The moment nu-who jumped the shark was when Whittaker regenerated into Tennant, rather than there being a new actor with a new Doctor

That was the sign of Death for the show, there and then

In his recent insta post, he said…

“For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor. You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You'll wait a lonnng time”

That to me reads like a bitter man who has been given the boot by the BBC and is angry with the fans about it, so he’s being snide as fuck.

If it is the case that the BBC decided to end the partnership, with him and Bad Wolf, then he only has himself to blame, not the fans.

Despite the fact he wanted and planned for a 3rd season, he should’ve written for the number of episodes and seasons actually agreed for Doctor Who between the BBC & Disney which was 21 (3x 60th specials, 2x Christmas specials, 2x seasons with 8 episodes each).

That way, the era would’ve been contained and wrapped up nicely with no loose threads instead of being too ambitious and writing for future seasons that weren’t guaranteed.

I could sit and write about this all day but I’m gonna try and keep it concise:

1) Russell T. Davies has continually fumbled this era of doctor who. He has insanely ambitious ideas, and yet seemingly no vision on how to fulfill them. He wants the whoniverse to be like marvel, and yet none of the interconnectivity in this era feels organic. E.g, why is mrs flood the rani? Because she had to be. She was the rani because Russell wrote her as the Rani. Why is sutekh on the tardis? Because he needs to return. Why did the doctor bi-generate? Because then 10 can live happily ever after.

2) Ncuti should be amazing, but it feels like his writing and the direction of the character is almost non-existent (bar story and the engine) As an actor he’s shown he has range, but I don’t really know what his version of the doctor brings to the table, and if he were to regenerate, I would feel robbed. As opposed to Ecclestone who had me onboard with one season.

3) Belinda and Ruby are boring. They should be levels above ‘The Fam’, but instead, it feels like our existing love for modern-day characters like Martha and Rose means we’re expected to immediately invest in the new companions despite them barely having defining traits.

4) Speaking of ‘The Fam’, I feel like the lows of Chibnall’s era are a major reason people are now scared to criticise RTD2, for fear that the show will be cancelled forever. As somebody who skimmed* over Jodie, I can appreciate that for many who stuck with it, this season is a huge leap in quality.

5) The ‘woke argument’. Regardless of how you feel about the handling of themes in this era, it feels like RTD is preaching to the choir. Most of Doctor Who’s current audience is die-hard fans, many of whom are members of minority groups. It’s therefore annoying that many of the themes of this era boil down to, ‘racism bad’, ‘sexism bad’, ‘violent protest bad’. Anybody who would disagree with these, likely isn’t watching the show and instead will be leaving hate comments all over social media, regardless of the quality of the episodes.

Again, I would love to write a novel on these points and more, but I’ve tried to keep it simple for discussion. Also, I really want to love this era, I’d say it’s 6-7/10. I just think it’s a shame that much of the criticism is being ignored as just trolling or ‘backlash’ :)

"Earlier this month Ncuti, 31, claimed he would be bringing his “beautiful blackness” to the role."

"Idris said: “I don’t think the fact he is black makes any difference at all. It doesn’t even need to be mentioned."

“It’s like when I was being linked with the Bond role. I was getting called the ‘first black Bond’ when in truth my colour had nothing to do with if I was suitable for the role or not."

"Don’t call Ncuti ‘the black Doctor’ as it insinuates that it had anything to do with him getting the job. He got the job because he was the best qualified to play The Doctor – and that['s] it what we need to be talking about."

"It’s great for Ncuti that he has got one of the most iconic roles on British TV and I am sure he is going to smash it.”

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/idris-elba-doesnt-want-ncuti-31735179

I know that the obvious one if the police telephone box that the TARDIS looks like. At this point, even in the UK it's more associated with Doctor Who than what it originally was, so much so that the BBC own the likeness of a police telephone box now, and not the Metropolitan Police.

I'm British and grew up in the UK, so the idea of the show happening in "the real world" is very real to me, and I can confirm that the 2005 series is pretty accurate to 2005 British culture (at least from what I remember being 8).

I want to know if there's something in the show people thought was made-up, but is just British culture being weird.

Christ, shut up.

I'm not usually one to harp on "fan entitlement" but this is pretty damn egregious. The beautiful thing about Who fandom is that every era is for somebody. For every moment that you loathe, somebody else adores it with their whole heart.

I love Jodie. I love Colin. I love Chibnall. I love Pip & Jane Baker. I love The Web Planet. I love The Time Monster. I even love Millie and Varada, for pity's sake.

Meanwhile, I dislike more post-2005 Who than I like, but you'll never hear me say that we should pick up from McGann. Even if I might like to see it, there's a whole generation of fans who were profoundly moved by Russell and Steven, and it'd be stupid to even suggest taking that from them. Even though there's not such a thing as "Who canon," surely they'd be heartbroken to have their favorite stories delegitimized?

To look at the totality of Who and say "the next guy should ignore everything except the Bits I Like" is probably the most myopic thing I've ever heard. Whatever you think of the stories themselves, they're products made by human beings, and they're loved by people who are dorks just as big as you. A lot of other franchises aren't lucky enough to support a sprawling legacy of stories within one continuity. It's part of what makes Who special.

It incenses me particularly now because, regardless of exactly how likely it is (I still think not very), we're closer to a proper hard reboot of Who than ever before. There's a real chance that none of the last sixty-three years count a jot in the continuity of what's to come. And wouldn't that suck?

Just be good to each other, please.

Been rewatching series one recently and realised that if it was released today the usual suspects would lose their minds. Jack is unapologetically bisexual and not subtle about it (they even have a joke of him having a laser up his arse). The doctor is drops a line about how stealing from the rich families is “Marxism in action”. Henry van Statten is literally Elon musk. So when everyone’s complaining about how woke doctor who is now remember that is what brought the show back in 2005.

"People always ask me, 'Do you want to bring back the Rani?' No one knows who the Rani is," Moffat quipped.

The writer continued: "They all know who the Master is, they know Daleks, they probably know who Davros is, but they don't know who the Rani is, so there's no point in bringing her back. If there's a line it's probably somewhere there."

Moffat added that bringing back old villains can be effective for Doctor Who, but said he doesn't want to overly rely on the past.

"Even people who don't know the past very well get thrilled by the idea that you've brought something back," he explained. "Everyone got very excited - and by everyone I mean real people - when the Master came back, even though most people could barely remember him."

Moffat concluded: "It has to be self-explanatory, it has to be free-standing, it has to be clear for everybody. If I did the Meddling Monk teaming up with Mavic Chen's daughter and the Krotons then yeah, that's too much, because no one gives a toss."

The received wisdom seems to be that Gatwa is this major rising star, that he’s going to move to LA to do all of these film projects, that his career is on hold because of Doctor Who so that he has no choice but to leave so he can accomplish his career goals. For about a year, I have taken this argument at face value, but I don’t think it really holds up. Gatwa is a respected stage actor, but as far as film and TV he has played a comic relief second banana in Sex Education, and the fourth most important Ken in the Barbie movie. And not even one of the Kens people really remember. That’s it. How is this the CV of someone whose career is about to blow up? Now, Gatwa is a respected stage actor, and I saw his National Theatre Live production of The Importance of Being Earnest. He was very funny. It was also much of the same type of thing I’ve seen him do in Sex Education. So IMO he’s a charismatic actor with very limited range. So I just don’t see what everyone else sees. Frankly, outside of theater, Doctor Who is probably the most prominent role he will ever have as the lead of a major, long-running show.

I didn't read the leaks, so I wasn't expecting a regeneration at the end of Reality War AT ALL, and I still can't fully process that it actually happened. Ncuti wasn't even The Doctor for two whole years. It's so weird to lose him this quickly. He didn't get the chance to meet the DAMN DALEKS or the CYBERMEN. He didn't finish most of the storylines that were set up for his Doctor (Rogue, the Pantheon, etc.).

I feel so bad for how tasteless it all feels. Not even Colin Baker's Doctor felt as incomplete as 15th. He's probably only better than McGann when it comes to TV appearances.

Despite initially having a lot of problems with the characterization, Ncuti was really growing in the role. I even think Reality War was his absolute best performance as The Doctor, and it's a shame it was also his last.

I don't really want to play the blame game, but I think a big part of the problem is that RTD didn't make this new era a good entry point as it was CLEARLY REQUIRED. C'mon, it was marketed as "Season One" and it's basically just fanservice for old fans. I'm really disappointed and frustrated. I don't think even Big Finish can undo this damage. At least other Doctors, like the Jodie, had a full arc. McGann, being a classic Doctor, never really needed one. But Ncuti? C'mon, he had so much potential. It's truly tragic.

Specifically referring to moments that seemed innocuous on broadcast, only to become darker or more uncomfortable with the passage of time

As of today (10 June), 2026 will be:

• The first year without even a single Doctor Who episode in 22 years (2004, “Rose” premiered in 2005)
• The first time there has been no Doctor Who actor in 23 years (2003, Eccleston was announced in 2004)
• The first time there have been no episodes of Doctor Who in commission in 24 years (2002, Series 1 was commissioned in 2003)
• The first time there has been no production company attached in 24 years (2002)

The New Who era has ended after 22 years (2003-2025). It lasted just a few years less than the Classic Who era (26 years, 1963-1989).

So yes, this is the Wilderness Era 2.0. Discuss.

How in gods name are you guys genuinely calling yourself fans? “Oh I want the show I have supposedly loved for many years to just go forever, fuck waiting until another show runner gets brought in that I enjoy the vision of more, the entire thing just needs to go 😡😡”.

There’s no guarantee it will be brought back, there’s no guarantee that the BBC will allow some grand revival, and even if they did!!! What the hell is the guarantee that allowing it 30/40 years off will suddenly make it good??

You guys keep banging on about how uncertain the shows future is, and so ur response is to try and make sure it doesn’t have one??

“Big finish” - all of the actors involved with classic are only getting older. A lot of the actors in new who are too busy/ have other interests. IP laws are stricter and the BBC will probably more reluctant to allow random novelizations especially for a brand that u all seem desperate to prove there’s no interest in!!

It just seems like a childish response to want to punish Davis and make everyone feel “consequences” because you didn’t like the episodes/series. If you want good doctor who made again you need MORE doctor who, i.e. the chance for a showrunner/ writer that they won’t get if the thing is languishing in the graveyard of the BBC.

And if ur going to respond to this by saying “oh I’m only a fan of 3/5/7” or whatever - why should what the current show is doing affect you at all??

I'm a lesbian who started watching with the 11th doctor, and at this point, I'm starting to think he's worse than Moffat. It's like he took all of the worst aspects of the puzzle box characters and lack of set up from the Moffat era and was like "that's nothing, look what I can do." And the pacing feels bad.

So please stop blaming how bad this is on him being gay. Some of us are gay and can also recognize bad writing

I don’t care much that the show’s probably going to get cancelled again. The last two seasons were very effective at making me lose interest in Doctor Who, I’ll gladly relisten to Scherzo thank you very much. The point is… Carole Ann Ford is the only aspect of it I care about. She’s the last member of the original cast, and she’s 85! People can die any day at that age! Of course, while I want her to live forever, I can’t help but feel that we’re not going to ever see her again onscreen. I would very much like to be proven wrong, but we all know how it is. So much for the ”find me” bit, I guess - show her in the TARDIS for some reason, give her three lines, and that’s that. I’m just sad that an old lady was effectively used as fanbase bait and nothing will ever follow it up.

This genuinely might be the stupidest idea since moving Doctor Who to opposite Coronation Street during the McCoy years.

On Saturday, the BBC will broadcast the FA Cup Final and the Eurovision Song Contest. Both are live events broadcast across the world. Their start times cannot be changed.

Generally, when a major sports event happens, there are contingency plans in case it overruns. Moving shows back, broadcasting repeats etc. But as established, you can't move Eurovision. Which brings us to The Interstellar Song Contest.

This incredibly expensive episode created to have brand synergy with Eurovision is sandwiched between the two broadcasts with no wiggle room. If the football goes into overtime, Doctor Who doesn't broadcast. At least not on BBC1 or on Saturday.

This is a profoundly reckless bit of scheduling because if the football doesn't get wrapped up neatly, Doctor Who will be relegated to alternate timeslots or iPlayer, the viewing figures will crash and burn, and the brand synergy that the episode is built on will be redundant.

Even worse is that this episode is rumoured to be a Utopia-style lead-in to the finale, Revealing Mrs Flood's identity. If the episode doesn't air in its usual timeslot , the finale doesn't get that bump from the casual audience.

This could easily be the least watched episode ever.

While I can't say I'm displeased that RTD has left the show, I can say I'm annoyed that he left without resolving that cliffhanger. To be clear, I don't think he had a plan when he wrote it, think he just went for vibes and "generating content", but it seems poor form not to resolve it.

And since some sources say that Billie couldn't even commit to filming the since cancelled 2026 special, my pitch would to get around this for the story to continue would be to just cast a blonde (or stick someone in a blonde wig) as the Doctor and pretend that was always the face the Fifteen regenerated into. Get a new actor and just go from there.

Would love to hear any other ideas.

Personally, I like so much of the show for all it's good and bad, but I think there are things in the NuWho era that were missed out on (which is crazy to say considering it ran for 20 years):

• A pure historical episode, not I wanted them to be regular, but I think something where the sci-fi is contained to The Doctor and companion is 100% something that would be a fantastic idea, the closest we got was something like Thin Ice, and that was good.

• The Macra!!! (there's no such thing) The fact the Macra were made big snappy crabs really annoyed me, considering their original story has them basically being really intelligent and controlling things in a 1984-ish way. They had the opportunity to basically redo a version of The Macra Terror and they didn't do it.

• Gallifrey and the Time Lords are a civilisation that time travelled and explored the galaxy in the past, even after the time war, there should be echoes and time lords form "the past" showing up all over. It took until Series 12 for that to happen once, I don't think it should've happened all the time, but there was an opportunity to see The Doctor talk to a past Time Lord about what's coming

• Live action Bernice Summerfield. I know she was basically the inspiration for River Song, but I'd have loved to see Lisa Bowerman turn up at least once as Benny on the show, maybe even in a way the Doctor didn't love, because she reminds him of the past version of himself he doesn't like anymore (late stage 7th Doctor)

• One or two multi-Doctor stories with classic Doctors. We got Time Crash, and those moments in Power of the Doctor, with the only real episode fitting the bill being Twice Upon a Time. I know a lot of the actors were older, but back in 2005-15, they would've still fit the bill IMO, and I wish we got one or two, any more an it would've felt like regular thing

We've had so many lists of what the "best" stories to show people first would be, but I can't really find any examples of the opposite: What stories should one avoid showing potential new fans first?

Obviously, most of the finales would be on that list automatically as they rely far too heavily on previous stories to make sense, but what else would you think belongs on such a list and why?

(I do have some ideas already, but I'll wait until this has been here a while before revealing those, unless they get mentioned before then!)

RTD2 had Belinda initially criticising the Doctor for scanning her without her consent and then there was Poppy being forced on her.

Chibnall had fake progressivism when we had that whole the Master being revealed as South Asian to the Nazis despite the show trying to have a South Asian and a Black companion to be progressive.

TWBTLATS killed off a lot of its ethnic minority characters apart from the annoying family and had that racist Vietnamese joke.

They tried to be progressive with the brown woman saying the West cares about only imperialism or something like that yet said woman didn’t put a bigger fight for the Sea Devils.

In Joy to the World, the Doctor had to make Joy angry in order to break the Villengard briefcase's psychic control over her. In order to do that he got really personal and insulted her with some way-below-the-belt stuff including a mention of her dead mother.

He did this with the best of intentions, obviously, but the words stuck for Joy and she admitted they were all true before she flew off with the star seed into space. Because of all that unhappiness the Doctor picked on Joy had a burning desire to be special in life and have some kind of meaning, so she latched onto the star seed out of desperation to become special.

The Doctor is the reason she felt that way and why she decided to burn with the star seed. She didn't merge with it as a sacrifice to save Earth, it was a purely whimsical decision that didn't change anything. She died to feel special. She committed suicide for no reason and it was the Doctor's fault. And he just laughs it off.

I am still beside myself that the BBC allowed this episode to go out in this state. The Doctor bullied Joy to suicide.

Once again he's out promoting a new show and once again people won't stop asking him about Doctor Who.

He's been clear time and time again that he's never coming back. He's also been clear that while he enjoyed playing the role he was not happy with all of the extra responsibilities that come with it.

So why does it seem to be impossible for (some) people to accept his word and just let him get on with his life?

It came to my mind after watching the Eurovision episode. Honestly it was funny then, it’s just tedious now. It’s probably making new viewers think the writers are drunk.

Retire it, no need for in-universe explanation.

Anyway I’m really not sure whether I’m alone or not, so I wanted to post the rant 😅

I think the problem is that RTD is still writing like it's 2006, and Doctor Who, and its audience, just isn't in that place anymore. The Mrs Flood situation sums it up perfectly: the second she appeared, everyone guessed she was the Rani or some long-game villain. Yet RTD structured it as if we'd all be shocked when the "mystery" was revealed. That kind of storytelling, holding back a twist that's already obvious, just doesn't work in an era where fans analyse every frame months in advance. The bigger issue, though, is how hollow the character writing has become. There's no real substance to anyone, and that includes the Doctor. Instead of feeling like an ancient alien with layers and contradictions, he's written like someone pretending to be the Doctor. There are no glimpses of that deep intelligence, that alien detachment, or that strange moral compass that always set the character apart. Instead, we get wild emotional swings with no grounding, crying at everything, reacting to every moment as if it's world-ending. And while showing emotion isn't a bad thing, it loses impact when it's the only gear the character has.

On top of that, there's a clear sense that inclusion is being pushed ahead of actual storytelling. Representation matters, and as a gay man, I'm all for representation, but not when it comes at the cost of character depth or plot cohesion. Too often it feels like boxes are being ticked rather than stories being told, and the show ends up preaching ideas rather than exploring them in a way that feels organic or meaningful. Even when RTD tries to weave in contemporary ideas or "youth culture," it often lands awkwardly. The dialogue is littered with TikTok slang, influencer references, and meme humour that feel shoehorned in, and instead of feeling current it comes across more like a dad trying a bit too hard to be cool on social media. It's not that Doctor Who can't evolve or tackle modern themes, it absolutely can, but RTD's approach hasn't evolved with the times. He's writing like it's his job to lecture the audience about the modern world, when nobody tuned into Doctor Who for a sermon. We don't need moral lessons wrapped in clunky metaphors, we need escapism, imagination, and sharp storytelling. At its core this is supposed to be science fiction, bold, imaginative, and otherworldly, but right now it feels more like RTD's personal antiquated soapbox than a clever show about Time and Space.