Well, then

[selenak]

Via elisi:

after a six episodes serial and three specials, both Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall will leave in 2021. I have mixed feelings; on the one hand, I was hoping someone not Chibnall would get a shot at writing Thirteen. No, I don't think he's terrible etc.; I liked various of his Torchwood episodes, and some of his later DW, plus the first season of Broadchurch. Also, the historical episodes these past seasons - Rosa, Demons of the Punjab, the one with Alan Cummings as King James and the Mary Shelley one - I liked a lot, and would count them among the best of the Thirteenth Doctor era. Not to mention that he came up with several characters I became very fond of: Graham and Grace above all.

But. On the downside, there are some elements I genuinenly disliked, not just didn't care for, but disliked. The Master seemed to me a gigantic step back from Missy in terms of character development (nothing against the actor, who was excellent; it was the writing I objected to). And good lord, the Timeless Child. I really really hope the subsequent showrunner ignores this. Or comes up with a better twist. Less of a specific thing and more of a general thing: the Doctor herself seemed to me at times trying too hard to be likeable. Again, that's not a problem with the performance. For example, I loved how Jodie W. played the Doctor's interactions with King James, the mounting irritation especially. Oh, and Thirteen's moments of TARDIS love (and longing, when the old girl was missing) were wonderfully performed.

As a whole, the Chibnall era shied away from the alien-ness which is also a part of the Doctor - not in the sense of Gallifreyan lore, I mean the moments in the character where you just feel that he or she is really really REALLY old and doesn't see the universe the way their companions do, for example.

Most of alll, though, I miss the sense of an episode taking my breath away. Which happened both in the RTD and in the Moffat eras. Not all the time, definitely not, it was a rare thing, but it happened. The Chibnall era episodes, even those I really liked, never gave me this.

Comments

[makamu]

I am still missing series 12, but.. this sums up my feelings almost perfectly!

[trobadora]

I was hoping someone not Chibnall would get a shot at writing Thirteen

This, basically. Chibnall's era overall was/is such a disappointment to me, and I really resent that Thirteen is entirely contained within that disappointment.

[kore]

Aww, that's kind of a bummer. We faithfully watched all of 13's first season, then missed most of the second, and then just kept on missing it (which also kinda happened with 12). (We ragequit 10 after what he did to Donna, and didn't come back til years and years later, so we're patchy viewers anyway.) I loved Jodie Whittaker and thought she was great, but also thought Chris Chibnal couldn't plot his way out of a paper bag, unfortunately. I really REALLY wanted to like it, but a lot of the writing seemed....uninspired? the new directors/writers were too inexperienced? the show didn't take enough risks? IDK. It didn't help that eps like Rosa, Punjab, Villa Diodati and the Tesla one were all written or co-written by other people, IIRC. (I also personally thought three Companions was one too many and Graham and Ryan both annoyed me.) It's hard for me to put my finger on why it really failed for me, unlike with the other seasons where I can instantly say what I didn't like. ITA they both pulled back on the Doctor's alien quality and made 13 sort of lighter and brighter, altho I really enjoyed that at first.

I was hoping someone not Chibnall would get a shot at writing Thirteen

Me too. //sigh

I do think it's interesting he says they made a pact it would be three seasons plus specials and done -- is everyone still scarred by how 10's run kind of dragged on and on? I have to wonder if the show is well-served by the kind of intricate looping jewel-box plots and universe-ending showdowns (altho I really enjoyed 9, and a lot of 11, and those runs were pretty plotty). It feels like higher and higher stakes have to be raised each time? And I think the eps I most enjoyed with 13 (altho I haven't seen all of them) were more the one-off planet- or time-jumping stories.

[davetheanalyzer]

Yeah, still not a fan of the Doctor being the Timeless Child. I wouldn't have minded the plot if it were someone else or if it were just a general mystery the Doctor or Master stumbled across that Gallifrey doesn't want people to know about.

At the very least, Jodie Whittaker and Jo Martin have expanded people's imaginations of who the Doctor can be outside of just white male. Hopefully the next showrunners keep up with that.

The current Master is portrayed by Sacha Dhawan, who's done some Big Finish roles, including recently. Maybe he'll be among the first to reprise the role for Big Finish like Michelle Gomez did (Now imagining Missy teasing Dhawan!Master for also wearing purple like her).

[muccamukk]

I feel like Demons of the Punjab did take my breath away, but I didn't even watch the most recent season because I disliked the Master SO MUCH. I really wanted to see Jodie under another show runner, but I guess it's not to be.

[reverancepavane]

I definitely wasn't a fan of the writer's room, which seemed to bring their experiences writing for East Enders across to the show. That is, the importance of a soap opera is the interactions between the ensemble. And because the Doctor wasn't human and was supposed to be alien, she got heavily left out of the mix. After all how can you tell an alien is suffering trauma. So it was all about the companions. Which was a disservice, because it meant that Jodie Whittaker wasn't able to stamp her own imprint on the Doctor. And so different from the normal instance of putting a blue police box in a historical or SF setting which is having problems and seeing what happens, which left a lot of the normal audience wondering what had happened.

I really prefer the alternate universe Dr Who where Jodie Whittaker got to be her Doctor (a hard enough role to fill in this ground-breaking incarnation) under some other showrunner and writer's room. Probably the same place I picked up my bootleg VHS tapes of Battlecruiser Vengeance.