When Doctor Who's ninth rebooted series ended in 2015, I don't think even the show's most devoted fans could deny that the show's international community was... not in a good place to say the least. The year, particularly its closing episode, Hell Bent, had divided the fandom sharply. Some called Series 9 the best thing since sliced bread, others denounced it as a cringy, gimmicky mess. Personally, I've seen it both ways. It was certainly a more enjoyable experience for me than the dour wasteland of Series 8, but there's also far less originality to it.
And then there's Hell Bent, the episode that forever cemented Clara Oswald as the most overpowered companion of all time, with the Twelfth Doctor as her lunatic, cranky not-boyfriend(FFS, why would looking like Peter Capaldi change that? It didn't). Couple that with the lack of focus on Gallifrey's return(something that had been the show's supposed main drive since the 50th anniversary special) and people were just over Doctor Who.
In 2016, things got worse. We had two Christmas specials during the hiatus, both of them extremely sugary. And with the promise of Matt Lucas joining for Series 10 and a new, mildly received companion on the horizon for a whopping year, it didn't seem like the show could ever crawl out of its rut under Steven Moffat's tenure.
Then Bill Potts happened. I think we can safely say that Pearl Mackie saved the show's reputation downright single-handedly. Well, almost. Steve does deserve some credit for f-ing finally delivering a series finale that didn't fly off to Alaska in the second episode.
But it must be said that as far as the story arc goes, most of the season was exceptionally weak. Why exactly Missy had to end up in the Vault was hardly explained. Her redemption received hardly any focus. The midseason Monk trilogy flopped hard. And Nardole... well. We'll get to Nardole.
Point is, Pearl Mackie was a huge reason for why the season worked as well as she did. Her extremely expressive and extraverted performance instantly made her lovable and it was easy to become emotionally invested in Bill's story in a straightforward, normal way that was never possible with Clara.
In fact, the performances all shone this year, even from Michelle Gomez, whose Master was up to this point my least favourite by far. As ridiculous as her character was, Gomez was 100% invested in every line and drew me in with sheer talent. Missy was mysterious, charming and wielded a poisonous snake tongue. Who knows where her loyalties lie?
Well, that can be answered by the highlight of the year, the return of John Simm as the Master, not quite how we remember him, but badass all the same. It was awesome to see an element of the RTD era finally return in full force and I liked the callbacks to the classic incarnations.
Matt Lucas, hmm... I'm probably never gonna be really sure how I feel about him. He's not... bad... but it is blindingly obvious that he's a spare part that Moffat attached to the season purely out of a desire to work with Lucas rather than a proper narrative reason. Hence his downright bizarre development from a meek, oddball helper to a Bruce Campbell-impersonating black marketeer cyborg hacker with karate skills. There were hints of a real personality there, but Lucas never really had a chance to get it out there, especially as he spent half of the episodes hanging around the Vault.
And now let's talk about Peter Capaldi. After the bipolar writing he's had for much of his era, it's lovely to see that a sweet spot was finally, permanently reached and although the Twelfth Doctor never reaches the initially promised highs, he is a perfectly fine incarnation in his own right now(and he shines without Clara's overbearing personality, exactly as I predicted).
I must admit, however, that I have begun to realise that not all of it was her fault. Simply put, Capaldi is a delicate actor: incredibly good at some things(brooding), and a deer in headlights at others(the offbeat humor that typifies 2010s Doctor Who).
Like Peter Davison, Capaldi works best in intellectual episodes that give him a chance to monologue and show off his wit rather than sink under the pressure of demanding companions in a lame Base Under Siege or season finale. Unlike Davison, he got very few such stories.
All in all, it was a fun, back to basics season that wobbled a bit, but carried through thanks to the combination of down-to-Earth leads and a season finale that paid off the investment.
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