Doctor Who Won't Return Until 2020 (bbc.co.uk) 159
AmiMoJo quotes the BBC: The next series of Doctor Who won't start until 2020, it's been confirmed. Series 11 ended on Sunday night, but after the festive special on New Year's Day, Jodie Whittaker won't be seen in the Tardis again next year.
Showrunner Chris Chibnall said work on the new series had already begun... The first episode of the series, the first to feature a female Doctor, drew a record audience. It saw the highest launch viewing figures for the sci-fi stalwart in a decade, with 10.9 million people tuning in. The series has been considered a ratings success, with viewing figures above those of the last two series when Peter Capaldi starred in the title role.
Showrunner Chris Chibnall said work on the new series had already begun... The first episode of the series, the first to feature a female Doctor, drew a record audience. It saw the highest launch viewing figures for the sci-fi stalwart in a decade, with 10.9 million people tuning in. The series has been considered a ratings success, with viewing figures above those of the last two series when Peter Capaldi starred in the title role.
What ratings? (Score:1, Insightful)
Yeah it premiered well but then steadily collapsed with the overdone SJW themes. If it were doing well they wouldn't be taking a year off to start over.
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My wife (who I got into Doctor Who years ago) has been the biggest pusher-back in the house. It takes quite a bit of effort to sit down and watch an episode, and then at the end it's her who complaints of how preachy it.
Re: What ratings? (Score:1)
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Re: What ratings? (Score:3)
Personally I don't understand the supposed SJW themes that are on the show.
But this last season has just been dreadful with the plots: boring, stupid, no actual humour or clever writing.
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Personally I don't understand the supposed SJW themes that are on the show.
But this last season has just been dreadful with the plots: boring, stupid, no actual humour or clever writing.
I really grow to hate the term SJW. It's an excuse to be lazy and tag something with a name to avoid having to consider anything on a deeper level. Basically its the same script repeated endlessly through the ages. To destroy something, you first redefine it to be less than it really is, then attack the easier target.
I've not seen the last year or two of Doctor Who. I'll watch it at some point, thought I agree that plot is the thing they have most lost. As a counterpoint, Babylon 5 had more plot than m
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What's killed this season are the plots. They continue the SJW proselytizing (enough so that a couple episodes are eminently predictable), and are quite frankly boring. I played the season on my TV last weekend while I played games on the computer. Only three
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[.... reeeeeeee.... autistic screeching removed for brevity...] SJW slanted
Quit whining and go watch something else then. Christ, but everyone who uses "SJW" is a soft, weak little pussy.
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The Doctor has always had a message behind it. It's from the BBC which has as part of it's charter to educate, inform and entertain. It's been like this for many years. In this sense, it's fit's in with the Star Trek tradition on TV. Using science fiction or fantasy to explore themes about the real world is even older than that.
Perhaps at times this makes is preachy; that has been a bit more apparent with this season, although probably only because you weren't so busy trying to follow some extremely convolu
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I did watch the entire season, I think Jodie Whitaker is a fantastic Doctor but wish the show had better/more consistent writers supporting her. I didn't care for the historical events episodes at all, too much Quantum Leap and not enough science fiction. BUT there were a few really great, what I consider true Doctor Who episodes like The Ghost Monmument, The Tsuranga Conundrum, Kerblam! and It Takes You Away.
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Crikey. Is there no-one but dickheads and trumpanzees posting on slashdot these days?
Re: What ratings? (Score:1)
I'm betting these constant massive breaks both between and in the middle of the seasons aren't doing them any favors either.
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Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:4, Insightful)
Long time Dr. Who fan, started with the reboot. Fell in love with the them. Then the rlwrotong started to get preachy with Capaldi's character which is a shame because he's a great actor.
It went downhill really fast. What happened to Dr. Who is exactly what happened to Star Wars. Good story telling thrown to the wayside for whatever social issue pandering du joir Moffett can come up with.
Joke's on them, I have 25ish odd years of classic Dr. Who now to catch up on where the Doctor is a man and the assistant is a cute girl instead of this shark jumping gender reversal nonsense.
Re: Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:1)
*writing
Re: Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:2, Informative)
Rlwrotong is a perfectly crapulent word.
Re:Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:4, Informative)
Strange hills to die on, since Dr. Who has had male companions since 1969 and The Doctor is an alien species who has regenerated his identities seemingly at random: the fact that Time Lords can change gender during regeneration was established at least 7 years ago with The Corsair (as written by Neil Gaiman, not Moffett).
But if this gender stuff really bothers you, you'll see it everywhere.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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Taking all the nonsense out, how about we stick to the basics, men are more interested in stuff and women are more interested in people. You could call it roughly the 80:20 rule, 80% of men prefer their content to be 80% about stuff and 20% about people (people doing something with stuff is about the stuff not the people) and 80% of women prefer the content to be 80% about people and 20% about stuff (that 20% stuff includes, clothing, make up, jewellery and of course shoes). So if you try to get woke and ma
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The Doctor was a male character the way Joan d'Arc is a woman. It just happens to be that way, get over it. I'm all for strong female characters in fiction and strong women in reality. But that doesn't mean everything needs to be genderized and every male character needs to be re-cast into a female form. Ghostbusters was perfectly fine with a male. Doctor Who already had a lot of strong women, many of whom could and did stand up to the Doctor.
It's just when it's done for easily transparent SJW reasons that
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Some people have very poor memories.
Star Trek was an SJW-fest from the very start. Every story was preachy, to the point where they had things like a race that was literally half black and half white, space Nazis, space Native Americans, space hippies...
Star Wars's Empire was also basically space Nazis with a cheezy redemption story where only the chosen one and/or love can save the day.
The last series of Who wasn't any more preachy than the earlier ones, it's just that people are hyper-sensitive to it now
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Strange hills to die on, since Dr. Who has had male companions since 1969 and The Doctor is an alien species who has regenerated his identities seemingly at random: the fact that Time Lords can change gender during regeneration was established at least 7 years ago with The Corsair
I don't remember that being referenced in that episode.
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You say that like it's supposed to mean something. That retcon-heavy story was approved by the same shitty show runners that approved of this current shitty storyline, it's not a precedent that was set in 1970 with Jon Pertwee.
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Uh huh. I'm sure you would be saying the same thing if Mark Wahlberg was cast by Disney as Black Panther. Hey, it's okay! He's adopted!
Re: Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:1)
Re: Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:1)
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Ferret
Re:Stopped Watching After Capaldi (Score:4)
Second this. I also started with the reboot and loved it. Still like Eccleston a lot, he had that edge that an ancient Time Lord who saw the worst should have.
With Capaldi, the quality of the show dramatically fell away, and it wasn't because of him or his acting. I wasn't even interested in the female Doctor, and not just because it felt like they made him a woman purely to satisfy the SJW crowd.
I seriously lost all interest in the show. It had a bunch of high points, like the Bad Wolf part, or some of the River Song pieces, or the episode where they run around inside the TARDIS and it turns out that it's powered by a freaking SUN. That was amazing, I wish I could remember which episode it was.
But no such high points for the last few years, and no indication that they'll be back.
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or the episode where they run around inside the TARDIS and it turns out that it's powered by a freaking SUN. That was amazing, I wish I could remember which episode it was.
Series 7 episode 10: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS [wikia.com]. It's called the Eye of Harmony.
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That was it. Thank you!
Not Whittaker's fault... (Score:1)
... But the stories are bad (even by Doctor Who standards) and lack humor. There is no chemistry between the cast. It just falls flat.
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I kind of agree. They upped the production standard. But the show seems worse somehow. The cast is all great. But sound mixing is particularly terrible: voices are usually too low and I can't hear them.
The writing has not been best: there are usually a couple of episodes a season that are just brilliant. This season has been flat.
I don't blame the actors, I think they are good. But writing and production just fails at every turn.
Worst Doctor Who in ages (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people complaining about this season say it's bad because of the SJW themes. That's not why it's bad. It's bad because the writing, directing, and acting are terrible. The writers have no imagination. The Doctor has no edge. When she has an important bit of dialog the camera is probably going to be at some weird angle so the focus isn't even on her. Two out of three of the companions are just there. Graham could be a good counterpoint if there was ever a point to counter.
There's been plenty of "meh" Doctor Who episodes over the years. I watch because you never know when they are going to pull a "The Girl in the Fireplace" or "Blink" or "Heaven Sent" out of their hats. But even when it's been "meh" it's at least had personality.
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Most people complaining about this season say it's bad because of the SJW themes. That's not why it's bad. It's bad because the writing, directing, and acting are terrible. The writers have no imagination. The Doctor has no edge.
That's all one and the same.
The vast majority of people I've observed who complain about "SJW themes" have nothing against the writer taking a position on a political issue. I'm a huge Star Trek fan, for example, and that franchise could not get more opinionated, even a bit preachy at times. And being a "capitalism absolutist", I actually disagree with a lot of Roddenberry's views. Doesn't make a bit of difference in my appreciation of Trek - because good writing and story telling is all I'm looking for.
The
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Yes, my impression too. Good actors in other roles (arguably) but somehow ruined by the directing, dialogue, camera angles, etc. Compared to a highly polished and effective US series, Dr Who feels like a student film project. Yet apparently it's a big export for the BBC, but you know what, maybe that's just the British accents.
Re:Worst Doctor Who in ages (Score:5, Interesting)
No, this is what happens with pretty much all long-running TV shows - they eventually run out of clever ideas.
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The show doesn't need clever ideas (and I'd argue Moffat trying to be too clever ended up detracting from the show in the past few series) as long as it has a solid story, good characters, and talented actors.
This! Moffatt did the same thing to Sherlock [imdb.com]; it started so well but the last series was a shambles.
Re:Worst Doctor Who in ages (Score:5, Insightful)
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His scripts are much more reminiscent of classic Who than the Moffat and RTD ones. If you imagine really badly made props instead of the relatively decent CGI then they could easily be classic episodes. Even things like having an ensemble of companions rather than just one or two is more like the very early series.
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I thought the episode where Capaldi was with the confession thing (no spolers) was awesome. It was a fresh idea, the idea was used to develop his character, and it had a pace which moved me to tears by the climax. And Capaldi held the interest from start to finish. So age of the show is not an issue really.
Oh and another point, the music. Gold seems very influenced, in Dr Who, by Morricone, and had a lot of (albeit too sentimental) emotion and drama. The new series is insipid.
It's not the woman thing, as we
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Why. That there are SJW's out there is non-debatable after all the flack Marvel got for not race swapping [inverse.com] the Iron Fist.
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Most people complaining about this season say it's bad because of the SJW themes. That's not why it's bad. It's bad because the writing, directing, and acting are terrible.
God, yes. The political pandering is annoying, but the scripts are just crap. The companions' acting is roundly sub-standard. And why did Chibnal select such a terrible accent for the Doctor and *all* the companions? I had always thought one of the wonderful, enjoyable parts of the UK was the broad range of accents. That richness certainly was part of the previous seasons of the reboot. Now, we get ones that are not only difficult to understand, but identical, bland and uninteresting.
But the big probl
Found it hard to watch (Score:5, Insightful)
In previous seasons I wanted to watch every episode when it was broadcast. This season, meh. I watch it at some point during the week when I've nothing what to watch.
I found most is the season very preachy. I found myself watching it almost because I felt I had to, and not enjoying it.
The was very little by way of SciFi in it, and what was there felt very much shoehorned into the story.
Over all, personally, I think this was the worst series ever. The writers made a point of dropping the Daleks and the Cybermen, and internally did what they did. They need to be fired and the writers from the David and Matt era brought in to get the show back on track.
Very disappointed. I don't think I'll miss watching it in 2019 if it was just too be more of that crap.
Headlines can be SO confusing! (Score:3, Funny)
That got my curiosity up, so I read a little more, then I understood (facepalm).
This happens to me all the time
Fake ratings (Score:5, Interesting)
Er, yeah. 10.9 million worldwide, on TV and devices? That is terrible. Idiots on youtube pull those numbers. No wonder it isn't coming back.
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Of course, in 2006 "devices" weren't really up to the task for the most part, so I doubt adding in all 3 to those figures would make much difference.
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Er, yeah. 10.9 million worldwide, on TV and devices? .
No - that's just the UK.
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"BARB is responsible for delivering the UK’s television audience measurement currency. We commission research companies Ipsos MORI, Kantar Media and RSMB to collect data that represent the viewing behaviour of the UK’s 27 million TV households."
BARB don't do worldwide numbers as far as I know.
So what? (Score:2)
Current Doctor hasn't developed a personality. (Score:5, Interesting)
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That might be the case because they have so many companions at the same time that they have focused on them and less on the new Doctor. They need better writing, the choice for the doctor is fine... but the showrunner and writing are letting her down at this point.
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Ep1 mentioned it's not the 1st time the doctor had been female, on Gallifrey the limit on regenerations would not strictly apply and any number of them could have happened before becoming the 'Doctor'. Very useful having plot detail that let's them avoid entertaining the complaining middle aged teenagers with boob jokes.
Typical Brits (Score:4, Funny)
"The series has been considered a ratings success..." We better hold off a year, then.
a lifetime of the doctor (Score:3, Interesting)
Never liked Peter, I'm warming to Jodie.
A female doctor was a courageous move and has added a positive flavour to the doctor.
Over 50 years watching dr who, I can wait a couple of years
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If by "courageous" you mean "steaming pile of bad writing", sure. Having Time Lords regenerate between genders was a horrible retcon for a show that's been going for over 50 years. What the BBC should have done was follow the Marvel model.
Rather than snap their fingers and say "Thor is now a woman" (because she's a god and can be whoever she wants to be) or "Steve Rodgers is now black" (because reasons), they treat the ti
Walder Frey (Score:2)
It's the scripts! (Score:4, Insightful)
Moffatt had his issues. He tended to lean pretty heavily on the Daleks / Cybermen / Weeping Angels a lot, and 'continuity' was almost laughable during his tenure, but he also knew how to do a story arc. The last three episodes of last season were easily the best of the season. I genuinely felt something when Bill said "I waited for you". I'd submit that the season-long arc in season 6 was probably the most well done of such arcs, and it was still possible to see the one-off episodes during the season without feeling like you walked in halfway through the story.
I don't think the issue the past two seasons had to do with the SJW content, though it certainly didn't help. The issue, I feel, had to do with three things. First, the pacing was terrible. The first act generally took way too long; it commonly felt like the episode was half over before they actually got started telling a story. Then, they raced through the climax, with the Doctor revealing something in that moment to solve the problem, which couldn't have been known otherwise, and then in 90 seconds the whole issue is resolved. After a while, there was no point in following the story, so we didn't get invested.
Second, (admittedly more so last season), lots of those stories felt more like 'live action Scooby Doo' - land on a planet, meet someone who's scared of a thing, find the thing, find out the thing is really the nice one and is just misunderstood, realize the person who's scared of the thing is really the bad one, have the Doctor say "play nice, you two", and then leave.
Finally, there were the villains. It's understandable that Daleks and Cybermen got old...but every week, a new villain, who's "just evil, okay?" with no motivation and no development, 'generic maniacal antagonist #493' stops being any better just because it can handle stairs. Why was the alien who was out to disrupt Rosa Parks getting on the fateful bus at all concerned about it? Why were those aliens who mourned everybody absent at Gallifrey? There was a golden opportunity to establish a recurring villain, but it was squandered on big spiders and a hungry thing.
So, I won't miss it in 2019...perhaps a year's sabbatical will involve the writers binge watching a few of the past seasons and taking some of the positive things from them.
And now, for a rant... (Score:1)
ANOTHER CASUALTY?!?!
FFS BBC, explain to me again why the hell am I paying your stupid TV licence fee?!?!
You've practically scrapped every show I watched on your stupid channel - Even the newer ones!!! Atlantis, Top Gear, Sherlock, the Formula 1 to name but a handful, and now you're stretching out Dr Who even more?! It was bad enough you reduced the episode counts of Top Gear and Dr Who from over 20 to 6 a year but now we don't even get *that*!?
And instead of bringing back good shows like Red Dwarf and Tomor
They done fucked it up! (as Angry Joe would say) (Score:2)
They should have pulled a Marvel and had the Romani or River Song step in as The Doctor instead of dumping this shitty retcon on a character with half a century of continuity. Doing so would not only have gotten the same result (a female Doctor) but created more plot possibilities as the replacement tries to fill his shoes.
Re:Soo (Score:4, Funny)
Well you should. Legion was a pretty good show, after all.