Review The Capaldi Doctor
- Thread starter Doctor Omega
- Start date
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
chainsaw_metal1
Member: Rank 8
Thanks a lot, @Doctor Omega! I now have tears in my eyes!
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
The First Doctor holding onto his self and not regenerating comes from books in the Missing Stories books published in the nineties as there was no reference to this in the televised story or the paperback! Capaldi's Doctor has been shown resisting the change in the last story of course but Moffat's been drinking his own bath water if he thinks that he invented the idea!
JB
JB
The Seeker
Member: Rank 6
See BBC? SEE? He was loved!
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
Peter Capaldi should have been a great Doctor and would have been if Moffat was a good producer/writer/showrunner! But from his first story, which was a disaster and the worst of all regeneration stories, I knew it was going to be as bad as most of Matt Smith's tenure!
JB
JB
The Seeker
Member: Rank 6
Moffat was a good writer under Davies. What happened?
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
Once he became his own boss, there were no more checks and balances to ensure the quality level of his own scripts.
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
Well I can't say I was a fan of any of his stories during the RTD era although my wife liked his Empty Child two parter! But I can't say they were as bad and crummy as the shows he's written during his tenure!
JB
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
I remember reading an interview with Paul McGann about coming back for NIGHT OF THE DOCTOR - and one of the things Moffat did to entice him back was to reassure him by saying "It'll be a Steven Moffat script!"
Modest little lamb.
Modest little lamb.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
I also think, and agree with Ant-Mac about the checks and balances thing..
Former Classic Who script editor and author, Christopher H. Bidmead, criticised RTD about the same sort of thing, but it equally applies - and perhaps more so - to Moffat, with "first draft scripts going into the studio, because the showrunner is surrounded by "yes" people, afraid to criticise the boss.....
Former Classic Who script editor and author, Christopher H. Bidmead, criticised RTD about the same sort of thing, but it equally applies - and perhaps more so - to Moffat, with "first draft scripts going into the studio, because the showrunner is surrounded by "yes" people, afraid to criticise the boss.....
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was as dark as charcoal,
And every time it jumped the fence,
You could see its little arsehole.
Now, where were we again...?
Arsehole?
That's right, we were talking about Stephen Muppet...
chainsaw_metal1
Member: Rank 8
There seem to be far too many showrunners like that, though. My wife and I were really big fans of Sons of Anarchy, until the last few seasons when Sutter took over complete control. There was no one to sit there and talk him out of bad story choices. Hell, not just shows. I think we've all talked about this phenomenon when Lucas took full control of the prequels.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Yes, I think the old system of a Robert Holmes having no qualms about brutally rewriting the work of respected friends and colleagues like Terrance Dicks etc, and them being professional enough to not take serious offence was a much better system. We got some total classics out of it, because there was mutual respect and a desire to do what was best for the show. Certainly when crafting the drama. And there was zero desire to stick in some irritating, self-indulgent nonsense like having Clara's face in the titles just to piss off fans who had complained that she was taking over the show. That is the sign of a writer who has totally lost his priorities and forgotten that good, entertaining and dramatic storytelling is all that matters.
johnnybear
Member: Rank 6
Moffat and us long term fans will always hate each other I'm sure!
JB
JB
michaellevenson
Member: Rank 8
Capaldi going is so sad, he was brilliant, the best Doctor in NuWho. The tragedy is he was given crap stories. He is the Colin Baker of NuWho.
Not seen the Xmas special yet, been busy watching Shada, but I saw the regeneration scene. This may be picky, but The Doctor CANNOT regenerate already wearing mascara and some sort of face blusher, but we got a close up of mascarad eyes before the big reveal that it's a woman!
Not seen the Xmas special yet, been busy watching Shada, but I saw the regeneration scene. This may be picky, but The Doctor CANNOT regenerate already wearing mascara and some sort of face blusher, but we got a close up of mascarad eyes before the big reveal that it's a woman!
ant-mac
Member: Rank 9
I'm no longer a long term fan.
I might have started watching back in 1974 or 1975, but I'm retiring at the end of the Christmas special.
I've finally had enough. I'm just not enjoying it anymore.
Doctor Omega
Member: Rank 10
Accidentally or not, there is a nice circularity to the run of the show, ending today.
13 actual Time Lord Doctors, counting the War Doctor (and not counting "Handy". He was a creepy offshoot).
That's as many Doctors as the late, great Robert Holmes said there should be in THE DEADLY ASSASSIN, before all that potential money from merchandise decreed otherwise.
Add to that the full circle aspect of the final Doctor (for quite a few fans from today) saying goodbye to the First Doctor, plus the theme of the episode being all about deciding to go on or not. That has been the choice facing a lot of fans.
That all adds up, in my opinion, into quite a fitting and apt time, storywise, to simply leave the show, with a kind of natural, bittersweet ending of sorts in place.
And ignoring any bits of the show in the last few years that suggest otherwise.
So yes, I am out too.
I honestly think that all that is left now for WHO is a lingering death in it's current form - and Moffat has screwed up the mythology, coating it with his own arrogant indulgences, and done far too much conceited damage, far too deeply, for anything less than a total reboot next time to suffice; just to shake off his legacy. (And Chibnall may cause even further rot. As I sure as heck can't see him doing anything to disrespect his buddy's legacy.)
It's almost the end of a legend i.m.o.
And then a long, long rest.
Then a total rebirth.
That's the way I see it going.
13 actual Time Lord Doctors, counting the War Doctor (and not counting "Handy". He was a creepy offshoot).
That's as many Doctors as the late, great Robert Holmes said there should be in THE DEADLY ASSASSIN, before all that potential money from merchandise decreed otherwise.
Add to that the full circle aspect of the final Doctor (for quite a few fans from today) saying goodbye to the First Doctor, plus the theme of the episode being all about deciding to go on or not. That has been the choice facing a lot of fans.
That all adds up, in my opinion, into quite a fitting and apt time, storywise, to simply leave the show, with a kind of natural, bittersweet ending of sorts in place.
And ignoring any bits of the show in the last few years that suggest otherwise.
So yes, I am out too.
I honestly think that all that is left now for WHO is a lingering death in it's current form - and Moffat has screwed up the mythology, coating it with his own arrogant indulgences, and done far too much conceited damage, far too deeply, for anything less than a total reboot next time to suffice; just to shake off his legacy. (And Chibnall may cause even further rot. As I sure as heck can't see him doing anything to disrespect his buddy's legacy.)
It's almost the end of a legend i.m.o.
And then a long, long rest.
Then a total rebirth.
That's the way I see it going.
Last edited:
McQualude
Member: Rank 3
Capaldi never made sense in context of the story of The Doctor. Randomly picking actors and attitudes worked in Old Who because expectations for television were low. But television has evolved and consciously or not, people expect more. Film has declined and television is now where great stories are told. Regeneration aside, Doctor Who is the story of a man, an alien, who has gone to war and done things he would like to forget. It is the story of a man holding the universe together through determination. Eccleston and Tennant fit the role perfectly. Both were energetic, lively, but with a dark side and visibly showing the weight of past lives. They were dangerous and sometimes scary. Matt Smith made sense if you consider the events with Donna Noble a time of spiritual regeneration for the Doctor. Young and lively, less brooding, childlike, not so dangerous. Then came Capaldi, a lonely old man with too much grass to mow, whose grandchildren no longer visit. Still with plenty left to give but surrounded by indifferent strangers. He wants to be dangerous again but can't quite make it believable and at times is surpassed by his companion. In the Doctor's story, Capaldi is an interruption, a chapter out of place. Clara went from fan favorite to grating. Being a great actor doesn't help because he's just doesn't fit into the story. And now we go from old man to adult woman, random again. At this point there is no story of Doctor Who it's just random people playing at random characters who share a title that doesn't mean anything.