Television Doctor Who

Doctor Who, in its current run, pre-Capaldi, had some dark s**t, especially in the RTD writing era. Nothing feels brutally cold and indifferent anymore. Nothing genuinely scary. It's not good fantasy, it's not good sci-fi, not good horror-ish, and not a good story. We've reached a point in entertainment culture where almost every new season of a show feels the need to be a social pariah. They want to tell, not show; quite the opposite of the golden rule, show and don't tell.

People watch this show to feel enveloped in fantasy. Where's that gone?

I'd give anything to see RTD back at the helm. At least you know what you're going to get.
 
Welsh Wonder said:
is it me or was the dialogue ridiculously bad in this episode?
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Yeah the episode dragged a bit too i thought.

The wiring has jut been so poor all season it's hard to believe professional writers could have produced the garbage they have come up with . Unless they really just did not care at all
 
My word, this is utter shit.

The writing is a disgrace & their attempts at joke are shit. You get the odd poor episode each season, but this year it's the odd decent episode surrounded by a shower of shit.
 
Started to rewatch from season one of the modern era and wow it was so much better than this seasons its crazy
 
Poor one this week and lots of rumours Chibnall is leaving after this season with all the flak he has taken for the writing .

Will be interesting as Jodie has always she will leave when he does .. Surely not?
 
lsd said:
Poor one this week and lots of rumours Chibnall is leaving after this season with all the flak he has taken for the writing .

Will be interesting as Jodie has always she will leave when he does .. Surely not?
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I fecking hope so. This has easily been the worst season since it started again.
 
I actually thought the last two have been better, although the first half of the season was just not good at all.
 
I liked that episode until we got to the Budweiser frog.
 
Season finale tomorrow? WTF, it feels like doctor who just started with last week's episode.
 
Average finale to a very poor season.

I said it at the start, 3 companions is too many. Graham & Ryan offer nothing to the story, Yaz has been decent so I’d like them to keep her & get rid of the other 2.

I thought Jodie did a decent job with plenty of shit writing & shit stories. However, I think they need to improve her version of the Doctor - too often she’s ‘I don’t know...’ or ‘I’m not sure...’ & I’ve noticed every episode she ends up talking gibberish to herself trying to be funny. I put all this down to the crap writing, but she seems to be forcing it a bit at times too. Wish they’d dial it back (imo trying to hard to be like Tennant) & let her be her own person.
 
ha_rooney said:
Average finale to a very poor season.

I said it at the start, 3 companions is too many. Graham & Ryan offer nothing to the story, Yaz has been decent so I’d like them to keep her & get rid of the other 2.

I thought Jodie did a decent job with plenty of shit writing & shit stories. However, I think they need to improve her version of the Doctor - too often she’s ‘I don’t know...’ or ‘I’m not sure...’ & I’ve noticed every episode she ends up talking gibberish to herself trying to be funny. I put all this down to the crap writing, but she seems to be forcing it a bit at times too. Wish they’d dial it back (imo trying to hard to be like Tennant) & let her be her own person.
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Well, they certainly won't lack for time to address those issues, it seems. Series 12 will not be broadcast until 'early 2020'. So apart from the New Year's Day special there will be no new Doctor Who in 2019. The hiatus in 2016 was damaging enough to the ratings for Capaldi's final year, doing so after one series with a new Doctor and showrunner -effectively a soft reboot - is even more of a momentum-killer.
 
Reader's review:
I really wanted to like the new Doctor but this episode killed that chance. I have a nearly infinite amount of problems with it such as how does a Dalek that was built in a shed, have guided missiles, the ability to hover and all its other gadgets. How does a unit of military personnel and a Scimitar fall in seconds but a few people manage to charge and keep hold of it and then kill it with a microwave. And just the forced millennial jokes like the horribly acted WiFi scene or the fact that the Doctor calls people “fam”.
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:lol:
 
That was the shittiest christmas special I've ever seen. It was so uninspiring and devoid of any kind of enjoyment that it actually made me miss Moffat and his overly-complicated piles of trash
 
How long has Whittaker's Doctor been wearing the Rainbow LGBTQ scarf?

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Hoof The Ball said:
How long has Whittaker's Doctor been wearing the Rainbow LGBTQ scarf?

17009053-high_res-doctor-who.jpg
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Long enough for Chinballs or whatever his name is to forget to spend time writing decent episodes.

I love the inclusivity of Who but feck me actually try and attempt to produce something that can stand on the strengths of its narrative alone if it needs to.
 
Mr Pigeon said:
Long enough for Chinballs or whatever his name is to forget to spend time writing decent episodes.

I love the inclusivity of Who but feck me actually try and attempt to produce something that can stand on the strengths of its narrative alone if it needs to.
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That's essentially the point, isn't it? Social narratives take the form within the context of the story and not the story itself, however, this season the social narratives have become the story.

Truly great directors, writers and producers understand that story trumps everything and never sacrifice that. Spike Lee, for example, would be a great example of that.
 
Hoof The Ball said:
That's essentially the point, isn't it? Social narratives take the form within the context of the story and not the story itself, however, this season the social narratives have become the story.

Truly great directors, writers and producers understand that story trumps everything and never sacrifice that. Spike Lee, for example, would be a great example of that.
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Chibnall said a couple of days ago that "you want to write about the world we live in" as if he's the first person to do it. And that's the problem because he probably thinks that he'll be hailed has a revolutionary because the subtleties in other sci-fi shows have gone over his head. I don't care how great Broadchurch is, he can't write an episode of Doctor Who.
 
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The Recon Dalek spiel, and alot of the Deus ex machina this season, sounds alot like when you were a kid and there was that one arsehole who used to say "you can't tag me, I'm wearing a super tag prevention force field that protects me and also gives me magic powers".
 
Chinballs, my god Pigeon :lol::lol:

Also agree with all your points but that's less important than Chinballs.
 
Was chatting to a barmaid in the local the other day. I said I stopped watching ages ago and she got in a right strop.

Took ages to get her to understand I thought the writing was shit and not that I had a problem with a female lead.

For what it's worth I think she could be really good but not with those scripts.
 
I haven't seen yesterdays episode yet but I have to say I don't think the series is that bad. I quite enjoy it - its a bit of fun. My favourite is still the Russell T Davies era but this isn't bad at all. It is hands down better than Moffats last few seasons.
 
I actually quite enjoyed her first season as the Doctor. It was cringy and the dialogue was pretty poor overall but it brought the fun back again plus it was packed full of educational value which is what Doctor Who should really be all about. The New Year special and the episode last night? More of the same but dear lord the cringe levels were off the charts and the NY special was terrible.
 
Hoof The Ball said:
She's a good actress in general (Broadchurch) but they're not helping her by telling her to essentially do impressions of Tennant.
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She’s certainly is though that's not really a bad thing I suppose .

The writing is more to blame . I know he is supposed to be a huge fan and has written before for the show but since he took over it just does not feel like Doctor Who
 
Last nights episode was just dreadful. I've seen it described as fan fiction but to me it seems more like its written by someone who has a really low opinion of the show and it's viewers. How did that last speech get past editing?

The sooner they get new writers the better but i feel like Jodie has given him an out for any criticism.
 
Smores said:
Last nights episode was just dreadful. I've seen it described as fan fiction but to me it seems more like its written by someone who has a really low opinion of the show and it's viewers. How did that last speech get past editing?
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The worst thing about that last speech is that it was so predictable. I’m for taking action but it was so forced and just awfully written.

Up there with the whole Nazi stuff in the special and using a perception filter as an excuse. Whoever wrote that...fecking hell.
 
lsd said:
She’s certainly is though that's not really a bad thing I suppose .

The writing is more to blame . I know he is supposed to be a huge fan and has written before for the show but since he took over it just does not feel like Doctor Who
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It's just terrible.
I love Doctor Who and pretty much have no quality control in regard to the show. I even like the dark days of early McCoy because at least landmines that turn people into trees on an 80s BBC budget is funny. This has no soul, it's careless and badly written and, despite Jodie doing her best, I barely recognise this character as the Doctor. Where is her morality?
The tube sign reveal was identical to the reveal in "The Mysterious Planet" and I was immediately comparing the episode. If your episode compares unfavourably to anything from "Trial of a Timelord" where Colin Baker chuntered whilst dressed like a fecking clown as Peri was turned into a bird before inexplicably married Brian Blessed off screen then it is a very shit episode indeed.
Please feck off now Mr. Chibnall.
 
I signed up to britbox just to watch all their episodes . Finished season 4 with Hartwell and on Troughton now .

Once you get past the black and white screen and not so special effects the story lines are really good

I think most of the Troughton ones have been destroyed which is a shame as he does a fantastic Doctor
 
lsd said:
I signed up to britbox just to watch all their episodes . Finished season 4 with Hartwell and on Troughton now .

Once you get past the black and white screen and not so special effects the story lines are really good

I think most of the Troughton ones have been destroyed which is a shame as he does a fantastic Doctor
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He is. Web of Fear might be my favourite story ever.
 
Finally started watching Jodie's DW...

:nervous: Does it get better later on?
reading some of the posts here, doesn't seem it will.
sigh, I just wanted to have fun watching a fun adventure, not to be lectured, priority is wrong with this series.
 
Web of Bissaka said:
Finally started watching Jodie's DW...

:nervous: Does it get better later on?
reading some of the posts here, doesn't seem it will.
sigh, I just wanted to have fun watching a series, not to be lectured.
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I was a big fan of Eccleston and Tennant, but there's been such a dive in the quality of writing in the new ones. Doctor Who should've always stayed as a male character, a female doctor was never going to work in a million years, it's like turning James Bond into a woman.
 
luke511 said:
I was a big fan of Eccleston and Tennant, but there's been such a dive in the quality of writing in the new ones. Doctor Who should've always stayed as a male character, a female doctor was never going to work in a million years, it's like turning James Bond into a woman.
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I really wanted it to work. I had no problem with a female Doctor and I think she is actually good. The problem is the scripts and I had to stop watching - was a shame I really wanted it to work.
 
I've only watched season 1 (of the modern Doctor Who). Is it worth watching more seasons and if or when does it start going downhill?
 
0le said:
I've only watched season 1 (of the modern Doctor Who). Is it worth watching more seasons and if or when does it start going downhill?
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Tennent is one of the best Doctors so it is worth staying at it . I was never that keen on Matt Smith but he was ok and Capaldi was excellent bar the storylines.

Have only seen a few of Jodie Whittakers and don't feel the need to watch any more . She seems ok but the writing is absolutely terrible and it just is not Doctor Who at all
 
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