Doctor Who: Series 8 (2014) - Retrospective

I remember 2014 being a very exciting year for a Doctor Who fan. Despite having yet another nine-month wait for the next series, news, leaks and spoilers were abound. We were just coming off the back of the show's 50th anniversary year, and I was still riding high on the celebrations of such an event. We had a new Doctor in Peter Capaldi, a relatively new companion in Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), and a whole new era to look forward to. Steven Moffat's era B, if you will. Throughout the year we had official photos from the new years, vague behind the scenes snaps, the usual Radio Times episode guide and the World Tour - as the first episode 'Deep Breath' screened in seven cities across five continents, building the excitement in the weeks before it aired on BBC One. I had come back from a week's holiday just in time to see Episode 1, and was absolutely ecstatic.

It saddens me somewhat to say that when I revisited 'Deep Breath' a little while ago, I found myself positively underwhelmed. It's a baggy episode, with an overlong running-time, a thin plot and a general lack of character development. Clara's uncertainty with a new Doctor feels disingenuous so soon after meeting two others in 'The Day of the Doctor', especially given Matt Smith's excellent final speech about change in 'The Time of the Doctor'. It also seems odd that despite Clara suddenly leaving her family to see the Eleventh Doctor regenerate in 'Time' that she completely forgets about them in this episode. It's still technically Christmas Day for her, but that doesn't seem to matter. When she and the Doctor find themselves in Glasgow at the end of the episode, it seems like an odd conclusion - a nice walk for some friends, but a moment undercut in the very next episode.

'Into the Dalek' is a much more back-to-basics episode of Doctor Who, but manages to feel like a more satisfying series opener. New lead Danny Pink is introduced, as well as the divide between Clara's life as an English teacher and as a traveler in time and space. It also sets up the Doctor's hostility with soldiers, an idea continued throughout the rest of the series. I think that with a bit of re-working, 'Deep Breath' could have worked better as a pre-series special, with 'Into the Dalek' firmly establishing some key themes for the series, including the "am I a good man" question. It's also a fun Dalek adventure, and while it's not perfect and very familiar, it's a nice one to stick on.

Then we have our first real stumble. 'Robot of Sherwood' is a very Matt Smith episode, and Capaldi's bickering with Robin Hood feels oddly vicious, and at points somewhat inconsistent. It's also far too short, cramming too much plot into one single 45-minute episode, and having to artificially create some kind of satisfying climax too late in the day. 'Listen', on the other hand, is a step back towards a new style, feeling very tense and intriguing - even if Moffat's "low budget" episode features a heck of a lot of locations. The ending is a little odd, and I'm still not 100% sold on it, but it's a very atmospheric episode. That being said, 'Time Heist' fell rather flat for me, with dull twists, a weak villain (wasting Keeley Hawes) and two rather uninteresting guest characters. Funnily enough, I'd remembered it as one of Capaldi's better adventures.

'The Caretaker' sends us back to Earth for a more soap-esque tale, as Clara's double-life starts to go horribly wrong. It's a more fun installment, and while some gags fall flat, the episode is bolstered by some great and genuinely interesting character drama. The Doctor's hostility towards Danny Pink seems a little too nasty for my liking though, and most of this fails to go anywhere by the series' end. The Skovox Blitzer is a fun, if slightly corny, threat though.

On the end of the spectrum we have 'Kill the Moon', which too features some interesting character drama but also doesn't seem to quite work as well as it should. The supporting cast are as dull as their grey spacesuits, whilst guest character Courtney thankfully never shows up again after this. The spiders are interesting monsters until they stop featuring in the plot, and there's some bizarre music choices throughout - as though Murray Gold was trying to use the music to make the episode much more exciting than it actually is. I don't so much mind the ultimate reveal of the moon as an egg, but the episode never really develops it's abortion metaphor beyond "thing bad". Not exactly a nuanced argument.

Then we get the Jaime Mathieson gems of the series - 'Mummy on the Orient Express' and 'Flatline' - two incredibly entertaining Doctor Who adventures with bold, distinctive ideas, fun guest characters and scary monsters. Quite why Frank Skinner didn't return is beyond me. 'In the Forest of the Night' is an intriguing episode, but it never really develops its story, and the protagonists feels oddly passive throughout. There's some nice character moments, but everything feels a little too convenient in the end. It's also bizarre by this point how little Clara and Danny's relationship has developed. Danny never really feels like a three-dimensional character, which makes his death two minutes into the following episode feels completely unearned.

'Dark Water' and 'Death in Heaven' is a bizarre two-part finale, being both too silly and too morbid ("don't cremate me" is a horrific concept), barely using U.N.I.T, the Cybermen or even the newly-re-imagined Master (now Missy...for some reason), and botching the character development - mainly because there isn't much groundwork to base the character development on. It does somewhat resolve the series in a satisfying way, and Capaldi's inconsistent and frequently bizarre characterisation feels more justified - but this is mostly ignored in the next series anyway. Actually, the more I think about it, the less I like this finale. It's watchable, but doesn't fully utilise any of its key elements. Bit of a naff way to end the series, come to think of it.

After finishing 'Death in Heaven' earlier today though, I felt like watching 'Earth Conquest' - a documentary about Doctor Who's 2014 World Tour - and reflected on the show as a whole. Series 8 isn't a particularly great series of Doctor Who, but it did bring the fans together to have something to talk about. I can and have discussed it with friends, and have made friends from being a fan of Doctor Who. To some extent, the quality of each episode doesn't matter, as everyone will have a favourite and least favourite. I'm sure many people reading this loved 'Death in Heaven', and some hated 'Flatline', but that's part of the fun of it all, isn't it? Doctor Who brings people together to celebrate something they love. They make stunning artwork, or write their own fan fiction, or create their own title sequences, stop-motion adventures or even fan-made episodes. Doctor Who is as much a community as a show, and the worldwide appeal of the characters and stories is just incredible when you start to think about it. Sure, it's not perfect - but it's our little sci-fi show. Peter Capaldi was a great ambassador for the series, being so lovely and polite to his fans, and I adored some photos posted the other day of Jodie Whittaker beaming away as she met fans on the set of the next series. There's always people who try to ruin the communal experience, but we as Doctor Who fans should celebrate the show, for all of its highs and lows. Whilst we might not always agree on it, it's still a great adventure in space and time with a madman (and madwoman) in a box. Just be kind.