11. The Tale of Three Peters
If you thought you recognized Peter Capaldi but you couldn’t place him, it may be a surprise to know that Capaldi has played not one, but two characters in the Whoniverse before the Doctor. It’s been promised that we will go more in depth with this, and even Peter Capaldi may have accidentally revealed that Caecilius is returning. The most shocking thing is how similar the storylines of the three characters are. All of them have lost everyone close to them, and two of them were the ones holding down the trigger in their respective situations. Caecilius watched everyone he knew (save his family) die in a fire. John Frobisher killed his two daughters, his wife, and himself in an attempt to save their family from tragedy. And the Twelfth Doctor is looking for everyone he apparently murdered. Is there a connection? Probably.
12. Character Development
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this in every one of my articles: There’s one character in particular that needs to be developed. That would be none other than Clara Oswald. The charming and bubbly companion has developed into a strong woman who is independent of the Doctor. That could just be the end of it, if it weren’t for the events of Death in Heaven. Clara’s boyfriend — possibly the love of her life — was killed twice and she was talking to him both times it had happened. Now Danny Pink is gone forever and Clara’s life is shrouded in tragedy. But when something like that happens you don’t just stay the same. Clara has been wounded and with every wound comes regrowth. I speak now to the Gods of Doctor Who. Please Moffat, do not ignore the fact that Clara finally found someone to love and then watched him die twice.
13. A Trio Dynamic
I mentioned earlier that the dynamic between Amy, Rory, and 11 worked really well. And now that Missy is at least somewhat joining hands with the Doctor and Clara it is looking a lot like a trio is forming. Trios are great in Doctor Who. Be it Rose/Jack/9, Donna/Martha/10, or even Jack/Gwen/Ianto. Trios are, well, badass. Let’s hope that no matter how much plot and action the series premiere has to pack in, there is still room for a great team.
14. Kate Stewart in Depth
Kate Stewart is set to return in two separate serials. This is no surprise. She is a fan favorite. But now that we know that she is divorced with children, it begs the question: What else can Kate offer other than being a badass? Perhaps we can see her face a real threat where her children are in danger (think Clint Barton in Age of Ultron). She is absolutely a great character, but she needs depth before she turns into, well, Strax.
15. Arya’s Adventure
Maisie Williams is going to be in series 9, but her character has been shrouded in secrecy. It’s a common formula on Doctor Who — A strong, sassy, woman comes into the Doctor’s life and is a complete mystery; River, Clara, Missy. It brings up the horrible prospect of the promising acting skills of Maisie Williams becoming a redo of River all over again (Moffat has been known to re-use ideas, however unaware of it he is). I think fans will agree that Maisie’s character needs to be something more than a mystery.
16. Consistency with Clara
One problem with Clara is that her character is different every season. Remember when Clara was a mystery, or when her mother was dead, or that thing with the Maitlands? Remember Coal Hill School? Remember Courtney and Danny? Remember the Alamo? The point is that Clara has undergone so many changes with barely any mention of something that happened before she was like that. Hell, I’m pretty sure she’s lived in around 4 different houses. Even if it’s just some throwaway lines, we need to hear about Clara’s mum, or her book of 1,000 places to see, or that time she was ripped into a million pieces and became probably the single most important person in the Doctor’s life.
17. Serial Killer
In 2005 Doctor Who returned in the format that most TV shows are today, but before that it was a serial format (look it up if you must). Some argue this format was much better and allowed the planet/monster/story of the week to become the place fans returned to for a couple weeks before leaving. Now series 9 comes with four, two-parters in a row. This may be the slow return to the format of Classic Who. It may also just be the return of two-parters every episode, like with the 6th Doctor. I personally favor the serial format, but let’s wait until series 10 to worry about this.
18. The Finale
As mentioned before, the series premiere is packed full of fun. But as for the casting announcements for the finale? So far there’s only Capaldi and Coleman. But if you compare the premiere to that of series 6, it only makes sense to have a minimalist finale with mostly character development and a downsized intimate piece. “The Wedding of River Song” did have a huge plot, but the plot was more or less abandoned to deal with how the characters interacted with each other in the face of crisis. This also goes for “Midnight,” a fan favorite. Also, if Clara is going to leave Doctor Who, it would make sense for the finale to be a character piece.
19. Rigsy’s Return
Risgy, the fan favorite from “Flatline” of last year, is returning to Doctor Who. As for recurring characters, they usually become the best characters (see Mickie, Jackie, the Face of Boe, Harriet Jones, Jack, The Master, Wilfred, River, Rory, Winston Churchill, Craig, Madame Kovarian, Dorium, Vastra, Jenny, Strax, Kate, Osgood, The Mistress, Danny, Courtney, need I say more?). The list goes on. I don’t even think that we have to worry about Rigsy becoming an absolutely great character.
20. Echoes of the Past
As I mentioned, Clara’s story is inconsistent. But the other thing is, Clara is everywhere. Seriously, she is everywhere in time and space. She exists about a million times. It’s a shock they have not run into one of her echoes yet. But speculation says that this is the season in which it happens. At Comic-Con, the panel dodged a question concerning Clara’s echoes returning. There is also speculation that Maisie Williams is a young version of Clara’s echoes. Do all fans want this? No. Do I? Heck yeah I do.
And the one thing we don’t want…Clara Extending her Stay
Clara is perhaps one of my favorite companions. She is everything I want in a companion. She has had two great series and one more on the way. But here’s the problem: Capaldi should expect maybe one or two more seasons after 9. It’s just how its been done in recent years.
The problem with Clara staying, besides hurting her own character’s likability, is what happened with Amy and 11. They were great and it worked really well, but they had too much time with the same dynamic. It was just the timing. The fact that Doctor 10 regenerated companionless left two open slots in the TARDIS. This round, however, it isn’t a timing problem. Clara has had enough time without the 12th Doctor to not take up his whole run.
Honestly, my excitement for her has lessened. Right now there are no plans to say goodbye to the Impossible Girl. I hope that is because they want to keep it a surprise. But if I am tuning in on December 25, to Clara and Twelve, its sad to say it will be with much less excitement than usual.
What are you hoping to see in Doctor Who series 9? What bullets do you want to dodge? Let us know in the comments.
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