In the spirit of Series 8 winding down, I thought it would be fun to take a look at our newest Doctor and what we have seen from him so far. I am going to treat this like a day late review, offering up the good, the bad, and the final verdict. It seems like Capaldi’s Doctor has been almost divisive amongst fans. He’s not you dad’s Doctor, and he’s not your sister’s either. So where does he fit in? Let’s take a look.
The Good
He’s older. I mean, obviously, each regeneration of the Doctor is older than the last, but I mean he looks older. This is in the good category for me, because this limits the potential romances between the Doctor and his companions. Finally. Don’t get me wrong, I have like Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith and their portrayals of our favorite Time Lord, but the one thing I never liked was the romantic aspects. It always seemed to add a creepy element to the Doctor. Think about, here comes this guy from space who is over 1000 years old, and he finds these “companions” who are in their early 20’s and takes them away in his magical box, and they all fall in love with him. The age difference goes way beyond a “December-May” relationship. In the previous versions of the Doctor (since the reboot), in my opinion, the best companions were Donna and Amy with Rory. The only acceptable romance was River Song. So the fact that this Doctor is older and there doesn’t seem to be any romance between him and Clara is a huge positive for me. Does he care for Clara? Yes, but I feel like it is more of a fatherly relationship than an “in love” relationship. I know he doesn’t care for Danny Pink, but it’s not because he sees him as competition for his love. As a father of 3 girls, I can tell you it will be hard for me to find any man acceptable for them, especially if I can see all the things I don’t like about myself in them, things that actually make me a good man. That’s where the Doctor is with Danny. He is not sure that Danny is good enough for Clara, especially because Danny was a soldier. We know how this Doctor feels about soldiers, because of how he feels about his life as a soldier in the Time War and after. That is a very fatherly attitude.
This Doctor is alien in a very different kind of way. Matt Smith played a quirky alien version of the Doctor, but Capaldi’s is still very Alien, and he seems less intent on blending in with people. It can almost seem snooty, but he feels like he is better than the human race. Considering what he has done and seen, he is. I like this characteristic of this new Doctor, and I think Capaldi plays it well. There is never any doubt that he is different, but it’s not ever really over the top.
The accent- I love the Scottish accent. I wonder sometimes if David tenant is sad when he hears the new Doctor speak in a Scottish accent. Tennant never did as the Doctor. I wonder why Capaldi does. I don’t know, but I love it.
The eyebrows. I love that the eyebrows get called out as often as they do. It’s kind of fun. Similar to Matt Smith’s chin, or Tennant’s being super skinny. The eyebrows have become the defining feature of Capaldi’s Doctor.
The doctor always does the right thing in the end. This will lead a little bit into the bad, but I just want to point out that Capaldi’s Doctor always does the right thing in the end. He always saves as many people as he can. He always ends up being the hero. There may be times along the way where we question it, but in the end, he is still a good man.
The Bad
The Doctor just doesn’t seem to care as much as the others. This was a huge negative for me at first. Matt Smith was just so lovable, but Capaldi is playing the Doctor as very prickly and not lovable. That was a big adjustment. My wife was very excited about the new season of Doctor Who, until we watched the first episode. I think she just doesn’t like this new Doctor as much as she liked Mat Smith’s, and I think it is because he is so different. I keep telling her to watch some more, but she won’t. I think it has been harder for her to get into it as much. The Doctor doesn’t seem to view and value life the same as previous regenerations have. He is much colder and more calculating, more analytical. Clara has described herself as his conscience, which isn’t accurate, but shows us that others view him as cold and uncaring. He comes across that way, and it can be hard to warm up to him as a result.
Clara. Clara has been so awful this series. I loved Clara in the last bit she did with Matt Smith, but Clara with this Doctor does not work. They just are no good for each other, and the drama that has come as a result of that has just been over the top. I have a theory, and I hope it’s right, that the writers and Moffat are doing this on purpose. I have felt that way for a while, because it is so blatantly bad, it must be on purpose. It appears, looking at the preview for the finale which starts tonight, that Clara may not be so good after all. If that is the case, then they have been working very hard for us to just not like her and want her gone. They are turning her into a villain.
The Final Verdict
There is no final verdict yet. It has only been one series, and we are not really at the end of that yet. So far, i would say he has grown on me. I really did not know what to think about this new Doctor when he appeared for the first time in “Deep Breath,” but now he is really coming along and we are seeing more and more of his character and the depth that is there. The hard part at the beginning of the series was that here were some stinker episodes. The episodes have gotten better as the season has gone on as well, which helps for the actors and the show in general. I am excited to see where Capaldi goes with the character, and I hope he will be around for a long time.
