Look Who's Crying Again, It's Doctor Who Headcanon, Season 13

At its core, the entire modern era of Doctor Who has been less about creating good sci-fi and more about being nostalgic for the 20th century version of the show. And that's ok. It has created some wonderful emotional moments and some genuinely good sci-fi that isn't dependent on you enjoying a random sci-fi episode from fifty years ago.

Russsel T Davies was the showrunner for the 9th and 10th doctors, which was a love letter to Daleks, Cybermen, and The Master that also introduced three very different companions who each had their own merit, and got to team up with some classic companions for a big showdown at the end of his run.

Steven Moffat, who wrote the 11th and 12th Doctors, liked creating his own villains, mainly The Weeping Angels and The Silence, but drawing in some more obscure 20th century villains like The Zygons. Sure, he also threw The Daleks and some Cybermen in from time to time, and he had a wonderful take on The Master but his series was really a love letter to fairy tales. His ending was flat and uninspiring but there were tons of highlights during his run.

Chris Chibnall, who exclusively wrote the 13th Doctor, wrote terrible fanfic in the guise of Doctor Who episodes. Occasionally, one of his writing staff would sneak in a good episode while he wasn't looking. He didn't know The Doctor at all, and so wrote her as a woman who never knew what she was doing and never felt comfortable being herself. It was very frustrating. His Master was initially fun but got bogged down in a terrible storyline called The Timeless Child that also turned the Cybermen into a much stupider and toothless enemy than previous versions. The first two times he wrote The Daleks were very boring but at the very end of his run, he wrote a wonderful time loop Dalek episode and then threw a lot of nostalgia at his final episode, which ended up being one of the very few highlights of his era.

Then Russel T Davies came back for the 14th and 15th Doctors, and he wrote...a love letter to his previous time writing Doctor Who. It's very self-indulgent. It really relies on people already loving the series and knowing obscure episodes from the 1970s. There are no Daleks, no Master, no Cybermen. There is a whole new pantheon of villains who are mostly very entertaining but who are also tied to obscure 20th century villains that only Russel T Davies cares about. It was a slog to get into but then early in his second season, he started to do something really interesting and I was totally on board for his finale. And then I watched his finale, and it was awful. But it doesn't negate its interesting setup.

If you've been on this Headcanon journey, I think you'll find this to be a really strong season. If you don't bother with the beginning of the 15th Doctor's adventures or his terrible final episode, you get a much stronger Doctor than poor Jodie Whittaker's 14th Doctor from last season.

Episode 1: The Star Beast
(10/14, Donna Noble, Wilfred, Sylvia, Rose Noble, Shaun, Ruth)

Using an amazing villain from the Big Finish Audio Plays, The Fourteenth Doctor turns out to be the same face as The Tenth Doctor, which seems dangerous when he runs into Donna Noble who, last we knew, would literally explode if she ever remembered who The Doctor was. Her whole family returns, including her daughter for this space shenanigans on Earth story.


Episode 2: The Giggle
(10/14, 15, Mel, Donna Noble, Kate Stewart, Sylvia, Shaun, Rose Noble, Shirley, Vlinx)

An audio remnant from one of the first ever TV shows wreaks havoc on Earth as people start behaving like Youtube comments. Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker, is clearly responsible for this mess, and it's up to The Doctor, Donna, Kate Stewart, and a long absent companion of The Sixth and Seventh Doctor to sort everything out. Also, Two Doctors!


Episode 3: The Devil's Chord
(15, Ruby, Susan Triad)

The new face of The Doctor has a new companion, and they decide that their first time-traveling adventure should be seeing The Beatles record their first album. Unfortunately, someone has altered time so that there's no more joy or emotion in music. This is a very silly episode but it's tied into The Giggle and is a campy blast!


Episode 4: 73 Yards
(Ruby, Kate Stewart, Susan Triad, Carla, Cherry, 15, Mrs Flood)

A Doctor-Light episode where Ruby finds herself on her own. Luckily, it's on her own planet, in her own time, relatively close to where she lives. Unfortunately, she's haunted by the specter of a woman who won't leave her, and who drives anyone who tries to talk to her away from Ruby forever.  There are some wonderful moments of humor at the beginning, and the overall plot is a nice little slice of political sci-fi tropism.


Episode 5: Dot And Bubble
(15, Ruby, Susan Triad)

Doctor Who has swung wide several times trying to do episodes about social media. They're usually terrible. This one has the nice twist of Russel T Davies channeling Steven Moffat's "Blink" but imagining what would happen if the people The Doctor was trying to save were more revilable than sympathetic.
​

Episode 6: Lux
(15, Belinda, Mrs Flood)

The first ever live action/animated hybrid episode is also the first episode that goes full-meta, as The Doctor and a new companion find their non-white selves in mid-twentieth century Florida where they have to flout segregation to solve the mystery of a group of people who disappeared while watching a cartoon in a movie theater. This is a really fun episode that reminds us that the pantheon of gods we started seeing back in "The Giggle" are still floating around wreaking havoc.


Episode 7: The Well
(15, Belinda, Mrs Flood)

A terrifying sequel to the David Tennant era episode, "Midnight", The Doctor and Belinda encounter a planet where a military base has massacred themselves for reasons no one can explain. The one survivor is a Deaf woman who watched all the madness unfold. We also discover that a small problem from the last episode (they can't seem to get back to Earth on the day Belinda left) is a much bigger problem as even humanoid aliens have never even heard of Earth.


Episode 8: Lucky Day
(Ruby, Kate Stewart, Shirley, Conrad, 15, Belinda, Carla, Cherry, Vlinx, Mrs Flood)

Ruby meets and falls in love with someone who, as a child, encountered The Doctor and Belinda and who has become obsessed with them. Of course, nothing is as it seems, and UNIT has to step in and help her pick up the pieces when Conrad turns out to be a very human villain.
​

Episode 9: The Story And The Engine
(15, Belinda, Mrs Flood, The Fugitive Doctor)

The Doctor goes to his favorite barber shop in Nigeria to relax, only to discover that the shop is being used to fuel a god machine using storytelling. The Doctor is briefly shown as The Fugitive Doctor, as we discover that she left one of her companions behind to become entangled into the storytelling engine.


Episode 10: The Interstellar Song Contest
(15, Belinda, Mrs Flood, Susan Foreman, The Rani)

It's Eurovision in space! With a touch of the comic series "Saga". A terrorist from an oppressed race is willing to commit mutiple genocides to get his revenge on the corporation that destroyed his planet. Of course, The Doctor isn't having it. 


Holiday Special: Wish World
(15, Belinda, Ruby, Shirley, Mrs Flood, The Rani, Conrad, Kate Stewart, Mel, Susan Triad, Carla, Cherry)

The Rani and Mrs Flood's plan comes together as they use Conrad and a pantheon baby to create a mid-twentieth-century-like dystopia. This is technically part one of a two-part finale but, trust me, you're better off not ever watching it.