Talkin' 'Bout Regeneration

Welcome back from the hell of Christmas. We now have the hell of New Year to look forward to.

Actually, I had a great Christmas. Thanks for asking. I had a great time with my wife and kids, didn't get drunk, and plenty of presents all round. My wife bought me two Transformers t-shirts (one for each faction), a set of colognes, Call of Duty 4 on the PS3 (the old one, which I used to have), season one of Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu Ray, a bust of Shockwave (see below), and Marvel Chronicles (a huge book-in-a-box, charting the history of the company from the late thirties to present-ish day).

The Marvel book prompted me to do something I've had in mind for years, and get my web comic made, so thank you, Helen, you continue to inspire me. I've had the characters and situations in place for the best part of half a decade, so finally, in 2010, you'll get to meet the Destinauts. Click the picture on the top right to go to the site.

What will 2010 bring us? Lots of crap, no doubt. Arthur C Clarke's novel would have us believe that those pesky Monoliths will convert Jupiter into a second star in the solar system, which humans will name "Lucifer". So we've got that to look forward to. Closer to home, the very first day of the year will bring the Russell T Davies (and David Tennant, for that matter) era of Doctor Who to an end, clearing the way for Steven Moffat to bring some order to the proceedings again, with Matt Smith in the title role. We've been promised a more professorial Doctor, a quieter, more thoughtful incarnation. This is great news; as much as I enjoy Tennant in the role, his shouty Doctor can grate at times, but this has something to do with RTD himself.

Davies has a lot of detractors, but has he done harm or good to the show? Firstly, he has to be congratulated for bringing it back in the first place. Being a high-profile writer who was a fan of the show, kudos to him for using the resurrection of Doctor Who as a bargaining chip to work for the BBC. It is at a level of popularity it hasn't seen since the Tom Baker era. So, two Doctors in, what are the pros and cons?

Firstly, he chose two great leading men for the role. Christopher Eccleston brought a whole new quality to the part, and the more I watch his episodes back, the more I wish he'd made more. If only parts of fandom weren't baying for his blood the very day that Rose was broadcast (when it was announced he was leaving after the first series), he might have been persuaded back one day to finally show the McGann/Eccleston regeneration, instead of being Destro in GI Joe. Everyone has to eat, I suppose. Speaking of Rose, he partially used the template of Ace, which was a good thing, but he over-used her. Davies seemed to believe that we were in awe and love with Rose Tyler as much as he was. Back in the day, a companion left, and that was it. Aside from the multi-Doctor stories (which Davies hates), where old companions would appear with 'their' Doctor, once a companion left, the Doctor moved on, and ended up with another. She left the series at the end of the second year, but has been brought back several times since. Plus, the Doctor's in love with her. Sigh. I'd be glad to see the back of the chipmunk, to be honest, but I'm not a Time Lord. Captain Jack, the Ninth Doctor and Rose in the Tardis was a nice dynamic. Shame it only lasted for 3 episodes.

With Rose, he brought a family. Actually, this wasn't a bad thing. It was different for Doctor Who, having the companion's family to return to every so often (though the cross-time mobile phone thing was a rubbish device of convenience), with some nice character development for Mickey and Jackie. When he joined the Tardis crew, I didn't want Mickey to leave. It seemed that whenever anything good happened, it was swiftly taken away, and what was once good (or never was) was regurgitated ad nauseum. Martha Jones was brought in, another companion in love with the Doctor. Yawn. Freema Agyeman's acting ability left something to be desired. Like an acting ability. Making a bloody medical student a high-ranking UNIT official is ludicrous. What message is that for the youngsters? Leave your studies, be an annoying shit, and reap the rewards? Watching Captain Jack saluting her and his Torchwood cronies having to obey her was sickening.

Yes, Torchwood. He was responsible for that, which really hit its stride in its second series, only to kill off two of the best characters (and the other good character in the third), leaving the annoying one in place. But still, I love the show. Plus, Sarah Jane Adventures. Well done, Mr Davies. It's a great show, and wasted on kids. It's closer to 'classic' Doctor Who than Doctor Who is.

Sarah Jane... bringing her back was a master stroke. It's one thing that showed that he was a proper fan, and understood Doctor Who. Getting the concept of regeneration wrong is one strike against. Now, Time Lords can choose whether to regenerate or not, and they do it whilst stood up, arms akimbo, not dead on the floor like in the old days. WRONG. In The End of Time part 1, the Doctor told Wilf that if he dies before he can regenerate, that's it. So, what happened to the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Doctors, then? Bah.

The Daleks and Cybermen were vastly overused. Back in the old days, their appearances were sparse and eventful. Now, if a Dalek appears, it's not a shock. On the one hand, he popularised Daleks again. On the other, he neutered them. He brought the Cybermen back. Brilliant. But... they're not the 'proper' Cybermen. They're branded with a big copyright symbol on their chests, and are catchphrase-spouting drones. There was an hierarchy with the Mondasian Cybermen, and there were vast hints that they retained their human personalities. They didn't spout "delete" every two minutes. The most catchphrasey they got was the Cyber Leader saying "excellent". So, two of the Doctor's biggest enemies, wasted. The whole of the third series was brilliant (apart from Martha Jones), leading up to the return of the Master. Utopia was a fantastic episode, and Sir Derek Jacobi was a sublime Master. The few lines of dialogue he had once Professor Yana reverted to him reminded me of Roger Delgado. High praise indeed. Then, he regenerated into John Simm. I like John Simm, but I'm not keen on his portrayal of the Master. I think I just miss the Holmes/Moriarty dynamic of Pertwee and Delgado.

Just when it seemed he couldn't perfect companions, he brought in Donna Noble. Brilliant (aside from that Christmas one). Plus, she wasn't in love with the Doctor. This was brilliant if not only for bringing Bernard Cribbins into canonical Doctor Who. Turn Left was a truly fantastic episode. When he tries to write an episode without ticking boxes off of a checklist, he can pull some wonderful stories out of his arse. However, he is responsible for some of the worst deus-ex-machina reset-button endings I've ever seen. The Tardis towing Earth across space? The Tardis reversing time so that the Master's year of tyranny never happened? All bollocks.

He has an obsession with certain real-life authority figures, which may not be completely in agreement with the audience. That cringe-worthy moment in the cringe-worthy Voyage of the Damned, where the Queen waves at the Titanic, saying "thank you, Doctor". Christ, the worst parasite the Doctor's ever faced. Who wants to see her? Nobody likes the monarchy, Russell. Then, he brought a badly-portrayed Barack Obama into The End of Time part 1. "President Obama's making an announcement on TV tonight! He's got a solution to save the world!" or somesuch bollocks. All I could do was carry on cringing.

It sounds like I'm being completely negative about Russell T Davies, which isn't fair. He's a genuinely lovely bloke. I met him several times in my old job, and he always took the time out to talk to me. He's bloody tall, too. In terms of the show itself, we have a lot to thank him for. The overall look of the show, brilliant. Would have loved to have had the Doctor's face in the opening titles like the Second Doctor's through to the Seventh Doctor's eras, as I believe it emphasises the spookiness and alien aspect surrounding the character, but that's just me. Despite crediting Christopher Eccleston as playing "Doctor Who" (something that the other fanboy, David Tennant, made sure was corrected when he got the part), he does know his stuff, and what makes it good, but unfortunately also knows what makes it popular, so overuse of certain things in place of others. He did bring on board some excellent writers, most of whom have been responsible for the best episodes of New Who; Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell, all wonderful. He kept the theme tune, kept the Tardis as a police box, carried it on from the old continuity, and reined in certain things that any other fan would have flooded it with. Despite his love of the show, he didn't push it. He dropped in occasional things like the Macra, the Time War was a great device (if a little overused in the end), he held off on mentioning Gallifrey until the second Christmas special (he knows how to work the fans, you have to give him that), the Time Lords making a fleeting appearance in flashback only (with robes faithful to 1976's The Deadly Assassin)... Overall, I still love the show. As a fan, I find some things a little tiresome, whereas maybe two years ago, I defended it all with terminal intensity. Perhaps it's David Tennant's 75 appearances across the BBC at Christmas which has cemented it for me, but I can't wait for him to regenerate now. Name-drop alert: I've met him too. A few days before Christopher Eccleston regenerated, Mr Tennant was in my shop, and nobody knew him. He was lovely, and signed a birthday card for my son. He spent the time speaking, like RTD did, and was a genuinely great bloke, shaking my hand, and thanking me for showing interest in his work, absolutely no trace of ego. Through Doctor Who being filmed in Cardiff, I've also met Mark Gatiss (spent half an hour personal shopping for him), Jessica Hynes/Stephenson, Eve Myles, and nearly met the one who played Ianto. But he walked out of my shop looking bemused. Ah well. So yes, I thank RTD for making sure it's filmed in Cardiff, because, as a fan, it's been a whole new level for me.

I've moaned a lot about it, but it's still recognisably Doctor Who. He's updated it, made it something 'the kids' talk about again, and succeeded in making a family show for Saturday nights that isn't light entertainment rubbish. Its faults are ones that are perhaps only ones perceived by sad old fans like me; another fan in charge may well have killed it stone dead with an over-reliance on continuity, making it one long fanfic. But, it is fresh, vital and very much alive. We now have another fan in charge, and one who wrote the brilliant The Empty Child and Blink. Hopefully, finally, we'll see a line drawn under the Time War arc, the Time Lords and Gallifrey will be back, the Daleks will make an appearance every couple or few years, the original Cybermen will come back, the sonic screwdriver will blow up, and the Doctor will have a companion that doesn't want to shag him.

I'll never forgive him for changing what UNIT stands for and for bringing in farting aliens, but you can't have everything.

So, a very Happy New Year to you all, have a great time and stay safe. I'll be back in a few days, in 2010: the most sci-fi year since 2001. See you next year.