Starting Doctor Who from Season 8 was a
difficult decision as there was an apprehension of feeling outsider in an
already warm party. The show has a cult following and tend to evoke strong
response. All this made casual walking in feel like committing blasphemy. But
my nonchalance towards a very strong tradition paid off and I am happy to
report that the delicious chaos of the show makes it amply rewarding
irrespective of the stop from where you hitch the ride.First impression of the rank outsider is the feeling that a wildly permissive premise provides myriad opportunities for a very rich template. This pleasure is augmented by very high production values and superb performances. Props like time traveling devices, pen like instruments that look for their purpose and become whatever is need of the hour create a story that is limited only by imagination, which is by no means scarce here. This results in a veritable riot of stupendously fantastic situations which may stretch dry credulity but are loads of fun.
A funny streak with all the philosophical undercurrents is perhaps the main attractions of this show. Inherently playful, the first episode of the new season kept many amusing moments specially the arrival of the new Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and chemistry between him and Clara (Jenna Coleman) on the one hand and lesbian couple one of which is a lizard is simply delicious. Lumbering man servant, and gawking London crowd for a T-Rex over the Westminster crowd along with mandatory struggling inspector kept the fun crackling.
Sudden punctuation of horror was invariably chilling. The robot resorting to organ harvesting to fulfill its aspiration to be human raised hair at all suitable places. Moment when Clara was left in the chamber of dead was horrifying for a newbie who wasn't so sure of good Doctors success rate. This intermixing of playfulness with full weight of horror has been accomplished with admirable panache in the new Season.
Any series with a concept of regeneration and time travel, deep philosophical questions are bound to arise. Peter Capaldi’s new Doctor is spry but gray gentleman that leads to lot of soul searching on the part of his travel mate Clara. The first episode manages to make driving the point about connection between core and outer appearance reasonably entertaining. But Doctor has to verbalize that he is not her boyfriend and has to take help of the earlier version of Doctor Who (Matt Smith) to keep her sufficiently invested him.
The show is great. It entertains in a very satisfactory way. The depth of its quality goes beyond the outlandish premise and all the razzmatazz that goes into realizing that premise. The greatness lies, as with all great stories (Harry Potter comes to mind), in establishing connect with the very basic and all pervading human situations of love, longing, trust, friendship and adventure. In its latest season Doctor Who performs very successfully.
