
In contemporary fandom, canon is king. This is not a jab against an admiration of an ordered continuity and worldbuilding, the necessary aspects of creating a story to be lost in.
In contemporary fandom, canon is king. This is not a jab against an admiration of an ordered continuity and worldbuilding, the necessary aspects of creating a story to be lost in.
For a show that is often so optimistically forward thinking—and where change is baked into its hearts—Doctor Who often has a bittersweet view of its own past.
In just a few short days, Doctor Who will conclude its trio of 60th anniversary specials in a flurry of spectacle—a climatic battle, the death of its familiarly faced current hero, and their regeneration into a new era starting just a few weeks later.
Doctor Who fans, when given a speculatory inch, will take the most absurd mile you can imagine. This isn’t necessarily a criticism—Doctor Who itself is about the unexpected, and the joy of that is what makes its fans going a little doolally when they have no idea what to expect part of the fun.
Initial overnight ratings have come in for Doctor Who’s highly anticipated return this past weekend in “The Star Beast,” and it’s good news for the show: numbers are way, way up, even if they’re also way, way down compared to where the show used to be. But, for good reason!
For as much as Doctor Who’s first 60th anniversary special, “The Star Beast,” was a celebration of the old, it also brought plenty of new with it—including Heartstopper’s
Human drama suffused with alien weirdness? A shotgun blast of emotional sincerity to sweep you away from barely coherent sci-fi technobabble? The power of love, specifically encapsulating queer love? David Tennant and Catherine Tate running around the place having the time of their lives? Do not adjust your clocks…
When it comes to Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary celebrations, all eyes are on this weekend as the series prepares to kick off a trio of weekly special episodes.