Doctor Who and how to tell a good mystery: the New Series

With stories often told in just forty-five minutes, can Doctor Who still tell a good mystery in the New Series?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

Recently, we looked at the how well the Classic Series was able to tell stories within the mystery genre. Has the New Series of Doctor Who been able to be as successful?

When Doctor Who came back in 2005, there were a lot of clear differences to the Classic Series that fans were able to spot. Not in terms of continuity, but in terms of style. It was more modern, stories could now be told in one single episode, and there was a much faster pace of storytelling, generally speaking.

In terms of using the mystery genre to tell stories, this clearly shook things up. Mysteries are meant to draw you in by leaving you guessing. So the longer the viewer is left guessing, the better. While you shouldn’t drag the mystery out for the sake of it, you do want to keep it going for as long as you can without ruining the story.

This is especially true of TV shows today. TV series like True Detective and American Vandal, while only being eight episodes each, are at least partially gripping due to focusing on one single mystery which is spread out across an entire season.

Shortening the mystery

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This is a point that we’ll come back to later. But for the moment, let’s focus on storytelling within a single episode. A story that begins with the viewer trying to work out what’s going on from the start needs time to develop properly.

As we covered in the article focused on the Classic Series, you need to introduce the mystery; introduce the characters; develop the mystery by giving both answers and questions, before finally resolving everything in the final act.

Considering the serialized structure of the Classic Series, this was relatively easy to do in that format. But with the New Series generally telling stories in half the time, this meant that everything needed to be shortened down considerably.

Sometimes, this could mean decreasing character focus. The Classic Series, while telling stories with a slower pace, would also include great character moments. Moments that didn’t necessarily impact the story, but also moments that everyone who watched it would remember afterwards.

(The “Binro was right” conversation in The Ribos Operation is such a perfect example of this. A conversation between two characters that never appear again in the rest of the series and has little impact on the plot, but it’s still a beautiful moment that I love.)

But generally speaking, it’s usually the sense of mystery that’s decreased. When the TARDIS crew arrive somewhere, there’s less time to guess where they are or work out what’s going on. Something strange will still happen, but they’re introduced to the key characters of the story very quickly.

Is Blink a perfect example of telling a great mystery in just one single episode?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The two-parter

There are some key exceptions to this, particularly with two-parters. Because they’re about the same length as a four-part story in the Classic Series, these can have the same sense of mystery. Certainly, the first episode of a two-parter is usually focused on build up.

The Empty Child from Series One is a classic example of this. While the Doctor finds out where and when he and Rose are in the story very quickly, we’re also given a lot of questions to ask. Why is everyone so afraid of a gas-masked child? How can it speak through radios and phones, even when they’re not connected? And why does the child keep asking for its “mummy”?

Unsurprisingly, most of these answers are saved for the second half of the story. While the build up adds to the horror as well as the mystery, in this case, they’re very closely linked, particularly at providing the suspense of the story. There are other two-parters that provide great examples of this, including The Impossible Planet and Under the Lake.

The single episode

However, some single episodes can also provide a strong mystery. Blink is a primary example, and an absolute masterpiece of storytelling. It’s not just that the mystery unfolds so nicely across such a short space of time.

It’s also because, unlike so many other episodes, even the title character is shrouded in mystery. Not just to Sally Sparrow, either. While the audience knows who the Doctor is from the start, what we don’t know is what’s happened to him, or why he’s sending her messages.

Considering Steven Moffat told this story in such a short space of time so successfully, creating such a strong sense of mystery during that time, while also introducing us to brand new characters and their lives, it’s actually an incredible achievement.

Heaven Sent

But I think the best example of Moffat writing an episode shrouded in total mystery is Heaven Sent. Regardless of how Hell Bent turned out (which was divisive, at best), Heaven Sent is an absolute masterpiece, especially in terms of creating a story that left the audience guessing.

For most of the episode, we’re wondering where the Doctor is, what has happened to him and why he’s there. As the story goes on, we’re only given more questions. (“Who moved the stars?” is a particularly excellent example.)

What helped with giving this story so much mystery? Let’s look at what it has: one of Peter Capaldi’s greatest performances; excellent character exploration; a great monster, and a nicely paced unfolding plot.

You know what it doesn’t have? Other characters. By spending absolutely no time on introducing and developing guest characters to the story, Moffat was able to focus on all other aspects and make them work. If any episode in Doctor Who showed how less really is more, Heaven Sent really is the best example.

The Cracks in Time was just one of many arcs that the New Series has given us since 2005.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The arc

But of course, it’s not just the one- or two-episode length stories that allows the New Series writers to create a sense of mystery. Going back to my earlier point, other shows have focused on long-term storytelling. While shows with just eight episodes have focused on telling one single story per season, shows with a much longer length have used that old storytelling device: the “arc”.

Many shows have used it well, with Veronica Mars being a prime example. While it had a “case of the week” structure, the series was also balanced out by focusing on cases stretched out to entire seasons. And honestly, while the cases of the week were generally good, it was the long-term cases that audiences remembered the most.

And it’s not hard to see why. With an arc, you’re able to have a mystery that can last for weeks, or even months. Maybe the resolution will be satisfying, maybe it won’t be. But viewers will always remember how exciting the buildup was.

So it’s no real surprise that Doctor Who has used a number of arcs to leave viewers guessing. Viewers were asking questions with almost every series. What was “Bad Wolf”? Who was “Mr. Saxon”? Why were planets going missing? What was “Torchwood”? Actually, that last one was answered pretty early on in Series Two, but you get my point. Russell T Davies loved to keep viewers guessing, but in a low-key way.

Single series or multi-series?

By comparison, Steven Moffat loved the ongoing mystery. The Silence arc was a core example of this. While parts of it would be focused on during a particular series, the core arc itself was stretched over the Eleventh Doctor’s entire era!

That was a huge risk to take with the series, and while it didn’t pay off entirely, it was pretty good at leaving the fans guessing. Still, it’s not surprising that with Capaldi’s era, the arcs would usually be told within just one series, such as the identity of Missy, or “the Hybrid”.

So overall, while the way it’s included has changed radically compared to the Classic Series, mystery is still a key component in the New Series of Doctor Who. It may be more difficult to include during the age when stories are usually told in forty-five minutes. But it has been balanced out with mysteries told in the background across a whole series.

Will this continue during Chris Chibnall’s era as showrunner? Well, that’s difficult to say. If all the stories next series really are completely stand alone, without even the slightest hint of an ongoing mystery, that would be disappointing.

Especially as the arc is the best way of keeping that going. Mystery has been a key component of Doctor Who for a long time. You only need to look at the second word in the title to see that.

Next. Review: The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles (Big Finish audio). dark

Do you think that the New Series has been able to include mystery well in its stories? Which storyline kept you guessing the most? Do you want it to be a key component of the upcoming new era? Let us know in the comments below.

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