Whatever you may have thought, there was absolutely no denying that the Peter Capaldi era marked a new direction for Doctor Who at the time. Capaldi’s tenure as the Doctor signalled a new golden age for the show, revitalising it in a fresh and exciting way, taking big, bold risks and, under the supervision of Steven Moffat, Capaldi delivered the best Doctor we’ve had since the equally legendary Tom Baker. Peter Capaldi’s incarnation has also raised many fresh issues and themes that made his era feel more mature than it had been previously. Andrew O’Day’s book addresses and analyses the Capaldi era in depth, bringing in a lot of opinions and concerns by different international experts that explore Capaldi’s portrayal of the Doctor as well as Moffat’s role as both show writer and executive producer.

The book evaluates a lot of different aspects about Capaldi’s tenure, such as the effect of Capaldi’s older age on the series’ pace and themes, the politics of war, the controversial portrayals of the afterlife, the discussion on immortality within the show, the re-gendering of the Master into Missy, and the roles of the Doctor’s female companions, most notably Clara Oswald. It offers some fascinating discussions about the topics it raises, and makes a lot of interesting points (especially concerning the representation of Scotland and Scottishness in Doctor Who), although sometimes certain writers involved kind of miss the mark on certain viewpoints. When they discuss the themes and issues of the ever-so controversial episode “Kill the Moon”, they discuss how women are looked upon when making choices, and it seems like they misinterpreted what that episode was trying to do.

Whether or not you agree with the points made by the various writers involved rather depends upon how you viewed or interpreted Capaldi’s time on the show, and it is possibly true that those who hold the Capaldi era to such a high regard might find that the representation and themes mean much different things than what’s being said in this book. So, this is more of a hit-or-miss book that could either speak to you greatly on how you view the show or leave you scratching your head with bemusement about the contexts each writer raises from their own perspective.

DOCTOR WHO: TWELFTH NIGHT / AUTHOR: ANDREW O’DAY / PUBLISHER: I. B. TAURUS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW