Why Mystery in Dr Who and Horror Movies Matters

Why Mystery in Dr Who and Horror Movies Matters

This will be a rambling essay from me, not that I would expect anything different from me. I am a waffler, if nothing else.  Warning I go off topic, but I do get back to my point after a fair bit of waffling.

Also this is not a whole serious article. It’s more me having a case of Cerebral Dysentery  while I think about Dr Who and horror movies.

I need to preface this essay with a huge disclaimer. I love Dr Who; I have been a fan of the Deadly Assassin Episode from the Tom Baker days. As a chubby, ginger kid, I was fascinated by the concept. Saturday nights became my gateway out of the dull world of the 70s as I sat entranced in front of the TV with a plate of what we called a cold meat salad.  

A plate of luncheon meat, corned beef, cheap ham and if I was excellent, that addictive-filled meat slice with a teddy bear face in the middle. It was topped with chips and a portion of the long-gone but never-forgotten food from the gods, the tin of Heinz vegetable salad.  

I was heartbroken when Tom regenerated into Peter Davidson. I had an emotional response that was only matched by the final episode of Blake’s 7. And when Tom made an unexpected return decades later in the Day of the Doctor story, I was in tears; my childhood hero was back in the role he was born to play.  

However, I got over the regeneration, and for the last 49 years, I have watched every episode of Dr Who. I won’t have enjoyed every Dr Who story; that would be silly. For a series that has been on our screens for such a long time, it would be impossible to keep the level of quality up.  

However, despite the amount of ham I consumed over the years watching it, I am not one of those gammon-infused men; despite the amount of ham, Dr Who is terrible compared to the good old days. For Christ’s sake, Timelash existed 39 years before Christopher Eccleston took up the mantle.  

And let’s not forget some of the Sylvester McCoy episodes of Dr Who, Time and the Rani and Dragonfire, that turned the once noble and enigmatic Dr into a complete Buffon. However, despite these complete misfires, there were some truly magnificent episodes during these runs. Especially with McCoy, Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric, and Survival are some of the strongest stories in the whole run of Dr Who.

And that’s my point. Yes, the new run of Dr Who has had its share of some bad doctors; that Space Babies episode almost made me throw my Sonic Screwdriver at the TV, but you know what? I kept watching, and that last series had some honestly Dr Who defining moments. Hell, I now have a reinforced fear of fairy rings.  

Not every doctor has wholly clicked with me; I was never a massive fan of Ecclestone. It always felt like he was trying too hard but never quite got what he was hoping for. But you know what? I kept on watching. Jodie Smith seems to get the most significant flak from the Gammon fans; I loved her Dr Who but felt that she had her legs kicked out from underneath her by some of the worst storytelling in the whole run of the series.  

And this is where I finally get to the main point of this essay. See, I told you I was a waffler.

Dr Who likes horror movies and, in particular, horror villains, works best when we know very little about them.  

Dr Who worked best when we knew very little about them. Being a Timelord, a member of an ancient and advanced race from the planet Gallifrey, with an incredible spacecraft that can travel through time and space and regenerate when he is mortally wounded is all we need to know.  

We lose the character’s impact when trying to uncover who he is. All that retrofitting of the Timeless Child destroyed everything before it and muddied the waters for everything that came after it.

It’s one thing that changes the number of regenerations that a Timelord can have, and you can forgive them using the reset buttons multiple times, as I assume no one on the ground floor of creating Dr Who would have thought it would run for 61 years. That’s an oversight being fixed.  

The whole Timeless Child is just Chris Chibnall thinking he is some smart arse showing off to his pals in a school playground. He did this deliberately to anger the new and old fans rather than trying to do something clever or innovative.  

For once, the war cry of the Who Gammons of “That’s not my Dr” rang true.  

Looking back over the years, we were always given hints about who the real Dr was, but that was it. It was always just hints and sly winks from the Dr aimed at us. I can’t remember which episode of the Sylvester Mcoy rin it was, but there was a piece of dialogue along the lines of something like, “Oh, you have no idea who I am”.

It wasn’t answered, but that episode has stuck in my mind for years. Then we have stuff like the Valeyard being the final evil regeneration of the Dr Neither of these was ever, to my knowledge, fully explained in the main series or any of the multiple expanded universe material.

I apologise if it has been described more deeply in the expanded universe, a term used to refer to the vast array of Dr Who stories, novels, comics, and audio dramas that exist outside of the main TV series. The vast majority of Who fans are enormous devourers of the expanded universe.  

Horror is the same, especially horror movies. They work best when we don’t shoehorn in needless explanations of who is what the monster is. Yes, there are exemptions: Hellraiser, A Nightmare on Elm Street and the countless giant monster movies like Aligator and Food of the Gods. Those movies require a background to work, but Hellraiser only works in books and comics; the films lose their impact the more we learn about them on screen. And by the fourth instalment, you think, oh god, here we go again.  

The worst two culprits for me are Zombie movies and The Alien franchise. I’ll start with zombie movies. Zombie movies work best when there are just zombies. George A. Romero’s movies are the best example of when horror movies work.  

The only explanation we are given is, “When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.” And that is perfect; yes, it doesn’t fully explain the bite turning you into a zombie. Is it an infection, or is it a transference of demonic force? The films never waste any time explaining or looking for a cure; they focus on what is essential: zombies, the human condition and scaring the hell out of us.  

As soon as you try to prescribe some scientific reasoning for the zombie outbreak, you are left with an explanation that is never fully explained or believable.  

My two least favourite examples of this are The Girl With All the Gifts and 28 Days Later. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed these films, but the microbiology behind them doesn’t work. And I know that won’t matter to 99.9999% of you but as someone with a degree in microbiology and a Master’s in Veterinary Microbiology. Who spent years working in the field of rabies. These films bugged the living daylight out of me. Viruses and fungi don’t work that way. You don’t get bitten, then two seconds later, become a rage-induced uber-fast psychotic zombie. Even if you try to explain that the infected have something like ergot poison running through their veins, it still doesn’t work.  

I haven’t seen The Last of Us; The Walking Dead killed any desire to watch another zombie TV show. So, I can’t comment on whether or not their use of a fungal-based zombie outbreak tackles this subject more believably.  

I will take a deep breath before tackling the Alien thing. I might even step away for a stiff drink.  

The first three Alien movies are the most excellent trilogy in cinematic history. The story arc over the three films is pure gold. You in the back sit down. I don’t want to hear your cries of “what they Did to Newt and Hicks. It was perfect; it showed the futility of Ripley’s battle, that life would take away everything she loved no matter how hard she fought. It was the ideal start to the bleakest and darkest instalments of the franchise. The ending was perfect, the story was complete, the threat was eliminated, and the hero paid the ultimate sacrifice.

But then, Resurrection came along, apparently diving headfirst into molten metal, which doesn’t denature DNA. So we have another run at goalposts.  

But then we get into the whole Alien Vs Predator, Prometheus and Covenant movies. Seriously, WTF were they on about? It is the whole Timeless Child again. He look, I finally got on track again. This desire to retrofit the Alien movies into a whole new story is not only one of the biggest two thumbs up to fans of these horror movies, but they are also, without a doubt, terrible movies. That serves no purpose other than to make money off long-standing fans.  

If someone can explain how these films fit into the original film’s timeline, please feel free to do so.  

They turned the original Alien into a toy; it lost all sense of menace and horror because they tried to create a backstory for the Alienb when none was needed. Like the Dr, the Alien worked best when you knew nothing about it. Now we know everything from its favourite Cliff Richard album to its favourite place to vacation. Which, now based on the new TV series, is Earth. My head hurts.  

It’s the same with Friday the 13th and the Halloween horror movies. The more we learned about these masked horror movie icons, the less I cared. Especially in Michael’s case, at least with Jason, he went to hell and returned as a proper monster. Mickey can’t decide if he is just a pissed-off bloke, an undead monster, or a reason to hate Rob Zombie for more than just his music.

Either don’t tell us what these horror monsters are, or devise a valid explanation and stick to it.  

But Jim, it’s just a horror movie, you know, that genre where zombies, vampires, demons, ghosts, werewolves, and other monsters exist. Why are you getting your knickers in a twist? And yes, you are correct, but leave the science out; tell the story. No one cares about why they are there; they want to watch a great horror movie that will scare them, move them and give them something to talk about at work and on social media.  

Please stick to the horror. Please don’t give us an unnecessary backstory or reason for what they are. We don’t need it; we all know spaceships can’t operate like fighter planes in space, and lasers don’t make any noise, but we accept that. Star Wars and countless other sci-fi films have never wasted time explaining their special gravity and laws of physics; they tell the story.  

Please, horror movie makers, do the same thing: tell the story, but don’t explain it.  

Further Reading

If you’re a fan of spine-chilling tales and hair-raising suspense, then you won’t want to miss the horror features page on The Ginger Nuts of Horror Review Website. This is the ultimate destination for horror enthusiasts seeking in-depth analysis, thrilling reviews, and exclusive interviews with some of the best minds in the genre. From independent films to mainstream blockbusters, the site covers a broad spectrum of horror media, ensuring that you’re always in the loop about the latest and greatest.

The passionate team behind The Ginger Nuts of Horror delivers thoughtful critiques and recommendations that delve into the nuances of storytelling, character development, and atmospheric tension. Whether you’re looking for hidden gems to stream on a dark and stormy night or want to explore the work of up-and-coming horror filmmakers, this page is packed with content that will ignite your imagination and keep you on the edge of your seat.

So grab your favorite horror-themed snacks, settle into a cozy spot, and immerse yourself in the chilling world of horror literature and film. Head over to The Ginger Nuts of Horror and embark on a journey through the eerie and the extraordinary—it’s an adventure you won’t soon forget!