Doctor Who

Same with me! Took him to the Dr Who exhibition in Cardiff about ten years ago, that was a great day out.

He is happy today, he didn't have a problem with a female Dr Who, but he has told me the writing has been poor and one episode even managed to junk like 50 plus years of previous Dr Who history, which really annoyed him.

There was a discussion in the paper recently that maybe it was time to call it a day, again, like in the late-80s, but I hope it continues, with a new team behind it and a new Dr Who.

Went to Cardiff 3 time when holidaying in Bournemouth - I enjoyed Cardiff more lol - also went to the Life Centre in Newcastle up the road from us when it was there - it is all a bit Meh for me. Oh and I have taken him to a couple of conventions. And no he isn't "on the spectrum" he got a first at Uni and manages a superstore for Sainsbury's its just - to my eternal regret - Dr Who is his City
 
Went to Cardiff 3 time when holidaying in Bournemouth - I enjoyed Cardiff more lol - also went to the Life Centre in Newcastle up the road from us when it was there - it is all a bit Meh for me. Oh and I have taken him to a couple of conventions. And no he isn't "on the spectrum" he got a first at Uni and manages a superstore for Sainsbury's its just - to my eternal regret - Dr Who is his City

This is so weird!

That last thing you wrote, I could have typed it! but luckily my younger son does follow City and does enjoy football, when he is not on his computer games that is. We were discussing earlier that its now only 2 weeks till the season starts... Yey!

The other weird thing: my Dr Who obsessed son is on the spectrum! But not severely - he is still doing his education, but I hope he is successful too.
 
This is so weird!

That last thing you wrote, I could have typed it! but luckily my younger son does follow City and does enjoy football, when he is not on his computer games that is. We were discussing earlier that its now only 2 weeks till the season starts... Yey!

The other weird thing: my Dr Who obsessed son is on the spectrum! But not severely - he is still doing his education, but I hope he is successful too.

I hope your son's education continues well Pat.... Son was born in Bournemouth in the 90's and moved to N Yorks when about 6....... footie wasn't massive in those places in that time and unlike my Dad I wasn't on City's doorstep so couldn't indoctrinate him like I was lol.......he still gets it though we went out for meal for his birthday on Monday night and he was telling me about a lad he works with in Haxby near York. The lad's a rag and when he told my son he said " why don't you support you local team York? " then he made me proud by saying he went on to say " United aren't even successful these days you are not even a glory hunter"................bubbling under there I feel there is a Blue
 
I totally agree. There were a couple of episodes in the Christopher Eccleston run (such a shame he only did the one series) set in World Way II called 'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances' which are not just my favourite Dr Who episodes, they are probably - for me - 90 minutes of the best TV ever (not including football, obviously)!

Perfect storyline, great acting, two-parts (so the story isn't rushed), very scary! but with a happy ending. Also introduced the Captain Jack character (you mentioned Eve Myles) which led to Torchwood and that had its moments too.

Just as some of my happiest childhood memories revolve around Saturday night TV with John Pertwee (whom I just remember) and then Tom Baker, I hope these shows are the same for my kids - when everything seemed a little better in the world (with the exception of Man City of course)!



Same with me! Took him to the Dr Who exhibition in Cardiff about ten years ago, that was a great day out.

He is happy today, he didn't have a problem with a female Dr Who, but he has told me the writing has been poor and one episode even managed to junk like 50 plus years of previous Dr Who history, which really annoyed him.

There was a discussion in the paper recently that maybe it was time to call it a day, again, like in the late-80s, but I hope it continues, with a new team behind it and a new Dr Who.


60th Anniversary coming up soon. New Doctor, showrunner etc It's a cash cow for the BBC as it's now popular in the US. It wont be cancelled yet. Either that or rest it on a high getting a one off special multi doctor story as a loving tribute before resting it for a decade for a new generation to pick up and reboot.
 
Love Doctor Who - username is a reference to it! - but happy to see this team moving on. It just never quite gelled, from the writing to the acting to the direction. And yeah, the less said about the Timeless Child plotline the better. For me the show peaked as a cultural entity under RTD, then peaked as a work of art under Moffat (who wrote The Empty Child, @patrickkinney) and then struggled to do either under Chibnall. Time for a big rethink for the next era.
 
Love Doctor Who - username is a reference to it! - but happy to see this team moving on. It just never quite gelled, from the writing to the acting to the direction. And yeah, the less said about the Timeless Child plotline the better. For me the show peaked as a cultural entity under RTD, then peaked as a work of art under Moffat (who wrote The Empty Child, @patrickkinney) and then struggled to do either under Chibnall. Time for a big rethink for the next era.

I assume the Timeless Child thing works for the completists and maybe those new to it, but it seemed more than a bit jarring to me.

Whittaker has suffered from the writing being inconsistent, and too many companions - Capaldi also was hamstrung by the writing being shallow - his last episodes were excellent though as there was thought involved in them. I don't think Chibnall will be missed. I think they need to tone down the attempts at 'zany' which pepper episodes and detract from the story.

Davies had a huge benefit of being first in the restart, but I was largely unimpressed with the soap opera when it turned into the Rose Tyler Show, lost in a different dimension, brought back, etc. The better episodes were not of his making (cf the Empty Child you mention, Blink - both Moffat).
 
I assume the Timeless Child thing works for the completists and maybe those new to it, but it seemed more than a bit jarring to me.

Whittaker has suffered from the writing being inconsistent, and too many companions - Capaldi also was hamstrung by the writing being shallow - his last episodes were excellent though as there was thought involved in them. I don't think Chibnall will be missed. I think they need to tone down the attempts at 'zany' which pepper episodes and detract from the story.

Davies had a huge benefit of being first in the restart, but I was largely unimpressed with the soap opera when it turned into the Rose Tyler Show, lost in a different dimension, brought back, etc. The better episodes were not of his making (cf the Empty Child you mention, Blink - both Moffat).

I don't think the Timeless Child works for anyone, to be honest. Just a bad idea on every level. I expect it to be filed immediately alongside "The Doctor is half-human" from the TV movie - just don't mention it again, and we'll be rite.

I agree on much of what you say, but HEAVILY disagree that the writing for Capaldi was shallow. In fact, I'd say it was the most thoughtful and complex writing the show has ever had. The way his character arc worked, not just as a simple progression from grumpy/less-grumpy/nice, but played out as a genuine search for his soul is beautiful to me. In S8, he doesn't know who he is, but at the end he thinks he finds out - the idiot with a box. But in S9, he over-corrects. He tries to be too nice, too open, and as Clara said - "this isn't you". S9 is all about the inner darkness of the Doctor being shown through grief. Think about how almost every episode that season has the theme of death and our reactions to it - Davros dying, the ghosts in the base, the immortal woman, and then obviously the finale. It's the only season of the show with a genuinely consistent literary theme to the writing. And in the end, it's only by letting go of his toxic bond with Clara that he can really find himself and become "The Doctor" again. It's two seasons of intricate character arcs, subtle self-discovery, all woven together into a final three-part finale that is, to me, the only time Doctor Who has been genuinely prestige television.

And then S10 was Moffat just chilling and making a simple series of telly for a change, which was nice. I do think the show needed a refresh after his intense vision but sadly Chibnall wasn't able to convincingly provide it. A lot of his era ended up feeling like diluted immitations of the RTD/Moffat years.
 
I don't think the Timeless Child works for anyone, to be honest. Just a bad idea on every level. I expect it to be filed immediately alongside "The Doctor is half-human" from the TV movie - just don't mention it again, and we'll be rite.

I agree on much of what you say, but HEAVILY disagree that the writing for Capaldi was shallow. In fact, I'd say it was the most thoughtful and complex writing the show has ever had. The way his character arc worked, not just as a simple progression from grumpy/less-grumpy/nice, but played out as a genuine search for his soul is beautiful to me. In S8, he doesn't know who he is, but at the end he thinks he finds out - the idiot with a box. But in S9, he over-corrects. He tries to be too nice, too open, and as Clara said - "this isn't you". S9 is all about the inner darkness of the Doctor being shown through grief. Think about how almost every episode that season has the theme of death and our reactions to it - Davros dying, the ghosts in the base, the immortal woman, and then obviously the finale. It's the only season of the show with a genuinely consistent literary theme to the writing. And in the end, it's only by letting go of his toxic bond with Clara that he can really find himself and become "The Doctor" again. It's two seasons of intricate character arcs, subtle self-discovery, all woven together into a final three-part finale that is, to me, the only time Doctor Who has been genuinely prestige television.

And then S10 was Moffat just chilling and making a simple series of telly for a change, which was nice. I do think the show needed a refresh after his intense vision but sadly Chibnall wasn't able to convincingly provide it. A lot of his era ended up feeling like diluted immitations of the RTD/Moffat years.

Maybe it was just the direction then, as I thought Capaldi himself was fine and outdoing what he had to work with. The underlying impression I had was that the 45 minute format makes things feel rushed without time to breathe.
I thought the Me character was quite dreadful though.

I get the impression that sometimes the writing isn't done in relation to the next/former episodes - not as obviously as the Tennant era when Rose got a stern talking to about trying to change the past, only to do exactly the same thing in the next episode - unforgiveable really.
 
A chance to air my joke I tried on the kids (minus the swear word)

Knock knock!

Who's there?

Exterminate!

Exterminate who

Bollocks, I've fucked up the Dr Who joke!
 
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I don't think the Timeless Child works for anyone, to be honest. Just a bad idea on every level. I expect it to be filed immediately alongside "The Doctor is half-human" from the TV movie - just don't mention it again, and we'll be rite.

I agree on much of what you say, but HEAVILY disagree that the writing for Capaldi was shallow. In fact, I'd say it was the most thoughtful and complex writing the show has ever had. The way his character arc worked, not just as a simple progression from grumpy/less-grumpy/nice, but played out as a genuine search for his soul is beautiful to me. In S8, he doesn't know who he is, but at the end he thinks he finds out - the idiot with a box. But in S9, he over-corrects. He tries to be too nice, too open, and as Clara said - "this isn't you". S9 is all about the inner darkness of the Doctor being shown through grief. Think about how almost every episode that season has the theme of death and our reactions to it - Davros dying, the ghosts in the base, the immortal woman, and then obviously the finale. It's the only season of the show with a genuinely consistent literary theme to the writing. And in the end, it's only by letting go of his toxic bond with Clara that he can really find himself and become "The Doctor" again. It's two seasons of intricate character arcs, subtle self-discovery, all woven together into a final three-part finale that is, to me, the only time Doctor Who has been genuinely prestige television.

And then S10 was Moffat just chilling and making a simple series of telly for a change, which was nice. I do think the show needed a refresh after his intense vision but sadly Chibnall wasn't able to convincingly provide it. A lot of his era ended up feeling like diluted immitations of the RTD/Moffat years.
I think Chibnall was trying to extend the shows longevity and went the wrong way about it.

I'm a huge fan of the show since watching it from Peter Davison's era. New showrunner with new ideas and another reboot with nods to the past will sort it. But who wants to do it?

I suspect the BBC will want a female showrunner and we'll get another female actor for the Doctor. Which is fine by me. Just needs the stories to be consistently good.
 
Whittaker is a perfectly capable actress in attack the block or Broadchurch. Chibnall a competent writer. Why then are they so god awful together. The scripts are what a story is judged by and arguably since Capaldi they've been much of a muchness. It doesn't help when the team of companions are in the main reduced to ciphers doing what the plot dictates.

Bradley Walsh is the exception though. With a background in comedy he handles drama well. Too well as his Graham outshines the Doctor. She is incredibly passive and it's as if the Doctor is the companion to the sidekicks.

It the series is to continue it needs to get back to string storytelling. Everything else flows from this cornerstone. Don't think Moffat was a great show runner but he could write as shown by The Doctor Dances/The Empty Child and my personal favourite Blink. The Weeping Angels are up there with the very best of the monsters. How many other memorable ones have there been? The Cybermen look like generic robots now and each new Dalek redesign gets progressively worse.

Hopefully the series can rediscover its mojo. But it now appears to be more about shifting merchandise than creating decent television.
 
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Stopped watching the reboot a few years ago when they introduced the flying Dalek, then, the Daleks seemed to be in nearly every show. Watched the first of each new doctor's episode, but haven't made it to the end of a couple of those first episodes.
All a bit too childish for me now. But, I am an old git.
 
Well, if you're going to actually try and formulate a point - an admirable effort for you, as I can see - then you're simply factually wrong. Doctor Who is a family show that was literally invented by the BBC to bridge the gap between children's adventure shows and adult drama. It was always meant, from conception, to be a show that painted in pure strokes bold enough to capture a child's imagination but also engage adults as well. Which is exactly what it's done for nearly sixty years.

So, look - just because you're sad enough to care about other people putting stock into things that you don't, doesn't mean anyone else has to abide by it. Doctor Who is perfectly capable of beautiful writing and drama, and frequently has over the last six decades - and by the way, so is writing for children. As anyone who's a professional writer (such as me, hello!) will tell you, writing for kids doesn't mean writing worse, it means writing better. Doctor Who is a show aimed at kids. Doctor Who contains some beautiful writing and character arcs. Ironically, it's the sign of an infantile mind not to be able to hold these two concepts simultaneously.

Now why don't you go and talk to someone about something you are passionate about, rather than banging your head against the wall about something you aren't? Life's too short, trust me.

Danke shun.
Was a big part of our family when our boys were growing up and I was a big fan of all the doctors of the modern era up to and including Capaldi who I thought was great in the role but let down by some of the writing. Funnily enough Tennant was probably my least favourite but the rest of the family thought he was best.

Whittakers arrival was coincidental with the boys being older and less likely to join us for a TV event but I also thought it had lost something by then as well, nothing to do with her gender, probably the writing as well.

Agree with all you say on here and like your analysis. Anyway, I won’t clog up the thread, think I’ll go and slag off something I’m not interested in just for the hell of it
 
Only last year I realised the Cybermen were not real
However Iam married to a Cyberwoman!!
 
Was a big part of our family when our boys were growing up and I was a big fan of all the doctors of the modern era up to and including Capaldi who I thought was great in the role but let down by some of the writing. Funnily enough Tennant was probably my least favourite but the rest of the family thought he was best.

Whittakers arrival was coincidental with the boys being older and less likely to join us for a TV event but I also thought it had lost something by then as well, nothing to do with her gender, probably the writing as well.

Agree with all you say on here and like your analysis. Anyway, I won’t clog up the thread, think I’ll go and slag off something I’m not interested in just for the hell of it

I think the thing with Capaldi is that his first series has two or three genuinely terrible episodes and that sort of stuck in people's mind because the show needed a strong run to market the new, not-as-marketable Doctor at the time. But overall, I genuinely do think the writing for Capaldi is the strongest the show has ever had. Best character arcs, best theming, most complex antagonists, etc. S9 in particular is just... chef's kiss. But in fairness, it's an era very much for people who love the show and are willing to watch drama that hangs around questions of identity like "What does it mean to be The Doctor?". It's a far cry from the rip-roaring, please-all Saturday night telly that RTD provided.

Whittaker's era just never came together for me, really. From the writing, to the music, to the acting, it felt like everything was just made to vaguely emulate the RTD era without any real voice of it's own. If I was to rank the writing quality of the modern Doctors:

1. Capaldi (Moffat)
2. Eccleston (RTD)
3. Smith (Moffat)
4. Tennant (RTD)
5. Whittaker (Chibnall)
 
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Chibnall was a terrible choice, every episode he wrote was god awful and bland prior to taking over and then decided to rewrite the cannon completely.

His more adult orientated shows like broardchurch and torchwood he was good at, I don't think he understood how crazy and judgemental sci-fi fanbases are of you mess with the traditional expectation

As for whitaker, let down with poor writing and character style, yet when they introduced Jo Martin as a female Doctor they got it spot on., also Missy worked as a female Master.
 

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