purplecat | May. 1st, 2015

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May. 1st, 2015

Full Circle is probably the best story in season 18 of Doctor Who. I'm fonder of Warriors' Gate but that is quite a strange beast and arguably one where Doctor Who's ambition is outreaching its ability to deliver. Full Circle on the other hand is comfortably on Doctor Who's home ground of an isolated(-ish) group under threat from lumbering monsters. However the fairly by-the-numbers trappings conceal a story with no real villains, no real monsters and some clever world-building and well-constructed reveals. It is all particularly remarkable given the story was written by a 17-year-old.

( More under the Cut )

Season 18 is Christopher H. Bidmead's only full season as script editor and it is well-known that he wanted to introduce hard science into Doctor Who. This is generally felt to be more obvious in stories like Logopolis and Castrovalva, though when we watched Logopolis as part of the Randomizer I was pretty underwhelmed by the science. I'd be reaching a long way to say that Full Circle marries hard science to Doctor Who, but it is a good example of Doctor Who that is scientifically literate (using scientific concepts rather than buzz-words and making them central to the story and its themes) without forgetting that it is, when all is said and done, an adventure series famous for its monsters.

Crossposts: http://louisedennis.livejournal.com/293063.html

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