General / Off-Topic Doctor Who is making no sense

[Angus]

I pretty much wrote off the Matt Smith years. It was a pity because the acting was reasonably good, let down by dodgy scripts and unnecessarily complicated plot lines - it became a soap opera.

Most of Matt Smith's time I liked, partly because I thought he was great, but also because I saw the shows as an improvement from when David Tennant was the Doctor.

Not David Tennant's fault, but it all seemed a bit choreographed with the initial, "Oh no! What will we do" followed by the sub Buffy running around in peril, with the occasional Bernard Cribbins moment of deeply profound "Your Mum doesn't understand, luv.... 'ave a cuppa".

I got a bit irritated with those plots, they seemed a bit over contrived to have the necessary "special ingredients" in them.

For me, the best episode I've seen was (the first?) impossible girl one, where she's surviving under the ice on the Dalek prison planet -with the shock ending.


In a not unrelated thing, I loved Sherloch up until the final (last) series, the showdown with Moriarty on the rooftop as the ending of the previous series being just fantastic in my eyes.

But that last series, it was massively disappointing (IMHO) and I complained to a friend that it was at points as if they were trying to turn it into Dr Who, not knowing until he pointed it out, that Steven Moffat was writing both series.

 

[insanephoton]

That last episode with the moon-dragon thing was very very bad. Did the Doctor really think he could make some judgement call on the gravity of the Moon by just jumping up and down when he was still on a spaceship that hadn't yet landed?

And I'm not even touching the whole conservation of mass thing, but it might be a good idea for the script writers to let a physicist have a wee squint at the script before they start filming.

The worst part of the episode is that explanation about why the Doctor didn't interfere with historical events. I know that it's a big gaping plot-hole with the show, but there was no point in getting him to gather everyone around and point at it. Basil Exposition from Austin Powers has a better explanation of the time travel plot-hole, "Don't think about it. Just lay back and enjoy the show."

I know that Dr Who's a fantasy but the original premise of the show was to give kids a grasp of history and science.

I have to agree. The whole conservation of mass thing was perhaps the biggest mistake. The 'spider-germs' supposedly single celled organisms but as complex as a spider? even to the extent of leaving cobwebs! I get the impression that they thought of the spiders first and then came up with the explanation of what they were much later. A shuttle to the moon? I guess it's just about plausible that someone could jury rig it, but the landing would always be the killer, especially with 100 nukes in the back.


Capaldi is great as the Doctor, but the storylines are somewhat variable. Too many plot holes and too much of the ongoing cryptic story arc.

 

[Frank]

...

Capaldi is great as the Doctor, but the storylines are somewhat variable. Too many plot holes and too much of the ongoing cryptic story arc.

Just watched "Mummy on the Orient Express" I see what you mean about Capaldi, especially when he's given a good script.

I guess I'll just have to keep watching. The good episodes make up for the bad ones.

 

[Lost Cipher]

I sort of feel bad for Capaldi. Only sort of because the Man is a wonderful actor, and no show will really tarnish his reputation.

Though it seems as if, after Matt Smith left, they didn't really know where they wanted to take the character. And because of it, instead of starting off strong, Peter gets a batch of episodes that shouldn't have shipped to screen in their current condition.

Its been getting better, but I think Dr Who could use with a new lead author, one more concerned with classical story telling, than always looking for the next MacGuffin which warps into an impossible girl.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Well I'm glad it's not just methen.

Stories this season/series have been weak and Capaldi is showing promising signs, He just reminds me of Jon Pertwee's Doctor.

I hope the storylines improve and give's him the chance to grow in the role.

 

[EmptySpace]

I started watching classic Doctor Who shortly before Tom Baker left (oh how I cried when I watched him regenerating into Peter Davison) but I did eventually get used to PD and would say he was the Doctor who left the most impression. Since then I've finally watched all of the existing stories and would say most of the writing was excellent apart from a few poor stories although I felt overall quality started to deteriorate after PD departed so I wasn't surprised it was axed back in the late '80s.

Right, on to New Who.

I was really anticipating the new series back in 2005 (nearly 10 years ago already ) wondering how it was going to be approached compared to Classic Who. I enjoyed Christopher Ecclestons tenure (good acting, writing and the interesting Bad Wolf story arc) but I have to say since David Tennant took over the writing has got steadily worse. The acting by David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi has been good but they've had to work with some rubbish writing. Where are the Terry Nations and Robert Holmes of today? That's not to say their haven't been a few highlights along the way. One of the best moments was with Derek Jacobi becoming the Master in Utopia, the acting and writing were brilliant. Sadly though, I was hoping DJ would have stayed as the Master as I felt it fell apart after John Simm took over.

The plots have become too confusing and rushed because of the standard of writing with trying to squeeze everything into 45 mins - in my opinion all stories should be at least two-parters (the few stories that have been longer have been allowed to breath and been more entertaining). Also, although Steven Moffat has done some good things with the series, I feel as though his writing and production has now become stale so maybe it's time for someone else to take over. It's not all doom and gloom though, two recent episodes I did enjoy, Mummy On The Orient Express and Flatline were both written by a new writer which brought out the best in Peter Capaldi so it would be interesting to see him write some more episodes.

Finally I'm still baffled as to why most stories seem to still be taking place on Earth during different time periods. I know the Tardis is a time machine but it didn't stop them visiting other worlds in the classic series.

 

[Thargon]

Well, I must say, what a disappointing end to a disappointing series

 

[Cosmos]

Am watching season 6. Matt Smith.

I am so lost. This makes no sense - River Song saga.

Just thought I'd put this out there.

I boycotted Doctor Who with that pretender.

 

[Commander Mick]

The new guy doesn't seem to know what he's doing after he regened in the first episode with Peter Capaldi.

 

[Spectre Alpha]

This thread is making no sense.

 

[Commander Mick]

The new guy doesn't seem to know what he's doing after he regened in the first episode with Peter Capaldi.

I really meant Peter Capaldi didn't seem to know what he was doing from first appearance in his first episode.

I think he was doing the thing where he trying to decide how to be himself and from my perspective it wasn't working. As I see this happening each new doctor briefly before they fall into the best characterisation they can reprecent this character as. Peter Capaldi's characterisation seemed more confusion than characterisation.

 

[Nanos]

I'm still confused about who the father of the baby is..

 

[JeffRyan]

Matt Smith is MY new doctor as Peter Davidson was MY old doctor. I think as a kid I warmed to a younger man in the role and for me the Doctor has always been young/old that I thought Matt pulled off perfectly. Peter's season has been tosh.

 

[Evagg1974]

On the whole I have been pleased with Doctor Who lately, Capaldi is a very good Doctor, probably what the show needs after Tennant and Smith. I have some reservations about some of the plot twists lately however, I think Steven Moffat is trying too hard to be clever. I am looking forward to the Christmas special next week, I am a big fan of Nick Frost...

 

[insanephoton]

And so the Christmas Special, not bad though still a potential plot hole in why they all were attacked simultaneously and proof that the producers can keep a secret

Spoiler

Clara is going to be in the next series, though who started the rumour that she was leaving isn't known. Maybe some deliberate misinformation?