Unpopular Geek Media Opinions

[MGibster]

As I have already written, I think that the measure of success when looking at adaptations should never be, "This is just like the source." YMMV.

I can agree with that. It's a different medium and can't really be just like the original source. I'm not going to piss and moan because Hugh Jackman is a lot taller than Wolverine is in the comics. But if Wolverine could fly and used a hammer instead of claws I'd be a bit upset.

 

[Ryujin]

It's not war; the reason that this adaptation is particularly uncomfortable for some people is because it necessarily implicates the exact reverence for the military that exists within the source material.

I'm glad that you qualified that statement

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The whole Timeless Child thing is such a crummy recontextualization.

It honestly feels a bit Zack Snyder, with Chibnall fundamentally not getting Doctor Who.

The Doctor isn't awesome because they're the most unique unicorn of all time (something that RTD and Moffett need to chill out with as well), but because they're an immortal with a time machine who can't help sticking their nose into everyone's business.

They're Ford Prefect without the alcohol problem. That's more than sufficient for the franchise. When you start making them extra bonus special plus, you make the character less compelling, not more.

Honestly at this point I'd much rather the Master was also dead if we're going to have all Time Lords dead. It is boring particularly dull to have just them around.

I keep waiting for some villain to pull a "oh, Doctor, don't you recognize me? You don't really think only you and your frenemy were the only of us to survive, did you?" I loved the Missy twist, but I would have been delighted if she'd been the Rani or Romana broke bad or something.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh this reminds me that Black Sails is an awesome series.

Well, periodically awesome. Then then periodically cringeworthy.

You can tell there was a substantial divide in the writer's room over how women were depicted, for instance, and only some of the writers cared about it as a Treasure Island prequel.

 

[Riley]

Chibnall, being at heart a vandal and only interested in what he personally thought was cool, decided to completely destroy Time Lords again and to really try hard to not let any future showrunner be able to use them.

EDIT - I'd also add that change in context means the Doctor seems far less brave and moral. As a rebel Time Lord, the Doctor was a person rejecting a bad society and choosing to help people, no matter the cost and risk. As the Timeless Child, he's just a superior magic space god, who was never genuinely a Time Lord, who was always literally "better" than them, just a victim who got tricked and used, and the Doctor's bravery and moral stand seem far less impressive. It's a far more simplistic conception that has far less relevance and relatability, which sucks.

Is this an unpopular opinion?

I’m kinda glad I don’t know what you’re talking about here; you’re making me thankful I’ve only watched a handful of the Chibnall-helmed episodes. (Nothing at all to slight Jodie Whittaker. I’ve thought she was great in everything I saw. But I generally didn’t like the episodes Chibnall wrote before they handed him the keys to the TARDIS. )

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I’m kinda glad I don’t know what you’re talking about here; you’re making me thankful I’ve only watched a handful of the Chibnall-helmed episodes. (Nothing at all to slight Jodie Whittaker. I’ve thought she was great in everything I saw. But I generally didn’t like the episodes Chibnall wrote before they handed him the keys to the TARDIS. )

The Rosa Parks and Partition of India episodes are worth seeing, IMO. The rest is, unfortunately, extremely skippable.

 

[Riley]

The Rosa Parks and Partition of India episodes are worth seeing, IMO. The rest is, unfortunately, extremely skippable.

I watched the Rosa Parks ep, and liked it. I’ll check out the other you suggest.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Is this an unpopular opinion?

I’m kinda glad I don’t know what you’re talking about here; you’re making me thankful I’ve only watched a handful of the Chibnall-helmed episodes. (Nothing at all to slight Jodie Whittaker. I’ve thought she was great in everything I saw. But I generally didn’t like the episodes Chibnall wrote before they handed him the keys to the TARDIS.

Anyone who started watching Who in 2005 or later will probably never have seen the Doctor in anything but a "lonely god" context, will barely even be aware that there were Time Lords who weren't the Doctor and The Master, and if that's the sole context one has, the Timeless Child bollocks and general contextualization of the Doctor as a godlike figure, with ludicrous epithets like "The Oncoming Storm" will probably make more sense to them.

So I suspect it's a relatively unpopular opinion across the fanbase as a whole.

That Chibnall was a worse writer for Who than RTD or Moffat is not a particularly hot take, but I'd go quite a bit further than that, and suggest in some ways he was an actual vandal.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

They do say your favourite Doctor is the one you grew up with. For me that's Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. I know, that's two The Doctors. If I had to pick it's Tom Baker. But Pertwee had the jalopy, and the jiujitsu, and the biceps with the cool tats.

Anyway, I just wanted to chime in to agree with @Ruin Explorer. The Doctor as lonely space god is just not interesting. It's all too Childe Harold and Young Werther for me. I was an angsty teen once upon a time; I get the appeal of the lonely, unique, tragic hero figure. I wanted to have my angsty, no-one understands me feelings reflected and justified. Then I grew up.

The Doctor as a rebel. As a little person in a big universe just doing what he can to help. Someone who can consider the ethics of destroying the Daleks before they become the menace they are. That's an interesting character.

What I can't decide is my favourite companion. Sarah Jane Smith or Romana?

Sarah Jane does suffer a bit from damsel in distress syndrome. But for the time (early 70's) she was given a good amount of agency and competence. Sarah Jane in later appearances (e.g. her own series)

Romana was an excellent foil for the Doctor. She was his equal in every way. Hell, academically she blew him out of the water. Whereas the Doctor had the street smarts and the human warmth. Romana developed these as she went along of course.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sarah Jane is kind of the science fiction Mary Tyler Moore. By today's standards, a sort of antiquated character. But at the time, a true trailblazer.