In a few other parts of the world, the “Doctor Who” fans, both new and old have already seen this, just a snippet, just a moment, but all the same the prologue to Series Nine of “Doctor Who.” Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on the two preludes to the new season that starts tomorrow night – “The Doctor’s Meditation.”
Peter Capaldi returns for his second season as The Doctor, and Jenna Coleman is back for roughly her third and thankfully final (sorry, I don’t like her, never did) season as his companion Clara. The last season was a long hard trip, but unlike Clara, I took a liking to Capaldi. Despite his age, Capaldi still retains that punk spark of his younger days as well as his gruff meanness of his more recent endeavors. I like him. And happily, Clara isn’t in either of these prequels.
The first of the two prequels was simply called “Prologue” and involved a visit of The Doctor to the planet Karn to see the Sisterhood. The Sisterhood of Karn will be familiar to Whovians from both the original series and the new one, most recently appearing in “The Night of The Doctor.” There he is warned of an old friend, or enemy asking him for help.
Also penned by showrunner Steven Moffat, we next find our hero in “The Doctor’s Meditation,” in a medieval castle in medieval times with a knight/noble who believes him a magician. The Doctor, as is so noted in the title of the mini-sode, needs to meditate, but due to his seeming attention deficit disorder cannot. He keeps making excuses not to meditate. I a series of comedic vignettes, the Doctor has the men find water, build castle extensions, anything but allow him to do what he’s there to do – meditate on a matter of dread.
The Sisterhood warned him of someone in need, and The Doctor knows if he helps, there will be trouble. This someone is an old friend, an old enemy, someone who he’s wronged. It doesn’t take a genius to guess it’s Missy he’s talking about, also known as The Master, or The Mistress, based on his/her most recent regeneration. We cut to the To Be Continued card, and the wait for tomorrow night.
There are many things promised for this season. There will be Zygons, Maisie Williams from “Game of Thrones,” the returns of The Master/Mistress, River Song, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and (yay!) Osgood, and of course, most probably, Daleks, and maybe Cybermen too. After all, how could a season go by without The Doctor’s most frequent enemies, right?
So, fans, strap in for a terrific roller coaster season, and if you’re new to the whole Whovian phenomenon, you can get caught up right here. Either way, we’ll see you tomorrow night for the first official episode of the ninth season, “The Magician’s Apprentice.”
