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Jodie Whittaker as Dr Who

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IanD

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I haven't bothered this series. Nothing against a female doctor, just don't like Jodie Whitaker's acting style. Too much unnecessary gurning. Don't like the assistants either, Bradley Walsh should stick to The Chase. Plus last season's stories were not very good - too moralistic. The only saving grace was that they weren't as ridiculously convoluted and over complicated as the previous few series.
 
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DynamicSpirit

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Well it was off the air for a year and is now back on and ......

Have people got used to a female Doctor yet ? - Whovians seem to have mixed feelings but mainly negative ones.

Personally I think it is being hindered by having to many assistants which seems to preclude the Doctor developing an affinity with any of them. I would keep Bradley Walsh and get rid of the other two.

The Judoon outing being the most recent transmission was probably the best of a bad bunch.

Yes, my sense overall is still, nothing wrong with the Doctor being female, but the series is still being let down by relatively poor script-writing (albeit not as bad as last year).

The three companions would have been fine - except they only seem to have one personality between the three of them. It's almost like, there are three different actors playing clones of one single character - which for me is a big factor killing the stories. A few months ago, I went back and watched my dvd's of the Chris Ecclestone and first-David Tennant season. They are so much better written than today's stuff - multiple strong characters, stories that are both funny and naturally bring out strong emotions without it feeling forced, and a real joy to watch compared to the last couple of years.

As for the stories.... (SPOILER alert: I've avoided saying anything about Fugitive from the Judoon, but I'm assuming everyone's watched previous episodes).

Spyfall/Resolution. The Master's back? Really? For goodness sake, how many times has the Master been killed? As I recall, last time at his own hands when he feared his future self was becoming less evil. It's getting old and tired. He/she's dead, Lots of times. For the sake of continuity, can't he please stay dead? Other than that, that was a good story, with some interesting James Bond connotations.

Orphan 55. This actually started off as a great story. Loads of suspense. Action-packed. Could have been brilliant - and then about 10 minutes before the end, they ruined the whole story by deciding that the planet they were on was Earth, destroyed by some nuclear war or something, and then did a bit of moralising about it that was so un-subtle it was embarrassing. In the process they destroyed continuity because we know in the Dr Who Universe, Earth carries on just fine and humanity develops into an established space-faring civilisation. And then they had this stupid thing where the Doctor sees a memory of the nuclear explosion in the minds of one of the creatures, which makes absolutely no sense when the war must have happened many generations previously to give time for the mutations to develop. Honestly - does noone on the Dr Who team proof-read their scripts any more?
 

Geezertronic

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It was the episode writing that let down her first series in my opinion. I've not seen the recent series yet but I understand from friends that the writing is better
 

ComUtoR

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I've not seen the recent series yet but I understand from friends that the writing is better

It really isn't :(

Jodie Whittaker may or may not be a good Actress but she sucks at being The Doctor. I don't blame her in any way and it isn't because she is Female, They have written her really badly. Having three, non descript, insignificant, jarring, annoying, pointless, cannon fodder, companions aren't helping to push the stories forward.

What frustrated me with the last series was that it all became a little too preachy and each episode was some historic, moral of the story, claptrap that didn't have any real appeal.

I must admit, I'm struggling to actually care about any of them. If the Tardis imploded with everyone in it, I'd be happy and hope that maybe a "different" Time Lord took the titular role.
 

Bevan Price

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I am way beyond the "target age" for Doctor Who, but I think that Jodie Whittaker is OK as the doctor. However, I am not keen of those episodes where they introuduce "real historic people" and pretend that they encounter The Doctor - it all seems unrealistic and a bit false / feeble. I would prefer it if all the characters were total fiction. I also think that they are starting to run out of ideas for original stories. Maybe, perhaps after one more series, it is time to give Dr. Who a few years' holiday (again), allowing time to think of new, different story lines.

Many other "continuing dramas" - and especially "the soaps" are afflicted with the same problem - they get stale, dull and repetitive and ought to get a very long - or permanent holiday.
 

Ashley Hill

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I always thought Alex Kingston would of made a good Doctor. If she had portrayed the Dr in the same way she played River Song I think it would have worked well Sweetie!
My partner who can be quite the feminist when it suits her says the Doctor should never be a woman! Ditto James Bond. For the record I'm not fussed,I was a Tom Baker fan.
 

Butts

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I always thought Alex Kingston would of made a good Doctor. If she had portrayed the Dr in the same way she played River Song I think it would have worked well Sweetie!
My partner who can be quite the feminist when it suits her says the Doctor should never be a woman! Ditto James Bond. For the record I'm not fussed,I was a Tom Baker fan.

As long as Alex Kingston comes back in "Moll Flanders" get up she is welcome any time.

Your partner is quite correct on both counts regarding Who and Bond !!
 

DynamicSpirit

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I am way beyond the "target age" for Doctor Who, but I think that Jodie Whittaker is OK as the doctor. However, I am not keen of those episodes where they introuduce "real historic people" and pretend that they encounter The Doctor - it all seems unrealistic and a bit false / feeble. I would prefer it if all the characters were total fiction. I also think that they are starting to run out of ideas for original stories. Maybe, perhaps after one more series, it is time to give Dr. Who a few years' holiday (again), allowing time to think of new, different story lines.

I'm inclined to agree. I love Dr Who and I remember both being absolutely thrilled back in 2005 when it came back and feeling very disappointed when a few years later the BBC chose to give it a rest for a year or so. But now, it's just getting same-y. Even though individual scripts do have good elements, it's starting to feel repetitive, and the script-writing overall feels jaded. I think I'd give it a rest for a couple of years and then re-think the format to try to make it different when it comes back.

As one idea, I'd love to see a season set sometime in the future, at a point where we have a space-faring human civilisation (consistent with the established canon), and have the Doctor arrive there and spend the entire season in one long story arc involved in some complex plot. And give the episodes a slightly more serious flavour than they currently have. I'm sure other people could think of other ideas for a refreshed Dr Who.
 

C J Snarzell

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I've never rated Doctor Who but I do think when the show was resurrected back in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the driving seat it did have a nice flare to it.

Sadly, I do think the show has perhaps run its course now and should be brought to an end. Jodie Whittaker is a relatively good actress and will no doubt continue to appear in future dramas.
 

Ashley Hill

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The trouble is could Jodie Whittaker be a box ticking excercise in the BBC being PC? Being the first female Doctor will open her Doctor up to a lot of critasism for that reason alone. If her successor was also female (possibly ethnic) would she attract the same attention?
 

Tracked

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She's been a lot better so far this season, given the fuss about the Doctor changing gender for the first time I was surprised that a lot of the first series was underwhelming in terms of threats and the way her character had been written. It's been rectified somewhat this time around, though after no particular arc in S1 they seem to be throwing quite a lot in during S2
 

DarloRich

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The trouble is could Jodie Whittaker be a box ticking excercise in the BBC being PC?

It couldn't be that the actress did the best audition could it? Nah, bound to be a fit up/ PC world gone mad

If her successor was also female (possibly ethnic) would she attract the same attention?

The same insecure people would complain.
 

ComUtoR

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It couldn't be that the actress did the best audition could it? Nah, bound to be a fit up/ PC world gone mad

Do they actually audition for Dr Who ? I thought it was more a case of being asked to play the part ?
 

Butts

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Never mind the Doctor , it lacks familiar returning adversaries... to name a few...

Sea Devil's

Sontarans

Cybermen

Daleks

And of course Davros !!!

Perhaps they should remake Genesis of the Daleks or have a "Five Doctors" outing.

Something familiar without the PC elements and environmental messages.
 

JamesT

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Never mind the Doctor , it lacks familiar returning adversaries... to name a few...

Sea Devil's

Sontarans

Cybermen

Daleks

And of course Davros !!!

Perhaps they should remake Genesis of the Daleks or have a "Five Doctors" outing.

Something familiar without the PC elements and environmental messages.

Last year’s episode had a Dalek in it, I believe we’re supposed to be getting Cybermen this series.
 

DynamicSpirit

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Never mind the Doctor , it lacks familiar returning adversaries... to name a few...

Sea Devil's

Sontarans

Cybermen

Daleks

And of course Davros !!!

I think that's because, every time they think about having a familiar enemy back, the Master magically raises him/herself from the dead, insists that it's HIS (HER?) show and his/her undiluted right to be the most annoying character that's ever refused to go away, boots out the other enemies, and then the writers just cave in.

Having said that, I'm sure Davros has now been killed enough times that I'd probably say the same about him if they brought him back....
 

HSTEd

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I think they should just make only Winter-break (be it Christmas or New Year) specials and forget the regular series.
They are bascially out of ideas, but I'm sure if they only had to make one story a year they could get better value for money.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Having said that, I'm sure Davros has now been killed enough times that I'd probably say the same about him if they brought him back....
In the event of a global nuclear annihilation, the only survivors would be cockroaches, the Queen, Kirk Douglas, and Davros... ;)
 

Ashley Hill

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Anyway,how many regenerations does the Doctor have left? I seem to remember a finite number being mentioned on a Matt Smith episode.
 

DynamicSpirit

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Anyway,how many regenerations does the Doctor have left? I seem to remember a finite number being mentioned on a Matt Smith episode.

As I recall, a timelord can regenerate 11 times - so 12 lives. Matt Smith was the 12th doctor, and just as he was ending his days, the Timelords gave him another set of regenerations. Peter Capaldi was the first, Jodie Whittaker the 2nd. So there are ten more to go before some script-writer will have to find some new device to extend it. Given that most actors seem to last about 3 years in the role, that means we should have about 30 more years of episodes before that problem arises. Probably more than that, since I really can't see the series lasting another 30 years without a multi-year break (if it lasts that long at all).
 

Ashley Hill

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just as he was ending his days, the Timelords gave him another set of regenerations.
How convenient,to string out the franchise I suppose. Anyway if the Doctor was the LAST of the Time Lords how could his life be extended? It was probably explained in an episode but I expect I missed it.
 

DynamicSpirit

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How convenient,to string out the franchise I suppose. Anyway if the Doctor was the LAST of the Time Lords how could his life be extended? It was probably explained in an episode but I expect I missed it.

It had turned out in the 50th anniversary episode that he wasn't the last of the timelords after all: Gallifrey hadn't been destroyed, it had simply been moved to a pocket Universe so that basically no-one else would be aware of its continued existence. And for some reason that wasn't made clear (perhaps: To assist in this secrecy?), the Doctor himself had at the time lost his memory of having done that.

And to be fair, at the time there was no obvious reason to end the franchise. We'd only just seen the 50th anniversary episode, which seems to have been widely regarded as exceptionally good (I certainly thought it was), and - unlike arguably today - there didn't seem to be any sense of, running out of ideas. So I'd say it would've been very disappointing if they hadn't found a reason to extend the Doctor's life and continue the series.
 

ComUtoR

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My first thought when the Dr regenerated into a female was....


... Dr gonna have a baby ?

I think that would be a good way to reboot the entire series, get away from the Dr and bring a new generation of kids into the series. Maybe even the traditional good/evil sibling thing.
 

Butts

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My first thought when the Dr regenerated into a female was....


... Dr gonna have a baby ?

I think that would be a good way to reboot the entire series, get away from the Dr and bring a new generation of kids into the series. Maybe even the traditional good/evil sibling thing.

With the Master as the Father ?

The issue from the current two would certainly tick a lot of quota boxes !!!
 
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