A Wealthy Historical past of Villainy
Within the age of IP, the place it’s borderline inconceivable to get one thing made with out current model recognition, a present like Physician Who has sure inbuilt benefits. Regardless of what number of occasions it regenerates, it nonetheless has a wealthy 60-year historical past to delve into, with quite a few heroes, villains, and ideas that may be taken off the shelf and dusted down for a brand new period.
Not solely are these returning characters good for some publicity, however they arrive with a sure symbolic weight – a way of deep lore, an unlimited and complicated mythos spanning a long time of real-world time and numerous centuries of in-universe time. They’re a part of the trusty scaffolding that may, in a super world, assist new tales, characters, and approaches.
When the revival collection began in 2005, then-current (now former and in addition present) showrunner Russell T Davies was understandably cautious about which parts of Physician Who’s historical past he introduced again, and the way. The Autons have been an efficient risk within the first episode, “Rose,” as a result of they have been recognisable sufficient to mark the present as being “correct Physician Who” with out being so iconic that they overshadowed the introduction of the brand new Physician and his companion.
Davies can be equally cautious with the way more iconic Daleks, the Cybermen, and later the Grasp, making an attempt – with admittedly various levels of success – to replace these traditional foes to swimsuit the kind of present that Physician Who had change into. The Grasp was a very attention-grabbing instance. Whereas the three-part finale during which he appeared stays divisive, John Simm’s portrayal of a sadistic, Joker-like mirror of David Tennant’s Physician was invigorating, and opened up completely new dramatic potentialities. With out Simm’s Grasp, it’s laborious to think about that we might have gotten gender-swapped incarnation Missy, created by Steven Moffat – arguably essentially the most complicated and profitable tackle a legacy villain in trendy Who, and a textbook instance of the right way to make a personality with a long time of luggage really feel contemporary and very important once more.
However simply as historical past generally is a profit, it will also be an albatross.
Diminishing Returns of Legacy Characters
One of many issues with long-running franchises like Physician Who is that when dealt with carelessly, these wealthy legacies can simply begin to have diminishing returns, dragging the present down and sucking the air out of the room. And this, sadly, is the place we discovered ourselves with the newest seasons of Physician Who. The Sacha Dhawan incarnation of the Grasp, masterminded by Chris Chibnall, was one thing of a harbinger in that respect, a tackle an outdated villain that felt retrograde, with all of the mania and sadism of John Simm’s portrayal dialed as much as 11, however to no specific finish.
