Well, then
Jul. 29th, 2021 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakVia 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.
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.
