How can anyone like Doctor Who?!

Scroll to see replies

I thought I was the only one. Although I'm not a sci fi fan in general, I can usually appreciate why a tv series or film is liked by many even if it's not typically 'my thing', but with Doctor Who, I feel completely lost as to why it is so popular and respected.
I completely agree with everything you've said OP. I have tried asking my brother to explain what he finds so interesting about it, and he just said "I can't really explain it". :confused:

David Tennant's acting style is similar to Daniel Radcliffe's. He has limited facial expressions imo.
I know 'each to their own' and that, but I really want to understand what I'm missing...

Nothing, it's awful. Everyone should just watch Fringe instead, not only the hand downs the best sci fi show around but Breaking Bad is probably the only show to have bettered it recently.

Reply 21

2ndClass

Original post by Dorito

Seriously, it is one of the worst things I think I have ever seen.

I think I have seen 3 full episodes and each one was worst than the last. The acting is so over the top and good actors like David Tennant and Matt Smith seem to crumble and turn into blithering idiots, reeling off cliche after cliche. Granted, they can't be blamed for this, the script is weak. The special effects are laughable and the storylines are severely lacking as well as highly predictable.

I initially overlooked this and admittedly could see how children may enjoy it but I come on here and I see people raving about how good it is and my housemates are the same, they all claim it is brilliant. Doctor Who is an icon of British TV but that is no excuse for the terrible episodes being churned out nowadays. There was not a single thing I enjoy about the show and I find myself cringing in places because the dialogue is so poor. Three episodes is enough for me, I don't think I'll be wasting anymore time on it.

There are plenty of bad TV shows out there but usually I can see their appeal, this is not the case for Doctor Who.

Maybe I'm missing something, is it supposed to look low budget? Is the acting over the top on purpose? Am I missing some huge inside joke? Help me out guys!

Completely agree with you. I tried to get into it but it was complete torture.

Reply 22

SpicyStrawberry

I enjoyed the series while Christopher Ecclestone and David Tennant was in it but started giving up after a while because it just got progressively worse. The new series with Matt Smith is ridiculous so I never bothered with it.

Reply 23

i.am.lost

OK I'll agree that the acting can be so over dramatic that it borders on silly, but all good scifi is like that! And it's really not fair to judge whole series based on a few episodes (and certainly not the painfully bad NYC ones), there are some mind blowing stories in there like Midnight, The Girl in the Fireplace, the 2010 Xmas episode, Blink, among others. I think it's a good mix of serious thought-provoking messages and light hearted action and humour - especially for a British show. I think to really enjoy Doctor Who you have to embrace its campness and go along for the ride.

Reply 24

sophia_

I've only ever seen half of one episode.

I just can't get in to it.

Am I a bad Brit? :ashamed2:

Reply 25

doloroushazy

I agree! It's the same with Harry Potter, it has its place and it's good for kids etc but I don't understand when people over like age 13 are obsessed with it and act as if it's their entire life or something.. ah well

Reply 26

Hazular

I thought the special effects were quite good :K:

I do agree on the crappy scripts though, I think series 6 has been the worst so far (of the reboot). It was just ridiculous. And this is coming form a massive Doctor Who fan. It's just disheartening because it could be so much better.

Reply 27

Chucklefiend

Original post by ritchie888

Easily some of the worst television I've ever watched. Never again.

In the age of X Factor, Britain's got Talent, Dancing on Ice, Take me out and Total Wipeout...etc etc...you serious? :curious:

Reply 28

Dorito

Original post by doloroushazy

Don't get me started on the steaming pile of turd that is Harry Potter. (The books I will accept but the films are crap unless you're under 13).

Whoever told Daniel Radcliffe and Emma 'same facial expression for 10 years' Watson they could act needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

Reply 29

ch0llima

With regards to the modern reboots, there's not a lot positive I can say I'm afraid. I would go so far as to say it's too far removed from the originals to share the name and it has just changed too much.

Doctor Who is about tense, complex sci-fi and not about running down endless corridors to crap badly mixed dance music. It's about the close working relationship between the Doctor and his intelligent and worthwhile companion/assistant, not about some washed-up pop music bimbo or a gobby unfunny 'comedienne' who is constantly screaming for help and needing rescued from absurd situations of her own making like a "damsel in distress". It's about a wide array of characters and adversaries, not endless Daleks and hanging off well known London landmarks facing certain death but somehow managing to survive just because "I'm the Doctor". I actually found myself getting bored and my attention drifting while watching later episodes with the end of the Tennant era and the start Matt Smith era. It was cringeworthy, oorly written ham acted nonsense and I rapidly went off it. The Titanic in space... really? What sort of bad LSD were they taking that day? :lolwut:

The acting is also mostly terrible. Totally hammed up and irritatingly over the top, and no doubt in my mind that David Tennant and Matt Smith are capable of and deserve much better. It's turned into light-hearted family comedy which, again, isn't what Doctor Who was ever designed to be... Procrustean television if ever I saw it :colonhash:

There is so much from the originals that could have been rebooted or built upon, but they just went for Dalek Overkill and a large number of other things which just stretch credibility too much to be worth watching and feel out of place. I found it amusing that the writers ended up publicly acknowledging that the Daleks were overused, and stating that a conscious effort would be made to limit this in future. They had their impact and mystique because they came back every four or five years in different forms, not every six seconds in 9001 different scenarios like they have been doing in recent years.

Christopher Eccleston was right about becoming typecast, which is why he quit. That said, his run was the best out of the reboots - engaging, gritty storylines with sensible and believable acting. David Tennant is only popping up everywhere these days because Doctor Who made his name for him and before that, he was vaguely known from bit parts and starring roles in minor productions but nothing important or special - Matt Smith was nobody at all and check IMDB for proof. What makes Matt Smith's situation even worse is that he is clearly trying to copy David Tennant in look and style, while really not making a particularly good job of it. Granted, shows like this can be applauded for launching peoples' careers but becoming typecast can be a difficult trap to crawl out of. Daniel Radcliffe could join Eastenders and stay for the next 20 years but he will always be Harry Potter. David Jason is Del Boy, even after A Touch of Frost. I could go on.

As an aside, why does pretty much every series end on either a) a predictable cliffhanger which is resolved within literally the first few seconds of the new series starting or b) some soppy, sentimental drivel involving the Doctor's assistant set to saddening, downbeat music?

Sorry, but I'm somewhat of a Doctor Who purist. Even the Sylvester McCoy run from the late 1980s (mostly considered to be awful by hardcore fans) is more engaging and believable than some of the truly appalling scripts that are being packaged in the current run. They should have replaced Christopher Eccleston with someone similar and kept the same format, then I would personally have stuck with it.

Incoherent rant over and goodnight to you all :creep:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 30

Friar Chris

Original post by Dorito

To be honest, it wasn't always as bad as the last few series. The scripts recently really have been awful - a combination of running away from danger and letting some minor supporting character fix it and then The Doctor claiming credit and firing off a few cliches.

Christopher Eccleston wasn't my favourite Doctor, but his hatred and willingness to actually fight (especially the Daleks, but also getting into punchups and toting some big guns) instead of do nothing for the whole episode was quite well done and felt half-believable.

Shame most of the action we want to see of 11 tends to be just hinted at in opening titles - single-handedly obliterating Cybermen fleets and escaping a battleship approaching Earth he just destroyed to get his 'reputation' as a deadly opponent take up the best part of 20 seconds at the beginning of an episode, after which he mysteriously becomes a pacifist who just runs away until someone fixes it.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 31

mabrookes

Original post by Dorito

I gaurantee I will think the same about something you like on TV. You don't like it, and no one who does cares in the slightest just like you don't about whether people don't like what you watch.

Reply 32

k9markiii

Original post by Dorito

I disagree with most of the points in this but disagree most with your thoughts on the writing. I think the storytelling is incredible albeit it's becoming overly self-referential in the last series. They are basically making a movie every other week for a fraction of the cost and time. The thing I love most about doctor who is how it shows so much about humans, it appears to all be about aliens and far off planets, but it discusses incredibly important moral issues that affect most people but in a different context.

I like doctor who.

Reply 33

Dorito

I've read every reply to this thread, nice to hear from fans of the show with reasoning as to why they like the show. I'll never be converted and don't particularly want to see another episode but I take all your points.

Reply 34

animalnitrate

Original post by i.am.lost

Not true, ever watched Blake's 7??

Reply 35

rY4uGD1fMzBj4xe2

Original post by Chucklefiend

In the age of X Factor, Britain's got Talent, Dancing on Ice, Take me out and Total Wipeout...etc etc...you serious? :curious:

Yes.

Also, Total Wipeout is epic. Who doesn't like watching people stack it? No one, that's who.

Reply 36

Ice Constricter

Doctor who is soo cheesy, ****ty and annoying.

Reply 37

Iqbal007

Original post by Octohedral

This

I always wanted to be a time traveller.

Plus, if you are a girl, there is the added bonus of watching David Tennant's fringe. Anyway, I think it can be very clever and funny - the stories can be rubbish, but no-one cares about the stories anyway.

Well im a guy, so I wanna be a timelord loool :smile:

Reply 38

Manitude

It is originally a children's show, never forget this. Programs for children need not have the same scrutiny applied to them as say, a major film nominated for oscars.

Personally I cannot see any of the things that the OP is complaining about: I'd say that Dr Who is one of, if not THE best thing that the BBC produces currently.

Reply 39

Dorito

Original post by Manitude

Personally I cannot see any of the things that the OP is complaining about: I'd say that Dr Who is one of, if not THE best thing that the BBC produces currently.