I think Jodie did a great job in her debut season, but imagine the job she could have done with better material.
The problem with the 13th Doctor is that, ultimately, she is shallow. What are her motivations? What does she fear? What are her conflicts? What is the lie she believes or the truth she won’t accept?
The Doctor is one of the most tragic and tortured heroes in sci-fi, but all hint of that was absent. On any basic level Jodie’s Doctor lacks a ‘character’, in narrative terms.
Hype level = maximum. It’s such a departure from what’s gone before, from the colours to the sonic to that new trailer. Cannot wait to see how it all turns out.
The union of Doctor Who and Douglas Adams always felt perfect, and it was a shame that more did not come from it. Having today in the car listened to some of the audiobook version of Adams’ Fourth Doctor adventure The Pirate Planet, I perhaps should not have been surprised to encounter one of the greatest passages I have ever heard:
“This Doctor, the fourth, was a proud spiller of crumbs and defier of convention. Every morning, he advanced on the wardrobe as though he were seeking revenge. What did it matter what he wore, he figured.”
Words so glorious they could literally inspire a career.
I am so excited about the new series of Doctor Who. All that change. At the same time, I’m so scared. All that change. I have the fear.
It’s got nothing to do with Jodie – I’m nothing but excited about her. But no Moffat, and now no Murray Gold (New Who’s long-term composer). I really, really hope it’s good. Please be good. Pleeeeease.
You didn’t give in to the hate and didn’t shy away from the inevitable misogynist backlash. Not only was there canonically no reason at all not to cast a female as the 13th Doctor, but there was actually every reason to do it. Because after over 50 years of white male Doctors, now was without a doubt the time to finally expand beyond that. Rebirth and reinvention is at the absolute core of the show. Peter has been magnificent (as were Chris, David and especially Matt) and there’s every reason to hope that even better times await.
I know folk rate the Zygon Invasion war speech, but that wouldn’t make my Top 3. Although The Doctor Falls wasn’t quite the best Capaldi episode (although it was definitely right up there, and the best in the series by far), I do think it had his best speech.
I think Capaldi is a great actor, he’s had (contrary to what at time feels like the negative popular opinion) some incredible episodes. Like, some really, really incredible episodes. And he’s most definitely a good Doctor.
… I think it’s the right time. For me (and my daughter, with whom I was discussing this topic only yesterday) his Doctor is not as satisfying to watch as (the incredible) Matt Smith. Or David Tennant, for that matter. As nervous as I am about Moffat jumping ship, a brand new writing team with a brand new Doctor will at the least shake things up and make for an interesting refresh.
Go on BBC, have the spine to give us a female Doctor, yeah?
I don’t know why.
My Top 25 favourite (modern) Doctor Who episodes/runs ever:
(NOTE: A further edit to include the ‘Of The Doctor’ trilogy, although ‘Name’ has now dropped off the list)
1. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (S5/12,13)
2. A Good Man Goes to War (S6/E7)
3. Human Nature/The Family of Blood (S3/E8,9)
4. The Time of the Doctor (2013 Christmas Special)
5. Vincent and the Doctor (S5/E10)
6. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (S4/E9,10)
7. Let’s Kill Hitler (S6/E8)
8. Asylum of the Daleks (S7/E1)
9. The Lodger (S5/E11)
10. The Girl in the Fireplace (S2/E4)
11. The Day of the Doctor (50th Anniversary Special)
12. The Impossible Astronaut/The Day of the Moon (S5/E12,13)
13. Blink (S3/E10)
14. The Parting of the Ways (S1/E13)
15. Utopia (S3/E11)
16. Doomsday (S2/E13)
17. Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End (S4/E11,12,13)
18. Amy’s Choice (S5/E7)
19. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (S7/E2)
20. The Waters of Mars (S4/E16)
21. The End of Time (S4/E17,18)
22. The Bells of Saint John (S7/E6)
23. The Doctor’s Wife (S6/E3)
24. Closing Time (S6/E12)
25. The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011 Christmas Special)
We’ve just started the fifth series – that’s the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. Must have clocked everything up to this point in under two months. Doctor Who is quite aggressively occupying a significant part of my conscious mind, almost to the point of distraction.
Can’t possibly formulate any structured thoughts at this juncture , but I’m moved to throw around some random ones:
Tennant is my favourite Doctor. I thought it was Smith, but it’s not.
Tennant in the Emotional Doctor. Smith is the Eccentric Doctor. Who is Ecclestone? The Stiff Upper Lip Doctor? Of course, he had it hardest. Just one series, and the first too. Doctor Who had yet to reassert itself. And Ecclestone admits he had more or less no character direction. Compare that to how precisely shaped the eleventh Doctor is, with each syllable and eye movement precisely predetermined by the production team and writers.
I wept. I wept when Tennant said goodbye to Rose the first time. I wept when he handed her over to The Other Doctor in Journey’s End. There’s a moment – a very precise moment – when the character confronts the curse that is The Last of the Timelords. And it destroyed me. Today must have been the third of fourth time I’ve seen The End of Time. But watching it as part of a near daily schedule of Who viewings killed me. I was upset as Tennant at the idea of letting him go.
I remember when I first found out that Catherine Tate was returning to be a full-time companion. I was pissed off. Yet she turned out to be the second best companion behind Rose! Incredible.
The Master probably deserved better episodes. But John Simm’s interpretation of the character is so utterly compelling I still love every moment of all five Master episodes.
The TARDIS is by some significant margin the most characterised non-speaking box to ever grace fiction. It’s so amazingly intrinsic to the character of The Doctor.
Asylum of the Daleks is my favourite single-part Doctor Who episode.
ben parfitt 