#I kind of want Moffat to write more DW episodes

[abumblebeeat221b]

okay, i'm sorry, but Boom was easily the best episode we've had in a long time. loved the interlocking logic, loved the AI stuff, the jabs against capitalism and war, the love of a father saving the day.

it's just a really compelling story. especially with the world looking the way it does. imho sci-fi is best when it is commenting on society and Boom absolutely delivered.

[a-student-out-of-time]

Though i am a proponent of the swap theory, at least at this moment, i would like to point out an anternative theory for the prosopagnosia speech.

Firstly, the prosopagnoisa will become relevant in a much later chapter

and secondly, Teruko is Mai Akasaki, or at least in her body. Which is a theory i’ve seen floated around before.

also, unrelated. in looking up Mai’s name to make sure i was spelling it correctly, i noticed some (flavor text? the page descrpitions? idk what they’re called, the text under the individual results in google) that heavily seems to agree with your stance of trust is good, actually.

“It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust no one at all.”

//First of all, thank you for your time and for providing a legit counter-argument. I really enjoy talking about this stuff ^^

//While I agree on the latter point, here's why I don't agree with this theory or that this is setup for later. I'm gonna take a break from theorizing and discuss writing, a subject near and dear to my heart.

//A concept that anyone who wants to tell a mystery is encouraged to learn about is narrative weight, which I've seen defined as "how much or how little attention the story/the narrator is giving to any particular event, situation, setting or emotion."

//Simply put, the more attention something is given in a story, the more important it's going to be. Some examples:

If something is given direct attention for a long-enough period of time, it's a plot point.

If something is given attention for long enough that we remember it, and then it comes back later, it's Chekhov's Gun

If somethings is given attention and then turns out not to be true in the way we were expecting, it's a Red Herring

If something is given attention and changes details that we initially believed about something previously established, it's a retcon

If something is given attention and never receives follow up, it's a forgotten or abandoned story beat

//Narrative weight should, in principle, be proportional to the role something is going to play in a particular story, though not always. Sometimes it's inversely proportional, where something will be given just enough attention that you may remember it, but it seems to slip by in favor of the more obvious examples. Then it turns out to be the key all along.

//That brings me to another concept: breadcrumb storytelling. This is the sort of narrative where you receive pieces of information that lead into one-another, and it's an effective means of keeping someone hooked to learn the answer.

//This is pretty common with serialized stories today, where you have one story leading into another and into another. Some writers specialize in this concept, such as Stephen Moffat, who became both famous and infamous for it on his run of Doctor Who and with Sherlock.

//The problem with breadcrumb storytelling is that it runs the risk of ultimately proving disappointing, and potentially undermining or even ruining the impact of the story in retrospect. I'm sure we've all had that happen, where we were waiting for a big reveal and the landing is badly botched.

//I bring all this up because it disappoints me how the idea of a done-in-one, where things like an episode of a show or a single issue of a comic can tell their own story with the time they're given, has largely fallen out of fashion. Now, people seem to expect there to be some kind of cliffhanger ending or setup for what comes next.

//Yes, one can argue that's necessary for serialized stories, but you can have your cake and eat it too. Small details can serve the main plot of the smaller story and contribute to the larger narrative at the same time. For another DW example, the Bad Wolf and Harold Saxon arcs were there across multiple episodes, but they never actively took time away from the story; they instead came together in the finale episodes.

//All that having been said, I like what Despair Time is doing. Chapter 1 did feel like a done-in-one, where it told a complete story and gave Teruko an arc, and also provided setup for the rest of the story. It really set her apart from other DR and fangan protags for it, and helped to establish the themes of the story, that this is about trust and betrayal.

//That brings me to Mai Akasaki, the mysterious redhead girl. Now, I can completely understand why people would be theorizing about her and what role she plays, and would suggest the prosopagnosia has something to do with it. I'm not going to say that's wrong, because there are so many directions it could go.

//That being said, there's a difference in terms of narrative weight here, and this isn't a case of things being inversely proportional. The reason why I don't think she plays a role in this chapter is because everything we know about Mai, we know from supplementary materials.

//Outside of the ARG on DT's tumblr or the bonus videos on their channel, the only thing we've seen of Mai was a brief flashback after Teruko was stabbed, and a hint that Teruko knew her. Her name hasn't even been said once in the main story yet.

//The secrets motive was definitely an opportunity for them to suggest that someone in the group isn't who they said they were, or was disguised and nobody remembers them, but we haven't gotten any like that, at least compared to the more plausible answers we've received.

//For comparison, Danganronpa Another had a better means of foreshadowing a hidden character. In Chapter 2, they found a yearbook in a locker, which belonged to Hanzo Kisaragi. That not only set up the later appearance of his son, Yamato, but also served to foreshadow early on that they weren't really in Hope's Peak Academy like they believed.

//By comparison, there's still been no hinting toward Mai as of yet. No indication that she's part of the game or that she's here disguised as anybody else, at least not so far. I also find it fairly unlikely that Teruko is actually Mai, because not only does her bad luck plague her in daily life, but we've gotten glimpses of how scarred and injured Teruko's body really is. To me, nothing about it suggests she's not who she says she is.

//I know there's the easy answer that she had her memories and identity erased, but we haven't established a means for that to be possible in this setting. I know I've made that connection in my own AU, but that's for a story I'm telling. DT hasn't confirmed that they have flashback lights, so I can't in good faith say that's a real possibility just yet.

//Here's where the prosopagnosia's narrative weight comes in. See, it did receive some hinting in Chapter 1, but it was small and done as just kind of a funny moment near the beginning, where Teruko couldn't remember who Charles was until Hu pointed out what he looked like.

//In comparison, Chapter 2 involved Teruko having a whole conversation with Veronika about how she thought the protag looked a lot like Teruko, Teruko was confused, and we learned that she really only differentiates people by hair color, eye color and clothes. Veronika then took the opportunity to ask, if she switched all those, would Teruko recognize her? And we got no confirmation as to whether or not she would.

//The reason I'm so insistent about this point is because not only have we not had any follow-up on that yet, but because the only people who investigated the body are the girl who can't recognize faces and the guy who had reasons to half-ass the investigation. And Rose, the only one who could put the issue to bed, didn't even want to see the body.

//There has been very little attention given to Mai so far, but comparatively a lot given to the fact that Teruko cannot differentiate faces. Too much narrative weight for me to feel like this isn't going to play a role in this chapter in particular, the same way the difference between a CD and DVD did last chapter.

//tl;dr version- I think some kind of switch had to take place this chapter and to involve the people here, because I can't see this being about someone who's had no foreshadowing or hinting toward their identity or their presence in the main story as of yet.

//That's just my stance on things as of now, but thank you for offering another possibility. I don't doubt that her prosopagnosia is going to play a major role in things later on, so ultimately, both theories might end up being right : P

[eightwholebreads]

doccy who thoughts

This series was basically fine so long as yo don't actually think about any of it. Moment to moment is fine but overall its like well okay what was all that even about. After the specials it ws very clear that this just wasn't going to be a good jumping on point for people. (idk maybe it is but idk because I've seen most of nuwho and that can't be undone). I do feel like if series 1 was written by RTD as a fan wanting to write for people his age and maybe younger then this series was written for their kids. Personally I'm not that fussed about the optimistic and energetic tone but whatever I can sit with it for 45 minutes a week fair enough.

This was a really weird series too. Of the 7 stories, the doctor more or less wasn't in 2 of them and completely immobilised in one AND those episodes were 3 in a row.

Episode opinions summary

Space babies: cringe. Didn't enjoy it. When they weren't doing the basic plot they were speedrunning dw lore. There was a couple of good ideas in there but I didn't enjoy it

Devil's chord: Okay. And probably not much better than okay. Maestro was alot of fun but the actual plot was kind of eh. The musical number at the end was fine and whatever. I didn't enjoy it but I'm sure someone out there did.

Boom: Good. I was wondering how moffat would trap ruby in a b plot and then she spent most of the episode unconscious

73 yards: Interesting but didn't do it for me at all. Whatever

Dot and bubble: The slug thing actually scared me a bit like imagine walking into something you're not even aware of augh. I'm sort of going back and forth on whether the racism twist was actually good or not. I watched josh must win by coincidence shortly before this episode and you could feel maybe similar thought processes in that show where several of the other contestants were saying stuff like Oh he just needs to try more and I don't think he's comfortable here so I hope he gets voted out. Like the thought processes sort of look similar from the outside where you can't see the underpinning mechanism and its one people can fall into from various different angles so when the underpinning mechanism turned out to just be space racists it was like oh so now we don't have to think about our own possible behaviour because they're doing it about this one specific and unacceptable thing. On the other hand it is made for all ages and keeping it simple means you're less likely to lose people and the final scene was pretty good. Basically most of my criticism boils down to "ah this episode didn't do what I thought it would" so whatever.

Rouge: Oh boy I sure hope the doctor and rouge flirting doesn't take up the whole episode. Romance isn't my thing but I can appreciate it as a little side dish to a decent episode... and then the romance takes up the whole episode

The legend of ruby sunday: setup. The time window scene was neat. Literally don't understand why classic fans were all Oh maybe the nuwho only peeps won't understand sutekh. Yeah they make it super clear he's the (probably egyptian) god of death. Easy to understand

Empire of death: Eh. The payoffs didn't really work. The solutions were cheap and based on lying to the audience. The final few scenes really worked. I don't particularly care for the drama stuff but they worked.

Excited for christmas? No not really but I'll still watch it and the next series. Not as actively irritating as the moffat era, not as crushingly dull as the chibnall era.

[llycaons]

I bet the kastarions don't even exist. watch.

<- FUCKING CALLED ITTTT

further moffat things: stupid quips about beaches

this appears to be a commentary on weapons manufacturing and capitalism but it's about as unrelated to actual political and economic realities as you'd expect for a dw episode

the performance between millie and ncuti during the handoff was MEMORIZING. the dialogue was a bit silly and quippy bc of moffat's influence when earlier I think it had been quite grounded,but the actors still pulled through

splice constantly calling her dad 'daddy' weirded me out not bc it's an unusual thing to call her dad but because she didn't sound like...a regular child asking, the syntax of the dialogue was just unnatural. like even saying 'him' a few times would have solved it but she said 'daddy' EVERY time she referred to him. and her acting was strangely bereft of emotion as well which could be anything from the writing to the directing to not wanting to push a young actor but it was a very odd scene and moffat writes kids kind of weird in other episodes so I think it's him

the bit about the church being an army was quite good ngl. the combat bit was quite confusing and even gatwa's fantastic acting couldn't make the scene anything besides a jumbled mess 😭

the stuff about ruby being tied to christmas magic is a big hazy in my mind but if you were there for my UC lb you know how disgusted I am at the idea of xtianity attaining Real Myth status in any fantasy cosmos so I did roll my eyes a bit at the snowflakes and such, and also what wasthe POINT. like??? it came out of nowhere and the doctor was like 'she can do that :)' and then that was the end of it

the skye boat song as the doctor's grounding method for this episode is one of the highlights. It's a lovely song, and it suits the eerie melancholy of the characters very well, especially with the performances

as clumsy and melodramatic a speech as this may be, I do love the core concept of an AL creating the conditions for endless warfare to continue profiting and continually killing people who are too expensive to keep alove. it's a little nonsensical, heavy-handed, and not relevant to actual war profiteering except in the sense that AI is used for military purposes, but the righteous anger of it all it satisfying. it could actually be saying more about private healthcare, but that doesn't really seem to be its focus

also moffat really tears into the concept of fighting blindly for a cause you don't understand out of baseless loyalty, which i can't even say I argue with. he may have been a bad showrunner and a weird misogynist and fond of annoyingly convoluted and self-important plots for the doctor, but a lot of his episodes and lines were definitely daring and memorable

the doctor reasoning with the AI by appealing to his fatherly sense of duty was...sorry but that was so dumb. HE WAS A COMPUTER GENERATED SIMULATION!! and you convinced him to somehow hack the system of an advanced weapons manufacturer by yelling DAD TO DAD at him a bunch of times!!!

don't HUSH her. you bitch

I'm going to be sick. WHO CARESSSS

not to be rude about how children process grief but is this kid like, stupid

oh my god so he saved the world by...talking at an AI really hard and making it remember it's based on a dad. okay. well it's doctor who after all

I think it was a mistake to limit gatwa's movement this entire episode. he's such an energetic, lively, physical actor - of course his subtler emotional parts were incredible, he was crying and gasping and singing the entire ep, but all this gesturing and running around and exclaiming is where he shines most naturally. I could just feel myself smiling so big when he started dashing around again!

the doctor seems meaner when moffat writes him but idk, maybe he has his little bitchy moments with RTD later too. but 14 has seemed so sweet and genuine and affectionate so far so this takes me aback

DON'T TRY TO BRING THAT BACK MOFFAT 🙄🙄🙄

WHAT THE FUCK?? MOFFAT????? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT LINE ABOUT?? I know moffat likes doing his 'haha Cool Woman has snarky comments about the stupid infants men in her life' but a white woman saying this about a black man is so fucking out of line. god DAMN. don't let moffat back in the writer's room...ever, maybe?

wellat least they end on a nice scene...

yeah it makes sense this was a moffat one. the convoluted technology...the doctor immediately telling his companion to stay behind when someone was in danger to heroically rush out into a battlefield...the setting itself literally being on fire and as close to war-torn as you could get...the precocious child telling a cool funny woman 'silly, this Random Ugly Man LIKES YOU!!' with the implication she should get her head on straight and date him....it all fits into place and this is literally just from the opening scene

[frogtennant]

Say what you like about Steven Moffat, but he was really good at writing the villains of Doctor Who.

He made them actually scary and exciting, without having to rely on CGI or costumes, which would lessen the effect of them, because they would appear less real.

Like don't get me wrong I love the RTD era more than anything, but RTD had aliens like the Slitheen or the Judoon, which were kind of ridiculous and hard to take seriously.

But Moffat wrote things such as the Empty Child, which was a truly frightening episode. It prayed on a basic fear of creepy children, which everyone seems to have, combined with the inherent creepiness of gas masks, as well as repeated phrases, rather than special effects. These three things are unsettling on their own but Moffat combined them in a way to make them genuinely scary.

Then there's the weeping angels, which again uses little special effects since they're just statues. This monster's scariness feeds on the fear of what could happen when you're not looking and the intensity of trying not to blink. This, as well as the fact that statues moving when you're not looking or statues coming to life is commonly used in horror and is just simply creepy.

The same can be said with the Vashta Nerada from Silence In The Library. Skeletons can be scary, but using fear of the dark and again, repeated phrases, is much scarier.

Or The Silence. Forgetting something that happened to you and a growing number of tally marks on your skin is much scarier than an alien could ever be.

So yeah sorry I just wanted to get that all down.

TL;DR: Steven Moffat is really good at writing scary antagonists for DW episodes because he uses fears we already have and amplifies them.

[scully1998]

3, 12, 24, 37, 48, 55, 68, 75, 81, 95, 96!

<3

3. First DW episode you ever saw?

Was almost certainly Rose. I think it was Rose, actually.

12. Your favourite Doctor?

I don't have favorites of things. But lets say 12. I fucking love 12.

24. Best TARDIS Team?

ooooghh....Ok I'm classifying this as minimum 2 companions, for clarity. First instinct was 9/Rose/Jack. Then 12/Bill/Nardole/Missy?

37. Episode that will always make you cry?

lotssss uh but the classic is Doomsday. but also Face the Raven.

48. Thoughts on series 11/12?

Siighhhhh so uh. I want to love them. I love 13, I love the team. There is a lot more in s12 that I enjoy than in s11. But I think they are weak in a lot of ways. This is a much longer essay I intend to elaborate on later basically but yeah I think the writing struggles, the pacing tends to be off, and they really drop the ball on developing characters & relationships. They often just fall flat and fail to deliver any catharsis or satisfaction? Characters rarely have quiet moments to talk to each other- even emotional conversations tend to be really brief and/or rushed due to action. Recent eps in particular (I have a lot of complaints abt flux/etc altho ik that isn't the question) use dialogue for exposition to the point of redundancy, which, again, means that characters don't actually spend enough time talking to each other about things that aren't right in front of them. idk. have ranted a lot about this in the discord server lol. Also, and I have said this before and do intend to elaborate on it thoroughly at a later date, in ideology they are almost unbearably neoliberal in a way that specifically says to me "casting a woman as a PR stunt was mildly risky so we cannot take a single other risk." Like, Twelve would actually verbally berate capitalism, and then s11 gave us fucking Kerblam. Even the feminist messages are so vague that they're barely remarkable.

That being said, again, there's stuff I like! I adore Jodie Whittaker's performance, I adore Sacha Dhawan's performance, I really like Yaz as a character, there are a few episodes I genuinely loved (most notably It Takes You Away and Orphan 55), and I appreciate a willingness to do different things with the lore. I think they had a lot of potential and I am sad to see them end. I think I'll always be very affectionately nostalgic for them. But I also hope that what comes next is different in a lot of ways.

55. Least favourite monster/villain?

I wasn't a fan of the silence. OH and it's not that I hate weeping angels as much as i think that they were used in just increasingly stupid ways until they became just annoying and stupid. Like, in Blink they're fine. And then in series 5 they're just, like, they don't even DO the displacement thing that was their entire thing, they just kill people kind of normally, and the image of an angel stuff just makes absolutely no sense. In Angels Take Manhattan they do the time travel thing but are otherwise still so ridiculously OP in ways that do not make sense, like...the statue of liberty? famously made of copper? are you kidding me? I'm trying to remember how I phrased this but it's like. moffat invented a bunch of mechanics for the angels and then kept retconning or throwing them out as it convenienced the plot. and once your monsters arent bound by literally any laws, they cease to be compelling pretty much at all.

68. Do you read the comics/novels or listen to Big Finish?

Occasionally! I'm not nearly as engaged in EU stuff but I've read a handful of books, some of the comics, a few different big finish shows.

75. Favourite Doctor outfit?

Seven. I dress like that.

95. Actor/actress you’d like to see play the Doctor?

96. Actor/actress you’d like to see play a companion?

This is so embarrassing but I decided not to bullshit. I basically know the names of relatively few actors and when asked a question like this I forget all of them instantly. Sorry lmao.

[jyndor]

Very specific thoughts. I started Doctor Who with season 5 so I think I have a lot of nostalgia about that era, but the thing is that Moffat really isn't showrunner material. He can write a beginning that intrigues you and an ending that makes you cry, but he skimps on the details. Like I was excited to see The Doctor and River Song's love story but by the end I was like, 'did I miss an episode or something' because I felt like they told us how epic they'd be but failed to show us the love. And I like Amy and Rory as individuals but I feel like Amy was just marrying him because she didn't know what to do with her life. And like the sexism. Who knew not wanting to take your spouse's name meant you were childish.

lol i am so triggered by anyone starting dw with season 5 😂 moffat's misogyny was always lurking in his writing (weird ass classism and sexism in girl in the fireplace, shunting martha out of the way entirely for some white oc during blink, everything about river song in the library episodes) but he was able to ride it out because he had a great showrunner in rtd, who despite his flaws was far better at keeping things grounded imo.

I love a lot about season five but season six pushed me to my limits lol. every woman moff wrote lived for the doctor - their lives revolved around him. and you can argue that the companions don't need the fleshed out families and regular lives that rtd gave them but I just find rose, martha and donna a million times more relatable and believable than amy, river and clara (never watched bill so I can't comment on her). I think moffat was going for amy in particular being very much like a fantasy character in a fairy tale, which works really well in s5 because all of the mystery and weirdness was new, but he just doesn't know how to bring it all together in a way that makes any kind of sense imo. which is why the climax of river's story in s6 failed so hard for me. ironically the best parts of amy's story for me came in season 7 because she kind of felt more... idk... like a real person instead of a fantasy, and also like I loved every river and amy scene ever like more mama daughter scenes plsss

clara felt refreshingly real after amy left when they weren't pushing the mystery nonsense. ad I don't even mind mystery! bad wolf is one of my favorite arcs ever of anything, but that is always about rose taking control of her life and making her own choices instead of like with clara being the puzzle box for the doctor to solve without her knowledge.

I stopped watching after the first few episodes of season nine but I heard actually moffat's last season was his best, which is great because I was seriously worried about how he would treat a Black lesbian. maybe someday I will go back and finish the show but honestly moffat killed doctor who for me, and it is hard for me to go back to something like that.

also river and the doctor's love story makes zero sense when all is said and done lmao like why does moff always write these little girls falling for the doctor 🤮🤮🤮

anyway i just got off work so idk if this is coherent lmao but thanks for sharing your thoughts because i always like to hear them

[flibbertygigget]

Ok so blatant whining about Chibnall and discussion of my problems with series 11 and 12 ahead, so if you don't want that kind of attitude in your life don't press read more

I really do think that a significant factor for why s11 and s12 have been so poorly received is that their political toothlessness has come at the exact wrong time. They try to go for easy political wins - sexism and racism bad, environmentalism good - but the writing doesn't have anything interesting to say and, when it does try to say something, the absolute mehness of the actual positions feels behind the times to people on the left and obvious propaganda that is also badly written to the people on the right. It ain't a good combo and makes nobody happy.

What's sad is that s9 and ESPECIALLY s10 had some of the most blatant and at the same time most interesting political writing of the Nu!Who era. The magnificently pointed anti-war speech in Zygon Inversion, the Doctor just straight-up punching the concept of imperialism and racism in the face in Thin Ice, and ESPECIALLY Oxygen's ability to critique capitalism in a way that brought to mind everything from the devastating privatization of British industries in the 1980s to the company stores of early mining towns. The openly political elements of the 12th Doctor era episodes weren't always perfect - there are plenty of groan-worthy lines and a few straight-up misses such as 1's exaggerated sexism in TUaT - but you always got the impression that the episodes were being written because of a genuine desire to tell stories that included these blatant political elements.

In contrast, Rosa is a bland, overly simplistic version of a potentially interesting idea, while Kerblam! is a horrendous misreading of what people will actually find forward-thinking or interesting in their sci-fi. Even the sexism and gender stuff seems like a step backwards from s10, which started to play with the idea of how a species that changes bodies regularly would even conceptualize gender in a way that opened up interesting new avenues for DW to take. S11 and s12 do nothing with that concept, instead relying on girl power stuff that, while it could work if on a solid foundation of actual considered writing, feels trite when it's barely a sidebar.

Idk, maybe being an outgoing showrunner made Moffat feel as though he could take more risks when it came to what scripts he approved. Maybe the quote-unquote risk of casting a woman in the role made Chibnall inclined to play it safe while at the same time feeling obligated to be "the progressive one." Or maybe Chibs honestly thinks he's saying something deep and is just hopelessly out of touch with what even the most mainstream left-leaning media is saying. He's certainly out of touch with the DW fandom if he thinks that anyone wanted his half-baked knockoff of the Cartmel plan.

(oof, sorry, this is long, I just have a lot of opinions lmao)

[smallblueandloud]

dude… i’m thinking about starting doctor who… give me your thoughts lmao

AAAAAAA

okay. okay. i'm gonna be reasonable about this. i'm not gonna bias you against perfectly good seasons.

I'M TRYING SO HARD HERE I'M GONNA TRY TO NOT HATE ON THINGS THAT YOU MIGHT ENJOY. most of this is under a cut because i apparently have a LOT of thoughts about this, the show i was hyperfixated on for two entire years. go figure!

okay. first thing: don't skip nine. some people might tell you to, and like, you do you and all, but s1 of nuwho is one of my favorite seasons and i don't think anyone should skip it.

(for clarity's sake -- you probably know all this, but you asked for my thoughts, so -- there are two "kinds" of doctor who. classic who is doctors 1-7 and mostly in black and white. it started in the 60s and it's wild and i haven't seen ANY of it, but i know a few people who are super into it, so it appeals! then the show got cancelled. then they did a few movies with the 8th doctor. then they rebooted the series in 2005 with the 9th doctor. that show is still ongoing and it's what i mean when i say nuwho. it's all i've seen, so it's gonna be what i have opinions on lol. nuwho starts on 1x01 "rose", so you can make sure you're watching the right season.)

PERSONALLY, my favorite era of the show is RTD's, which are the first four seasons of nuwho and showrunned by Russell T. Davies. my favorite companion is donna, because her dynamic with the doctor is PERFECTION, but i also really really love rose and martha. the season arcs are kinda all over the place but they're really fun! the show has HEART, okay, it's all about kindness and helping people and solving mysteries and i love it. it doesn't treat its characters of color (martha and mickey) very well, which is my main issue with his run. it makes it hard to enjoy whole episodes of s1, so just, be aware.

then there's the moffat era, from seasons 5 to 10. he. sure wrote a tv show. many people have written about how much they love that era, which i would direct you to rather than trying to write it myself, since i'm... not a huge moffat fan, lol. a lot of people liked how elaborate his plots were and especially how he wrote 11 and 12! (also the master during his era is super popular, but i don't want to spoil much so i'm trying to avoid talking about them lol.) (i will concede, he wrote "blink" in s2 and i LOVE that episode, it's one of the more famous ones for a reason.) bill potts, the fourth (and final) companion of his era, is the first regularly appearing queer companion, and i haven't watched all of her season but i love her.

and right now we're in the chibnall era, which has had two seasons (11 and 12)! honestly i can't articulate what he's about yet, since it hasn't been very long, but his doctor is a DELIGHT and i love her companions. also spyfall was literally everything i've wanted out of television, ever, so i'm kinda legally obligated to enjoy his stuff.

okay, that's eras down. now for shipping: i'm a huge doctor/rose shipper. i can't tell you how popular it is in the fandom at large, but a quick glance at ao3 tells me 10rose has more than two times as many fics as the second most popular doctor who ship (11/river). so do with that what you will! the age gap is weird in the first season, which is why i don't usually headcanon that they're together then, but in s2 it's much more of an... equal partnership? idk if i'm wording this right, i have SUCH a soft spot for 9rose that it's hard to strike the right balance lol. the point is: if 9rose doesn't appeal to you, don't write off doctor/rose entirely, at least not until you've seen s2.

(can you guess which part of the doctor/rose ship appeals to me the most. Can You Guess. hint: there's a reason why s4 is my favorite dw season, and possibly my favorite of television ever.)

i'm also a HUGE fan of random femslash ships between the companions. rose/martha has stolen my heart, but rose/clara is popular (and very sweet) and also What If Yaz And Clara Dated. literally pick two female companions' names at random and i will be extremely into whatever ship that makes.

(sidenote, i'm looking at the ao3 ships again and PROPS to 13yaz shippers for having more fics than doctor/master?? Good For Y'all.)

oh okay and also the master exists. uhhh without too many spoilers: the master is another time lord who grew up with the doctor, and they're kinda... best enemies? (ignore me, i spent two hours today watching sarah z's video on a certain webcomic.) there is one certainty in the doctor's life and it's that they will always have to kill the master one more time. obviously that's the kinda angst that appeals, and they always have Delicious tension when they're both onscreen, so just like. yeah. if you want tortured gay time lords, stay tuned, because that'll be there.

(RTD is gay, i believe, so his storylines are. queer. you will not be surprised that he created jack harkness. the doctor's first onscreen kiss in the reboot, ever, was with a man. Thanks RTD!)

uhhhh that was a lot of words. one more thing: people are gonna tell you you Have to watch This Episode, or This Season, or whatever, and here is my advice on that. do whatever you want! listen to whoever's recommendations you want. it is perfectly fine to skip episodes or entire seasons if you're just not feeling them. i stopped halfway through the s8 finale and still, to this day, have not started s9, and it's fine! watch whatever you want. skip s1 if you're not feeling it! the show is pretty disjointed between doctors, which is disappointing if you want them to reference a long-gone companion, but makes it super easy to skip around.

okay, NOW i'm going to wrap this up. i was hyperfixated on doctor who for YEARS so i have SO MANY THOUGHTS. i keep meaning to get back into it and... hmm, is this a sign? should i go rewatch doctor who? i'm crying PREEMPTIVELY about [redacted episode that features a white wall, for all the whovians reading this] so obviously that is a yes and i will get on it immediately. PLEASE PLEASE let me know how it goes, i'd love to hear your thoughts as you watch!! good luck and enjoy the ride!

[pilotheather]

hey i never really watched or followed the chibnall era what was wrong with his writing that made people happy he’s gone

i think this will get you different opinions based on who you ask.

a LOT of people were extremely unhappy with the s12 timeless child plot twist. which, if you don't know: basically he redestroyed gallifrey, and revealed the doctor is not a timelord at all, but was instead the progenitor OF the timelords (a child that kept regenerating, even when they died) and that she was tortured on as a child, being repeatedly killed to realise the secret behind her regenerative abilities, to create the timelord race and then had her mind wiped.

which, im not a fan of. some ppl are? but mostly it panned: lots of ppl are unhappy, bc theyre saying it's "ruining the lore"; personally i dont mind since dw is fast and loose with its canon - and im moreso unhappy about centreing the doctor as, like, the big important chosen one in the universe (like blech) bc its just such a stale narrative decision.

but even before that there was a lot of criticism of chibnalls writing. and again: ur gonna get different opinions on who you ask. there's, uh, for example... a LOT of ppl (off tumblr, mostly) who tout it as sjw bullshit (yawn) bc of jodie and the diverse tardis team. that's bs outrage over nowt, ofc. but like- other than that its just... the writing. yeah, some ppl like it but ik a lot are unahppy with it for different reasons.

and to, like, summarise my own thoughts on chibbers writing: there's LOTS of little things that sort of build up for me. but at the crux of it? personally i dont think the man can write sci-fi - like, at all. thats my own personal main gripe with him. i hear he's good at straightforward drama: whilst ive never seen broadchurch myself, a lot of ppl whose opinions i trust liked it well enough; and furthermore, when it came to torchwood, he did have one or two eps in there that i liked in premise. however, when it comes to sci-fi, i respectfully think he just flounders. like he just cant integrate those other skills he has into a scifi story. the tardis was super overcrowded in s11&s12 (and that brought its own issues) but even still it was sort of... laughable, how much development the companions got. a lot of the time they'd sit there like pints of milk and just?? not really do anything? it got a little better in s12- but its like... he doesnt know how to handle a sci-fi storyline, whilst also exploring the characters in tandem and its like theyre just theyre as objects to move things along. its really fuckin weird.

like, in the most recent episode (last years NY's special, Revolution of the Daleks) the pacing was so strange. there's this whole section in the middle of all the action, where they just STOP and talk inside of the tardis. and don't get me wrong - i dont mind a heart to heart! but a lot of the companions are, like, purely telling and not showing their personality msot of the time - and thats it! its so... stale. they just stand around, state something about themselves and then just do nothing half the time? bc he just doesn't know how to use them in the stories. unlike in rtd or moffat era, where you'd have the companions jumping in and actually interacting with stuff- you'd know its just... like theyre being swept away by the plot. and you could frankly cut them out of almost all of the episodes, replace them with a sonic screwdriver or some other technobabble and it just wouldnt make any damn difference to the vibe of the ep, which is a shame bc they had PROMISE as ideas but they just don't pull their weight.

and i think that's just... super unfortunate. bc a lot of the pull with nuwho especially IS the companions and their personalities and when theyre just flat cardboard cutouts its got no energy. not to mention, like, the companions really facilitate a lot of the plots themselves- not the other way round! having companions ask questions, explore, and make decisions and react to stuff... that's IMPORTANT to really realising a lot of it. there's been a lot of times in eps where i was watching it and i just WANTED desperately for one of them to do something, to ask the doctor about it but like... she kind of just stands around and talks to herself? then there's a canned comment abt how theyre the #fam? its like. ok.

and then its like- maybe if they were being pushed to the side, and the show was servicing plot over characters that would be ONE thing but its also like i get a LOT of insecurity in general from chris when it comes to sci-fi writing, too. which ok, dude. but its like- he'll introduce a concept, but never fully explore it; he'll just drop it, and introduce something else; and then drop that and move on. and its like... we dont get any actual playing with whats going on? its like-

its just all... ultimately very superficial. like ai generated doctor who. i dont want to say it hasnt got heart, but sometimes it really feels like it you know? and a lot of it is just.. flat. because you can bring in lots of cool stuff (visuals, bring back jack, build a found family type, give us a fun quirky doctor) but if you just don't actually put work into making it all happen then its just going to be like, pretty wrapping paper on an empty box, yeah? and so its like- its like theres PIECES in a lot of s11 and s12 that are right, and they're fine, and they could make for good stories but he just doesn't know how to use them. like, at all.

and there's honestly like. a lot of other... smaller things that i could mention. i feel like theres just like... lots of little issues wrong with it all, but theyre all so fundamental and they all just build up and its just- it just culminates in bad writing, man. not moffat type of bad. but just... nothing interesting at best; frustrating at worst.

ofc theres ppl who will disagree with me and like it and thats fine. and theres also ppl who will have other things they dont like abt it that they can bring up. i would advise lookin thru ppl talking abt it on here more, omg. get a nice lil crossection of all the little messes ppl babble on abt.

[averagetumbledryeruser]

Let's talk about the New Paradigm Dalek problem.

Before we can even begin to imagine a starting point, it'll be a good attempt by firstly understanding the entire point of the New Paradigm Daleks in the lore. So, now that the last of the Time War Daleks are finally down to the last three, they're able to devise a surprisingly different type of strategy to, instead of wanting to destroy Earth for the 50th time, but to only have one main goal - rebuilding the Dalek empire. This is actually a good idea for a Dalek story, even if it follows the basic plot that we've seen for each Dalek story in NewWho series 1-4. This time, they're successful in their efforts and have actually rebuilt the New Paradigm Dalek models, five Dalek mutants, each with their respective casing which is now stronger than ever. How is this established? Because they are seen exterminating their own, outdated, kind. Now, to make things even clearer, they are also able to outsmart The Doctor and escape. This is a big deal in the timeline of the Daleks. It's the rebirth of the deadliest creatures in the universe. They're everywhere, not near to extinction anymore and ready to use their strongest technology yet to destroy anything in their way. So, what do they do? Do they finally kill the Doctor? Exterminate all life on Earth with about a million New Paradigm Daleks to finally finish what they started years ago? No. They just disappear and now only have one purpose - to be used as a reoccurring name in Doctor Who episode titles to bring some viewers in. This is exactly where the Dalek problem is, they have no purpose anymore, no arc and no threat to the Doctor or the universe. We occasionally hear about Dalek death camps and other Dalek-related POIs, but that's about it. They don't seem to be doing anything and yet they're more powerful than ever, unstoppable even. So what happened? Well, that's a big question unfortunately.

It comes down to a few major points which I'll try to summarise as much as possible. So, now that Moffat has established these big new Daleks, a fresh new look, a fresh new concept and hopefully new stories to come, what happens next? Well, nothing. We instantly hit a dead end. Why? The new design of the Daleks. The audience decided they didn't like the look, which is fair enough, but this brought a lot of criticism. Criticism which should hopefully be put to sleep because good ol Moffat will prove that his new idea is worth sticking with right? Ah, I see, they've already been almost completely written out of the show in the next 2 series. The Time War Daleks are also back again, to give the audience what they missed, but this now brings a giant new problem. Don't get wrong, the marketing side of DW absolutely loved these new designs, with branding and figures coming from left, right and everywhere else but that just wasn't enough to carry this along. With the Time War Daleks being back, now mixed with the occasional New Paradigm Daleks, it brings the question - Why do the Daleks need them? What changed the minds of the first New Paradigms that exterminated their own kind to now wanting to rebuild these outdated, weaker models? This makes absolutely no sense in the terms of lore as the Daleks have always wanted the most effective ways of exterminating the inferior species - everything else.

To make this worse, the Doctor doesn't do anything either. He pretends as if they just don't exist, which to be honest, feels near to the truth at this point. But, seriously, he doesn't even bat an eye. How did the post-war Time Lord that wanted to hunt and kill every last Dalek now not even give a damn about the state of the new Dalek Empire. Or, Dalek Empires, should I say. That's right. It's quite obvious that the Daleks in 'Asylum Of The Daleks' are not connected to the Daleks in 'The Magician's Apprentice'. And now, things are even worse. We have CLASSIC DALEKS. Mixed with Time War Daleks. What? The only reason for this is for fan service, but please just do the fans a favour and not ruin the timeline any further, Moffat. Up to series 10, the Daleks had become a joke. The Doctor didn't care, the viewers didn't care because they didn't hold any threat anymore and, hell, even the DALEKS didn't care. They barely even try to kill the Doctor, or do anything else significant for that matter.

You'd think that with this new rebirth we'd have a brand new arc on our hands, a battle of survival between the Doctor and the Daleks but instead, with Moffat scrapping the idea due to criticism, we got nothing. For 5 seasons. We have no idea on the scale of the Daleks, nor the power they hold and I doubt we ever will unless a new showrunner finally gives them justice.

So, talking about show runners, let's talk about Chibnall and the Daleks. Series 11's special brought back a single Dalek, a new type from the Classic Era that built a brand new casing for itself. For the first time in 5 seasons, a Dalek actually felt dangerous. It overpowered a lot, before eventually coming to a defeat by the climax and, of course, dying. In series 12's special, we saw the Daleks in a brand new light. Now, love or hate Chibnall's writing, I'd have to say that this was the first Dalek story in ages that seemed to hold the slightest bit of significance. I'm assuming you've seen it, so I'll skip the explanation, but what I will say is that the Daleks did seem dangerous for a short amount of time. Even the returning Time War Daleks carried a lot of power and had a similar attitude to the RTD Daleks. So, looking into the future, what do we need to see? Chibnall may create a final Dalek special before leaving after the BBC's 100 year special. What could that see? Well, I don't have an answer. I do hope that it concluded the new design Daleks we've been introduced to somehow. Afterwards, with a new showrunner, we need to see something much more ambitious that finally solves this Dalek problem. We have no clear definition of a timeline anymore, are they Time War Daleks? New Paradigm? These new Recon Daleks? Classic Daleks? Different factions? We just don't know anymore. The Daleks need a purpose. They need to cause harm to the Doctor Who universe again to finally be seen as a threat, in some way or another. Anyway, that's enough of whatever that was, so to summarise - Moffat ruined the Daleks. Sorry.

[johannesviii]

So I guess I have thoughts on The Timeless Children

If you’re expecting some well-organised meta this isn’t a good post for that, you should probably leave now

I probably forgot half the things I wanted to say because I waited 2 days to write this

Ok so first I have to say I’m disappointed that the horrible bullshit from the WW2 sequence of Spyfall part 2 wasn’t addressed at all. It means it was not part of some big plan and that Thirteen doing some horrible shit wasn’t foreshadowing, but just insensitive writing. Fine. Ok. I don’t like it at all but it, unfortunately, happens. Every single New Who showrunner so far has made a big mistake at some point or another so that doesn’t mean Chibnall is worse than Moffat or RTD, who also had their own qualities and flaws and some occasional horrible writing. It sucks, and it’s gonna taint Thirteen’s character for me. But I’ll live.

HOWEVER

THIS FINALE

Oh my god ok so uh first, Cybermen? again? But like? It was still interesting?? The designs were varied, and the Lone Cyberman had this whole Hellraiser-lite aesthetic going on, and that abandoned warship was straight out of Sword of Orion and I really enjoyed all of that. It’s a shame the Lone Cyberman was defeated so quickly, because he was a much more interesting “final boss” than the one from the previous season in my opinion.

The regenerating Cybermen were 100% ridiculous but it was the good kind of ridiculous and I loved it

I have to say something about the fam now but I don’t have a lot of thoughts about them specifically. I liked it when Ryan threw that explosive thingie and actually managed to hit the cybermen and was super hyped about that, though

OK SO

Look. I loved Missy. I adored her semi-redemption arc, and her self-doubt, and her ultimate decision to be good, just to be killed by her past self as a result, even though the Doctor wasn’t there to witness it. That was brilliant.

But.

This new Master. I already thought he was pretty great, but the way he’s been recontextualised in this finale? I?? Holy s h i t

I’ve said it already but the actor is doing a fantastic job

I wasn’t even planning to put pictures in this post but this shot is so incredibly good

So in my Spyfall post I pointed out that he was very aggressive and very performative in his evil actions, to the point where he looked like he wasn’t enjoying himself. He was, like, doing it to prove a point.

Turns out it was because the best way to make a new evil version of the Master after Missy’s semi-redemption arc was to base this new Master on INTENSE, DEVASTATING, SUICIDAL SELF-LOATHING

AND IT WORKS SO WELL??

AND I LOVE IT??

IT’S ALSO VERY UNCOMFORTABLE BUT LIKE? IN A GOOD, INTERESTING WAY??

The part where he gives Thirteen the key to stop him. And he doesn’t dare her to press that button. He’s begging her to press that button. He knows she will do it because she did it once before and he’s like go on. Kill me now. God

If you’ve ever been suicidal or even just self-destructive yourself, even if you’re, like, a nice person and not... well.... an intergalactic criminal like the Master is, seeing him being like “go on. Press that button. End me. Do it. NOW” is... extremely relatable not gonna lie

Thinking “oh mood” about the Master during one of his scenes is... not something I was expecting but here we are

Also I absolutely adore how all of his world-destroying rage against the Time Lords was basically fueled by “they hurt my best friend and only I have the right to hurt my best friend” that’s so in-character

SPEAKING OF WHICH

You already know I’m very in favor of fluidity in the DW canon. One of my absolute favorite DW stories I’ve read so far was Unnatural History, which basically said “the Doctor is an idea that exists across the entire multiverse and every origin story is true and every version is true and nothing is canon because everything is canon”

But I wasn’t very fond of one specific version of the Doctor’s origin story which is super popular in the Extended Universe crowd of fans, and that’s the Cartmel Masterplan. I won’t bore you with my full thoughts on it but I’m not fond of the idea of the Doctor being some sort of rebirthed god now on the other hand the idea that all Time Lords are eldritch beings and that the Doctor or the Master is Nyarlathotep-

But this isn’t what this finale is doing

So far the Doctor’s origin story in the tv series was basically saying “look. This character that grew up in a privileged and pretentious part of their planet’s society just had enough of that one day (for a reason or another or even several reasons) and decided to leave, and by traveling and making friends, they realised being kind was important, and they decided to help people instead of watching bad stuff from afar without doing anything.” And now this finale basically added: “That society of pretentious assholes? Yeah they actually adopted that character as a kid and exploited them like a convenient source of power, and at the root of their power there’s literal child abuse, and they had to erase that child’s memories so that the kid could be assimilated in the society built on their own pain“.

It didn’t change that many things about the Doctor as a character ; it DEFINITELY changed stuff about the Time Lords, but they have always been this kind of background menace, with evil founders and shady shit, so I think it’s very appropriate.

So yeah. If you ask me to pick one between “plot twist the Doctor is a god” and “plot twist the Doctor is a lost child with the ability to regenerate”, I pick the second one, definitely

The best part is, it doesn’t contradict anything really important. The Doctor didn’t remember any of this. At all. Their desire to run away, their eventual hatred of Time Lord society, their choice to be kind and to try to help where they can? This didn’t come from that completely forgotten past. They still grew up in a life of privilege after their memories were erased, and they still decided to run away. It’s still their choice.

It doesn’t even diminish later things, like Ten being afraid of dying, or River giving away her regenerations to Eleven. Because, again, the Doctor didn’t know any of that origin story. Just like Gallifrey being hidden in a pocket universe doesn’t erase or diminish Nine being completely destroyed by what he thought he had done. It’s still as good as before.

It does put that scene from Time of the Doctor in a different light, though! This wasn’t a new regenerative cycle being given to Eleven in the end, just unlocking a dormant potential.

I saw someone saying this episode was bad because it was saying nature was more important than nurture? But... the episode literally states the opposite very explicitly, with Ruth saying ”have you ever been limited by who you were before?”.

I also saw someone on twitter saying that the diversity in the past incarnations we briefly saw “felt forced” and. like. It’s 2020. Can we not do this again please

I have such a thing for identity crisis tropes and stories and adding a bunch of lives in the Doctor’s past is certainly that and it’s like opening a giant sandbox. Imagine all the things that are actually possible now. The stories you can tell in that nebulous past! And I’m so glad the Morbius Doctors were briefly seen too!

Hell, there’s even an open door right there if you didn’t like this origin story, built in the scenario, and I’m certain it’s on purpose: the Matrix projection didn’t tell us the child was the Doctor. The Master told us the child was the Doctor. You’re free to believe him or not. It’s not set in stone. And that’s even better in my opinion.

So yeah it was all very very Unnatural History and the only thing I disliked was how it was a bit too much “telling” instead of “showing”, but that’s a minor complaint.

If you disliked this story, you aren’t a “fake fan”

If you liked this story, you aren’t a “fake fan” either

If you like some parts of the show you’re a fan, and you’re free to dislike some other parts ; god knows I don’t like some other things in Doctor Who

The only fake fans are the people bullying other fans about what they should like or dislike

I can’t wait to see what the fandom is going to make with this new sandbox and I’m so glad to be enthusiastic about the tv series again

Have a nice day

[senadimell]

DW: The Monster in the Closet

I realized while looking at a Girl in the Fireplace analysis that when Moffat involves a child in an episode, he chooses a particular set of tropes. It’s no secret he has favorite types of stories; this one I’ll call “The Monster in the Closet.” Moffat came onto Doctor Who writing Monster in the Closet stories; in fact, take a look at his first 6 stories: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, the Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, The Eleventh Hour, and The Beast Below. With the exception of Blink, they all fall into this category. Why? More on that below, after we look at what the episodes share.

I’m including Night Terrors in this analysis because it’s so fitting: it’s literally about a monster and a closet. It’s actually written by Gatiss, but copies many of the same tropes and subverts the ending. I’m not including Listen, because I honestly don’t remember it well enough to analyze and don’t care for a re-watch just yet. Plus, I think Moffat was trying to branch out by that point.

Here’s what’s in a standard Moffat Monster in the Closet episode. 

The Child

Fake Faces

Repetition is Creepy

The Doctor’s Reputation

The Bad Guy isn’t evil, just fulfilling its nature

The child (or perceived child) is isolated from the adults in their life who should protect them but don’t realize the monsters are real. The Doctor steps in to validate them and solve figure out how to tackle their monster, who is real.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Nancy (Jamie and the kids Nancy looks after are also contestants here.)

The Girl in the Fireplace: Reinette

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: Cal

The Eleventh Hour: Amelia Pond

The Beast Below: Mandy (Timmy is also a contestant)

Night Terrors: George

Fake faces indicate something uncanny is occurring. The two-faced nature of the monsters suggests that the monster is not what we think it is.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

The Girl in the Fireplace

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

The Beast Below: (Liz 10 also has a mask and initially comes off as sinister, and is revealed to be part of the problem by choosing ignorance)

This is a bit of a stretch, but here’s the face-changing Prisoner Zero from the Eleventh Hour: 

It’s worth noting that the Doctor had his own face change in this episode, so we’re waiting to see if he’s the genuine article or if he’s more like the monsters. 

Night Terrors. Doesn’t get creepier than this.

Repetition is creepy. This doesn’t really serve a narrative purpose beyond being creepy, other than perhaps to indicate the monster has a goal that we do not understand. When we do, we can solve the problem. This kind of reminds me of when a kid is trying to get their parent’s attention, but they’re on the phone and don’t really hear.  I find that just like fake faces, the more often this is used, the more banal I find it. 

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Creepiest thing ever

The Girl in the Fireplace: What is that mysterious ticking noise?

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: (so much repetition here that any episode after it that uses repetition feels like overkill to me)

The Eleventh Hour:

The Beast Below does something a little different. It goes for a creepy nursery rhyme instead: 

GIRL: A horse and a man, above, below. One has a plan, but both must go. Mile after mile, above, beneath. One has a smile, and one has teeth. GIRL: Though the man above might say hello, expect no love from the beast below.

Night Terrors:

DOCTOR: George! George, what's going on? Are you doing it? ALEX: What's happening? GEORGE: Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. DOCTOR: George, no! GEORGE: Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. ALEX: Help me, Doctor! GEORGE: Please save me from the monsters. DOCTOR: George, no! (The Doctor is dragged back into the cupboard.) GEORGE: Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. Please save me from the monsters. (Alex is dragged into the cupboard.) ALEX: No! (And the door slams shut. Peace reigns again.)

Line about Doctor’s reputation scaring off the bad guys: The Doctor acts as a parental figure, but instead of dismissing the childish fear of the monsters, he validates and vanquishes. He fulfills a parental role, though, and just as parents scare away monsters by virtue of being an adult, the Doctor scares away monsters just by being the Doctor. 

*The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Saving this one for last. 

The Girl in the Fireplace: 

DOCTOR: Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares, don't you, monster? YOUNG REINETTE: What do monsters have nightmares about? DOCTOR: Me!

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead:

VASTA NERADA: These are our forests. They are our meat. DOCTOR: Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up. (The Vasta Nerada desists and gives him a day to evacuate the library)

The Eleventh Hour:

DOCTOR: Okay. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many. (The projection shows the Daleks et al.) DOCTOR: And what you've got to ask is, what happened to them? (A run through of all the previous Doctors, then this Doctor steps through the projection with a jacket and bow tie.) DOCTOR: Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically, run. 

The Beast Below: 

This one breaks the mold a bit: It’s Liz 10 who does all of the “fear my reputation lines” and pulls almost the same line as the Doctor in 11th hour (I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule). What ties this to other Monster in the Closet episodes is that problem’s solution comes from realizing how amazing the Doctor is, and applying that logic to our misunderstood Starwhale. Since it doesn’t need to be scared away like our past few monsters, we get this instead: 

AMY: The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry.

AMY: Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery and loneliness, and it just made it kind. DOCTOR: But you couldn't have known how it would react. AMY: You couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar? 

Night Terrors: 

Again, the formula’s changing. Here, the Doctor’s title declaration triggers the monster and makes the scary stuff happen rather than the other way ‘round because the resolution is reconciliation between parent and child. If the Doctor were to be the substitute parental figure, he would interfere with that reconciliation.

GEORGE [memory]: Who are you? DOCTOR [memory]: I'm the Doctor. GEORGE [memory]: A doctor? Have you come to take me away? Away. Away. Away. DOCTOR: That's what did it. That's what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted, that someone was going to come and take him away. 

(It should be noted that there’s still a title declaration where the Doctor assumes that people should know and respect his title, even though they have no logical reason to: 

DOCTOR: I'm not just a professional. I'm the Doctor. ALEX: What's that supposed to mean? DOCTOR: It means I've come a long way to get here, Alex. A very long way. George sent a message. A distress call, if you like. Whatever's inside that cupboard is so terrible, so powerful, that it amplified the fears of an ordinary little boy across all the barriers of time and space. )

So that brings me back to The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. One of my huge Doctor Who pet peeves is the Doctor’s growing hubris. I could manage it in seasons 2-4 because everybody and their dog was calling the Doctor out when he went too far, but it just kind of stopped in season 5 and the Doctor threw out more and more lines about how great or scary he was.

What I love about Nine is that he’s humble. What? you ask. The man who told us “I am so impressive!” is the most humble? Yes. Despite his “devil may care” blustering, Nine carries a huge burden of guilt and he constantly questions whether or not he has the authority to make big decisions when lives are at stake. It’s no coincidence that Harriet Jones pulls the “I’m the only elected official” card in World War Three to tell the Doctor to save the world even if she and Rose might die, or that when the Doctor acts unilaterally to let the Gelth posses corpses in The Unquiet Dead, he’s wrong, or that his actions to free the human race from the brainwashing news just leads to societal collapse and allows the Daleks a place to lie in wait, or that he’s spared from deciding Blon’s fate in Boomtown by the TARDIS. It all leads to his decision in front of the Daleks: Coward or killer? Do I have the right to decide who lives and dies? His answer is no, I don’t (then Rose saves the day). 

In keeping with his personality, it would be totally out of character for him to boast of his reputation to scare away the monsters. Instead, we get this beautiful inversion of the Monster in the Closet Doctor/Parent figure scaring away the monsters by virtue of title: 

DOCTOR: Amazing.

NANCY: What is?

DOCTOR: 1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. No. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then do what you've got to do. Save the world.

Instead of an “I’m the Doctor! Monsters are scared of me!” line, we get the Doctor saying ‘the monsters are scared of you.’ Then, he says he himself is frightened of humans. That’s an odd thing to say, since Nine doesn’t act frightened of humans and seems to just love them, until you consider the thematic implications. Who’s scared of the humans? The monsters. 

The Doctor from ‘Dalek’ is calling.

The Doctor considers himself to be one of the monsters, even if he’s trying to atone for his past. He’s desperately avoiding whatever reputation’s left after the Time War and doesn’t pull that card until he’s facing a Dalek army. I am so so so grateful we got this line, instead of a line about how great the Doctor is.

The bad guy is not actually malicious, just following its nature: The monster is always something real here, but it’s never properly evil. I do like a good “the aliens just have different needs than humans” plot. That said, it can get predictable when you know there’s going to be a twist coming. I like the twists less and less as the episodes go on.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: The monster is the child! Sort of: the good-at-healing but bad-at-AI nanogenes made Jamie and everyone else a monster since they didn’t know what they were going for as they repaired the humans. 

The Girl in the Fireplace: Arguably the most sinister on this list, the droids aren’t malicious, just trying to repair their ship with re-purposed body parts because they broke down. Not evil, just following incomplete AI instructions like our Nanogenes. This was the only thing I liked in this episode. At least the monsters had a reason they were obsessed with Reinette, unlike the stalker-y actions the Doctor took that were supposed to be 100% okay, even though he criticized the Robots for doing that? 

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: The Vasta Nerada are creepy and eat people, but it’s just because their forest was pulped and they came here in the books! They just want to be left in peace to hunt like normal predators. 

The Eleventh Hour: This one doesn’t fit quite so neatly. However, it should be noted that the primary danger in the episode doesn’t come from the bad guy, Prisoner Zero, but the cops looking for him who are willing to boil the earth. They’re not evil, just callous and need to be reminded of proper boundaries.

The Beast Below: The weird scorpion stingers are just the Starwhale! It loves children. It doesn’t even care about being tortured for centuries and will keep driving everyone through space. 

Night Terrors: George is monster! That is, he’s the one causing the creepy stuff to happen because he’s an alien who stressed out about the parents he brainwashed abandoning him. I guess that’s sci fi for you?

With the exception of Blink, all of the monsters are shown as innocent, if dangerous. They just need to put their energy in a different direction. It’s not until Victory of the Daleks that Moffat breaks the mold. Why? The punchline of “Monster in the Closet” stories is that the monsters are real and scary, but not evil, just following their nature. Daleks fall into the “these are actual bad guys” category, not the misunderstood monster. (Which is kinda funny, because it’s been established that Daleks are genetically engineered to kill and hate. They may be a Nazi analogue, but Nazis were people who chose evil. The Daleks are bred to hate and exterminate--note what happens to the “impure” dalek in Dalek and Evolution of the Daleks: they don’t kill people, and then they die.) 

My biggest beef with these episodes that they’re all relatively close together, so it’s easy to notice the overlap. When Moffat uses almost the exact same line in one episode as in the previous episode, I notice. When he uses the same mask design, I notice. When he has a constantly repeated line and does it again, I notice. Even before I waded into anti Moffat stuff, I noticed a shift at the end of season 4. I attributed it to a new cast since I just couldn’t click with anything. Then, I learned there was a new writer, and found out he had also written my least favorite episode of New Who (The Girl in the Fireplace). 

After writing this, I can’t help but parrot what I’ve heard elsewhere: Moffat’s trying to write a fairytale. A lot of the people and dangers feel more like archetypes than people, and the dialogue is witty but often unnatural--nobody goes around bantering like that all the time. The villains are identified by their form just as much as what they intend to do. There’s also this weird idolization of childhood and the innocent child. I don’t like it much. I’m more of the Coraline, Witches of Worm, Egyptian Game, and Wrinkle in Time mold, where the kids are just as realized and human as their adult counterparts and can lack empathy and be as creepy as adults. Alternatively, I’ll take Shannon Hale’s fairy-tale retellings where the bad guys are people and the solution involves personal courage and collaborative effort. (Moffat can keep his Day of the Doctor maypole children, and I will keep Chloe the scribbler, even if her episode was a little off).

My rating for these episodes, from least to most favorite: 

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Love Christopher Eccleston’s performance and was very creeped out by the child monsters. The solution to the problem was implied but not obvious so I didn’t get it until I was supposed to. I didn’t enjoy the introduction of a love triangle or the constant innuendo, but at least it was gone in an episode. Also, I will never not fangirl over “Everybody Lives!” and its significance to Nine. 

Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead: Thoroughly enjoyed these episodes, though I do have things to quibble with (wish Lee was black like Donna’s other romantic interests--she’s got a type and it’s not “gorgeous and can’t speak a word,” among other critical things). Overall,  a great episode

The Eleventh Hour, which I enjoyed, but makes me feel weirder and weirder the more I watch it between child/adult Amy, handcuffs and porn references, and the annoying “prisoner zero has escaped” mantra, plus “I’m the doctor! The earth is protected! I also didn’t like the repeat of comatose people sitting up and saying things. It was good the first time, not so much the second. Funny, but also uncomfortably awkward and creepy, and not in the “are you my mummy” way. 

The Beast Below, which felt like it was recycled from earlier tropes to me. Maybe if Liz 10 wouldn’t have had the GitF porcelain mask, I wouldn’t be as tempted to compare it to other Monster in the Closet episodes. Overall, just meh.

The Girl in the Fireplace, which rubs me wrong in every way, except for the droids cannibalizing crew to save the ship--what does that say about me and the episode? I will not rewatch this episode willingly.

[keagan-ashleigh]

I just finished Doctor Who series 12.

(Not entirely spoiler free, maybe don't read if you haven't seen it yet)

---

I had heard so many complaints about it being awful (including a guy I know who specifically warned me - but meh, he's a condescending idiot who thinks his opinion is The Best and Only True, so I kinda figured he was wrong about DW, that's a kind if people I learn to not listen too much 😂), I heard so many bad critics, i didn't believe them but it kinda makes one keep their expectations low, but... like... it was actually really great?

I loved it, it was different, and sure Chibnail changed the Gallifrey lore and Doctor's origin, but he 1) gave a new vision of the character, 2) set ground for so many new stories, 3) is getting rid of the "only 12 regenerations" boundary (ensuring the show can basically go on forever, no less). The story of the Doctor is a wonderful story but you can't keep telling this story the same way for 50-60 years, without adding new things to it, I don't get why people are mad about that. I'm not mad, I feel like it gave the story a new start and that is GREAT. This means... SO much more stories and intricate development to come.

I guess the ones who spread the complaints are the same who don't like the last Star Wars trilogy, Birds of Prey, or Captain Marvel, and some other whiney fanboys make petitions about to get rid of - such whiny babies tbh. Damn there has been worst writing than that that no one dares to consider less than classics yet THOSE ones are beyond forgiveness ? C'mon. That's ridiculous.

What I am actually a bit upset about (but not really) is that Chibnail never explains how the Master survived and how the progress he made as Missy in series 10 in becoming a bit more good turned into that boiling rage he has in series 12, but I'm not mad, I can actually fill the blanks myself.

Reminds me when in the Sherlock fandom we all went crazy trying to figure our how he faked his death and the showrunner made fun of it, explaining in the process that in writing, some things don't need explaining, HOW he did it wasn't as important as WHY he did it. And I think that's a remarkable lesson in how we consider some things as plot holes the writers are ought to fill.

I'm sorry but beyond that, the fact Chibnail re-wrote the Doctor's origins, that it's a different writing style... I fail to see where people see this is bad ? Were is it awful? 🤣 People just complain because he's not telling the same story, the same way, with the same ropes, than before.

And because the Doctor is a woman. It's not necessarily prompting all the critics, I'm not saying that, but can we stop 2 secs wondering if people (so many people and not just a couple of unsatisfied) would have been that severe with the last two series if the Doctor had been David Tennant or Matt Smith - I think not, because I know for a fact they've had bad episodes no one has so virulently spoken about, because we usually don't care that much and just enjoy the thing we claim to love. And two more seconds to think about what the movies I cited before, and lot of recent movies/shows that are criticized for no good reason, have in common. I'm not saying this is the main reason every person has to critic those things but again, let's wonder if the critics would have been the same for similar movies without a female lead. I don't want to take shortcuts but it's definitely the number one critic for a lot of people, that's enough to make it a problem, so it has to be taken into account and talked about. And it is true there has been a lot of people complaining about the Doctor being a woman - not everyone have a problem with that, not everyone will admit to have a problem with that, but it IS part of the equation. The guy I was talking about, for instance, he says the last season is bad writing, that it's boring, but that's not the only thing he thinks is bas writing and boring, the only things he admits to me not to like are movies and shows that display strong female leads, a whole black cast (I'm thinking about Black Lightning, that I have recently watched and he said he thinks it's boring, while it's actually objectively very good despite some flaws), or a LGBT+ characters (he once told me something along the line of "there is a gay character in everything now and it serves nothing to the plot" ), he doesn't dislike all the shows displaying those minorities but there is a pattern to his critics and the most funny thing is that he doesn't know that, he's not one bit judgmental, sexist or homophobic, he's just really blunt to how stereotypes affect his judgment, and as I said earlier he's a condescending know-it-all so he never really bothers questioning his judgement. (He's a gen X, and I don't like stereotyping generations but.... ehhhhh 😬 people from his generation I have encountered usually are like that too so... Sorry but 👀💅🕺)

I mean. When you see the whole picture, one begins to wonder if behind those "it's not the fact that she's a woman that bothers me", a little bit of sexism isn't hiding. Many people won't even recognize this is influencing their jugement and they may not be misogynistic nor sexists at all in their lives, but there is a probability that a misogynistic society has influenced their opinion on movies and series because of how women (or black people, LGBT+ people, etc) have been stereotyped for centuries.

People may not acknowledge or even realize it has an influence, but it has, it definitely has, that is part of institutional sexism - it's not only about plain discrimination it can be really insidious like the way we perceive a show or a movie because of stereotypes we absorbed unknowingly. I am damn sure DW s11 and s12 and many other shows and movies (like the ones I cited in this post) suffer from that.

But, this point aside, the main critic is (the critic everyone who critic the last two series will admit): it's not the same as it was. That's it. That's the whole critic. AAArgh. 😫 I can't say I'm surprised, because I'm also in the Star Wars and Marvel fandoms were there is so many hatred from so called fans, but... that's never not disappointing.

Anyway, it was actually very well written and Jodie Whittaker is doing an amazing job, she is fun and silly while also grave, and adds a depth to the character that I think is really great. So were the other actors (Sacha Dhawan as The Master gave me shivers tbh), they were all so good. It's more classic than the Moffat era because he couldn't help but giving people very complex narrative arcs, but Chibnail's simplicity is working, he gets to the point, still leaves us with something to chew on. There was fun, emotion, shock, and I really enjoyed the horror movie vibes from some episodes, it is a bit less goofy than previous eras but more intense I think. It was anything but boring.

Really liked it, and I can't wait for next season.

[mellicose]

Doctor ... WTF?

An impassioned rant about the steady decline of Doctor Who, the trajectory of the Thirteenth Doctor, and the righteous indignation after The Timeless Children, not only as a Whovian, but as a woman-

I love how certain people are spinning The Timeless Children as being good, yet the BBC has released (2)TWO statements basically telling fans the following:

“Doctor Who is a beloved long-running series and we understand that some people will feel attached to a particular idea they have of the Doctor, or that they enjoy certain aspects of the programme more than others. Opinions are strong and this is indicative of the imaginative hold that Doctor Who has – that so many people engage with it on so many different levels.

We wholeheartedly support the creative freedom of the writers and we feel that creating an origin story is a staple of science fiction writing. What was written does not alter the flow of stories from William Hartnell’s brilliant Doctor onwards – it just adds new layers and possibilities to this ongoing saga.”

Creative freedom, huh? Ask Joe Hill about it. Or Gaiman. The writers, including Chibnall, are only free to do what the Beeb and the other show investors tell them. 

They go on:

“We have also received many positive reactions to the episode’s cliff-hanger. There are still a lot of questions to be answered, and we hope that you will come back to join us and see what happens, but we appreciate that it’s impossible to please all of our viewers all of the time and your feedback has been raised with the programme’s Executive Producer." 

Uglylaughing.gif

There is a huge, monumental difference between 'not being able to please everyone all at the same time' and basically making a whole fandom, New and Classic, young and old, come together with the same level of disgust and disappointment.

I also find the people arguing "Canon? What canon?" about the Doctor now being the Lord and Savior of the Shining World of the Seven Systems to be foolish at best, and disingenuous at worst.

No canon?? So what have I been steeping myself in for years  - a vague approximation of a tale? Please. Of course, writers have embellished and alluded, but tampering with the unspoken but well-known 'no touch' rule about the Doctor's origin is ... well, it's canon, in and of itself...

...which Chibnall completely wrecked, and I can't imagine why. Hubris? By all accounts, he was a fan. I thought Moffat was a dick for bringing back Gallifrey, but now, to me, my disappointment then vs now is like comparing a fart to a shitstorm.

Please excuse the scatological references, but I'm using it deliberately. It is a swirling turd, which I and many others wish we could flush down and forget forever.

In another RadioTimes article - which basically is the BBC - amongst the usual apologetics, Huw Fullerton drops this little gem:

“The glory days of David Tennant et al were in a different TV landscape, and if the Tenth Doctor touched down now it seems unlikely he’d command anything close to the ratings he did over a decade ago.”

Yeah, you can all take a break to have a hearty laugh. Or throw up. Whichever. Did they just hint that, basically, the incarnation of the Doctor who continues to get as much love (if not more) than Four, who still consistently gets thousands of butts in seats in conventions worldwide, and has made the BBC hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling in merchandising “wouldn’t command the ratings he did in 2008?”

As Gary Buechler of Nerdrotic said in his response to this article: “Actually, if David Tennant had been given as many chances as Jodie Whittaker, it would’ve had Game of Thrones-level ratings.”

And I agree. Not because I’m a Tenth Doctor stan, but because it’s just ... categorically true. His seasons consistently got average rating of 7.5 to 8 million viewers - and this in a time before BBCiPlayer, so 7-day catch up ratings meant nothing. It was butts on sofas then, which, to me, speaks of a massive, sustained interest.

But Huw goes on to say that such things mean nothing. And that the huge, telling sink in both overnight and 7-day ratings between the 11th and 12th seasons, and the dismal 4.69m 7 day ratings for The Timeless Children - the lowest for a NewWho finale since its reboot - shouldn’t be taken as a loss of interest from the fandom.

Then, pray tell goodman, what does it mean? Does it mean that fans are following the Thirteenth Doctor’s adventures in spirit? Ratings are tanking. Outside of the precious few who blindly tweet and write articles about the show solely based on its now female protagonist, people are notoriously furious, especially after the execrable season finale.

Yet BBC’s Piers Wenger, who once produced the show, says “I don’t think it’s been in better health, editorially. I think it’s fantastic and I think that, the production values obviously have never been better.”

Right. Okay. So, putting Tom Ford makeup on a pig makes it haute couture, huh? The writing is appalling, and after two excruciatingly painful to watch seasons, the Doctor has failed to appear - all I’ve seen is borderline sociopathic navel gazing from an ‘alien’ wearing a pastel duster.

How dare you besmirch the unfailingly cool reputation of the long coat, Chibnall? Jodie? How?? 

I will not let someone piss on my head and call it rain ... ‘because it’s a woman.’ Assuming I’ll accept it just adds insult to injury. Who do they think we are, as female fans? I will not cosign garbage to further an agenda that is ultimately damaging one of my favorite things ever, Doctor Who. I agree that politics, and a positive moral, have always been a part of DW, but at it’s best the writing was so good that it only added to the entertainment. Now, the BBC is feeding us all the bitter pill, without the kindness to hide it in a piece of tasty cheese. It gives the impression that they believe we are already so indoctrinated that we no longer need artifice!

Well, not only am I not indoctrinated, but I refuse to ingest.

I refuse to allow people to silence me because the Doctor is now a woman, and so am I. That, I shouldn’t say anything, or complain, because it’s an act of rebellion on womankind, not only in entertainment, but in general. Well, to that I say ... er ... I disavow.

Disavow. Disavow.

And this from a woman who once criticized Peter Davison for saying that casting a woman was “a vital loss of a role model for boys,” taking it as a sexist comment when in truth, it was just a relevant narrative concern about gender-swapping the traditionally male-presenting Time Lord. Just changing a character from male to female doesn’t do anything but demonstrate a tone-deafness about the emotional and physical differences between men and women, which exist whether we want to address them or not. This is why genderswap reboots are terrible. They are trying to further the feminist agenda, while surreptitiously painting traditional, every day femininity as weakness, and something to be avoided at all costs. I reject the modern Hollywood representation of what a ‘strong woman’ is meant to be. I can be clever, yet sensitive enough to comfort a friend when they confide their fears about a cancer relapse. I can be funny, and not at the expense of the man in the room. I can be brave, but not at the expense of my friends. The mind boggles as to why they thought their current tack with the Doctor was going to be any good. The Doctor is a woman, but more importantly, she’s a Timelord. Where are they? Is the alien that we’ve known and loved for the last 60 years truly gone away, and Thirteen is from a whole different timeline? If so, I don’t want to know her. 

And it breaks my heart.

Why continue to support a corporation who thinks of me, the fan, as no more than a heartless, thoughtless consumer? A drone? A sheep who has no conscious idea of what I like or need?

I’m done. It’s been two seasons of absolute dreck, with absolutely no sign of a course-correction due to the overwhelmingly negative response. I may be many things, but I’m no masochist - even in the name of love. And Chibnall, knowing that many fans would go back to the classic stories to cleanse ourselves, went back to the beginning and took a giant shit there too. 

Oh, the cleverness! the absolute schadenfreude of not only tampering, but rewriting the Doctor’s origins! I suppose that tells me he truly was once a fan. But no longer. Even if it turns out that the Master is as full of crap as Chibnall and it’s all an orchestrated lie, I don’t care anymore. Every inexplicable, terrible thing that happened before has already exhausted my patience with the narrative.

As veteral DW writer and script editor Terrance Dicks said:

If you’re concentrating on putting forth a political message, rather than on doing a really good show, I think there is a danger, maybe, you can do both but it would be hellish difficult, and I think that there’s maybe a danger that the show wouldn’t as be as good as it could or should be, because you’re not looking at the right aims.”

It seems like all that has been lost in time. Big corporations are buying up beloved science fiction properties, and systematically destroying them by trying to mix their politics into the mythos. [see ‘the fandom menace’]

I say, don’t support things that make you unhappy, in the name of nostalgia. That’s how they continue to upset us, while lining their pockets with our hard earned money. Complaining amongst ourselves, writing emails, or making angry Youtube videos no longer works anyway. Now is the time to just ... let it go. No more special edition DVDs, novelizations, or pretty action figures. Hit them in the pocketbook. We will still have fond memories of better times. I will not let them hijack, retcon, and retool them too.

There is a telling paragraph hidden in the depths of the article, which makes my DW fangirl sink:

It’s not as simple as “the ratings are down so Doctor Who will be cancelled,” as for the publicly-funded BBC there’s an interesting question about exactly what ratings are for beyond bragging rights. Obviously they need to make TV that people want to watch – but which people?

Not us, Huw. That’s who.

[sixthdoctor]

for the dw ask game: 3, 11, 25 and 49

3. First DW episode you ever saw? 

i caught the end of parting of the ways when i was really young and flipping through channels. i had no idea what doctor who was or what was going on so seeing this guy explode into another guy blew my mind, and i distinctly remember rushing to my dad after it was over to gush about how cool it was. a few years later i saw fanvids for dw on youtube, got interested, and officially started with rose

11. Who is your Doctor?

twelve, easily. the wider fandom seems to think he was underserved by the writing of his era and that eleven’s run was stronger, but i feel the complete opposite. i didn’t really vibe with eleven’s last two seasons overall (though there were obviously standout episodes here and there) and was getting pretty worn out on moffat’s version of the show, but then capaldi came in and changed everything. twelve and the themes of his era really get to the core of what i love about doctor who and what i want from the character. thinking about twelve’s arc and his dedication to being kind genuinely made me want to be a better person, so he’ll always be my doctor

25. Most underrated companion?

martha’s the first that comes to mind, but thankfully i’ve been seeing her get more and more credit over the years. mickey definitely doesn’t get enough love, and for the classic who i’ve seen so far, peri’s just the best and everyone should appreciate her

49. How much of Classic Who have you seen?

i’ve seen bits and pieces of every era, but have yet to fully complete a classic doctor’s run yet. im currently watching through three and six’s runs, i’ve seen small handfuls of one from years ago, most of the non-missing troughton serials, robots of death for four, the five doctors, and greatest show in the galaxy for seven. it’s hard for me to binge classic who bc im still not totally used to the pacing, but im getting better with it and i’ve genuinely enjoyed most of what i’ve seen!