Dr who is awful

Kayti Burt kaytiburt. Kayti is a pop culture writer, editor, and full-time nerd who comes from a working class background. A member of the Television Critics Association, she specializes…. Skip to main content area. Photo: BBC. Share: Share on Facebook opens in a new tab Share on Twitter opens in a new tab Share on Linkedin opens in a new tab Share on email opens in a new tab Comment: Comments count: 0.

Written by Kayti Burt kaytiburt. Finally, Davies looked back at classic Doctor Who , and realized it would be all too easy to become absorbed in the show's own complex mythology.

He came up with the Time War, a cosmic conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords that had happened between the TV movie and the relaunch, to wipe the slate clean, meaning old-school and new viewers had exactly the same questions. It's true Davies relaxed over time, incorporating aspects of the past - from old enemies like the Master and Davros, to former companions Sarah Jane Smith and K9 - but he didn't do so until he was convinced the audience was on board with his vision.

A comparison with the Russell T. Davies era neatly explains why Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who has lost its way. Like Davies, Chibnall is a long-time fan of the show; he was a lead figure in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society back in the s and appeared on BBC discussion programs criticizing the quality of the Colin Baker era. Unfortunately, that experience means he's gone back to the classic series for inspiration, forgetting many of Davies's most important lessons.

While Chibnall has retained the one-and-done approach, he's commissioned - and written - scripts that feel like old-school Doctor Who. It's not hard to imagine " Orphan 55 ," for example, split into four half-hour segments; the story structure even has quasi-cliffhanger moments. What's more, Chibnall has forgotten the importance of developing the companions as viewpoint characters.

In fact, in Doctor Who season 12 the companions have often felt surplus to the script, and they've been bundled off on various side-missions. This was most noticeable in "Fugitive of the Judoon," when they were literally whisked away through time and space by Jack Harkness, and the Doctor barely seemed to notice at all.

With the sole exception of "Can You Hear Me? Oddly enough, this script even seemed aware of the problem, signposting it in the fact Graham, Yaz, and Ryan's friends and family resented their mysterious absences. But the series then moved on, forgetting all about those characters for the rest of the season.

The season finale rewrote Doctor Who history, revealing the Doctor isn't a Time Lord at all; rather, she is the Timeless Child , the base genetic code for the Time Lords of Gallifrey , and she originates from another universe or dimension.

It's an interesting concept, and it fits rather well with various aspects of classic Doctor Who continuity; a glimpse of past regenerations in "The Brain of Morbius," and cryptic dialogue dropped in the Sylvester McCoy era. But there's a distinct clash between "The Timeless Children" and the relaunched Doctor Who , particularly with Matt Smith's regeneration episode.

Another episode focused on Kerblam, an Amazon-a-like delivery company. The story reflected real-world mistreatment of workers, but while many viewers expected a satire of exploitative capitalism, the real villain was revealed to be a maintenance man, who was killing in protest at poor working conditions. In the New Year special , a security guard referred to his boyfriend in his second line — and was killed by a Dalek just seconds later. But the show has many loyal progressive fans, too.

Too woke?