I really liked "The Name of the Doctor"! It delivered some surprises plus the biggest dose of classic Who references all season (as is only right), was solidly plotted (by Doctor Who standards) and was visually really, really impressive. Also, the ending has me stoked for the 50th anniversary special this November. It was far from perfect, but then season finales often are. By comparison, I'd say this is one of the better ones--certainly better than the season 6 finale.
Overall, though, Season 7 has been fairly weak. There was only one really terrible episode, if you ask me, but there were no stunners, either. Most people seem to be blaming current head writer, Steven Moffat, and of course as the boss, he does bear some of the blame. But I think he deserves some credit, too. This was an ambitious season. Because 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, expectations were high, and Moffat's team had a plan that, on the surface, seemed like a good idea.
Each of the season's 13 episodes would be "cinematic". They even made "movie posters" for every episode. Each episode was a Doctor Who-style pastiche of a different movie genre. And it nearly worked. Some people have complained that this style was a betrayal of the show's essential character, but that's clearly rubbish. After all, in the last 50 years Doctor Who has had many identities--not just the title character, but the show itself has changed its style, its personality, many, many times.
I think there are a few reasons why the movie-of-the-week format only nearly worked this season. First, changing flavors that rapidly has got to be hellishly difficult, and Doctor Who is notoriously complicated and difficult already. Second, a number of those stories clearly needed more than 45 minutes, but thanks to all the whining about multi-part stories last season they decided that every episode this season would have to be stand-alone. Third (possibly related), the editing was frequently awful. Fourth, and probably the most important lesson to be learned from this season--Doctor Who, like the Tardis, is bigger on the inside. When you make it bigger on the outside, it becomes paradoxically smaller.
What I mean is, the bigger you try to make the show, the more obvious it becomes that it's really still quite small. People always go on about the comically low-budget effects of the classic series, and to a lesser degree the new series. I mean, it's ridiculous, right? A show that is about an enormously powerful alien with a ship that can take him anywhere in the universe, a universe that he frequently must save from total destruction--and usually all we see of these epic conflicts are a handful of stuntmen clumsily fighting rubber-suited aliens in a London back alley, and ultimately the Doctor saves the day with just a sonic screwdriver and a bit of dodgy CGI.
We fans have said it so often that it's a cliche, but that weakness is actually a strength. That smallness causes two things: one, without the budget for epic battle scenes, the show has to focus on a few key characters, on how they respond to the galaxy-shattering events around them, and in a way that makes it a lot more like real life. Two, imagination has infinitely more resources than the biggest budget (it's like the production equivalent of the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu). I'm not saying the BBC should spend less money on the show. I'm delighted that the new series looks so much better than the classic series. I'm saying they should think differently about how they spend that money--on quality rather than quantity.
That said, in many ways I'm very pleased with how season 7 turned out. The first episode, "Asylum of the Daleks," was mostly great. Despite a couple of bad moments, it's probably the best episode of the season, though "Nightmare in Silver" was also good up until the very end (how about that! A Dalek and a Cyberman episode being among the best of the season seems fitting). The regular nods to the classic series were delightful to me as a lifelong fan, and though most of them went right over my roommate's head, she was not bothered by them. The best of these by far was the identity of the new head of UNIT back in "The Power of Three". Such "Easter eggs" highlighting the show's history could have been handled badly, but instead they were just the right amount of nostalgia, and helped to build the overall arc of the season.
Looking to the future, I am looking forward to the 50th Anniversary special. It's a multi-Doctor story (as were the 10th and 20th anniversary specials). Based on the build-up this season, we can expect an epic scope, but based on the history of Doctor Who anniversary specials, we can also expect that the story will be largely at the service of nostalgia. What I'm saying is, approach it with modest expectations and just enjoy the fan wank. I'm going to get a big bag of jelly babies and eat one every time there's a new classic series nod, and two every time the Doctors insult each other (feel free to add more "Jelly Baby Eating Game" ideas in the comments).
As for season 8, I'd like to see Clara get more character development, and Coleman is obviously having a lot of fun playing her, which makes her a pleasure to watch. I doubt Smith and Moffat will stay on much longer, though they are confirmed through 2014, and that's probably for the best. The show is always going in new directions. I do hope that, when Moffat steps down, he comes back once in a while to write an episode. He has his shortcomings as a showrunner, but when it comes to writing episodes, there's really no-one better.
Please, if you include spoilers in the comments--that means plot details for any episode of season 7, please mark them with a "SPOILER WARNING" and include some white space. A lot of my friends haven't seen any/all of the season yet. But I'm happy to talk details of any episode.
P.S. I was right about Clara. I was also right, thank goodness, about the finale episode's title.
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