Doctor Who: Alternative Seasons - Season 0: To Be Exiles
This
is the zeroeth part of an ongoing look at Doctor Who as a whole. It also
tries to reframe stories to include audio stories and other media. More
details can be found here.
Season 0: To Be Exiles
• The Beginning (Companion Chronicles 8.5)
• The Sleeping Blood (Companion Chronicles 9.1)
• The Alchemists (Companion Chronicles 8.2)
• Quinnis (Companion Chronicles 5.6)
• Hunters of Earth (Destiny of the Doctor 1)
Overview
And with that statement I might have given the game away: I did not like this season very much. I think it's the worst so far. No contest. And I think that is interesting. Before I started, I had one big question in mind: How are they gonna deal with a purposefully immoral main character?
And so we're stuck with this uncharismatic duo. These two travellers who seem to travel randomly, but already have an inevitable destination: London, 1963. My only wish is that the got there sooner. Let's look at the individual stories:
Reviews
The Beginning
2/10
This one was, to put it bluntly, not fun.
“The Beginning” starts us off with the Doctor and Susan escaping in the Tardis. Leaving Gallifrey behind for the great unknown. After this initial departure, our duo lands on the planet Earth, where life is just starting to develop. Problems quickly arise, however, when we see that the process of natural selection isn’t as natural as it seems.
Let’s start with the obvious. I think this story betrays your expectations quite a bit. Look at that cover. Look at that title. You did not expect this story to be about the beginning of Earth. You expected it to be about the beginning of the Doctor. Even the synopsis does not hint at Earth in the slightest.
And I kind of feel two ways about that. On the one hand, I am not against being surprised. A nice twist on expectations can really work. If a story suddenly goes into the unexpected, you can really get swept off your feet. Think of the Sara Kingdom House trilogy, for example.
On the other hand, this is a big tale to twist away from. This is the foundation of the program. And while many people dislike messing around with that foundation, I think almost everyone is still a little curious. I know I am. On some level, you listen to this story to get answers you should never get. So, because of that curiosity, you pay the 10 bucks for this story. You put it on. You start listening to the Doctor and Susan’s escape. Maybe you even get invested. And 5 minutes later, all the escaping stops to start a “real story” on Earth.
That’s a tough sell. But hey, look on the bright side. Maybe that “real story” is actually very, very good. It starts off with a lot of interesting pieces in play. Maybe it will be worth it!
And then you’re stuck for an hour listening to an absolute slog. Opportunity wasted.
Let’s look at our replacement story: Shortly before their first landing, our duo discovers a man named Quadrigger Stoyn, a Tardis technician who was still on board the ship. An unwilling third traveller. The three of them land on Earth during the early development of man, which is apparently being controlled by a race called the Archaeons. This race is trying to push the human race towards a certain path of evolution. This counts as interfering in the Doctor’s eyes, which leads to a standard conflict between him and the Archaeons.
And already we’ve strayed very far from our unique starting premise. We have now replaced it with the most basic of status quos. Still, even that could work! Remember that everything that happens here is the first time it has ever happened to the Doctor. The story could still play with that!
Why not delve into how this standard story structure came to be? It’s a premise that comes up again and again, so let’s explore the core! How does this Doctor choose a side? What would the consequences of interfering actually lead to? And, since we have Stoyn, how do the Doctor’s ideals hold up to those of other time lords? What’s the big difference? Is there even one? This is THE first adventure, so maybe even make the Doctor uncertain, more passive. Make him realize why he has to choose a side at all! Even if it is to uphold the status quo! But that kind of depth isn’t here. Instead, we have some really weird leaps in logic.
The villains in this story are a good example of those leaps. For all intents and purposes, the Archaeons come across as scientist. They aren’t hostile, but curious. They show intellect and a willingness to understand what’s around them. Only when the Doctor threatens to shut them down, do they become aggressive. Then they’re suddenly presented as villains. Their curious nature is completely gone.
So my question is, how do the Archaeons differ from human scientists? They aren’t time travellers and don’t necessarily have knowledge from the future. They’re just doing an experiment. The creatures they’re experimenting on are nothing more than globs and fish at this point in time.
Imagine the Doctor barging into a lab of human scientists who are doing experiments on lab rats. He urges them to shut down because rats will in the far future become the dominant race of this planet. You’d think he was a madman. Why would you believe him? Yet this story takes his side without question.
And that’s a crime in such an early story. It’s unearned heroism without backbone. It shows the Doctor as always right from day one. That’s a disservice to all the growth that’s, at this point, still to come.
Now that the Doctor has thoughtlessly condemned them, the Archaeons become ruthless, faceless villains. They’re trying to reset their experiment and start from the beginning. They see the future humans as a failure and want to start again. Their scientific nature is gone. The Doctor stops them, leaves Stoyn behind because he sympathized with them and goes on with his life. Having learned nothing on his very first adventure.
“The Beginning” should have been a story of fundamentals. It had loads of options to choose from. It could’ve focused on the actual escape, the moral foundations of our hero, the role of interference, the start of a famous story structure, the difference in the Doctor’s perspective to other Time Lords. It should have been a base that all later adventures benefit from, even if it is in the smallest of ways.
But if gives up on that role completely. It does nothing unique. It is a filler story, made on auto pilot. The only difference is really, really poor placement in the Doctor’s timeline. Realistically, it would be a 5, or a 4. But then you look at the external factors. The title, the cover and the synopsis all hype it up as THE origin story, only to drop it after 5 minutes in favor of a dull, boring, average tale. And that makes it lesser. If a story places itself here, at the very start, it better have some backbone. Otherwise, it shouldn’t exist at all.
The Sleeping Blood
7/10
See! That’s more like it! A step forward!
After one of their unseen adventures, the Doctor has been infected with a mysterious disease this has left him delirious and mostly unresponsive. This leaves us alone with Susan, who’s landing the Tardis in various locations, looking for a cure. Things change, however, when Susan lands right in the middle of a counter-terrorist operation, where her role might be crucial.
The first thing that’s really of note in this story is the presentation. It sets its tone quite well! Susan is alone, stranded on a strange and unfamiliar world. The story decides to reflect this by having Carole Ann Ford very close to the mic. It really makes her feel like a blip in a massive world. Insignificantly small. Very well done.
Other than that, it’s kind of surprising how well this story matches up with my expectations from the previous review. For early stories, everything is a first time. I want to see how those “first times” affect our cast. Which is exactly what happens here. This story makes Susan interfere with her environment, which leads to a different outcome in the central conflict. That’s huge! Let’s look at the details:
When arriving in an abandoned laboratory, Susan meets up with a group of soldiers in giant mech suits. These soldiers are trying to stop a hacker-terrorist called “the Butcher”. This man has hacked the medical nanobots that are in everyone's bloodstream, which allows him to turn off their heart with the flick of a switch. Susan, too, has secretly been injected with those nanobots by a spider-shaped robot. Leading to a dire situation for all involved.
It's a solid premise! The hacker has their lives in his hands from minute 1. This should lead to some really tense storytelling! Sadly, it’s held back by quite a few conveniences and contrivances.
First, the threat is immediately diminished when Susan, our famous master hacker, fixes the nanobots and removes all control the Butcher had. She has full control of the situation and the Butcher is no longer a danger to them. This exact scenario shows up again when Susan saves the day by outhacking this hacker, so he can’t release his virus and message to the world. This kind of computer talent has never been Susan’s forte. She has never shown tech wizardry before or since. This is more something Vicki or Steven could accomplish. It’s a clear retcon to make Susan look more capable. I wish it was more earned instead.
Stories with Susan tend to do this sometimes. They look to “fix” her by giving her random skills or talents that she never had on screen. These attempts are always far from subtle. I won’t go on too much of a tangent here, but I prefer it when her skills build upon the foundations the show already has. On TV, Susan is sociable and bold. She might be afraid of danger, but will still do what is needed. On top of that, she’s also the granddaughter of our main protagonist. A man who can talk himself out of all kinds of scenarios. Maybe that’s a familial trait?
I would prefer it if the story played with those kinds of elements. Have Susan convince an AI interface or pull a dangerous plug from the machine. Maybe just convince the Butcher himself with kind words. That’s something even the Doctor can’t always do. It would fit her character way more than sudden hacking skills.
Another contrivance happens in the finale. When Susan saves her soldier friends, they kill the Butcher. He never got to spread his message. When she returns to the Tardis (with medicine), the spider-bot appears again and shares how the Butcher wanted equal healthcare for all. He lost his grandmother because only the rich get treatment. He wanted to make clear that things should be better.
A bit flimsy when you consider he was about to kill millions. But the story is smart enough to not take a side on this one. It is just a reason for Susan to reflect: She has potentially interfered in the outcome. If she hadn’t hacked his systems, he might’ve killed millions and changed the world in a significant way. She has upheld the status quo. She is worried about this and the Doctor consoles her and reflects on interfering.
This could’ve been more impactful. First, the message. Right now, it comes out of a random robot, but maybe the impact would’ve been greater if it had actually come from the Butcher’s grandmother.
Imagine the same scene, but after the Butcher is shot, a room opens up that reveals his ailing grandmother. Delirious and almost dead, just like the Doctor is. There is no hope for her, because any kind of reasonable treatment would be reserved for the rich. Immediately the similarities to the Doctor would hit Susan. Maybe it even affects the soldiers as well.
When back in the Tardis, Susan reflects on how things could’ve been different. Would she have done the same to save her grandfather? Or would it truly have been madness? Just how much has she changed time?
And since we still have an early Doctor, it’s way, wayyyy too soon to talk about potentially interfering. So instead, make him angry. Make him furious, because all laws have been broken. Yet add a little twinkle, because if they hadn’t been broken, he would’ve been dead. The first drop in the bucket of interference.
Maybe that’s just my imagination running wild. But I feel like the pieces are there. The priorities should just be shuffled a bit. Susan isn’t great because she can hack. Susan is great because she has empathy. The big conclusions around interfering basically come down to: “That was a bummer, maybe interfering might be worth a shot”. It could’ve been more than that.
Don’t get me wrong. The story is still very good. The characters are all likeable and understandable, the morality of the story is in check and the overall setting is pretty great. It’s just that I can feel there’s more here. The ending reflection feels way too tacked on, while that should be the most exciting part. And of course, I don’t agree with the skillset they give Susan here. But I still think it is very much worth your time for what it does do well. Let’s call it a diamond in the rough.
The Alchemists
1/10
As with the last story, the setting is decent. It shows poverty, distrust and the beginnings of unreasonable hate. But, at the same time, it also feels kind of shallow. It feels like it takes very carefully chosen snippets to expand, like a science fair, a café, a street with beggars and 3 nazi soldiers, but it fails to make it a cohesively presented whole. It is all there, but it doesn’t feel as impactful as it should.
Maybe part of that is the fact that we're alone with Susan again. This time, the Doctor gets kidnapped. And since we have a single main character and just an hour of story, perhaps the setting has to give way for a more personal tale. Still a bit of a shame, but it’s okay if the personal tale works.
Putting aside that the removal of the Doctor starts to feel routine at this point, Susan’s journey alone mostly feels disjointed and aimless. We eventually solve the mystery of the kidnapper by accidentally meeting up with him, just so Susan can get kidnapped as well. It isn’t really an earned resolution and makes Susan look weak. She’s already been in some perilous situations and should know how to escape. So why not show that off? Instead, it’s wandering around in an unfulfilled setting, then getting kidnapped, then the Doctor saving the day instead of her. It doesn't feel like Susan contributed anything at all!
The real big gaping problem in this story, however, are the really botched morals at the end. We basically get a “War is good for the growth of the people, so not all conflict should be prevented” message from the Doctor, and Susan agrees without question.
That’s just, to put it bluntly, fucked up! I know this is an early doctor, and this message isn’t even out of place for him. According to him, you can’t change history.
The problem is that the story agrees with him. This statement isn’t questioned, reflected upon or challenged in any way. It’s just a fact. A fact that was apparently so important, that Susan put it down in a letter for next generations to learn. That’s just vile!
Look at how this kind of situation is handled in other stories. Last of the Romanovs, Farewell Great Macedon, The Massacre. They have similar situations where history is cruel, but this always makes the characters reflect! There’s always time to discuss this, because it is important! Historic tales always needs to be handled with care, logic and respect. By both the characters and the writer. Here it absolutely isn’t.
This story is a mess. The morals already dropped it down the rating list for me, but it really has nothing else. The setting is flimsy and non-cohesive. The actual story would not even require Susan to exist, and there’s even little things I haven’t discussed, like the terrible accents and the retroactive softening of the Doctor.
And I can forgive a few shortcomings. But I can’t forgive morals like these. This is forever the story where the Doctor and Susan tell us that 50,000,000 people deserved to die, so that our science and world could grow. And that is unacceptable. A true failure of a story. Don’t listen to this.
Quinnis
4/10
A fairly bland story that plays like an historical, without actually being historical.
The Doctor and Susan land on the planet Quinnis, where people are suffering from droughts. Thanks to his stubbornness, the Doctor accidentally promises the locals that he will be the new rainmaker. With Susan as his assistant, the two of them unwillingly try to save the day. But trouble looms from above, as a crow-like creature seems to cause bad luck wherever it goes.
Quinnis has a bit of a mythical reputation, because it actually has its origin in the TV show. In “The Edge of Destruction”, Susan mentions that she and the Doctor visited the planet on one of their early adventures. So this story actually plugs an existing hole.
Which makes it a bit sad that I found the story to be dull in multiple places. I was hoping it would be more special.
The problem mostly lies in predictability. The story never really manages to feel tense. You never really wonder what will happen. This is mostly because of our “big bad”.
I’ve already mentioned the crow-like creature that is pestering the people and bringing bad luck, but I haven’t mentioned how obvious the story is about this villain. While in town, Susan meets a girl named Meedla, who mentions that she doesn’t belong and feels out of place. She also mentions upcoming cataclysmic events. At the same time, she manages to pop up every time the crow is seen. She is even found in a trap set for the crow-creature. I think we get the point. Meedla is the crow.
Yet the story expects us to be stupid. We aren’t supposed to know who the creature is until the last 10-20 minutes. And Susan just can’t believe her true friend she’s known for 2 days could be a bad person, so it’ll take her a bit. We’re basically just waiting for Susan to get on our level and reveal the truth.
And it’s a long wait, because the story has very little to distract us. The world of Quinnis is not exactly imaginative. There’s just some superficial worldbuilding. The townsfolk act generic medieval, to the point of there being a woman who’s identifying trait is carrying a piglet. For an alien world, it all feels barebones and human to a fault.
The world itself sparks a little more imagination, consisting mostly of viaducts and stone structures, while being high in the sky. But this never really feels all that relevant. It’s just set dressing and not all that engaging.
I think it would’ve helped if there was a bigger link between the world and the society. We have this world high in the sky, yet there are basically people living there. How did that happen? Who built the structures? And why? What struggles do people these face at higher altitudes? What keeps them up there?
I think playing with these questions would lead to a better world overall. Right now, it just feels like we’ve settled for the basics. It could be way more!
Hell, our enemy is a bird. Why not make the people birdlike as well? Play into some avian behaviors! Crows are notoriously smart, but other birds have interesting traits too! A 2 minute Google shows me that Woodpeckers have multi-days wars that other birds like to watch! That sounds almost gladiatorial! I’d be on board with that for a story!
Or, if you want to keep your medieval setting, why not pull a “Mother Russia” and let the Doctor and Susan truly integrate in the society for a while? This story ends with them heading to 1963 to settle, so why not make this a similar attempt to live in one location for a while? The story mentions the idea that Susan needs people her own age, which matches earlier/later moments in stories. So why not go all in on that? It is almost a footnote as it is now.
To be clear, I am not saying I could write a better story, I’m just saying that this story could’ve had a lot more substance. The main mystery is incredibly obvious and there is nothing else that can keep your attention. If the world was fleshed out more, the story would have more to offer. A reason to stick with it.
Because right now, Quinnis feels bland. This mystical world that was fondly remembered in the tv show feels like one in a million, and that’s a waste. It has little worldbuilding, only a bit of tacked on character work and nothing that really gets its hooks in you. Quinnis is a drop in a bucket of stories, nothing more.
The Hunters of Earth
6/10
This is a bit of a different one. The first story in the ‘Destiny of the Doctor’ line of stories.
The Doctor and Susan have settled in London, 1963, but we’re still a few months away from the start of the real adventures. We see how Susan is settling in at school, while the Doctor is working on repairing the Tardis. Life seems good for a while. However, when people suddenly start getting aggressive, things may not be what they seem….
For me, the best part of this story is the start. Simply because it has the most character focus. We see Susan struggling to fit in with other classmates, yet slowly finding her footing. Trying to fit in with a society she hasn’t been part of, but definitely wants to be. She gets on well with her classmate Cedric in particular, as he takes her to the local café and introduces her to other people.
And sadly, while this is the best part of the story, it is also where the flaws start to show up.
When the owner of the café changes the radio station, the teenagers suddenly become hostile towards Susan. Wanting to push her away and even kill her for being “different”. With that exact setup, I think you might have already found the cause of the different behavior: The radio playing in the background. It’s a very predictable threat, but like the last story, it will take Susan a while to catch on.
The difference with Quinnis is that this story has more worldbuilding around it’s central plot. London 1963 has the benefit of being more familiar to ourselves than a completely alien world, after all. Although I do think the time and place could still have been presented better.
As you might’ve guessed from the radio, there’s quite a focus on music within this story. Yet at the same time there’s only really a focus on one particular kind of music: the Beatles. They just keep chucking that particular band at you. I wish they had cast a bit of a wider net or gone a bit deeper.
I mean, I get it, we are with a cast of teenagers in the sixties and they were the most influential band of their time. Beatlemania and all that. But maybe they could’ve played with that idea a little more. The music from the Beatles helped to bridge the gap between young and old people. It made people feel included. Yet now, within this story, it is made to have the opposite effect. That’s a blatant contradiction, yet the story never addresses it. There’s some unexplored depth there, which would have added more layers to the story.
Other than that, there really isn’t much that this story has going for it. The world is pretty bland altogether, and the story is, once again, painfully obvious. I wish there was just more of something. Anything that keeps you hooked.
Like, for example, the villain of the story. One of Susan’s teachers turns out to be a secret agent, sent to investigate mysterious phenomena. It has a real sense of mystery at first, but he turns out to just be “the human with a gun”. You probably get what I mean with that stereotype, but imagine what could’ve been with the Doctor against a spy!
The same potential goes for Cedric, who turns out to be the guy’s nephew! While I’m glad Susan is immediately done with his betrayal, I think more could’ve been here. This story has the benefit of knowing how Susan’s journey ends. Why not treat him more like a potential David? One who couldn’t keep up? After the reveal, he is shoved aside so hard that any sense of nuance of deeper emotion between them is lost. Which, for me, is the final nail in the coffin for this story.
Hunters of earth is, in a word, basic. Its storytelling is competent, but not interesting. The best thing it has going for it, is the early scenes with Susan. Trying to find her footing amongst a new group of peers. But that is quickly shoved aside for a bland, predictable plot that never really surprises, intrigues or entertains. It’s just fine. Nothing more.
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