The Thirteenth Doctor: My Favorite Things About Series 11

Now that Jodie Whitaker’s three-series (plus some specials) run as the Doctor is in the books, there’s plenty of time to look back on her time in the TARDIS as a whole. A lot of attention gets paid to the Timeless Child revelation and the Flux storyline, since those have vast implications that will impact the lore of Doctor Who for years to come. But, for my money, my favorite stretch of Thirteenth Doctor episodes is her very first series, which featured ten standalone episodes and one holiday special.

The relatively unheralded first series of the Thirteenth Doctor’s adventures with brand new companions gave us a continuity-light approach that allowed new viewers to jump into the show. It also brought back a classic series feel, bringing us some tropes that we hadn’t seen since before the Time War. I like this time in the show a lot, and here are some of my favorite things about it.

The Thirteenth Doctor: Companion Evolution

Spoilers for “Revolution of the Daleks” (2021 New Year’s special) follow.

In its 58-year history, very few episodes of Doctor Who have featured the titular Doctor on her own. Human companions serve an important role in grounding the Doctor and serving as the lens through which the audience experiences the zany journeys. Without companions, the Doctor is just some inscrutable alien, and she has no reason to explain the many bizarre things she encounters in her travels through space and time.

In addition to serving as audience avatars, the Doctor’s companions act as teammates and, on the many occasions where the Doctor gets in over her head, rescuers. This formula has worked consistently for decades, yet there has been some evolution here and there. Under the Thirteenth Doctor, the companions have reached a new stage of development that is both similar to and yet different from the relationship they shared under previous incarnations of the Time Lord.

The Thirteenth Doctor: A Question of Identity

Spoilers for the Series 12 (2020) finale of Doctor Who follow.

Following the huge continuity bombshell dropped by the Series 12 finale “The Timeless Children,” Johnny Spandrell of the Randomwhoness blog posted this thought on Twitter:

Post #TheTimelessChildren, I am wondering why retconning the Doctor’s origin story was important. What dramatic potential does it open up? Why do it now? And did it get in the way of what could have been a great, if more trad, Dr vs Cybermen story?

— Johnny Spandrell (@JohnnySpandrell) March 2, 2020

That’s quite a fair question to ask. As I mentioned last time, I’m not a fan of stories that exist just to tweak in-show continuity. The Doctor is already alien and somewhat difficult to relate to, being a millennia-old alien being who travels time and regenerates into new bodies upon death. Does making her the foundation of an entire alien society really do anything story-wise?

I argue that “The Timeless Children” does much more than continuity-tweaking. In redefining the Doctor, it opens up many potentially interesting stories in the future. More importantly, it goes back to one of the inherent themes in much of modern science fiction: a matter of identity.

The Thirteenth Doctor: Pros and Cons of Continuity

Spoilers for Series 12 (2020) of Doctor Who follow.

I quite liked the continuity-light approach of the Thirteenth Doctor’s debut season. I felt that relying on new aliens and monsters rather than dredging up the old standards provided more of a focus on who the Doctor was and what was important about her.

That said, my favorite moment in the Thirteenth Doctor’s run definitely comes from the climactic moment of Season 12’s “The Timeless Children,” which is anything but light on continuity:

 

So even as I celebrate a continuity-light approach, I lose my mind when the show plays a 30-second montage that acknowledges the Doctor’s long history. Why does continuity have that effect, and when does the show’s 50+ years of baggage drag it down?

The Thirteenth Doctor: Beginning Ramblings

 

In my mad dash to find wild fan theories and cool thoughts about the recent seasons of Doctor Who, I’ve been disappointed to find that most of the online palaver focuses on the binary issue of whether people should consider Jodie Whitaker’s run as the Thirteenth Doctor good or bad. And, of course, a lot of that discussion boils down to people who don’t like the first female Doctor making some very thinly-veiled sexist remarks and those who do like her dismissing legitimate criticisms as anti-feminist.

It feels to me like there is a vast amount of discussion about the Thirteenth Doctor’s episodes themselves that remain untapped. I plan to explore some of those things that I feel people have overlooked. But before I do, I think it’s a good idea to establish my relationship with Doctor Who so people know where I’m coming from.