Downs – "I Traded My Eyes"

If you’re anything like me, you thrilled this week to see Paul McGann return as the Eighth Doctor in “Night of the Doctor.”

Count me as one who didn’t hate the 1996 Fox TV movie, and one who’s really enjoyed McGann in the Big Finish audios. That man has a hell of a voice, and he’s what I “hear” now when I think of the Doctor. And when he calls out his audio-only companions? Great callback.

But I have one note of foreboding: I think they’re going to detail the events of the Last Great Time War. Here’s Ten referring to it obliquely near the end of his run:

The Skaro Degradations? The Could’ve Been King? The Nightmare Child? Those sound pretty awesome, right? But I fear they’ll be much less awesome when explained. Some things work better as vague references, adding texture of a work.

There’s a powerful geek urge to fill in all the corners of things we love. At best, it adds depth to the world. At worst, it turns a work into a Wikipedia page. Think Midichlorians. Han Solo’s pants have an origin.

And more than that, it makes the world smaller. I was disappointed when River Song turned out to be the Ponds’ child. The great promise of Doctor Who is that you have all of time and space to play in, a great big wibbly-wobbly ball of possibilities. Why tie everything into a neat package?