I was less sure about how Chibnall would handle a finale. Considering how restrained he's kept things this series, I assumed he wasn't capable of (or willing to attempt) the lofty levels of drama Moffat used to reach. Moffat always spent a lot of time during his series setting up an elaborate overarching story that built to an incredibly significant and high-stakes conclusion. Chibnall, by contrast, has intentionally avoided an overarching story for the most part. Little references have been sprinkled here and there. In particular, the Stenza featured in the first episode are responsible for a number of things that appear in The Ghost Monument. However, the series’ continuity has been clearly focused on the character development, which I think Chibnall has been largely successful with. Unsurprisingly, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos capitalises on both of these things and as a result works quite well as a finale.
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos isn't going to go down in history as one of the greatest ever Doctor Who finales, but it's a very good one that wraps up series 11 with many of its best qualities on fine form. The episode creates the impression that series 11 had more of an overarching story than it really did by bringing back Tim Shaw. I must admit I was disappointed when this was first revealed because I was never entirely convinced by the Stenza; they came across as relatively uninspired aliens in The Woman Who Fell to Earth. However, they did have some interesting mythology behind them which this episode explores and expands upon rather effectively. Tim Shaw is a significantly more compelling villain here, having been sent back in time thousands of years by the Doctor in episode one. Consequently, he's lost much of his physical strength but has become more powerful by manipulating his way into a god-like status. This is a far more fascinating state for him to be in and it also raises interesting questions about the consequences of the Doctor's actions.
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos also continues the series’ penchant for strong character development. Following his face-to-face battle with grief in It Takes You Away, Graham informs the Doctor that he's going to avenge Grace's death by killing Tim Shaw. This naturally leads to the series' biggest conflict within Team TARDIS, as Ryan and the Doctor attempt to dissuade Graham from this course of action. The revenge hero is certainly not a novel character at this point, but it's an intriguing role for Graham to take. It's almost as if he thinks this is what he's supposed to want when in reality he could never go through with it. There are also a number of lovely interactions between him and Ryan that further develop their growing connection. Their dialogue consistently avoids feeling too contrived and cheesy, thanks in no small part to the nuance that Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh bring to their performances.
Series 11 has become rather notorious for the ‘messages’ of the episodes. A lot of very miserable people on the internet have complained about the alleged social justice agenda of the series, which I guess could be annoying if they were awkwardly crammed in. However, I've always felt like the writers have been able to embed these ideas organically into the format of Doctor Who. The issue I've had is that sometimes the message doesn't land as firmly as it should. In particular, when attempting to be allegorical, the ultimate point has seemed slightly muddled. Fortunately, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos finally achieves effective, allegorical commentary with the Ux. Tim Shaw reaches his god-like position by convincing the Ux, an extremely powerful and deeply religious species, that he is their ‘creator’. He then proceeds to use their power to achieve his evil, genocidal goals. This set up could've easily become a simple critique of religion but it's actually far more thoughtful than that. The episode very clearly places the blame not on the Ux's faith but on Shaw for exploiting it. It's all quite subtly delivered, as well, ultimately giving the message more resonance than if it had been shouted from the rooftops.
So, series 11 has finally come to a close. It's been an interesting experience, switching to a new showrunner with such a contrasting vision to his predecessor. Naturally, it takes time for people to get used to it and for some people, they never will. Chibnall's approach may not be for you and that's perfectly fine. For many people, Moffat's approach wasn't for them either and I'm sure Davies wasn't immediately embraced with open arms when he revived the series in 2005. The thing with Doctor Who is that it's so diverse and eclectic it attracts an equally wide audience that it inevitably can't please all the time. On top of this, the show is constantly changing which is never easy to deal with when you've been so attached to what you already know. However, bearing all of this in mind, I've been very happy with series 11. Sure, it's streamlined things a little and not all of the episodes were direct hits, but there's no such thing as a perfect Doctor Who series and series 11 has many qualities to appreciate. Most of these are very present in The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, an effective finale featuring compelling characters and an intelligent message that concludes the series admirably.
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos isn't going to go down in history as one of the greatest ever Doctor Who finales, but it's a very good one that wraps up series 11 with many of its best qualities on fine form. The episode creates the impression that series 11 had more of an overarching story than it really did by bringing back Tim Shaw. I must admit I was disappointed when this was first revealed because I was never entirely convinced by the Stenza; they came across as relatively uninspired aliens in The Woman Who Fell to Earth. However, they did have some interesting mythology behind them which this episode explores and expands upon rather effectively. Tim Shaw is a significantly more compelling villain here, having been sent back in time thousands of years by the Doctor in episode one. Consequently, he's lost much of his physical strength but has become more powerful by manipulating his way into a god-like status. This is a far more fascinating state for him to be in and it also raises interesting questions about the consequences of the Doctor's actions.
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos also continues the series’ penchant for strong character development. Following his face-to-face battle with grief in It Takes You Away, Graham informs the Doctor that he's going to avenge Grace's death by killing Tim Shaw. This naturally leads to the series' biggest conflict within Team TARDIS, as Ryan and the Doctor attempt to dissuade Graham from this course of action. The revenge hero is certainly not a novel character at this point, but it's an intriguing role for Graham to take. It's almost as if he thinks this is what he's supposed to want when in reality he could never go through with it. There are also a number of lovely interactions between him and Ryan that further develop their growing connection. Their dialogue consistently avoids feeling too contrived and cheesy, thanks in no small part to the nuance that Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh bring to their performances.
Series 11 has become rather notorious for the ‘messages’ of the episodes. A lot of very miserable people on the internet have complained about the alleged social justice agenda of the series, which I guess could be annoying if they were awkwardly crammed in. However, I've always felt like the writers have been able to embed these ideas organically into the format of Doctor Who. The issue I've had is that sometimes the message doesn't land as firmly as it should. In particular, when attempting to be allegorical, the ultimate point has seemed slightly muddled. Fortunately, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos finally achieves effective, allegorical commentary with the Ux. Tim Shaw reaches his god-like position by convincing the Ux, an extremely powerful and deeply religious species, that he is their ‘creator’. He then proceeds to use their power to achieve his evil, genocidal goals. This set up could've easily become a simple critique of religion but it's actually far more thoughtful than that. The episode very clearly places the blame not on the Ux's faith but on Shaw for exploiting it. It's all quite subtly delivered, as well, ultimately giving the message more resonance than if it had been shouted from the rooftops.
So, series 11 has finally come to a close. It's been an interesting experience, switching to a new showrunner with such a contrasting vision to his predecessor. Naturally, it takes time for people to get used to it and for some people, they never will. Chibnall's approach may not be for you and that's perfectly fine. For many people, Moffat's approach wasn't for them either and I'm sure Davies wasn't immediately embraced with open arms when he revived the series in 2005. The thing with Doctor Who is that it's so diverse and eclectic it attracts an equally wide audience that it inevitably can't please all the time. On top of this, the show is constantly changing which is never easy to deal with when you've been so attached to what you already know. However, bearing all of this in mind, I've been very happy with series 11. Sure, it's streamlined things a little and not all of the episodes were direct hits, but there's no such thing as a perfect Doctor Who series and series 11 has many qualities to appreciate. Most of these are very present in The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, an effective finale featuring compelling characters and an intelligent message that concludes the series admirably.
*Not counting The Day of the Doctor because that was technically during the Time War.
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