I was posting in a Whovian group on Facebook about a conversation I'd had and it ended up turning into this... I know, it's not reading related but I'd be lying if I tried to say that Doctor Who didn't contribute to my writing process. Hope y'all enjoy!
I’m the only fanatic in my group of friends (or maybe the biggest fanatic; we do have other consistently viewing friends) and I love being the go-to for questions about Doctor Who. I am, after all the only one of us with my own TARDIS...(thank you, Mark!) 😉
The absolute biggest reason I love the show so much: I can actually say that it’s the first thing in my life that I came to on my own and fell in love with. Yeah, people had recommended it to me, but unlike all the other franchises (prior to the day I found Doctor Who), no one had sat me down and introduced me. Star Wars was my family. Star Trek was my dad. Certain video games and other shows and movies were from ex’s and friends. Watching them because they enjoyed them and then enjoying them myself.
Doctor Who I found, bored one day when Netflix had this option for it to ask you a few questions and find you something to watch. When I first saw it, I thought it looked too corny but I read the description anyway. This was in the summer of 2014. I started with Eccleston and watched all of it. Totally binged it. I was hooked.
When Capaldi started his tenure, it was the first doctor change I was experiencing *with* everyone else. Which was super exciting. But I had a hard time adjusting. I had really fallen for the good looking, young, male Doctor. I was crushing on all of them (and many of the companions too lol).
I remained hooked. I never gave up, and, in the end, I found that it wasn’t Capaldi I didn’t like. It was Moffat. Now don’t get me wrong. Moffat is an amazing writer. I can not deny that. I just didn’t like him as showrunner. I preferred him ‘under’ Davies. I think Moffat is wonderful at the episodal story arcs, plot, and especially monster creation. But Davies had something that added a perfect amount of quirkiness, an attention to detail that I feel Moffat lacked.
But again, I kept going. Just because there was something I didn’t like about the show? I still loved the character. I still loved the creativity. I still loved the lore and the universe and the time travel.
Then we got Whitaker. At the time of the announcement, I was of the mind that I was ok with the gender fluid thing with time lords because I really enjoy world building and that makes a species *very* interesting. But I felt like the Master was already fluid before becoming Missy. The Doctor, however, I believed was less so and frankly more of a masculine personality. I felt he should always be male.
Whitaker proved me wrong.
The first season of Whitaker was shaky, in my opinion, but I think that was because of a few things:
One, things are always a bit shaky at the beginning of a new Doctor. But two, they changed the showrunner aaand the companions at the same time. It basically became a whole new show within itself.
This newest season, however, made me feel like I did in the Davies era. And then I put my finger on it. Moffat didn’t have any really long, involved storylines that left us hanging with anticipation throughout several seasons. Things hidden in early episodes that you don’t notice until the big reveal. It was something he had done when Davies was showrunner but was missing during his tenure. I get it, being a showrunner for that show isn't easy. It's a lot of work, but I missed that.
I can’t wait to see where Chibnall and Whitaker and the rest of the team take this. I am, however, saddened greatly by the announcement of Graham and Ryan’s departure because, to be honest, Graham was quickly becoming my favorite companion ever.
I love Doctor Who. I will always love Doctor Who because I found it on my own.
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