User reviews

Doctor Who was at it's absolute peak with Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. The stories from each season connected beautifully, the cast was memorable and the story was much more creative than it is now.

Nothing saddens me more than seeing what had happened to Doctor Who, this use to be one of the greatest shows ever. Moffat received a lot of criticism over the years but he was the best writer in Doctor Who history. Chibnall needs to go, he is the worst writer I've ever seen and it breaks my heart to watch him butcher my childhood. Seasons 1-10 = 9.8 stars seasons 11, and 12 = 0.5 stars.

Seasons 1 through 10 are brilliant overall. Seasons 11 and 12 are so awful that they might as well be a different show altogether. From 2018 onwards, the vibes and tone are just plain wrong. Don't even bother watching any episodes post-2017.

I'm a 46 year old man, but I'm not ashamed to tell you I wept with all the regenerations of the Doctor, and for other episodes too (for example, the Van Gogh episode broke me).

But when Whitaker's time's up, I think I'll be having a sigh of relief. But only if Chibnall also going away. Especially when Chibnall is gone. Maybe even if Whitaker stays, and she's getting good stories, less companions (or "fam", for f* sake).

The stories are weak, boring and preachy. The Doctor isn't a force of nature that stops planets rotating, she's not the oncoming storm anymore. She's a boring, bland, preachy dimwit, who doesn't belong in the Tardis.

Get Moffat back, get Davies back, get people in the seats that love and understand Doctor Who and scifi. Otherwise this will be the death of the undying Doctor.

For as long as I can remember, I've heard about the good Doctor, references, inside jokes and the like. Such as "Real Daleks don't climb stairs, they flatten the building".

The quandary was this: Where do I begin, with thousands of episodes aired? I was afraid of getting myself into something deep, dense, voluminous and possibly repetitive, impossible to get back out of.

The very simple yet belated answer was, of course, by accident.

On one of those sleepless nights, flipping channels, I saw astronauts in a Victorian library, and was immediately intrigued by the weird homage to Kubrick. Before the commercial break, I was treated to electronic ghosts and invisible floating piranhas.

Then this absolute beauty comes up, I paraphrase - "You've been living in a computer simulation, your physical body is elsewhere" - "But I've been dieting"

Bleak, subtle and sophisticated humor? Check, and count me in.

As it turned out, I had stumbled into the middle of a Sy-Fy Channel short marathon of Doctor Who. I resisted going to sleep until the damn thing ended five or six episodes later, at ten in the morning.

What wildly imaginative premises, what a high-quality level of writing, what a gem this is! There is serious brain-power at work here, courtesy of the BBC yet again, on a continuing heroic mission to sacrifice short-term profit for long-term legacy. As evidence, I present "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Singing Detective", "Brideshead Revisited".

From what little I've seen in half of a short marathon, Doctor Who deserves a ten out of ten.

I cannot believe it's been back on our screens for ten years, it seems like only yesterday the show returned with Rose.

What I've loved so much about interacting with people on IMDb is that no series seems to split opinion more then Doctor Who, fundamentally we all love it, it's why we tune in each week to see what's on offer.

We've experienced highs and lows and will no doubt continue along the same vein for many years to come.

Each Doctor has offered something, some perhaps more then others. Same for its producers, there are people that have loved and loathed both Moffat and Davies, both have given us some excellent and not so excellent episodes.

The format and premise of the show remains its key strength, he can literally go anywhere and do anything, most shows are faced with multiple constraints, that isn't the case here, the possibilities are endless.

We've had episodes that are widely loved, some of my own favourites include Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and Vincent and the Doctor. Others have positively split opinion, Love and Monsters is a good idea, personally it's one I enjoy. I can appreciate an attempt at doing something different, it's a show that could become tiresome if it became to formulaic.

I like the format of the two part serial, it allows a greater character development, sometimes with the single episode there's sometimes a feeling that some characters are a little shy of screen time.

They have been guilty of using some of the Doctor's foes too often, the Daleks for example, they've popped up a few times too many, once they were the adversary I desperately wanted to see, not it's a feeling of indifference.

Long may it continue!! I couldn't contemplate Christmas Day without my hour of Who, Baileys and Ferrero Rocher.

Great big 10/10

You looking for Sci-Fi? It's got it. Action? It's got it. Drama? That too! This show has got it all. With tastes of Horror, Romance, Mystery, even some Western. It really depends on the episode. While not episode is perfect, every episode can be appreciated. While the main idea of the show doesn't change, the show has experimented in many ways. The show is ever changing, with the main cast being swapped every few years. With such a big history, there's a reason the show still stands strong to this day. The episodes give nods to the past, and hints to the future. With this capability, it truly has an infinite potential.

This show truly has affected my life in ways I'd never believed. I went into the show believing it to be a cliché, boring Sci-Fi (I'd never been a fan of the genre), but after just a few episodes I was absolutely hooked. With each new main character added, you quickly learn to love them, despite your disbelief in the ability to after such a heartbreaking exit, which I'll get into later. The characters are written brilliantly, and by the end there run, you always say that the next person coming along will never be as good. Every time, your proved wrong. While everyone has their favorites, each Companion and Doctor have moments to shine, and are all brilliant in their own way.

This show truly is something special. I'll support this show for decades, and I give it a very easy 10/10.

One of my favourite shows growing up, but has deffinetly gone down hill in series 10, and I nevwr watched it past Capaldi's departure from the show, so I only base my rating on that segment of the show (2005 - 2017)

I actually like the new doctor, just because the actress is good in it. I just don't like the fact that there's no depth in it. The companions don't ask questions about the doctor, who is she, where she comes from, how old is she, why does she have two hearts and so on. They just accepted the fact that she is an 'alien', someone different. I also don't like that there are 3 companions and they can't form a deep relationship with the doctor, it feels shallow. I also think that they could have used the doctor better, now that a doctor is a she, and they could have elaborated more about how different the doctor feels now that she is a woman. The actors are great, but the writers did a poor job.

I am one of the millions that have stopped watching it, and I have no joy in saying that, but under Chris Chibnall's course this show has become a laughing stock. The first episode attracted 10+ million viewers, that number has now sunk to less than 4 million. If I lost 60% of my customers I would be out of business, why hasn't there been an announcement that Chris and Jodie are leaving?

I would class the Chibnall era as 1/10, the episodes are unwatchable, Resolution was enough for me. Prior to that we had Capaldi, not my favourite, but in comparison he was good. The Tennant and Smith years were the greatest, as a family we'd have pizza and make an evening of it, now we just enjoy the DVDs.

Please BBC listen to your viewers, give us back Doctor Who, before Chibnall wrecks nearly sixty years of history.

This show had a fantastic run for quite a while. Chris Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith were all excellent in the role as The Doctor. The stories, characters and overarching plot were all so well done.

The series starts to show some rough edges right as Peter Capaldi becomes The Doctor, but I don't blame him for it. He just got stuck with some mediocre stories, and his sidekick Clara and other side characters just weren't as good. Loved the episodes Mummy on the Orient Express, and Heaven Sent.

Season 11 is where the show falls off a cliff. The writing is so awful, I kept fast forwarding through episodes trying to find something good, and then the seasons ended. Jodie Whittaker didn't get a chance to show how good, or bad, she could be in the role.

Starting Season 14 now in hopes that the show is good again now that Chibnall is not head writer and producer anymore.

Dear BBC

Please contact security and have them escort Chris Chibnall off the premises immediately.

Sincerely An ex Doctor Who fan

You destroyed the legacy Chris. Way to go buddy. I knew as soon as I saw the new design elements that this period was gonna blow, and it does. Nothing to do with the fact that it's a woman playing the Doctor, everything to do with a bad fanfic writer playing showrunner.

I remember being so excited on Saturday nights when I was a kid, waiting for Dr. Who. I thought it was the best show ever made. Then, I grew up, Dr. Who went off the air, and no one I knew had ever heard of it. Then I found out there was going to be a new series. I was a little nervous about it. Was it going to live up to the expectations I had carried around since I was little? Would they screw it up? Would the Dr. suck? Would his assistant suck? Would they create a more intimate relationship with the Dr. and his assistant? YES, NO, NO, NO, NO!!! This show is wonderful!! I love the new Dr. I love his assistant. I love the show. And I find myself excited on Friday nights now, waiting for the "new" episode. I'm just now seeing 2005 episodes, as I live in the States, so I'm a little behind the rest of you. I hope the next Dr. is as great as this one!

Doctor Who just works. However you watch it, as a fan or casual viewer, there is something there for you; and if there's not, well, try a different era. It helps that it's got 52 years currently under its belt, and so there is and has been for a long time, an element of nostalgia to the show-- recurring villains, references, companions or places/planets that get revisited just to please the people who've been watching long enough. But that's not all there is to it: because every year, there's some kind of hidden gem of an episode that's a shining example of great television, along with the scary, funny, tense episodes we have all come to expect from this show. One of its strongest merits is its constant adaptability. There are different writers almost every week, different companions every other series, different doctors, different locations, directors, genres, threats and ideas. For every one abysmal episode (and there are a few of them), there are some absolutely stunning ones too. I'd recommend Heaven Sent, Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Blink, The Pandorica Opens, A Good Man Goes to War, Asylum of the Daleks, Flatline, and The Day of the Doctor. It's a show that never dies. Of course, it will get cancelled at some point, maybe, just as it did before; and then it will live on. It will get picked up again. TV just isn't the same without it.

If you're new, it's best to start with some classic stand-alone stories to get into them. Maybe try a few from each series to work out who your favourite Doctor/companion combination are. 'Smith and Jones' is a lovely episode to start with (it's where I started)--the season 3 opener, with a new, companion, a reintroduction to the Tenth Doctor, and a wholly entertaining episode. Other great places to start are Rose (although there's a lot of catching up to do), The Eleventh Hour (a completely brand new start-- perfect if you know absolutely nothing about anything in the show), and Deep Breath (an introduction to the current Doctor, with a few entertaining characters who have already been in the show before). Generally, starting with a Series 1-4 episode will be much easier, with simpler stories, a new companion/Doctor each series, and some enjoyable, if upsetting, season finales. Series 6-9 are harder to start at, with characters carried over from previous seasons, and plot lines and mysteries also carried on with. The individual episodes within the seasons, however, need no foreknowledge at all: for Season 6, be sure to try The Doctor's Wife and The Girl Who Waited; Season 7, try Asylum of the Daleks, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Bells of St John; Season 8, try Flatline, Listen, or Kill the Moon; and Season 9, try The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived, The Zygon Invasion/Inversion; and Heaven Sent (which is absolutely incredible). It's a lot of episodes, which for some seems too much. For me, however, it's never enough.

First 7 seasons are gold. 8-10 are so so and I didn't even bother watching the rest.

In all honesty, all I can say about Doctor Who is positive. It might have inconsistencies here and there, but as a franchise it's the best television series ever produced. Doctor Who is thrilling, action packed, emotional, funny, and dramatic- and it does this in a way that makes it fun to watch while not being too heavy like The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad. The main reason why Doctor Who is my favorite show is because it encapsulates everything good and bad about humanity to create a feel good series. It's plain old fun, yet its scary, surprisingly emotional, and thought provoking. The acting, the music, and the script writing as a whole are phenomenal, especially as the show progresses.

I strongly recommend that if you do want to watch, start from Series 1 in 2005. Starting from Series 5 is a quicker way to catch up to the upcoming series, as the show gets a minor reboot and a much bigger budget, but in my opinion Series 1 does a much better job at introducing the show: the mystery it builds is fantastic, the arcs are phenomenal, and the characters are incredibly fleshed out. The earlier series look dated, but it's really the characters and the story that hit home. I have loved every series I have seen, especially Series 1, 3, 4, and 9. I think the best aspect of the show is how it has an overlying story that develops across each series and every episode, but most episodes have enough to be self contained stories themselves.

I highly recommend that everyone watch Doctor Who, especially with their families. It has themes that adults will love, and enough adventure, action and silliness for the kids as well. While Doctor Who isn't perfect, its as close to perfection as any series I have ever seen.

Seasons 1 to 10 - superb. Seasons 11 and 12 - shockingly bad.

The series was great, I enjoyed watching it, but its recent seasons are bad. I did not like the character of Doctor 13. The best seasons were with Doctor 11. I hope that the character of Doctor 13 will end as soon as possible.

I've been a doctor who fan since i was a kid. I started watching in 2014 at the age of 11 and have since watched seasons 1-10 over and over again. There's something almost intangible about how amazingly whimsical and yet so serious those seasons were, especially when Tennant and Smith were fronting the series. Like a lot of other people, those were my favorite versions of the doctor and contained my favorite story lines and companions. Nothing against Capaldi, but he pales in the light of the two previous iterations. Perhaps it is bias on my part due to nostalgia, but his seasons don't have the same charm, albeit with the phenomenal legacy of the show. I've still rewatched all of Capaldi's episodes with each rewatch without fail, grasping at any crumb or smidge of charm i could find. While Tennant and Smith did an amazing transition between them and made their doctors feel connected so much as to where suspension of disbelief completely lead me to think of them as a continuation of the same person, Capaldi broke that spell. But, he was able to create his own doctor that still had moments that felt familiar to those before him, bringing back some of the original whimsicality and familiarity to his seasons. If only that feeling could have been allowed to continue. When I first saw that the doctor had regenerated into a woman, I have to say I was disappointed. Before you come at me, I am a woman. I don't care if it was for representations sake or 'progressiveness,' it ruined the decades long legacy that is the brand of Doctor Who. It has always been the doctor and his female companion, with any others who follow (such as Amy, soon accompanied by rory, or Rose and Mickey). If they wanted to make a show about a time traveling woman, start a new project, don't piggy back on and dismantle the formula of such a popular and amazing show. Though, the doctor becoming a woman is not the only bone I have to pick with the new iteration, nor is it some major crime. I'm sure there are some little girls who are watching this show, as it is now, and staring in awe and admiration at Jodie Whittaker, The Doctor, so proud that there is a smart, confident, time-traveling woman with a whole show about her. Nothing against Jodie Whittaker, she is doing her best with the job she has been given, but this decision to "rebrand" the show on behalf of the creative team quite literally ruined it for me. To reiterate, they should have done a spinoff or started a new series. I refuse to rewatch what little i have seen of seasons 11,12, and 13, because for me it is tarnishing the work that came before it. And it is not only the fact that the doctor is a woman, but the awful scripts by Chibnall. It's like they hired a crazed fanfic writer to spew out whatever creative nonsense appeared to him in a dream. The plot of the stories are convoluted and the action is all over the place; I rarely make it to the end of the episode, giving up out of disappointment or frustration. I do not easily give up things I love, and I worry that by not watching the newest stuff, I, like many others who have stopped watching, will cause the show to end. But now that I think about it, would that be so bad? If Doctor Who was concluded, would we be able to avoid any future disasters like the writing of Chibnall? Or, would we lose the opportunity and possible chance to enter another golden age similar to that present with Tennant and Smith, that will never be seen because the show has been run from the top of the world into the ground? I'd rather the new seasons be erased from the internet and my mind so I can live in the bliss that was the golden trio of Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi.

It should have been finished after Steven Moffat moved on as head writer in 2016..(he co-wrote Sherlock) Russell Davis has been riding his genius coat tails ever since 2004 ..which got SO much worse when Chibnall turned up as showrunner.

Can this latest iteration for the 2023 Christmas Day special even be categorised as sci-fi anymore? ..as with its compliment of show tunes and dance numbers it now looks more like a Christmas pantomime meets Drag Queen Halloween..on ice!

Whatever happened to that time (Lord) honoured 'rite of passage' for kids in the UK to watch this show while hiding behind the sofa? Now they're asking me why I'm behind the sofa..it's to hide the sheer embarrassment!!!

And considering the show dropped around 758k viewers in the uk over just the first three re-launched specials..it appears I'm not the only one.

Edit: Since this review the new series with the new cast has plummeted by 4,223 million viewers in the UK by Episode 4.