new tricks - and we’ll never know if that is possible until we try it — it is just showing us the same old tricks over and over again.
David Tennant’s Return to ‘Doctor Who’ Is a Setback for the Show
This repetition of the past is also a slap to the face to both performers between whom Tennant will be sandwiched as the Fourteenth Doctor. The optics of this decision are not good. As far as Whittaker is concerned, bringing back a more popular Doctor, as well as a companion that was more beloved than her “TARDIS fam”, can feel as if the show is suggesting that they’re going back to a better time, before Whittaker’s doctor. Moreover, it feels as if the BBC is saying that trying to move the show forwards by casting a female Doctor was actually a setback, as they were forced to go back in time to the most popular Doctor to course correct.
As for Gatwa, Tennant’s casting as the Fourteenth Doctor says is that he is incapable of bringing in viewers on his own. The idea is, of course, to draw in viewers by promising them the same thing that they loved so much all those years ago and then keep them tuned in for Gatwa’s first adventures. However, wouldn’t the mere change of Doctor and showrunner be enough to bring back those former fans who are curious?The way it currently is, with Tennant shoved between Whittaker and Gatwa, it is as though the BBC (and Davies, perhaps) doesn’t trust the quality of the show’s writing and its actors’ performances anymore.
Tennant’s Return Is Not as the Tenth Doctor, That’s the Problem
Sure, we should take into consideration the fact that this is a series of anniversary specials we’re talking about. Thus, it is only expected for the show to bring back previous incarnations of the Doctor, as it has done many times before. Still, in those other specials, the visiting Doctors were always themselves, and not a new incarnation. For example, in 2013’s 50th anniversary episode, “The Day of the Doctor”, David Tennant made an appearance alongside Matt Smith as the Tenth Doctor, while Capaldi had a cameo as the Twelfth. Tennant was not put in between Smith and Capaldi’s incarnations of the character.
And making David Tennant the Twelfth Doctor in between Smith and Capaldi would not have the same implications that making him the Fourteenth has. Whittaker and Gatwa’s Doctors are, as previously stated, two firsts forDoctor Who, and the regeneration that was supposed to mark the passage from one to the other would be an even bigger first: a woman would regenerate into a Black man. Buffering these two doctors makes it feel like the show is trying to curry favor with viewers who might have fallen out of love with the show and, in turn, has robbed us of a historic moment.
Last, but not least, bringing back David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor alongside Donna Noble feels like a sort of retcon. Not in the sense that the special will likely see Donna regaining her memories from her travels with the Doctor afterlosing them at the end of Season 4. That is merely the plot moving forwards. When we say it feels like a retcon, it’s because the Tenth Doctor and Donna were precisely the last Doctor-companion duo that Davies wrote for the show. Bringing them back rubs us strangely as resetting the clock back to a time before Moffat brought back Gallifrey and Chibnall created a whole new Time Lord lore in his “Timeless Children” arc. Now, there’s no knowing whether Davies will actually retcon anything or not, and, to a show as long asDoctor Who, retcons are often just a part of life. Still, it is definitely not a good look.
The 60th anniversary specials ofDoctor Whowill be available to stream on Disney+on November 25, December 2, and December 9.
Stream all seasons ofDoctor Whoright now on BritBox in the U.S.
