DOCTOR WHO: Peter Capaldi and Jon Pertwee - two of a kind? #MorrisMoffat - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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DOCTOR WHO: Peter Capaldi and Jon Pertwee - two of a kind? #MorrisMoffat

Christopher Morley compares some potential similarities between the Twelfth Doctor and the Third.



Are we about to see Doctor Who return to a similar state to that in which it could be found between 1970- 74? 'Classic' series viewers will know that four-year stretch as the era of the Third Doctor ( Spearhead From Space- Planet Of The Spiders). If you're a 'new-Who' fan, a crash course is recommended! Look closely & you might just begin to see why.....the first clue is in what the Twelfth Doctor's chosen to wear. Finely tailored shirts &/or a cape- we've seen that before.

The presence of a Kate Stewart-headed UNIT in the Series Eight finale ( believed to be titled Death In Heaven) also raises the possibility of the Doctor once again working more closely with them (this should provide a handy guide to the Dandy Doctor's ' best bits'), as his earlier self did during his Time Lords-imposed exile to Earth ( The War Games being his Second incarnation's last stand) serving as scientific adviser to Kate's dear old dad Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. And going by the most recent teaser trailer for the big day on August 23, we might just be about to return to a scenario the Doctor's found himself in in a previous adventure of his!

Take a look at this...



...and you can't possibly fail to spot that T-Rex on the rampage in Victorian London. How it got there is a mystery waiting to be solved in Deep Breath. But it's little wonder Twelve might be thinking ' here we go again'!

He has indeed seen prehistoric beasties on the warpath in the modern age, in Invasion Of The Dinosaurs ( Episode Two of Season Eleven in 'classic series' terms). He & Sarah-Jane Smith-in only her second TARDIS trip after The Time Warrior- arrive in the London of the present day to find several dinosaur species tearing up our nation's fair capital city. The big question is ' how did they get there'?


As ever, government meddling is to blame. Operation Golden Age is a secret project aiming to return society to a pre-technological level, with the belief that it'll sort out all the problems of the current world. Just to add to the authenticity, some actual dinosaurs are being brought in by means of a sort of time scoop thanks to Professor Whitaker & his assistant Butler. They're working with Sir Charles Grover- a Minister with Special Powers in the wake of the evacuation of the city. But our next question to mull over is exactly what they hope to achieve by reversing time to such an extent..

Depending on your point of view on environmental issues you might actually agree with them! In essence its a misguided attempt to bring about harmony & reduce pollution, with each participant in the plan believing that humanity had become too corrupted by greed & Earth's carbon footprint needed to come down. 

And so begins a race to stop 'New Earth' from coming into being. Whether or not Steven Spielberg ( a noted celebrity Who fan) watched this unfold at any point during the making of Jurassic Park, we don't know. He'll probably thank God his own budget for special effects was somewhat higher regardless...


Peter Capaldi may well also have consulted it as research for his upcoming big début! As a young man he could only dream of the day he would play the Doctor, but it never stopped him sending his own scripts through to Barry Letts & Terrance Dicks- his persistence paid off, as he eventually got an invitation to meet them & no less than the Doctor of the time. 

Who was he, you ask? Coincidentally, Jon Pertwee! If you trawl through the extras on the DVD release of The Monster Of Peladon you'll find him waxing lyrical on how the experience spurred him on to seek an acting career before he even got so far as art school.

So, we could interpret his Twelfth Doctor as a personal tribute to a great predecessor. It also adds up to an interesting point of shared lineage- his previous self having been seen as a sort of concession to the Second Doctor, bow tie & all, by similar logic. 


Is it purely coincidence that from that has come a new man who also seems to share both traits of personality & sartorial style with a past incarnation? If we look at the proposed format of the new series it could be said that even that borrows from the early Seventies style of Who.

Think back to Season Eight- the introduction of the Master. A series of standalone adventures showcasing the Third as a man of action, faithfully adhered to even after he was given back the necessary knowledge to take ' Sexy' off Earth once more post-The Three Doctors. Could we be about to see that sort of thinking return, given that there appear to be no two-parter stories for the new series?

We also have the not inconsequential possible return of the Master himself, which could leave many hankering for the good old days of everything from Terror Of The Autons- The Daemons. A 'must-watch' for Charles Dance, Steve John Shepherd, Keeley Hawes or any of the other possible candidates to portray him before they go toe to toe with Capaldi.


Combine that with the best bits of the Tenth Doctor battling his old foe in a ' young & strong' body & we just might be in for quite a ride! Whether or not Twelve will dust off his knowledge of Venusian Aikido is another question entirely, but we can't be the only ones hoping he might...



HAII!!!!
Our next point to ponder might be which classic enemy/enemies could return for Series Eight. Eleven got the Ice Warriors, as first battled by the Second in The Ice Warriors/The Seeds Of Death. So, lets play a game of ' which Third Doctor baddies could be resurrected'?

It shouldn't be forgotten that there are many suitable candidates to really make the most of this new Doctor's darker nature- perhaps most obviously the Daemons...



The Morris dancers of Devil's End could even finally get their own independent moment to shine...



In fact, let this be the start of the campaign to get just that as we call on Steven Moffat to embrace the many brilliant possible uses for them should they return. If enough people Tweet #MorrisMoffat or #DanceOfDeath, say it could just happen- you heard it here first.

But if you have any other suggestions ( the most obvious perhaps being the Silurians, following on from Doctor Who & The Silurians & The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood- ), feel free to let us know. Perhaps there's a case for their near cousins the Sea Devils, as well. With Madame Vastra on the scene at least for Deep Breath, at least one member of the Homo Reptilia/Eocene race will make an appearance.

Maybe Strax will come up against his own race, too? The Third Doctor encountered them for the first time in the aforementioned The Time Warrior...



Robots Of Sherwood- Episode 3 of Series Eight- could very well share elements of that particular foray into history. But we have all that to look forward to, so what more to say than 'reverse the polarity of the neutron flow!'

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