More musings on series 7
So, dropping these below a cut for spoiler reasons.
As much as I like Moffat's work, series 7 wasn't my favorite. I've learned not to judge Doctor Who week to week, but take a look at the whole once it is done.
The biggest thing that really hurt series 7 was in part what strung it all together - putting Amy and Rory's ending into the same series arc as Clara's beginning. Yes, it gave us "Asylum of the Daleks," which is one of my favorite episodes of the series and was just brilliant on every level. But, it's hard to view series 7 as a cohesive whole when both parts are so disjarringly different.
Part of it, I know, is how Karen Gillan decided that she wanted out as Amy and when she told Moffat. I'm not sure how much he had to re-do in order to compensate for writing Amy and Rory out. And while Classic Who would cycle in companions on a back-to-back basis, it doesn't quite work here. I wonder what would have been different had Amy and Rory stayed the entire time, and they were the ones to go to Trenzalore with the Doctor. I think it was always meant to be a ghost River there. The whole "no living being can speak falsely or fail to give answer." River is literally "no living being." So she couldn't speak falsely or fail to give answer. How would it have been different had the Doctor been forced to tell the Ponds about the Library, that he largely abandoned their daughter because he was grieving for her so much that he couldn't face up to it. The series might have ended with Rory running his father-in-law through with a sword.
The themes running through series 7 were lovely. The lightbulbs flickering and going out for Amy and Rory, culminated by the changing of the bulb. Always hearing music and referring to it throughout series 7b, because the Doctor could always hear and see River's echo. Even though the episodes were supposed to stand alone, there was still those undercurrents going through it. There was that one period of befuddlement in "The Snowmen," when you're wondering why the Doctor was grieving so hard for the Ponds when he had reached a measure of peace, but knowing now he was also grieving for River does drive the point home. Centuries most likely have passed between series 7a and 7b, but such a big time leap is a bit frustrating.
Clara makes a sacrifice in the way that all New Who companions did, though hers was more in the vein of RTD's heroines. And while Clara was in all but four episodes of the series, the way she travels with the Doctor off and on is another one of those time leaps that makes her story disjointed. While what she did was amazing, it didn't have the emotional pull of Rose becoming Bad Wolf or Donna becoming the Doctor/Donna. Not even does it have the pull of River's sacrifice in the Library and her suffering for years beyond that. That being said, I'm glad series 7 does put to rest how the Doctor feels about River, though to me it's been clear since "A Good Man Goes to War" that he loves her. Like any greedy shipper, I want to see more.
I know a lot of people do blame Moffat for all this, and I think he could have ran a tighter ship in this regard. I understand too from interviews that a lot of the thematic direction of series 7 also came from Caro Skinner, and I can see why she wound up stepping down. The BBC though did announce back in 2011 that series 7 would be split like this, so it was in the works for two years.
Series 6 gets a lot of flak, but I still consider it my favorite. Part of it is because my favorite New Who character is the one the plot circles around, but I also love the telling of a cohesive story. I think for the most part that series 6 does a better job at this than series 7. It helps that it wasn't the first series for any of the characters involved - the Doctor, River, Amy, and Rory - and that the character relationships were solidly established except for the bits of trolling here and there.
Series 7 is re-watchable, and there's actually only a couple episodes I really don't care to ever revisit ("The Power of Three" and "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"), but I know I won't really reach for it to watch first. My favorite series of New Who are still:
- Series 6
- Series 1
- Series 4
- Series 5
- Series 7
- Series 3
- Series 2
As for series 8 though, it does leave a blank slate, and that's exciting. It's most likely going to be the final series for the 11th Doctor, and that will make it utterly brilliant. I think everything with John Hurt Doctor will be cleared up on the 50th. I think, and hope, that we'll see River again, but the younger River that has the good marriage with the Doctor. I'm OK with seeing younger River, because older River gave us that closure. Until the next time. They're time travelers, of course they'll see each other again. I think the Doctor can live with it now, and having come to peace with Library River and his own feelings, I think he can take each encounter for what it is.
As much as I like Moffat's work, series 7 wasn't my favorite. I've learned not to judge Doctor Who week to week, but take a look at the whole once it is done.
The biggest thing that really hurt series 7 was in part what strung it all together - putting Amy and Rory's ending into the same series arc as Clara's beginning. Yes, it gave us "Asylum of the Daleks," which is one of my favorite episodes of the series and was just brilliant on every level. But, it's hard to view series 7 as a cohesive whole when both parts are so disjarringly different.
Part of it, I know, is how Karen Gillan decided that she wanted out as Amy and when she told Moffat. I'm not sure how much he had to re-do in order to compensate for writing Amy and Rory out. And while Classic Who would cycle in companions on a back-to-back basis, it doesn't quite work here. I wonder what would have been different had Amy and Rory stayed the entire time, and they were the ones to go to Trenzalore with the Doctor. I think it was always meant to be a ghost River there. The whole "no living being can speak falsely or fail to give answer." River is literally "no living being." So she couldn't speak falsely or fail to give answer. How would it have been different had the Doctor been forced to tell the Ponds about the Library, that he largely abandoned their daughter because he was grieving for her so much that he couldn't face up to it. The series might have ended with Rory running his father-in-law through with a sword.
The themes running through series 7 were lovely. The lightbulbs flickering and going out for Amy and Rory, culminated by the changing of the bulb. Always hearing music and referring to it throughout series 7b, because the Doctor could always hear and see River's echo. Even though the episodes were supposed to stand alone, there was still those undercurrents going through it. There was that one period of befuddlement in "The Snowmen," when you're wondering why the Doctor was grieving so hard for the Ponds when he had reached a measure of peace, but knowing now he was also grieving for River does drive the point home. Centuries most likely have passed between series 7a and 7b, but such a big time leap is a bit frustrating.
Clara makes a sacrifice in the way that all New Who companions did, though hers was more in the vein of RTD's heroines. And while Clara was in all but four episodes of the series, the way she travels with the Doctor off and on is another one of those time leaps that makes her story disjointed. While what she did was amazing, it didn't have the emotional pull of Rose becoming Bad Wolf or Donna becoming the Doctor/Donna. Not even does it have the pull of River's sacrifice in the Library and her suffering for years beyond that. That being said, I'm glad series 7 does put to rest how the Doctor feels about River, though to me it's been clear since "A Good Man Goes to War" that he loves her. Like any greedy shipper, I want to see more.
I know a lot of people do blame Moffat for all this, and I think he could have ran a tighter ship in this regard. I understand too from interviews that a lot of the thematic direction of series 7 also came from Caro Skinner, and I can see why she wound up stepping down. The BBC though did announce back in 2011 that series 7 would be split like this, so it was in the works for two years.
Series 6 gets a lot of flak, but I still consider it my favorite. Part of it is because my favorite New Who character is the one the plot circles around, but I also love the telling of a cohesive story. I think for the most part that series 6 does a better job at this than series 7. It helps that it wasn't the first series for any of the characters involved - the Doctor, River, Amy, and Rory - and that the character relationships were solidly established except for the bits of trolling here and there.
Series 7 is re-watchable, and there's actually only a couple episodes I really don't care to ever revisit ("The Power of Three" and "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"), but I know I won't really reach for it to watch first. My favorite series of New Who are still:
- Series 6
- Series 1
- Series 4
- Series 5
- Series 7
- Series 3
- Series 2
As for series 8 though, it does leave a blank slate, and that's exciting. It's most likely going to be the final series for the 11th Doctor, and that will make it utterly brilliant. I think everything with John Hurt Doctor will be cleared up on the 50th. I think, and hope, that we'll see River again, but the younger River that has the good marriage with the Doctor. I'm OK with seeing younger River, because older River gave us that closure. Until the next time. They're time travelers, of course they'll see each other again. I think the Doctor can live with it now, and having come to peace with Library River and his own feelings, I think he can take each encounter for what it is.