DOCTOR WHO S11
show extras 2018-19 Out NOW (Series 11) 18 FEBRUARY (Resolution) DVD, BD, Digital HD Extras Commentaries, Featurettes, Diaries
When Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor says “new can be scary” in her debut episode, she practically promises fun and thrills to come. Pity new showrunner Chris Chibnall’s 10-episode series doesn’t offer enough of either. Far from refreshing the show, Chibnall’s decision to offload many of its key traits results in a watered-down run, not to mention a disappointingly under-powered springboard for Whittaker’s Doc.
Although she makes bright, matey work of 13, Whittaker often struggles to assert the Doc’s identity through all the on-the-nose dialogue and crowded Tardis space. Ex-showrunner Steven Moffat’s quick wit gives way to dry exposition, while the companions (Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole, stand-out Bradley Walsh) are under-served.
Elsewhere, the newly restrained music mistakes remote for subtle, while sidelining old villains only leaves a lack of potent new threats. Clunky
storytelling doesn’t help, though ‘Rosa’ is respectable and two late-run peaks pack promise: ‘The Witchfinders’ features a fabulous Alan Cumming cameo, while ‘It Takes You Away’ ripples with invention. If the series-low climax lets the side down, it’s ameliorated somewhat by New Year’s special ‘Resolution’, in which a junkyard Dalek delivers some firepower, suggesting that the recipe for a more sharply flavoured 12th series is in there somewhere. Kevin Harley