Doctor Who: Taking inspiration from the Key to Time

With the Key to Time season starting on Twitch today, we look at how a unique arc from the past can help to shape Doctor Who’s future.

Change is what Doctor Who is good at. Like the main protagonist, the face and tone can alter, but the same beating hearts always survive. To remain innovative and exhilarating, Doctor Who has had to evolve and adapt to an ever-changing television landscape.

A structural transformation would continue this trend…

Changing format

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The episodic format of the show works on a variety of levels. Doctor Who will forever be a simple yet grand tale of a time traveler adventuring through the universe.

However, the ‘monster-of-the-week’ format has gotten ever so slightly stale. At least, it has for me. I don’t have huge grievances with it, but a shake up to the formula would certainly spark a jolt of excitement.

Perhaps experimentation with format choices could be the way forward. So why not try a more serialized approach? Taking inspiration from the Key to Time series, for example, but taken a little further.

The Key to Time

For those unaware, the Key to Time series is the sixteenth season of Classic Who. It features the Doctor and his fellow Time Lord assistant Romana. They’re both tasked on a quest to find the six segments that make up the Key to Time.

Each story in the series is based around this central endeavor, embroiling themselves in all sorts of turmoil in the process. New Who building a series based around these thematic foundations would be a breath of fresh time vortex air.

I envisage the writing team crafting a series arc that is heavily interconnected throughout. This arc could have a central motivation spearheading the narrative, just like the Key to Time series. In this scenario, avoiding large “info dumps” and self-containing major arc developments to a few episodes is particularly essential.

As was the case with the Silence in Series Six. I appreciated the ambition of this arc. But on the whole, it fell flat and was anti-climatic because of an adherence to a strict episodic format.

A serialized arc in the vein of the Key to Time would shift the New Who paradigm. At the same time, it would also ensure that the adventurous spirit of the show stays intact.

Could the Key to Time arc provide inspiration for the New Series?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

A little more inspiration

Although a serialized approach is the major inspiration from the Key to Time, there are a couple more elements that I’d like to see borrowed.

Firstly, a return to a full time non-human companion. I understand New Who has consistently used companions from modern-day Earth to ground the show. It also creates an easy entry point for wider audiences.

But this convention makes less sense now with New Who being over a decade old. A non-human companion would be a simple change that would allow a whole host of creative differences.

Secondly, much like the Key to Time, I think New Who should expand the lore further by introducing new beings that could be considered “Gods”. For example, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit in Series Two unpicked this concept with deft. It would add intrigue, mystery and in general terms make the universe feel like a much larger and hostile place.

Starting later today, you can watch the first two stories of the Key to Time season on Twitch. You can also read our recommendations for the stories here.

Next: Twitch Watch: recommendations of the day 06/29

What do you think? Is this an approach that could work for the New Series? Are there are any particular ideas featured in this article that you’d like to see explored further? Let us know your views in the comments below.