Doctor Who

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I have been a fan of Doctor Who since I first saw "The Sunmakers", with Tom Baker
I grew to love the first six incarnations of the Doctor - William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee. Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker.
I thought the show seriously declined in the 7th Doctor era, The Paul McGann movie showed promise but never made it to series.
When the show returned in 2005, we fans were fortunate to have Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi
(I don't count John Hurt - A terrific Actor, who seemed to give a mail-in performance in a questionable casting decision IMHO)

And then...

In 2017, Chris Chibnall became the showrunner, and Jodie Whitaker became the Doctor,
and the result has been a COMPLETE DISASTER>

After some strong viewing figures for the first 4 episodes of season 11, Ratings have deciled to the point where
season 12 have the lowest (or maybe 2nd lowest) average viewing figures for a season,
the 3 Holiday specials have been the 3 lowest viewed Holiday stories,
and the Easter Special (Why an Easter special and no more Christmas Specials?) had the lowest
same day viewing figures in the entire 59 year history of the show.

Chibnall jettisoned all of the existing crew - directors, writers, designers, musicians, other crew etc,
and replaced them with individuals with either no or minimal science fiction backgrounds.
He has put forward the assertion that the great William Hartnell was not the first Doctor,
contradicting all continuity since 1963, with the horrible Timeless Child story.
This is an insult to the memory of William Hartnell

Jodie Whitaker has admitted not researching the character and insulted fans of the classic series
with a statement suggesting that the classic series was a celebration of males.

If there could be a female Doctor, it would have to be within a consistent narrative.
However the statistical chance of a Doctor regenerating 13 straight times into a man
when either gender is possible is .024414%,
the same as flipping a coin and getting all heads or all tales 13 straight times.

I want this to be clear.
If a fan of Doctor Who believes that a Doctor could be male or female, that is
an opinion that should be intelligently discussed, and a person has a right to enjoy it.

However, it should make narrative sense, and not be result of gimmick casting,
and the female should be a good actress who is the best choice for the role.

Chibnall has stated that he wanted the Doctor to be female, thus eliminating
many possibilities, and the ratings indicate that
for whatever reason, it hasn't worked.
Doctor Who merchandise was once plentiful on the shelves, and is now almost nonexistant

I am hopeful that Russell T Davies can revive the show, and erase the Timeless Child disgrace but I have doubts, the damage may be too severe.

I am attaching a you tube link from a man who can explain this better than I could

(Gary Buechler, Nerdrotic I believe)


If you are a Doctor Who fan, I urge you to consider ways to revive this show, out of respect
for William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee,
the producers, directors, writers, musicians, actors, crew members, etc
who worked so diligently to give us fans a show we loved.
Don't let it fade into oblivion because of Chibnall's era

 

[Daniel Avery]

This whole era of the series has been a source of disappointment to me, and often downright despair. The show has entertained me for so long (since I was a teenager) and I've felt a sense of loyalty to it. Yes, it had its bad points in the past, but the consistently bad (sometimes downright unwatchable) period of Chibnall/Whittaker has made me wish I did have that reflexive loyalty. Too often, I tuned in and was left wishing I hadn't. The Easter special wasn't as preachy as the regular-season episodes often became, nor was it mind-bogglingly disjointed as that "Flux" thing. It was just kind of...well, I recall thinking "that looked really expensive to film" rather than anything about the storyline or even the performances.

I've come to expect the same sentiment whenever reading about the show lately:
Whittaker is a great actress, but it's too bad she is saddled with terrible writing. I loved her version of the Doctor...it's all the producer's fault she never got a chance to shine.

Online commenters are bending over backward to avoid pinning any of the blame for the decline of the series on Whittaker, since they don't want people to think they aren't 100% on board with a woman playing the Doctor. Oh, you just hate women. No, I hate when a role is mis-cast and the show-runner is so wrapped up in their own politically-correct agenda that they don't perform a course-correction immediately. I will say I did NOT like how she played the Doctor. Whittaker's Doctor was played so passively that I often thought she was the supporting player in her own show. The choice to have a woman play The Doctor did not impact upon me as much as the feeling that Whittaker just was not playing The Doctor as anyone (male or female) should, that she was not "filling up the screen" the way a larger-than-life character like that ought to. This feeling was cemented in my mind when they had actress Jo Martin playing a "past version" of The Doctor in one story. She "got" the character almost immediately, making it clear from the revelation scene onward who we were seeing and making a positive impression in the episode. Martin's Doctor was being written/directed by the same writers and director of Whittaker's Doctor, yet the two actresses seemed to be working in different worlds.

Yes, the stories were almost universally lousy and the attempts by Chibnall to re-invent the wheel (when the old one rolled along just fine) deserve the scorn they get. Story-wise the TARDIS was over-populated with weak companion characters, each trying to justify their existence in stories rather than helping push the plots forward. The urgency with which Chibnall dumped every social-issue sermon onto us was eye-roll inducing. But I think Whittaker was the wrong actress for this part, and it made a bad producer situation all the worse. So many people were invested in "breaking the glass ceiling" that they failed to do their due diligence in finding the right woman to fill the role, just as they hired the wrong show-runner.

With any luck, the new production team will make telling good stories and entertaining the audience their top priorities over all else. Chibnall certainly had priorities, but those two seemed not to be high on the list. He seemed more motivated to 'tick off boxes' in his tenure. But just as Chibnall was quietly "boxed in" by the promises to take DW in a more woke direction and thus unable to get out of that box when ratings tanked, I hope RTD will ignore all the static and hire the next Doctor according to their ability to play the role rather than hiring someone who checks a box.

 

[pete lashmar]

I've been a fan of the show since the early Pertwee era circa 1971.

For me the show has been through so many differing eras that I accepted some time ago that the show will not always be for me - but I'll always be back to usher in a new era when a new Doctor arrives to see if it can draw me back in.

For me Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy were so woefully miscast that I couldn't watch the show. It may be that it was a desperate time for the show with budget cuts and a producer that really didn't to be there anymore but even now I cannot enjoy these eras of the show.

Fast forward to NuWho and after his amazing episodes like Blink I was sure that I would adore the Moffat era, alas when Peter Capaldi turned up I left the room. I love Peter as an actor and I know he's a big childhood fan of the show, but the way Moffat wrote for his Doctor was goddamn awful. Sonic Glasses, electric guitars screamed mid life crisis - the only saviour from the era was Missy who was a joy to watch.

Also under Moffat Clara, the companion became a more important figure in the show than The Doctor, to the point where her face appeared in the titles of one episode - and even when she was killed off she was back 2 weeks later and ended up with her own TARDIS...It was cringe worthy naffness as far as I was concerned.

And so onto the Chibnall/Whittaker era - I absolutely love it. Gone was the doom and gloom and the woe is me Doctor, in comes funny companions, adventure of the week and some wonderful new writers.

I appreciate that every era is different for everyone, but for me Whittacker is a fantastic Doctor and I'll very much miss her when she's gone, for me I haven't enjoyed Doctor Who so much for a number of years.

As for The Timeless Child plot, I LOVED IT, it was great to see the very origins of The Doctor scrutinized, origins that doesn't wipe out what we knew, but adds so much more, it has been a game changer for the show and has given us a whole new era that I'm sure Big Finish will delve into as soon as they possibly can.

With RTD back in charge I can't wait to see what's to come, exciting times ahead (I hope).

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I've been a fan of the show since the early Pertwee era circa 1971.

For me the show has been through so many differing eras that I accepted some time ago that the show will not always be for me - but I'll always be back to usher in a new era when a new Doctor arrives to see if it can draw me back in.

For me Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy were so woefully miscast that I couldn't watch the show. It may be that it was a desperate time for the show with budget cuts and a producer that really didn't to be there anymore but even now I cannot enjoy these eras of the show.

Fast forward to NuWho and after his amazing episodes like Blink I was sure that I would adore the Moffat era, alas when Peter Capaldi turned up I left the room. I love Peter as an actor and I know he's a big childhood fan of the show, but the way Moffat wrote for his Doctor was goddamn awful. Sonic Glasses, electric guitars screamed mid life crisis - the only saviour from the era was Missy who was a joy to watch.

Also under Moffat Clara, the companion became a more important figure in the show than The Doctor, to the point where her face appeared in the titles of one episode - and even when she was killed off she was back 2 weeks later and ended up with her own TARDIS...It was cringe worthy naffness as far as I was concerned.

And so onto the Chibnall/Whittaker era - I absolutely love it. Gone was the doom and gloom and the woe is me Doctor, in comes funny companions, adventure of the week and some wonderful new writers.

I appreciate that every era is different for everyone, but for me Whittacker is a fantastic Doctor and I'll very much miss her when she's gone, for me I haven't enjoyed Doctor Who so much for a number of years.

As for The Timeless Child plot, I LOVED IT, it was great to see the very origins of The Doctor scrutinized, origins that doesn't wipe out what we knew, but adds so much more, it has been a game changer for the show and has given us a whole new era that I'm sure Big Finish will delve into as soon as they possibly can.

With RTD back in charge I can't wait to see what's to come, exciting times ahead (I hope).

You have a very different opinion of the Chibnall/Whitaker era. I don't agree at all, but respect your right to enjoy whatever era you like.
I would pose one question to you with respect. If the Timeless Child is to be canon, and there have been hundreds? of Doctors,
what is special about the Hartnell to Capaldi incarnations?

Again, I respect your opinion

 

[pete lashmar]

You have a very different opinion of the Chibnall/Whitaker era. I don't agree at all, but respect your right to enjoy whatever era you like.
I would pose one question to you with respect. If the Timeless Child is to be canon, and there have been hundreds? of Doctors,
what is special about the Hartnell to Capaldi incarnations?

Again, I respect your opinion

And I too respect all opinions, as fans of anything we all have our favourites whether it be characters, episodes, actors, plots etc.

I've never seen any of The Doctors as "special", I've always enjoyed the fact that every one of them is so different.

But in the case of Hartnell he was the first Doctor to leave Gallifrey on his own terms and begin his adventures as The Doctor that we know and love. The Timeless Child story doesn't change that - everything we know about the character over the years has always changed here and there.

The fact that The Doctor isn't a gallifreyan, but was unwittingly used to give them the power of regeneration still doesn't change the character so much either. The fact that we have no idea where The Doctor came from will probably forever be a mystery unless a showrunner in the future returns to it, but I can't see Jodie's finale answering that and neither do I think it should ever be answered, it's a great new mystery like his past was when the series began in 1963.

The actual character of The Doctor hasn't changed = travelling across time and space defeating evil and having great adventures. I'm sure one day a newn backstory will emerge, but as we prepare to celebrate 60 years (WOW) it's good to know that there are still some great ideas that keep changing the narrative, not many shows can do that.

the Time Lords have always been a tough watch on TV, I would love to see a showrunner really do something different with them, in a show where they have all of time and space to explore I'd love to see how they brought about time travel with Rassilon, omega, the other etc - I'm sure someone will go there at some point.

 

[Seaviewer]

I haven't been watching long enough to have any strong opinions but I would also say that Peter Capaldi is my favourite of what I've seen.
I saw the Easter Special (on Monday night here) and found it a bit underwhelming. The advertising described it as an epic adventure but it seemed fairly ordinary as time travel stories go. I suspect the whole thing was written to allow The Doctor to say, "No ship, Sherlock."
Far more interesting were the musings about not being able to form long-lasting relationships. Hopefully that will be picked up on later.

 

[darkshadows38]

The McCoy era did have some good stories yeah some of there were shit but there were some gems in there as well, yeah Capaldi was a good doctor but his time on the show isn't among my favorites. Sea Viewer before you say he's your favorite watch some of he older stories such as Tom Baker to for one than you can say which one is y our favorite and least favorite when you see them all

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I can't wait for Jodie to go!

I am hoping, with fingers well & truly crossed that Russell T. Davies casts a male as the Doctor again.

I'd be fine if it was Fady Elsayed.

The show needs saved & Russell is the man to do it.

 

[darkshadows38]

i don't mind her doctor but it's not her fault it's the script Chris Chinball is a terrible show runner and yeah he's done some good ones but the rest are shit.

kinda how i think Capaldi was a good doctor as well but there was some stories of his that i just didn't like either. i don't want Russell T. Davis back on the show but if he can improve the show than i guess i can live with him coming back and yes i prefer a male doctor but are one Female doctor i think was a good doctor it was just the writing that i think, much like i love McCoy as the doctor he was a fantastic doctor but he also suffered from 1. poor writing since by that time Turner didn't really give a shit about the show anymore as he was ready to leave and the only reason he stayed was cause he was told if you leave the show gets cancelled so he was forced to stay even though he was ready to leave.

so that i think can hurt the show plus some of the writers he hired had no talent than there is the fact that the budget was really drastically cut by the BBC so so they couldn't afford the writers no doubt they did want to get. i dunno how much of that is right or all of it is but it's my opinion. Jon Pertwee was a great doctor but he's not one of my favorites either though his era had some damn good stories too. my point is with each doctor pick any of them you will have some really awful stories and than you can have some gems too. i missed the easter episode cause i had no idea it was even on! but i loved the New Years one

 

[Seaviewer]

The McCoy era did have some good stories yeah some of there were shit but there were some gems in there as well, yeah Capaldi was a good doctor but his time on the show isn't among my favorites. Sea Viewer before you say he's your favorite watch some of he older stories such as Tom Baker to for one than you can say which one is y our favorite and least favorite when you see them all

I know there's a lot of early stiff that I've missed but I did only say the favourite "of what I've seen". When I was growing up Jon Pertwee was the Doctor and I've always seen the Doctor as an avuncular figure but I'm aware that there can be infinite variations (much like Star Trek's IDIC).

i don't mind her doctor but it's not her fault it's the script

I agree with this. Her juvenile enthusiasm is not unlike Matt Smith's. It's the plots that have let her down. And I don't think the "fam" idea has worked out as well as they might have hoped either; Yaz as sole companion would have been better.

 

[darkshadows38]

i like a lot of companions since i love the Original Cast with William Russell, Carol Ann Ford , Jacqueline Hill and William Hartnell those seasons take awhile to get used to since they aren't fast paced like the show is now. for me it's not always who's cast or how many companions he or she has but it's the writing. Matt Smith's doctor was a throwback i think to Tom Baker i think i think i read someone say that i dunno if it's true or not. there's a lot of good stories Invasion from season 5 i think? that's a damn good one, Inferno from season 7 is my favorite Pertwee story out of all of them. that one is f.. Brilliant i think. the problem with today's youth and the fans who watch today's fans

is that and i'm talking about a friend of mine who is i think 9 years younger than me. he can't get into the old show cause to use his words the special FX are awful he's so spoiled by today's FX that he can't watch the show when it was a hell of a lot better. i said to him some of them still look good for what budget they had back than and what they could do and have aged well and i do think that, but some of them have not aged well either i also asked him what happened to watching a story about the story and not the FX? no answer go figure

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'd gladly sacrifice 1/2 of the special/visual effects budget in order to buy better scripts. Someone once said "You can take a pig, put lipstick on it, put it in a dress and call it Monique....but it's still a pig." All the swooshy visuals and green-screen miracles can't cover a thin story that doesn't capture the imagination of the viewer. I can't speak for everyone, but I tend to forget all the visuals and admittedly hard work put into the "look" of the series after a while. I don't forget a good storyline, though.

No, I'm not saying they should go back to the studio-bound, rubber-monster era....though that would be an interesting experiment!....but there ought to be a happy medium in there somewhere. Given how long we waited between seasons and how short those seasons were, one would think Chibnall would have had time to polish the scripts a bit more and have a few more sets of eyes look at the dailies and figure out what could be improved as they filmed.

 

[darkshadows38]

they i'd say to take a guess spend more time on the FX than they do on the actual writing i mean think about it writing 12 or 13 episodes can't take that long i'm just guessing as i have no idea. but filming a whole season takes a few months and i would not be surprised that it takes that long cause they have to have it set up a certain way so when they add in the FX it will look like it's suppose to be there. but than all this is just guesswork anyone can correct me if i'm wrong i don't mind.

for me the last seasons i loved was when Matt Smith was the doctor the ones after that i have not much cared for though they have done some really good episodes since Smith left the show for me it just has gone downhill since than but it's not who happens to be the doctor either. i still need to finish this last season though

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I haven't been watching long enough to have any strong opinions but I would also say that Peter Capaldi is my favourite of what I've seen.
I saw the Easter Special (on Monday night here) and found it a bit underwhelming. The advertising described it as an epic adventure but it seemed fairly ordinary as time travel stories go. I suspect the whole thing was written to allow The Doctor to say, "No ship, Sherlock."
Far more interesting were the musings about not being able to form long-lasting relationships. Hopefully that will be picked up on later.

Absolutely. Capaldi is an excellent actor, who was a great choice for the Doctor. He played the Doctor as a compelling presence with authority and multiple
layers.

The current show is a disgrace to the show's legacy.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I'd gladly sacrifice 1/2 of the special/visual effects budget in order to buy better scripts. Someone once said "You can take a pig, put lipstick on it, put it in a dress and call it Monique....but it's still a pig." All the swooshy visuals and green-screen miracles can't cover a thin story that doesn't capture the imagination of the viewer. I can't speak for everyone, but I tend to forget all the visuals and admittedly hard work put into the "look" of the series after a while. I don't forget a good storyline, though.

No, I'm not saying they should go back to the studio-bound, rubber-monster era....though that would be an interesting experiment!....but there ought to be a happy medium in there somewhere. Given how long we waited between seasons and how short those seasons were, one would think Chibnall would have had time to polish the scripts a bit more and have a few more sets of eyes look at the dailies and figure out what could be improved as they filmed.

You are right. There is no substitute for a good script, and we haven't had one since Capaldi departed

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I know there's a lot of early stiff that I've missed but I did only say the favourite "of what I've seen". When I was growing up Jon Pertwee was the Doctor and I've always seen the Doctor as an avuncular figure but I'm aware that there can be infinite variations (much like Star Trek's IDIC).

I agree with this. Her juvenile enthusiasm is not unlike Matt Smith's. It's the plots that have let her down. And I don't think the "fam" idea has worked out as well as they might have hoped either; Yaz as sole companion would have been better.

I don't know. Matt Smith is a better actor than JW, who is mediocre at best. Matt Smith would channel Troughton and Tom Baker quite effectively at times.

Matt Smith also respected the programme's history, unlike JW who admitted to not watching past episodes to prepare for the role.

When MS appeared in the Sara Jane Adventures, Both Liz Sladen and Katy Manning described how MS asked lots of questions about
Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and how they played the role. A far cry from JW's indifference toward the show and the fans.

As for bad plots, I agree, but the past Doctors all dealt with their fair share of bad stories, and somehow made it work.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

i don't mind her doctor but it's not her fault it's the script Chris Chinball is a terrible show runner and yeah he's done some good ones but the rest are shit.

kinda how i think Capaldi was a good doctor as well but there was some stories of his that i just didn't like either. i don't want Russell T. Davis back on the show but if he can improve the show than i guess i can live with him coming back and yes i prefer a male doctor but are one Female doctor i think was a good doctor it was just the writing that i think, much like i love McCoy as the doctor he was a fantastic doctor but he also suffered from 1. poor writing since by that time Turner didn't really give a shit about the show anymore as he was ready to leave and the only reason he stayed was cause he was told if you leave the show gets cancelled so he was forced to stay even though he was ready to leave.

so that i think can hurt the show plus some of the writers he hired had no talent than there is the fact that the budget was really drastically cut by the BBC so so they couldn't afford the writers no doubt they did want to get. i dunno how much of that is right or all of it is but it's my opinion. Jon Pertwee was a great doctor but he's not one of my favorites either though his era had some damn good stories too. my point is with each doctor pick any of them you will have some really awful stories and than you can have some gems too. i missed the easter episode cause i had no idea it was even on! but i loved the New Years one

Respectfully, Russell T Davies may be the one man who can rescue the show from the horrendous decline of the Chibnall/JW era

 

[pete lashmar]

I'm excited for RTD to be returning, but it would be nice to have a fresh face after him, not one of the DW fanboys.

The show needs constant reinvention to keep viewers attracted, and I think someone new could inject something very different for the show. That said, there are only 1 or 2 possible runners left from the DW fanboys, who may well do a damn good job on the show.

As mentioned above though, it's all relative - I disliked Capaldi's era and the current era has been much more to my liking and I've been a fan since the early 70's.

I think my biggest issue with Moffat's era in general is that he concentrated too much on who The Doctor was, what his name was etc and we just didn't need that indepth look into the character.

Doctor Who should be The Doctor, companion, TARDIS, monster and adventure - dig too deeply and you alienate both casual viewers and fans.

With Chibnal & The Timeless Child he's brought a mystery back as to who The Doctor is and that's fine by me.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I'm excited for RTD to be returning, but it would be nice to have a fresh face after him, not one of the DW fanboys.

The show needs constant reinvention to keep viewers attracted, and I think someone new could inject something very different for the show. That said, there are only 1 or 2 possible runners left from the DW fanboys, who may well do a damn good job on the show.

As mentioned above though, it's all relative - I disliked Capaldi's era and the current era has been much more to my liking and I've been a fan since the early 70's.

I think my biggest issue with Moffat's era in general is that he concentrated too much on who The Doctor was, what his name was etc and we just didn't need that indepth look into the character.

Doctor Who should be The Doctor, companion, TARDIS, monster and adventure - dig too deeply and you alienate both casual viewers and fans.

With Chibnal & The Timeless Child he's brought a mystery back as to who The Doctor is and that's fine by me.

One problem, at least for me is that the Timeless Child directly contradicts many Dr Who stories.
IE The Fugitive Doctor/Jo Martin version supposedly predates Hartnell.
Yet if the Fugitive Doctor is traveling the Universe, How to explain William Hartnell leaving Gallifrey with Susan?

The events of "An Unearthly Child", "War Games" "Three Doctors, "'Castrovalva", "Five Doctors", "Remembrance of the Daleks", directly contradict the Timeless Child.
"Day of the Daleks" "Resurrection of the Daleks" and " Earthshock " clearly show Hartnell as the First Doctor,
as well as "Vampires of Venice"

Omega's sacrifice in the Black Hole is meaningless, then.

Before citing "The Brain of Morbius" There is no clear answer about who those faces are - It is most likely past incarnations of Morbius"

During the Matt Smith Era, Clara is seen talking to William Hartnell as he leaves Gallifrey with Susan, directly
contradicting the Timeless Child, if the Fugitive Doctor predates Hartnell.

Also, Clara encountered every incarnation of the Doctor, None before Hartnell.
Capaldi's final story, "Twice upon a Time", clarifies that Hartnell is the First Doctor.

In "Trial of a Time Lord" the Master tells the Doctor that the Valeyard is the Doctor between 12 and 13 (13 being his final self)

If the Doctor can endlessly regenerate, The drama of Matt Smith's "final" incarnation
is a moot point, with no drama.
For that matter, the Doctor is almost never in any real danger, if he can regenerate endlessly.
If Jon Pertwee's ability to Time Travel was stripped by the Time Lords, it begs the question about whether they really had
the capability to do so in the first place, since the TARDIS is mentally connected to the Doctor.

Also, why would it take 13 (14?) incarnations of the Doctor before apprehension by a supposedly skilled space enforcement group?

 

[darkshadows38]

i like the timeless child to be honest that idea i like cause than you can continue the show on for as long as you want or before it gets cancelled and with another reboot one day they can pick it up right and it still can be Cannon. i didn't want Russell T. Davies back i don't hate the man either i just wanted a fresh face someone who knows the show but who can do a good job i dunno who i'd want but not someone who had already did it before