Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: bbc, doctor who, Karen Gillen, matt smith, steven moffat

Doctor Who Series 5 Was Perfect Fairytale Season Filled With Firsts

Doctor Who Series 5 is one of the most perfectly formed seasons of its run, with Steven Moffat turning it into a modern fairytale.

The fifth season of Doctor Who is a season of many firsts: it was new showrunner Steven Moffat's first season. It was Matt Smith's first season as the Eleventh Doctor. It was Karen Gillan's first season as a companion and both her and Smith's first starring roles leading a TV series. It launched their careers, made them household names in the U.K., and helped them get to where they are now. This was also one of the most perfectly formed seasons of the series in the modern era, the one most like a fairytale.

The first episode of a new Doctor is always like a pilot for a new show that's called "Doctor Who." It's the perfect entry point to the show for new viewers. It introduces a new cast and a new dynamic between Doctor and Companion. The season showed Smith's range playing an old man in a young man's body and his talent for physical and verbal comedy. This season, Moffat tells Doctor Who as a variation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The wardrobe is the TARDIS, the blue box – the magic box –  and The Doctor is the wizard who takes her on a grand adventure that becomes her coming-of-age story. The Doctor sacrifices himself to save not just her but everything, all of Space and Time and is forgotten. He restores her world and her life, returns her mum and dad to her, and ultimately, her Prince Charming, Rory (Arthur Darvill). She gets her reward and, in turn, gives The Doctor his by bringing him back to life. The season ends with perfect symmetry and a perfect ending. It's funny to hear Moffat recently admit that he didn't consciously make this season a fairytale, he was just scrambling to have a coherent season and arc to make the finish line.

Little Amelia's love and faith in her imaginary friend, the raggedy Doctor, is rewarded decades later when he returns, and he takes her on a grand adventure. And when she loses the boy she loves, the Doctor returns Rory to her for a fairytale ending and wedding. She rewards him by remembering him and bringing him back – a friend to all children.  It's also perfect symmetry when she appears to him at the end of his life as his imaginary friend to say goodbye. Fairytales tell us that "Love conquers all." Series 5 of Doctor Who is the fairytale that says that not only does Love conquer all, but Love always remembers and Love brings back the forgotten. That's fiction, and Moffat knows that – but everyone needs a fairytale, not just children.

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