The perfect serial: Why Doctor Who will last forever
As the BBC series turns 60, let's dive into how Doctor Who has changed serialised TV
Welcome to Super Serial, a new column exploring serialised storytelling in all its many forms in an effort to learn how to tell better stories.
Like everyone’s favourite waste-collecting robot, Wall-E, the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who will outlive us all. As long as there are cameras and eccentric actors around, then Doctor Who will continue. Sure, it may take a decade or two off for technology to catch up with its narrative ambition, but it will, like the Daleks, Cybermen and Time Lords themselves, always return.
The reason for this is simple, Doctor Who is unlike any other show on TV. Every three series or so, the show is soft rebooted with almost an entirely new cast, including a new lead actor, a renewed brand and a new tone. All of this while keeping the same continuity and charm that has lasted for all of its 60 years.
Unlike other reboots in serialised storytelling, Doctor Who doesn’t rely on the kind of multiversal mischief that saw the DC universe rebooted in Flashpoint - though there is still a fair amount of multiversal mischief going on - or killing off major characters and replacing them with new ones the creators hope will connect with audiences in the same way. The idea of the soft reboot is inherently baked into the world of Doctor Who thanks to the genius narrative device that is regeneration.
For those of you who haven’t ever had the pleasure of watching Doctor Who, ‘regeneration’ is kind of like Time Lord reincarnation. One incarnation of The Doctor dies and they ultimately regenerate into a new person with a new face, new mannerisms and a new fashion sense while always retaining their memories and core personality.
As we’ve discussed previously, one of the biggest issues with serialised storytelling is the idea of onboarding new viewers (or readers). We’re seeing this now with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After a decade-plus of storytelling, the MCU has become dense and layered with lore with stories being told across film and TV.
While I think that Marvel does a reasonably good job of keeping the so-called ‘homework’ to a minimum, I know the universe can be seen as impenetrable to newer viewers. Why go watch The Marvels when you haven’t seen Captain Marvel, WandaVision or Ms. Marvel? Marvel is still trying to figure this problem out and it’s proving very, very costly.
It’s in this area that Doctor Who has perfected serialised storytelling through the soft reboot afforded by the Doctor’s regeneration. Whovians often talk about Who in terms of eras - with their favourite usually being the era when they were first introduced to the show. Crucially, each era acts as an onboarding point for new viewers introducing the show’s core concepts through the lens of a new actor stepping into play the Doctor and their companion.
Matt Smith’s first episode, ‘The Eleventh Hour’, plays much the same way a standard TV pilot might. Sure, hundreds of hours of TV preceded Smith’s incarnation of the Doctor dangling out of the Tardis over London, but you don’t need to know that. As far as a new viewer is concerned, a strange person is hanging from a police box that appears to be bigger on the inside as they fly (crash?) over the streets of London. Throughout the rest of ‘The Eleventh Hour’, the Doctor meets Amy Pond and, through his new companion, catches the audience up on that strange police box and exactly what a Time Lord is.
These post-regeneration episodes have become a staple of the show, usually being accompanied by a new title sequence, reworked theme music and a brand new logo that marks the beginning of a new era of Who. Never heard the phrase ‘Bad Wolf’? Don’t know your Sontaran’s from your Sonic Screwdrivers? Don’t worry, step aboard the good ship Tardis and we’ll catch you up.
The closest analogue to the Who approach comes when they bring on a new writer/artist pairing to take on a classic character in long-running comic books. Batman under Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo feels very different to Batman under James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. Here, artists and writers reinvent classic characters and the worlds they inhabit in a new way, acting as an obvious onboarding point for new readers.
Each new era of Who is often aesthetically distinct from the previous eras but they also come with a renewed sense of purpose. Even die-hard Whovians may fall off the wagon from time to time, skipping a Christmas special or a series only to come back with a renewed sense of passion when a new Doctor takes over the flight controls on the Tardis.
I think that there are two lessons we can learn from Doctor Who as writers and serialised storytellers. The first is how Who onboards new viewers. Through these regular soft reboots or regenerations, Who essentially creates multiple points of entry for potential viewers. Compare that to the MCU where the sheer range of franchises and characters make jumping into the story intimidating for new viewers.
I’ve struggled with this as my serial The Calibray Job has continued. I’ve noticed a decline in readers across the series as it becomes clear to those who stumble upon the story that there is a lot of catching up to do if they want to get on board.
This doesn’t mean we can’t tell longer serialised stories, of course. Who, after all, balances monster-of-the-week stories with series spanning story arcs that reward the investment of consistent viewers. The idea is to understand that when you are telling a serialised story or a story with no determined end, you need to keep those onboarding points front of mind to ensure that you can grow and adapt when your world reaches new people.
This brings us nicely to the second key takeaway from Doctor Who. If you are planning on telling a serialised story that will last for months or even years, bake these soft reboots or onboarding points into your narrative.
The genius of regeneration as a narrative device is that it not only acts as an onboarding point for new viewers but also as a point of change for the character of The Doctor. Regeneration is a huge moment for the character, one that sees them change and evolve beyond simply changing their face. Who has been able to mine so much narrative potential from this one storytelling device, rarely ever allowing the onboarding points to feel overrun with exposition.
By baking soft reboots and onboarding points into your narrative, you are avoiding the need for unmotivated exposition. It would be jarring for both new and existing readers if your main character just randomly used their full name mid-sentence, right? But what if they’re meeting someone new for the first time and they need to hide their real identity? This allows you to reveal the characters name while ramping up the tension within your story all without it feeling unearned.
For a more detailed example, refer to Timothy Hickson’s book ‘On Writing and Worldbuilding’, where he refers to the idea of using a mini-three-act-structure in prologues to help introduce how characters approach problems differently. He says, “fundamentally, the mini-three-act-structure allows the author to go through the who, what, when, where, why, and how without it feeling like a laundry list of exposition.”
The post-regeneration episode in Doctor Who plays very much like a prologue in this sense. These stories establish a problem and then have the Doctor overcome it in a new way that introduces the key, recurring aspects of the character to the audience along the way.
This isn’t to say you need to have a random side-quest interrupting the middle of your story, but you might have a small problem for your protagonist or core cast to overcome that they can only do so through using a key character trait or tool that is important to the narrative. Doctor Who regularly does this with the Sonic Screwdriver, having some random obstacle that only the Sonic can overcome.
When I say that Doctor Who will outlive us all, I mean it. The universe is unlike any other in fiction, with an unending parade of imaginative worlds and monsters for this mad person in a box to overcome. An ceaseless range of faces for them to wear and an infinite wardrobe of options for them to choose from. It’s not always perfect, but when it is, Doctor Who is a fantastic blueprint for serialised storytelling, regularly making sense of all its wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff for fans new and old alike.
Next time on Super Serial: The Marvel Cinematic Universe
I’m back! It’s been a while, huh? Sorry about that. I had a lot on in my personal life - I got married! - so this unfortunately fell by the wayside. But I’m back, and back for good.
I’ve got grand plans for the new year including more instalments in ‘Super Serial’, my little column analysing serialised storytelling. Comment below what stories you’d like to see covered in future essays. Oh, and let me know your favourite Doctor while you’re there.
I watched Dr Who a lot as a kid, but for some reason never got into the new seasons despite hearing good things (and also being a big Tennant fan).
Congratulations on getting married 🥳