Dr Who has really gone off, hasnt it?

[Snog]

Dr Who used to be genius...it`s gone really downhill now hasn't it?

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

so i can exclusively reveal that this week's is good... next week's cyber-storyline not so much.

[PariahHairy]

It's just impossible to actually care about the characters atm, I have tried I really have. I was warming to Amy a little bit at the start of season 6, then the whole baby/mels shite happened and I again went meh.

I still haven't gotten over the Dr getting out of the pandorica by being freed by a future version of himself , I know it's some kind of crappy paradox, but it makes no sense to me.

I know the culmination of s3 was less than satisfactory, but it at least had a bit of drama with Martha traveling and spreading the myth of the Dr etc.

The arcs and story lines since s5 have been dull, repetitive and uninspired IMO. So many times hearing disembodied voices, visiting people at a younger age, blah blah blah.

I don't even like Dr Who now, Matt Smith is a one note gurner, I do keep watching it, but I have no idea why.

I didn't much care for "the waters of mars" when it first aired.

Watching it back now, it's a freaking masterpiece compared to the current episodes .

[Snapespeare]

aitch nooooooooooo! I am so looking forwards to another Neil Gaiman episode and just read the interview in Doctor Who Magazine where he promises it will be 'proper-scary'

[BanoffeeSplitz]

DD stopped watching early this series - either too dull or she's just grown out of it, not sure which.

I watched until the submarine one, didn't engage me & I haven't bothered to check out the ones since. Is it worth bothering with?

We both used to look forward to them & catch up ASAP on iPlayer. I just haven't felt the urge to do that this series.

I thought I would really like Clara - the original 'souffle girl' episode was pretty good.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

it was the quippery that annoyed me on souffle girl, so am disappointed that has been turned up to 11. i do think JLC is great and impossibly beautiful, but you're only seeing flashes of character between the backchat.

Gaiman episode imho not a PATCH on his previous. (but then i think that and Blink are finest of the reboot).

[LauraShigihara]

We have stopped bothering with it. It is too confusing and the writing isn't up to much. I hated the way they churning out River stories - she was great as a mysterious one off character, not as an over explained regular.

We kept trying with it right up to Amy and Rory leaving. As that one finished, we all went ' Meh, who cares?'

I said to DS (9, loathes the Matt Smith series) 'Do you want to see how to really write a companion out?' and we all spent a happy evening watching the episodes where Rose/Martha/Donna left.

Brilliantly written, engaging characters, characters,lovely acting ...there was plenty of blubbing. Cos we cared about them.

Amy and Rory?

New person?

[Miggsie]

I agree - Matt Smith looks like he is on speed most of the time and Jenna is, well, crap not a very emotive actress.

Neither of them are helped by dull storylines and bland characterisation. The haunted house one was a blatant rip off of Poltergeist - even used the line "his house is clean"!!! and when you sit there wondering if the guest star actress will deliver a baby to break the monotony you know you are not gripped.

I'm probably going to pack in watching it.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

the writing out of donna was a scandal, i thought... she got ripped off big-time. i wanted her to SOMEHOW be reintroduced to the guy who was beamed off the library. that would have warmed my cockles.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

btw re the haunted house.

who wrote HELP ME on the wall? ('the viewer' is not an acceptable answer)

[LauraShigihara]

Poor Donna. She went back to her world of Friday night outs and celeb mags. So sad.

[CalamityKate]

Yeah but she ended up getting married and having a winning lottery ticket so its not all bad.

Donna and Rose were my favourites. I blubbed when they both left.

I couldn't stand Martha. Well actually the character could have been good but I just thought FA was awful in it. Terrible actress.

[teejwood]

We're still watching, but there aren't as many saucer-eyes of excitement as there used to be at the end of each episode.

I'm swayed by the argument that Moffat has had an arc in place since the start of series 5. I want to believe it, because I want us to have an explanation for all the loose ends and inconsistencies over the past couple of years. At the same time, I feel like everything has been directed towards the denouement of this series and possibly even the 50th anniversary at the expense of making sure every ep in the meantime is as good as it could be. I fundamentally don't understand why we couldn't have had some 2-parters to let some of the plots and characters "breathe" more, because too much is too rushed. Some of the concepts are really enjoyable, but there is no depth because there is not enough time for them to develop. And I get the feeling sometimes that the writer would have gone with a different resolution if they had not had to crowbar-in references to the series arc (e.g. power of songs, power of love, importance of family in this series). We don't get the chance to engage fully with the plot or characters and the payoff is too rushed/bodged to really satisfy.

Eg the fangirl in me loved seeing more of the TARDIS last week, but the speedy "Big Friendly Button" resolution, not so much.

So there is an argument that the series would be better with more, not less Doctor Who - more time so certain stories could be fully explored in the way in which the writer intended. The danger, of course, is that more time/episodes could further expose problems with Moffat's stewardship of the show, if that is what is going wrong.

Aitch I'm sorry that the Gaiman ep didn't grab you more, I was hoping we were on an upward swing towards the finale, quality-wise.

That said, unsatisfactory Doctor Who is still better than half the crud on TV....

[teejwood]

Donna has the most tragic ending of the modern companions, that's for sure.

Rose got to keep her awareness of all she had done, her mum and dad, Doctor 10.5, and a life that was bigger than she had had before (running around the universe with a big Dalek blaster gun)

Martha got to keep her knowledge of all she had done, her family back together, qualified as a doctor, worked and rapidly promoted in UNIT, married to Mickey and continuing to fight the baddies.

Amy and Rory had their awareness of all they had done and they had each-other, which is what always had been important to them. They got to have a family (adopted son in NY and River dropping in now and again) and by all accounts they got to write and have their own little publishing house.

Donna ended up with a lottery win and a man who loved her, yes, but lost all the knowledge of how brave and fantastic she had been and the impact that had on her self-esteem. It was, comparatively, so cruel - but a bloody amazing story.

Re Clara - I'm hoping her current characterisation is because she isn't really a real person, not because she has been written to be so one-dimensional.

[Snapespeare]

Absolutely agree re: Donna. Absolutely loathed her in her first 4 episodes, cried and cried when she got brain-wiped.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

i'm serious about HELP ME btw. who wrote it on the wall? the space grand-daughter? she'd only just got there three seconds before and was being pursued by a melty-man.

[mrsjay]

I havnt even watched this weeks yet and its nearly saturday again I was defeanding it on another thread saying it will pick up but it is just pants , dd is off on study leave and she has been watching the old david tennant ones much better we watched the one with The Master today and it is edge of your seat stuff, but now meh

[mrsjay]

Donna ended up with a lottery win and a man who loved her, yes, but lost all the knowledge of how brave and fantastic she had been and the impact that had on her self-esteem. It was, comparatively, so cruel - but a bloody amazing story.

Donna was the saddest story I like loads of people sobbed when she was gone it so wasn't fair why shouldnt she feel her awesomeness , I like clara just the stories are rubbish and Im not really bothered who or what she is , I prefer her to amy tbh

[LauraShigihara]

We watched the two episodes with the Master the other day - utter bliss. Beautifully written and all the characters were used really, really well. Even Martha's parents, who had been one dimensional, had a bit of padding.

The Master was hilariously vicious and just a wee bit camp. But with all that menace - his treatment of his wife had a nasty undercurrent. The unmentioned bruise on her face was a great touch.

And Martha had her finest moments in that one too.

[mrsjay]

John simm was brilliant as the master it was just a brilliant storyline

[mrsjay]

and I clapped like a seal when they said captain jack was the face of boe

[Choccyjules]

Donna has been the best companion since the reboot, imo.

Didn't mind Martha, though, contrary to most fans. Did not like Rose one bit (jealous, moi?!). Fancied Rory...didn't care much for Amy.

Really hoping it picks up soon. Did enjoy seeing inside the Tardis a bit more. I agree that souffle girl was Clara's best outing thus far.

[RiaOverTheRainbow]

I want to like Clara, but there isn't really much to like. She's feisty. And? Is she funny/clever/annoying/kind/brave/selfish? What's her motivation? There's just no personality, and it's frustrating because we know Who can be so much better.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

i liked her at christmas, but then she was more her own person (people) then. now she exists only in relation to the doctor.

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

i SUPER-loathed Amy before Rory showed up, but that's because if thought Karen Gillan was a tremendously crap actress. she did get better, though.

[teejwood]

Re Martha - I wasn't 100% convinced by Freema's acting and the whole unrequited love thing was a bit yawnsville, but some of my favourite stories are in that series. The Family of Blood two-parter, Blink and then the Master eps. I liked Martha more when she wasn't moping for the doctor.

Likewise, I loved that Donna was very firmly just in the "mate" camp - I think that is why she's been my favourite companion of NuWho, because the focus always was on the story, not their emotional subtext.

That said, I am a fan of the River/Doctor relationship because - to me - that one actually makes sense.