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Doctor Who - Warning, Spoilers!

As to the social message preaching this season, l am more annoyed by 3 companions than the preaching. In my view of the Who universe, the Doctor has ONE companion. If it was Whittaker and Yaz, I think I'd enjoy the season more. On the other hand, while I liked Whittaker in Broadchurch, she still hasn't won me over as the Doctor. I wish they could have found a way to make Alex Kingston the 1st female Doctor. Besides River Song, I liked Kingston in Chasing Shadows and think she would have made a great Doctor. I even think Yaz would have made a good Doctor.
 
Given the blatant social message preaching that abounds this season I'm really surprised that they settled for just making the Doctor a white woman. Why didn't they go for socio-political correctness/diversity trifecta gold by making the Doctor a lesbian woman of color? They could have added a handicap of some kind and and patted themselves on the back for achieving a quadruple platinum initiative! Of course I (sorta) jest but I wouldn't at all be suprised if I learned that it had been seriously discussed. Baby steps ..... baby steps .....

I very much appreciated that the last episode was pretty much a straight-up science fiction adventure story. Unless I missed it there weren't any preachy causes thrown in unless you want to count the blind girl as a diversity plug but I overlooked that. The 3 companions thing doesn't really bother me but it does get a bit clunky. I'm still not convinced that Whittaker is right for the role. I'm definitely of the opinion that the blatant socio-political correctness agenda is ruining the show and has to go. Give us engaging entertainment, not preaching,lectures and opinion massages!
 
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Lots of great thoughts in this thread. I would like to add: Has anyone been disappointed with the music this season? I have seen a few youtube clips of the 13th doctor rescored with Murray Golds music and it works a bit better.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
As to the social message preaching this season, l am more annoyed by 3 companions than the preaching. In my view of the Who universe, the Doctor has ONE companion. If it was Whittaker and Yaz, I think I'd enjoy the season more. On the other hand, while I liked Whittaker in Broadchurch, she still hasn't won me over as the Doctor. I wish they could have found a way to make Alex Kingston the 1st female Doctor. Besides River Song, I liked Kingston in Chasing Shadows and think she would have made a great Doctor. I even think Yaz would have made a good Doctor.
Two companions are not unheard of- three may be a bit much. If I were to axe one, it would be Yaz. I like the Graham/Ryan dynamic. Being a stepfather, my grandkids are technically my step-grandchildren (though I don't see it that way- I have been there their whole life). I know that Graham came into the relationship late in Ryan's life, and it pleased me that he called Graham granddad in the last episode- it shows there is something building there. Plus, I like the idea of an older companion- Wilfred was one of my favorites. As to Alex Kingston- I can't explain why, but she has always raised my RPMs :lol:
 
I don't know, this show is becoming "Doctor Who Cares?" for me. If next season is like this one, I'm in no hurry to see more of it. I think I'll revisit the Eccleston, Tennant and Baker seasons.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
I don't know, this show is becoming "Doctor Who Cares?" for me. If next season is like this one, I'm in no hurry to see more of it. I think I'll revisit the Eccleston, Tennant and Baker seasons.
Capaldi's first year was painful, too. The writing was horrendous (IMO). I will wait until next season before making lasting decisions.
 
Capaldi's first year was painful, too. The writing was horrendous (IMO). I will wait until next season before making lasting decisions.

Capaldi's first year was indeed painful and sadly he took a back seat to the unbelievable, zero chemistry Clara/Pink romance story arc. I think that Capaldi was kind of screwed by the show runners and that there was a lot of unrealized potential there by their hands and at his expense. I don't think they ever totally knew how to write for him. He was saddled with the sonic sunglasses and the electric guitar which was just stupid and such a cliche story device. The PC/justice warrior agenda became much more blatant and in-your-face with his companion, a lesbian woman of color who went by a man's name. They had her announcing she was gay every other show it seemed. I never warmed to her as a companion and I never really felt the chemistry between her and Capaldi. There were some high points and good moments but I still think there was a lot of potential left on the table. I think he was better than what we saw on the TV screen. I would like to have seen what Russell T Davies or the earlier Steven Moffat would have done with him had he been in the earlier series of the show.
 
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I would like to have seen what Russel T Davies or the earlier Steven Moffat would have done with him had he been in the earlier series of the show.

I liked Capaldi. I agree that The sunglasses were just a dumb gimick and the writing was weak but he had a power and a presence behind him. This is what I'm missing from Jodi. I really hope that they/she grows into it. I'm afraid though because if you go look on some fan site (Like the one about the rumor linked above) they are Praising the PCness and talk about the fans loving the new series.
 
I liked Capaldi..... he had a power and a presence behind him. This is what I'm missing from Jodi.

Yes, this!

I really hope that they/she grows into it. I'm afraid though because if you go look on some fan site (Like the one about the rumor linked above) they are Praising the PCness and talk about the fans loving the new series.

There might be a lot of spinning going on out there. If you look at the ratings numbers they've been dropping steadily with each episode. I think from the first episode to the fifth, they lost 2 million viewers, a loss of 25% of their audience.
 
Capaldi's first year was indeed painful and sadly he took a back seat to the unbelievable, zero chemistry Clara/Pink romance story arc.
The really sad part was that Capaldi and Clara were pretty good together; it was Pink that didn't work and ate up screen time. I don't really blame the actor for it, I just think the people running things made a bad call.
 
The really sad part was that Capaldi and Clara were pretty good together; it was Pink that didn't work and ate up screen time. I don't really blame the actor for it, I just think the people running things made a bad call.
Yeah, I agree. I actually liked the "Impossible Girl" storyline. Someone who was present in all iterations of the Doctor's life, and she's not even aware of it. Very Who, IMO.
But Danny Pink? Ugh.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
Yeah, they don't even start filming the next season until early next year. To be honest, I'm okay with that. While the long breaks have frustrated me in the past, they need some time to right this ship. Ratings have been steadily falling all season to the point that the season finale only had something like 60% of the numbers that the season debut had.

That's no surprise, either. Frankly, this was not a good season. The first episode was so good that I watched it three times, but none of the others even came close. I very much enjoyed Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor, and there were a lot of good ideas throughout the season, but they pretty much wound up to be good ideas poorly done. The writing was not good, almost amateurish. A lot of the plots felt half-baked. Too much was left to tedious exposition. "It Takes You Away" just about did it for both me and my wife. The finale wasn't bad, but it made me wonder why they weren't doing something like that all season. We'll see how the New Year's Eve special goes, although I probably won't get a chance to watch it for a couple of days after.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed some of the episodes, but many of them just didn't cut it. It's gotten so bad that I'm expecting a bad episode and go in with a mind to see what's wrong rather than what's good. In other words, both I and the show actually need this extended break.
 
It concerns me that my 2 favorite episodes this season were Punjab and Rosa, the two episodes I thought I would dislike the most. Too many episodes this season started strong, but I found myself either dozing off or not caring by the end. 2020 gives me plenty of time to watch or rewatch the Tennant, Smith and Capaldi episodes. I also need to revisit Baker, since I haven't seen him since the 70's.
 
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