All through Series Nine, it felt like we were missing key elements of the overall story and wouldn’t understand until it all wrapped up in the final episode. That often happens under Moffat’s leadership, but this year—to me, anyway—felt particularly arc-heavy. Now that we’ve got that broader perspective, I wanted to go back and look more carefully at how it might influence our reading of earlier episodes.
The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar
We began on Skaro, bringing Davros, Daleks, and Missy all back on board. As the opening gambit, the first two-parter of the series had to introduce all sorts of ideas without letting on how many of them would come back later. In some cases the recurring elements were glaringly obvious (e.g., the Hybrid); in others it was more subtle (the way the Doctor can come up with a way to “win” and make complex calculations in a tiny fraction of a second). In still others, we got the sense that something might come back, but didn’t get hammered over the head with it (the Confession Dial).
Already, too, we got the sense that Clara was nearly ready to fly solo. She’s truly “taken the stabilizers off her bike” and acts like a Doctor substitute at UNIT. Rather than the beginning, this is the middle of her arc. Though she will continue to get ever more reckless, she’s already short some reck here. Clara is more mature and self-sufficient even than last series, and the fact that her boyfriend is “still dead” (thanks for that, Missy) further reduces her need to give any fucks for her own safety.
Then there’s Missy. We’ve been trained by her previous incarnations to think she would show up again later in any series she crops up in once. Yet after this, she scarpers and only returns in passing mention as the perpetrator of the Doctor/Clara pairing in the first place. (It’s so very the Master/Missy’s style to try to bring about an apocalypse just to get the Doctor to be her bestie again.) I’m counting that as a pleasant trope subversion.
Under the Lake and Before the Flood
The connection to the series at large here is harder to see. Although it involves a longtime favorite of time travel stories in the bootstrap paradox, there’s really nothing new in this pair that impacts the series plotline in retrospect. There is, of course, more character development generally, but unless I find something well hidden upon my next re-watch, I think these could realistically have slotted into another series (by which I mean a mythical series between S8 and S9 in which the Doctor and Clara traveled together without her trying to justify the outings to either herself or Danny).
The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived
Obviously the big recurring theme of S9 is the Hybrid, and the introduction of the key character of Ashildr/Me is, speaking in series arc terms, the main point of these episodes. Moffat needed a believable alternative to the Doctor (or the Doctor/Clara) for his finale, and she fit the bill.
I can’t honestly say I see anything more nuanced, though. We get the creation of a new immortal being, made from Mire technology in a human body, which—for some unfathomable reason—allows her to live to the end of the universe. (Apparently the combination is the key; otherwise the Mire themselves should be just as long-lived.) So the appearance of Ashilder/Me in two of the three parts of the finale is seeded here; otherwise, these are independent of the grand arc.
The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion
Another theme of Series 9, only partly related to the general arc, is that of consequences and accountability. In fact, this theme probably ties all the episodes together more reliably than the nominal arc. Though the existence of a Zygon population on Earth is mentioned in passing in later episodes (particularly Face the Raven), the main thrust of this story is the idea that what the Doctor does can—and perhaps even should—come back to bite him in the ass.
Back in the anniversary special, the Doctor(s) made a decision to let humans (specifically Kate Stewart) and Zygons reach their own accord. It is implied that he helps set up the enforcement (by, among other things, the existence of the Osgood Box). When everything falls apart, then, it’s his direct responsibility to see that it gets resolved peacefully (for the N-teenth time?).
This is something we haven’t seen much in the past, though. The Doctor is noted for swanning off after “solving” some society’s immediate problem and leaving the aftermath for them. Yet this series, we see more of that aftermath affecting the Doctor.
Right off the bat, we had him coming face to face with the idea that he made Davros into the hateful being he became, the one who was twisted enough to create the Daleks. It was his inaction that allowed O’Donnell to meet her doom before the flood. Without the Doctor, Ashildr would never have become Me. And because they fed off each other instead of reining each other in, the Doctor and Clara became the Hybrid together.
So in the sense that these Zygon episodes highlight the long-term repercussions of the Doctor’s interactions with various non-Time Lord species/cultures, they fit solidly within the milieu of S9, even if they don’t have any plotty nuggets hiding in their depths.
What can be said about this one? It’s clearly a stand-alone that could’ve fit into any Twelve/Clara series and had no bearing on its overall arc, so there’s nothing thematic to discuss. Onward.
Face the Raven, Heaven Sent, and Hell Bent
Of course the finale is where everything comes together. Clara gets a huge dose of consequences in Face the Raven (even if they get waved away again in Hell Bent). The Confession Dial becomes the most important (and perhaps sneakiest) detail in Heaven Sent, where we also see how that instantaneous decision-making process happens from the Doctor’s POV. We see the prophecy about the Hybrid come to fruition as the Doctor tries again to defy the rest of the Time Lords just to get Clara back.
As a whole, I have to agree with the others (e.g., Deb from Verity!) I’ve heard say that this series feels like the most cohesive in post-Hiatus Who. It has strong narrative themes that are consistent and present throughout (with the exception of awkward step-child Sleep No More), and unusually large proportion of really strong episodes.
I haven’t had the chance yet to discuss the series with my friends who were less than in love (shall we say) with Capaldi after S8, so I’m eager to hear whether or not their opinions have improved. For me, Capaldi has become my favorite post-Hiatus Doctor, and S9 is my favorite post-Hiatus series to date. I hope this promising trend of great episodes can continue through Series Ten and beyond.