Elevating Legends and Myths in the Whoniverse: The Return to "Tales of the Tardis"

With seven series made, 45 stories and 60 individual episodes, “Doctor Who” is a big canvas in itself. But the anthology TV series Tales of the Tardis (which has run for eight series and 80 stories now) has its own niche, telling untold tales of the Doctor and his companions in the vastness of time. The new Tardis team of the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan. In the Doctor Who universe, these stories are part of the continuity of the greatest anthology of all time – exploring the lives of old friends, and new enemies. This article takes a closer look at the new story Broken Memories and what it adds to the Doctor Who cannon, as well as examining the clockwork mechanisms of the Clockwork Droids, the return of Sutehks (or is it?) and more.

A NEW CHAPTER: "Broken Memories"

THE STATUS OF CLASSIC DOCTORS MEETING NEW MONSTERS

With ‘Broken Memories’ we’ve arrived at the big status moment in *Tales of the Tardis*. It’s the series that emulates the inventive spirit of “Doctor Who” – putting the Fifth Doctor front and centre against the Clockwork Droids in a story that fundamentally changes the nature of confrontation in the Whoniverse. ‘Broken Memories’ is now available to pre-order as a special edition 4-disc CD box set, and as a download. It’s a must-have!

UNWINDING THE CLOCKWORK DROIDS

THE STATUS OF INTRICACY AND LORE

Cribbed from ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’, the Clockwork Droids had maintained their status as a tantalising foil for the Doctor, so it is no surprise to see them return in Broken Memories. Their prominence, and the continued series fascination with mechanical lifeforms, is important. Their intricate nature also means that when they are shown on screen, we see not only the imagination of the Doctor Who team, but a real digging into the machine ethos that drives its droids.

THE WHISPERINGS OF SUTEKH'S RETURN

ELEVATING THE STATUS OF VILLAINS IN "Doctor Who"

The rumour that Sutekh is returning in series 6 of Doctor Who has this fan reeling. Sutekh’s malevolent power to conquer the Universe and his dark inheritance of Terror sweaters (the serial Pyramids of Mars, 1975) has a certain status among the pantheon of ancient villains. If rumours are true, Sutekh’s return portends a change in the status of the narrative dynamics of the series. In the meantime, in the quarantine chamber of speculation, his aura is enhanced. Fans are reminded of the scale and durability of the Doctor’s own adventures in time and space.

BEYOND THE TARDIS: THE STATUS OF EXPANDING UNIVERSES

Doctor Who's Mechanical Counterparts and Star Wars Synergy

The reading also stretches beyond the TARDIS, where the thematic similarities between the Clockwork Droids and the Reverse Cybermen are highlighted, elevating the status of any given android in the Whoniverse. It also carves out a niche for thinking about what is shared across universes of sci-fi.

In a particularly intriguing crossover, however, there is a possible connection between the Whoniverse and the Star Wars universe, with the rumoured project titled A Droid Story. The status of this Disney Plus project is unclear at the moment, but if the droids, including C-3PO, R2-D2 and a new droid, are featured in the next Disney Star Wars series, fans can still hope for a formal announcement at the annual Star Wars Celebration.

CONNECTING THREADS: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF STATUS IN "Doctor Who"

Status in Doctor Who, however, is always a vital and dynamic thing with implications for narratives, characters and entire universes. It can mean the status of a classic Doctor; the status of an infamous Time Lord as in Sutehks the time lord or Sutehks the villain? Or the symbolic status of various alien technologies in demonstrating our lack of understanding of what constitutes life and what constitutes intelligence?

‘Doctor Who’ is able to achieve this elevation because the show’s narrative, character and thematic elements are constantly asserted as more important, more intellectually resonant and intellectually complex than are those of other shows. With each new episode, rumour and crossover, Doctor Who is repeated as sci-fi storytelling’s legacy, a cue for the audience to live in the Wonderous.

Status, in the Whoniverse, marks as much what was as it does what will be; and by exploring time and space with the Doctor, each story, each character and each rumour adds to a larger universe of ‘Doctor Who’, one that invites fans to engage in an iterative storytelling tradition of adventure, mystery and wonder.

About Status

Status as a narrative element helps to structure relationships between characters, conflict and resolution, and the flow of stories, both large and small. Status shifts as new characters are added into the mix, old characters are reworked, and complex stories establish themselves. When we look at the workings of status in Doctor Who, we get a better idea of what it means to create Doctor Who, and of the way the show has adapted and grown to maintain its relevance and popularity across time and space.