51 Years in the Tardis

A year has passed since the 50th anniversary special and Doctor Who is 51 years old today, This time last year  The Day of the Doctor, was simulcast to several countries across the globe, winning great acclaim.  So how has the show been faring in the wake of its anniversary celebrations? On this day in 1974, audiences would have already seen Jon Pertwee regenerate and Tom Baker's debut was only a month away. In 1984, the fresh new start promised at the end of The Five Doctors was somewhat diminished by the premiere of Warriors of the Deep. By this time, in November, The Twin Dilemma had aired, and fans were probably hoping that the next series was going to be much better (though at least the comic strips with Frobisher were decent) In 2004 there was a mixture of anticipation and fear as the New series with Christopher Eccleston was being filmed. So what has changed between 2013 and 2014?

Two days after the 50th anniversary, Doctor Who Legacy launched. It is probably the best videogame to come out for Doctor Who.

The first piece of Doctor Who to air after the anniversary was, of course, Matt Smith’s departure story, The Time of the Doctor. It was a story with a good idea behind it but not enough time to get it across and a general feeling that Moffat was having to cram everything in to tie everything up. It was a slightly disappointing end to the otherwise excellent 50th anniversary year, although it did at least leave us with the promise of a new and exciting Doctor in Peter Capaldi.

                                     

There was never any real question that Peter Capaldi would fit the role of the Doctor like a glove, but we had to put up with press and some internet users making a big deal about how old he was. Some think he's an improvement over Matt Smith, who gets criticized with the same repetitive complains that he was "wacky" and "zany". Words which fail to do Matt's performance justice. Personally, I loved Matt Smith's Doctor and now I'm love Peter Capaldi as well. That’s two Doctors I’ve liked in a row. Of course that probably means I'll hate the next one.

                                                        
Another older incarnation of the Doctor got a bit of promotional boost this year as well. The War Doctor, played by John Hurt, was one of the more controversial aspects of the 50th anniversary special. This year saw the character getting two new outings. One in the official BBC book Engines of War written by George Mann, as well as the charity anthology Seasons of War. Whether you like this interim Doctor or not, the fact that it led to  Jim Mortimore and Kate Orman writing for Doctor Who meant that it was worth it.

In the wider world we had the World Tour as Steven Moffat and his team continued to publicize Doctor Who overseas. Heading through London, South Korea, Sydney, New York, Mexico City and Rio De Janeiro, this was one of the more interesting stunts of the year. There were a couple of hilarious results of this, such as the picture seen above, which was presented to Peter and Jenna in South Korea. Still, for all its cheesiness, it’s good that fans in other countries can feel like they matter. I used to be a big fan of Japanese video games and it was always annoying that they'd be released in Europe last. Giving these fans an opportunity to meet their heroes means that they can feel included and overall it proves that the production team aren’t getting complacent about sticking with the same old audience.

The fictional world of Doctor Who has also had some pretty interesting developments. A year ago,the Time Lords could only regenerate into the same gender. The Corsair may have been mentioned, but had never seen on screen. This year Moffat has added to his list of changes to the Doctor Who world with the revelation that the Master has regenerated into a woman. The first on screen proof that Time Lords can change gender when regenerating. This has oddly enough become one of my favourite moments in the latest series. Michelle Gomez was brilliant and she has said recently she will be coming back next series. That is definitely going to be something to look forward to.

The Doctor and the Master weren't the only old character to get a new body this year this year. Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart being reborn as a Cyberman is a development that I was personally not so keen on.  I felt his exit in The Wedding of River Song was perfect and this resurrection was unnecessary Still, it can’t be changed now, and the Brigadier had a similar death and rebirth plot in the New Adventures, so there is a precedent for it. Will we ever see the Cyber Brig again? It's possible. Maybe there'll be some sort of time paradox in which his head comes off and he becomes Handles? Time will tell.

Beyond that we’ve still got The Doctor Who exhibition is about to reopen Currently still undergoing refurbishment but is rumored to show the scene of the  Doctor saving Gallifrey from Day of the Doctor. I enjoyed the original exhibition, which I saw in Olympia, but, annoyingly I am too busy to attend this one at the moment. Other fans are likely to report back on this experience and hopefully it will be an enjoyable one.

Overall the shows' creators have not been idle since the 50th. There have been many changes in front of, and behind, the scenes. In an interview last year, Moffat said that he didn't want the 50th anniversary to feel like an epitaph. In this he has succeeded admirably. The show is continuing to change and expand its audience. Who knows what will change in Series 9?

Next year it will be the 10th anniversary of the show coming back so it’ll be interesting to see if Moff addresses that. Good things don’t last forever but the show is doing okay so far.