I'm looking forward to the next series with a new doctor. I'm not a fan of Peter Capaldi.

Jodie Whittaker is 13th Doctor confirmed!!

I'm happy with this choice.

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Keeping hope alive, even at the bleakest moment.

I haven't updated this in a while, but since the first episode of the Thirteenth Doctor aired this week, why not?

Serials from the original series are identified by their production code and a three digit number of "overall" serial numbers as established by Doctor Who Magazine #407 and used on Wikipedia. The 2005+ show will only have the three digit numbers.

The Primary List, the actors chosen to be the incumbent Doctor in order they were chosen

Classic Series
1. William Hartnell (1963-1966)
"An Unearthly Child"(A/001)---"The Tenth Planet" (DD/029); reprises the role in "The Three Doctors" (RRR/065, 1973)
Companions:
"Susan Foreman"/Arkytior (Carole Ann Ford) A/001 "An Unearthly Child"---K/010 "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"
Ian Chesterton (William Russell) A/001 "An Unearthly Child"---R/016 "The Chase"
Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill)A/001 "An Unearthly Child"---R/016 "The Chase"
Vicki Pallister (Maureen O'brien) L/011--U/020 "The Myth Makers"
Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) R/016 "The Chase"---AA/026 "The Savages"
Katarina (Adrienne Hill) U/020 "The Myth Makers"--V/021 "The Dalek Masterplan"
Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh) V/021 "The Dalek Masterplan"
Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) W/022 "The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew's Eve"--BB/027 "The War Machines"
Ben Jackson (Micheal Craze) BB/027 "The War Machines"--DD/029 "The Tenth Planet"-->
Polly Wright (Anneke Willis) BB/027 "The War Machines"--DD/029 "The Tenth Planet"-->

2. Patrick Troughdon (1966-1969)
"The Tenth Planet"(DD/029)/"Power of the Daleks"(EE/030)---"The War Games"(ZZ/050). Reprises the role in "The Three Doctors"(RRR/065, 1973), "The Five Doctors"(6K/129, 1983), and "The Two Doctors"(6W/140, 1984)
Companions:
Ben Jackson (Micheal Craze) <--EE/030 "Power of the Daleks"--KK/035 "The Faceless Ones"
Polly Wright (Anneke Willis)<--EE/030 "Power of the Daleks"--KK/035 "The Faceless Ones"
Jamie McCrimmon (Frazier Hines) FF/031 "The Highlanders"--ZZ/050 "The War Games"
Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) LL/036 "Evil of the Daleks"--RR/042 "Fury From The Deep"
Zoe Herriot (Wendy Padbury) SS/043 "The Wheel In Space"--ZZ/050 "The War Games"
Recurring:
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) 1:QQ/041 "The Web of Fear"
Sergeant John Benton (John Levene) 1:VV/046 "The Invasion"

3. Jon Pertwee (1970-1974)
"Spearhead from Space"(AAA/051)---"Planet of the Spiders"(ZZZ/074). Reprised the role in "The Five Doctors"(6K/129, 1983)
Companions:
Liz Shaw (Caroline John) AAA/051 "Spearhead From Space"--DDD/054 "Inferno"
Jo Grant (Katy Manning) EEE/055 "Terror Of The Autons"--TTT/069 "The Green Death"
Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) UUU/070 "The Time Warrior"--ZZZ/074 "Planet of the Spiders"-->
Recurring:
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)
Sergeant John Benton (John Levene)
Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) 1: EEE/055 "Terror of the Autons"

4. Tom Baker (1974-1980)
"Planet of the Spiders"(ZZZ/074)/"Robot"(4A/075)---"Logopolis"(5V/115)
Tom is the Doctor most familiar to older American fans--PBS started rerunning his stories in the 1980's. He's the one with the thick curly hair and the super-long scarf. See also the Curator below.
Companions:
Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) <--4A/075 "Robot"--4N/087 "The Hand of Fear"
Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) 4A/075 "Robot"--4F/080 "Terror of the Zygons"
Leela (Louise Jameson) 4Q/089 "The Face Of Evil"--4Z/097 "The Invasion of Time"
K9 Mk1 (John Leeson) 4T/093 "The Invisible Enemy"--4Z/097 "The Invasion of Time"
K9 Mk2 (John Leeson/David Brierley) 4Z/097 "The Invasion of Time"--5S/113 "The Warrior's Gate"
Romana 1 (Mary Tamm) 5A/098 "The Ribos Operation"--5F/103 "The Armageddon Factor"
Romana 2 (Lalla Ward)5J/104 "Destiny of the Daleks"--5S/113 "The Warrior's Gate"
Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) 5R/111 "Full Circle--5V/115 "Logopolis"-->
Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) 5T/114 "The Keeper of Traken"--5V/115 "Logopolis"-->
Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) 5V/115 "Logopolis"-->
Recurring:
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)
Sergeant John Benton (John Levene)

5. Peter Davison (1980-1984)
"Logopolis"(5V/115)/"Castrovalva"(5Z/116)---"The Caves of Androzani"(6R/135); Reprises the role in "Time Crash"(187.1, 2007)
Companions:
Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) <--5Z/116 "Castrovalva"--6B/121 "Earthshock"
Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) <--5Z/116 "Castrovalva"--6G/126 "Terminus"
Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) <--5Z/116 "Castrovalva"--6P/133 "Resurrection of the Daleks"
Vislor Turlogh (Mark Strickson) 6F/125 "Mawdryn Undead"--6Q/134 "Planet of Fire"
Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown (Nichola Bryant) 6Q/134 "Planet of Fire"--6R/135 "The Caves of Androzani"-->
Recurring:
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)

6 Colin Baker (1984-1986)
"The Caves of Androzani"(6R/135)/"The Twin Dilemma"(6S/136)---"Trial Of A Time Lord (The Ultimate Foe)"(7C, 143D)
Companions:
Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown (Nichola Bryant) <--6S/136 "The Twin Dilemma"--7B/143B "Trial Of A Time Lord (Mindwarp)"
Melanie Bush 7C/143C "Trial Of A Time Lord (Terror Of The Vervoids)"--7C/143D "Trial Of A Time :Lord (The Ultimate Foe)"-->

7. Sylvester McCoy (1987-1990, 1996)
"Time and the Rani"(7D/144)--"Survival"(7P/155)
The original show was cancelled in 1990, but McCoy got to reprise the part in the 1996 TV movie (156), and be seen regenerating into his successor.
Companions:
Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) <--7D/144 "Time And The Rani"--7G/147 "Dragonfire"
Dorothy "Ace" McClane (Sophie Aldred) 7G/147 "Dragonfire"--7P/155 "Survival"
Recurring:
Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)

8. Paul McGann (1996)
Only made one onscreen appearance as the incumbent Doctor, the 1996 TV movie (156). Reprises the role in 2013's "Night of the Doctor" (239.1). Has made a large number of audio dramas for Big Finish; because their contract only covered the original show, until 2015 McGann is treated as their incumbent Doctor. He namedrops some of his Big Finish companions in "Night of the Doctor" making at least some elements of the audio dramas provisionally canonical.
Companions:
Dr. Grace Hallowell (Daphne Ashbrook) 156 (TV Movie)
Charlotte "Charlie" Pollard (India Fisher)(Big Finish Audio--mentioned in 239.1 "Night of the Doctor")
C'rizz (Conrad Westermaas)(Big Finish Audio--mentioned in 239.1 "Night of the Doctor")
Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith)(Big Finish Audio--mentioned in 239.1 "Night of the Doctor")
Tamsin Drew (Niky Wardley)(Big Finish Audio--mentioned in 239.1 "Night of the Doctor")
Molly O'Sullivan (Ruth Bradley)(Big Finish Audio--mentioned in 239.1 "Night of the Doctor")

Revived Series.

(See 8.5 below for John Hurt)

9. Christopher Eccleston (2005)
"Rose"(157)---"The Parting of the Ways"(166)
Per "Night of the Doctor"(239.1), "Day of the Doctor" (240), and "Time of the Doctor" (241), he is actually the Doctor's tenth biological incarnation.
Companions:
Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) 157 "Rose"--166 "The Parting of the Ways"-->
Recurring:
Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) 1: 157 "Rose"
Adam Mitchel (Bruno Langley) 1: 161 "Dalek"
Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) 1: 164a "The Empty Child"

10. David Tennant (2005-2010)
"The Parting of the Ways"(166)/"The Christmas Invasion"(167)---"The End of Time" (202); Reprises the role in "Day of the Doctor" (240, 2013)
Per "Night of the Doctor"(239.1), "Day of the Doctor" (240), and "Time of the Doctor" (241), he is actually the Doctor's eleventh and twelfth biological incarnations. The creation of the "Meta Crisis Doctor" in "Journey's End"(198) allowed the Tenth Doctor to regenerate without changing his appearance.
Companions:
Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) <--167 "The Christmas Invasion"--177B "Doomsday"
Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) 179 "Smith and Jones"--187C "The Last of the Time Lords"
Donna Noble (Catharine Tate) 189 "Partners In Crime"--198B "Journey's End"
Recurring:
Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke)
Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)
Melody "River Song" Pond Williams (Alex Kingston) 1: 195a "Silence In the Library"

11. Matt Smith (2010-2013)
"The End of Time"(202)/"Eleventh Hour"(203)---'Time of the Doctor"(241)
Per "Night of the Doctor"(239.1), "Day of the Doctor" (240), and "Time of the Doctor" (241), he is actually the Doctor's thirteenth biological incarnation, the last of his original life cycle. "Time of the Doctor" explains how he gets around that.
Companions:
Amelia "Amy" Pond (Karen Gilen) 203 "Eleventh Hour"--230 "The Angels Take Manhattan"
Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) 207 "The Vampires of Venice"--230 "The Angels Take Manhattan"
Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) 232 "The Bells of St. John"--241 "Time of the Doctor"-->
Recurring:
Melody "River Song" Pond Williams (Alex Kingston)
Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) 1: 218 "A Good Man Goes To War"
Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) 1: 218 "A Good Man Goes To War"
Strax (Dan Starkey) 1: 218 "A Good Man Goes To War"

12. Peter Capaldi (2013-2017)
"Time of the Doctor"(241)/"Deep Breath"(242)-"Twice Upon A Time" (276)
Per "Night of the Doctor"(239.1), "Day of the Doctor" (240), and "Time of the Doctor" (241), he is the Doctor's fourteenth biological incarnation, and the first regeneration of a new life cycle.
A glimpse of him is seen in "Day of the Doctor"(240), but he officially debuts in "Time of the Doctor"(241)
Companions:
Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) <--242 "Deep Breath"--262 "Hell Bent"
Nardole (Matt Lucas) 263 "The Husbands of River Song"--275b "The Doctor Falls"
Pearl Mackie (Bill Potts) 265 "The Pilot"--276 "Twice Upon A Time"
Recurring:
Melody "River Song" Pond Williams (Alex Kingston)
Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh)
Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart)
Strax (Dan Starkey)

13. Jodi Whittaker (2017-?)
"Twice Upon A Time" (276)/"The Woman Who Fell To Earth"(277) -->
Per "Night of the Doctor"(239.1), "Day of the Doctor" (240), and "Time of the Doctor" (241), she is the Doctor's fifteenth biological incarnation, and the second regeneration of a new life cycle. She is the first incarnation of the Doctor to be a woman; while regenerative gender-swapping is rare, it is not unknown, and it has been suggested (in fan circles anyway) that the "unnatural" regenerations gained in "Time of the Doctor" may play a role in the Doctor's case.
Companions:
Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) "The Woman Who Fell To Earth"(277) -->
Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh) "The Woman Who Fell To Earth"(277) -->
Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) "The Woman Who Fell To Earth"(277) -->

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The Secondary List: recast and retcon Doctors

1A. Richard Hurndall (1983)
Assumed the role of the First Doctor in "The Five Doctors" (6K/129, 1983) as William Hartnell was deceased by that time.

1B. David Bradley (2013)
Previously portrayed William Hartnell, not the Doctor, in the 2013 documentary "An Adventure In Space And Time", then appears as the actual First Doctor in "The Doctor Falls" (275b) and "Twice Upon A Time" (276)

1C. Micheal Jones (2014)
In "Listen" (245), through various circumstance Clara ends up in a barn under the bed of a young boy, who is later revealed to be the Doctor as a child. We are not given a good look at the child, nor is the actor who played him credited in the episode, but this obviously counts as an appearance by the First Doctor. (The name of actor Micheal Jones was revealed in Doctor Who Magazine #520)

6A. Sylvester McCoy (1987)
Actually played the Sixth Doctor for a few brief moments at the beginning of "Time and The Rani"(7D/144), as Colin Baker had quit the show

8.5. John Hurt (2013)--The War Doctor/The Other Doctor
Per "Night of the Doctor"(239.1), "Day of the Doctor" (240), and "Time of the Doctor" (241), he is actually the Doctor's ninth biological incarnation.
Introduced in "The Name of the Doctor"(239) simply as "The Doctor" with no other explanation; in "Night of the Doctor"(239.1) Paul McGann is seen regenerating into him via a potion provided by the Sisterhood of Karn. The latter episode referred to him as "The War Doctor". He's referred to as "The Other Doctor" in some toy packaging. Appears again in "Day of the Doctor"(240), which reveals that he didn't really destroy Gallifrey as he'd intended (though only the Eleventh Doctor knows that now) and shows the beginning of his regeneration into Christopher Eccleston (Eccleston was not involved, so they used stock footage and some CGI morphing).

10A. David Tennant (2008)--The "Meta Crisis" Doctor
The creation of the "Meta Crisis Doctor" in "Journey's End"(198) allowed the Tenth Doctor to regenerate without changing his appearance. He could arguably be considered the Doctor's twelfth biological incarnation. He was identical in appearance to the Tenth Doctor, and had all of his memories, but was biologically Terran. He goes to live with Rose Tyler in the parallel universe.

Micheal Jayston (1986)--The Valeyard
The Valeyard, the villain of the season-long "Trial of a Time Lord" (7A-7C/143) is revealed as a possible future Thirteenth Doctor (or to be more accurate, "Somewhere between your twelfth and final incarnation") who has fallen to the Dark Side, as it were, and bribed the Time Lords with future knowledge, forcing them to put the Sixth Doctor on trial so he could steal his seven remaining regenerations. Was namedropped in "The Name of the Doctor".

Tom Baker (2013)--The Curator
Introduced in "Day of the Doctor"(240) and hinted to be a future incarnation of the Doctor who'd "revisited" an "old favorite" face. Unlikely to be the Doctor's "real" future, of course, unless the show is once again cancelled.

The Tertiary List: Non-Canon Doctors

Peter Cushing (1965, 1966)
Portrayed a version of the First Doctor, albeit as a human who invented the TARDIS, in the feature films Doctor Who and The Daleks (1965), loosely adapted from "The Daleks"(B/002, 1963) and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966), an even looser adaptation of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (K/010, 1964). A third film based on V/021 "The Dalek Masterplan" was scrapped when 2150 underperformed at the box office.

Trevor Martin (1974)
In the stage play Doctor Who and the Seven Keys To Doomsday(1974), Martin played the Doctor; there was an opening projection of Jon Pertwee regenerating into Martin, making Martin an apocryphal alternate Fourth Doctor

Richard E. Grant (2003)
Provided the voice to the Ninth Doctor seen in the webcast "Scream of the Shalka". The BBC considered the webcast canonical at the time, but when the live action show was revived and Christopher Eccleston was cast as the Ninth Doctor, the "Shalka Doctor" became an apocryphal alternate much like Trevor Martin's Fourth. (Unless they get really cutesy and retcon it into an adventure of the John Hurt Doctor) Grant later appeared in "The Snowmen" (231) and "Name of the Doctor" (239) as the host of the Great Intelligence.


Reece Sheersmith (2013)
Similar to David Bradley, portrayed Patrick Troughdon in "An Adventure In Space And Time".

(Screenwriter Mark Gatiss appearaed as Jon Pertwee in some promotional material for "An Adventure In Space and Time", but did not appear in the final aired docudrama. Gatiss and Sheersmith are old friend, who appeared together in the show "The League of Gentemen")

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I had quite forgotten that I began this thread! But that's understandable, since it's been five years since it was even updated. Now, many years after going off Doctor Who completely, I have a few things to say. Or rather, quite a lot of things, if I go right back to when I stopped paying attention...

Matt Smith was good at the time, but now if I try to remember his performance, I find that it was more or less completely forgettable. That's hard on him, but honestly, David Tennant eclipses his entire run in my mind. Once Karen Gillan left, neither Matt nor Gemma Coleman was enough to make me stick with the – in my opinion – tired format and ropey writing.

I don't happen to like Peter Capaldi in general. For me, his performance was a huge a blot on the otherwise perfect cast of The Musketeers, and from what I heard while Jake (KevinsMensPyjamas) was watching, Peter played the Doctor in exactly the same way as he played (ruined) Richelieu. Whatever the case may be, I am of the opinion that the decision to make him physically reminiscent of Tom Baker's Doctor suggests something fundamentally lacking in his performance.

I am also of the opinion that changing a male character to female is unnecessary at best (though I am not sufficiently invested in the show to feel strongly about it). I have often expressed the (rather unkind) opinion (to Jake) that Jodie Whittaker did nothing with the role but copy David Tennant, and anyone wishing to berate me for having an uninformed opinion would be perfectly justified because, as I say, I had stopped paying attention some time ago. I do know fans are pretty well furious about Chris Chibnall's 'Timeless Child' storyline. The BBC didn't exactly stick by their show, or their choices of writer/show-runner and lead actor, with the time-slot being changed from Saturday to the much less desirable Sunday, and specials airing at crumby New Year rather than let's-all-watch-whatever's-on-BBC1 Christmas Day.

Now, with a male actor in the role again and Russell T. Davies bearing the burden of fans' hopes and expectations, we're getting a new episode this very coming Christmas Day. Hmm... Prior to this, we had the three-part 60th anniversary special, and Russell T's uncanny ability to claim that absolutely anything makes enough sci-fi sense allowed all sorts of... well, things to happen with the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate. And hey, their plan worked on me. I watched it. Did I like it? Well, no. I was put off by what I considered to be poor pacing, contrived storytelling and distracting over-use of CGI. But I've heard Jake watching YouTube videos of fans saying how much they loved it, and my opinion is no more valid than theirs... perhaps less, as they are really, truly, passionate lovers of the franchise.

I shall be watching Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson (who has a very interesting look and seems to me, without having seen her act, like a clever piece of casting) on Christmas Day. But these days the unfortunate Americans have to pay for the privilege, don't they? Stupid streaming...

I've also begun watching some classic Doctor Who since the BBC added very nearly all seventy million episodes to their (free) streaming service. I have some opinions about what I've seen so far, but that isn't very much and this post is very much, so I'll leave it there for now.

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'Extreme Ghostbusters was the best-written show, because it wasn't just about the ghostbusting, it was about the characters.' - Rino Romano

EGB Fan's EGB Fans
EGB Fan on FFN and AO3

I haven't commented on DW in a while. I kind of drifted out when Peter Capaldi announced his departure--being an old timer, I quite enjoyed his very "old school" take on the Doctor, even if some of the material didn't quite measure up. (ie "Kill the Moon" 's painfully stupid ending, and "In the Forest of the Night" 's painfully stupid...just about everything) But he also gave us some riveting performances in the Zygon two-parter and "Heaven Sent"; he's definitely my favorite of the 21st Century Doctors. It had nothing to do with Jodi Whittaker or Chibnall (at the time, since we didn't know how bad he was yet) and in fact all I've seen indicates Jodi had the same problem as Capaldi at times--great actor, bad stories--but much worse.

I was intrigued by the surprise return of David Tennant, and them using an old Marvel UK story ("The Star Beast", which I'd read in Marvel US's reprint back in the 1980's) A friend of mine is familiar with Ncuti Gatwa's other roles, and he's optimistic. As an old Tom Baker grognard I was very intrigued by the return of the 1973-1979 "diamond" logo--for the diamond anniversary!!! (Yeah, I know it techically debuted with Jon Pertwee's final season, but it's more associated with Tom, just like the neon tube logo first debuted in Tom's final season, but is more associated with Peter Davison and Colin Baker)

I'm really not sure about the "bi-generation" plot twist, though. It's like dammit, RTD just felt like he had to show up Chibnall's "Timeless Child" the way Chibnall had to show up Moffat's War Doctor. I can do without these canon-shredding twists just for the sake of shock value, thank you very much.

As always, we'll just have to see what the future holds.

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I have heard/read two big criticisms of the Thirteenth Doctor that I very much agree with, both of which are problems with the writing rather than Jodie's performance, though I don't think she brought anything new to the role. These are that the character is too morally ambiguous, and almost completely unwilling and/or unable to form emotional atachments with her companions. I do feel these aspects are very much at odds with the behaviour of the other Doctors I'm familiar with, as well as being disappointing to watch, though having recently become acquainted with William Hartnell's performance as the First Dotor, mabe they're not totally unprecedented!

I hate all the recent mucking about with the continuity and I think Russell's shown himself to be just as bad as Chris Chibnall (or very nearly as bad!) with this bi-generation thing, which is self-indulgent and rather takes away from the Fifteenth Doctor - it's like, don't worry, if you don't like this Doctor then we can always get David Tennant's Fourteenth to do something instead because he still exists! In the upcoming series I hope to see some interesting, stand-alone adventures with good interplay between the Doctor and his companion, so I won't need to think about the Timeless Child or bi-generation while watching.

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"Oh no, I let it loose!"

Here I am back again, to say very little, I think. I implied last time that I was going to have something to say about the classic Doctor Who episodes that I've been streaming; since then, I've realised that none of it really speaks to me, and any thoughts I started to form are not worth mentioning.

I did have several thoughts about yesterday's new Christmas special, not all of them complimentary, and very few really worth bothering about. I'll just say that (having dumped on enough actors in my last post) I think I like Ncuti and Millie, and I'm planning to stick with them.

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'Extreme Ghostbusters was the best-written show, because it wasn't just about the ghostbusting, it was about the characters.' - Rino Romano

EGB Fan's EGB Fans
EGB Fan on FFN and AO3

The new series started with a double bill on Saturday and the second episode is a strong contender for the worst thing I've ever seen! It's certainly the worst episode of Doctor Who I've ever seen, though it doesn't even really qualify as an epiosde of Doctor Who in my eyes. This season is going to have to be very careful and lead to a fully satsifying conclusion involving Anita Dobson and Ruby, otherwise the show really will lose me as a viewer after 20 years.

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"Oh no, I let it loose!"

As promised, I'm back to watching the series for the sake of one or two actors, as I was doing a long time ago whilst finding the writing ropey and the storylines irritating. Space Babies reminded me very much of those days. The Devil's Chord reminded me of watching the recent(ish) adaptation of The Witches and thinking... feeling... I can't even put it into words (KMP's reaction [above] reminds me of that, too).

No, I can't put my feelings into words, but I shall attempt to qualify them. Excessive singing and dancing is always irritating to me outside its own genre (and sometimes within it). Selling something on a USP you actually get very little of (in this case, the Beatles) is also irritating. So are pathetic jokes. So is a lot of 'cool'-looking CGI because they can. And this is all on top of the usual ropey writing.

Though I try not to engage with wider public opinion, I do keep seeing headlines from MSN that tell me any negative views making it into the news are those who say The Devil's Chord was 'woke'. But of course, that must mean that anyone who doesn't like it - for any reason - is racist, misogynistic and/or queerphobic, right? I feel very sad that such things are now being used as a shield to say, 'You have to like our product if you're not a bigot!' I think we're all safe from such accusations here. Still, I'd like to reiterate: I watched this for the cast.

I'd like to say that anyone outside the UK who can't afford/doesn't want to line the pockets of Disney and the BBC even further aren't missing anything, but opinions differ, and it's a shame that people are being made to pay to find out what their opinion even is. Streaming brand new shows is one thing, but taking already popular shows in which audiences have invested years of their lives... streaming those is pretty much holding them to ransom.

Not a very cheerful post. Sorry! If you want positivity from me, find me in the nostalgia sections.

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'Extreme Ghostbusters was the best-written show, because it wasn't just about the ghostbusting, it was about the characters.' - Rino Romano

EGB Fan's EGB Fans
EGB Fan on FFN and AO3

More than agreed. I hate the media balkanization that streaming has brought on. I know I'm just a crusty old Twentieth Century guy, but I can't quite get over the "I'd watch this if it was on REAL TV instead of a fucking streaming service I won't want to pay for and otherwise won't watch" mentality.

And those darn kids need to get out of my yard. Or I'll tell them the story about how I had to go through ten miles of snow uphill both ways to pay my cable TV bills.

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The season finale aired on BBC1 this evening. Everything about it was fundamentally awful in my opinion. It would be bad enough if Russell T Davies had given us an explanation to his series-long mystery that was simply underwhelming and unsatisfying, but what he actually did (in addition to this) was reveal that there was no real mystery in the first place and if we thought there was, it wasn't his fault but ours! What a load of fetid dingoes' kidneys!

I will watch the next season because I want to know about Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) and there really must be some sort of explanation in there, however weak and awful it might turn out to be, as this will mark the end of what Disney, Russell T Davies and Ncuti Gatwa initially signed up for. I'm not sure if any or all of them have committed to more episodes by now, but I rather hope Disney doesn't want to invest in the show anymore because it would serve the BBC right for making such awful telly nowadays!

It's a shame, really, because Ncuti is the Doctor I've enjoyed watching the most since Matt Smith, and Millie (as Ruby) does a pretty convincing job with whatever (mainly nonsense) she's given. One of the big problems with the season has been the lack of a consistent, tangible relationship between them, especially as they spent at least two of the eight episodes with virtually no screen-time together. It's been very poor use of two new lead actors over eight episodes and a Christmas special, all in all.

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"Oh no, I let it loose!"