With Peter Capaldis eyebrows looming on the horizon, and the rest of him due to step into the Doctors newly-polished shoes less than a month from now, the fans are lapping up promises from the producers that the show is going back to basics. Words like gravity and raw are being bandied around to describe a tonal shift in the show one that that the audience seems to have been clamouring for some time now. But shifting from what? Who fans are a vocal lot, and opinions since the shows 2005 return vary wildly. Nevertheless, theres a common thread through complaints that stretches all the way back to Ecclestons debut a lot of fans dont like it when the show does something they perceive as silly, whether thats the Doctors latest victory over a trillion Daleks or Mickey being eaten by a wheelie-bin. Silly covers a wide range of sins, from characters acting abnormally for the sake of a joke (the Doctor planting an unwanted smooch on Jenny Flint comes to mind) or conceits that just dont work, like a gigantic Weeping Angel moving around New York without anyone spotting it. Legitimate complaints, perhaps, but the classic series was just as guilty of dropping plot threads, weaving overly-contrived storylines and putting the boot into its own mythos in ways that make Nu-Who seem positively tame by comparison. Wooden Cybermen attacking Christmas? Thats hardcore sci-fi compared to some of the weird and occasionally stupid decisions of the past fifty years:
