Doctor Who: 10 Similarities Between The Classic And Revived Series
3. Season-Long Story Arcs
THE NEW: The revived series of Doctor Who, especially the Eleventh Doctors tenure, has been notable for having story arcs that last an entire season (or three, depending on how you interpret The Time of the Doctor). The Ninth Doctor has been followed by the words Bad Wolf to herald the arrival of Rose Tyler with TARDIS powers, the Tenth Doctor encountered Harold Saxon and his name around England and also had to solve the mystery of Donna Noble and the returning Time Lords. The Eleventh was far worse, though, caught up amidst a timey-wimey conspiracy that lasted his entire run - Who Blew Up the TARDIS, Who is River Song, Who is the Impossible Girl, Who is the Silence, Doctor Who? Fans may await eagerly at the edge of their seat to find the solution to the overarching mystery but others may consider this to be view-bait and decry the lack of standalone episodes - claiming that in the end, the story is about one man in a box and not the wild chase or sinister enemies in between.
THE OLD: Those fans would come in for a serious shock - the use of overarching storylines, plots and goals have been a staple of Doctor Who even back in its Classic times. The Second Doctor was on the run from the Time Lords, the Third was constantly trying to repair his TARDIS and foil the Masters plot-of-the-week, the Fourth Doctor was thrust into a season-long quest to find the Key to Time (and the powers that be loved it so much that they did it again for the Fifth Doctor), the Fifth was constantly trying to take his companions to Heathrow or the Eye of Orion (very similar), the Sixth spent an entire season defending himself in Trial of a Time Lord, the Seventh Doctor fought the sinister Fenric over space, time and two seasons and the Eighth Doctor spent countless years figuring out the mystery of Lucie Miller, defeating the Eminence, finding out a way not to destroy Gallifrey (well, the first time), and trying to let Charley down gently in rejecting her advances. Should the Twelfth Doctor go off this next season trying to find Gallifrey, he is only following his predecessors in constantly getting himself embroiled in new and seemingly never ending - schemes.