ok we all hate,the new doctor,

[Nerf]

Gutted, we are all surprised at how much we hate Peter capaldi! Was so looking forward to this! Its pants!

I really really hate that the doctor isn't the cleverest - I just liked in recent incarnations that he was always going to save the day. I'm not sure if I'm keen on him needing help to do it, and I don't know where all the angst and navel gazing has come from. I can't stand Clara and she just comes across as a bit emotionally abusive to him!

Several of this season's stories didn't need the Dr to do anything at all.
"Listen", "Kill the Moon", "In the Forest of the Night" and the Finale all need the Dr to do nothing. He has been remarkably passive.

Perhaps now he has a better idea of who he is, he'll crack on and do stuff next time.

I think PlaneAttack Cybermen were part of the Dark Water mausoleum batch, ie they were already emotionless and under full control of the bracelet. There could have been more than 91 of them altogether.

Nerf, why do you think he's not the cleverest? He's got the highest IQ, maybe not the highest EQ!

Troels- yes, there was normally more than one companion, but there were stories where the focus was on one in particular - like The Aztecs, where Barbara defied the Doctor and attempted to turn the Aztecs away from human sacrifice.
And often it was Ian who saved the day through physical action - the Doctor didn't really display his scientific knowledge or skills to any great extent in many of the early stories; if he was the one to get them out of trouble it was often through cunning and deception rather than skill. It was the second Doctor who really started to show the depth of his experience and abilities.

Of course, the relationships weren't explored in the depth that they are nowadays (except occasionally in the novelisations) - none of the angst and navel-gazing that Nerf dislikes!

Oh yeah, those bodyguards. Pah. And in a huge plane like that, with tranquillisers to hand, would they really leave Missy to bother the only scientist on board who was clearly doing something important. Why wasn't Missy being questioned? Etc.

Yonic, I mean in the recent episodes where Clara has done a lot and he has sort of stood by uselessly. Or that is how it comes across. I feel a bit like we are being softened up for a female doctor.

Well, I would vote for a female doctor!

Anyway, that aside, we see more of Clara outside the tardis than any other new Who, I think. We've seen her repeatedly doing her job and going about her life in a way we didn't with Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy (once the establishing scenes were done). And TheMoff has been accused of a male-centric perspective...

The raw material of Clara is supposed to be pretty smart, right? Hence Asylum of the Daleks and The Bells of St John?

Yonic, I know Kate was The Brig's dd, but I was calling Kate 'L-S' because I'd forgotten her name, and I called Osgood her dd, which of course, she isn't (but dd said she was, I assumed she'd know because she's 15 and generally gets that sort of thing right, and I don't really care enough to worry too much). But anyway, my dd would like Osgood to be the next assistant.

Ah, I think I get it now, so your DD thought Osgood was Kate's DD?

No no no to female doctor! For a start it's just wrong I tell you, and secondly we've already got a ridiculous amount of soul-searching etc, can you imagine how the writers would portray a female doctor? I just shudder to think. I'm willing to bet it would be some blonde glamour-puss in stilettos, probably with a 'sassy' attitude (because judging by previous characters they seem to think only rude, mouthy women are strong). There will be even more snogging and face slapping. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I love Osgood, she reminds me of a female version of Adric. Sweet and a bit dorky but very clever without having to constantly boast about it.

I would like a male companion next, for a change.

That's it Yonic ; I really can't remember names of minor and occasional characters! People (inc dd) say things like "In Listen he ......" And I go "which one's Listen? What? Who? No, I'm getting a faint glimmering but I have no idea." , though I can actually remember bits of the very first episode way back in 60s and I know it was a Saturday ritual right up until davidson. i have no idea who the eg 6th Dr is either; people have to say the actor. (The memory probs are part of ms); I'm useless as a fan, but very very loyal and love it anyway!

We used to get male companions quite often. I suppose they're worried about accusations of exclusion etc. Got to have some sort of female lead.

Let's have a woman Dr Who! What can a man do that a woman can't, apart from wee standing up? (Though I'm told a woman could do that too if she puts her mind to it. I have never tried myself.) In fact let's have a glamorous woman Dr Who who makes cold-blooded decisions. That would be nice.

That's just why I'm sceptical about a female Doctor - the perception would be that she has to be glamorous to be accepted. I'd want an older version of Osgood....

I'm against a female Doctor purely on the grounds that I feel like we're being prepared for one. If they just brought her in out of the blue I'd find it easier to handle. This need to gently introduce the idea is patronising & frustrating.

That said, if there is to be a female Doctor, I'd vote for Helena Bonham Carter. I know she's a big movie star but I think she could portray the Doctor as a strong, non-glamorous woman with just the right amount of crazy!

Don't talk to me about flying cybermen with the capacity to love. Why does everything have to fly now?!

If we have lots of woman Dr Who we can have them in a variety of glamorousness (is this a word!?) and shapes and sizes and geekiness etc. Like real women.

I think the cyber men thing was crap - how did danny and the other guy get to not be activated? And skeletons aren't living organic matter so why use them?

What the doctor said was that the cyber 'seed' had the ability to turn any living organic matter into a cyberman - but then he said 'what if she (Missy) has found out how to do it with the dead' (paraphrase! Can't remember the exact words)

Agree, Rusty. I think she needed the skeleton, maybe as a base to grow Cybermen and hence the anti cremation message, but she didn't need life.

That's why the skeletons showed in the Dark Water.

I am all for a female Doctor and think Zawe Ashton would be amazing (yes, I have said this before ) but maybe when we have a different showrunner

Rusty as always you have the exact answer re the prominence of the companions - but equally you confirmed that the focus moved around a bit; the continual focus on Clara is one of the things that has jarred, for me.

Also, only 3 eps were set off-Earth/the moon - I'd prefer to see more of "all of time and space" in the next series!

Zawe was in the original Sherlock pilot so she's a Moffat regular...