This is easy to rationalise as the Thirteenth Doctor talking through the Seventh’s avatar, because there’s not a chance in hell this dialogue would have been aired during the actual McCoy era, which had its anarchic and darker leanings airbrushed since Ace became a charity CEO in “The Death of the Doctor”, and the invention of the War Doctor, who frankly seems less morally dubious than the Seventh at times. As much as it’s a delight to see McCoy and Aldred back on screen together, it’s through a filter of 2022 Doctor Who in a nostalgic guest slot. The idea of Ace founding a charity is not a story so much as a LinkedIn profile.
Attempting to bridge the gap between the current brand of Doctor Who’s optimism and earnestness is a bigger ask for most of the Eighties companions, simply because they were more often vessels for trauma than attempts at depicting a person. “The Power of the Doctor” sees Ace and Tegan return, but also wants to be an anniversary special and wrap up the entirety of the Jodie Whittaker era. Tegan’s departure – due to the overwhelming amount of violence the character saw – isn’t addressed. Ace’s departure – which we never saw, so could be anything (including happy) – is implied to be some falling out over the Seventh Doctor’s manipulative nature. This is addressed, but with Ace forgiving the Doctor for what he did, saying: “I’m sorry I judged you. I didn’t understand the burden you carried.”
This is, as they say, some bullshit. The Seventh Doctor absolutely deserves to be judged, and Ace absolutely deserved to judge him. This resolution being so pat and unsatisfying is probably down to a combination of not having time to do the story justice in the midst of “The Power of the Doctor” and poor writing (if you want to read a story where this idea is done well, look out Paul Cornell’s 1992 novel Love and War).
Acknowledge the Past
In Tales from the TARDIS, there’s a marked contrast between the scenes bookending “Earthshock” with the Fifth Doctor and Tegan and the ones bookending “Vengeance on Varos” with the Sixth Doctor and Peri. The former acknowledge that they weren’t affectionate people during their time in the TARDIS, and when discussing Adric – the young maths genius who dies during “Earthshock” – admit they found him annoying, but find a melancholic guilt in this. “He was just a kid”, the Doctor says. This is a sweet spot in terms of matching two disparate tones, acknowledging the past and its difficulties while finding space for them in the show’s increased emotional palette and a celebratory context.
Whereas when Peri appears with the Sixth Doctor in the Tales from the TARDIS scenes around “Vengeance on Varos”, it’s all bonhomie and happy days and everything alright in the end and absolutely nothing about ‘you tried to kill me and then shouted at me for a year then abandoned me to get my mind transplanted into a giant slug’, which I feel would be what I led with in Peri’s circumstances. Bringing back companions asks questions – not answering them means they hover awkwardly; answering them badly just feels like a waste.
With classic companions and characters returning, it’s lovely to see everyone again, but there’s simply no way to undo crappy writing. You can acknowledge it and address it, but highlighting Doctor Who’s flaws isn’t a great advertising strategy for a Blu-ray boxset, nor does it easily fit with a tone of celebratory nostalgia. You’d need a whole episode to do the story justice. The recent anniversary specials with David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor were essentially this for the character of Donna Noble and the Doctor themselves (as you can see, it’s not simply the original run that has this problem). Non-consensually wiping Donna Noble’s memories and leaving her with great chunks of herself missing was a cruel ending for the character. The specials restored Donna and gave the Fourteenth Doctor time to heal. It’s unlikely though, that Ncuti Gatwa is going to have further past companions return once a series to work through their TARDIS-related trauma.
#celeb #celebrity
