5 Doctor Who season 9 changes we’d like to see

The ninth season, or ninth series, or 35th season/series is preparing to launch on September 19 with Pater Capaldi and Jenna Coleman returning as the Doctor and Clara, and Steven Moffat once again returning as showrunner.

We already know a decent amount regarding the new season – nothing too spoilery, but enough to get us excited. There will be new monsters, Daleks, Maise Williamses, Missys, and more.

We also know a bit about the tone, which will reportedly be “scarier” while featuring the Doctor being more comfortable in his new face. With that said, there is still a lot we don’t know.

Here are five of the things we really hope to see in the ninth season of Doctor Who. Some are just answers to long lingering questions, others are issues with the show that will hopefully be resolved.

Check them out, then let us know what you think in the comments below!

An answer to the Doctor’s face

Of everything on this list this is the most likely to happen, at least based on comments by Moffat and others.

If you’ve been watching the show since at least the 2005 return, then you may have recognized the 12th Doctor (or 13th, but let’s not get into that) in the 10th Doctor episode, “The Fires of Pompeii.

Capaldi appeared as the banker Lucius Caecilius (a real person). In the episode, the Doctor returned to Pompeii as Vesuvius was erupting, to save the life of Caecilius and his family. Capaldi also appeared on the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood, as another character named John Frobisher.

There hasn’t been an explanation given for why the new Doctor has a familiar face. You could just write it off as fans overthinking it – the sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, appeared in the Fifth Doctor story “Arc of Infinity” as a Gallifreyan Chancellory guard, and it was never mentioned. So there is precedent.

Moffat reportedly has a plan regarding this though, as did Russell T. Davies. In a recent interview, Moffat was asked about this, and he claimed they are filming something about that for this season.

The sooner it is addressed, or at least confirmed in the show that this is a thing, the better.

Less angst

The last few seasons have had more than their fair share of angst. The Ponds had buckets of it, the 11th Doctor was swimming in it, and the 8th season’s story arc culminated in an angsty finale. Enough.

Not that Doctor Who should become a comedy or anything like that. One of the best runs of the classic show was during the run of producer Philip Hinchcliffe, from 1974-1977, and it was dark for the time.

Hinchcliffe oversaw the first three seasons of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, and the episodes were moody and gothic. They were also some of the best the original Doctor Who ever created, and the highest rated seasons of the original show.

The new, darker tone was also criticized by puritanical viewers, including the infamous, censor-happy Mary Whitehouse. She complained and mounted several campaigns against the show, which the BBC caved to. Hinchcliffe was removed from the show, and the classic Doctor Who never fully recovered.

So a return to those values is great. There is a difference between a dark tone and the main characters whining about things though. That will be a difficult balance with Clara coming off of a major personal loss, but hopefully it will be a minor part of the series.

Yeah, we’re not holding our breaths.

Less Clara feels

Jenna Coleman isn’t for everyone, but that’s not what we mean with out hope for less Clara in season 9.

Season 8 introduced a bold, brash new Doctor. He didn’t take crap from anyone, and Capaldi’s performance was electric. But for all intents and purposes, he was a supporting character in the Clara Oswald show.

Clara’s story dominated the eighth season, and it really wasn’t all that interesting. Clara’s indecisiveness over traveling with the Doctor grew tiresome, because she was always, always, always wrestling with some reason not to.

It was a melodramatic plotline capped off by the inclusion of Danny Pink, a character that was never given a chance to grow and ultimately only served as a minor footnote to highlight who the Doctor is. Samuel Anderson is a good actor and he would have made an interesting addition to the Tardis crew. Instead, he became an anchor, weighing down the sense of joy.

And that is ultimately all on the character of Clara. Danny was a victim of the unnecessary desire to elevate Coleman’s character.

Look, if you have a show where the titular character is a 2,000 year old time traveller and the last of a near god-like race, and that character is now being portrayed by a new actor that puts a fiery new spin on it, there is no way the focus should be on a girl who is angst ridden about even hanging out with him. At the very least, her story shouldn’t actively be designed to make the Doctor look bad.

Clara is not the most interesting character on the show. Her story should never dominate it, especially when it’s a kind of depressing story.

More problem solving

The Doctor’s greatest weapon is his mind. He is a problem solver, and he frequently outwits opponents. This was especially true in the classic series, but slightly less so in the new show.

It isn’t like the doctor doesn’t ever solve problems anymore, but for the sake of drama, both Davies and Moffat frequently left the save to the companion, the guest star of the week, or coincidence. This has been especially egregious during the time of Clara, and you can argue that in the eighth season, the Doctor was the one to actually save the day twice, maybe three times.

It’s great that the companion plays a role and even holds their own, but the Doctor is a 2,000 year old, god-like alien genius. He should be more than just lucky.

Every now and again, it’s fine for good fortune, or a suddenly acrobatic Danny Pink to pull a Batman and save the day. More than a few times though and it becomes a weak plot device.

New Theme

The new opening, introduced last season, looks very cool. It’s stylish and slick, and it fits the show. The new music, however, is just awful.

You can watch it here for a refresher.

The whiny, high pitched, synthesized mess that was introduced last season is the worst theme in the 50+ year history of the show. The 80s version was better.

The new theme sounds like someone is making fun of the Doctor Who theme, which is shocking. It’s a solid theme that has remained iconic for half a century.

The blame for this probably goes to Moffat. When the show was relaunched a decade ago, the theme was a traditional variation of those that came before it. The first update under Tennant added an upbeat and welcome change. The second worked with the new tone of Moffat’s fifth, fairy tale season, and the next change was forgettable, but fine.

The new one is downright bad, and hopefully it goes away forever. Given the brief snippet heard in the trailers though, don’t count on it.

What Doctor Who season 9 changes would you like to see?

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