Doctor Who's Season 13: 10 Ways A One-Story Season Is Better
Doctor Who is set to air its 13th season in 2022 - with one big change to the show's structure. Unlike prior seasons of 'New Who,' season 13 will be one single story, meaning all the episodes will directly connect.
While this idea has been played with before in 'Classic Who,' each season of the revived era has contained several different stories (sometimes loosely connected with a story arc). Changing the structure of Doctor Who with a single-story season may be experimental but such a big change could prove beneficial, allowing the show to still feel fresh and exciting after so many years.
10 It's Something Fresh
Although Doctor Who can basically go anywhere and to any time, after so many seasons, it can be difficult for the show to come up with new ideas. In more recent seasons, the most memorable episodes tend to be the ones that rely on old monsters and old plots like season 12's "Fugitive of the Judoon."
When Steven Moffat was showrunner, he experimented with the structure of the show (season 9 mostly consisted of two-part stories) but New Who has never had a single-story season before. With this change, the show can take a new direction and cover new ground. With a long-running show like like this, it's important to keep things fresh and its always interesting to see showrunners experiment with new ideas.
9 The Multi-Part Stories Are Some Of The Best
New Who might not have tried a single-story season before but most seasons have featured multi-part stories. Many of the two-part stories are the best in Doctor Who as they are often complex and the plots are given more time to breathe and develop.
A lot of the season finales have been two-parters and these have been some of the most epic and memorable stories in the show's history. The show has also featured the occasional three-part story so multi-part stories have certainly been done before. With many of the past multi-part stories being so strong, there's every chance that a single-story season will be just as effective.
8 A Bigger Scale
Doctor Who is often at its best when the stories have a large scale. Stories from the past, such as the season 4 finale and the 5oth anniversary special, had a huge scale and are often the ones that get the fans talking and are still discussed years later.
With one story connecting all the episodes, season 13 is likely to be even more epic and gripping. This is the perfect opportunity for the show to tackle another large-scale story, which features a number of different monsters, planets, and time periods.
7 Torchwood Did It Successfully
Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood has already experimented with the single-story season. Although the first two seasons followed a similar structure to Doctor Who with mostly 'villain of the week' type stories, season 3 and 4 were both single-story seasons. Season 4 might have been slightly divisive, but season 3 of the spin-off is highly regarded by the fans.
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Torchwood's third season had a large scale, a chilling story, and some shocking and devastating plot twists. The main show would benefit from looking to its spin-off to see how to do a single-story season successfully.
6 Every Episode Counts
In a normal season of Doctor Who, it's not uncommon for some episodes to be 'fillers' and have little meaning to the overall story. Even in the last season, half of the episodes could have been removed without altering the Timeless Child story arc.
Standalone episodes may be the best for casual fans but many long-term fans want stories that will develop the characters and focus on the lore of the show. With a single-story season, all of the episodes will be important and unmissable. Every episode in season 13 should be memorable and work towards the plot and the usual 'filler episodes' will likely be gone.
5 Other Popular Shows Do It
Many popular shows like Netflix's Stranger Things use the single-story season technique. Instead of a 'monster of the week' format, these shows tell a continuous story with most episodes leading into the next.
Although Doctor Who airs weekly and isn't designed to be binged like many Netflix shows, the show could definitely benefit from following their lead. Television in general is increasingly moving away from the episodic structure and moving more towards serialized storytelling. In order to engage and captivate audiences, the show will benefit from following more modern trends.
4 More Recurring Characters
Doctor Who has featured many compelling recurring and supporting characters over the years. That being said, most of the time only a couple of characters (if that) recur across one season, with the focus firmly being on The Doctor, their companion(s), and their adventures.
Some of these characters would have made good Doctor Who companions and it's a shame they didn't appear more. With many different stories featuring in any given season, it makes sense that most characters don't reappear. However, with a single-story season, this could definitely change and fans can probably look forward to more recurring characters who feature in more episodes.
3 Hook New Viewers
Many seasons of Doctor Who allow viewers to dip in and out, without a need to have seen previous episodes. The previous episodic structure of the show means that casual fans will only watch from time to time and many new viewers are unlikely to stick with the show due to the lack of a hook at the end of most episodes.
If each episode in the new season leads into the next, this will be a great technique to get new viewers hooked. If an episode ends on a cliffhanger or sets up the following episode, new and casual viewers are much more likely to return to see what will happen next. The continuing story is bound to get viewers hooked and make the show unmissable again.
2 Increased Fan Engagement
When the show has had engaging story arcs and mysteries at its center, Doctor Who fans have come up with many of their own theories as to what will happen. Fans were constantly theorizing during the Steven Moffat era of the show with questions, such as "Who is Missy?" and "Who is River Song?" rife within the fandom. When these questions were finally answered, fans flocked to social media to discuss the revelations.
In season 11, there wasn't a story arc and there were no multi-part stories which meant fans didn't have as much to discuss. With a single-story season, the story is bound to be engaging and there are bound to be many mysteries that will get fans talking and posting about the show.
1 More Potential for Character Development
With each season featuring so many different stories, some characters don't get the screen time or development they deserve. Many Doctor Who characters grow a lot during their time on the show but in recent seasons some of the companions and supporting characters have lacked development.
Current companion, Yaz, is about to enter her third season on the show, yet fans still know very little about her and even her career as a police officer is barely referred to. With a single-story season, most of the characters can be set up in the early episodes which leaves more time for the characters to interact and develop. Hopefully, this technique will allow more screen time for the characters in order to develop the dynamic of The Tardis team.