5) Fresh, Stripped-Back Stories
Similarly, season 10 has really steamlined its storytelling on a microcosmic level as well, as most of the episodes this year have simply focused on being easy-to-follow tales that are well told. We’ll say up front that there was the so-called ‘Monk Trilogy’ in the middle of the season – a trio of episodes which were linked by the consistent threat of some corpse-like alien monks – which muddies this point. However, on the whole, the show’s mentality this year has been all about inclusiveness and making sure that anyone can jump in with any given episode.
Looking at the first few outings of the run, in particular, the series really went back to formula, which is no bad thing. The season opened with an episode set in the present day, before the next forwarded to the far future and then the third went back into the past. Subsequent episodes included a classic spooky ‘haunted house’ tale, a dystopian alternate timeline story and more of an old-fashioned space-faring adventure. Put together, they make a great range of episodes that, on the whole, have been very enjoyable.
As I said when talking about the season being a partial reboot, this has given the current run a welcome fresh-faced atmosphere, which was much needed after a couple of seasons which arguably were not that easily accessible for non-hardcore viewers. That’s not to say, though, that there hasn’t been much for the longtime fans to enjoy…..
