Doctor Who opinions

[Solo4114]

The problem with the RTD companions is that he wanted the Doctor to get into their pants. Sorry, the Doctor isn't human, no matter how he looks, so anything that happened between the Doctor and his companions would be bestiality. That's where RTD went horribly, horribly wrong. The whole point of the companions is to have a character the audience can identify with, someone who can be shown the wonders of time and space. It's not someone the Doctor can bed down with. That should never, ever, ever be part of Doctor Who.

Moffat's women though, as you say, are wholly unrealistic. He makes them perfect. He makes them absurdly important. I really can't stand them.

Davies' female characters were a mix of different elements, as I recall. Rose, yeah, was played as a romantic interest, and in no small part is responsible (along with David Tennant) for DRAMATICALLY increasing female viewership. So, bestiality or no, I think it's safe to argue that Rose was a wise choice for the longevity of the show itself. Martha, on the other hand, was played as being in love with the Doctor, but the Doctor was more like "Oh, um...sorry. Just friends." It was fitting that she ended up with Mickey, I thought. Donna....Donna was more just his chum, and someone who kept him grounded. The more I look back on her, the more I like her and her "Oi! Spaceman!" attitude.

Moffat's female companions have been...irritating. Again, they're wish fulfillment. They're like what you, at 15 or so, would imagine as the perfect woman. In other words, basically just a female embodiment of male fantasy. Amy got better as time wore on, but only marginally so. River...started great, and became insufferable. "Spoilers, sweety..." Oh, do shut up. And Clara, well, Clara started off as a "thing." The "impossible girl." Last series she was great, I thought. She actually felt realistic. Like, I could believe a mid-20s woman would be simultaneously torn by a somewhat more stable, normal life offered by Danny, and the grand adventure offered by the Doctor, and would struggle with it. And that's what we saw last season.

The problem is, in the midst of all of this, the Doctor himself doesn't seem...I dunno...relatable at all. Last season seemed to struggle with what direction the character was taking. Like, who was this new Doctor? I couldn't tell. This season...not much better, because the Doctor is being played a la James Bond in the Brosnan or Moore era. In other words, a guy who always has a "Get out of plot dilemma free" card, and who's played mostly for superficial characteristics and laughs.

I hope I like the new episode that aired this week, but I was mightily unimpressed with the two parter from last week. I question how long this iteration of the show can really hold my interest before I just pack it in and say "I'll come back when there's a changing of the guard."

 

[Solo4114]

Personally I think Cappaldi it a good actor, but is playing the Doctor way too dark. And what's what the sonic screwdriver now being a a pair of sonic sunshades? That's just wrong on so many levels!!

I don't think that's Capaldi's fault, really. I think that's down to the writing. Capaldi is, I think, trying to give the Doctor SOMETHING as a character, but he's limited in what the writers allow him to do. I dunno. I don't see his Doctor as "dark" per se. I see him as kind of directionless. In a way, it's somewhat reminiscent of what plagued the 6th Doctor's run. His first episodes involved him dealing with a screwed up regeneration, but after that he was just written as prickly and obnoxious because the writers didn't have any sense of what to do with him. Right now, I think Moffat kind of has that problem. He's too busy showing off how clever the Doctor (and by extension, Moffat himself) is, and as a result, the character gets lost in the background. The Doctor is less a character, and more a walking Sonic Screwdriver. Only now he's shades! Cool! Yeah!

Whatever.

 

[drcraig13]

See I like the idea of a darker Doctor and someone that is not interested in falling in love with the companion. If we are to believe in the pain and sorrow we saw from the "War Doctor" then I think this gives them the opportunity for some great stories and I think Peter could deliver big time. I think it is an appropriate change from how Smith's doctor was. I just think they are blowing it. It's like every 3rd show is good and we suffer through the rest.

 

[Solo4114]

See I like the idea of a darker Doctor and someone that is not interested in falling in love with the companion. If we are to believe in the pain and sorrow we saw from the "War Doctor" then I think this gives them the opportunity for some great stories and I think Peter could deliver big time. I think it is an appropriate change from how Smith's doctor was. I just think they are blowing it. It's like every 3rd show is good and we suffer through the rest.

I don't see that as "darker." I just see that as...I dunno...natural. Normal. The guy's seen some ****, ya know? Matt Smith was all happy-go-lucky as a form of denial, and he played that pretty well (when given a chance to). I think this Doctor's bigger characteristic is his willingness to confront his shortcomings (again, when presented with a chance to by the writers). To me, that's the best part about Capaldi. He's fallible, he knows it, and he tries to do better.

The problem is more when the Doctor becomes like James Bond, Superman, or Batman at their worst, where the characters just have the ability to get out of any dilemma with the magic of whatever crap the writers pull out of thin air, and where they know everything, can do anything, and are never in any real danger. Doubly so when the companion also seems to have a "hero shield." And Moffat just lampshades (or sun shades?) it in this episode. "I'm the Doctor. Just accept it."

He might as well have had the Doctor say "I'm a lousy showrunner. Just accept it."

 

[glunark]

The ratings under Moffat have gone down and down, sooner or later the BBC are going to have to get someone else, or pull the plug entirely.

We are almost at the viewing figures that got the McCoy series pulled.

And back then we only had four channels.

 

[drcraig13]

Falling figures or not the show drives sales reportedly 60 million pounds worth a year. It is a cash cow and as long as there are enough people out there to keep the ratings respectable we are just going to have to deal with this for now. Forbes just had an article talking about how this could be the best year yet.

 

[Cephus]

Davies' female characters were a mix of different elements, as I recall. Rose, yeah, was played as a romantic interest, and in no small part is responsible (along with David Tennant) for DRAMATICALLY increasing female viewership. So, bestiality or no, I think it's safe to argue that Rose was a wise choice for the longevity of the show itself. Martha, on the other hand, was played as being in love with the Doctor, but the Doctor was more like "Oh, um...sorry. Just friends." It was fitting that she ended up with Mickey, I thought. Donna....Donna was more just his chum, and someone who kept him grounded. The more I look back on her, the more I like her and her "Oi! Spaceman!" attitude.

I really don't care for Rose at all. She was an idiot, she treated her boyfriend like crap, she wanted to screw an alien and worse yet, the Doctor, who should have known better, clearly wanted the same. Then you had Martha, who while she started off wanting a relationship with the Doctor (RTD created the character after all), but eventually, realized that travelling with the Doctor was bad for her and voluntarily stepped off the TARDIS. She and Mickey, two people who got screwed over by their travelling with the Doctor, wound up together and probably had the best outcome of any of the Doctor's companions since the show came back. Donna started out as a loser, went through a bunch of adventures and ended up as a loser again. She didn't improve, she doesn't even remember her time with the Doctor. That might have been the saddest outcome, she didn't even get to remember being anything but a loser.

Moffat's female companions have been...irritating. Again, they're wish fulfillment. They're like what you, at 15 or so, would imagine as the perfect woman. In other words, basically just a female embodiment of male fantasy. Amy got better as time wore on, but only marginally so. River...started great, and became insufferable. "Spoilers, sweety..." Oh, do shut up. And Clara, well, Clara started off as a "thing." The "impossible girl." Last series she was great, I thought. She actually felt realistic. Like, I could believe a mid-20s woman would be simultaneously torn by a somewhat more stable, normal life offered by Danny, and the grand adventure offered by the Doctor, and would struggle with it. And that's what we saw last season.

I agree. Amy was tolerable, but Rory was the much better person. I mean, come on, Amy tried to jump the Doctor on the eve of her wedding. Rory waited for her for thousands of years while she was trapped in the Pandorica. If it had been him in there, I have no doubt she would have been gone. And then there's Clara, who as you say, started off as the impossible girl, was entirely unimpressive. The whole thing with Danny Pink was stupid, they had absolutely no chemistry at all, she spent all of her time lying to him about what she was doing, etc. I have absolutely no respect for any of the companions in the new Doctor Who series, except for Rory, but he was way too good for Amy, so he loses points for that.

The problem is, in the midst of all of this, the Doctor himself doesn't seem...I dunno...relatable at all. Last season seemed to struggle with what direction the character was taking. Like, who was this new Doctor? I couldn't tell. This season...not much better, because the Doctor is being played a la James Bond in the Brosnan or Moore era. In other words, a guy who always has a "Get out of plot dilemma free" card, and who's played mostly for superficial characteristics and laughs.

He's not and I'm not all that surprised since he isn't human, he's been around for a thousand years, he's seen things that nobody can relate to, of course he's not relatable. That's why we have companions, they're supposed to be the focus character for the audience, the ones that are supposed to ask all the questions that we all have. They are supposed to be our eyes into the world of Doctor Who. Unfortunately,both RTD and Moffat have made the companions as important or more important than the Doctor. That's not how it's supposed to be. Now I don't mind the companions playing a more important role, but come on... half of Matt Smith's run was the Amy Pod Show, co-starring the Doctor.

I hope I like the new episode that aired this week, but I was mightily unimpressed with the two parter from last week. I question how long this iteration of the show can really hold my interest before I just pack it in and say "I'll come back when there's a changing of the guard."

Last week, they said there would be an important announcement about Doctor Who and tons of people were hoping that announcement was that Moffat was stepping down. It ended up being an 8-episode spin off about the kids at Clara's school. Who cares about that? Get rid of Moffat! I said that I was done with Doctor Who after the end of last season, but my wife wants to watch it, she hates it almost as much as I do, she hates Moffat with a passion, she blogs how crappy she thinks it is every single week, but she watches anyhow, hoping that there are at least one or two good episodes per season. So far, no go.

- - - Updated - - -

Falling figures or not the show drives sales reportedly 60 million pounds worth a year. It is a cash cow and as long as there are enough people out there to keep the ratings respectable we are just going to have to deal with this for now. Forbes just had an article talking about how this could be the best year yet.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of really stupid people out there who would watch an hour of static every week if it said Doctor Who on it. The same is true of Star Wars fanatics or Star Trek fanatics, people who have no ability to judge a show on its content, not on its title. They don't have to even try, they will have people watching anyhow. That's just sad.

 

[astroboy]

That great thing about rose was her family. They all had a character arc and in a lot of ways, that was the best writing of the series. The danny pink stuff was reminiscent of that period. Rose was like your first girlfriend.

In a lot of ways, I felt that Martha was the best companion for the doctor. They were brilliant together. Like an amazing co-worker who ends up having feelings for you...which wrecks the dynamic.

But Donna was that platonic friend. Amazing. She is still my favorite companion. And her ending was so incredibly tragic. Breaks my heart to think of it.

But rtd was so great with companions because of their supporting cast. The only thing close to that in the Moffat era is rory and his dad.


And then there's Captain jack!

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Zombie_61]

I'm curious to see if a new sonic will be introduced.

Moffat has been defending the Sonic Sunglasses, but I'm really hoping he'll listen to the disgruntled fans and make them just a temporary thing until the prop department can come up with a new Sonic Screwdriver for Capaldi. I really didn't mind him using Smith's Sonic, mostly because he didn't whip it out and swing it around the set every five minutes like Smith did.

...I think the other part that bugs me about all this is that Moffat's approach to the show seems like he's trying so very, very hard to prove how very, very clever he is. Except, in trying so hard, he actually undermines his stories. Maybe that also explains some of the amateurish/fan-fiction quality to it.

Moffat needs to get over himself and leave the storytelling to people who know how to write for Doctor Who.

...I know many will laugh at me but I real liked the first of the new seasons with Christopher Eccleston, and no not just because he had my favorite TARDIS, sonic screwdriver and that tough guy leather jacket appeal. I thought his acting was really spot on.

Eccleston is still my favorite Doctor simply because his performances made me believe he sometimes felt the weight of the universe on his shoulders. But I think that was a little too "dark" for the long-time Who fans. Tennant was a close second, but always stopped just a little short of taking it to the level that Eccleston did.

I don't think that's Capaldi's fault, really. I think that's down to the writing. Capaldi is, I think, trying to give the Doctor SOMETHING as a character, but he's limited in what the writers allow him to do. I dunno. I don't see his Doctor as "dark" per se. I see him as kind of directionless...

Considering how uneven the writing has been since Capaldi assumed the role, it's something of a wonder that his Doctor is as defined as he is. I think that speaks to Capaldi's talents as an actor--Moffat has handed him 20 pounds of garbage in a five pound bag, and Capaldi has managed to filter through it and create a character. I already like him as much as I liked Tennant, and he just might give Eccleston's Doctor a run for his money.

 

[D3adrock]

Moffat has been defending the Sonic Sunglasses, but I'm really hoping he'll listen to the disgruntled fans and make them just a temporary thing until the prop department can come up with a new Sonic Screwdriver for Capaldi. I really didn't mind him using Smith's Sonic, mostly because he didn't whip it out and swing it around the set every five minutes like Smith did.

Moffat needs to get over himself and leave the storytelling to people who know how to write for Doctor Who.

Eccleston is still my favorite Doctor simply because his performances made me believe he sometimes felt the weight of the universe on his shoulders. But I think that was a little too "dark" for the long-time Who fans. Tennant was a close second, but always stopped just a little short of taking it to the level that Eccleston did.

Considering how uneven the writing has been since Capaldi assumed the role, it's something of a wonder that his Doctor is as defined as he is. I think that speaks to Capaldi's talents as an actor--Moffat has handed him 20 pounds of garbage in a five pound bag, and Capaldi has managed to filter through it and create a character. I already like him as much as I liked Tennant, and he just might give Eccleston's Doctor a run for his money.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I really feel for Capaldi, he came in on the tail end of poor writing from moffat and part of me feels that Moffat has not gotten over the end of Smiths doctor. I feel like they had a sorta Tim Burton/Johnny Depp relationship, where it could be funny and interesting at times but could get played out real fast and because of this Capaldi is sort of coddling us a little by not fully letting go of Smiths persona

I would be very interested to see Capaldi be let full loose to do his own doctor without being tied to trying to fill in Smiths two tone boots.

Back when Eccleston turned into Tennant it was a very abrupt change with no trace of Eccleston left, same with when Tennant took the reigns, sort of a "This is who I am now get used to it" deal, and of coarse it was difficult for fans who loved the old doctors to let go but we survived, the fans could relate to the companions as the usually went through the same struggle of adapting to the sudden change.

 

[glunark]

Donna didn't end up a loser, sure she forgot all her adventures, but she ended up married and winning a triple roll-over lottery.

Martha ended up married, even Rose ended up with a human version of the Doctor.

The RTD companions got happy endings.

The first time we see River she dies, Amy has no family for most of her life, she finally gets them back then immediately leaves them again, Amy and Rory get married, then split up again, they have a baby but the baby is snatched away from them, and the next time they see her she is older than them, Amy sees Rory die, a lot, and then forgets him completely, and when she does get him back, they are both killed by weeping angels.

Clara dies twice, falls in love with Danny Pink, gets to see a future where they have grandchildren, then gets to watch him die before that can happen, twice, right now I don't know how she is going to leave the series, but the Moffat track record is not to give companions happy endings.

 

[Cameron]

Sunglasses? I mean...really? I've been a Whovian for years but they may have just lost me. This Doctor and the writing and now no screwdriver? Why don't we just turn the Tardis into a doghouse?

 

[horus]

Interesting I thought Capaldi was just not up to the task, and Clara I cannot feel anything for, even the Daleks cannot save the show.
I would like to see Missy with her own show, she has the spark that is lacking in the rest of the cast.

 

[LrdSatyr8]

Honestly... I wish they would have started the series with the movie Doctor... he only got one episode (the movie) and then it was Eccleston... I really liked him!

 

[glunark]

Did you ever see the minisode the McGann Doctor was in?

 

[Riceball]

The first time we see River she dies, Amy has no family for most of her life, she finally gets them back then immediately leaves them again, Amy and Rory get married, then split up again, they have a baby but the baby is snatched away from them, and the next time they see her she is older than them, Amy sees Rory die, a lot, and then forgets him completely, and when she does get him back, they are both killed by weeping angels.

Just to clarify things Amy & Rory weren't killed by the Angels, they were just sent back in time. Rory got grabbed first and then Amy, who couldn't stand the idea of living without him, allowed herself to be grabbed by the angel and got sent back in time, presumably to the same time as Rory.

As far as the sonic sunglasses go, it is a bit silly but makes it worse is that they didn't even do anything with them, they just took a stock pair of sunglasses and add some sound effects. It wouldn't have been as bad if they had at least tried to make them look more gadgety, for lack of a better term, like some lights or something.

 

[glunark]

But in the time they came from they are dead, so its essentially the same thing.

Their gravestones appeared immediately.

 

[timelordjedi777]

That was the stupidest way for them to go. It's not like they couldn't have come back to the UK and then contacted the Doctor. Did they forget he has a TARDIS. I know they said he couldn't go back to that time but seriously.

 

[glunark]

They didn't even need to go that far, if the Tardis can't go to new york, then just hop on a train to washington, or florida, or nevada, all places Rory and Amy know the tardis can get to no problem.

They even know where the Doctor would be stood, what date and roughly what time.

They could have sent a BTTF style telegram to him, telling him where they were living outside of new york.

 

[Riceball]

They didn't even need to go that far, if the Tardis can't go to new york, then just hop on a train to washington, or florida, or nevada, all places Rory and Amy know the tardis can get to no problem.

They even know where the Doctor would be stood, what date and roughly what time.

They could have sent a BTTF style telegram to him, telling him where they were living outside of new york.

That was definitely the flaw in that episode, way too many ways the Doctor could have gotten Amy & Rory back if he really wanted and he would have been motivated to do so too. Then again, the whole episode really sucked overall, really bad portrayal of the angels, they were better as a one off villain, showing them in more than one episode really ruined the cool factor of them.