10 Ways Doctor Who Is Now Completely Unrecognisable

6. Story Arcs

The Key to Time and Trial of a Time Lord attempted to tell connected stories over the length of a series. While these attempts seemed groundbreaking at the time, the truth was that, while there were nominal connections to a continuing arc as the Doctor searched for the Key to Time or attempted to defend himself in intrusive trial scenes set on Gallfrey, for the most part, the series did absolutely nothing different. These 'arcs' were simply ways to nominally connect different adventures but you could understand one without having seen another. While NuWho does try and tell standalone adventures, the arcs have become more sophisticated. From the simple planting of "Bad Wolf" and "Saxon" imagery in early scenes to the more complex, long form arcs instigated by Steven Moffat during Matt Smith's first season, interconnected story arcs have become a vital part of NuWho rather than the arguable special events which they had been presented as in the past. Sometimes, of course, this does lead to the series tying itself in knots. The attempt to resolve the question of River Song's motivations and past in Season 6 became so convoluted and unbelievable that many people were left scratching their heads and wishing for the good old days of stories that stood perfectly on their own week by week. It all makes perfect sense, though, if you really look at it. Promise.