The Doctor loves JKR

Ecclestone really leapt right into the role for me), but she was written so self-doubting - which the doctor just isn't - even when he's figuring out who he is after re-generation, it's with the absolute confidence of a 3 year-old, and the all-knowing depth of character is always there - and it just wasn't with Jodie's doctor (which is all the writing).

Nailed it. She is so uncertain. Like a frightened work experience kid.

I've been re-watching from the beginning over the past few days (well, until they went from Netflix yesterday... will find another source).

I tried really hard to like Jodie - After all, I never like a doctor at first (except 9 for some reason - Ecclestone really leapt right into the role for me), but she was written so self-doubting - which the doctor just isn't - even when he's figuring out who he is after re-generation, it's with the absolute confidence of a 3 year-old, and the all-knowing depth of character is always there - and it just wasn't with Jodie's doctor (which is all the writing).

I always thought that someone like Meera Syal would have been a good choice - I think she'd have rocked it.

The 3 companions thing is shit. Rather have had 1 decent one. Ryan has the emotional range of a plastic garden chair.

I hate this Doctor, it's ruined for me. They can have strong female characters yet made the Doctor pathetic. Her gurning scrunched up thinking/confused face winds me up too.

To me they made a female Doctor that was so bland, sexless and inoffensive it's depressing. She has no fire or strength and the stupid bloody outfit. Non of the male Drs have been this bloody boring. The men have tailored suits with quirky additions.
She ran through a charity shop and looks like a bag lady.

I'd rather someone like River as a doctor. Alex played her so well. Smart and unapologetically female. Or someone more quirky and weird. Basically anyone with a personality.

Not really Jodie's fault. Just poor writing/casting.

It’s the writing that is letting Jodie W down, not her acting. She was a good choice but the scripts are awful.

Enjoyed it but yes, its nothing like the heyday.

And yes, nice choice of JKR considering how controversial she's been this year.

I like Jodie's doctor, but yeah, she doesn't seem allowed to boss a situation like other doctors did.

A couple of things came up from various points last year when i googled the 14th dr (to find jo martins name)

Might be wishful thinking on their part 😀

Pink News claiming John Barrowman is saying the next Doctor might be gender fluid or queer.... I think Ru Paul might be a good choice 🤔

I can't see anything about her leaving - last I read she was doing another series.

Maybe she could have done well with better writing, I'm not convinced myself. But the reality is Chibnall's vision for Doctor Who is straight out of pre-hiatus/cancellation, he hasn't got the skill to balance the fanwankery with interesting new ideas of his own, and his screenplays are poorly paced, tedious tick boxes. Frankly, you could cast Jodie Comer at this stage, and it would still be ropey old bollocks.

TartanLassie Yes we all said that as well for goodness sake even one trip with the doctor in her tardis would be the trip of a lifetime for anybody.

How very dare they think they could lecture the doctor and make her feel guilty?

Again with the slap and making the doctor feel guilty is this because she is female? They feel they can get away with this.

We gave up with it really early on, for all the reasons already mentioned

And i so wanted to like it

I thought the woman playing the 14th dr would have been better, Jo Martin...i think thats the only episode apart from the first 4/5 that ive watched

Ive just read that Jodie W is leaving

Another thing that pissed me off was the wet boring companions moaning about not seeing the Dr for 10 months!!

One how long did Sarah Jane have to wait before she saw the Dr again? 20 years? And Amy Pond and her Raggedy Man?

10 months FFS!

And yeah as PPs mentioned old boring, monotone Ryan lecturing the Dr about change. Weirdest moment ever!

Yes I noticed that too and loved it!!

I don't like the companions of this doctor they just can't act and bring nothing to the table.

However what "annoyed" me most about this episode was when Yasmin violently shoved the doctor!! I was aghast! What makes that ok? Because it's two women.

Would it have been ok if Ryan had pushed her or Graham? No!! Everybody would have been up in arms. That scene did not need a violent shove. Awful.

I feel the same when I see a woman slapping a man on screen, does this ever happen in real life? I hate seeing it!!

If I slapped a man or women I'd expect a slap back! If someone slapped me I'd give it back double!

@BuntingEllacott

Yeah, it did occur to me that this might cause a few raised eyebrows. Unfortunately it's not even slightly enough to rescue the 13th Doctor for me, because other than being a Potter fan (which we already knew from the 10th Doctor) she's a complete wet blanket disappointment to me. Can't even say how gutted I am about that as a feminist and a Who fan.

I'm not saying Dr Who is cerebral or anything. But its like the last few were cbbc, and she is cbeebies.

We didn't get very far into the first series with this doctor either. The stories were just silly. Mind you, we'd not been too impressed with the previous series or two either.

I completely lay the blame at Chibnall's door. The writing is woeful, but she is miscast, too. I was reticent about the sex swap, even though it was inevitable, but there are plenty of actresses who could have carried off the alien cleverest-person-in-the-room Doctor schtick. The Doctor just isn't being written that way and she isn't lifting the material at all.

The first episode was great. She was zany, sassy and dismissive of “Tim Shaw’s” attempt to bully her. I was excited that it looked like having a female doctor was going to work out well. Having had two amazing, mature female characters ever (River Song and Missy) it’s desperately sad that the first female Doctor has turned insecure and useless. But that first episode showed that, given the right material, Jodie Whittaker could have pulled it off.

I used to love Doctor Who. I was so excited for a woman Doctor. We didn't even reach the end of the first series. I couldn't stand the wokeness. I enjoy sci fi, I didn't watch Doctor Who to be lectured.

It's not Whittaker's fault. She's been Colin Bakered. The characters are stereotypes, the plots are formulaic and unimaginative, with emotionally trivial and uninteresting development, and the dialogue is beyond bland. I gave up in series 1 (of 13) when I realised I was parroting the dialogue before it was spoken.

They've made it more "child friendly" - Moffat did get a bit overly complex and involved - but then seem to have assumed all children have no critical faculties at all. It's just generic crap.

Of course, I started watching when Hartnell was the Doctor, so perhaps I've finally grown out of it...

I'm sad as I really wanted to like her but she's really boring and weak. There must be funny, sharp witted, quirky female actors out there who would have done a much better job. The scripts haven't helped either, they do read like you're being lectured to by a woke 13 year old as someone said up thread. I want to be entertained not bored to death or made to feel guilty.

I haven't watched today's episode yet so I'm trying to ignore spoilers but I just can't get on with this Doctor. I really wanted to like her too.
They seem to have made her weak. I hope it's not purely because she's a woman that she needed 3 companions instead of 1 or 2 max.
Also in one episode she was grabbed by the throat by a baddy, and I remarked to my husband that they wouldn't have had that happening to David Tennant, etc. I'm sure someone will now tell me that it did happen to a male doctor, but it still stood out to me.

Absolutely agree they've made the Doctor bland and needy and it's annoying. She should be the sharpest mind, completely in control, 1000 years of experience.

As for the "Karens", the baddy van driver at the beginning was oddly a middle aged woman, as was the baddy new PM who didn't last long compared to the baddy middle aged white bloke who is potentially the next POTUS. Its a definite trend I have noticed in woke shows. As we all said, middle aged women do not cause the world's evils, yet somehow they get the blame.

When you compare it to RTD's skill with creating characters who feel like real people, and his and Moffat's ability to write dialogue that sounds like the way people actually speak, it's quite evident to me that Chibnall's successes as a writer so far have been down to working with actors and showrunners who knew how to polish his few good ideas. I listen to his scripts and I just have Jack Lemmon in my head saying 'Nobody talks like that' or even Harrison Ford telling George Lucas "You can write this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it..."

Absolutely. I didn't believe she cared about Ryan and Graham that much. It just made her seem self-obsessed and petty.

Sci-fi is not his field. They've played up the "exploring other time periods" angle to disguise their lack of interest/skill at asking what if.

It's been painful viewing. Sometimes feels like being subjected to a sermon on current affairs by a thirteen year old.

Well, the Doctor did stupid stuff to try and keep Clara, and that was presented as a foolish thing on his part, but the difference was I believed the Doctor had a real emotional connection to Clara. I didn't believe for a second that 13 was all that fussed about Ryan and Graham. Even this whole daft not-a-Timelord retcon storyline, (which will hopefully be ignored by future showrunners if the series isn't cancelled) just serves to make 13 feel ineffectual and just like a big shrug as a character. She says at one point that she feels angry, but I still only got a vague sense of peevishness. Bleh.

Too many companions, yes, every single good idea directly lifted from previous stories too. Even this episode - the conversation with Jack about having work done was almost word for word repeating the conversation Jack had with Tennant's Doctor when they met in Utopia. yeah, we get it. Jack is vain and oho, the Doctor can't really criticize plastic surgery because he literally changes his entire body. It was mildly amusing the first time round. It's just lazy to recycle it with no spin at all. But that's Chibnall for you. Once in a blue moon good idea, but no skill with the execution, and hasn't a clue how to end a story.