After forty, fourteen, one or even fnarg series in time and space, there have been a good number of Doctor Who season openers over the years. Let’s take a look at some of the Time Lord’s greatest adventures…
Asylum of the Daleks
It’s a rare thing for the Daleks to appear in a Doctor Who season opener, and in fact it has only happened four times in the show’s history – ‘The Day of the Daleks,’ ‘Destiny of the Daleks,’ ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ and ‘The Magician’s Apprentice.’ We’ll also allow ‘The Pilot’ at a push.
For this particular Doctor Who season opener, Steven Moffat promised to deliver “every Dalek ever,” and the Radio Times released a special Dalek-spotters chart so that viewers could tick off the many variations as they appeared.
As it turned out, it was harder to spot these Daleks than we thought – unless they weren’t actually there! Despite this, ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ was full of dramatic twists and turns, with a surprise early appearance (and death) of Jenna Coleman’s character Oswin Oswald, plus the return of the Daleks’ home planet Skaro, and the sudden divorce of companions Amy and Rory.
And who could forget the moment when the Daleks pleaded with their mortal enemy to save their lives…?
Deep Breath
This Doctor Who season opener was movie-like in scale, and the BBC actually released this episode in UK cinemas, capitalising on the success of the 50th anniversary special which had also been screened in theatres.
In addition, ‘Deep Breath’ marked the beginning of the Twelfth Doctor’s era, and writer Steven Moffat chose the surprising backdrop of Victorian London. Other unexpected elements included the Paternoster Gang, a T-Rex, the return of the clockwork droids from ‘The Girl in the Fireplace,’ and a mysterious woman called Missy who would later turn out to be a female incarnation of the Master.
To top it all off, this Doctor Who season opener also featured a cameo from Matt Smith, who made a phone call to his companion Clara to ask her to help his future, greyer incarnation.
The Impossible Astronaut
As you probably know, Steven Moffat is the master of timey-wimey writing, and ‘The Impossible Astronaut’ is one such head-scratcher, featuring multiple versions of the Eleventh Doctor from different points in their time stream and, staggeringly, the aborted regeneration and subsequent death of the Time Lord himself. In the first few minutes of the episode, the companions see their best friend killed and then attend his funeral, with his body being burned on a boat on Lake Silencio.
Alex Kingston also returned in this Doctor Who season opener as the ever-popular River Song, and at this stage viewers still had no idea who she really was, although ‘The Impossible Astronaut’ did drop a few tantalising hints.
Plus, with it being the first of a two-part adventure, this Doctor Who season opener actually felt more like a season finale, with so many epic, mind-bending occurrences and two regeneration sequences (the second episode finished with the unexpected regeneration of a homeless girl.) It set up a whole trail of mysteries which wouldn’t be resolved until the very last episode, with some mysteries left dangling until the end of the Matt Smith era.
The Eleventh Hour
‘The Eleventh Hour’ is perhaps the most famous of all the Doctor Who season openers, mainly because, for a large number of American viewers, this was their first ever experience of Doctor Who. ‘The Eleventh Hour’ launched the series State-side in a big way, and during its production it was internally referred to as Series One, Episode One. This was the beginning of a whole new era.
And like ‘Deep Breath,’ this Doctor Who season opener was the first full episode for a brand new Doctor. This time, the spotlight was on Matt Smith, and he was in for heavy scrutiny. There had been such a backlash after his casting, partly because of the fact that he was considered by some to be an ‘unknown’ actor. But the biggest point of contention was his age; at 26, he was the youngest Time Lord to date.
However, many of these suspicions and criticisms ebbed away after the transmission of ‘The Eleventh Hour.’ It was an immensely popular episode with some 10 million people tuning in, and to this day it is highly-regarded among fans.
It also left an indelible mark on the Whoniverse. The ‘crack in the wall’ which was introduced in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ is now almost as famous as the Ninth Doctor’s ‘bad wolf,’ and the somewhat questionable food combination of fish fingers and custard has become this generation’s jelly babies.
Rose
‘Rose’ must be the most important Doctor Who season opener of all time. Prior to its transmission, the jury was still out as to whether Doctor Who would still work for modern audiences. Had the series had its day? Would viewers of 2005 really accept a police box-owning, face-changing, time-travelling alien as he explored the universe fighting farting aliens and little green blobs in bonded polycarbide armour?
The answer was yes, and even more excitingly for fans, this Doctor Who season opener saw the return of the killer shop window dummies (or the Autons) after a 34 year absence. There was also a new companion in the form of Rose, so ably performed by Billie Piper, and a new TARDIS set, and a new version of the theme tune… This was Doctor Who for a whole new generation, and writer Russell T Davies proved, in no uncertain terms, that the show was back – and it was here to stay.
This is even more impressive when you consider that ‘Rose’ actually leaked online several weeks prior to its transmission, and received some scathing reviews. Thankfully, the majority of the viewing public waited to see this Doctor Who season opener in all its glory, and ‘Rose’ went on to achieve some of the highest viewing figures in the history of modern Who.
Which is your favourite of the Doctor Who season openers? Let me know in the comments below.
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