‘How does post-2005 Doctor Who use contextual nostalgia and references to it’s

history?’

Is this question too limiting? I want to raise examples of how the three different showrunners
have incorporated it into their eras while running the show but I don’t know what kind of
conclusion I can draw toward with these points.

Intro: Establish that the show has been running since 23rd November 1963 so naturally has
a lot of a backlog to the current series. Also mention it was off air for nearly two decades but
was brought back.

Different Points which can hopefully be made into cohesive paragraphs:

When the show was brought back in 2005 by head writer Russell T Davies he had a clear
line in the sand; while the show has been off-air the ‘Time Lords’ have been at war with the
‘Daleks’ in the ‘Time War’ which resulted in the Doctor having to be the one to press the
button and kill everyone on both sides. His punishment was survival, he has to live on
knowing he comitted genocide and it’s the arc for the Doctor in the first of the revived series
on coming to terms with this and then progressing from there. He drew this line in the sand
to say no, this is definitely different to what you already knew and stated in interviews that it
was to make sure he didn’t make it too bogged down in pre-existing lore having it from the
outset as inaccessible to new viewers. Similar to why he made the Pilot episode ‘Rose’, from
the perspective of the companion having this amazing traveller coming into their lives.

The Macra - Gridlock. Russell was writing a episode about people spending their lives in the
traffic jam and needed a monster to be lurking beneath their flying cars, he wanted one that
lived off the fumes and found there was a pre-existing one in doctor who lore - the macra. So
brought it back because it directly fitted the story as opposed to asking ‘Right, how do we
bring the cybermen back?’.

how many times has the master been revealed? The twist of those episodes being this new
character isn’t new at all, it’s this other one that you already knew.

Not your average nostalgia, building up on it’s own nostalgia. It’s not a show like Strangers
Things that revels in intertextuality. Although it has flirted with this “You have a film called
Alien? Quite frankly that’s offensive, no wonder you keep getting invaded’ - 12th Doctor, Last
Christmas (2014). It doesn’t use music from other things like the deep synth of Stranger
Things, it has character themes but only uses them when it’s earned for an emotional
pay-off, like Clara’s Impossible Girl theme or even in episodes like ‘Dark Water’ Where it has
a set-up and mystery box but it’s answered before the reveal to fans who recognise the
different themes and stings in the music with it playing the Cyberman theme as the doors
close.

Discuss Notalgia separate to the show. Explain how people almost have a disdain and
hatred for it being exploited with ‘yet another reboot’ yet still tend to go and see it.
When Steven Moffat was the show runner (2010-2017) he made the following statement:
"It has to be self-explanatory, it has to be free-standing, it has to be clear for everybody. If I
did the Meddling Monk teaming up with Mavic Chen's daughter and the Krotons then yeah,
that's too much, because no one gives a toss.”
"People always ask me "Do you want to bring back the Rani?" No one knows who the Rani
is. They all know who the Master is, they know Daleks, they probably know who Davros is,
but they don't know who the Rani is, so there's no point in bringing her back. If there's a line
it's probably somewhere there." - Source:
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/steven_moffat_explains_wh

I’d want to explore this statement and say how anything from the classic series could be
brought back with the right writing and story etc and it’s the role of that writer to guide the
audience along and explain who each character is. It’s not about how memorable they were
in the first place. Although what worked so well with the Master twist at the end of the
revived third series was that you didn’t need to know who the Master was, you just knew the
another Time Lord was back and it was a big deal. It raises the whole Jurassic Park
argument again “So busy thinking you could, you didn’t think about if you should.”. Which is
why I’m glad that he does have restraint and doesn’t just go for complete classic Who
reworkings. Some characters only have a finite amount of stories to tell about them or
maybe they lose their impact with each return appearance (i.e. The Weeping Angels). But
while we can argue how they could bring a character back and fit them into a story, it comes
to a point to say who are we to try and put a writer into a corner and write exactly what the
fans want. Even if it is alarming that he only thinks of the elements to bring back on how
memorable they are as opposed to what stories he can tell with them, which does allude to
the idea of more running on nostalgia than just telling stories.

Series with classic foes returning:

1 - the autons! The Daleks (adaptation of book)
2 - The Cybermen, Daleks, Krillitane,
3 - The Macra, The Master, Daleks, The Family (Book Adaptation)
4 - The Sontarans, The Daleks, Davros
Specials - The Master, Daleks (cameo)
5 - The Daleks, Silurians, then ALL OF THEM, the finale raids the costume cupboard with
them all forming an alliance to imprison the doctor.
6 - (good sontaran - Strax), Cybermen, Cybermats. Daleks (cameo)
7 - Daleks, The Great Intelligence, Ice Warriors, Cybermen
50th Special - Daleks & Zygons. - The Doctor’s save Gallifrey and rewrite the Time War.
Time of the Doctor - ALL OF THEM
8 - Daleks, Cybermen, Master
9 - Master, Daleks, Davros (first episode), Zygons, Cybermen (cameo), Sontaran (cameo),
The Time Lords are properly back!
10 - Daleks (cameo), Master, Mondasian Cybermen (exact classic design) & different
variations of Cybermen. Brings back the First Doctor at the end of the series.
11 - ‘Fresh’ start.
Resolution (New Years Day special 2019) - Daleks
12 - The Master, Cybermen (Whole series is series 3 in reverse).
Revolution of the Daleks (2020/21?) - Daleks

The Daleks contractually have to be there each series or the rights go back to the Terry
Nation Foundation (The creator).
While it appears the components of the classic series are slowing down, it is also becoming
more obsessed with the revived series monsters and canon with Series 12 being a retread of
series 3, just in reverse. It’s started feeling more and more like it’s wanting to return to the
RTD era (2005-2009) even in bringing back fan favourite character Captain Jack Harkness
for no more than a 5 minute cameo. S12 using almost direct quotes from RTD (what?
WHAT?)

While the new show has all these elements from the classic, it still gets criticised in the 50th
special for example for not bringing enough from the classic series.

Fans of the show are now writing for it. S2 RTD writing Doomsday - Daleks vs the
Cybermen. Can almost feel him playing with his action figure but it still works for the story.
S12 Chibnall writing The Timeless Children, making the Morbius Doctor’s canon and making
them essentially a god. It almost feels like a fan-fiction but rewrites the context of the show.

S2 - ‘School reunion’ deals with the past nicely by reintroducing Sarah Jane Smith and has
her interact with the new companion and at first they’re at odds but find their common
ground

Sarah Jane Adventures, spinoff show bringing classic companions back (Jo Grant &
Brigadier)

Direct adaptations from Doctor Who novels - human nature/dalek

chibnall completely not using anything from the show except the doctor, sonic and TARDIS
which led to one of the weaker series. Not that a series without the pre-established elements
of the show couldn’t work but it feels too overcrowded with too many companions.

moffat's paradigm daleks. Complete redesign and trying to go in a new direction and deleting
the others but reverting back after fan backlash. Whereas in the newer series with the
cybermen 'we're just adding our own into the pantheon of them all'. They are respecting the
past while adding their own designs which were well-received. Showing they respect what
came before it but taking it in their own direction.

it's a self congratulatory show and has been since the start

How many times has the Master used the Cybermen? They’ve paired up for three finales in
the last five series.

Just because it references a past element doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily nostalgia
Conclusion- From this we can see that it’s used in a number of different ways with similarities
and differences between the different showrunners and other writers. Nostalgia has a current
almost disdain from certain film critics at the minute with lots of Disney remakes and
‘cash-ins’ and while yes the odd easter egg can be interesting for fans to find. I find Doctor
Who’s most effective use of nostalgia is when it adds onto pre-existing elements to tell it’s
own story. An example of it being thrown in for iconography is in Series 6’s ‘Closing Time’
The Cybermen are there as the villain of the week to add into a separate story about Craig
being worried about being a Dad. Whereas in Series 10 it shows the ‘Genesis of the
Cybermen’ and has a twist revealing them to be Cybermen and showing the birth of how
beings like that came to be, especially by converting a companion into a Cyberman, it shows
it’s more integral to the story rather than just a tack on.

Call with Lucy

Uses nostalgia through repetitive devices

So an older audience like it and the new kids love it

Still got a sonic screwdriver has connected the generations

Companions always reacting ‘Bigger on the Inside’.

Nostalgia of the reveal of the new daleks.

Key terms:
Nostalgia, storytelling, audience

How does Doctor Who use nostalgia to keep audience interest?