The Doctor has faced many enemies throughout the years, from Daleks to Weeping Angels, but these weren’t the Time Lord’s greatest foes. The Doctor’s biggest nemesis has always been bad writing!
The ‘classic’ era of the show had its share of duff episodes – Time & The Rani and The Twin Dilemma spring to mind – but the good often outweighed the bad. In recent times, the opposite has been true. ..
Since the show’s regeneration, many new fans of the show have come to appreciate the good writing that is present throughout its entire run. This has helped keep the show afloat and has given it a lot of new followers.
This season saw the release of two classic Doctor Who episodes, The Empty Child and Father’s Day. These two episodes are still considered some of the best in the show’s history. However, not every episode of Eccleston’s run can be considered a classic. The storylines featuring the Slitheen were fairly embarrassing, but more often than not, the quality of writing was fantastic.
Steven Moffat, who took over as showrunner from Davies in 2009, has overseen a resurgence in the show’s popularity. Under Moffat’s direction, the show has seen some great episodes and has been successful in casting new Doctors Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi. ..
The plan was to have a great time at the party, but things started going wrong from the get-go. The guests were not happy, the food was not good, and the alcohol was too strong. In the end, everyone was left feeling exhausted and frustrated.
Chris Chibnall took over from Moffat in 2018 and the show went downhill – fast. The fault doesn’t lie with Jodie Whittaker – she was a decent Doctor given duff material – but the stories she featured in were often bland and overly complicated. Then there was The Timeless Child storyline that upended everything we knew about the Time Lord. Long-time fans of the show were very unhappy with the way Chibnall retconned the show, more so because it opened up a lot of plot holes that Chibnall ultimately failed to close. ..
The New Year’s Day special of Doctor Who was the lowest-rated show in years, with 3.4 million viewers. This is likely due to people no longer being interested in the adventures of the Doctor after his last two specials had viewership figures of 9 million or more.
Chris Chibnall has now stepped down from the role of showrunner and Jodie Whittaker has exited the Tardis. This change in leadership comes as a surprise, as Chibnall had been heavily involved in developing the show since its revival in 2017. Davies is back at the helm and it can be assumed that he has been brought back to deliver the high-quality writing that the series benefitted from during his previous time on the show. ..
The BBC has announced that David Tennant will be returning as the Doctor for a third season. This news is likely to come as a surprise to many viewers, as Tennant has been a popular choice among fans for many years now. It is possible that this decision was made in order to bring back those viewers who have long since left the show.
Tennant will not be with the show for very long as the very talented Ncuti Gatwa will take his rightful place as the Doctor at the tail-end of 2023. We’re sure he’ll be brilliant but to ensure his time in the Tardis is a rewarding and enjoyable one, Davies needs to work his magic to revive the flailing show. As he is both a brilliant writer and a long-time fan of Doctor Who, we’re sure he’ll do an excellent job. But if he’s looking for a few pointers, we recommend the following to him. ..
More memorable storylines
Doctor Who fans have been divided since the show’s return in 2017. Some love the new direction, while others are disappointed with the lack of classic elements. Jodie Whittaker’s time on the show has been largely forgettable, with many storylines being downright bad. ..
We remember episodes from the Davies era because of the high emotional stakes, memorable villains, and exciting setpieces. We don’t remember many episodes from the Chibnall era because the majority of the stories during his tenure lacked those very same things. ..
If Davies can deliver stories of the calibre of the haunting Silence in the Library or the heartbreaking Human Nature, we will have more incentive to rewatch these stories and remember them with fondness.
Fewer companions
The Tardis has been a great place for the Doctor and his companions to stay for many seasons, but as the writing on the Whittaker episodes has shown, it is not always easy to find new people to join them. Take Dan (John Bishop) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) as examples. They didn’t make much of an impact because their characters were blandly written and the majority of screen-time saw them standing around in the background looking confused.
The main issue with Dan’s character is that he was largely uninteresting and under-served in the recent Power of the Doctor. He made an abrupt exit near the beginning of the episode, presumably because there wasn’t anything for him to do. This left him without much development and left his character feeling flat.
Ncuti Gatwa is taking over the Tardis and we don’t know how many companions he will have. I would argue that he doesn’t need more than one. If there are too many, it could be dangerous for some of them to be thinly written. Not only will that be frustrating for us, the viewers, but it could also be frustrating for the actors who want to make their mark on the show.
No more Daleks!
It’s time to exterminate the Daleks as they are no longer a threat. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has long since tired of them, so perhaps Davies should put them in a retirement home for redundant aliens. Not only Daleks, but the Cybermen too as they are also guilty of invading Earth and our televisions too many times now for us to fully care about them. ..
Davies brings back other aliens from the show’s past for fan service, but he should have a good reason for their return beyond just fan service. I was excited when Chibnall brought back the Sea Devils as they were a favourite of mine when I was a kid, but once again, bad writing scuppered their return. Chibnall seemed to be appealing to long-term fans of the show who remembered the Sea Devils as I did. But as he forgot to craft an engaging storyline around them, their return became something of a missed opportunity.
The Doctor needs new antagonists to challenge him during his adventures through time and space. He has had the Kandy Man, the Daemons, and the Ogrons before, but they were all just minor annoyances. If these new antagonists are properly scary, we will be excited about the upcoming series.
No more retconning
Who is the Doctor? The Doctor is an enigmatic and mysterious figure who has been around for centuries. We don’t really know where they came from or what their backstory is, but we do know that their memory was apparently wiped a long time ago. This creates a sense of mystery about the character and also raises questions about some of the things that we’ve been told about them – such as their limited regeneration cycle. ..
Doctor Who showrunner Chibnall has come under fire from some long-term fans of the show for his new Timeless Child plotline. This may have impacted viewing figures, leading to Davies taking over as showrunner. Davies needs to win back old fans as well as bring in a new audience, and he needs to be respectful of both groups if he wants the show to continue on its successful trajectory. ..
It seems that the Doctor won’t be fixing the many problems that Chibnall has created. Instead, he should just continue doing what he’s always done best: delivering exciting new adventures for the Doctor to go on. This will please most fans of the Time Lord (or whatever it is now considered to be).
What do you think Davies should do?
If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll likely have ideas about its future. ..
The Doctor’s past has been a mystery to many and it seems that Davies may be about to close the door on the Timeless Child storyline. He has brought in new enemies for the Doctor to face up against and he may need to find a new companion if he wants to keep the story going. Davies could also consider bringing back aliens from the Doctor’s past as this could add some much-needed excitement and interest.
The new series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to air this fall, and fans of the comics and movies are eager to find out what will happen. Ahead of the premiere, we have a look at some of the key plot points that are expected to be revealed.
- The Guardians of the Galaxy will team up with Black Widow to take on Thanos
- The Avengers will face off against Ultron
- Spider-Man will team up with Iron Man to take down Doctor Strange
