Path: ...!3.eu.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Agent Jakanov Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho Subject: A Real Person reviews Season 22 Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2024 05:08:53 -0000 (UTC) Organization: TWA Lines: 46 Message-ID: Injection-Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2024 05:08:53 -0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="51b9a9b25d845aa48d6173627c7474e8"; logging-data="3537545"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/k1w26OYnEwfnKbpxjnsd8go1dkLtOuH0=" User-Agent: Xnews/5.04.25 Cancel-Lock: sha1:8TbY/gqhN5/1kJIgRf6kMo5jXB4= Bytes: 3130 This is an actual review written by an actual person, not some fake ChapBot. I'm going to take a more holistic approach, and I won't be rating individual stories or getting too deep into them. Season 22 often gets derided by fandom as the point where things "went wrong" in 1980s, and many blame the creative decisions such as making the show darker and grittier, and having the Doctor be more erratic and self-centered. To be sure, this didn't come out of the blue. The show became progressively darker leading up to it. In the previous season, the Peter Davison's Doctor was becoming less patient and less of a nice-guy schmuck. And a very important foreshadowing was one of his last lines before regenerating: "It feels different this time." As a series of adventures, most of the stories were very strong, especially the first two and the season closer. In fact, I remember reading academic articles which used both "Vengeance On Varos" and "Revelation of the Daleks" as examples of good television scripts. Many heavy, allegorical themes were dealt with. Unfortunately, one of the valid criticisms that can be leveled at it is that it was too much of a slow and intense burn, and it didn't feel like it was leading up to anything. Even the companion complained about their journeys feeling like aimless wanderings, to which the Doctor gave a bullying response. Another criticism commonly leveled at this season was that it was too continuity heavy. It did feel excessive to bring the Master back and not even explaining how he managed to survive the Planet of Fire, and also retconning the 2nd Doctor era. But apart from that, the contuity with past Doctor Who actually worked pretty well and enhanced the stories. More problematic was how this season treated the historical setting in The Mark of the Rani (implying the Luddite uprising was caused by the Rani's interference) and H.G. Wells in Timelash (very unflattering portrayal, and also implying he got his ideas from encountering the Doctor). Overall, despite its flaws, this season felt more consistent in tone than many of the others did in the 1980's. The strong opening and closing stories, which were both crafted by the same writer, make it comparable to some of the 21st Century Doctor Who series.