Doctor Who? I Want My Doctor Back!

After seeing the finale of season 7 of "Doctor Who," I remain convinced that I want my Doctor Who back!  And I don't mean just David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, who was my "first" and thus my favorite.  I liked Christopher Eccleston, and Matt Smith grows on you.  But I mean, I wish Russell T. Davies was back at the controls of the T.A.R.D.I.S.  (And while I'm making wishes, I want him to please revive "Torchwood" in some format.  Perhaps a Steampunk Torchwood, where we see Captain Jack joining the Torchwood team during the Victorian period as seen in the season 2 episode "Fragments.")

I haven't exactly pin-pointed my disconnect with "Doctor Who" since Steven Moffat took over as head writer. After all, he wrote some of the best episodes when he was a guest writer, such as "Blink" and "Girl in the Fireplace." And he does a brilliant job with "Sherlock."  He could just write more "Sherlock" episodes, and I'd be fine with that.  Perhaps what my friend Melissa said about him not able to write female characters.  I saw some interesting comments on Twitter -- and an on an excellent blog--tonight from some people who also felt that his depiction of women characters lacked dimension and humanity.

I like the Doctor's new companion, Clara Oswald, but mostly because she's not Amy Pond.  In "Asylum of the Daleks," there was potential for Clara to be a feisty, strong character. Except for the Neil Gaiman episode (which was more in the spirit of Davies' writing), the character of Clara seemed to  be plot device for Moffat to set up more "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" "Who" story lines that completely ignore his predecessor's stories and characters.

Just how much better I think Davies was for "Doctor Who" can be inferred from my essay "Why the Doctor and Rose Tyler Kant Be Together," which is a chapter in "Doctor Who & Philosophy" (Open Court Press, 2010).

At least the Doctor (my Doctor!) and Rose will be together again during the 50th Anniversary special airing this November.

Namaste.