Shortly after teatime on Easter Sunday, the remnants of a Who-loving nation checked their watches and wondered how long it is until Russell T. Davies o’clock.
This second of three one-off specials of the enduring BBC sci-fi saga for 2022 is also the penultimate chapter of Jodie Whittaker’s time as the Doctor, and it feels as if – oh, the irony – time is being marked.
Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils (BBC One) started of with a lot of promise, as Crystal Yu’s fierce 19th century Chinese pirate queen Madam Ching accidentally released Sea Devil leader Marsissus while on the hunt for lost treasure.
The Sea Devils were one of the few monsters not yet resurrected from ‘Classic Who’ – the days of wobbly sets, Jon Pertwee and co, which went into cold storage in 1989. Here Marsissus and his fierce crew look great, twitchy-eyed lizard giants.
In fact, the whole thing looked great, including the Sea Devils’ levitating ghost ship, their pet sea monster the Huasen, and the TARDIS’ underwater adventure.
So why did this ocean-sized epic feel so empty?
Convoluted plot
Showrunner Chris Chibnall isn’t the first New Who boss to fill an episode with relentless, convoluted plot, but that’s all there is here.
Guest characters whom it’s assumed we care about, rather than having earned any empathy, meet forced jeopardy and bland action movie banter.
Even the main moment of character development between the Doctor and her companions – her supposed romance with Mandip Gill’s Yasmin – feels non-committal and tacked-on, a quick excuse to shove a bit of pathos in there.
Far better was plucky but dopey Dan’s understated phone call with his old crush Diane.
Of course, it’s just a silly teatime kid’s show and none of this matters, right?
Except from its return with Christopher Eccleston in 2005, followed by David Tennant, Russell T. Davies proved the show can be a family adventure, while also being a mature, involving drama alongside the best the BBC has to offer.
His return as showrunner in 2023 is reason to be excited about the show for the first time in a while.
To be clear, the relative whimper with which Whittaker’s time as the Doctor is coming to an end is precious little fault of hers’.
‘From Yorkshire’
Despite a character brief which apparently says simply “from Yorkshire”, her bafflingly controversial instalment as the first female Doctor has been a success on her own terms.
Nearly five years on from her first episode, Whittaker certainly feels like the Doctor – one in Tennant’s successful mould, sort of like a CBeebies presenter who’s hiding an unspecified violent past from the audience.
She’s been underused though, given endless chirpy banter but precious few moments of real depth and darkness.
The trailer for Whittaker and Chibnall’s final special later this year promised a bunch of returning baddies and cameos by old-school 1980s companions Ace and Tegan, which is a move with limited generational appeal, let’s say.
“I wish this would go on forever,” said a misty-eyed Doctor at the end. We’ll be glad when it’s over.
