Yo Rob!
I've never seen Doctor Who, but I saw this status posted on Facebook and wanted to get your thoughts.
"I'm just going to put this out there: after careful discussion with Bobby Huggins, we've determined that Futurama does a funnier, more sentimental, and better job of exploring the possibilities of space/time/science than Dr. Who."
I think there's a certain truth to that!
Doctor Who is science fiction with a heavy dose of fiction - frankly, it's closer to science fantasy. You'd never get an episode of Doctor Who like The Prisoner of Benda, never any solutions based on mathematical proofs or on hard scientific concepts. Ideas, sure. The Weeping Angels are quantum locked, interesting idea, but at their core they're pure fantasy.
At the same time, though, the quality of writing on Doctor Who is, I'd say, signifiantly better. Futurama's lauded for its touching bits, and rightfully so, but they're the exception, rather than the rule. One thing that's been increasingly bugging me about Futurama is the dialogue. People will state what they're feeling - sometimes as a joke, but more often as a short hand. It's very much "Here's what we're doing, and bugger the rest."
The main thing, though, is that Doctor Who can be absolutely anything and everything it wants to be. It can be a murder mystery, it can be an action thriller, it can be body-horror, it can be a spaghetti western, it can be a one-act play, it can be a character study. The same's true of Futurama, to an extent, but it's more natural to the Doctor Who format. And, honestly, it does it better. When Futurama is on form, it's absolutely cracking, but Doctor Who is frequently sadder than Jurassic Bark, funnier than Roswell That Ends Well, and scarier than... I dunno, the Honking? And sometimes, all in one episode.
I'd say that Futurama's good comedy, with a bit extra. Doctor Who's good
telly. Love both, but there's a reason Doctor Who's my favourite.