Doctor Who (series 14)

The fourteenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 17 September 2022 and concluded on November 26, 2022. The series is the first to be lead by Ed Hime as head writer and executive producer, after Chris Chibnall stepped down following the thirteenth series. This series is the fourteenth to air following the programme’s revival in 2005 and the fortieth overall. It also marks the beginning of a fourth production era of the revived series, following Russell T. Davies’s run from 2005 to 2010, Steven Moffat’s from 2010 to 2017, and Chibnall’s from 2018 to 2021. Each episode aired on Saturdays.

The series introduced Benedict Wong as the 14th Doctor, the latest incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through space and time in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside. It also introduced Marisa Abela and Matt Levy as the Doctor’s newest traveling companions, Amanda Silva and Owen Glaser, respectively. The series initially follows the Doctor as he goes undercover as a teacher at a sixth-form college and takes Amanda and Owen under his wing after they get mixed up in a conflict between him and a gang of Slitheen.

Aside from Chibnall, every writer and director from the previous series returned, with Megan Prescott and Bisha K. Ali joining the writing staff as well. Hime was also a writer during the Chibnall era.

Synopsis
After regenerating into his 14th incarnation, the Doctor becomes bored and lonely without a traveling companion, despite having of vowed never to have one anymore after the death of Yasmin Khan. He decides to settle down and becomes a history teacher at a sixth-form college in London, where he begins to suspect that the headmaster and several of the teachers are Slitheen. One of his students, adventurous teen prodigy Amanda Silva, discovers an empty skinsuit inside of a closet and is chased by a Slitheen but rescued by the Doctor, who advises her to forget all about what happened and move on. Instead, she enlists her timid boyfriend, Owen Glaser, in investigating the strange phenomena at their school. They discover the TARDIS and demand to know the truth from the Doctor before they are chased by all four Slitheen. Amanda sprays one of them with a fire extinguisher, causing him to dissolve completely; they realize that the Slitheen are weakened by whatever chemicals are in the fire extinguisher and drive the remaining ones to flee Earth. The Doctor warns them to never return, but acknowledges that they’ll probably be back after they leave. Amanda successfully convinces the Doctor to resume his travels and to allow her and Owen to accompany him.

Throughout the series, the Doctor takes Amanda and Owen to various places such as a futuristic space hotel run by an eccentric, power-hungry zillionaire and Arthurian England, and also introduces them to historical figures such as Orson Welles and the Beatles. The series also examines the two companions’ backgrounds; Amanda is the daughter of two immigrants from Brazil, and her feisty personality is a product of her constant, lifelong struggle as a first-generation immigrant in the United Kingdom. She and Owen have been friends since around the age of ten and began dating in secondary school, shortly before his sister was killed in a car accident at the age of twelve; he later uses this experience to his advantage when the trio helps an alienated 13-year-old girl named Ellie King fend off a monster in her closet in 1980s Manchester.

The two-part finale, “The Master Cometh” involves the trio’s attempt to stop the Master from re-creating Davros’s reality bomb. They are initially unsuccessful and the Master imprisons the Doctor before disintegrating 25% of Earth’s population (including Amanda) and taking over the world. Amanda and the 25% of human beings that were wiped out by the Master are transported to a reality that resembles the Underworld from Greek mythology; she is able to get back to the land of the living with the help of Persephone, planning to free the Doctor and reverse the Master’s actions. Meanwhile, Owen leads a resistance against the Master on Earth. Amanda, Owen, and the Doctor are eventually reunited and the trio travel back in time to successfully prevent the Master’s actions. Amanda is uncertain that she wants to continue traveling with the Doctor after what she went through, but Owen convinces her to keep going and they ultimately leave for their next adventure.

Casting
The series introduces Benedict Wong as the 14th Doctor, replacing Jodie Whittaker who played the 13th Doctor for three seasons. Prior to Chibnall’s exit, Olly Alexander was falsely reported to have been in negotiations to play the character. Hime has stated that he was interested in the idea of casting an actor of color in the role after Sascha Dhawan’s portrayal of the Master in series twelve, similarly to his Michelle Gomez’s portrayal of Missy predicted the 13th Doctor being portrayed by a woman. Adeel Adktar was approached for the role but declined, while Michaela Coel, Richard Ayoade, and Matt Berry were also considered. Wong’s portrayal of the Doctor was described as wise, analytical, methodical, and often quiet and reserved, but also has the capacity to become totally enraged in extreme situations. Wong is not only the first actor of color but also the first actor of Asian descent to play the Doctor.

The series also introduces Marisa Abela and Matt Levy as the Doctor’s newest traveling companions, Amanda Silva and Owen Glaser, respectively. Amanda has been favorably compared to previous companions such Rose Tyler and Amy Pond while her relationship with Owen has been compared to that of Amy Pond and Rory Williams. Similarly to Rory, Owen is meant to represent the average young adult male while the Doctor is a fantastical, larger than life figure, but is later shown to have immense depths as a character that allows him to break free from the “everyman” archetype.

The series’s supporting cast also included Michael Sheen as the Master, Sônia Braga and Rodrigo Santoro as Amanda’s parents, David Thewlis and Olivia Coleman as Owen’s parents, Lucas Cruz as Amanda’s younger brother, and Terrence Stamp as Owen’s grandfather. Jemma Redgrave reprises her role as UNIT director Kate Stewart in “The Master Cometh”.

Development and Writing
Following Jodie Whittakers’ announcement that the thirteenth series would be her last, showrunner Chris Chibnall also announced his departure from the series months later. Hime, a writer during Chibnall’s run, was selected to take over as showrunner, head writer, and executive producer, with previous Chibnall era writers Vinay Patel and Pete McTighe also returning to write episodes of the fourteenth series. Loki writer Bisha K. Ali and Skins actress and writer Megan Prescott also joined the writing staff. Hime, Patel, McTighe, Ali, and Prescott each wrote two episodes, with Hime and Prescott co-writing both parts to “The Master Cometh”.

The series consists of twelve episodes, with each episode running for approximately 50 minutes. Hime has described each episode as “primarily stand-alone stories” that generally do not follow a continuous story arc.

Filming
Filming for the series lasted throughout early 2022, with much of the principle photography taking place in and around Cardiff, Wales.

Critical Reception
The series received an overwhelmingly positive reception, with many critics and fans alike considering it a return to form for the programme after what was perceived by many to be a decline in quality during Chibnall’s run. Wong’s portrayal of the 14th Doctor was praised as familiar yet original and exciting, while the characters of Amanda and Owen have been hailed as two of the best companions of the revived series alongside the likes of Rose Tyler, Amy Pond, Donna Noble, and Rory Williams. The episode “Shoplifters of the World” was praised for its depiction of grief and social anxiety.