I think a lot of it stems from, unfortunately, some people not WANTING to like it, so it’s not really in their interest to make coping with it easier for them, they’d much rather stay in their bubble of hating it no matter how disprovable their reasons are, rather than try to correct themselves and criticise things that actually happened.
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Probably mine is that City of Death is wildly overrated. I just don’t get what people see in it to rank it so high. It’s a mildly entertaining story with some interesting concepts and a few very funny moments, but god it drags a lot of the time. I’d rather watch any other story from Season 17 except Destiny. Shada is one of my favorite ever Doctor Who stories, Nightmare of Eden I think might be the funniest Doctor Who story, and to jump to a story from another season that shares a writer, The Pirate Planet is brilliant and funny and consistently entertaining. But please don’t make me watch City of Death again.
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I have never read something that has gone so quickly from me going “yeah, I can get behind this” to “no, absolutely not”.
But I guess that’s the magic of Doctor Who, everybody has a different take.
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RTD2 was one of the worst decisions made in modern Doctor Who history.
The Timeless Child should be left alone, the more it’s elaborated on, the more I dislike it.
Scream of the Shalka is pretty good, I don’t know what the hate I’ve seen online is all about.
The Sea Devils deserve yet another chance to prove that they are better characters than the Silurians.
Occasional fourth wall breaking doesn’t need to be explained, unless it is Mrs. Flood, who clearly has a larger role in the future.
RTD, in both of his eras as showrunner, writes decent openers (not Space Babies) and endings, but adds a lot of filler episodes into every series that are completely unnecessary and oftentimes don’t amount to very much.
Season 23 and 12 are overrated from what I’ve seen online.
Multi-doctor episodes, with the exception of maybe The Three Doctors and the Two Doctors are not very good.
Keeper of Traken and Logopolis are great episodes, but not as good when the context of the other episodes in Season 18 are considered.
David Bradley as the First Doctor (solely based ON TUAT, as I haven’t listened to his Big Finish stuff yet) was not a great idea and it’s jarring to see the difference between Hartnell’s portrayal and his - it’s like they’re at two wildly different periods in his history, and ultimately walks back much of the character development found during the Hartnell era. This is likely a writing issue though.
The TV Movie is one of the best episodes of Doctor Who and worked as a great introduction to the show for those who were unfamiliar overseas.
Rose and Ten’s relationship is highly overrated and I don’t see why it was emphasised so much (especially to other companions, i.e. Martha and Donna).
The Sarah Jane Adventures has some better episodes than the main show.
Smith’s first console is the only good console in NuWho.
Capaldi is an average Doctor but a fine actor. The writing let him down.
Shada, if it were finished and released at the same time as Season 17, would be considered one of the best episodes of Classic Who.
We deserved better for the 50th anniversary. It was just a celebration of NuWho.
The fantasy elements of Season One would have been okay if there was a solid mix (perhaps 50/50) with more sci-fi elements; it felt as though Doctor Who had taken a sudden shift, and I’m not sure that I like it.
No matter what anyone says to me, I can’t get behind the idea to have singalongs in Doctor Who.
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Nah - fantasy has always been a huge part of the show. The science fiction is just window dressing half the time. The TARDIS is a magic door. Always has been. 
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Wow, much to mull over here! Thank you for sharing! Some things I agree with you on wholeheartedly, like Ten and RTD episode 1’s, some things I don’t agree with but see where you’re coming from, like Sarah Jane, and some things I just don’t agree with at all like Three and Inferno and Clara. Guess I just like the Twelve&Clara toxicity 
Yes this!! Love that episode!
Has it got it’s issues? Sure it does, but show me a DW episode that doesn’t, I’ll wait… I unironically love Time-Flight, and maybe it’s just the aviation fan in me that gets a kick out of it, but it genuinely is just fun
Hard. Agree. This one feels very controversial but I’m with you 100%
Wow we must move in different circles because I’m sick of seeing everyone adore her! Alas, I’m not a fan, something about Jenny doesn’t work for me though the episode itself is enjoyable enough
Yes! Yes! Cannot begin to explain how much I hate that story. I have no idea what people see in it, it’s boring nonsense
yes it is… haha
It’s so wonderful that people can get so many different things out of this show!
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TV Movie forever <3
Totally agree with you about TenRose though, I find it tiresome that there are still people today who insist that Rose was the only meaningful relationship of any kind that the Doctor has or ever will have when that’s just not how this works at all.
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Yes, I meant the episode itself, I always see it around the bottom of people’s series 4 rankings. The character I’m not too fussed about, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if we never saw her again.
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Controversial opinion, huh? Here’s one of mine:
I actually like “The Armageddon Factor”. I KNOW it drags and isn’t the tightest story in the season, but I remember it with huge fondness from my childhood. The childhood imagination is so vivid. I was horrified at the thought of K9 being melted down and wrote about it (extensively) in my school exercise book. I was also transfixed by The Shadow and beguiled by the scenes where the Doctor is shrunk down in. Even today, I cannot shake my childhood fascination with this story. It’s far from my favourite within the season (a season I adore) but it’s unashamedly a story that triggers my imagination and is wonderfully nostalgic.
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Yeah, not my favourite story (I think it’s quite the clunker and sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise exemplary season) and not my favourite character either. I think Georgia is great, but Jenny just grates (pun intended).
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Someone understood the assignment!
I disagree. Not everyone is a completionist, nor does everyone have the time, energy, or interest to sit and watch a million episodes of a television show, especially when a lot of the episodes may or may not appeal. I’m someone who exclusively jumps around (Fifteen’s era excluded) and I don’t feel that I’ve missed anything glaring from doing so, nor do I think my viewing experience has been watered down or tainted. The DW fandom is big enough to where you can absorb a lot of information through osmosis (or through a quick wiki search), and the TV show, honestly, is not as complicated as you’re making it sound on the surface. Unless you’re trying to get an award for the most knowledgeable DW fan who has watched every serial to date, respectfully, who really cares?
I don’t care for him either for much of the same reasons. He’s the most normal/humanlike Doctor out of the Classic run and, for that, I’m not interested. Nothing about him screams “Doctor Who” to me; and his run watches more like a cheap rendition of Bond.
I watched this for the first time a few days ago and was disappointed. The best parts were part one and the last ten minutes of part four.
Now this is a good story.
I’m curious why you think so!
I’m one of those rare people who don’t like stories when the Doctors meet, but I love TTD.
Boom was terrible, and I’m someone who loves media where “nothing” happens.
I think you mean one of the best 
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I adore Shada! Love the script, the setting, the creativity!
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I enjoyed “Boom”, but it’s one of my least favourite from Ncuti’s first season. I guess it just felt pretty routine to me. Routine good, but routine nonetheless! I think this was a combination of a solid script from Moffat and straightforward solid direction from Robinson. Her direction was fine but she’s no Ben Chessell or Dylan Holmes Williams.
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Sorry gang, I absolutely don’t see the appeal of Shada in any of its forms - maybe I could have enjoyed the episode as it was meant to be but I’ve never got the Shada hype. And I watched the flash animation too!!
Then again, I find City of Death leaves me cold too ¯_ (ツ)_/¯
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I’ll let you off, since you have such excellent taste in other cases!
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In the beginning of my DW interest, I thought City was one of the best serials. I’d need to rewatch to be certain, but years later I’m starting to think the best part was really just in the beginning with all the on-location backdrops. It doesn’t help that that’s the only part of that serial I remember (up until the point where Four’s playing with that puzzle).
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I think I need to give it a fair and neutral rewatch because it’s been a long time since I watched it, but I never ever really understood the City hype. I think I would also benefit from watching it as a one-off bc I’ve only ever watched it as part of a Classic Who marathon and by that point I tend to be getting pretty severe Tom Baker fatigue
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I now feel like my super common take of loving City of Death is a controversial one here!
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Not at all (at least not where I’m concerned). One of my all time favourites. Utterly delightful dialogue, the wonderful Julian Glover, timey-wimey shenanigans long before Moffat made it a “thing”. This is one of those peak Who stories.
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No, definitely enjoy City of Death here…
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