It's official, the new season of Doctor Who returns on September 1st! I'm actually very excited and dreading it at the same time. The reason for that is because this season is officially the Pond's last. Both Amy and Rory Pond will no longer be companions in one form or another by the end of the season. Moffat (the showrunner) keeps hinting at how sad and tragic the end of the Pond's story is for the Doctor. This makes me very, very afraid. It's bad enough Amy is leaving (couldn't care less about Rory), but it makes me think that they're going to kill her off in the end. Nothing would upset me more.
Despite these feelings of dread, the new season looks to be pretty decent across the board. I'm excited for the opener involving the Daleks and some place called the Asylum. It's been awhile since we've had a Dalek episode. The middle episodes look a little weird, involving a space ship with dinosaurs, some rogue robots, and a western town. Hopefully these episodes will be interesting but Doctor Who one-offs have a penchant for being either too silly, or rather boring. Humor has its place in Doctor Who for sure, but they tend to overplay it. The last episode is one for the stone angels. Called "The Angels Take Manhattan" this will be the final episode with the Ponds as well as the end of the season. The Doctor's new companion is set to arrive in the Christmas special a few months from now.
Doctor Who is an interesting beast because to me, the show can be about several different things at once. If you were to ask someone what they thought Dr. Who was about, they might say adventure, character, or anything else. To me though, Doctor Who is about loss. The Doctor lost most of his own people and any others who have survived are too crazy to leave alive. He's lost friends, allies, and companions. He's the loneliest man in the universe who can't see to find someone who doesn't leave him in one form another. It's immensely depressing when looked at like that, but at the same time I enjoy it. The Doctor is an interesting man and seeing how loss affects him is always fascinating.
That said, the Doctor is also insane. It's not touched on much - though more with Smith's Doctor I think - but the Doctor is just as insane as some of the villains he encounters. There are very few moments where you get to see, a concealed threat, blowing up an entire hub of Cybermen, the evil man in the dream world was the Doctor's dark side, and closing Older Amy out of the TARDIS. Hell, even the Minotaur in "The God Complex" sees the Doctor for what he is. This is another reason he keeps a companion. Like Robin does for Batman, they make him think, consider his own life and actions before going forward (most times). Amy even references it in the trailer for the new season when the Doctor considers killing the Gunslinger outright. I would very much like to see what were to happen if the Doctor were "let off his leash" so to speak and had finally had enough.
So I've talked enough and have to go back to work, but I hope what I've said has given you something to think about when watching the show. Do you feel the same way as me? What do you think Doctor Who is about? I'm always up for a discussion/debate!
