Some media outlets still use Twitter/X as a source for news and opinion, otherwise I wouldn’t go near the site. Seeing some of the replies to a trailer for the upcoming Doctor who xmas special, I wonder why somebody feels the need to actively shit on a show they so clearly dislike:
Like most #DrWho fans, I won’t be watching. #DrWho is dead. The doctor is now black and gay, Sir Isaac Newton is now Indian, and the character of Rose is being played by a man wearing women’s clothing. #RIPDoctorWho #DefundTheBBC #DiversityHire
That quote alone has too many levels of wrong to pick over, but it will never not surprise me how little of the show’s humanist messages these people have taken to heart.
Edit: Thanks for the “duh, Twitter” responses. I do think it’s low hanging fruit to just blame the platform (which is, inarguably, a dumpster fire). Let’s talk about reactionary fans instead, yeah?
I need to say, Chibnall wasn’t bad bad. He just looks that way following runs by RTD and Moffat and, honestly, so would most other showrunners in the scifi/fantasy genre.
He did some middling series with a couple of clunker episodes, that’s all. We’ve just been spoilt for quality in Doctor who post-2005!
These guys aren’t bad at diving, it’s just that everyone is better.
LOL! I’m not even going to watch that video, it looks like it’ll end in pain. I did watch the Chibnall seasons however, and I stand by what I say.
Obviously, I know mileages vary on this.
Chibnall had 1 good season imho, the last one he did. It felt more structured, it developed the plot every second of every episode. All killer no filler if you ask me. The other seasons he did were not good. They were confusing. Heres the doctor whos been alive at this point for millions of years, they know almost everything there is to know about anything and can work it out if its something new. They almost always have a plan and they almost always are the smartest person in the room.
But chibnall had Jodie spend her first few seasons running around like a headless chicken. I felt so sorry for her. She is a fantastic actor. She just got a bad deal with chibnall at the helm.
But as i say. The final jodie season was top notch as far as im concerned.
Interesting, I felt there were a lot of problems with “Flux”, mostly because it was so clear that it was intended as a full season but was scaled back to a shorter run. There are so many loose threads, yet I agree it has some standout single episodes in there.
I think there are narrative points to the Doctor not being depicted as the smartest person in the room in the earlier seasons. For one thing, all of S11 had new villains so she was as much in the dark as the viewers. You can tell she takes much more charge when she faces known opponents like the Daleks, the Master and the Cybermen.
And finally, assuming the Doctor “knows almost everything about anything” makes for really dull storytelling. That’s why I liked how every time the 12th Doctor pretended or thought he knew everything, somebody would call him out and deflate his ego. For all Chibnall’s faults, I really liked that Whitaker’s Doctor was still in awe and enthusing about the unknown, novel species and phenomena she encountered.
All that is definitely not saying seasons 11-12 were perfect or even great, and I appreciate your esteem for “Flux” even more because I don’t share it completely.