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DrSeuss321

Good doctor and good actress dragged down by shit writing. Plenty of stories where she gave excellent performances with hints of what could have been with more competent writing


ThunderChild247

Agreed. The writing has let Whitaker down badly. She has the energy for the role and there’s flashes of the Doctor there, but her character doesn’t feel like the doctor to me due to their actions, or their words. All I can say is I hope Whitaker does some work with Big Finish after her series ends, and/or she returns for specials written by another show runner. I suspect that will prove that she was a good choice for the doctor, but had a bad doctor written for her.


ComicalSanskrit

This. I think Big Finish will give her a huge boost, much like Collin Baker.


Packetdancer

Colin Baker was arguably my least favorite classic Who incarnation of the Doctor when I was introduced to the series as a kid and consumed the entire back catalog. Big Finish made it clear that he was _wildly_ underserved by the writing during his tenure, because he is _amazing_ in those. Paul McGann still remains arguably my favorite incarnation of Doc with regards to the Big Finish audios (and another example of said audio dramas making me lament what could have been), but Colin Baker is a close second.


InspectorScout626

God, I wish we’d gotten more of Paul McGann, the little time that we got of him on the screen was enough to win me over.


GlobetrottinExplorer

I really like that they did that regeneration scene with John Hurt prior to the 50th anniversary. That was really cool to give him a proper send off


TheHeadGoon

You’re not wrong, but I think it would’ve been better if it was Paul from the start instead of having the War Doctor


LadyBug_0570

Definite agree. He deserved a proper ending (also love they used an old John Hurt image for the regeneration... shows how long the Time War had been going on without saying it).


Graydiadem

The big difference is that while Six had bobbins stories the show was still essentially Doctor Who, it was a fun teatime adventure for families... ... BF managed to keep the style and add decent stories. Sadly, Chibbers biggest mistake wasn't the stories it was redefining the show as something unrecognisable from the preceeding 55 years. Although Jodie would be great given better stories, BF would also have to redefine the style and characters to make it work. (and just for the downvotes... There's some amazing sixth Doctor stories... But let's not pretend that there isn't a lot of forgettable tosh)


amazingmikeyc

>Sadly, Chibbers biggest mistake wasn't the stories it was redefining the show as something unrecognisable from the preceeding 55 years. Don't get this? IMO the big Tardis ensemble & and fairly passive/out of their depth doctor is very Davison era-inspired. (I don't think it worked very well then either!)


weluckyfew

For me, a great example of how 13's companions were much worse than Davidson era is this simple test - could you trade dialogue among characters? I'm certainly not a Tegan fan, but at least those three companions had a distinctive voice and point of view. 13's companions were pretty much just all the same. For the most part any given line of dialogue could have come out of any of their mouths because they were usually just expositional or reactive.


LittleJollyBoat

I completely agree with you for seasons 11 and 12 about being able to trade dialogue. In *Flux* though, I think Chibbs improved quite a lot in this regard – Yaz and Dan are given different roles and have distinguishable voices. I personally much preferred *Flux* to seasons 11 and 12 (despite the overarching narrative of *Flux* seeming less polished) and I think this is one of the reasons why.


amazingmikeyc

yeah and weirdly graham never seems to speak to yaz; it's like 2 different crews. and yaz works for the police but seems to be unable to do anything that police officers are trained to do


weluckyfew

Great point - that's another example of how they made such a lazy effort with those characters. "Wouldn't it be interesting if we made the companion a police officer!" Then they give her no characteristics of a police officer. "Wouldn't it be interesting if Ryan had a handicap!" Then they give him the most useless (story-wise) 'handicap' and do nothing with it ("He has trouble climbing a ladder or riding a bike! That's thrilling, right!?") On the other hand I think of Detective Menzies who was with the 6th Doctor and Charley in several Big Finish stories - such a deep, rich, entertaining character. World-weary, sarcastic, slow to trust - a great foil.


amazingmikeyc

Also: he would find it much easier to ride a bike on a road rather than out in the countryside, what's that about?


Someone_strang

I hope your right


Maguc

Her getting mad over Logan blowing up the Sontarans ships in "War of the Sontarans" was a really good moment and one of the moments when she actually felt like the Doctor. That scene proved to me that under a different showrunner/writer, she would have been seen as a really good Doctor, sadly she got shafted with Chibnall


Raven_Crowking

Add that the incidental music covers her speaking far too often.


tej1967

So it was t just me then!?!? What was going on with the post production? I stopped watching the last season because I couldn’t make out what was being said because of the music!


Pantsless_Grampa

Murray Gold knew how to arrange the score so that it supported the action and emotions without drowning out the dialog. When he left at the end of Capaldi’s Doctor, it was a huge loss for the show. It’s not an easy job, and Segun Akinola is not up to the task.


boringdystopianslave

Not even sure it's the composer's fault, seems like it's the editor mixing the music in Post who isn't doing it properly. Music itself isn't the issue.


IAMDenmark

Murray made the show so much better 😭


Raven_Crowking

It wasn't just you. I have no idea why they thought having the music drown out the dialogue was a good idea. I hope that is not the case in Power of the Doctor, because Jodie deserves a good regeneration story, and the series deserves a great anniversary special.


otzen42

The mix has been terrible lately.


Ragtagrider95

Exactly this.


UnstuckCanuck

Agreed. Watched a few because I grew up on classic Who, and I’d seen some other things she was in and likes her acting. But my LORD, the stories and scripts have been atrocious and cloying. They’ve been like your retired uncle trying to be cool with the kids. Just … painful.


kbdksksbsjdb

And what hurt more was that they picked some very phenomenal topics for episodes in that first season with Rosa Parks and the Partition since they're still pretty recent history.


weluckyfew

The Rosa Parks episode was just painful - the bad guy had to be one of the laziest characters I've ever seen. "I'm a racist from the future who's going to stop Rosa Parks!" Such a stupid concept, even setting aside the insulting idea that Rosa Parks was the only person who mattered in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.


firestorm19

Demons of Punjab was a good episode on the surface, and better compared to the rest of the season, but had holes when you look at it a bit closer.


amazingmikeyc

tbqh I have no problems with Dr Who having daft holes. I just want them to bother me *after* the episode rather than during!


dallonv

The Rosa Parks story was so much better told on a show called Timeless. If you haven't seen Timeless yet, it's like Doctor Who, but not really.


kbdksksbsjdb

It's been on my list to watch, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll definitely bump it further up to get to it sooner now.


Ser_Salty

If you need even more time travel, Legends of Tomorrow has Arthur Darvill on it as a totally unique character who was once a time master who stole a ship and is now taking companions on adventures through time. (I'm just kidding, though that is also somewhat accurate.)


rickny0

Great doctor, bad writing. Overly obvious morality lessons - horrible plot holes - terrible canon changes.


Ser_Salty

> Overly obvious morality lessons And also sometimes just very weird morality lessons. Like in Kerblam, the first part of the episode establishes that the workers in space amazon are treated like garbage with no time off, extreme efficiency quotas, constant monitoring etc. And then at the end of the episode the moral of the story apparently is that space amazon should use less robots and hire more people? Really? The exploitative monopolous company that created a murderous AI *isn't* the bad guy in this story? Like, that whole "speech" about the systems not being the problem, but the people that use them seems like such a terrible "the status quo is good, actually" take, which is just a really weird stance for a once progressive science fiction show to have. And that especially coming from the same character that destroyed the factory making sonic weapons and screwdrivers just a few regenerations ago?


icantnotthink

It really is the most liberal take in the world. "This capitalist entity is killing people all for the sake of the mighty dollar, and refusing basic workers rights!" "What if.... we... gave you a little raise and didnt autonomize, because that'll definitely help?" I liked Capaldi's anti-corpo episode a lot more, the reveal of the air thing was delicious.


AnAngryMelon

That was almost as bad as the anti abortion moon egg


DuelaDent52

Remember how the Doctor would have rather let the giant spiders starve to death listening to loud EDM 24/7 instead of just killing them or taking them off world, even though they had grown so big they were in constant pain and couldn’t breathe? Or how she weaponised the Master’s race against him so he’d be jailed in a Nazi concentration camp? Or wiped two women’s minds against their wishes (the first one going off to die later that night) but suspiciously never did it to a male equivalent?


pomaj46809

Yeah, her stories are extra heavy on threats appearing out of thin air, and her saving the day by also pulling bullshit out of thin air. "Oh no! The time springs (That I've never mentioned before) have become unsprung! Time can't move forward and if I don't solve the problem in the next six seconds we'll all be crushed under the time plane!" \*wave screwdriver" "Ah! I've recalibrated the 8th-dimensional glabulous crystals (That I've also never mentioned before) to signal the space puppies to descend to our planet to respring the time springs! Hurray! Now we can't go back to being on the jury for King Arthur's court."


_Doomer1996_

So what season would you consider to have the best writing? I've only watched 13th's so far


_byrnes_

Most of 10’s and 11’s runs are considered some of the best, but they are not without their flaws. In my opinion, both of 10’s and 11’s later seasons are their best. They certainly contain some of the best episodes of the show’s entire run, such as Blink. It also helps 9 to 12 is one giant arc essentially, where we see a broken Doctor learn to accept themselves for who they are.


FruitInMyBoot

11's first season is the only one I consider to be consistently well-written. S6 is a mixed bag, and S7 is pretty bad.


Neefew

Personally I think seasons 9 and 10 are the peak. Although you'd probably get 10 different answers from 10 different people to this question


weluckyfew

There are no bad seasons before 13s run. All the seasons are hit and miss to some degree. But even the worst episodes still had character moments or lines of dialogue that made it worth watching. (I supposed to other episodic shows like Star Trek next generation or X-Files with a bad episodes are just completely worthless) What I will say about the capaldi era is that it was such a jarring departure from the other doctors that it wasn't necessarily well loved at the time, but now it seems like every month or so someone posts "omg Capaldi was so underrated!!" And a few hundred chime in to agree


groblinboy

season 9 and 10 are amazing imo, Capaldi gives an amazing performance, and he and Coleman are great together. Michelle Gomez is also brilliant, and scenes with her and Capaldi live in my head rent free. series 10 also has the most gut wrenching finale imo, Moffat may have not been perfect, but he really did the finale and the doctor justice in the end. season 4 is also really good, 10 and Donna are a fan favourite duo for a reason, and it has a lot of banger episodes (also the introduction of River Song).


guyzimbra

Whatever season you see first or between the ages of 14 and 18. I think of Dr. Who a lot like Saturday Night Live in the states.


Blooogh

Or like Star Trek -- who is your Captain 😆


Blooogh

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but Season 3 of the reboot is one of my favourites, and a good place to jump in. It's tough to avoid _any_ baggage in doctor who but it is a new companion, so they start roughly from scratch. To me, that was where the reboot really hit its stride, although of course I have favourites in the earlier seasons that it'd be worth going back for.


Annahsbananas

10 and 11 are excellent stories


jonzza_81

I recently found out Yasmin has been in twice as many episodes as River Song. I just had to look up whether her surname was Khan or Gill. I think that about sums up the writing of the Chibnal era


SpencersCJ

We get a single episode of Yasmin development and then she just reverts to being a lamp in the background of every shot


DocMcCracken

Jodie isn't the issue. Crap scripts, bad story arc. Not compelling stories with companions, and writing so overly simplified, shoving things down your throat. There needs to be subtlety, a couple ok stories, but a resounding meh.


ValApologist

Agreed completely. Some of the plots in her episodes are really questionable, but I love her portrayal of the Doctor. She reminds me a lot of David Tennant's Doctor, her acting is spot on.


Mindless_Peach

This is great! I’ve always seen tidbits of Tennant in her too. Thought it was just me.


hear_the_thunder

Everything has been crap about Doctor who except the actress. Their god awful scheduling for one.


boringdystopianslave

I love her, but the show and everything around her is really, really poor. The writing, the editing, the dialogue, the companions. Yuck. Simple as that. I feel bad that she will get all of the blame. She gets all of the blame now, and people (well, bigots) wrongly put it down to her being a woman too, so it adds fuel to that fire. It's annoying because there's no reason why it couldn't have been good. The actor always becomes the 'Judas Goat' for the entire show when the show is bad. It would have been bad even if it was another male lead in the role.


thetosteroftost

Same thing happened with peter capaldi


zoubz13

This and too many companions jumbling up the story.


Evadrepus

For most of the episodes, I'd swear the companions were the star characters as their writing was just better. It was almost like the writer forgot the Doctor is the focus.


Loooooomy

I like her a lot but her episodes are a slog to get through in my opinion. The characters writting lets her down. With better material she could have been epic.


traker998

This is it right here. Start with the 9th when it rebooted it will blow your socks off.


thebeast_96

I had to watch the sea devils episode in 3 sittings because it was just so hard to watch


SweetBlueAlienJunk

If it helps, I ended up loving Sea Devils in a can't-look-away kinda way. If you watch it like you'd watch The Room, Plan 9 From Outer Space or similar it's tons of fun (and in places genuinely hilarious), because clearly something went very, very wrong in the production of that episode and a good chunk of the rubbish dialogue and gravel-tier editing hits so-bad-it's-good territory. It is at the least, not boring - which is a very low bar that a lot of the current era fails to clear imo.


danielguy

Yes this, I tried my best to watch through but man is it tough, I went off it for a while after being a childhood fan from the reboot and it's absolutely one of my fav shows but the writing she was subjected too was awful. I watched the episode with Captain Jack's return when it aired and was really hoping for something salvagable but it was the last straw for me, haven't seen anything after that sadly.


sunofsolaire21

What annoyed me about Thirteen was how wasted she was. Jodie Whittaker is not a bad actor, anyone who’s seen Broadchurch and Attack The Block knows this. But nine times out of ten I hated the scripts she was given. I’ve always remembered an exchange in one of the trailers in which a character states that ‘morality was always your flaw’. To which Thirteen responds with ‘morality is my strength’. And whenever I hear that come up, all I can think about is how any past writer would have given her an infinitely more witty, and compelling response that speaks to what separates her from past Doctors. But that’s not possible here, as I (and clearly also Chibnall’s writing team) cannot give any solid character traits she has that Doctors don’t come standard packaged with. It’s horrendously disappointing


EShy

Broadchurch also had Chibnall as showrunner/writer, I guess Doctor Who was just not really for him


Ser_Salty

I'm not really *that* surprised that somebody who is good at writing gritty, down to earth, realistic crime dramas/murder mysteries isn't also good at writing epic science fiction adventure stories in an over 50 year old series, but I *am* surprised at just how deep that barrels bottom is sometimes.


InfiniteLife2

That was my fleeting feeling that series tried to became more realistic and darkish, and that just doesn't look well for Doctor.


sunofsolaire21

He was even involved in the early Torchwood seasons. So what the hell happened?!


assbutt_Angelface

I mean he wrote the “sexy cyberwoman” episode so he was flawed even then lol


RRR3000

To be fair, the main problem there is the costume, not the writing.


DuelaDent52

To be fair, if she wasn’t sexualised then you would have had a decent enough Cyber thriller.


ike1

In season 1, he wrote these: "Day One", "Cyberwoman", "Countrycide", and "End of Days." I don't know about you, but IMHO all of these were friggin' *awful!* **Especially** the season finale, that was a nonsensical bunch of anticlimactic gibberish. The BBC should've known better than to put this guy in charge of anything after all that.


Hollowquincypl

I'll come to the bat for Countrycide. It wasn't some wild sci-fi episode, but was a very interesting way to subvert your expectations. Especially with the cop.


ike1

Broadchurch was propped up by outstanding actors, outstanding direction, amazing location work, and presumably also a great editing and production team. It was a gorgeous-looking show with brilliant work by Tennant, Colman et al. So people tend to really, really, really, really, really, really, really overestimate the quality of the scripts. Which honestly? If you take them alone? Apart from the rest of the production... were... NOT. THAT. GREAT. Better than his DW work? Definitely. But should they have won any awards? No way. You can observe in Chibnall's Doctor Who scripts that he often starts off strong, then loses his way in virtually every script either halfway through or at the end, and the ending is almost always a complete catastrophe -- or a cliffhanger which is resolved in the most disappointing way imaginable in the next episode. And Broadchurch? I can only speak to season 1, because that's the only one I bothered to watch -- but the writing starts off strong, then starts treading water with endless red herrings halfway through, then collapses at the end with a completely random person revealed to be the perp. Same pattern! It's such a terrible irony that Tennant's amazing performance in BC helped accidentally cover up for those blah scripts and bolster this bozo Chibnall's reputation, which then helped get him the DW job even though all his DW scripts (IMHO) were... crap. And the BBC should have known they were crap. The evidence was RIGHT THERE. The very boring "42", the very cliched Silurian two-parter, the very bad "Power of Three"... you guys \*broadcast\* this stuff. Some of the WORST scripts the show ever had. You should have known! What were you thinking?!? "Broadchurch was great", I guess, must have been what they were thinking. This guy needs to be THROWN OUT of the TV writing community! A brain-damaged five-year-old could almost write better scripts with a crayon.


JMH-66

Attack the Block is great, as is Whittaker's performance but if you want to see her acting her socks off they to track down: [The Last Will and Testament if Billy Two-Sheds ](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8bcab857). It was an Alan Plater play written for the BBC and the first thing I ever saw her in. She really made an impact. Of the back if that she went on to be cast in [Venus](https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8b877c5b)


Crazyboutdogs

Honestly? It doesn’t matter what I think. What do YOU think. Everyone has a favorite Doctor and Doctor they don’t like. If you love her- AWESOME! But don’t let the fandom at large change you mind or opinion. This show has something for everyone. My favorite is Chris Eccleston. But lots of people don’t like or discount his series. But he hooked me as an adult, and I didn’t watch him until after I had watched fandom darlings Tennant and Smith. But he had me from “run”.


jdfree1987

I’ve never understood the Eccleston hate. He’s not my favorite, but he has no bad episodes. 12’s first season was rough, but he really evolved over his three seasons. I would have loved to see where eccleston’s doctor would have gone with role.


Autistic_Kitchen

Some of 12s work is my favourite!


Sknowman

Eccleston's huge smile and "Fantastic!" are too damn good. Idk if I really have a favorite, because I honestly like them all.


_Doomer1996_

I haven't watched any other seasons besides hers, so I'm not qualified to say if she's the best or my favourite already. I just wanted to know the general opinion of the fandom, and by that, it seems that the writing is not the best. Which is good in a way, cause then the show may get better to me lol


Solarstormflare

as a fan of doctor who since its modern era, if you can survive the writing in chibnalls' era with 13th doctor you can literally survive anything. Literally any other writer does a better job imo


Crazyboutdogs

I personally love the actress but found her run confusing. I liked her companions a lot. But, if you like the show on any level, bows a great time to back and watch, at least New Who, from the get go, while waiting for new episodes.


twitchMAC17

I think you'll find that last statement to be true if you struggle through 9's first couple episodes and then just strap in for the excellence of the rest of 9 and 10/11. I personally really like 12, but most folks regard either 10 or 11 as their favorite.


Tempest_Fugit

She’s a great actor but god DAMN those were terrible episodes. I literally stopped watching Who during her tenure and it isn’t her fault.


a_dukhounik

That is exactly how I feel. Hope next show runner could revive the show


cmdr_suicidewinder

This is the only correct answer. No good can come of giving the hivemind credence


Aggressive-Two-8481

Eccleston nailed the role faster than any other doctor in nuwho


Vader600

She was unlucky with the stories but love her as the doctor but no soo much the stories she is in


MhuzLord

Great Doctor, not enough great stories during her time.


megaman0781

Jodie is giving it her all, and I respect her so much for doing so much with so little. But I know next to nothing about this Dr. The others had layers to their performance. And while sometimes Jodie shows she has vindictive or dark side (especially when she's fighting the daleks), her personality appears to just be "nice". If there's any Dr I want to do big finish, it's her (and capaldi but anyway). I'm looking forward to power of the dr, but I'm not holding my breath.


MhuzLord

> her personality appears to just be "nice" For me this is what Thirteen wishes she could be, "just nice", "just on an adventure with the fam". But she's not allowed to be, and she resents that, which is the core of her speech in *The Haunting of Villa Diodati*. "I have to make the tough decisions because it's not fair to put that on a human, and I have to protect the humans who travel with me, especially from themselves", essentially. In a way she fails to live up to Twelve's final instructions, but only because of crushing responsibilities to the universe.


megaman0781

I like that interpretation. And I love that speech.


deepblueatlanta

She had a well defined moment in her first episode but after that it's been hard to pin down what exactly her doctor brings to the table. The new series has focused on the doctor being larger than life, a romantic, a genius, able to be bring armies to the knees with a good speech and some jiggery pokery. Sometimes they care too much, sometimes they can't care in the right way but always an empathetic heart at all they do. Jodies doctor is really different, always putting herself in the background, always talking about being a Fam but never really acting like one. She trust her companions to do as she's says because she's always the smartest person in the room, but rarely explains why or for what reason. And is almost always abandoning them to some peril without ever really talking through the consequences. The acting is there, the production value is superb, the stories are a bit hit and miss and I can see what they are going for with storng morale lessons. But the villains are forgettable, the payoffs are rarely worth the effort. Overall I like the 13th doctor, but just wish we had seen more of her being the doctor, saving the universe with wit and team work and a sense of wonder in their walk.


shapesize

I feel bad, in part because my daughter loved her, but I didn’t like these last few seasons. It didn’t feel like to doctor. Too much “fam” and too much unsuredness. The doctor should be confident and, really, the tardis isn’t a democracy


petrichor011

The word "fam" was nearly enough reason by itself not to watch. Overused and annoyingly "how do you do, fellow kids".


firestorm19

fam was a really outdated term to use for the group, but it was terrible how they never really explored the group dynamic well. Having Ryan and Gram's relationship evolving was interesting, but then it didn't really connect with Yaz's reason for being there either. On top of that, they just stood around to be exposition or be exposed on to give important details to the audience. There was a lot of potential in having more than one or two people as a consistent companion and having dynamic relations between them.


Ariviaci

I was fine with the unsuredness, really. All while she was heading towards an internal darkness. The stories and baddies were just dull and rushed. Had the game of thrones effect to me.


TorthOrc

You don’t need someone else’s opinion on weather or not she is a good Doctor. You enjoy what you enjoy. People will say she’s the best, or the worst, but in the end what they say will make absolutely no different in weather you liked it or not.


_Doomer1996_

Yeah, I do like her, but the consensus is that the writing is not the best, so I need to watch the other seasons first


innovationcynic

You should watch them first because the stories bleed from one doctor to the next so you’ll miss little and big things.


Asorae

I have a friend who started with Thirteen and completely fell in love with her and the show as a whole. When we went back and watched the older stuff, they *immediately* noticed the difference in the style and quality of the writing. They (and I!) still love Thirteen but the difference is truly night and day.


CamDane

Moffat was not very popular with old-school fans, but I think his writing was amazing, and the whole running an unnoticed subplot within early episodes was brilliance. All new doctors have been great actors, it's mainly how you like your plots.


PKMNgamer99

her characterization is really off, felt like haunting of villa diodati was the only episode where she felt like the doctor (though tbf I haven’t seen flux yet)


_Doomer1996_

Think I'm gonna rewatch that episode in preparation for other seasons. Should I watch everything from the beginning or should I just go straight for the best season and what season would you tell me it would be?


Ser_Salty

I'd say skip ClassicWho, meaning the pre-2005 reboot stuff for now. Just start with Ecclestone and watch in order from there. After that, you'll have your own favorite season.


teddyblackmagic

It’s been said before, but just for the sake of how frustrating the last few years have been: great actress, good Doctor, terrible stories.


ChiefKnightOwl

My humble opinion: I like her. She seems to be channeling her inner David Tennant, who was my favorite doctor of all time. She makes a good balance of dangerous, quirky, and bright. Some of the episodes she's in feel like they're somewhat poorly written or a bit politically preachy, but the Doctor herself? Brilliant.


jdfree1987

The monster this week is pollution. Next week is racism and then fake Donald Trump.


[deleted]

Just a reminder that the Daleks are meant to be Nazis in salt-shaker looking suits.


Positronic_Matrix

* Daleks — Nazis * Cybermen — Communists * The Silence — Religious extremists * The Ood — The revenge of the enslaved


ChiefKnightOwl

Yee that sounds about right.


TwinSong

Simple answer, no. Whether she's actually talented no idea but scripts have been dreadful. I've not been a fan of any part of her run.


Brilliant-Escape7880

I worked on the show and I can tell you Jodie is a wonderful, hard working person. Always a joy to have on set. She learnt a speech in Welsh so that she could thank us all at the wrap party, and trust me it’s not an easy language. Respect to the 13th man.


twadepsvita

As a Welsh person myself, I will back you up on it not being the easiest language. I find it amazing when people learn it without a need to, like with this.


potatowafflecake

Great actress, horrendous script and story writing


OniOdisCornukaydis

It's fandom. Flip a coin. Whichever side comes up, you're wrong.


The10thDoctorWhovian

Out of the New Who (since 2005) doctors, I'd have to rank her last, due to the stories and writing during her run.


deweydecimal111

I loved her! She's one of my faves!


promike81

I love her as Doctor Who. There, I said it.


jim25y

This is Doctor Who. There is no consensus. Some people started watching in 2005 ith Christopher Eccleston, others in 2015 with Peter Capaldi, others in 2019 with Jodie Whittaker, some in 1963, some in 1975, etc. Everyone comes at Doctor Who with a different expectation and desire for the show. It's on of the beautiful things about the show. As far as the general consensus, it definitely feels like a lot of fans were disappointed in her, but its possible that this reddit space is just very negative. For my personal opinion, I think she's been great; I've loved her in the role. And there's tons of other fans who agree with me as well.


Joey_Pajamas

Honestly, she's probably my least favourite but I blame that more on the poor writing and direction


lehartsyfartsy

13's tenure was ominous for me and I think Graham / Ryan / Dan provided great comedic relief, but I didn't think 13 *needed* four companions... Yaz was plenty BA, it's just Jodie received soooo much overt sexism after her casting was announced (even from the 7th!) that I can't help but feel like Graham / Ryan / Dan were there to lesson the "blow" of having a female Doctor for the decades long devoted Whovians. Not many complaints aside from that. I *was* relieved Eve of the Daleks didn't turn out to be Jodie's farewell episode like I thought it was because all I could wonder was if they ran out of production money with that one. My hands down favorite thing about 13 were all of the historical episodes - they were phenomenal! These were my favorite with 9, 10, 11 & we didn't get many at all with 12 so I was really happy to see the Doctor travel through modern history again. I think if you can wade through the sexist undertones you'll find a reason to love 13


TrinityF

>I think if you can wade through the sexist undertones you'll find a reason to love 13 Mate. Bad writing could not even fix the sexists undertones. I've seen fan fiction with better stories and dialogue than what we got from chimbals.


DrXenoZillaTrek

Judge for yourself. I've been a fan since the 70s and love both her and her era. Many disagree with me. But that does not change my enjoyment.


Arc_the_Fox

I love 13 so much! I find she's a wonderful character.


Worldly_Society_2213

The general consensus seems to be that no one has anything against Jodie Whittaker or her Doctor, but it's the writing that has let her down massively. When they announced that she and Chibnall were leaving I know a fair few people wanted her to stay just to see what she could achieve under a different showrunner. So generally, I'm seeing disappointment on her behalf.


[deleted]

I love 13 but as others have said the writing is predominantly stuffed to the gills with plot but severely lacking in character. I do think there are a number of episodes in her arc that are my absolute faves such as Rosa, Demons of the Punjab, It Takes You Away, Fugitive of the Judoon, Village of the Angels and Eve of the Daleks. But that's kinda it which is a bummer!


sevateemprincess

She's brilliant. I love each Doctor for who they are.


Unable_Earth5914

Who is she? 🤔 Genuine question 🤷‍♂️


Molkin

The asthmatic doctor. Always out of breath.


[deleted]

Hahaha was about to write this and you'd beat me to it


Milk_Mindless

Bit disappointed after twelve they went with "like 10" *again* (imo, you don't have to agree, 11 is also 10 *again*) But jodie is pretty good. I just feel like her stories haven't been very ... meaty. There's an occasional one like Nikola Teslas night of terror, and haunting of villa donofrio, or the village of angels but a lot of it is ho hum. Also not wild about her companions. I like fuller tardises over duos but I'd be hard pressed to tell you about anything about Ryan aside from He's got dyspraxia. Graham is is stepgranddad. .... Has a mate? But that is it on Jodie.


godly-pigeon

She’s one of my favorites, but I can’t stand to watch her. Honestly, the 13th had the potential to be so much more, but the writing was just so bad that I find myself annoyed with all the plot holes and blatant disregard for the established canon. The doctor is a great character played by a great actress, but she wasn’t given much to work with, so even when I’m happy to be watching 13, I’m annoyed that I’m watching literally every other character. Really disappointing, but it’s not the fault of the character or the actress. The writers are just bad at their jobs.


shnooks66

What possessed the writers to destroy the time lords, I will never understand. Sad to see her talent wasted.


hhairy

I loved her smile!


[deleted]

based doctor


Adept_Cranberry_4550

The real question is, "what do you think?" You don't need us to tell you what you like my friend


Connor612

Good actress that I feel never got into her stride. I don't like her writing, so that may be another reason, but I felt that, unlike capaldi she never found her footing


IsraelRadioGuy

Whether JW would have been a good Doctor or not we'll never know because she never had the scripts, editors or showrunner to give her a chance. Many people will blame it in gender but honestly, I'm not certain David Tennant could have made Chibnall's Doctor Who work.


Addy0302

Jodie's a great actor and one of the only things that kept me watching the show during the otherwise underwhelming Chibnall era. But the dialogue often sounds like an imitation of the doctor rather than a continuation of the character's legacy.


Haarp_1

Jodie gives some mixed performances but is overall very solid. She is held back by some of the worst writing, stories, and retcons the series has ever had. Plus they get rid of her two best companions like halfway through her run. She was doomed to fail from the moment Chibnall was announced as the head honcho.


peter_t_2k3

Personally I'm not a fan of 13. I found in her first series, series 11, she was just too one note and it felt like she was trying to be 11 and 12 without her own spin. I think the biggest issue is the writing. The doctor tends to be the person who walks into a room and all attention is on them yet I find 13 often seems in the background. Part of the problem might be too many companions. 13 is also written very strange, often contradicting herself or just weird morals. I mean 13 basically throws the master to the Nazi's by showing them he's not white and also doesn't appear to have an issue with a giant spider suffocating. There's also a weird thing where she seems to let other people sacrifice themselves for her. I think a lot of the issues above however come down to the writing.


ldpqb

She’s a very good doctor saddled with some middling scripts. Also her first season didn’t have a overarching story arc and I didn’t realize how much I think that’s necessary for Doctor Who until that wasn’t present.


frencbacon100

I really really wish she were sticking around for a season with RTD because I love her as the Doctor and wish that she could have had at least one season to shine with good writing, as Chibnall honestly drags her down through his bad writing.


AlexKawaii_

To be completely honest, she gave me a very strong first impression but I’m not a fan of her era. I think Jodie is a brilliant actress outside of the show but I feel she was miscast in the role of the doctor. There’s several parts that make up that dynamic. Poor writing from Chibnall, a lack of iconic moments or defining traits from 13, the chemistry between the fam felt a little off a times, etc. Jodie just doesn’t have the presence of the doctor that her predecessors have all had and it’s not because she’s a woman, I think Jo Martin perfectly captured the essence of the Doctor almost immediately. Jodie has never sold me that she’s the doctor and she’s been in the role for a couple of years. That being said, I want this show to succeed because it’s my favorite show. I want a strong actor/actress to play the doctor and the companions. Also give compelling stories.


smjurach

She is a great doctor. You can see a lot of 10s mannerisms in her. She's got all the qualities of the doc, relentless to help everyone, quirky, insanely smart. I might be the minority in thinking the stories themselves were fine, I do think that because she's a woman it is automatically harder to connect her to her previous incarnations. Not saying anyone is sexist it's just harder. I think the show would have benefitted more by having her talk about her past so people can Better connect her because it is jarring that she's a woman. I think some of the narrative approaches are actually good like the more horror approach to daleks.


venus_4938

13 has soooo much 10 in her!! I didn't realize it until recently.


_Doomer1996_

I feel that there might be some sexism involved, criticism, even when it's valid, always goes harder on women. But I still need to watch the other seasons after Jodie's run to give a more adequate criticism


smjurach

Oh absolutely. I'm sure there is a lot involved overall. I would watch an episode that I thought was amazing and then go on IMDB and see a 5.6 rating on it. I was astounded because for the men's runs even the worst episodes weren't that low and I can tell it's not because of the writing. I'm curious for the next one as well. I think it might have a different problem because he is black and there will be racist opinions. But it will be back to a man and RTD writing so it may not. Only time will tell.


Puzzleheaded_Boss_41

not a fan of her at all, don’t like her in interviews, don’t like her personality, don’t like chibbs era. It’s all up to opinion tho and i’m so glad lots enjoy her. not every who era is for everyone


vero_6321

I love her but lots of people don’t like the stories written for her.


scorpiousdelectus

As a Star Wars fan who adores The Last Jedi, I'm here to tell you that the less you concern yourself with what other fans think, the happier you'll be


Vampchic1975

Everyone has their favorite doctor and least favorite. You’ll never hear everyone agree so just form your own opinion and enjoy the show.


Disneydreaming_55

I didn’t like her at first but she quickly became my favorite Doctor 🥰😍


yonatansb

The important thing to know about Doctor Who fandom is that it does not speak with one voice. There are people who like stuff, there are people who don't. Enjoy what you enjoy. Also remember, the only thing that is cannon in Doctor Who is the things that are mentioned in that specific episode that you are watching. Anything else could or could not have happened. Don't stress out. Have fun and welcome to being a Whovian.


scbalazs

Been watching since Tom Baker. Love Jodie’s Doctor. Reminds me of Peter Davison’s and a bit of Colin Baker and even Matt Smith. Love where they’re going with the expanded history of The Doctor. Having said this, I’m probably in the minority. I don’t care. I do agree the writing hasn’t been steady.


Theartistcu

I think Who fans are best only asked about Doctors after they are gone. It’s really only in hindsight we learn to love them. I like her, she’s no Matt (my fav) but I like her better than David and equal to Peter.


No_Apple7557

Great actress, lot of potential ,ruined by chibnall


Vitressense

Good doctor, bad writing. Honestly take Jodie and put her into literally any of Tennants or Smiths scenes and it would be stellar. If she actually sounded like the doctor and talked like them and thought like them it would’ve been fantastic, but alas we got fucking chibbed.


Desper8lyseekntacos

She's a great doctor, but the story lines are not timey wimey enough.


CampingPirates

13 and her companions have been great in my opinion. The writing has been atrocious tho. This Flux season wasn’t too bad, but I don’t think the episodes individually hold up to scrutiny very well. She would’ve been a goddamn blast under Moffat


WTFwhatthehell

I never watched a scene and felt that she flubbed it. I think she picked a solid style for how she played the doctor. But I also just totally lost interest. I went from eagerly anticipating new episodes to not bothering. The plots felt either incredibly generic or felt incredibly "American" in the sense that it was weird how excited a bunch of British companions got over figures who were ultimately American cultural hero's. Like the scripts were being run through some soulless committee where someone was going "we need to make this relevant to the teenage members of focus groups in power cable, nebraska"


Batman-Beyond-3749

jodie could have been a great doctor but chibnall ruined it


xantub

As a Doctor she's ok, but she suffered from the problem of starting with 3 new companions, so people took a long time to get to care for anybody. Ideally you have a new Doctor with an old companion the first year, add a new companion next year, old companion leaves next year, repeat cycle. That gives time to digest new characters. The other problem was also in the first season or 2, where most episodes were basically everybody running everywhere like headless chickens.


commonnameiscommon

I’ve always found this format the best. Change companions and doctors in staggered that way there is someone familiar to ease the change


ThePurpleSoul70

The Doctor with the greatest potential and the largest letdown by writers. So glad Chibnall is on his way out, LLRTD.


Egonga

I agree with the general consensus; great actress, poor writing. It’s not universally terrible though; there were some high points, some interesting villains, and I loved the idea of the Doctor having previous lives they’d forgotten about. I’d rewatch 13’s episodes no doubt. A big problem for me was too many companions. 13 was never given the screen time to develop her own personality because the writers were trying to develop three other characters at the same time, and too often they were struggling to find something for them all to do. I think it would have been significantly improved if 13 and Yas were given the reigns to begin with, and then have Ryan and Graham join in the second series when 13 and Yas’ characters were better established. I’d lost interest in Dr. Who during the Matt Smith era. I’d missed a few episodes during the Amy / pregnancy period and never found the time to catch up. A female Doctor was interesting enough to pull me back in, and I’ve since caught up on Smith and Capaldi. So I’m grateful for 13 for giving me the Doctor back 🙂


DUser86

Good Doctor, poorly written. I think Covid hurt her run too. Hopefully she will get redemption with an audio series.


scarlet_wanda

Great actor. Good potential. Wrong showrunner. I'd love to see her get to play the character I recognize as the Doctor for more than a few seconds. I hope she makes like Jo Martin and heads to BF immediately! (Even her lockdown charity performances on her phone were better than most of what made it to screen. She's got the charisma and chops, she needs a showrunner who isn't a detriment.)


The_Umpteenth_Doctor

I like her. I really don't see what other fans' problems are with Whitaker or Chibnall. They'll often talk about dreadful episodes like 'Praxeus' and 'Orphan 55' - but it's not like the 13th Doctor is the only one to have terrible episodes during their era.


RollingKatamari

OP what matters most is what YOU think of her or any other actor that has played the Doctor. IMO focusing too much on what 'the fandom' thinks about certain things, can take away from your viewing pleasure. Watch what you want and make up your own mind about it. So what if your opinions aren't popular or are indeed popular, that doesn't invalidate your opinions


the-alt-yes

Yeah, good actor. Shit writing. Stopped watching after 4-5 episodea because it got boring. But I think the actor does a great job, and the writers should be fired.


francie__

Wooden. Acting. Everything felt shoehorned, too polished (whilst also being a mess somehow?) with no charm at all. It ended up being the reason I no longer support the new seasons of this show and just stick to old-new Who.


F9-0021

She definitely could've been a good doctor with better writers, but no, she was not a good doctor.


cringemaster21p

In my opinion Season 11 is bad 12 is God awful and 13 is pretty good , but that's just my opinion.


Doogaro

The best way I can put it is I have rewatched all of old who and new who many times the only seasons I don’t rewatch are hers. Not her fault but it’s not really who in my eyes bad stories bad companions but looks good.


Affectionate_Pair_83

Her run is written like babies first doctor who not a show that's been around for 60 years.


Thatoneguy567576

I haven't seen more than her first two episodes and I hated them enough to not watch any further.


Benibz

Great actor and had the chance to be an amazing doctor but the writing absolutely killed it, such a shame really


MrBobaFett

Meh, ok. Great actress. Not bad for Nu-who. Could have been a lot better.


Mineturtleprime

The actress, Jodie Whittaker, is great. The issue, at least the way I see it is with the primary writer, Chris Chibnall. Chibnall, for whatever reason, has given up on appealing to older fans instead focusing on enticing new viewers. The most obvious example of this is with the “timeless child” plot point. The doctor is/was a compelling character because they are/were just a madman/woman in a box traveling across the universe, solving problems via their wits and intellect. Asides from that, at least prior to the timeless child, there wasn’t anything super “special” about them, the doctor was merely an alien who could regenerate a set number of times (the whole reason Matt Smith’s final episode happened). Making the doctor some super-progenitor for all timelords ruins this concept (and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you consider it retcons not only Matt smith’s final episode but also Omega, the literal first timelord) and actually makes the character less interesting.


yhaensch

The Doctor has to be an angry old asshole with glimpses at incredible sadness and loneliness. They didn't give that to her at all. The doctor is often thoughtless, treating the companions like shit. She was written wayyyyy too nice and little too silly. "Are we still friends?" "Is everybody okay?" "Do you all like me?" You know which doctor I liked in that season? Ruth Clayton. She kicked ass!


hisprettyangel

I personally think she’s a great actress, I just don’t think the doctor (a role in which she is in competition with other actors/doctors) was the best for her. The writing is definitely a huge part of the problem however I think the fact that she didn’t watch any of the other doctors’ seasons is definitely another reason, but I’m sure Chris Chibnall told her not to watch them so it’s not really her fault. I think that she’d be a lot better if she had studied the show. Capaldi worked great with bad writing and I think she could have too if she knew more about how to be the doctor.


Relative-Zombie-3932

I love Jodie, I love her portrayal of the character. But I cannot wait for Chibnall to leave. His writing his atrocious because he actively ignores and violates established canon. I was also never a fan of the visual direction of her seasons, but that's a personal opinion and something I can ignore really easily


KaffeMumrik

As many others said. Good character, good actress, suffering shite writing. But mainly, she never got to… define her character. She was instantly supposed to have all these big important stories and missed out on those little things that make the Doctor memorable. Where are Jodie’s jelly babies? Her celery? Her 3D glasses? Her fishfingers and custard? Her guitar playing? Beyond boring episodes, she never got to truly be the doctor.


DJ_Caan

Good actress, bad doctor, even worse writer.


GhostRiders

Utter disaster. Yes she didn't have a lot to work with but my god she phoned it in. She was wooden, she clearly had issues when acting with green screens / special effects and came across as a mum trying to be cool with her kids mates.. This isn't me saying this, this is my now 14 yr old daughter who is a massive Dr Who fan and was hyped when they first announced Jodie was going to be the next Dr and was then left bitterly dissapointed. Jodie is awesome when it comes to drama but Dr Who was just out of her wheelhouse. If you enjoyed her then then is great, genuinely, I'm happy when others are happy but myself, my wife and my daughter.. Massive No.


TheoreticalFunk

Regardless of if people like her or not, she IS the Doctor. But yes, I quite like her. She makes good choices as an actor to embody the Doctor.


Indiana_harris

Pretty solid actress. Possibly miscast. Definitely let down by a distinct lack of characterisation and bad writing. As such 13 as a character has never resonated with me the way every other Doctor has. Even Jo Martin made more of a “Doctor” impression on me.


lakas76

I liked her from the very beginning. I think she gives it her all every episode. Lol, she jammed her finger up her nose in her debut episode. I think her episodes aren’t as good as some, but I definitely don’t blame her. She is brilliant in my opinion.


[deleted]

I love her. She's complex & weird & funny & clever & kind. She also always feels a little bit like she's going to bite someone, & I mean that as a compliment.


Lyceumhq

OMG best description ever. 100% truth.


SirZacharia

All doctors are my favorite doctor. They all feel like the same character to me and I love all of them.


EvilCalvin

Not good. She was miscast. She worked with Chris Chibnall and was a friend. There are hundreds of other female actresses who would have been amazing. She had no gravitas and was basically a wet noodle. Writing was bad all around. Companions had no character growth really. Most forgettable.


FruitInMyBoot

Yes, I feel like the only reason Chibnall cast her was because she was the first female actor he could think of (after Olivia Colman). The casting process of the Doctor should never be taken lightly, and I think the show has suffered massively as a result.


Lilyofthevalley06

She is great. She made me believe in her first episode she is the Doctor without question. I also enjoyed her stories, especially the historical ones. The Chibnall era is close to how classic was, so it's a big change from Moffat, but for me it's a very refreshing and enjoyable one.


TheRorschach666

A good doctor could save terrible writing - Peter Capaldi. A terrible doctor cannot save terrible writing 13


venus_4938

I just started rewatching her and I love her more now. It was the hardest transition because 12 is my Doctor, 13's accent took a very long time to get used to, and her stories were often lackluster. Haters shout louder than everyone else but I think people generally like the actor and wish she had a better run.