I was excited for Whittaker although Gatwa was a bit of a surprise. They both clearly tried their best but suffered from bad writing and Gatwa from some very strange production decisions (especially with the companions).
In the end, they were the best parts of some really bad seasons. Of anyone to blame, they should be the last. I blame the writers and the showrunners.
It’s really hard to act well when there’s an anchor of shit writing and worse storytelling around your neck.
Whittaker should receive far more praise for turning complete shit into “meh”
She had a fantastic energy and terrible stories to show it in
she complained about it on some interview she was planning to ditch the show during her 1st season, im guessing she stuck till the ned.
Rule of Acquisition #17 is "A contract is a contract is a contract”
I’ve not watched the show since Capaldi since I felt like he’s a good Doctor stuck with bad writing. Shame to see that that’s still seems to be the case 2 Doctors on.
Even Matt had bad writing hamper his run towards the end, he was still brilliant but the writing did him no favors. Although it’s debatable that any of the doctors, even before the revival with Eccleston, have had consistently good stories
Although that’s fair, they had a solid formula that they stuck to, and that at least worked reliably. After Capaldi, the formula went out the window, and they started doing all kinds of crazy shit that definitely did not work and was not reliable. Especially with how they handled the writing for the companions.
I also really liked Capaldi
I think Capaldi has some of the best storylines in the show. The one where he’s stuck in the time maze and has to chip away at the diamond wall, everything with river song. Everything with Clara. The silence aren’t quite as good as the weeping Angels but that was a pretty good storyline. Definitely got weak towards the end, the whole bill Potts season was pretty rough, but the puddle girl story was pretty memorable. Capaldi is my favorite doctor hands down but I think his seasons have some of the best writing too, interspersed with maybe some of the worst.
Hell Bent and Heaven Sent (the two parter where he’s stuck in a maze for 900 years) and Clara’s 3-season long Impossible Girl storyline are maybe my favorites of the whole damned show. And, of course, river song.
they had pretty bad writing but some of the shows ARCs had promise, it just dint turn out the way it should. ncuti was kinda the weakest show.
I was disappointed they didnt make him kinda evil. In his first episode where he just straight abandoned his companion for a while i thought it was going to get really spicy.
Granted I never got round to finishing the season so it could still have gone that way, I’ll need to get on it one day
Capaldi honestly the writer was more like they fumbled the long plots, but isolated plots they HIT
Through the Whittaker time I stopped watching. It wasn’t her, it was by far the show runner and writing.
The Doctor who has murdered entire civilizations suddenly so anti violence at all. The whiney companions. Every episode a thousand plus year old being was constantly surprised and didn’t know anything about what she encountered.
It just didn’t feel like the same show anymore.
Gatwa was the one who got the worst companions. First, far too many. And each had absurdly complicated backstories, enough so each one could have their own spinoff series. There was no time for actual Doctor Who stories! So much time for each episode was dedicated to talking about one or the other of the companions, there was no screen time for anything else. And it was such a complicated mess that hardly any of it made any sense, and I couldn’t find time to care.
And when we finally did get to the main storyline, so little time was left, it was rushed silly nonsense. We hardly got to know Gatwa’s Doctor because he was rarely on screen. What a waste.
I barely watched him, I felt so uninterested in the show that it wasn’t able to get me to care again.
But I feel this happened before either of them. Capaldi had some less than stellar writing too.
Capaldi had a few episodes that weren’t that great, but at least he had some great ones too. And the classic dynamic of the show was still there. Both Capaldi and his companion were excellent. I really liked the Clara storylines. She was a compelling character, and I think they wrapped up the Impossible Girl storyline pretty well. I think Jenna Coleman did a great job.
But when they switched up showrunners, that all went out the window. Everything changed, and not for the better.
My all time favorite was Peter Davidson, his era had some of the best writing, but unfortunately the worst budget. I remember watching an interview where they wanted a brake from the Tom Baker era where the Sonic and K9 became all powerful magic devices to get out of any scrape, and I think it worked and forced the writers / Doctor to be more clever. It was getting back to Sonic Screwdriver magic well before Capaldi and Whittaker, and a lot of Capaldi’s writing was crap but he still had a few good stories, but Wittaker had nothing to work with. I haven’t seen any of Gatwa’s episodes. Death to the Sonic Screwdriver!
Rather sedate for him, he’s previously said that if you’re gonna be a regressive bitch then doctor who isn’t for you and you can fuck off (paraphrased)
That’s a great line.
Both great Doctors. Ncuti Gatwa’s run suffered from some pretty mediocre writing, but that’s hardly his fault. He was great.
Whittaker’s run lost me a few episodes in, but I’ve since gone back and watched it and it was alright. Jodie herself was great so I hope she’ll still return in future collaboration stuff I’m sure they’re get around to at some point. I thought Gatwa’s run was much better, although they completely botched the ending. I can only assume that’s because he left, but it really doesn’t work. (Not blaming him for leaving, they gave him a shit deal by not renewing.)
It’s been a while since I watched it, but I feel like I remember some kind of jarring religious undertones in Gatwa’s run that felt out of place. It did also just kinda feel a bit Disney, and I’m not a fan.
he sounded too much like a good two shoes.
iirc the writers found out that this would be the last season with Ncuti so the ending had to be changed at the last minute.
suffered from some pretty mediocre
That’s a very generous take…
i think he was the weakest doctor/acting, kinda overacts quite alot to cringe. whittaker was better, but she had pretty bad writing/direction as well, and jodie herself dint like the way doctor who was going. however the series in general did include some interesting villians, concepts that were better actors than he was.
It’s not that they care about Doctor Who
It’s that they actively hate women and minorities.
I don’t really think the casting has been the problem.
The best thing about the show is that the doctor will eventually be replaced, so if you don’t like the current one, wait for a few years and there’ll be a new one.
Personally, I didn’t like the tenth doctor nearly as much as the ninth or eleventh, but hey, the show kept on going.
They’re planning an episodic series with 100+ guest stars adding their own spin on The Doctor. No idea if it will run or how it will turn out.
In my mind, even “bad” iterations of a thing I like are better than nothing at all, because that means it will have the opportunity to change in the future instead of just being gone forever. This goes for DW, Star Wars, etc.
And “fans” that throw fits about their pet show not doing exactly what they want at all times aren’t fans at all, they’re just control freaks. The unfortunate thing is that praise is often less freely given than criticism, so the viewpoint of happy fans ends up being drowned out in the fracas. I try to do my part, but it does feel like shouting into the wind sometimes.
Capaldi’s my favourite Doctor.
I also like capaldi. I think people didn’t like that Capaldi’s darkness didn’t have that sort of balance that Tenant’s doctor did, because he was dark, too.
I just think a lot of people didn’t get Capaldi‘s very dry humor
I didn’t like when they cast Capaldi as The Doctor because he had played a Roman Pompeian in a past episode. Then I got over it because he was good and who cares.
wibbley wobbley timey wimey, I say
We can find two non related people having the same face nowadays, let alone across time and space. Most faces are recycled from our ancestors anyway.
Oh, yeah, I read that article about doppelgängers the other day. Creeped me out a bit, lol
There is a large subculture of young men who think all speculative fiction should be about white males.
They should have backlash against the writing, not the actors. They literally hired soap opera writers to write the damn show.
