Doctor Who

[adameastment]

I want the next Doctor to be a black chick, just to see people flip out.

As long as it's not a black male. I don't why but every time I hear a black male's British accent it annoys me. I was hoping Micky would die.

Idris Elba would make an awesome Doctor I reckon. He was an ideal candidate for the 12th, but I think he's too "into" hollywood now.

[Sigz]

I don't think the dislike of the christmas ep has anything to do with the Capaldi, I think it has to do with the fact that it had a very meandering plot - at least to me, it just felt aimless for a good chunk of the episode. A lot of the story arc questions were tied up with essentially one line handwaves, the pacing was all over the place, there were big portions that felt completely pointless like the entire christmas dinner bit in the beginning, etc.

I mean, I enjoyed it because I enjoy most Dr Who stuff, but I have a hard time saying that it was a satisfying story to send away my favorite Doctor.

[hefdaddy42]

What are the chances of letting Capaldi drop a few F-bombs during his tenure?  I would absolutely shit myself if he said "Fuckity-bye!" before killing some Daleks.

[BlobVanDam]

What are the chances of letting Capaldi drop a few F-bombs during his tenure?  I would absolutely shit myself if he said "Fuckity-bye!" before killing some Daleks.

Chances of that happening - 0%
Chances of such an occurence being awesome - 100%

I am hoping he will be a bit of an angrier doctor though. Even with tame language, it would be great to see.

[ariich]

I don't think the dislike of the christmas ep has anything to do with the Capaldi, I think it has to do with the fact that it had a very meandering plot - at least to me, it just felt aimless for a good chunk of the episode. A lot of the story arc questions were tied up with essentially one line handwaves, the pacing was all over the place, there were big portions that felt completely pointless like the entire christmas dinner bit in the beginning, etc.

I wouldn't say it was meandering, but it was fast-paced so I can understand why people who aren't into that wouldn't like it so much. It's better on second viewing, seeing how it all fits together. I've come to the conclusion (from responses to Doctor Who and Sherlock, among others) that basically the majority of adults are quite lazy when it comes to TV shows.

But you're right that the hatred isn't coming from the last minute. As I've said before, EVERYTHING is hated by at least some people. In this case, some people might hate the sentimental Christmassy stuff at the start, while others might love that but hate the over-the-top epic action stuff towards the end. Or some people might hate the fact that it jumps around a bit and is generally fast-paced, while others love that stuff and hate the boring emotional stuff.

I'm not that fussy so I enjoyed all of it as both the writing and acting were really good. But I'm not at all surprised that some people hate it, or aspects of it. With a fanbase that big, some people get very strong opinions on how they think it should be. Like Joe said earlier in the thread, it's like the Dream Theater (or Metallica) of the TV world.

[hefdaddy42]

It's better on second viewing, seeing how it all fits together.

I agree with this.

I'm a relatively recent re-convert to Doctor Who, and I didn't sense anything in this episode markedly different (writing/pacing-wise) than anything else from series 7.  It was of a kind with everything else I've seen.

[XJDenton]

Any media that lasts longer than 5 years will develop a fanbase that hates a good proportion of it, with minimal consistency on what is considered bad, only that the earlier stuff was better.

[Jaq]

Any media that lasts longer than 5 years will develop a fanbase that hates a good proportion of it, with minimal consistency on what is considered bad, only that the earlier stuff was better.

Yes, the same people who are now saying Moffat sucks took RTD to task for farting aliens and horrible arc concluding episodes and complaining that the classic show was much better. When Moffat moves on, his replacement will be ripped to shreds while Moffat's era is looked back on fondly. Never fails. Sometimes I wonder why people who actually don't like something watch or listen to it.

[El JoNNo]

Any media that lasts longer than 5 years will develop a fanbase that hates a good proportion of it, with minimal consistency on what is considered bad, only that the earlier stuff was better.

Yes, the same people who are now saying Moffat sucks took RTD to task for farting aliens and horrible arc concluding episodes and complaining that the classic show was much better. When Moffat moves on, his replacement will be ripped to shreds while Moffat's era is looked back on fondly. Never fails. Sometimes I wonder why people who actually don't like something watch or listen to it.

Yeah but it will be, likely, by different people.

[masterthes]

I never said I hated it, I loved it actually. It was just I loved Name and Day better

[Perpetual Change]

Pretty interesting read, mainly criticising Moffat in Smith-era seasons. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/print/2013/12/the-captain-kirk-problem-how-em-doctor-who-em-betrayed-matt-smith/282690/

Spoilers, of course.

I didn't read the whole thing, but the Kirk idea is interesting. I definitely noticed the Doctor becoming more like that, and it does put me off.

[Super Dude]

Yeah, I think the article goes a bit far in some areas but I agree with some of the stuff that's said about what could risk throwing the show off the deep end.

[ariich]

As we said before, each Doctor has a different personality. Matt's really wasn't very arrogant compared with the 6th, and didn't think of himself as invincible as much as the 10th did towards the end. All the bitching in that article is basically because someone wants to whine about Moffat.

Anyway: https://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a542804/doctor-who-series-9-to-air-in-2015-says-steven-moffat.html

Good stuff, looks like we're getting a steady two years now, after a couple of years of it being unusual scheduling!

[BlobVanDam]

I was hoping there wouldn't be more of the inconsistent scheduling in the near future, so it's nice to have it confirmed, especially with just getting a new Doctor.

[Super Dude]

Hopefully that trickles through the rest of the TV industry - I hate this split season "trend" they've all been jumping on since TWD.

[Sycsa]

What happened to robwebster btw?

[bout to crash]

Great question. His last post was four months ago

[Perpetual Change]

It's not uncommon for Rob Webster to disappear from DTF for months at a time.

[Onno]

I just finished Series 3 (apart from The Voyage of the Damned). Blink and the last three episodes were amazing, I loved this series!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Finally saw the Christmas special.

Not much to say, other than that it was fantastic. And reprising "The Long Song" during The Doctor's regeneration was the greatest thing ever.

[Perpetual Change]

There's this guy on my news feed who simply can not let raging at Moffatt go. I could see like, a status update after a disappointing episode... but c'mon. It's been over two weeks now since the Christmas special. Is this guy gonna brood on the "decline" of DW all the way through until August?

[BlobVanDam]

I don't understand what all the hate is about for the Moffatt era. Not that it's perfect by any means, or didn't have it's fair share of less than perfect episodes (or characters), but how is it any more flawed than the RTD era?
Both Doctor Who eras have their problems, but both have a lot to enjoy about them too. I just roll with it.

[Perpetual Change]

That's where I'm coming from too, Blob.

I would say that, overall, I preferred the RTD era. Was it because it was really better, though? I'm not quite sure. I thought so, but there are only a handful of things I could identify which made S1-4 better than S5-7, and even then, S1-4 were FAR from perfect too.

[BlobVanDam]

I would say overall I prefer the Moffatt era, and I have my fair share of criticisms for those seasons too. But every season was still plenty enjoyable for me. There are elements of the RTD era I miss, and there are elements I'm glad are gone. And the Moffatt era has new elements I love, along with areas I don't think it's as strong.
I could pick apart any episode if I wanted to, even my absolute favourites, but if I hated it that much, I'd just stop watching, and not waste my time dumping shit on it. Criticism is one thing, but at some point you have to know when you let go and move along.

[ariich]

Moffat has become cool-to-hate basically. I honestly don't know why, but there are people who just can't let it go. Fortunately they're a minority, but a bloody loud one.

I even see comments like after the first episode of the latest Sherlock series, some people saying how it good it was because Moffat didn't write it. It's just childish, really.

[abydos]

For me, the problem with the latest Who parts is that Moffat barely wrote any!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I definitely prefer the Moffat era. While I enjoyed Davies' stuff, apart from a few really fantastic episodes, I really have no desire to re-watch it. Whereas with Moffat, I enjoy re-watching almost every episode.

[wasteland]

I'm probably one of the most Moffat-positive blokes on the Internet, so don't get me started on what I think about the constant waves of hate he gets on tumblr and the other social media.   

[abydos]

If Doctor Who was Friends - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHnNHtQXNps

[Super Dude]

Moffat has become cool-to-hate basically. I honestly don't know why, but there are people who just can't let it go. Fortunately they're a minority, but a bloody loud one.

I even see comments like after the first episode of the latest Sherlock series, some people saying how it good it was because Moffat didn't write it. It's just childish, really.

As I think becomes evident in this thread, there are legitimate criticisms to be had of Moffat to be sure, but ALL of that gets lost in the irrational hate mob.

[El JoNNo]

Is it wrong of me to not bother knowing who is writing the show but to enjoy(or not) each episode based on it's own merits? lol

[ariich]

Moffat has become cool-to-hate basically. I honestly don't know why, but there are people who just can't let it go. Fortunately they're a minority, but a bloody loud one.

I even see comments like after the first episode of the latest Sherlock series, some people saying how it good it was because Moffat didn't write it. It's just childish, really.

As I think becomes evident in this thread, there are legitimate criticisms to be had of Moffat to be sure, but ALL of that gets lost in the irrational hate mob.

No more so than anyone else though. Everyone can have legitimate criticisms levelled at them, because nobody can please everyone. The Moffat-hate-mob are just that bit more arrogant about their own opinions than most are.

Is it wrong of me to not bother knowing who is writing the show but to enjoy(or not) each episode based on it's own merits? lol

Not at all, the most important thing is to just enjoy the show!

[masterthes]

I have enjoyed both eras immensely, although I'll give Moffat a bit of an edge since I consider series 5 my favorite

[BlobVanDam]

Moffat has become cool-to-hate basically. I honestly don't know why, but there are people who just can't let it go. Fortunately they're a minority, but a bloody loud one.

I even see comments like after the first episode of the latest Sherlock series, some people saying how it good it was because Moffat didn't write it. It's just childish, really.

As I think becomes evident in this thread, there are legitimate criticisms to be had of Moffat to be sure, but ALL of that gets lost in the irrational hate mob.

Especially when you keep in mind that they're holding up the RTD era as their shining example.

[Heretic]

Haha, anyone who even claims that Moffat is ruining the show has clearly not looked at the ratings of the show nor the amount of people worldwide who are tuning in to watch the show. It's bigger than it has ever been, and it just keeps getting more popular. Whatever Moffat is doing "wrong" is certainly getting more viewers and good ratings, and I love the show from his perspective, so I hope he continues "ruining" the show because I'm sure as heck enjoying it.