"I must mend my ways", muses the Fifth Doctor as he reenters the TARDIS at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks. He has lost a companion, screwed up defeating the Daleks, been taunted by Davros, and allowed a bodycount of 57 - basically everyone who isn't himself and remaining companion - to slip under the radar. Ach, love that episode. One of the best. What of Inferno, or Logopolis - other great episodes where whole planets or star systems get destroyed.
The new series doesn't seem to appreciate the value of a good body count. It has a half-baked definition of death. Astrid Peth sacrifices her life - but its OK, she becomes stardust. River Song does it as well, living out life in creepy suburbian utopia that only moments before we were told was evil. Jenny is born. Jenny dies. Jenny lives again. My favourite almost-companion is Lynda. Maybe its because she stayed dead?
Numerous hints about Rose's "death" actually refer to her being trapped in a parallel world. As a card-carrying, flag-waving Adric fan, I can tell you death is a bit worse than being reunited with your mum, dad and ex-boyfriend in a perfectly nice alternate Earth. I was Donna's greatest fan, and was pretty troubled by all the death prophecies. But it annoyed me more that they wouldn't actually do it. "Death" in the first instance was the sacrifice of her alternate life. "Death" in the second was forgetting her time with the Doctor. Now I'm no biologist, but I think the technical term for that is amnesia. Even if Dalek Caan had just said it once - but he kept repeating, and repeating, and even after it was all over, he had to say it again. I was prepared for something impressive.
The alternative universe is a cheap one too. Last of the Timelords kills Tom Milligan, then lets him survive. Turn Left exterminates the entire cast of Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood, Astrid (again) and Martha without blinking, but none of these have any pathos.
Jack got brought back to life too - but that's not so bad, as the show has explored the consiquences of his return. It was the same with Owen from Torchwood, dedicating three episodes to his troubles. Which would have been OK had it not been undermined by killing him properly in the series finale. I cried in Reset - by End of Days, I'd spent my tears.
There's an old mantra that "no one dies in sci-fi", and I'm beginning to appreciate how true that is. It was cute when everyone lived in The Doctor Dances, because of its novelty - the Doctor's joy is formed by the fact he knows this is a rarity. Death has ceased to be a meaningful threat. We already know the Doctor can't be killed as often as he strictly should be, but the continual cheating of death removes the threat entirely, cheapens the show and prevents our suspension of disbelief. How often do you actually feel cold fear that the cast won't make it? Hell, the central fact of the show is that if killed the Doctor can regenerate. You still lose an actor, but the character won't die.
So lets celebrate the true deaths of the new series! To Madame de Pompadour, whose departure was both moving and permenant. To Creet of Utopia, the child turned into a Toclofane, whose death (and the deaths of the other future-humans) was not reversed and remains chilling. To Lynda. To half the cast of the Impossible Planet. To Sir Robert of Tooth and Claw for going down (and staying down) heroically. To the Master, for not coming back (yet).
And please lets have a massacre next season?
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