Who's Back

We are now two episodes into the new series of Doctor Who and I think I'm enjoying it. At least I'm a little less confused than I was last week. I like Steven Moffat's writing. He has a great way of telling a story such that it only makes sense in the final scene - which is very rewarding. At least, this is the case when the story in question has an obvious beginning, middle and end (although in Moffat's case you don't necessarily get them in that order). However, as the show runner for an ongoing series like Doctor Who it is not always obvious when the whole story has been told. I think this was the case with the last series of Who as there were several instances of hanging story threads or even sloppy looking continuity which are now starting to piece together.

One of the great advantages of New Who (and one of the things I've really enjoyed) is that it contains self contained one or two part stories. This is in contrast to many American series in which we are expected to buy in to many "seasons" worth of story line in which we are drip fed at an excruciatingly slow rate. Doctor Who does have its series arcs but the individual stories still make sense on a weekly basis. This is great, both for the casual viewer who can watch an individual episode and for the more committed fan, like me, that still likes to see a solid story well told but can also appreciate the nuances of the bigger picture.

Since Matt Smith took over the title role the series arc storylines have become more prominent. I think a few of the episodes would make no sense to the casual viewer if they had missed earlier shows. This is a little unfortunate but I still think it has an advantage over programmes like Lost or Heroes - and that is that I believe Steven Moffat does have a greater story planned out in his head rather than some other shows where I think the writers are making it up on the hoof. The problem is, I have no idea where Moffat's story is going to complete.

The opening two-parter to what is, incredibly, series 6 of the new Doctor Who is not one for the feint hearted. I do wonder whether having a two-parter as the series opener was a good idea. However, it does seem to make sense overall. The characterisation seems to be better from the last series: Amy now feels a little more vulnerable and Rory more rounded and complex. And, as an opening gambit, the two-part opener has left enough unanswered questions to keep me itching to see the rest of the series. Who is the little girl and is she, as seemed to be indicated, actually a time-lady? Does the Doctor really die (and if not, can the writers dig themselves out of that one with any dignity)? Is Amy pregnant or not? Who exactly is River Song?

The inevitable monster, The Silence, were also a bit of a masterpiece. I'm glad to see that they are moving back to prosthetics for their aliens rather than CGI-ing everything in afterwards. Aside from standing out from the crowd, it makes the real-life actors performances that much better as they have a physical actor to interact with rather than a dot next to a green screen. The concept behind the alien, that they are all around but instantly wipe themselves from memory, is another element of clever Moffat trickery. It's preposterous but, at the same time, just believable enough for a moment of paranoia.

I'm still wondering, however, who the show is aimed at. The 6 o'clock starting time seems a little too early. I've been watching the show later on the PVR with my elder son. I have two small children who I don't think the programme is at all suitable for and I am usually getting them ready for bed at that time anyway. I think this must affect other families as the audience figures have been lower for the overnight ratings but I suspect that the final figures will be much higher. I also think it is heading away from a general audience and moving towards a more Sci-Fi savvy crowd. There is always going to be a certain number of people who will never quite get their heads around the intricacies of time-travel plots, but quantum mechanics? Having said that, one of the most popular of Steven Moffat's stories was Blink which relied heavily on a cursory understanding of indeterminism so I am possibly underestimating the British public's grasp of the more bizarre end of scientific theory and philosophical ideas: things like multiple universes, the fleeting nature of memory and other concepts that are familiar to anyone who has read some serious Sci-Fi but not exactly second nature to the X-Factor crowd.

So things are looking up in the Whoniverse. The only problem I am finding is that I now have to see each episode at least twice. The good thing is: I actually want to.