Doctor Who and the Whimper of an Ending

There's the usual amount of talk and speculation about the future of Doctor Who floating around the time/space vortex at the moment, so that shit is the same as it ever was. Whether it will be a full reboot - an absolutely terrible idea - or a continuation of the ongoing multidimensional tapestry remains to be seen.

But I did recently wonder why the end of the Fifteenth Doctor era continued to leave me unmoved, so I did watch the last season again for the first time since it was released. And while I am a general admirer of Russell T Davies' vision for the show, and love the fresh ideas he continued to bring to it, the climax just felt a little damp.

There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that attempts to make the show big and incredible always feel a little against the ethos of the TV show, but we're all used to that by now. Omega would have worked much better as a recognisable Shakespearean actor in a snazzy suit, instead of a big and extremely boring CGI monster, which feels light and insubstantial, when you really want gravitas and power.

And then there is another half hour after the monster has been defeated, where everybody but Ruby Sunday forgets that a little baby exists, and it is almost painful to watch.

Partly this is because every third word in the last half hour of the 15th Doctor's era seems to be the word 'Poppy!' which gets very annoying, very quickly. But it's mainly because the Doctor is clueless, right when one of his best friends really needs him to be on his game.

It's easy to explain away, as even the Doctor can't avoid getting swept up by the tides of time, but he just seems like a  a dick - Ruby is genuinely upset that the baby has disappeared and nobody is noticing, and it takes an awfully long time for the Doctor to acknowledge this, and even longer for him to try and help.

So this glorious new incarnation goes out as a bit of a dick. He came in dancing and full of new life, free of old traumas and hang-ups, and departs ignoring a crying friend. What a bummer. A lot of nerds are annoyed by the very next incarnation of the Doctor, because it's going to be a cartoon version for pre-schoolers, but at least I'm sure he won't ignore a friend.