Updated end of season ranking, now some of the dust has almost settled.
Updated ratings
Is it? Anniversary of what?
Obligatory âIâm not there yet for the 674767th timeâ but wasnât it for the BBCâs centenary or something like that?
It was part of the centenary of the BBC celebrations.
I see. Did not know that.
BBCâs been around now for just over a hundred years, & Doctor Who for just over 60 of those years bascially! Regardless of all the differing opinions of the show currently, thats impressive.
Both of these things are really impressive. Also, going back to Doctor Who, it is even more impressive that it is all one story. It feels like it would have been easy to do a James Bond or a hard reboot, but they have chosen the one-story route, and that is so cool.
My scores, using my reasonable system that everyone uses:
My scores for this season i suppose:
A really strong start, hampered by a dreadful backend that proves RTD can no longer write finales. Either extend the episode count or make the episodes longer + learn how to pace the ep better please
For me Iâve rated a lot of them the same! I probs need a rewatch to adjust those, but honestly I love eps 1-6 a great deal.
I have now rated all the stories, time to await the badge to come through
In fact, the more I think about it, the more I see evidence of script tampering and American media pandering towards problematic views re: reproduction, and other elements.
The final episode weirdly flew in the face of the messaging set up in the excellent Wish World and throughout the rest of the season. Conradâs treatment is a perfect example of that. RTD would normally bury that character. Look what he did to Adam in Ecclestonâs season.
There has been (colossal) interference in the finale in my opinion, plus rewrites and reshoots because Ncuti pulled out.
I want DW to continue, but I really think it needs to be free of Disney. Itâs not the gloss thatâs the Disneyfication. Itâs the meddling in Joy to the World and The Reality War. Neither feel true to their respective authors. Joy to the World was better but still a little odd in the final analysis. The Reality War vastly moreso. It smells off. Ncuti leaving then just upturned everything and made things even worse.
I think eps 1-7 are the true vision. They are so typically and perfectly DW. I now strongly sense that Disney have been messing with what they see as the event episodes. Much as I hate to say it, DW needs to be free of them. Itâs a shame, because it should have been a beautiful opportunity, but I think itâll come to pass. I just hope the showâs able to carry on with a lesser budget.
Casting Billie at what looks like the eleventh hour, I think, is an indication that they are hopeful of carrying on whereas there was previously a question mark. The regen could easily have been left unresolved which would have made more sense if there was serious likelihood of imminent cancellation. Billie seems like a statement of intent. I hope Iâm right.
Iâm really surprised at how negative the average score for The Reality War is on here. I came on when adding my review expecting the average score to be around 3.5/4.0 and itâs actually closer to the 2.7 mark.
I thought it was fantastic. A brisk, fast-paced episode and a strong send-off for Ncuti Gatwaâs Doctor. Loved seeing the Thirteenth Doctor again, and even though the Billie Piper ending leaked, it was still one heck of a final scene.
Two days on from the episode, and Iâm sad to say that Iâm still genuinely angry with the story. âOmegaâ's return feels like a slap in the face to anyone who cares about him as a character, and the Rani being unceremoniously eaten is a waste of a good character and a terrible way to wrap up the series. Except, of course, for the fact that itâs not the end of the series yet, because we have to spend half an hour on a baby no-one cares about, rewriting Belindaâs entire character for the sole purpose of⌠justifying Conrad? There is no reason for Belinda to suddenly be a single mother, and the fact that Doctor Who is willing to sacrifice himself to preserve a hetero-normative child focused ideal of life is frankly disgusting. And Billie Piper as Doctor Who is a step too far for me. I was never a fan of Fourteen to begin with, but this is now a clear indication that RTD has no idea of how to move the show forwards, and just wants to rehash his first era. In a way, the episode is a remarkable achievement, because it has made me stop caring about what comes next for TV Who, and thatâs a really rubbish feeling. â Long Rant
I think its easy to blame Disney but I think the buck stops with RTD. If Disney had a bigger say they would have vetoed the Rani & Omega.
Yep, & why do the Doctor & Belinda care? At the start Anita Doorstopper said that this day was repeating, so Doccy Who & Belinda only knew Poppy for one day!
Thatâs it exactly! it flies in the face of everything the show stands for. It doesnât make narrative sense. It doesnât make philosophical sense. Itâs inconsistent in the extreme. It betrays the set up AND the characters (particularly Belinda and the Doctor).
I find it hard to believe that this was ever the plan.
My sonâs partner actually went on a set visit to Bad Wolf during the filming of this season and is so relieved finally to be able to talk about it. Sheâs reeling from the fact that the production team were very open about pretty much everything (upto and including Wish World) but that they also said Ncuti had no intention of leaving. Somethingâs gone wildly awry.
The Doctor should care about everyone as far as I am concerned.
And time is rewritten in such a way that Belinda always had Poppy and was determined to get home to her.
He didinât care about Belinda, if he did he would have asked for consent before turning her into a single mum.