A Thingy Regarding Dr Who

@jbartus

Exactly what didn’t you like about Moffat?

@PlacidPenguin the man gets too wrapped up in his own cleverness and creates overly complex and convoluted story lines.

There’s a reason viewership is down like 38% since Davies’ tenure.

@jbartus I agree. I got sick of the convoluted crap that spanned 15 episodes and necessitated re-watches of otherwise par episodes if you really wanted to ‘figure it all out’.

@jbartus I stopped watching like 3 years ago at this point, but yeah I remember not only that the plots would span from convoluted to full on nonsensical but even moreso that they would frequently not seem to know how to pull out of the hole they had dug and so just sorta say “fuck it, do whatever” in the last 5 minutes of a lot of episodes. And even worse, and the thing that made me give up, was how the characters were written, particularly the doctor. His motivations and demeanor would swing wildly from one episode to the next, depending on whatever the garbage plot they had cooked up required that week.

@nogoodwithnames Moffat just doesn’t know how to write realistic likeable characters. I mean, look at what Davies wrote as companions - Donna, Rose, Jack, Martha - all likeable characters, that you empathize with right away. Donna especially was great with her cynic down-to-earth approach. What do we have with Moffat? Freakin’ Song? Clara? Whoever else? Some girl from Game of Thrones? They are cardboard. There is no development. There is no real resolution, the plot doesn’t do anything logical, everything is just reduced to mumbo-jumbo and timey-wimey. But even more so I hate how Peter’s brilliant acting is wasted among it all. There ARE some awesome episodes, don’t get me wrong, but it all is lined with Moffat’s idiocy.

@serpent
@jbartus

Moffat is too clever for his own good. He will sacrifice everything for surface brilliance, including story, character, and depth.

His stories always leave you hungry for what could have been. Sherlock is rampant with this when he’s the primary writer.

If he were part of a writing team, with someone who made up for his weaknesses … but he’s not.

@f00l

Didn’t you say you don’t watch Dr Who?

@PlacidPenguin
Have seen at least 1 ep fron each of the new doctors. Perhaps 10 in all. Just came across them or something. Plus a number of Sherlock eps.

Moffat’s writing is unmistakable.

@jbartus I’m good with ditching him for full seasons, but I really hope they keep him for the occasional one-off story. He wrote “Blink” after all, and that is arguably one of the best single episodes of the entire series - old or new.

@fait I totally agree with that statement. Love that episode… freaking angels though. They still scare me!

@mehbee
The angels just work.

Have weird disturbing dreams about them sometimes.

@SpenceMan01 I watch so much BBC stuff on Netflix I’ve just enabled subtitles permanently.

@SpenceMan01 Did you watch Misfits? I wish I’d had subtitles for that.

@serpent

Someone didn’t mince words.

But seriously, how do you REALLY feel? I know it’s just a facade and you’re trying to act brave.

@PlacidPenguin I really feel Moffat is terrible. I hate him and his creative decisions with all my heart. I hate River Song (oh how I hate her), I hate the storylines, I hate the Missy. I loved everything under Davies though - real characters, real development. Not convoluted dumbed down idiocy. But Peter Capaldi as the Doctor is actually really awesome.

@serpent I will repeat once again - I really hope Moffat chokes on his own intestines (since he already has his head so deep up his ass, won’t be hard). Hate him hate him HATE HIM.

@serpent That all being said though… The last Sherlock episode was really great. The best episode of the whole series. I like to think it’s because it was mostly written by Gatiss, but who knows. Moffat did some awesome stuff when he was just a writer for Doctor Who.

@serpent I loved Broad church, both seasons so I’m excited to see what changes are coming.

@serpent I should have mentioned earlier that I thought Broadchurch was one of the best bits of TV I’ve seen in years.

Then some idjit decided to Americanize it (trans: fuck it up) using both David Tennant and the lead actress from the original. GAH! I managed to get through the first segment before I started to rant and rave, at which point I decided doing the dinner dishes would be more pleasurable.

@serpent I really don’t know why there is so much hate for River. Until the last few times she was on(that I saw) I really enjoyed the character. Toward the end she got to be less of a character and more of a bunch of one liners. I haven’t watched the ladt season or so since I don’t have BBC America.

@mehbee Hell yes! Amazing series. Tennant & Colman both are bloody marvelous there. Can’t wait for the third season either.

@magic_cave Couldn’t agree more. Although I haven’t seen the US version, apart from some small bits - that was enough. I would perhaps recommend The Killing from the US for a similar, but actually well done US series. Or Luther, Whitechapel and River from the UK.

@PlacidPenguin @mehbee @magic_cave @f00l So, I just wanted to say that I absolutely bloody love the new Doctor Who season. Simply amazing, all of it. The best season since Tennant left! The stories are exciting, Capaldi is terrific, the companion girl is very nice (goodbye Clara-Amy-River, you sucked), the companion alien is very refreshing and Missy is perfect so far. And John bloody Simm is coming back as The Master, HELL YES!!! Don’t know what happened to Moffat, but I suspect the man got abducted and replaced with an alien lifeform for the sake of cosmic justice. Can’t wait for the finale, but I also wish this season never ended.

P.S. Loved new Broadchurch too, so I guess I would still be interested to see Chibnall’s take on DW, it’s just that I really really really want more Doctor Who like this season, it tickles all the right spots on my brain.

@magic_cave

Now, did they REALLY kill her off?

@PlacidPenguin Obligatory, “spoilers, Sweetie.” They’re never really dead.

@LaVikinga

/image spoilers Dr Who

@magic_cave I liked Clara until she was 12’s companion. I felt like she eventually lost all her coolness ans became kinda weak.

@Thumperchick

Ironically, when he leaves, I’m stopping.

Sure, it could possibly be better, but his exit just seems like a good exit point for me.

@PlacidPenguin
Why not give the new showrunner and Doctor a shot? Could leave you “Meh” or could be really good.

@f00l

As a rule, I don’t like leaving TV shows/movies incomplete.

I’ve only ever stopped a handful of shows/movies combined incomplete.
(I.e Peabody & Sherman, Seinfeld, can’t remember the others.)

If I watch the next Doctor, I would have to continue watching them through.

And anyways, BBC America shows new episodes on Saturdays which doesn’t work for me.

By the time I get to watch them, there are spoilers on the internet. Sure. I don’t use Twitter or FB, but spoilers have a way of reaching me.

Come to think of it, I also don’t like stopping book series midway. I did that though to A Song of Ice and Fire (someone emailed me spoilers for the series while I was in middle of the second book), and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

@PlacidPenguin
Martin’s series you have no choice but to stop in the middle, one way or another.

Wonder if he will ever finish.

If a series is well done, tho I try to avoid spoilers, they don’t kill the series for me. I have read a number of series more than once. Some really good ones.

@f00l

Then there were other series which, due to how I read them, I had no choice but to stop reading.

One of them though I followed to the end by reading summaries on Wikipedia.

Then there was a different series which I read which I enjoyed for the most part, but it had a weak end. 4 book trilogy (similar logic to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). I bought the first 3 books right before the final one came out.
Naturally it took me a while to get to the 4th book though.

@IWUJackson I loved him. I actually stopped witching Dr. Who after the first year because he was gone. I eventually started watching again…

@IWUJackson I’m not really sure how you can rank either of those two above Tennant but to answer the question, no you are not the only one who liked him. He was a decent Doctor and certainly we all owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the show back. That said, I don’t think the show would have done as well without Tennant.

@IWUJackson I loved Eccleston. He is my favorite of the New Who Doctors. He had some of the worst stories, but he did so much with what he had. I still think “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances” ranks very close to “Blink” in any “Best of…” list.

Capaldi grew on me quickly. His grumpiness helped me get through the rest of Clara’s time (never did warm up to her). And although I adored the way Alex Kingston played against 11, I would give my teeth to see her in a few more episodes with Capaldi. They were simply wonderful together.

@IWUJackson You are definitely not the only one. I loved him. Tennant will always be my favorite but Eccleston is a close second.

@nasman6 And here I was, thinking no one else had even seen Tom Baker! So glad I’m not alone.

@magic_cave @nasman6

So… The following clip doesn’t count?

@PlacidPenguin At the risk of offending… one of the greatest clips of the “modern” Who series! and the Who nose pun! Awesome
@magic_cave I grew up on Tom Baker, something about your first Doctor I believe

@PlacidPenguin Wowzers! I never think to look for these things on youtube. I recognized the voice immediately, although it took a few seconds for the face to be confirmed, and I was back crushing on my fave Doctor! (To answer your question, no, this clip didn’t really count, but I suppose we could consider if need be.)

I still have some of that five-pound bag of meh Gummi Bears left; think I’ll go flop on the couch, turn on the TV to watch the four glorious Tom Baker episodes still stored on my TiVO, and pretend I’m snarfing jelly babies from a small paper bag. Heaven on earth.

@nasman6 Oh, indeed! I first stumbled onto the show by accident. From the first glorious moment, when I had no idea whatsoever what I was watching, I loved it. By the third episode I was totally hooked on the series, although I was a bit surprised when he eventually regenerated into Peter Davison.

@fait

Bill is only lasting one season?

@mehbee I don’t think a female Doctor would work very well for me. There are some characters who are so iconic that a gender change is nearly impossible to pull of successfully. I could probably develop a perfectly good crush a female Doctor, but <shrug> the character itself just wouldn’t be the same.

@magic_cave
I’d like them to give it a try at some point.

I’m assuming that we have centuries of civilization left at the least.

Don’t disabuse me just yet.

@magic_cave I’m not sure I’d like it either. They just kind of mentioned it here and there so I’ve wondered. I’d give it a try though since I am all about woman power!! I agree though, it would be like making Sherlock Holmes a female.

@mehbee

it would be like making Sherlock Holmes a female

Don’t give them any ideas!

@jbartus
With the right actor and writers that need not suck.

Seems everyone else has played Holmes.
(Nod to Christopher Lee who played Sherlock, Mycroft, and Henry Baskerville)

Are we suddenly short of future years in which to make Holmes films?

I think there’s room for that variant.

@mehbee Good thing Dr. Who is not a Marvel Comics property

@duodec I guess they’ve made male hero into sheros? That’s one good thing about not reading the comics is that I can just enjoy the movies without being upset about changes and them not following cannon.( I think that’s how you spell it)

@jbartus LOL, ok I take it back

Um, canon. Though it’s ok to follow a cannon, just don’t stand in front of it all the time.

I wouldn’t have any problem with a female Doctor Who, and it does seem like a female Watson works, so why not Sherlock? However it’s always nice to see original ideas…

@aetris A female doctor might be different, but I might end up having flashbacks of Romana. Then again, I’ve finally gotten used to a female Master, but it didn’t dawn on me until now where they had gotten the idea from!

KuoH

@PantHeist I wasn’t complaining, I love Doctor Who

Peter Cushing was actually the first Dr Who I ever saw, if you remember THAT.