Season Analysis

Doctor Who

Season 12 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

The series follows the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions as they meet a new incarnation of the Master, and his destruction of Gallifrey, the return of Jack Harkness, the appearance of an unknown incarnation of the Doctor, the Cybermen, and the secret of the "Timeless Child". Jodie Whittaker returns for her second series as the Thirteenth Doctor. It also stars Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill as the Doctor's travelling companions, playing Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan, respectively.

Season Review

Season 12 of *Doctor Who* under showrunner Chris Chibnall continues the clear shift toward a politically driven narrative, relying heavily on identity and explicit moral lecturing to deliver its themes. The season features a highly diverse TARDIS crew, with the companion characters often serving as vessels for discussing identity-based issues rather than driving the plot through individual merit. Episodes are frequently punctuated by the Doctor delivering direct, on-the-nose sermons to the audience about social and political topics, often at the expense of subtle storytelling and character development. The narrative arc aggressively deconstructs the fundamental mythology of the show (The Timeless Child), and one major episode directly frames contemporary human society as inherently self-destructive and corrupting. The portrayal of the female Doctor is complex, as her characterization is often criticized as being less authoritative and more 'nurturing' than her male predecessors, but the surrounding male characters are persistently sidelined and made to seem functionally inept, elevating the Doctor by contrast. The total effect is a product that privileges ideological messaging across multiple categories, justifying a high overall score.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics8/10

The core cast consists of a female lead, a black male companion (Ryan Sinclair), an Asian female companion (Yasmin Khan), and an older white male companion (Graham O'Brien). Companion characters, particularly the non-white members, are often utilized to ground stories that focus explicitly on issues of race and identity, such as past episodes in this era focusing on segregation and privilege. The narrative frames social issues with a clear, activist-style moral lens, foregrounding immutable characteristics over universal character struggle. The casting of Sacha Dhawan, an actor of South Asian descent, as the Master also continues the pattern of identity-conscious casting for major roles.

Oikophobia9/10

The episode 'Orphan 55' features a blatant plot where a future version of Earth is a desolate, poisoned wasteland destroyed by war and climate change, with the surviving creatures being mutated humans (The Dregs). The narrative explicitly blames modern human society for this outcome, ending with the Doctor delivering a heavy-handed, preachy monologue directly to her companions (and the audience) about how humanity must stop being passive and save itself. This sermonizing and condemnation of human civilization's trajectory scores very high on civilizational self-hatred.

Feminism7/10

The core of the show is the Thirteenth Doctor, the first female incarnation of the lead. While her character is sometimes written with traditionally 'nurturing' and 'soft-spoken' traits, the supporting male companions (Graham and Ryan) are generally sidelined and given little agency, often serving as bumbling sidekicks who are incapable of solving major problems without the Doctor's guidance. The female lead is positioned as the sole fount of knowledge and competence, fulfilling the 'Girl Boss' dynamic through the emasculation and incompetence of the men around her.

LGBTQ+5/10

LGBTQ+ content is present but does not become the explicit center of the season's core arc. One episode features a same-sex couple (Jake and Adam) in a prominent subplot who are depicted in a normative, positive light. The underlying context of the Doctor's gender-flipping regeneration (established in earlier seasons) serves as a standing endorsement of gender fluidity in the franchise's lore, but the season avoids overt lectures or plots centered on gender ideology for children.

Anti-Theism3/10

There are no major storylines or characters that focus on the vilification of traditional religion, specifically Christianity, in this season. However, the consistent replacement of nuanced moral exploration with a subjective, politically driven 'higher moral law' (e.g., in the environmental and social justice episodes) establishes a spiritual vacuum. The Doctor's 'sermons' act as the definitive moral authority, supplanting traditional ethical or religious frameworks with a progressive ideology.