On Doctor Who and a “Class” All Its Own

Doctor Who - Series 10

This past weekend, series 10 (or season 10 for all you Yanks out there!) of Doctor Who was released. There was also the premiere episode of a new Doctor Who spin-off series called Class, but more about that one later. This season is the final season for Peter Capaldi to portray the Doctor, though I’ll admit that I haven’t always been the biggest fan of his version of our favorite Timelord.

While true that Capaldi hearkens back to the type of personality many of the original series Doctors, including Patrick Troughton (the 2nd Doctor), Jon Pertwee (the 3rd Doctor), and Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor, who I first discovered as a child), it was nevertheless difficult for me to fully embrace him because both David Tennant (the 10th Doctor) and Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) portrayed the role with amazing emotional depth, which I enjoyed immensely. (Wow, was that just ONE sentence?!)

Nardole, the 12th Doctor, and Bill Potts from series 10.

But back to series 10. I’m pleased that the newest companion (“Bill Potts” portrayed by Pearl Mackie) is someone who I immediately took to, and I’m looking forward to seeing her personality develop more fully in upcoming episodes. Bill’s certainly both charming and down-to-Earth (literally, much more mainstream!) in a way that probably calls back to Billie Piper’s portrayal of Rose Tyler from the reboot in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston. In that sense, Bill is an “everywoman” and quite a refreshing change for the Doctor’s traveling companion.

Not to be forgotten, we have the recurring character of Nardole as portrayed by Matt Lucas. I wasn’t quite sure how much I would enjoy him after his most recent supporting role in the 2016 Christmas episode, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, but I’m willing to see how things proceed as we move further into the new season. Lucas has the acting chops; I’m just not sure how much I enjoy the character of Nardole. We’ll see.

The new show "Class" by the BBC. Late word is that season 1 will be its final season!

Finally, there is the matter of a Doctor Who spin-off called Class, which portrays a host of new characters surrounding the campus of Coal Hill School, most recently where Clara Oswald taught (and who is memorialized with a name plate on a honorary “remembrance wall” inside the school). While I was intrigued with the initial episode “For Tonight We Might Die”, it was the first episode of the 2017 season, and seemingly our introduction to the characters. However, there were already six episodes of the show produced in 2016, though I’ve never seem them distributed for presentation in the United States. I’m not sure what’s going on there. If the “FTWMD” episode from this past weekend is supposed to be the ACTUAL maiden episode to expose us viewers to the series, then what were the six 2016 episodes for? Overall, after my first viewing, I’d say the showrunners have some real work left to do to convince me to keep up with it. And it will take more than the hint of an occasional appearance from the Doctor to keep me interested and engaged. (LATE WORD: Just before I posted this blog post, I discovered that BBC has tentatively CANCELLED the series after its poor ratings reception. I guess I won't need to worry about how engaging it is then...)

Did you see the new Doctor Who series 10 episode and/or the new Class program?

Drop me a comment and let me know what you thought about them.

Until later, enjoy life; be kind to those around you, and Happy Reading! Peace.