What's wrong with the new Doctor Who?

[thePyro_13]

The episode solutions are less interesting of late.

I miss the first weeping angels episode. That was a good episode with an interesting resolution.

The newer episodes just end with a techno-bable solution, nothing particularly ingenious just a wave of the sonic wand and the bad guy blow's up.

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

I personally loved Who up until Series 5. From there I just couldn't get into the plot. Smith is a great actor, and a great Doctor I think, even considering the enormous shoes he had to fill after Tennant(who has consistently been rated one of the best Doctors of all time, at least from the polls I see on this site).

The problem isn't with Smith I think, it's with Moffat. He was great when he was writing his own little episodes(obligatory mention of Blink), but when it comes to managing an entire series, and particularly creating story arcs, he's simply not as good at it as Davies was, IMO.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Nothing and don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise.

I personally don't enjoy Smith. I want to. I really do, but he just get's on my nerves.

But honestly, it's all a case of "You never forget your first Doctor". Less in the literal sense and more in the sense of people don't like change and Who fans are the worst about this. Whatever THEIR vision of the universe is, it is the correct one.

This goes for fans new and old and I think we just need to get over it and let other people enjoy different things than us WITHOUT calling them shallow children.

I'm talking to YOU "Classic" Doctor Who fans!

 

[octafish]

i'm just gonna copy paste something about Dr Who from and old thread.

please pay close attention to the blue paragraphs if you wish to understand Dr Who and why certain types of people complain about it so much.

There seems to be a hell of alot of these threads going about at the moment. I think this is the third I've seen in the last two days.

I'm hopefully correct in saying that fans of the classic series prefer Matt Smith, as his Doctor has the depth and complexity of the originals.

Where as fans of the new series gravitate to Tennant for whatever reason that maybe. As a classic fan this is completely beyond me.

i pretty much agree with this.

a mad man in a box. definitely.

reminds me of certain aspects of older doctors way more than "oh look im "out there" because i wear converse all stars" Tennant ever did and especially of "my own" "mad" Doctor Tom Baker.

er....ye ^^ anyways, moving on...


all and all it seems a great many people who have become fans off the back of the relaunch have never really grasped on to what Dr Who actually is (or who it's truly aimed at). this is not Star Trek, or Battlestar, or SG1 or any other "mainstream" sci-fi show that is aimed at and supposed to be scrutinised by teen to thirty something "sci-fi fans".

this is a show about making 8 year olds shit themselves and leap into mum and dads arms (or ofc "behind the sofa"?) who then in turn grow up to become adult Who fans and if you watch ANYONE involved in making the show talk about their initial exposure to Dr Who (including Tennant btw) on the likes of Dr Who Confidential they ALL relate a variation on this theme.

Matt Smith more than has his moments and indeed i remember a singular scene from one of his early outings where he was in Amys bedroom and i think he was simply talking in hushed tones about the start of his journey in which for a utterly sublime moment he managed to pull off, in full close up, looking every bit of the ancient 900+ year old Timelord he's supposed to be (despite the often childlike exterior) and personally that's when i decided, despite his young age, he was a truly great choice to play The Doctor.

in short, because of the hiatus and relaunch, there is a fundamental disconnect going on between what Dr Who actually is and what certain people expect it to be.

Indeed, while the writing has been down right terrible the last two seasons I think Matt Smith is the best of the new Doctors. He is properly alien and strange, much like Tom, Troughton, and McCoy. Mostly though the companions are nowhere near as good as the originals, Jamie, Leela, Sarah and Romana all run rings around the mopes dished up in new Who (Donna excepted, because Catherine Tate can ACT!)

 

[Aurgelmir]

I like Matt Smith as the doctor, and I do like Amy Pond to be honest, even more so Rory is awesome!

What I don't like is River Song, god I hate that character, she brings so little to the series, and I feel her "mythos" and how it was presented didn't correlate.
When she was first introduced she seemed to look up to the doctor as her better, well the doctor she knew and not Tennant. But the new River is always one step in front of the Doctor with her "spoilers", which just annoys me.

And I think that is one of the reasons people dislike Matt Smiths doctor, there are to many people that knows better than the Doctor, and that doesn't fit imo.

But Smith still has the best part in the end of his first (or was that second) episode, when he tells the alien to run. That was a really epic moment

 

[Dwarfman]

Started disliking Doctor Who half way through Tennant's tenure as the Doctor - although I enjoyed Donna Noble as an assistant. Not sure why but nowadays whenever I watch new Who I have a compulsion to find a cordless drill and drill an escape route for my brain.

Give me Old Doctor Who any day of the week!

 

[RevRaptor]

I like the new series but Matt Smith feels like he is trying too hard to channel David Tennant and Tom Baker. Every actor that has played the doctor has made the role theirs and unique, that was one of the joys of the show Matt Smith feel like he is just copying what has came before. And he writing has really gone down hill, to many little things that are so obliviously ageist the established lore, massive plot holes and a really stupid tardis design. It bug the hell out me, I miss the old tardis where it actually looked like a functional craft not a pinball machine gone crazy.

Also River Song, hands down the worst character in Dr Who, ever; new series and old. The show would be so much better without her in it.

 

[octafish]

I like the new series but Matt Smith feels like he is trying too hard to channel David Tennant and Tom Baker. Every actor that has played the doctor has made the role theirs and unique, that was one of the joys of the show Matt Smith feel like he is just copying what has came before. And he writing has really gone down hill, to many little things that are so obliviously ageist the established lore, massive plot holes and a really stupid tardis design. It bug the hell out me, I miss the old tardis where it actually looked like a functional craft not a pinball machine gone crazy.

Also River Song, hands down the worst character in Dr Who, ever; new series and old. The show would be so much better without her in it.

Not quite, Adric is still the worst. At least Alex Kingston can act.

 

[antidonkey]

My issue with Matt Smith is that he looks.......odd. I guess it's from many of his facial features being too pronounced while others seem to be lacking. I dunno.......he's just strange looking to me. Not that it matters much as Tom Baker will always be Dr. Who to me. He's the one I remember watching when I was a child.

 

[TheOneBearded]

Who has been saying that? I like this Doctor, although I liked Tennant better (he was my first Doctor). However, the stories can sometimes feel too "goody-goody" and I really don't care about Amy Pond.

"Goody goody"? the [Matt Smith] Doctor is FAR more dark and morally ambiguous than [Tennant] Doctor.

OT: Absolutely nothing.

Okay, maybe not the stories, but Smith gives off a "goody-goody" vibe. While Tennant made me believe he was somewhat mad, when Smith gets his moments he acts like some kind of man child - always really giddy and full of energy. It's just a little to weird to take seriously.

 

[Yearlongjester]

Being honest, I never watched the original. I mean to someday just not now, I'm not even caught up with the current series. I've only gone through Eccleston and some of Tennant. I loved both of them and, although some of the companions have gotten on my nerves, it hasn't taken away from my enjoyment of the show.

So it might be a case of "They changed it, now it sucks" or there could be problems that only the people who've watched the original know about.

 

[Kapol]

One problem I have with the show is that it focuses too much on the Doctor being straight up silly now for pretty much everything. Tennant did an amazing mix of humor and serious with a perfect way to handle both. I think Smith is doing well with what he's given, but he's just given one silly thing after another. It makes the Doctor come off as incredibly immature even in situations where people are dying around him/because of him.

I also hate the fact that so many series end up the same. The bumbling side-kick who stumbles around most the time getting into danger ends up saving the day through some sort of mcguffin. I kind of like how Tennant's run ended differently, but overall that seems to be the general theme.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I hate River Song. Other than that all the problems are pretty minor. A few episodes were rather shit and they shouldn't have had the weeping angels move on screen.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

Who has been saying that? I like this Doctor, although I liked Tennant better (he was my first Doctor). However, the stories can sometimes feel too "goody-goody" and I really don't care about Amy Pond.

"Goody goody"? the [Matt Smith] Doctor is FAR more dark and morally ambiguous than [Tennant] Doctor.

OT: Absolutely nothing.

No he isn't the show is just CALLING him on his dubious actions. 9 was FAR more morally grey than 10 OR 11.

The problem is that Moffat can't write an averarching plot. His episodes from the Davies era are EXCELLENT, but now that he has more freedom as a writer and has to now keep the plot GOING instead of grinding it to a screeching, mind-shattering halt (blink has nothing to do with anything, lets face it) he can't quite hack it. When the episode is plot-only, it seems to be well done, but davies was good at having plot IN the filler, which gives you a nice sense of continuity. Moffat clearly wants to take the show in a darker direction, which could be fun, but he pulls back on the reins and creates happy endings in situations that should be unresolvable.
Craig is doomed, but BABY SCREAMS force a spot weld and pistons to reverse themselves
The doctor has to die or else the universe will unravel. but its okay because it only has the be something doctor-SHAPED that dies, not the doctor himself.

it's no spaceship powered by love, or cement pad dickgargling, but its still pretty bad turnaround.

That said, I love matt smith as the doctor. Tennant was excellent, but smith just brings a fun energy that mixes tennant and eccleston well. Plus, he didn't have rose or martha tagging along. Amy can be a bit of a ***** at times, sure, but she's a lot closer to Donna than she is those two horrible people. Well, martha's not so bad a PERSON i guess, but a terrible character nonetheless.

My biggest problem with the new series IS the companions. We have had ONE companion who never wanted the doctor's time-traveling cock. We have had NO companions who didn't turn out to be the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE at least once. We haven't had a proper male companion either (they almost made it with rory, but he's still too second fiddle to amy), as mickey was a burden they ditched as soon as they could, and Cap'n Jack... wanted the doctor's time-traveling cock. At least he only wanted it because he wanted to fuck the man, not because he was DESPEWATEWY IN WUV with him.

Finally, to quote Phelous, "Fuck you, River Song!"

 

[Gnoekeos]

Possibly because every once in a while the Camera angle catches Matt Smith in such a way that it looks like they've transplanted his face onto a body that was a bit smaller than one the face originally came from? I dunno I think Matt Smiths doctor is fine.

 

[spartandude]

Matt Smith is fantastic as the doctor

problem is the writing for the last season was utter shit, i swear they educated the mass effect ending or something (thats right people you cant have any thread without ME3 now mwahah) but seriously apart from like 2 or 3 good episodes it was rubbish

 

[karcentric]

I think there's a lot wrong with the new Dr Who series, and IMO I think it all falls down to the actors, when they re-launched the series Christopher Eccleston was quite good, but after that I really lost interest, I guess it was injecting new life into an old series isn't always a good thing... Just think what they'd do to Dad's Army if they did a revamp of that.

Also... Happy now? #$%%

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I have no problems with Matt Smith playing The Doctor, hell if there's a good episode he can be great! The problem is that he's got bad material to work with. Most of the time the episodes focus on the companions and while that can be OK in some cases, here there's just something about the companions here that rubs me off the wrong way. I don't why, they just REALLY irritate me. Recurring character River Song is a character I particularly hate the most in all her smug, "I know something you don't", mary sue-ness. Another huge problem is "The Power of Love". This seems to have come up a few times in recent episodes where in the end the newbie of the week has to believe in someone else to save the day. It happened in the 2011 christmas episode, it happened in the James Cordon one (another character who I want to take a blowtorch and chainsaw to) and it happened in that one with the doll house. Chances are it happened a few times before then aswell and every-fucking-time I literally call out "Bull-fucking-shit!" at the screen.
There have been a few good Moffat episodes like The Doctor's Wife and The Rebel Flesh two parter but dammit they are only the delicious blackcurrant jelly found at the bottom of a shit and backscab flavoured trifle.

 

[TimeLord]

Oh I've got one. The Doctor's brilliance often comes from plot armour, it's hard to build any kind of tension with the Doctor when you know shit like this will happen:

Combined with the Master's Archangel Satellite network, which the Doctor has had an entire year to get in tune with, this has the effect of charging the Doctor with the combined psychic energy of the people of Earth. This enables the Doctor to restore his youthful physiognomy and end the Master's control

I couldn't have pulled a bigger load of bullshit out of my arse if I'd tried. I'm still pissed off about the whole Deus Ex Machina from Last of the Time Lords...

Why is that bad? It wasn't a 5 minute answer at the end. They spent the whole of the last 2 episodes discovering that the Archangel Network was being used by the Master to psychically shield himself from the Doctor and making him charismatic enough to become PM of the UK. And they dropped hints about Saxon/The Master throughout the series like they did with Bad Wolf. The Doctor, like all Time Lords, is a psychic being, a fact that has been expressed many times in the new series at least. It stands to reason that a psychic being like the Doctor could tap into the network the same way the Master was connected to use it himself. Since the network was designed to pacify human resistance and basically keep them scared against him, the network was already tuned to humans. Therefore Martha spent a whole year travelling Earth to spread word of the Doctor and his plan to as much of the world as possible. The Doctor then tapped into the network and used the building psychic power generated by the humans as a weapon against the Master, and reverse the damage he'd caused to him by removing his ability to regenerate.

Yeah it's not plausible outside of Doctor Who, but we're talking about a series where a two-hearted millennia old psychic sole survivor of a dead race that had a war through time with mutants inside metal death machines.
I would say it makes sense as far as the rest of the canon universe goes.