For me this is the most telling thing about Chibnall. If I looked at my top three from every other season the chances are RTD or Moffat would have been in there.
Whether or not people like the stories written by Chibnall either by himself or with others really doesn't actually mean anything in terms of judging the success or failure of his tenure as Showrunner.
I mean, given he's written or co-written 15 out of the 22 episodes of his era so far, surely it does?
I was all prepared to say I didn't think that would be the case for me regarding Davies (since I had a lot of issues with his broad strokes, overreliance on Earth-based stories, finales, and Christmas specials), but series 2 is the only one where I wouldn't be able to say that for him. Conversely, I thought I would be able to say that for every season for Moffatt, but I couldn't for series 6 (although not because of Moffat, but because of the guest writers, including one Neil Gaiman). That said, I can do that for Chibnall in series 11, but again, because I'm in the minority regarding "The Tsuranga Conundrum." Interesting, I hadn't seen that situation in that way. I don't know if you're right about that interpretation, but it is something worth thinking about. Well, that's not what we're really discussing about here. Besides, I moved my larger points about the dual burdens of showrunner and head writer to the Jodie rumor thread where that particular discussion is better suited so it wouldn't distract from the point of this thread.
Mixed bag for me, but it proceeds along decently enough and it ends on a really cool cliffhanger. This. A strong character moment. Using borrowed technology from the Stenza - who, like the Dominators are the masters of nine or ten galaxies and have yet to do a crossover, as if it would take much to do better than the flat "Daleks versus Cybermen!!!!!!" faff from series 2... It's almost "wallpaper music", but doesn't detract. It's reminiscent of and honors a lot of styles and tone from the 60s. His theme composition grew on me as well. 3 companions are arguably 1 too many, not always well-used in later stories , but the groundwork laid for them was top notch and we wanted to see more. The very next story onward, Yaz doesn't act like she's had police training and ditzy dyspraxic Ryan is a perfect ladder climbing robot shooter because he plays video games - better exposition could have sold the scenes better (which is Chibnall's least-effective strength), but it's not impossible either. Mishandled at times, too contrived at others, and a total 180 in later stories shortly aired (e.g. Doctor about killing and guns and stuff)... it's like Chibnall and his writing team wanted to do so much and tried to chuck it all in for chuckin's sake and with zero direction or consistency. 1960s WHO wasn't perfect but they didn't make so many overt mistakes... Continuity has become more a staple, especially in 21st century shows. Can there be a going back in that regard and accept the story as its own self-contained "island entity" of sorts?
I was trying to push back on the notion that those 15 episodes not being listed as somebody's Top episodes from this era is automatically equated with failure. Are RTD and Moffat's eras failures just because some people don't list any of the episodes they wrote personally during their tenures as Showrunners as being amongst their favorites from those eras?
Extremely well! ^^this Ditto. 13's comedic antics just feel like "Tennant and Smith redux" too much and I get more an impression that's what was on the script. Jodie herself said she hadn't watched any of the older episodes, so what's left is on the script. The Master's trademark for decades has been to come back unscathed. I found it refreshing to ditch the backstory. Especially with Dhawan's portrayal and the character going back to basics, including the TCE, Chibnall nailed the balance in taking an old character and making him more modern but without going to the excessive and extreme lengths RTD had. We didn't need Gallifrey to be destroyed again either, but Chibnall made it feel fresh and even more poignant because he made the personal nature of it come through far more strongly in the scripts and acting than "Daleks! Wiped out Gallifrey! Loud and overdone music that you must cry to!" had. Modern WHO has to have every Master incarnation having to be so cartoonish like that, I guess. Dhawan's is arguably the most grounded, though Missy had her moments. Moffat had to get a tall ladder and drag Simm's version down from the stratosphere and Simm's performance in Moffat's finale is so strong that it proved so much more about the handling of the character that RTD lazily put up there in the first place, complete with lightning bolts... ugh. It's not dated well at all. This. It's patchwork and piecemeal, but it was a new take on the companion family trope - something I didn't care for originally but has grown on me. The occasional real world handling and reaction is a fresh take, but get the companions and us into the Doctor's universe - not have the Doctor lumbering around on ours when making shallow speeches. But back to the main point, there was enough meat to the subplot - could have been more - but I wanted to see more of the family dynamic. Chibs' handling could have been far worse. ^^this Series 12 had some improvements, but more exposition than action. What action she did get was largely terrific from an authority type figure that an officer is. It never worked in classic Who either, except for season 1 (1963) when stories more often had 6 or more episodes to let everyone have a nice big slice of reaction and development stuff. Susan often got scripted wrong, especially given the background accorded her in the first 3 stories (13 episodes). Reduced to a screamer, it's completely out of sorts with what the first three stories, especially the 1st and 3rd stories tell. Continuity was a bit of a bear back then too... JNT copied the format when he stepped in as producer, but also trying to deal with his other own edict of "4-part stories maximum", it didn't quite work either... My top 4: 1. Spyfall was an eminently strong story, on all levels. Okay, the laser shoes scene was unnecessary, but everyone has something to dislike. Everything else was great. The historical figures' usage got kids of all ages to find books and articles to see what meshed and what didn't. The Nazis had an Indian legion, but that likely wouldn't have mattered at that point. Gotta agree on Lovelace and Khan being better companions... series 12 had Chibnall upping his game tremendously. Shame it was so uneven as the subsequent stories aired. 2. Fugitive of the Judoon - another strong story by Chibnall. Jack may have been underused, but focusing on new characters made more sense. The Judoon were never better used in the show up to this point, and there is a surprising sense of threat. Nobody expected Ruth to be the Doctor and, dang, Jo Martin sells it in her first thirty seconds on screen. Jo's Doctor (Ruth) comes from a big "hidden in plain sight" secret about being on the run from a bunch of people that lends credibility to the finale where it's said how Ruth is a predecessor and not a future incarnation, which doesn't stand up to any plot scrutiny but that's beside the point - especially if an upcoming episode makes use of this plotting boo-boo. 3. It Takes You Away. I love it, it's a great blend of classic monster elements and much more. The frog grew on me as well; the being misinterpreting a life form and appearing as a frog. And it's played out earnestly, which is a breath of fresh air. There was one line I might nitpick but I'd have to see the episode again to make sure I perceived it right the first time, about the Solitol entity. Not a big thing from what I recall... Despite being set on modern day Earth, a new location adds so much. The moments with Grace were another plus. Last but not least and not an easy one because they were so good: 4. Demons of the Punjab - Chibnall's historical-themed stories are all and easily the best since the 1960s, bar none, period. Even the ones I (comparatively) found least-effective ("Witchfinders", "Villa"). A shame so many silly monsters were chucked in, since these stories held their own without magical aliens or magic wands shoehorned in - as if there's some expectation modern viewers need to have those (and possibly wouldn't like it either way.) This one had some strong themes... and no psychic paper cop-out or contrivance, this story feels like Classic WHO for all the right reasons. I wish it had an extra episode. I'd probably argue that they took the beings from Capaldi's finale as inspiration too quickly, but classic Who and other shows have all had stories and episodes seasons apart, or even 2 stories ahead in the same season (!!) that reuse identical plot elements. But it's a nice enough twist.
You're probably right, I always confuse Barbara as the voice of One's conscience due to her speech in The Edge of Destruction.
I wanted Jodie to meet Seven… or an afterimage of him…”in my incarnation I knew both my past at future histories…it made me aloof at times…and I had to make myself forget. You know…when we regenerate, our past faces don’t entirely disappear. But you…you have outdone me…now you can go all the way home.”
That would indeed be a curious encounter. Hopefully we'll get such a meeting in a Big Finish audio play sometime in the future...
Nice to see some positivity in some of the posts here. I like Jodie Whittaker and bought her as the Doctor from the start. The last two seasons look great, like movies, and the longer episode time helps. Segun Akinola instead of Murray Gold helps a lot. I actually listen to his soundtrack albums. As for the writing: it's straightforward. It lacks the zaniness of some of RTD's era and the needless overcomplication of Moffat's. It may not have many episodes that I'd put in the top ten episodes from 2005 on, it's rarely brilliant, but it's generally pretty good. I don't think it has any episodes I'd put in the bottom ten since 2005. It's consistent, for the most part. There's no "Kill the Moon" here, and thank fuck there's nothing like 12's obnoxious behaviour towards Danny Pink. We've had so many people cast as the Doctor, with so many different showrunners and writers and producers telling different types of stories in different ways, going back to 1963. Whittaker fits right in with the wildly different Doctors we've seen over the years. I'll be sorry when she's gone.
I'm so glad to see another Segun Akinola fan here! Good point about the show's consistency and how it doesn't have any truly atrocious episodes like both Davies' and Moffat's eras did. I think that "Orphan 55" is probably the least liked episode off the two seasons (aside from the Timeless Child aspects of the series 12 finale) and even it had some good Farscape-esque elements to it.
In addition to Segun Akinola's more atmospheric and understated music, the opening credits effects are flat out my favorite since the series revival in 2005. Those swirling "masses" are like the 3D equivalent to the video "howl around" presented in that very first episode on November 23, 1963, very eldritch, almost Lovecraftian.
Oh! Eldritch! I didn't even think of that but you're absolutely right. I only wish the opening credits were longer, but at least the soundtracks have longer versions of that theme from the closing credits. One of the many reasons I love The Seventh Doctor's opening credits so much is because it includes the middle eight and, as a result, I wish all of the opening credits included it.