Doctor Who (2005-2023); Highs and Lows, Ups and Down, Timeys and Wimeys

Doctor Who has long enjoyed a certain prestige as the longest-running science fiction television series. In 2010, Guinness World Records recognised it as 'the most successful science fiction television show in the world,' based on metrics such as DVD sales and online viewership.

The show has been running for so long that even its revival, relaunched in 2005 after being shelved in 1989 for declining quality, is now 20 years old. Heck, it survives into the modern day through a third revival tailored specifically for streaming, backed these days by big daddy Disney money (not to mention the works of Big Finish, which have secretly been keeping the lights on for decades and will presumably continue on long after humanity is extinct and the world has been consumed by flames - eta: next Tuesday). 

These various ages, stages and instalments of the newly minted Whoniverse fall under the denominations of Classic Who, New Who and New New Who respectively, with a little asterix in the middle to account for the 1996 American TV movie starring Paul McGan. 

The show likes to while away its days within the side lines of pop-culture, being discussed by a small but heated community of nerdy British youtubers, getting torn apart with curious zeal on the part of mainstream papers and otherwise quietly doing its thing before the next big systematic reinvention every third season or so. 

The Eccleston Year; 2005

Christopher Eccleston in Doctor Who (BBC)

After 16 years consigned to an audio drama-centric state of limbo, the inaugural series of the revival burst onto small screens on the 26th of March 2005 to a quite an incredible response, with the first episode, “Rose”, drawing an average viewership of 9.9 million.

The show adopted a more personal, speculative framework, on large part eschewing the otherwise wonderful dichotomy present in Classic Who that enabled it to deliver grand pontifications on the nature of evil, morality and politics (in the way typical of high-brow science fiction) interspersed between scenes of characters being attacked by alien moth people (in the way particular to low-brow sci-fi). Star Trek possesses a similar dichotomy.

Eccleston’s Doctor for instance, while maintaining the requisite broad spectrum of traits considered fundamental to the character - an eccentric, madcap energy, a heartfelt marvelling at the brilliance of the universe, and a general penchant for fighting anachronistic evil - notably expressed a more harrowed and war-weary outlook. 

The Tenant Years; 2005 - 2010

David Tenant in Doctor Who (BBC)

It has to be said, however, that emotional transparency does not equate solely to grief. There’s always the possibility of - dare it even be said? - romance.

While Eccleston may have been the progenitor of the “boyfriend from space” archetype, it was David Tenant that made a career out of it. Arguably, this was a bit of an offbeat direction for the show to take given its roots and the lack of interest thus far in exploring the Doctor’s lovelife, leading some fans to speculate on his being aromatic and/or asexual (a conclusion that, though would make for fantastic representation, has become increasingly difficult to justify over the years). 

It’s hard to put it down into words what exactly propelled the Tenant era to such heights, heights the show looks back on today and can only dream about, like an ex-pro athlete whose ankle never bent back into quite the right shape. A case can be made for the determining factor being little more than the sheer magnifying charisma of David Tenant’s performance, his charming presence and winning smile able to elevate even the most lacklustre of episodes.

Others, however, may posit that it had more to do with the transfixing power of the hook, line and sinker that was the central will-he-won’t-he energy between him and his earliest companions.

It’d be diminishing of the contributions made by every other member of production to tout these standpoints without any nuance, of course, but if we’re looking for distinguishing factors between this and less successful eras, that would be what comes to mind. Some harmonious blend of performance, style, tone, dialogue and melodrama just connected on a primal level with the show’s broad-spanning audience, impressively satisfying both the needs of the general viewer and the die hard nerd.

The Smith Years; 2010 - 2013

Matt Smith in Doctor Who (BBC)

Another fine addition to the “boyfriend from space” collection, Matt Smith holds the accolade of being the youngest actor to portray the over 900 year old character, being 26 at the time of his casting. Incidentally, the transition from Tenant to Smith also marks another first for New Who, this being the changeover of showrunner from Russel T Davies to Steven Moffat, the mind behind such beloved episodes as “The Empty Child” and “Blink”.

There was skepticism on both sides of production, many wondering if Doctor Who truly had a future without Tenant; the BBC were of half a mind to shut things down then and there (as ever, seemingly, when it comes to Doctor Who). The answer? 

Complicated. 

Face of a toddler and chin of a plinth, the reveal of Smith’s casting was met with no small degree of criticism (primarily for the former, not the latter, though that too did receive some comment). The Doctor being younger people had started to accept, but young? Now that was taking the biscuit.

So, when it came to the eventual debut of the season five opener, thematically titled “The Eleventh Hour”, on the 3rd of April 2010, its good reception came as a bit of a shock; in the UK, viewing numbers climbed to approximately 10 million. 

As things progressed and people became more receptive to this new non-Tenant version of the character, it became clear that the Smith era had become something of a second renaissance for the show, and so shortly after the first one too. 

His was an era big on silliness and high in drama, alternating between fairytale, action-movie and horror, much like this version of the Doctor himself - being as much the picture of immortal innocence (for the most part - there's some moments where Moffat’s proclivities as a writer regarding sex bulge a bit too indulgently) as a wrathful, ageless entity, akin to some kind of cosmic imp or trickster.

With the BBC pushing it quite heavily in America, the show enjoyed a sizable fanfare, by happenstance being coupled with Steven Moffat’s other flagship show, Sherlock (starring Benedict Cuberbatch and Martin Freeman), in a fan coalition that rolled over Tumblr like the spearhead of an armada.

The Capaldi Years; 2014 - 2017

Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who (BBC)

Like the premonition of a storm on the wind, it could be felt: the fell voice of a thousand tweens crying out in anguish…

Seemingly by the show’s own admission, the arrival of Peter Capaldi as the austere and mysterious 12th Doctor marked the final terminus for the “boyfriend from space” era, ostensibly harkening back to an older style of Doctor Who - grey-haired, crotchety and morally dubious.

With a generally darker ambiance and a somewhat uneasy introduction - intentionally so or otherwise - the Capaldi juncture appears to represent a point at which many of what you might describe as the casual audience for Doctor Who decided to let the show go as it veered off into directions less resonant to their tastes. 

Many of the new fans - people that had gotten into the show because of the softer, bordering on goofy, depictions as portrayed by Eccleston, Tenant and Smith - found it tricky to identify with the reserved and often unsympathetic demeanour of the early Capaldi Doctor. 

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to suspect that the BBC were conscious of this turn as well as, in the latter two of his three seasons, the 12th Doctor’s characterisation was subject to some notable reinvention, leaning more so on a zany, wildcard genius with a guitar kind of vibe.

Despite these efforts, though, series 10 (keeping in mind that the move to streaming was well on its way by this point) is reported to be one of the least viewed series of the revival, with its finale, “the Doctor Falls” receiving only 5.3 million viewers on release, a far cry from the finales prior, which typically hovered between 7 to 8 million.

However, love for Capaldi’s era lives on, and quite unpassionately so, in the halcyon memory of the core fanbase, many of whom cite his tenure as an underappreciated high-point.

The Whittaker Years; 2018 - 2022

Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who (BBC)

Jody Whittaker, the first woman to portray the Doctor in a non-comedic capacity (thank you, the “Curse of Fatal Death”), brought some attention back to the show’s waning public appeal, if even for - as should be a shock to no one - controversial reasons. With a revivified figure of 8.2 million viewers for the series 11 opener, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth”, people all over the country tuned in to see just what was going on. 

A woman Doctor Who? Next thing’ll be giving them the vote. Or making them actual Doctors!

Facistisms aside, it seems by the time that series 11 managed to get to its finale, people across the board had determined it a thread not worth following, with viewership sinking to 5.32 million, still beating out the meagre showings of “The Doctor Falls”, but not by much.

Ultimately the Whittaker era was one subject to fluctuations in critical reception and viewership across the board, plagued by spotty reviews, polarizing narrative decisions (made all the more so for their broad-spanning implications on pre-established lore) and the coronavirus, of all things. 

In retrospect, this manifests as something of a bit of a tragedy; as the first female Doctor, a lot of pressure would have been put on Whittaker and her era to deliver. If the content wasn’t up to snuff - for whatever reason (the most commonly attributed being the writing and direction under leadership of new showrunner, Chris Chibnall) - it wouldn’t be a difficult maneuver for detractors to construe this being the result of something as beside the point as her gender, as if her being a woman wasn’t a genuine step forward and instead some kind of wild gambit for views.

Speaking of which…

The Tenant Years #2: Electric Boogaloo; 2023

David Tenant in Doctor Who (BBC)

With the departure of Chris Chibnall as showrunner and Whittaker’s exit from the role in the fun but disjointed “Power of the Doctor”, the stage was cleared for Russel T Davies’ return, and look, he brought someone with him.

Tenant’s return - notably as the 14th Doctor and not the 10th - is a debate unto itself. As much as people exalted at the revelation of his role in the upcoming 60 year specials, there were many who touted it as a transparent attempt to use nostalgia to recoup some of the old fanbase, an accusation that’s not best helped with the revelation that Doctor Who was now partially funded and produced by Disney, who would now be the official broadcasters of the show outside of the UK. If one were of a more caustic mindset, one might expect some Doctor Who live action remakes down the line.

Regardless, the thought process was evident: the 60 year anniversary was looming, and they lacked the narrative set-up and payoff entitled to the 50 year special; Ncuti Gatwa was still tied up with the Barbie Movie, numerous studies over the years had concluded Tenant was the most popular iteration of the Doctor - why not?

So, the million Doctor question: did it work?

Effectively, no. 

But it didn’t not work, to an extent. At this time viewing figures become a bit of an unreliable metric, what with the ubiquity of streaming - so everything has the potential of becoming popular eventually. Truthfully, the landscape has changed since last Tenant had the role, but nationally the three special episodes did very well - in close competition between Strictly Come Dancing and I’m a Celebrity as the most watched show of the day.

Final Thoughts

In this age of multimedia spanning interconnected universes and franchises supplanting actors as the money-making draw in Hollywood, the resilience of Doctor Who as an incredibly British creation in the global media landscape can be quite moving. We don’t have a lot with a lot of international appeal (certainly not in a manufacturing sense); the full list of offerings consists mainly of Wallace and Gromit, James Bond and Bake-Off. Harry Potter sort of counts but we live in a world post J.K. having gone a bit weird.

All of this goes to say that, irrespective of how popular the show actually is, a sense of importance has developed around Doctor Who, more as an institution or a concept than anything else, which is primarily why it keeps going - as a sort of universal lynch pin that, if ever removed, all consistency in the modern world might rust and fall apart.

How very British, all in all, for it to carry on the way it does.

Edited by Eliza Plunkett