I think you've hit the nail on the head. It feels like tick box inclusion where the diversity characteristic is the personality of the character rather than having a fully formed character who just happens to be disabled/LGBT/whatever
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I think the writing and not knowing its audience is the main problem. I remember I commented on the very simple writing a few years back and the response was “this is for kids!”.
If you look at Waterloo road it also took some time to realise that kids didn’t need everything spelled out to them after the re-boot. Problem is, I don’t think Doctor Who has really needed to make those same realisations because getting another series is taken a bit for granted
This feels like everything at the BBC right now sick of being down voted etc for saying it
I won't hold my breath.
Oh my God, can someone please put Russell T. Davies in a quiet, possibly padded room for a while? He is going on and on and on about what awful nasty bigots anyone who doesn't like anything about the show is, how he is upsetting all the right people, how Doctor Who really feels like a "gay" show now, calling any site where it's not 100% praise a hate site...
The man has lost it.
Art is supposed to be for everyone, I really hate living in this era where we find ourselves being told "this show is not for you" if we are not a soap box ranting identity politics obsessed metropolitian luvvie. It's absurd and it's everywhere - see what's been going on with Starfleet Academy.
It's always the same type of writer/showrunner and the actual powers that be need to do what Pixar recently apparently did, which is tell them that the IP is not their therapy session.
No wonder there are reports of people watching older shows more nowadays.
The man has lost it.
Art is supposed to be for everyone, I really hate living in this era where we find ourselves being told "this show is not for you" if we are not a soap box ranting identity politics obsessed metropolitian luvvie. It's absurd and it's everywhere - see what's been going on with Starfleet Academy.
It's always the same type of writer/showrunner and the actual powers that be need to do what Pixar recently apparently did, which is tell them that the IP is not their therapy session.
No wonder there are reports of people watching older shows more nowadays.
Isn't it ironic how the original saviour of the show, ended up destroying it?
It does feel like everything has come to this out of pure spite on RTD's part. I think he's always had that about him a bit, he used to love trolling the old school fans as much as he could get away with even in his initial run 20 years ago but he has gone so far off the deep end since his return it's really sad to see. I wonder if the tragic death of his partner has to do with it. See also how he's dating someone who looks young enough to be his grandson.
As a gay man myself, Doctor Who doesn't feel like a gay show, it feels like a tragic show. That has completely lost the plot, is an exercise in endless box ticking and forgets to write actual characters with personalities and depth. And forgets to write actual Sci-Fi plots. The show is tit now. And it isn't because it's woke, it's because it's badly written, directed and produced. Shoe horning issues in rather than making them feel natural parts of the show.
Becsuee there's now a tick box it has to have in it so it's unnatural
I've been revisiting episodes from the classic era and even near the end when they had no budget whatsoever and the show had become viewed as pretty naff by most, everyone making it still did the best they could and as a result it is infinitely more watchable than almost anything that came after 2015 or so. 'Cause for me personally the really huge first dip in quality came in series eight but then series nine was excellent... but from series ten onward it became all about the messaging and it wasn't fun to watch anymore.
While series 1 way back in 2005 had some daftness like the farting aliens, I watched The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances last night.
Oh my good grief.
How a show that could produce episodes like that, storytelling like that, acting like that eventually became whatever the ever loving duck Chibnall and then RTD 2.0 turned it into needs to be studied at the highest level.
Unrecognisable does not begin to cover it, not even when you make sure to account for how much society, attitudes and production style can change within twenty odd years.
What an absolute tragedy.
Was inspired to rant because there is rumour that the BBC can't find anyone to play the doctor (this was rumoured months ago, from the way it is persisting I feel it might be true) and RTD said he's not filming anything else 'this year' after talking about his new series The Tip Tow. This show is in a much worse state than even the 1989 end of the era. Needs resting for at least ten years, then a completely new team of people who actually love what it should be to try again. No trace of any of the current lot who have been there since 2005, they are poison to the brand now.
Oh my good grief.
How a show that could produce episodes like that, storytelling like that, acting like that eventually became whatever the ever loving duck Chibnall and then RTD 2.0 turned it into needs to be studied at the highest level.
Unrecognisable does not begin to cover it, not even when you make sure to account for how much society, attitudes and production style can change within twenty odd years.
What an absolute tragedy.
Was inspired to rant because there is rumour that the BBC can't find anyone to play the doctor (this was rumoured months ago, from the way it is persisting I feel it might be true) and RTD said he's not filming anything else 'this year' after talking about his new series The Tip Tow. This show is in a much worse state than even the 1989 end of the era. Needs resting for at least ten years, then a completely new team of people who actually love what it should be to try again. No trace of any of the current lot who have been there since 2005, they are poison to the brand now.
This says a lot about what's going on with Doctor Who in my opinion.
It's not that they can't find anyone to play the Doctor. There are thousands of jobbing actors, aspiring actors who would bite the BBC's hand off to play the Doctor. And plenty of them would be more than capable of doing the job.
Doctor Who has been a very closed circle since 2005, writers have come from largely the same small group for 20 years, the casting has been very matey. So what is more likely is Russell can't get one of his gang to play the Doctor.
Honestly RTD 2.0 has been one of the biggest disappointments in TV history. His writing gets worse, his producing gets worse, the tick boxing, the poor storytelling, it's all just so heavy handed - and it wasn't exactly subtle during RTD 1.0 at times.
Whole production teams needs throwing out, starting with an entire new team. And honestly, a flimsy storyline to retcon pretty much anything that has happened in RTD 2.0 era. I'm not fussed about the Timeless Child storyline of Chibnall, it was ambitious at least, if not entirely well executed.
Then just start at the basics again, just tell a story of the Doctor turning up on a world, there being a conflict to resolve because one group wants to kill the other and the Doctor saves the day and picks up a new companion. Crack on
This is it. This is the core of everything that is wrong with the show.
In general the acting/tv production world is very small. It's become almost impossible for anyone who is not middle - upper class to break into it and you get the same couple of dozen "names" involved in every bloody thing from writing to acting. I am so bloody tired of it. Sadly, though, I don't think it will change. The hubris these people have is too strong to be overriden.
Oh dear, I fear it's all gone belly up...
www.bbc.co.uk
Edit: here's another more positive press release https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/update-doctor-who-future
I do fear they've dug themselves a difficult hole to get out of (satisfactorily) with the Rose as Doctor bit
Doctor Who: BBC cancels Christmas special and Russell T Davies announces departure
The BBC said the decision was made "after careful consideration" and had "not been taken lightly".
www.bbc.co.uk
Edit: here's another more positive press release https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/update-doctor-who-future
I do fear they've dug themselves a difficult hole to get out of (satisfactorily) with the Rose as Doctor bit
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‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special Not Going Forward This Year at BBC as Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf Exit Series
The BBC is no longer going ahead with a "Doctor Who" Christmas special this year as planned and Russell T Davies has exited the series.
variety.com
The important and imo good bit of all this is the exit of RTD and Bad Wolf Studios. So we don't have to put up with any of the dire writing Russell has inflicted upon us any longer.
I wonder if they’ll get much interest in a co-production
apparently Casualty is co-produced but medical dramas seem to have some wide appeal abroad, I’m not sure of Dr Who really has that?
apparently Casualty is co-produced but medical dramas seem to have some wide appeal abroad, I’m not sure of Dr Who really has that?
His statement seems a bit ' off'. Do you think BBC pulled the plug on Bad Wolf / RTD? Or was it more mutual 
The xmas episode is cancelled?
Good.
It needs a proper break of a couple of years for it to be given a chance to breathe and for them to get out of the terrible decision to bring Billie Piper back.
Good.
It needs a proper break of a couple of years for it to be given a chance to breathe and for them to get out of the terrible decision to bring Billie Piper back.
On the other hand, if one influential tv production person to mistakes Dr Who for a medical drama, it’s not over yet.
And ignores that Disney dropped the IP as well
Reckon that may be the bigger problem to overcome
