TOP TEN MISTAKES RUSSELL T DAVIES AND THE BBC MADE TO CRASH DOCTOR WHO IN THE TV RATINGS

[@crimpleendoubloon]

Great show. Many thanks, Brendan, Hugh and Sean. If the right people at Bad Wolf and the BBC see this video, surely common sense will prevail. I feel sorry for the writers commissioned to write original novels featuring the 15th Doctor. Either they write him consistent with the character of the Doctor that we know from decades of great adventures in space and time, seeing him helping people and fighting injustice, or they write him consistent with the character of the 15th Doctor that we've seen on screen, and he does what he does - runs away from danger, cries at the slightest provocation, abandons Ruby to her fate in order to score with a hot young man... The two pull in opposite directions. The very presence of the 15th Doctor makes any story he's in not Doctor Who.

[@DaveLynchWriter]

I just can't wait till they decide that the chameleon circuit should be fixed and then the TARDIS will start adapting to the background and once the police box is gone, we can just draw a line under Dr Who and leave them to whatever this new show is. We can just continue being Who fans, watching the old episodes.

[@iangreen4572]

There's only 1 mistake, it's ever letting RTD anywhere near Doctor Who again.

[@noblerees1]

That just about covers it

[@codyw1]

Letting him near it to begin with was their first mistake.

[@mayotango1317]

@@iangreen4572 Everybody should give Moffat a apology.

[@DoctorHowTV]

You're right, fantasy (with proper world-building) isn't the same as fan-fic, which is what we got.

[@gregsmith7949]

If you bring back one of the most iconic villains as Sutekh is, you better damn well bring your A game. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, RTD turned him into a joke.

[@AaronSutherland-kv7os]

Don't think they have retcond 217 episodes. I will just ignore this this season for not being Dr Who. Doesn't tarnish the classic series.

[@Paul_1971]

Much easier to do that calling this Season 1 - they done us a favour!

[@stevenedwards8353]

They need to firmly decide whether they're done with the old show or not (well to me they are, whether they wanna be or not, anything past Timeless Children is incompatible with the old show). You can't just say "the show has always had very loose canon", and then crowbar in gallons of references to nostalgia bait. One thing that really let me know RTD2 has no idea what he's doing and just schlinging crap against the wall to see what sticks was when he "canonized" the Shalka Doctor (Richard E Grant) in "Rogue". No, just no. He was left behind for a reason.

[@noblerees1]

Good points

[@mayotango1317]

@@stevenedwards8353 Remember that the First Doctor was a human with one heart. Is a retcon later about the Time Lord thing.

[@stevenedwards8353]

@@mayotango1317 Even before it was officially revealed he was a Time Lord, there were easter eggs galore that the First Doctor was probably something more than human. Him being able to fight so well like he did in the Romans despite his apparent age, him not being killed by the Time Destructor when it turned Sara Kingdom to dust, him having half his intelligence removed in The Savages but still being smarter than an average human, etc.

[@jimhillis3745]

The Pre transmission attacks launched on the fans by Gatwa were a colossal error. The lack of quality in the “specials” characterised by the poor writing, the ill conceived “Bigeneration”, the nonsense of “I’m more”(You can say that again!), the duplicated TARDIS, the change of sexuality of the character following the change of sex, the Historical blackface, the McGuffin of Ruby which had no resolution, “Space Babies” sheer awfulness, the imposition of pronouns, the reduction of the character of the Doctor to an entitled crybaby, the desecration of Pyramids of Mars…. Someone please make it stop.

[@alanbeaumont4848]

1:19:25 Representation. Are you sure you didn't see North Eastern characters on the BBC growing up? I fear you protest too much or were you out in the pub at prime time? 'The Likely Lads' and 'Whatever Happened to the Likely lads' 1964-66 & 73-74 (the latter much repeated), the epic 'When the Boats Comes in' 1976, '77 and '81, 'Boys from the Blackstuff' 1982, 'Spender 1991-93 and finally (?) and well after my time and probably yours, 'Byker Grove' 1989-2006. I'm a Londoner and I noticed (also I was a student in Sunderland 1983-6 and a lay-a-bout there 1987). Plus, if the BBC wasn't for you, on ITV there was 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet' 1983-4, 1986, 2002 and 2004.

[@noblerees1]

I mentioned a few of those but well remembered

[@iangreen4572]

Davros and the Daleks are owned by Terry Nation's family are they not? It's not up to RTD to decide.

[@noblerees1]

Unless they are happy nonetheless with the money rolling in

[@owenwildish331]

Don't you think RTD is hypocritical on changing Davros... yet refuses to change the Timeless Child stuff..?

[@codyw1]

@@owenwildish331 He doesn't mind shitting all over the work of better creatives he doesn't know, but not his hack buddies!

[@Walesbornandbred]

1st mistake getting RTD back as showrunner. 2nd Mistake getting Ncuti to play the Doctor. I was told he was a good actor but he only has 2 emotions, the solitary tear and mouth agape, the only 2 he seems to have developed. 3rd, Every episode was junk, and it led to a finale that made no sense, badly written full of plot holes. Remember the days of Tennant when he could tear at your emotions, Family of Blood, Journeys end. Give me classic Who any day. RTD has given about 100 youtube channels so much ammunition, you couldn't pay for this exposure. If this had been a good series it would never have been this popular on youtube. As for your no.4 The best part is, he has already said the next series will be as bad, and you'll all still watch it and next year there'll be 200 youtube reviewers. RTD may be a bad writer but he's still got you watching. Representation means nothing if these people are only there for window dressing. I think RTD was lured back by Disney money. I think he thought he'd have the budget to do as he liked and it went to his head. He has no imagination.

[@alanbeaumont4848]

1:09.28 Salt to distract a demon is pinched from the children's adventure 'The Phantom Tollbooth' (a jolly good read BTW), which had probably imported it from witch lore. RTD borrowing stuff and repeating himself might be a post Covid19 Chronic fatigue legacy. It would explain why his ideas are now disjointed and don't hang together even on their own terms. (Had this myself; only resting helps.) Also Gatwa's weepy Doctor (wasn't he introduced as the carefree post therapy one?) looks like it was originally written for the Tenant PTSD Doctor (14's sexuality switch fits) and he was just too lazy/knackered to do a proper rewrite.

[@noblerees1]

Loved the phantom tollbooth

[@StarshipAlves]

RTD put his agenda over the Whoniverse and has become the real villain of the show.

[@mayotango1317]

@@StarshipAlves No. Chibnall did.

[@mayotango1317]

@DorisDay-lw4xs Yeah, good joke.

[@cameronkobe7838]

Great stream, really interesting! Thanks. Much enjoyed your views on all the points and fully agreed. (1:32:22 "Mint julep tea"...! Must be a crossover episode where the doctors from the TARDIS and USS Enterprise get swapped due to a freak accident...)

[@lorrainesheridan496]

I am 67 and female and have watched Who all my life. Also liked stuff like Space Patrol when I was v young.Talking about accents just where does Ncutis settle.just want sci-fi back but for some strange reason the whole genre has been under attack across the board as Gary says SJW. David and Matt have been rather daft recently as well.

[@Cee1003]

58 here, loved Thunderbirds and the "gang", Dr Who fitted this genre, Star Trek was a bit for the older me so i appreciated it later on. I loved all of the sci fi/ fantasy stuff from the 70's onwards.

[@noblerees1]

Yes I was aware some girls loved it - my best friend at school did

[@Cee1003]

Trying to think about what i was watching in my pre 30 years, it was the Movie with McGann, which i hated the romance part and as it had been mentioned he was half human. Aside from that I enjoyed Buffy and Angel, Star Trek the Next Generation etc oh and Babylon 5. All are far better than this new season, no way would a pre 30 year old would enjoy this unless its the first bit of televison aside from a soap opera anyone has seen.

[@noblerees1]

Seems a different world when you mention them

[@mayotango1317]

@@Cee1003 Buffy is the soap opera that RTD inspired to revive Doctor Who.

[@Cee1003]

@@mayotango1317 I never saw Buffy as a soap opera.

[@mayotango1317]

@@Cee1003 Watch season 6.

[@Cee1003]

@@mayotango1317 are you referring to the Spike relationship?

[@mayotango1317]

Will releasing the episodes first on streaming and then on television be that?

[@noblerees1]

Yes you’ll see I had that as number 13 but we were running out of time - I agree with you

[@mayotango1317]

I have no problem with fantasy elements, remember The Daemons or Curse of Fenric? Even this season it reminds me of the Eighth Doctor books. Doctor Who is a show about everything, not just sci-fi.

[@noblerees1]

That’s fair enough - just write it well and ensure it’s not a get out of jail easy pass - some writers use fantasy as a cheat sadly

[@mayotango1317]

@DorisDay-lw4xs Really? GoT is just porn and dragons.

[@mayotango1317]

@DorisDay-lw4xs One of his actors say that to the fans.

[@nigelwalker6103]

You're right. The whole Davros debacle could have been avoided by RTD keeping his mouth shut. If he hadn't said anything, fans would have assumed it was set just prior to him being crippled. Obviously, that wouldn't change the main problem which is RTD. He is now so uncompromising in his views and unwilling to listen to criticism that he has lost sight of what Doctor Who is supposed to be about. Yes Doctor Who has been progressive before but they prioritised telling a story over pushing an issue. The series used to appeal to a wider audience because they told interesting stories and the issues were woven into it. There was some subtlety. Now it's all upfront and the story is the background. Now the series has become more fantasy than Sci fi but it's not good fantasy. Russell seems to think you can use the fantasy to excuse bad writing.

[@owenwildish331]

One big mistake made, I think it was Steven Moffet who started this, is thinking and saying that Doctor Who doesn't have/never had any canon (although I suspect the beginning of this idea that Doctor Who has no canon sort of began when JNT when he said to fans it's up to the fans whether or not 'Dimensions in Time' was canon or not), and now the idea or that everything is canon both ways being very stupid on so many levels, and that's just an accusation for bad writing/storytelling, bad fan-fiction & bad retcons, etc. Doctor Who has a canon that is flexible and quite mailable to a degree, and yes, it is quite messy in places, but it does have a canon that should be respected and that it (and it actually is) should be tiered. (ie. Prime or main cannon: TV Doctor Who series classic & new & the TV Movie and (for better or worse, including the official charity minisodes). Sub-canon, which are the audio stories (unless they contradict prime canon or by contradicted prime canon). Honorary canon: the two Peter Cushing films (due to popularity, this was historically the case within the older fandom until recent years; not sure what changed with that, but they're not really canon unless they're somehow incorporated into the series which is currently unlikely). High-level non-canon: the comics, & novels (though elements of non-canon can and often do influence prime-canon, and (very) low-level (truly non-canon or zero-canon stuff: fan-fiction, & parody spoofs, etc. (stuff that usually shouldn't be cannon at all unless it's very good & it's up to date with everything else, no or very few plot holes and does not at all retcon and especially disrespect everything that came before in any of the above).

[@mayotango1317]

@@owenwildish331 NERD.

[@owenwildish331]

@@mayotango1317 lol

[@nigelwalker6103]

I agree that RTD seems to have a problem with male characters. I think that he's reached the point that he can't have a male character take charge. Not even the Doctor. Even Mel, who spent most of her time in classic Who screaming or being annoyingly upbeat, told him to stop wallowing.

[@davidlow862]

Was that guy being sarcastic when he called the Renegade Doctor a fan favorite? I sure hope so.

[@owenwildish331]

Retconning the Timeless Child doesn't necessarily mean retconning out the Ruth Doctor. She could simply be a Doctor from an alt-timeline or something really, and more logically, the Shalka Doctor should have been the War Doctor. Still, the Shalka Doctor we seen in 'Rouge' might not actually be the Shalka Doctor at all. Still, rather he's the Valeyard Doctor or something to do with the Great Intelligence... maybe even both... maybe the Shalka Doctor is actually the Valeyard Doctor, who knows...

[@mayotango1317]

@@owenwildish331 That not work, parallel worlds are clossed.

[@Eris123451]

It doesn't matter anymore no one is watching it no one at all. The viewing figures such as they are, are the people who've left their TV on whilst they nipped into the kitchen to cook their dinner.

[@MKR5210]

If you have any doubt this is NOT Dr. Who ask yourself how the Doctor who in his various incarnations has HATED guns, even in the hands of soldiers, was okay with a 13 year old boy with an automatic weapong built into his transport?!!!!!! As to Davros, I have been watching Dr. Who since the 60s and until RTD painted the picture it had NEVER occured to me to connect him to people in wheelchairs.... Davros was simply half Dalek 🤷

[@Woke_Invaders]

Maybe hiring a woke priest instead of a writer has something to do with the terrible ratings.

[@mayotango1317]

@@Woke_Invaders Many watch this first on streaming.

[@Woke_Invaders]

@@mayotango1317 How many?

[@mayotango1317]

@@Woke_Invaders More that the tv audience.

[@Woke_Invaders]

@@mayotango1317 That's vague. Do you have the real numbers?

[@mayotango1317]

@@Woke_Invaders What numbers? The TV audience, the streaming audience or the IPlayer audience. Or add them all together. Not to mention those who illegally download episodes.

[@coldweatherart]

Hey so I just want to ask why are you guys so focused on ratings? Just a casual question from someone who wants to understand your viewpoint

[@mayotango1317]

Frankly the 15th Doctor seems more Doctorish to me than Jodie Whittaker doing a bad Tennant impression. Ncuti has his own style, as does Eccleston who was so anti-Doctor.

[@noblerees1]

As you heard me say on the show I am still looking for views like yours to come on the panel so we reflect the whole of fandom

[@mayotango1317]

@DorisDay-lw4xs Ah, that why she is so bland and had annoying companions with lack of chemistry? The Doctors only had a "costume" in the 80s, before hey change his clothes.

[@mayotango1317]

@DorisDay-lw4xs A real Doctor Who fan.

[@jackmccann7147]

I wondered how long it would take you to click. 😂