In Light of a Darker 'Doctor Who'

[SPOILER WARNING: This post contains mild spoilers from the first two episodes of series 8.]

Many people predicted that this would happen.

Yes, with the advent of Peter Capaldi's incarnation of the Doctor, we've seen a massive tonal shift for the show.

The Doctor himself has become more abrasive, less cuddly and harder to understand. Indeed, with only two episodes having aired to date, we've already seen the Doctor doing distinctly edgy, dark and disturbing things, things we wouldn't have expected from many of the other Doctors.

Certainly, the twelfth incarnation of our favourite Time Lord looks to be a more prickly persona than others he's had in the past, but I would argue that this is neither uncharacteristic, nor is it necessarily a bad thing. I've heard many viewers expounding their views about Capaldi's interpretation of the role as saying that he's too rough and scary and not at all like other Doctors before.

To this I would point out that each and every incarnation has had some terribly dark moments; the
first Doctor goes to bash a caveman's skull in in only the second episode of the very first series! From there, we go to the third and fourth Doctors, both of whom could be capable of a macabre moment; however, what many viewers (either children of the sixties and seventies or new fans watching the old episodes) fail to notice is that this darkness is often hidden behind a veil of humour.

Naturally, any Doctor Who fan worth their salt would point to the sixth Doctor as a perfect example of the Doctor's darkest personality. Often cold and uncaring, Colin Baker's version of the Time Lord had the potential to be utterly chilling in his ruthless and domineering nature. However, as mentioned before, the overall colours of his costume and the style of the show at the time bely this Doctor's true nature.

Only now, when we have a version of the programme which is filmed and edited in such a way that it compliments the darker side of the Doctor's new found personality do we see the shadow in the Doctor's soul.

Dark? Yes. Gritty? Undoubtedly. But thus far we've yet to see Peter Capaldi's Doctor do anything utterly unforgiveable. I would be remiss if I left out the horrifying moment in the series opener 'Deep Breath' where the Doctor leaves Clara behind because "there's no sense in us both getting caught". Indeed, it was that moment which, for me, cemented this incarnation as one of the most cut-throat to date.

However, while this action (and others) can be deemed questionable or risky, we've yet to see anything from which the Doctor cannot recover.

Even a moment from last Saturday's 'Into the Dalek' wherein we think the Doctor is about to save the life of an endangered soldier, only to discover that the Doctor was merely using his death as an opportunity to track the Dalek antibodies is understandable. The Doctor states there was nothing he could do to save the man's life so why would he risk himself and everybody else for something couldn't make any difference? At least in death he was able to help the rest of them complete their mission.

Admittedly, however, the Doctor's reaction to this is pretty dark, considering he's frankly uncaring
and cold about it - my fiancée turned to me during the initial viewing and stated defiantly "Matt wouldn't have done that!" - and while I agree that no he wouldn't have reacted that way, he would still have made the same choice, just with a lot more apologising.

With the dawn of Capaldi's tenure aboard the TARDIS, I feel that we're seeing a Doctor more in keeping with each past regeneration. In 'Deep Breath' the Doctor said of the Half-Face Man "Question; you take a broom, you replace the handle. Then later you replace the brush. You do that over and over again. Is it still the same broom? Answer: No of course it isn't!" - now, while this serves as a perfect metaphor for the Half-Face Man himself, we also see the Doctor glimpse his own reflection.

He doubts that he is the Doctor any more. He's changed his face and his persona so many times, there's not a trace of the original him left...

While I find this a poignant and powerful moment, I would argue the exact opposite. For the first time in the show's history, I would say that this Doctor is more the Doctor than any other. He feels like the complete sum of his parts. The logical next step after the mad, professorial Matt Smith is, of course, the calm and confident Peter Capaldi. Long may he continue. The Doctor is in safe hands.


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