SUMMARY
- Tennant’s return set the stage for a new era in Doctor Who , with Gatwa now leading the cast.
- The fantasy focus in recent episodes offers a refreshing change after 60 years of sci-fi storytelling.
- “73 Yards” introduces an episode heavy on magic, showcasing a shift towards supernatural phenomena.
David Tennant’s return for the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials was a fitting way to reference one of the show’s most successful eras, and a key scene from one of his 2023 episodes also set up the franchise’s future. Now that Ncuti Gatwa is the leader of the Doctor Who season 14 cast, the show has entered a new era. The long-running British sci-fi has long adhered to a storytelling formula, with only brief divergences taking place. However, the Disney era of Doctor Who has shifted the show’s framework, and it’s all down to the actions of David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor.
Since “The Star Beast,” Doctor Who has been back in the care of returning showrunner Russell T Davies, who held the same position from when he revived the show in 2005 until he passed the baton to Steven Moffat in 2010. Davies briefly reinstalled David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, bringing back a much-loved Doctor/companion duo. The casting moves allowed for a strong pang of nostalgia throughout the pair’s three-episode run, but Tennant’s Doctor also did something so pivotal during his return that Gatwa’s version of the Time Lord is still experiencing the fallout.
Fourteen’s salt gambit allowed the Toymaker to enter the universe
In the second of Tennant’s 60th-anniversary episodes, “Wild Blue Yonder,” the Fourteenth Doctor holds the not-things at bay by trapping them behind a line of salt. Unsure of whether the Doctor is telling the truth about the superstition holding any real power, the doppelgängers are left with no choice but to respect the gambit. While the Doctor was lying about the move being an authentically effective tactic, invoking the superstition so close to the edge of the universe allowed the Toymaker to cross over from his reality into the Doctor’s. Since then, more and more inexplicable events have been unfolding.
The Toymaker entering the universe causes more fantastical occurrences in Doctor Who season 14.
The Toymaker’s defeat at the end of the third and final Doctor Who 60th-anniversary special wasn’t the end of the show’s dalliance with the fantasy genre. Since then, Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor has had to battle Goblins in “The Church on Ruby Road,” as well as banish Jinkx Monsoon’s Maestro – a member of Doctor Who‘s Pantheon of Gods. This isn’t just a change experienced by the Doctor, with Kate Lethbridge-Stewart confirming the shift too, as the UNIT leader confirms her organization’s new focus on quelling supernatural activity in Doctor Who season 14, episode 4, “73 Yards.”
“73 Yards” Is One Of Doctor Who’s Most Supernatural Stories Ever
The Doctor’s disappearance can only be explained by magic
Actual magic is inarguably at the heart of the events of “73 Yards,” with only a tinge of sci-fi influencing the story. While the ending of Doctor Who season 14, episode 4 eventually turns the installment into a time travel episode, it isn’t carried out in the show’s signature style. Instead, the focus is on the magic contained within the fairy circle, and the impact that has on the Doctor and Ruby’s future when the Time Lord inadvertently steps into the mysterious ring.
Although the events of “73 Yards” essentially never happened by the end of the episode, the mystique of the scenario only serves to compound just how comfortably it sits in the fantasy category.
Of course, the TARDIS’ perception filter supposedly interacting with the fairy circle does keep “73 Yards” tethered to the sci-fi genre. Still, it’s impossible to ignore the overwhelming number of elements and unanswered questions that can often only arise in a fantasy story. Although the events of “73 Yards” essentially never happened by the end of the episode, the mystique of the scenario only serves to compound just how comfortably it sits in the fantasy category.
Doctor Who’s New Fantasy Stories Are Refreshing After 60 Years Of Sci-Fi
Russell T Davies’ genre shift is giving Doctor Who new life
Doctor Who has featured several supernatural phenomena before the Disney era, but the difference is that previous eras have almost always offered a sci-fi explanation for their presence. Doctor Who season 14 is leaning into its fantasy stories, with the Doctor not always being able to fully explain what’s going on with his signature slew of technobabble. After six decades of science-fiction, Doctor Who‘s foray into fantasy is a brilliant way to keep existing fans on their toes and subvert the expectations of newcomers to the franchise.
Despite beginning in 1963, Doctor Who hasn’t had a continuous run. After being canceled in 1989, the show returned in 2005, but then slowly fell out of favor again during Chris Chibnall’s time in charge from 2017 to 2022. Although sci-fi will likely always be Doctor Who‘s primary genre, Russell T Davies has cleverly allowed the show’s well-worn formula to take a break, leaving him free to explore other kinds of adventures for the Doctor. Surely, Doctor Who won’t ever become a hard fantasy show, but it would do well to hold onto certain aspects of the genre more permanently.
