Did They Do Him Justice?

With the airing of the third Doctor WhoThe longest running sci-fi franchise (at least in terms of sheer seasons), Doctor Who has seen cancelations, relaunches, and reboots, but the core of the series remains the same: a madman in a box traveling through time and space. 2023 Christmas special, "The Giggle", we have no said goodbye David Tennant's 14th Doctor and moved on into the era of Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor. Except no, not really, because the 14th Doctor hasn't gone away. Despite tradition, and standard series storytelling, having one Doctor regenerate into the next, the third special has introduced a new twist into the whole cannon: bi-generation. The Doctor split in two, with the new Doctor coming out of the old, and bother of them are the Doctor.

Those who worried that David Tennant's return would some how cheapen and lessen the change over into Gatwa's era have, in a way, been proven right. Instead of having Tennant come back for an interesting story about why his face has returned, forcing some kind of character growth before the series moves into its next era, the show decides to have its cake and eat it to. It leaves the emotional baggage behind with Tennant's 14th (who, more and more, seemingly is being treated just as Tennant's 10th but older) while Gatwa's 15th gets to move on as a different version, free to be the hero without having to worry about the character growth. He's carefree without dealing with all the past that's happened. At least, that's how it's pitched in the series.

In the moments shared by Fourteen and Fifteen, Gatwa's character remarks that Fourteen needs to forgive himself and let go, to move on and be healthy. This implies that Fifteen has already moved on, let go, all by splitting out and leaving those emotions behind. What could have been a season of growth and development, to actual learn from the past and find a way to forgive himself for anything in his past that he feels guilt about, the show just says, "nope. All that baggage stayed behind. Tennant's character has to deal with that." So, goodbye to that character arc.

Of course, bi-generation is just silly and weird. It's never happened before and, as the characters remark as it's going on, it was only theorized by the Time Lords. This is writers' blathering to cover for the fact that this is something new they're introducing so they can keep Tennant's Fourteen around. The series really wants him to stick around this time instead of leaving again, so they set him up at Donna's house, having him play the Uncle to her kid, Rose, while he even gets his own TARDIS so he can have little adventures when he wants. Why? Well, because Russel T. Davies wanted it.

Look, the series has really struggled to let go of David Tennant. That much is obvious. They had a fake out regeneration during Series 4 of the show. They then had him return in "The Day of the Doctor" which, don't get me wrong, is a fantastic episode. They had him come back as Fourteen for these specials, and even now they're keeping him alive instead of letting Gatwa take over the role fully and just be the Doctor.

Yes, sure, David Tennant is beloved in the role. For most people watching he is their Doctor. David Tennant returning helps boost ratings and gets asses in seats. Letting him play the 14th Doctor was a big deal considering how ratings had declined during Whittaker's era (not her fault, all the fault of Christ Chibnall). But there is tradition for a reason. Each actor gets to make the Doctor their own, free of the previous incarnation's influence. They're the Doctor, with the blue box and the adventures to have. No one else is the Doctor while they're the Doctor. And now, that's changed.

If something happens to Earth, which Doctor do you call? Gatwa's 15th would seem the likely choice, except now Fourteen is there, at the ready to be called on by UNIT. They hint already that, because he has his own copy of the TARDIS he can pop off whenever he wants (and has, already, to Mars with Rose). How likely is it that he's just going to stay around the Noble household, biding his time when some threat comes for Earth. Hell the producers have already said we should expect to see more of Rose, and if she's off gallivanting around, doesn't that imply that Tennant's Doctor will be there too?

Beyond that, rumors are already circling about a UNIT show with Tennant and Tate in lead roles. Gatwa's Doctor can go off and have adventures in space and time if that's the case, but if this UNIT series is going (which, what, would be a dressed up version of Torchwood, I guess), then what places does Fifteen have back on Earth. That's been a regular destination for the Doctor since the series started and now... not? That feels weird.

If we want to dig further, doesn't this feel reductive for Gatwa's role as the first Black and LGBTQ+ Doctor? The series was going to have the first Black, Gay man in the spotlight, but to do it they had to keep a White, Straight man around as the Doctor as well. I doubt that was what the producers intended -- Davies likely just wanted to be able to have Tennant revisit the series whenever they had to spike ratings for the series, and this might have even been at the behest off the higher-ups to save their show -- but all the same, there is a look to it that's hard to ignore. You get to have a Black Doctor, but only by keeping a White Doctor around as well.

Of course, there are corner's of the Internet rejecting that theory. "I just like having Tennant around again," which, yes, he's great in the role. Or, "that clearly wasn't what was meant and you're forcing politics where they don't belong!" But then if they didn't want to have that reading available they needed to handle this situation with more grace. You know, like not keeping a White Doctor around when the Black Doctor takes over. And I don't mean that in a reductive sense myself. Gatwa is fantastic in the role and I am not just saying, "he's the Black Doctor." But he does get to be the first Black man to have the role and, well, he should be able to do that just on his terms, like every other Doctor has gotten to before him.

Hell, what happens if Tennant's Doctor gets killed again. Does he just die or does he get another regeneration? He's the Doctor, with all the memories, and history, and a TARDIS. We don't know what happens when he reaches the end of his era... so he could become someone else, leaving us with two Doctors running around at the same time in perpetuity. And Davies has implied that the bi-generation actually goes backwards along the timeline, letting all the other Doctors exist as well after the moment they died. So now we have potentially fourteen Doctors (counting the War Doctor) or even more all going, and any of them could pop in at any time.

It's weird, is what I'm saying, and it feels like the team behind Doctor Who just wasn't able to commit to this new Doctor completely. Whatever their reason for it they botched the execution of it and now, what could have been a new ear for the series, by bringing in a new Doctor, has an asterisk hanging over it. Gatwa is the Doctor, and that's what I'm going with for now until the series says otherwise... but I expect them to say otherwise within the next series or two, and then we're going to have to have this discuss all over again because, hell, this is just not a twist we really needed.