Doctor Which

[Ruin Explorer]

Capaldi's first season was a muddled mess, but I thought the stuff introducing Missy (the best mystery that Doctor Who has had, IMO, although not a big mystery in terms of actual mystery shows), the Danny Pink storyline (finally doing a deep dive into the high price of being a companion that had been hinted at throughout NuWho, but never spelled out) and then the year with Missy as a companion were about the best writing the series has ever had.

It definitely all benefitted from having serious actors like Capaldi and Michelle Gomez to elevate it, but I felt these arcs achieved heights that the show rarely has been able to, and even then, usually only for a single episode. (There are a lot of great Tennant and Smith episodes, for instance, but they're usually book-ended by cringeworthy ones.)

I love Michelle Gomez as an actor in other things but I felt like Missy as a character was just way too consistently arch for even Doctor Who - which is saying something I admit! Maybe things improved when she was a companion but they'd lost me by then. Also, Capaldi for me was a mixed bag - he did elevate some episodes, even some I didn't like, he made feel more consequential, but others unnecessarily leaden and dull, and somehow Gomez's extreme arch-ness didn't leaven that, but sort of combined with it.

 

[Staffan]

Right?

It's interesting re: Capaldi for me, because I was super-hyped for him, and I thought his whole deal would translate perfectly to the Doctor, but I actually enjoyed his Doctor least of all of these (though I've seen very little Doctor 1 or 2). But I wonder if that was the writing and plotlines more than his performance.

One of the issues with Capaldi is that it felt like TPTB wanted to take the character in a new direction, but couldn't settle on which direction. When Capaldi was good, he was effin' fantastic, and he had the best River Song episode in the whole series.

But there were some duds in there. I suspect part of it could have been Moffat doing Sherlock at more-or-less the same time.

 

[overgeeked]

One of the issues with Capaldi is that it felt like TPTB wanted to take the character in a new direction, but couldn't settle on which direction. When Capaldi was good, he was effin' fantastic, and he had the best River Song episode in the whole series.

But there were some duds in there. I suspect part of it could have been Moffat doing Sherlock at more-or-less the same time.

There was also pushback from Peter Capaldi himself. He was tired of being written as the 12th Doctor and wanted to just be the Doctor. This is one reason why there’s such a tonal shift from his first series to his second and third.

 

[payn]

Gomez was great in Doom Patrol Too.