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For Sale Apr 25, 2026 at 9:24 PM

‘Doctor Who’ Star Peter Capaldi Responds to Online Backlash to Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa Castings: ‘I Don’t Know Why People Take it So Seriously’

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‘Doctor Who’ Star Peter Capaldi Responds to Online Backlash to Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa Castings: ‘I Don’t Know Why People Take it So Seriously’
Variety
‘Doctor Who’ Star Peter Capaldi Responds to Online Backlash to Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa Castings: ‘I Don’t Know Why People Take it So Seriously’
'Doctor Who' star Peter Capaldi responds to the online backlash toward Ncuti Gatwa and Jodie Whittaker's castings.

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gothteen145 22 hr ago +332
Personally didn't have an issue with Ncuti or Jodie themselves, but good lord the writing was horrible a lot of the time for them. For Jodie it was so dull. Her characterisation was basically either nonexistant or completely at odds with itself (We can't shoot the giant spiders, that'd be wrong, we've got to let them starve and suffocate to death) Then there was Ncuti, written by a Russel T Davies who really seemed to have lost his spark and was trying to appeal to twitter (Davros can't be disabled because it's a negative stereotype, the sonic screwdriver looks like a gun, David Tennant can't wear womens clothes because it's insulting to drag performers, you have to ask the alien what its pronouns are, etc.) It just feels like a decade of really bad writing that sadly coincide with the fact that it's been the first female and first black doctor. Hell, I don't care if the doctor is gay, he's a bloody alien, it shouldn't matter in the slightest so it's not like i'm some far right a****** frothing at the mouth over the fact that "gasp" gay people exist and deserve to be treated like anyone else. but why did you make the first "gay" doctor wear a skirt, call people babes, cry in a vast majority of episodes, say "yas queen" whilst celebrating someone's death because they were an "incel", etc.
332
TheJoshider10 21 hr ago +146
Russel T Davies royally fucked the show unfortunately, after bringing it back brilliantly decades ago. He's regressed so heavily as a creative talent and relies on stereotypes and c**** eye rolling diversity that feels like parody to the point of being insulting. Like having a trans character make a "did you just assume their gender?" comment which does nothing but reinforce stereotypes. Or having the character in a wheelchair press a button to use a f****** turbo boost and a ramp being added to the TARDIS with some forced "this took too long to happen" comment. Or as you said, the gay Doctor being the one doing all that stuff. It's all of the bad of his first era with absolutely none of the good, with characters that range from shallow to offensive and hamfisted commentary that feels out of touch. These characters deserved to be more than just the trans one. Or the disabled one. Or the gay one. But RTD just can't hack it anymore unfortunately.
146
M086 20 hr ago +102
Donna telling the Doctor he couldn’t understand because he wasn’t a woman, when he was literally a woman 10 minutes ago.
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IAlreadyHaveTheKey 20 hr ago +32
Yeah that one really pissed me off. Like it was right there.
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FreeStall42 16 hr ago +13
Donna has always been a d*** so that fits.
13
MyPacman 12 hr ago +6
I find it amazing how conflicted I am about her. She is absolutely a d***, and I find I can't decide whether I love her or loath her.
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ChappieHeart 17 hr ago +5
Did Donna know he was a woman though? This sounds like it could actually be a well written joke.
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Saiga123 11 hr ago +3
She did know he had been a woman, like 5 seconds before he's criticised for being a male presenting time lord she says 'It's a shame you're not a woman anymore'.
3
GoggleDMara9756 19 hr ago +26
It’s crazy because I’ve literally never heard a trans person say “did you just assume their gender” except to make fun of the phrase lol.
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TheJoshider10 12 hr ago +3
Exactly. It's something trans people have had to deal with and RTD made it worse. It's a shame because earlier in the same episode we had a lovely moment where Donna and her mum talk about forgetting sometimes and using Rose's dead name. That's *exactly* the sort of awareness needed and a very realistic exchange people have while they adjust. We needed more of that, and less of the stereotyping.
3
MotorShoot3r 18 hr ago +10
The way Rose Noble is written is genuinely offensive to me 
10
MadHiggins 17 hr ago +11
> Like having a trans character make a "did you just assume their gender?" comment which does nothing but reinforce stereotypes. Or having the character in a wheelchair press a button to use a f****** turbo boost and a ramp being added to the TARDIS with some forced "this took too long to happen" comment. Or as you said, the gay Doctor being the one doing all that stuff. It's all of the bad of his first era with absolutely none of the good, with characters that range from shallow to offensive and hamfisted commentary that feels out of touch. wait, did all that actually happen?
11
NotASalamanderBoi 16 hr ago +10
The first one happened in The Star Beast. The turbo boost happened in the same episode IIRC, the ramp thing happened in The Giggle. Gatwa Doctor had scenes where there was same sex tension/romance.
10
lordraiden007 14 hr ago +9
That really stuck out as a low point in "The Giggle". The toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris) was absolutely amazing and stole every scene. The bit of him just coming in and murdering people to *Spice Up Your Life* while The Doctor can only say "they're dead, I'm sorry" as he's completely helpless was absolutely amazing. But then they ended it with a dumb game of catch! So much wasted opportunity. That the episode was at least good is a testament to the actors.
9
HatOfFlavour 12 hr ago +3
Jodie would openly ask her companion if they were dating. I wouldn't say there was same sex tension but Jodie seemed up for it.
3
gregkiel 18 hr ago +4
I made this exact comment a year and a half ago and got downvoted into oblivion. I thought I was taking crazy pills. The character development is so two dimensional that it’s insulting to the audience and insulting to the people they are trying to represent in film.
4
PointlessTrivia 19 hr ago +14
If Russell T Davies was as smart as he *thinks* he is, the show would have been amazing. Unfortunately...
14
cateml 11 hr ago +4
The thing is, it’s not that Russel T Davies can’t write the lived experience and complex tribulations of being gay in the world into good engaging stories. Because Queer As Folk was *incredible*. I’m straight, it’s not representation for me (well, Manc representation, also very important…), it’s just really good television. And it helped the wider world understand the world of these marginalized characters and feel more comfortable with the community and lifestyle, which was really important. But Queer As Folk was also made 26 years ago. I think it is that, back then, he was writing with a deep understanding of the community and culture he was writing about. Because it was his. Russel T Davis doesn’t get the modern queer culture. Because he is old. Like, even if he wasn’t a rich TV dude, he would still be the old man who will never really get it like the Kids These Days do. It’s just the way it is, I’m kind of old as well, I get it. And I imagine he would accept and admit to that, though he might have a “but I still can live it because I’m gay…” etc. defence as well. It feels like he is trying to do the same kind of acceptance driving awareness raising that he did 26 years ago, and maybe that is coming from a good place. But because he not only doesn’t “get” the culture itself, he doesn’t really get how the way the language and fashion propagates and warps in a digital culture is totally different, and how visible and dynamic the stuff he is using already is (compared to originating primarily in some Canal Street club). So it comes across as forced, clunky and almost parody. Thereby distracting from the story and the development as the characters as rich and real feeling.
4
EngineeringNo753 20 hr ago +37
It's always funny how well written Jack was, in terms of just not giving a f***, and how progressive TorchWood was for its time. And now we just get flashcards held up of, PLEASE APPLAUDE & PLEASE BOO when good or bad stereotype number 21 is prepared to twitter.
37
SlightlyOffWhiteFire 18 hr ago +16
I think people saying Russell t davies went woke forget just how much he used to try to get away with in his original run. It basically established that the doctor is a bit of a pan imp himself and slides in supportive joke about gay people often.
16
EngineeringNo753 18 hr ago +13
I mean first episode of TorchWood has Owen in a three way with a girl and her guy. Jack flirting with lanto and everything else But he has definitely either gotten lazy or lost his touch, as it is just so on the nose it's eye rolly now.
13
Android1822 15 hr ago +5
Don't forget the creepy guy who was spying on people as he jerked off...on the first episode.
5
HatOfFlavour 12 hr ago +2
Or the perfume that removes consent by making you really attractive even to people of the same gender
2
BeneCow 20 hr ago +11
I don’t watch a lot of Dr Who but I caught an episode with Ncuti and I thought it was a Red Dwarf episode because he played it exactly like the Cat.
11
JJMcGee83 15 hr ago +11
> (We can't shoot the giant spiders, that'd be wrong, we've got to let them starve and suffocate to death) This is the exact example I use and when I gave up on the show too. If the doctor wanted to take the moral high ground they should have used some time lord space magic to find a way to rehome the giant spiders but giving a lecture on how humans are wrong for using guns just to kill them all anyway was such bad writing.
11
Bluebabbs 20 hr ago +23
One of the worst examples of this for me was actually during Jodie's run, Rosa. The episode is about how they go to 1960s America, and run into Rosa Parks, MLK etc. And they find out a time traveller is trying to stop Rosa from sitting on the bus to stop the civil rights movement. Ok, fine, ignoring many, many things, you could make an episode about how human history was changed by this (if not very US focused for a UK show), and that stopping this event means human history is changed, and held back - Great, we're showing that human development is pushed forward by the civil rights movement, that racism holds is back - that's a brilliant message Instead, it's nothing to do with that, the guy is just a racist. He wants to come back in time to the "blacks getting uppity" or whatever. That's so on the nose and direct.
23
TheColourOfHeartache 13 hr ago +5
The episode wans't bad, just the villian was. But its also  a missed oppotunity to inform, Rosa didn't spontaneously refuse because her feet were tired.  It was a preplanned opp by a media trained "perfect victim". Showing that would have beem better.
5
mr_arcane_69 11 hr ago +1
That episode was part written by Malorie Blackman too, who wrote some super successful books about racism. I was surprised her episode about racism would spread misinformation.
1
alecsgz 8 hr ago +1
I watched lots of Doctor Who. I gave up after 5 episodes of Jodi. As a rule even if I give up on show I tend to wait a while then watch the highest rated ones. I mean shows like The Simpsons that are not heavily serialized not The Walking Dead types. Doctor Who is monster to the week enough to do that The Simpsons I gave up in S12 but I saw many good episodes since. I saw the highest rated Jodi ones and liked maybe 2 and then I saw Rosa was among the higher rated ones and gave up
1
Sloppykrab 21 hr ago +25
>Personally didn't have an issue with Ncuti or Jodie themselves, but good lord the writing was horrible a lot of the time for them. This is it. I wasn't a fan of the writing and the show, Jodie was great, she just got the bad end of the stick.
25
istasber 20 hr ago +11
Yeah, I really liked her characterization in that first episode, felt like a real manic introduction like Matt Smith's doctor. But then she was given next to nothing to work with or build upon the next few episodes (which is as far as I got). I wonder how much of it is timing for how critical the show was in someone's formative years for the people who were working on the show. Like the writers and directors in 2005 were probably kids or teens watching the show in the 70s and 80s. Then you get to the late 2010s and the majority of the staff were people who were kids or teens during the era without who (from 1990-2005), and the show just needs to go away for another 10 or so years to wait for the people who were passionate about the reboot to be the right age to work on the show.
11
DeathrisesXIIPS4 21 hr ago +27
Literally the best episode of ncuti's season was the " 27 meters" one or whatever (I forget the distance), which Ncuti barely featured in lol. It was the only episode that felt like a real doctor who episode. The land mine one was pretty close in vibes. Absolutely loved Ncuti in that sex therapy show, I think he's a great actor, I didn't even feel he was a bad choice, but holy shit man they really changed the doctors personality so much that it was just too jarring to maintain the illusion of continuity between the seasons.
27
Triskan 21 hr ago +24
Respectfully disagree. I personally dont think the entire era is to be thrown to the trash. Yes, the finales are dreadful and RTD has dropped the balls on many things, but there's still some very good "middle" episodes : *Lux, Boom, The Story and the Engine, The Well, Joy to the World, Church on Ruby Road, 73 Yards...* these are all solid episodes imo.
24
AquaPhoenix28 21 hr ago +6
I agree, there were some incredibly interesting episodes in Gatwa's run (The Story and the Engine was probably my favourite), but the series ending was sooo incredibly disappointing. The wish world had so much potential, but finale was just cramming in old characters/references that felt totally meaningless. Not to mention Conrad being redeemed bc his wish world was "a good place", despite people with disabilities ostracized and literally living in tents on the street because they didn't fit in with his ideal society. (Especially compared to how Kid was treated just two episodes prior). Also just retconning everything about Belinda in about 5 minutes
6
TheJoshider10 20 hr ago +4
Middle is a perfect word considering none of those episodes would be ranked higher than middle of the pack for the shows glory days between Eccleston and Capaldi. They're okay, but nothing that stands out.
4
Ripley_LV_426 15 hr ago +5
Anyone who was in the fandom when the Ncuti episodes were airing remembers people loving it. Fan consensus was that Space Babies was an awful start, but then almost every other episode was great. But RTD did the thing he always does and fucked up the finales and suddenly the narrative out there was that there wasn't a single redeeming quality to the entire thing. Now everyone is talking like the era was nothing but Love and Monsters.
5
fuckyou_redditmods 19 hr ago +6
Anytime it is said, it gets downvoted but it's my firm belief that these elements you listed get added as a kind of protection against criticism when the core plot and writing is weak. You didn't like the plot? It's coz you're a *-ist
6
RegularGuy815 20 hr ago +6
I liked a number of Gatwa episodes and loved him as the Doctor actually. Disappointed we didn't get more, with a better writing direction.
6
BuiltStraightStupid 15 hr ago +2
Loved listening to NerdCubed and Mike Bithell's podcast "F*** Yeah Doctor Who". It was pretty much just a review of each episode as they came out (which was great considering that they're both massive Doctor Who nerds). Their take was pretty much that Whittaker was a fantastic actor doing everything she possibly could with possibly the most unserviceable scripts she had ever had to read from, and with that in mind her performance was likely the best that you could have asked for.
2
Falonefal 15 hr ago +1
In my opinion, writing is the single most difficult artform that there is, and it is not even close. I've had this opinion for a while, and with all due respect to all other artforms and masters of them, writing is an artform that has so many difficulties that truly makes it the crutch of anything that involves it. Firstly, unlike most other artforms, it truly takes a gargantuan amount of actual physical and mental effort to write something, while this can be said for acting or painting/drawing/whatever, writing requires to weave this intricate web of many moving parts, ensure it all makes sense, and spend a large amount of time actually putting it on paper, it's no surprise the fastest writer did so while coked up to hell and back. Secondly, unlike other artforms, there is almost no way to 'stick to your guns' and keep creating stories the way you have been at the start, if someone now wrote stories in the way that classical Greek tragedies were written, 99.999% of people would not be interested in reading them, you have to keep up with the times, follow developments, and adjust your writing, not just the style but also how characters develop, common story beats and how twists and turns occur. Because of this last thing, it becomes dreadfully difficult to keep writing contemporary stories as an aging artist, ideally you would keep reading a massive mess of books and try to gain inspiration, but at this point in your life you are often occupied with many other things, it becomes difficult to stick with the flow. A painter however can keep painting their nature morts in the style they always have, and people will always appreciate it, an actor can use their skills to read the lines in a skillful and emotional manner, a sculptor is literally unable to 'lose their touch' unless they become physically uncapable to carry out their work, but this has nothing to do with knowing how to make something good. Writing is a thankless artform, an obscenely difficult one to continue being good and inventive at, and very difficult to really understand what actually makes it good at a glance, it is inherently an artform that requires more time allocated to perfecting or understanding it than any other artform available. I have nothing but respect for writers, even those who end up disappointing and/or boring me, I may not appreciate the work they made, but I cannot help but appreciate the effort. ...unless you do AI assisted writing in which case respectfully go screw yourself of course :p
1
qubitrenegade 12 hr ago +2
I really liked Whittaker in Broadchurch. I kinda stopped watching after Tennant left, she was the reason I started watching again... it certainly wasn't her that made those seasons unwatchable.
2
Big-Soup7013 22 hr ago +695
Nobody hates anything more than its biggest “fans”
695
ZestycloseBeach5946 22 hr ago +333
It was the writing that failed Doctor Who not the acting. You could be the best actor in the world but you can only do so much with what your given.
333
CubicPaladin 21 hr ago +141
Amen. Jodie was one of my all time favourite doctors, and I don’t even know if I finished her season fully, because the writing was utterly dogshit.
141
jaybird-jazzhands 21 hr ago +57
I admittedly stopped watching during her first season because it was really bad. I kept thinking that there couldn’t possibly be a better doctor to replace the previous one but then they always blew my expectations out of the water so when Jodie took over I was finally like, “I accept this and look forward to a new take.” Then it just turned out to be really uninteresting.
57
Shoot_from_the_Quip 21 hr ago +71
The writing was just soooooo bad. Chibnall came from police procedurals and it showed. He had no business writing Doctor Who. Jodi had the worst material possible to work with and I really do feel bad for her having to try to make that garbage work. As for Ncuti, I just can't stand the Doctor either grinning like some raver rolling on molly or crying in every single episode. He made me miss the "there's something really dark lurking beneath the surface" versions of the Doctor.
71
Zestyclose-Height-36 20 hr ago +36
the writers failed to understand the doctor does not believe in guns or weapons, ever. they ignored a character that had been built for decades and it showed
36
Historyp91 16 hr ago +21
The Doctor used weapons (including guns) a fair bit in the classic show. The modern take on him as being so strongly opposed to such things that he'd never use them is basically a flanderization. Before 2005 he just found them distasteful and disliked using them, but was still willing to do so when necessary.
21
Wincrediboy 16 hr ago +25
Let's also remember that David Tennant was introduced as swordfighting and no second chances
25
Historyp91 16 hr ago +8
Yeah it's actually a little ironic; Tennant was where the "I don't do guns" really started but he was also one of the more ruthless-to-his-enemies of the modern Doctors whenever push came to shove.
8
Wincrediboy 16 hr ago +6
I agree with the point above though that while the doctor doesn't have to be militant anti-weapon, they also don't celebrate death.
6
gn0meCh0msky 11 hr ago +3
Family of Blood. Good g'damn.
3
maniclucky 17 hr ago +18
I was offended in the incel episode when he and the companion laughed when the bad guy died at the end in some ignominious way. The Doctor does not think death is funny.
18
HatOfFlavour 12 hr ago +2
Which one was the incel episode?
2
HatOfFlavour 12 hr ago +4
Eccleson was ready to blast a Dalek but all he got was a pile of broken hairdryers.
4
dfdedsdcd 17 hr ago +9
Remember when the Doctor basically said "Not-Amazon is fantastic, you should live with your oppression and slavery and just not fight back so I can order my pencils from wherever."
9
Krimreaper1 17 hr ago +7
Same, I gave up after three episodes. And I was generally done with the show. But my wife who never watched it, liked Nciti from Sex Education. And really liked his performance. Shame he was let down by the show.
7
thejazzophone 19 hr ago +13
People hated Matt Smith initially then he became beloved. Ppl will always f****** hate the casting of the doctor until the first season finishes. But ya the writing was so bad I couldn't take it, there's like no rules for doctor Who so if you are even a half decent writer you can make doctor Who work.
13
MuffinMatrix 15 hr ago +6
1st 'rule' of Doctor Who... its always 'Doctor', not 'Dr'. :) Especially since 2005.
6
thejazzophone 15 hr ago +2
You are so right
2
allgonetoshit 20 hr ago +14
Absolutely agree. And when they cast Ncuti, I knew his talents as an actor would be absolutely wasted on horrible writing. He had ONE good episode, the one where people are connected on social media and turn out to all be psychos. He very other episode was absolute c***. Focussing on those boring gods for the whole time was stupid.
14
Heavy_Arm_7060 21 hr ago +5
I quite liked her work in Ghost Monument.
5
Wischiwaschbaer 21 hr ago +13
Then why was she one of your all time favourite doctors? Everything about that era was awful, including the writing for the doctor.  We got a glimpse of what could have been, when she showed up as a cameo in one of Ncuti's episodes. There I thought "oh she could have been great", but not one second during her original run did I think the same.
13
Material-Nose6561 21 hr ago +23
She was fantastic! As the Doctor would say. So was Ncuti Gatwa. I agree, the writing, specifically the pacing, took a dive in the Chibnall era. It improved some when Davies returned, but pacing issues were the biggest problem along with the half baked "Timeless Child" storyline. We could've done without Space Babies too.
23
MappleStarsSky 21 hr ago +11
Imo, I know it' s a bit of a controversial take, but I think David 2nd run will be remembered a lot more fondly after some time has apssed. People forgot how much shit David got during his tennat era, I still remember people saying that Doctor Who was becoming a teen romcom during series 2 and that this was not the doctor who they grow up with.
11
TheNoidbag 20 hr ago +3
Every modern doctor has basically had some insane drama within the fandom since the rebooting. I remember being pretty anti 9 but I have grown to love them over the years.
3
obsoleteconsole 13 hr ago +2
The whole Doctor/Rose relationship was pretty much a bad rom-com to be fair, and easily the weakest part of Tennant's run
2
KnightNZ 17 hr ago +2
Her first season was tolerable but far from good. The 2nd season was incomprehensible nonsense, which is such a shame as she had such a fantastic energy for the role. I was sad seeing what she was given to work with, especially seeing as the SFX budget for some of said nonsense must've been off the charts as far as Who goes.
2
Jedi71 19 hr ago +1
Agreed I was so excited for her casting but lasted maybe 4 episodes in because it focused so much on the boring companions, of which there were what, 3? Ugh.
1
ssdissaor 17 hr ago +1
Almost made it but the hypnotoad was a step too far
1
TrueSwagformyBois 14 hr ago +1
IIRC, Jodie was quoted as saying that she did not do research for the part, which rubbed me the wrong way. Her acting was never the problem though. Russel T was great. Steven Moffat I can see had serious issues. But when I was first exposed to the doctor, it was his episodes I was exposed to. And they were fun. A good introduction for the time. But better preparation for going back to Tennant and Russel T Davies. Chibnall was awful. Just hated the franchise, it felt like.
1
HatOfFlavour 12 hr ago +2
They can't all be die hard Uber fans who ran Doctor Who fan clubs or married the children of other actors who previously played The Doctor.
2
Altruistic_Damage323 11 hr ago +2
Come to think of it, the only die hard mega Doctor Who fans who got the role were Tennant and Capaldi, everyone else started out doing a job but grew into the role
2
ExistentialCalm 9 hr ago +1
Her last season was her best, by far. If you didn't finish it, I highly recommend you do.
1
Upset-Government-856 18 hr ago +3
Yep. No respect for any kind of internal logic makes Dr WHo completed rudderless. If a god has no constraints other and temporary arbitrary ones, everything becomes trivial and superficial.
3
HatOfFlavour 12 hr ago +2
But it's all timey wimey wibbly wobbly. Like things are set and impossible and will never change. Give it a season or two and all that is thrown out the window. Rose can come back across the dimensional divide, fixed moments in time can change, the last of the Time Lords now has all of Gallifrey pestering him again.
2
lstn 17 hr ago +3
I thought Gatwas second season was fantastic, bad end though
3
zaminDDH 21 hr ago +3
Yup, all the others had bad episodes or bad arcs, too, and it's never been because of the acting. But when you're not frantically looking for excuses to hate something, you don't tend to find them quite as easily. Weird, that.
3
NMe84 11 hr ago +1
Jodie Whittaker was a good Doctor but I hated her as a Doctor anyway because she'll be forever associated with the terrible writing she had to work with.
1
MattSR30 22 hr ago +69
I dislike the rhetoric as much as the next person, but of _course_ that’s the case. I’ve never seen an episode of Doctor Who in my life. Of course a diehard fan has stronger liked and dislikes towards it than I do. I’d have stronger opinions about Game of Thrones than someone who’s never really seen it, too.
69
Radix2309 21 hr ago +28
Yeah I always hate that quote. Who else would hate a bad decision than someone who actually likes it? They want it to be good. Was casting those 2 a bad decision? No. I mostly blame the writers.
28
LordDusty 21 hr ago +6
Its a stupid phrase that actually means the opposite of what people intend for it to mean. Who holds a franchise to higher standards but fans of that franchise? If you do something thats bad, or wrong and goes against the core set up of themes and lore of a franchise then you shouldn't be in the least bit surprised if those that make the biggest fuss over it will be the fans! But you also have to remember that its also the fans that will give you the most praise when you do something right. So if you want to keep your fans happy and get lots of support and positivity from them, then make stuff that they like and enjoy. Thats easier said than done but its amazing how many creators and runners of big franchises recently seem adamant to put their existing fans on the backend of their thoughts and then complain when they get backlash for their mistakes.
6
unit187 11 hr ago +2
"Gatekeeping" is considered a bad practice, but we totally need to normalize it and lean into it. So many things get ruined because of tourist creatives getting control over the material, and pivot it towards "new audience". No matter where you look, be it Doctor Who or Star Wars or The Witcher show or even Dungeons and Dragons to some degree. Everything gets diluted and deformed so much, it looses everything that made it actually good.
2
puerility 9 hr ago +1
> If you do something thats bad, or wrong and goes against the core set up of themes and lore of a franchise then you shouldn't be in the least bit surprised if those that make the biggest fuss over it will be the fans! this implies that fans have the keenest understanding of the show, which i don't think is correct. doctor who fans get understandably defensive when you point this out, but historically speaking the show is meant to be family viewing: it appeals to children but has stuff sprinkled in to keep parents happy too. there are adult fans, just like there are adult fans of e.g. bluey, but any sense of ownership or protectiveness on their part is well-intentioned but ultimately not relevant.
1
nonresponsive 18 hr ago +16
Nah, nobody hates anything more than writers who think they're better than the material they're writing.
16
agewin162 18 hr ago +6
Bingo
6
SandysBurner 22 hr ago +22
Because nobody cares about a thing more than its fans.
22
resistyrocks 22 hr ago +26
Old thing good, new thing bad until a new thing comes out and that's the worst thing and the middle thing is actually overlooked now. New fans not real fans. It belongs to me, not you.
26
_NotMitetechno_ 21 hr ago +13
That's not really it, the writing quality took a large quality dive + anti woke andies sort of latched onto the really poor implementation of political ideas in the show (and the diverse castings).
13
TheRaceWar 21 hr ago +15
Yeah, I hate anti-woke chuds as much as the next guy, but it's been a f****** rough show for a while. There's been highlights, but f****** woof.
15
_NotMitetechno_ 21 hr ago +7
Yeah it's been pretty c*** for about a decade now :/ Capaldi left in I think 2016 which is a long time ago
7
wuvvtwuewuvv 18 hr ago +2
Holy shit has it been that long already???
2
ssdissaor 17 hr ago +2
How dare you? (mattdamonaging.gif)
2
Mobrules2 22 hr ago +12
I don't even think it's the 'fans', it's the whole 'anti-woke' people who didn't even watch the show in the first place. For example, I grew up in the 2000s and was aware of the reboot but I never actually watched, a couple of years ago I ended up watching the Eccleston, Tennant and Smith seasons and was shocked by how progressive it was for the time, very diverse casts, gay characters, I'm sure there was even a trans character at one point too. If people think the show has only recently 'gone woke', they are factually incorrect. However, the recent series do have a writing problem, but it's nothing to do with the gender, race, sexuality etc of the cast or characters.
12
thinkbox 21 hr ago +27
I had a doctor who cake at my wedding. I stopped watching. We had all the merch, the books. My family and I would often rewatch the seasons over and over. Everyone I know stopped watching. Chibnall was not a good steward of the franchise. It’s about the writing, the characters, and the tone. It stopped feeling like my favorite show. The episodes really didn’t click at all with me. And the time between seasons got worse. The main sub would heavily downvote criticism for years to the point where people wouldn’t bother with even engaging at all. Viewership dropped off massively. It was people who watched the show that stopped watching the show. Simple. You can’t say it was because anti woke people who didn’t ever watch the show weee complaining. That’s very clear by the episode ratings that previous viewers weren’t tuning in anymore. That doesn’t happen if there isn’t a loss of audience.
27
CMDR_omnicognate 21 hr ago +14
Honestly i think they were both great actors and would have made great doctors if the writing behind them was better, but both of them had pretty rough seasons imo, Jodie especially.
14
swiftie_bestie 19 hr ago +12
Three companions, six plot threads, and one poor Doctor trying to do crowd control. Jodie deserved scripts, not obstacle courses.
12
ImpenetrableYeti 21 hr ago +23
Most people didn’t care about the casting they cared that the writing for both of them was absolute dogshit
23
greyfoggydaynl 22 hr ago +123
The casting of Jodi and Ncuti wasn't a problem, the problem stems from the terrible writing that began during Capaldi's tenure in the TARDIS and never really improved. Which is a shame, because the show took a massive leap forward in terms of effects and cinematography and it LOOKED amazing. I didn't moan or cry about it, I just turned off and watched something else. I even have friends who were lifelong Whovians do the same.
123
OppositeofDeath 22 hr ago +76
Heaven Sent was the best episode of new Doctor Who for my money. Capaldi didn’t have as many good episodes as prior seasons, but he got the best one.
76
mrsunshine1 22 hr ago +46
All of Capaldi’s run is Shakespeare compared to what came after. 
46
Honesty_Addict 21 hr ago +27
Precisely. Anyone who thinks Capaldi's era was a step down in quality from Tennant and Smith doesn't know what bad writing is. Seasons 2-4 are filled with some of the worst writing since the show was revived. Chris Chibnall's era was the universe going "oh, you think Steven Moffat is a bAd wRiTeR do you? get a mouthful of this."
27
ssdissaor 21 hr ago +6
Early Capaldi era writing seemed fairly self aware of the backlash that was coming from going back to the old man doctor after nearly a decade of the virtual boyfriend of NuWho after the revival 
6
LouF---ingGrant 21 hr ago +3
Thing is, go back to discussion threads and all you’ll see are fans shitting on Moffatt and the bad writing of every Capaldi episode.
3
APiousCultist 17 hr ago +4
To be fair Capaldi's first season was incredibly uneven and has some of the show's best and worst episodes. The second one has an worse second episode to the finale, but not as genuinely offensive. The third mainly just gets dinged for the psychic space mummies having a considerably worse second episode. But even at released Listen and Heaven Sent got rightful acclaim. Mummy on the Orient Express and to a degree Flatline are also very good IMO.
4
TR_Pix 19 hr ago +2
Dunno man I remember the moon is an egg episode
2
Android1822 15 hr ago +2
It had its ups at the start of Capaldi's run, but took a nosedive about the time it introduced Bill Potts.
2
DisastrousDaveBerry 22 hr ago +36
Bringing Russell back was a mistake as his scripts were terrible
36
wuvvtwuewuvv 18 hr ago +3
Who could have known it would be that bad though? RTD made a solid product last time, I expected similar this time
3
NuPNua 22 hr ago +32
The Moffat/Capaldi era was peak modern who. Up there with the Hinchcliffe era.
32
Triskan 21 hr ago +13
Totally agree. I'll never understand people like this who say 12's era sucks. I know it's a weird thing where most Whovians have totally recognised how much of a banger those three seasons are, while more casual fans are still spouting the Capaldi=bad writing tired narrative. Go rewatch those season mates. Yeah, series 8 can be rough on the edges (and even then, there's a shit-ton of beautiful episodes in it), but man series 9 and 10 are just absolute peak.
13
Kataphrut94 20 hr ago +10
The worst is when people say “Capaldi was great, but his scripts were bad.” That’s not how it works! He didn’t conjure up Heaven Sent or the Zygon speech with his acting talent alone, someone wrote that and he played it to perfection.
10
Tweegyjambo 22 hr ago +8
Ecclestone was peak
8
ult_avatar 21 hr ago +5
Yeah for me too - there are dozens of us, dozens!
5
TroublesomeTurnip 21 hr ago +3
He'll always be my Doctor
3
TR_Pix 19 hr ago +3
the special effects looking good is part of the problem, methinks  If the show still looked silly it'd be easier to forgive certain hiccups
3
_NotMitetechno_ 21 hr ago +7
Capaldi's writing was very good, he just wasn't David Tennant lol
7
ssdissaor 19 hr ago +6
He just wasn't a twink for a good chunk of the audience to fantasize about 
6
Sporkedup 21 hr ago +7
I know that it's a popular take to fuss about the writing during Capaldi's run, but man I disagree. I'll put any one of Moffat's seasons up against any other NuWho season, easy. What did happen during Capaldi's tenure was the show leaving Netflix. I think that had a bigger impact on perception than "the writing," especially given the absurdly good way his last three or so episodes are.
7
EnQuest 21 hr ago +3
I thought Jodie wasn't the problem until Jo Martin showed up and embodied the character more in ten seconds on screen than Jodie had in the 16 ish episodes leading up to that Excellent actress, but since then I genuinely am of the opinion that she was miscast as the Doctor.
3
dteix 22 hr ago +4
This is exactly it.
4
Dan_Of_Time 20 hr ago +2
> the problem stems from the terrible writing that began during Capaldi's tenure in the TARDIS and never really improved. There were some iffy moments in his first series but his other 2 had hands down some of the best writing in the entire show. He felt like the first Doctor to have an actual character arc that paid off.
2
schleppylundo 22 hr ago +8
The vocal minority complaining about the Doctor’s gender or race were/are by and large tourists pretending they cared about Doctor Who when they really care about starting shit over gender and race.
8
thinkbox 21 hr ago +13
There were also a lot of people who would treat any criticism of the show as if it was a veil to hide sexism or racism. People would be called bigots for being critical of the show, or lumped in with bigots. It wasn’t just drive by anti-wokers. It was the rabid toxic positivity fans that accused everyone of being anti-woke if they didn’t like the show.
13
KingofUlster42 21 hr ago +13
But the show’s viewership fell off? So the fans aren’t supporting it either. I get what you mean but it’s not just a loud minority opinion if the fans aren’t watching it
13
luluhouse7 21 hr ago +5
The fans stopped watching because of the shit writing, not the actors. I LOVED Doctor Who and was super excited for Ncuti and Jodie, but man did the show go down the drain.
5
GenericGaming 21 hr ago +7
Jodie's viewership was higher than Capaldi's. Heaven Sent, the episode everyone claims is Capaldi's best, literally got lower viewership than Jodie's entire first season
7
azuk24 16 hr ago +6
only jodies first episode had higher viewrship and then it begin to drop in audience ratings.
6
schleppylundo 21 hr ago +5
The minority opinion I’m referring to isn’t “the show is bad now,” it’s “the show is bad now *because the lead actor isn’t a white man*.”
5
KingofUlster42 21 hr ago +5
Oh okay I’m sorry I misunderstood, that’s totally f****** valid 😂
5
Quixotic_Seal 21 hr ago +7
Bullshit. “Should/will there be a female Doctor?” was a question that got asked constantly in the fandom for decades to often mixed results. It was a famous enough point of debate, and such an obvious inevitability after the revival, that multiple high profile Doctor Who alums weighed in on the topic during the 00s and 10s. Peter Davison moaned about it being an important role model for boys, Sylvester McCoy argued it would mess with the core structure of the series and would be like casting a female James Bond, and hilariously enough Billie Piper said it was a man’s role. All eventually gave the usual “she’ll be great!” comments and recanted or hemmed and hawed about their previous response; McCoy in particular had the balls to admit his views were just straight up a result of wrongheaded sexism. And this wasn’t just old actors: You can literally go back and [find threads from these incidents on fan sublistnooks](https://www.listnook.com/r/gallifrey/comments/2tzm8o/peter_davison_says_the_doctor_should_never_be/) where a ton of the top comments are in varying levels of agreement. Hell, in the one I linked a moderator literally says this is a common and controversial issue, with people on both sides. One of the most frustrating and aggravating things about the lifecycle of these kinds of conversations, is that after the fact the whitewashing campaigns begin like clockwork. Folks who were opposed to it from the start either just never admit they held those views and were wrong about it, or they hold onto them and hide behind an overemphasis on more common and acceptable criticism. Meanwhile the community at large insists that it never actually was that big of a deal, that all the people who didn’t want a female/minority lead were just culture wars tourists, and that if you suggest it could be affecting the tone of the conversation around the content then you’re just seeing ghosts. No one wants own up to being one of those people who thought a role should always be taken by a straight white guy, years after it’s been made clear that never really mattered and that the whole argument was stupid. And no fandom wants to admit they had/have problems with sexism and bigotry.
7
supahfligh 16 hr ago +1
I like Jodi Comer, and she was a fine Doctor, but her run is the only one I've never finished. I just couldn't get into her episodes. I got about halfway through her first season and just sorta checked out. As others have said, the writing just didn't click for me.
1
QuilSato 22 hr ago +31
I'd really like to see them do an animated movie in the same vein as Kpop Demon Hunters or Spider-verse with either Jodie or Ncuti that doesn't have Chris Chibnall or Russel Davies as the writer, just give them a good story, just one.
31
EyewarsTheMangoMan 22 hr ago +12
You don't think Ncuti had a single good story...?
12
ssdissaor 21 hr ago +4
Any examples?
4
Hot_Fix_3131 21 hr ago +8
That one with people standing in the distance shouting and then running in fear slapped. But old mate was awol the whole ep so dunno if it counts
8
wuvvtwuewuvv 17 hr ago +5
Ah yes, 73 yards, famously known for having the doctor involved as little as possible, is his work you like best lmao
5
GenericGaming 21 hr ago +6
Boom, 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble, Lux, and The Well are all incredibly solid episodes
6
EyewarsTheMangoMan 21 hr ago +1
73 Yards, Dot & Bubble, and The Well are definitely my favorite. But there are others I love too like Boom, Wish World and many more. To say he doesn't have a single good episode is such an over reaction imo.
1
ZestycloseBeach5946 20 hr ago +1
The problem was the show haemorrhaged so many viewers by then it was hard to pull back even with signs of improvement. To be fair asking viewers to stick around for nearly 3 seasons of mostly bad writing is a big ask.
1
Android1822 15 hr ago +1
Eh, it would probably be financial suicide. Its unfortunate, but Jodie and Ncuti Doctors brand have been tainted by their run and I doubt people would give it a chance. If they did it, they would use either David or Matt.
1
genek1953 21 hr ago +14
The doctor changes don't affect the series nearly as much as the showrunner changes. The ups and downs of Dr. Who have tracked the showrunner changes ever since the 1970s..
14
Bruzie77 21 hr ago +5
Fact is if they done dr who with jodie and not whatever the hell chibnall was trying to do , she would have been iconic. Unfortunately, poor writing, and directing failed her and the cast.
5
ElectricPeterTork 21 hr ago +5
I've seen her as the Colin Baker of NuWho. The actor was all in, they had the chops, they could've been great with a better showrunner. But like JNT was far past his sell by date by Baker's time, Chibnall was a bad decision to take over the show.
5
denoflore_ai_guy 17 hr ago +5
I didn’t hate the casting I hated the writing their portrayal and acting ability were top notch given the material.
5
mmmmmkayyyyy766 21 hr ago +12
I stopped watching after Matt smiths arcs. I feel like the show peaked w him ,Amy and rory. It really fell off for me personally after they left the show. Barely could finish the second half of season 7. Day of the dr really saved that arc of the show.I couldn't even get into Capaldi and I think he's a great actor.
12
cinnabon4euphoria67 16 hr ago +5
You should watch Capaldis era because his final episode is basically a conclusion for the franchise. Moffat somehow made an episode about suicide family friendly. Peter Capaldi’s version of the doctor is also one of the best representations of autism in any form of media. He isn’t a stereotype like Big Bang Theory or I AM SURGEON Good Doctor bullshit.
5
Mister_Funktastic 22 hr ago +15
They just fumbled the bag. The writers were worried about the backlash of "going woke" by hiring a girl and a black guy, and so added far too many companions and contrived storylines that it meant that even Oscar worthy performances couldn't have saved it from being trash. Jodie in particular was good enough to stand on her own without Bradley Walsh and all that bollocks.
15
TussalDimon 20 hr ago +8
They're both gone now. Why is it still discussed? And I honestly didn't see much backlash to Gatwa. What we need is more backlash towards RTD
8
Augustus_Chevismo 21 hr ago +21
All the gaslighting like we don’t know for a fact that viewership has plummeted
21
Krow101 22 hr ago +12
Fans of anything like it to pretty much stay the same. There's also some resentment towards social engineering.
12
Ultimate-Flexionator 16 hr ago +3
If I don't like a show or movie... I don't watch it. I think half the doctors suck lol. some I really enjoyed.
3
aifo 20 hr ago +4
Ironic given Peter himself was a Doctor Who superfan back in the day who would write letters to the Doctor Who program office giving his opinons.
4
ymcameron 21 hr ago +6
Calling Peter Capaldi “Doctor Who Star” is technically correct, and relevant to the subject matter, but it still feels like it’s really underselling him.
6
M086 20 hr ago +5
Considering how big a fan he is of Doctor Who, if playing the Doctor is the only thing he will be known for, he’d probably be fine with that.
5
ssdissaor 19 hr ago +6
This is Paddington erasure and I will have none of it 
6
scruffmonkey 21 hr ago +7
Should always start with Oscar w***** Peter Capaldi.
7
ssdissaor 20 hr ago +3
Skins star Peter Capaldi 
3
jcostello50 19 hr ago +4
Or The Thick of It star Peter Capaldi
4
Khal_Doggo 10 hr ago +1
I'm sure that there was more to the discussion and reading the article there's multiple topics being mentioned, but I think it's weird to frame sexist and racist remarks online as people taking it "too serious". If an adult approaches you an volunteers the opinion that the magical shape shifting space person who fights bins can't be female or black, you either drag them to therapy or just start swinging.
1
the_reven 22 hr ago +10
Thought most people liked the castings, just hated the stories they were given. Ncuti didnt have enough time witht the role. Eccleston only had one season, but 12 full episodes and was in them all. Jodie had some terrible terrible storylines
10
thinkbox 21 hr ago +10
Jodie had bad writing, but also, I never felt like I got to see her take on the doctor. She felt too much like a mix of Matt Smith and David Tennant, but heavily weighted towards Tennant. There is always a settling in time period, but I never felt like Jodie really got there. And by the end, the weird plot and lore breaking revelations felt so bad and unearned that I gave up on the show. I watched maybe one or two episodes of the new doctor, but I didn’t even feel like I was watching the same show anymore. I had zero emotional connection.
10
NeapolitanPink 17 hr ago +6
I'll die on the hill that she was not a good choice for the doctor. The writing didn't help build a character for 13, so she floundered when she had to supply her own personality to the character. She was explicitly unfamiliar with the show and felt more like a bad pastiche of the 10/11th Doctor mixed with this weird exasperated exposition style. Seriously, she was always dumping paragraphs of plot while either amazed or out of breath. Just not a good fit for her, imo. That said, I think Ncuti was incredibly wasted potential. He was phenomonal when dealing with the Doctor's darker emotions, like in Dot & Bubble.
6
AugustInDespair71 15 hr ago +2
Yeah, Ncuti could have been a darker Doctor; who masked with his fun personality. Akin to Matt Smith. Boom, Joy To The World and Dot & Bubble showed that Ncuti could pull off that menace, anger and contempt. But, Russell did nothing with it. Ncuti didnt even have an arc. I truly think Russell did both the character and show a disservice by not showing the Doctor slowly letting go of his anger as Ncuti. After all his experiences in the past i.e. Time War / Flux. Emphasising that the universe is still damaged from Flux / Time War. With Ncuti having to repair it. It gives you something to work towards and go with the character.
2
Whargod 20 hr ago +2
I didn't hate them at all, what I did hate was the shit writing for the Whittaker run. They were either just ramming environmentalism down our throats, creating story arcs that never went anywhere or paid off, creating a series of scenes where they literally went from sound stage to sound stage where Whittaker quickly realized something then ran to another sound stage to realize more then solve something, or worst of all wasted one of their most popular characters Captain Jack who's only purpose was to have the camera put on him so he could say "I'm immortal!" and that was it. I don't see as it was really her fault at all.
2
gachunt 19 hr ago +2
“F***’ity bye” ~ Malcolm Tucker
2
ScottJC 12 hr ago +2
Casting isn't the issue, its the god awful writing. I'm more than happy to accept anyone as the Doctor with writing that isn't borderline insulting.
2
Current_Focus2668 10 hr ago +2
Some people have a very unhealthy attachment to entertainment media. If I don't like or enjoy something then I simply don't watch it anymore.  Sending violent threats or vile slurs to people on social media over an acting job is bizarre. 
2
viral-architect 20 hr ago +4
I loved her, but it's not her fault that the plots she was in were awful.
4
Gaeus_ 22 hr ago +3
Issue with theses characters was that they were completely wasted, and either "sanitized" to dullness or became a parody of themselves.  Doctor's a woman ? Cool, does that mean they're a lesbian now ? Or is it a hormonal thing and now they're "straight" ? Nah, 13th is ban, utterly banned from romance. Oh ! Here come Disney, surely they can try and salvage this ! ... Wait you're gonna trash 14th because they don't understand pronouns ?? They were a woman a season ago ! Fine... Fine... Whatever. Oh, a gay doctor, cool, 15th might actually explore this interesting dev...  Okay, 15th you can stop crying now, how about trying to do some... Dude I agree it's healthy for a male to process their feelings but... the actor left. ... Hey 14th you're still there ? We've got a crowd of nostalgic racist homophobic mysoginistic "fans" to feed. 
3
feesih0ps 9 hr ago +1
this is such a weird comment. first of all, the doctor's sexuality is so rarely at issue that I don't see why any of this needs addressing at all second, who cares if a character is gay? are we not at a point in the culture where a character can be gay and that not be a plot point that needs to be poked at and paraded around? can it not just be incidental?
1
Fifteen_inches 18 hr ago +2
I really feel like the writer’s room and production team deserve some blame for hanging out Jodie and Ncuti to dry. The quality of writing was on the decline since the Steven Moffat era. Peter was a dead car bounce but you can really tell that the behind the scenes crew didn’t have the skill to use their actors.
2
AugustInDespair71 15 hr ago +3
The Moffat era has the best writing in the show. Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi have fantastic episodes / arcs as their characters. The show declined in Jodie’s era. People were so quick to judge the Moffat era; when he actually was building a narrative.
3
UpstairsConnection57 17 hr ago +2
They are both great actors, it was the writers who let them down.
2
Aware-Plankton-8711 22 hr ago +1
I loved Jodie as the doctor Ncuti was just shit 🧐
1
GenericGaming 21 hr ago +1
funny how the comments here are going "well! it wasn't about the casting! it was the writing" when the whole point of the article is about the hate they got when being announced as The Doctor. like, quality of the writing aside, it's an objective fact these two got a lot more hate upon announcement than any other Doctor
1
lolexecs 21 hr ago +2
Is anyone disappointed that he didn’t break out a channel a teeny, tiny bit of his Malcom Tucker?  > For f***’s sake, it’s a show about a sexually ambiguous space alien who rattles round the universe in a stolen blue porta-cabin, monologuing people through their own catastrophes throughout space and time … whose enemies, *arch-enemies*, are Nazi pedal bins with dildos for faces … and you’re going to complain that the casting choices were *unrealistic?*
2
darryledw 21 hr ago +1
I thought Jodie was fine for the role, she is a good actress but Ncuti Gatwa was the equivalent of an balding fat English man called Greg playing the lead role in a Bollywood movie but of course other countries and cultures are allowed to have their own gate kept things, UK has to have everything changed and diversified for "modern times"
1
GoggleDMara9756 20 hr ago +4
I think someone who lived in the UK since they were 2 is plenty British enough, it’s f****** absurd to say otherwise. Would you be equally against a white American doctor who moved to the UK when they were 2?
4
mikepictor 14 hr ago +1
"change" kind of defines who Doctor Who is. Changing actors is built into the format.
1
feesih0ps 9 hr ago +1
>but Ncuti Gatwa was the equivalent of an balding fat English man called Greg playing the lead role in a Bollywood movie  and what would be wrong with that?
1
Alarmed_Drop7162 18 hr ago +1
see it’s Dr Who Capaldi was a bit wrong. They’re all wrong somehow
1
immortalalchemist 15 hr ago +1
I have to believe that Disney kind of ruined Ncuti’s run a little bit. They only committed to two seasons as a distributor and the deal with inked under Bob Chapek who got booted and Iger came back and they didn’t want to renew. I think the show went too big and tried to do big things with the bigger budget with Disney cash being injected, but that along with some of the writing caused it to fall very flat. Jodie was awesome but Chibnall, while good for good mystery shows (Broadchurch) wasn’t a good fit. If RTD wrote for Jodie the way we saw, her run would’ve been five stars.
1
Tasty_James 14 hr ago +1
Absolute truth nuke
1
ModeatelyIndependant 14 hr ago +1
If you don't like the current show producers and casting, just stop watching, and mute the sub of reddt. Dr Who has been a think since 1963, and it's been terrible [in the past](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nathan-Turner#Contentious_decisions) so just hope it might get better in the future.
1
Dab2TheFuture 11 hr ago +1
Stopped watching over a decade ago, finding this was interesting. Find better media and stop wasting time complaining.
1
MyPacman 12 hr ago +1
I absolutely loathed the cricket playing Doctor, couldn't stand him. Still watched every episode. If you haven't got a doctor you hate, you haven't watched enough of it. And if you picked the last two to hate, you haven't learnt anything about the doctor at all.
1
Hibiscuxia 12 hr ago +1
I genuinely do not have a doctor I hate but this comment still has me rolling haha
1
CrunchingTackle3000 12 hr ago +1
As long as it’s entertaining I’ll watch it. It hasn’t been for years though sadly.
1
keving87 12 hr ago +1
I don't think people take their casting "so seriously" it's just their stories and writing in their seasons was total trash so everybody conflates the hate for the season with hate for the actors but they're two different things.
1
NMe84 11 hr ago +1
I was excited for Whittaker's casting and really wanted to see what a female Doctor would bring to the character. In the end I ended up hating her Doctor, but that had nothing to do with her or her gender, and everything with the awful writing during her tenure. I didn't really think anything (good or bad) of Gatwa's casting because at that point Doctor Who had soured quite a bit for me but I watched his run anyway and he was an amazing Doctor. I was sad to see him written out that quickly, because he was right up there with Tennant and Smith for me. I don't understand how anyone who watched the messages of hope on the decades this show has run could be sexist or racist, let alone to the point that they take the time to complain about people being cast online.
1
Ttoctam 11 hr ago +1
This is coming from a guy that was shunned from a Dr Who fanclub as a kid for being too annoying. He is a proto-stan and even he thinks people are weird about it.
1
Faithless195 10 hr ago +1
Everyone saying the complaints were about the writing and seemingly to ignore the insane amount of racist and bigoted complaints that were, and still are, out there. Its as blatant as the bullshit surrounding black Snape, claiming its "inaccurate to the source".
1
Major_Demand8811 10 hr ago +1
Because they have no hobby life etc.
1
notguiltybrewing 9 hr ago +1
I don't get the hate for the actors, they weren't the problem. It was the awful writing.
1
Clear_Handle7569 9 hr ago +1
It’s easy to blame the critics and the naysayers for your own incompetence as producers, writers, and directors. When a show is bad, they act as if it must be the cast or the star. Jodie is a fantastic actor with multiple layers of talent; if only she wasn’t given such poor plots, scripts, and direction. ​I watched religiously, and I seriously tried giving Jodie a chance—but like many others, I just couldn’t connect with or be pulled into the plots, the characters, or the show. ​I didn't even bother with the last few Doctors. It’s sad they had to bring Tennant out of retirement to save their skin and at least leave the fans with some hope. ​Russell T. Davies needs to be sacked. The BBC needs to go back to the basics of a sci-fi/horror adventure program and stop using it as a "In Your-Face" political platform. I want to be able to tune out from modern-world drama and immerse myself in good, solid science fiction and storytelling.
1
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