TV Shows Doctor Who Series 8 - Yea or Nay?

Fellow Whosians, do you like it or do you not ?

 

Yes i do, but i can see why opinion is divided on it...

 

Nope, scripts are to manic and disjointed. Don't think it's anything to do with capaldi

 

I like it too... But in the sad state science fiction is right now in TV, there is not much to choose from in the first place.

 

It has moments of brilliance but I've been disappointed so far, I really enjoyed last nights up until the whole emotional bit at the end.

What I'm fed up with is they keep rehashing the whole random trips with something sinister going on in the background. We've had The Silence, Bad Wolf etc and now we have Paradise.

 

I'd been 7 episodes so far and I'm already fed up with Doctor Scrooge, and I don't even mention the fact that they completely screwed Clara's personality.

 

Steaming pile of shite so far largely, watched the 2 most recent ones last night to catch up - Caretaker was just an excuse for the doctor to meet & not like/like Clara's boyfriend with some sub-plot about a crap looking alien robot tacked on badly and could have been so much better executed as a story, Kill the moon was kinda okay but with nonsensical plot points ( remember the star whale space ship dilemma a few years back? Doctor didn't bail at the critical moment back then, so why now... ) and plot holes so big... well, you get used to that by now I suppose.

The stories/writing is diabolically bad and plays to Capaldi's appearance as a grumpy/angry looking old man by having him act as a grumpy & angry old man who is a bit scatty/senile to boot- the stories have done nothing to help develop his character beyond that really + they make very little sense quite often in terms of character interaction and behaviour.

Do not like, even the chin-lord Matt Smith was more enjoyable as a bundle of whimsical energy who was quite mad but also very serious when he needed to be.

 

I happen to like it. The new doctor is different from the others, they always are.

The plot is patchy, but in all honesty the plot started as patchy with the tardis. In reality it is fiction and should be treated as such.

 

I quite like the current incarnation of the Doctor but the stories are rather so-so, except for episode 4 "Listen", which to me closes the "impossible girl" story arc beautifully. Clara really should have got together with Danny Pink and exited the series as the Doctor's companion in the very next episode and close that chapter. Instead the subsequent episodes feel like they are just diluting the impact pointlessly.

And "Caretaker"? What a tragic waste of an opportunity. Where was Moffatt's genius, when he made up the Ultimate Weapon, the deterrence to its use lying not in its ability to destroy entire planets, but in the fact that it would sit in judgement over its user? He could have invented something much scarier than a stupid four-legged robot, and tie it in with Danny Pink's war experiences. For instance:

Danny is an ex-soldier, sent to Afghanistan to be a caretaker of peace and democracy; of the UK and the Afghan people alike. But war is hell, and he found himself doing questionable things; things that haunt him in the night and make him fear for his humanity. How much can he reveal of his past to Clara, lest she think him a monster?

The Doctor promised to look after humanity. But he is separate from them, ancient and alien, and his involvement with the human race has left a trail of corpses, people who died believing in him and following him. What right does he have to decide their fate anyway? Who made him their caretaker?

The weapon has lain buried beneath London for millions of years, until construction works for an underground extension accidentally bring it back to the light. A self-replicating memetic parasite, its function is to protect and preserve its host. So when it comes across a school it infects teachers and pupils alike and turns them into stronger, faster and highly paranoid, violent versions of their former selves.

Can the Doctor, with Clara and Danny stop the infestation and save London before it tears itself apart? How do you stop an infection that is an idea? How do you neutralise a violent parasite without killing its host? How can you defeat the well-meaning monster without becoming one yourself?

There really just needs to be much better writing. But no TV series manages that anymore --it's the same old boring tropes done badly over and over.

 

While I agree the writing has been sub-par this season. My issue albeit superficial, is that the special effects/set design has been poor, to the point I have found it breaks immersion.

An examples would be "into the dalek".

Must of been a sale on grey ducting in a local DIY shop, considering the amount of the stuff they used, especially in the scenes with Clara in the vent.
The random inflatable lifeboat containers on the walls are also a bit random.

And that robot thing from "the caretaker" was cringe, looked like a reject from robot wars had an affair with garrus from mass effect.

 

Bio-Hazard would have been more convincing IMHO.

 

I'm not up to date (not entirely - missing 2 or 3 episodes), but I quite enjoy it so far.
I enjoy Capaldi's version of the Doctor being "darker", after Matt Smith was very light hearted.

Some of the stories so far are a bit meh, admittedly, but then - I have never treated Doctor Who as serious TV, and it's always been a bit of light hearted, not-too-serious TV for me, which had amazing episodes every now and then (The angels take over Manhattan was one, for example)

 

Capaldi has been trying, but the writers are just pushing out some terrible stories this series.

 

Capaldi is doing quite well.
Coleman is doing Very well.
the writers? they're .. erm.. what's the polite way of putting this?

Bollocksing it up royaly?

they seem to have missed the whole Day of the doctor/Christmas special thing.

they also seem to have forgotten that the basic premise of Doctor who has been, since the 60's anyway, that the Companion is the viewer, and the relationship between the doctor and the companion is the relationship between the program and the viewer.

And they seem to be setting out to make the doctor properly unlike-able. Which would have been ok.. but frankly should have taken three episodes.. not 5.

Also. they're re-visiting old plots.
Also, they're re-visiting old plot.

 

Forest shielding hearth ?

 

Capaldi's a great Doctor but he's been given tripe to work with and it's uninspiring at best. A shame really, hopefully next season will see things turn around.

 

Sci FI in general needs a turn around. Can not think of the last decent Sci Fi that actually survived more than 2 seasons.

BSG maybe? Doctor Who has gone off the boil in the last 2 seasons and hopefully they give him something better to work with.

 

Lets just say I'm looking forward to the up coming Farscape movie, and I'm disappointed that they didn't pick up the BSG: Blood & Chrome pilot mini series, BSG remake was awesome.

 

I think Capaldi shows real promise as a 'darker', more serious doctor whose methods question his own morals and ethics. However, the scripts and plotlines haven't wowed me at all, it's all so mediocre.

Everything is also about clara and what's his name. I couldn't care less and they know very well we only care about the doctor and his adventure, not the feelings of his 'comrade' or 'partner'. I do like that the doctor seems more like an overprotective father instead of a love interest, but he seems completely overshadowed in favour of her shoddy storyline. Yeah, I get why they do it, but most fans couldn't care less. The more they do this sort of thing, the more alienated they seem to make dedicated fans.

 

The only acceptable episode IMHO is the one with the Orient Express and yet there was something missing.