10 Times Doctor Who Gave Fans EXACTLY What They Wanted (And They Hated It)
"Be careful what you wish for" - ancient Gallifreyan proverb.
Doctor Who fans are an incredibly vocal bunch, especially when it comes to the things they want to see in their favourite show.
But as this list will show, sometimes what Doctor Who fans want in theory isn't always backed up in practice.
For example, the answer to why the Doctor left Gallifrey was so poorly received when Moffat introduced the idea of the Hybrid that he recalibrated it in Twice Upon A Time, suggesting that the First Doctor left Gallifrey to prove a scientific theory about good and evil instead.
The history of Doctor Who is littered with similar stories - Doctor Who fans wanting answers to age-old mysteries, and recoiling in horror when they're presented with an answer. It's likely for this reason that Moffat created River Song's famous ethos that "the Doctor lies", allowing for a convenient reset whenever the mood requires it.
So, here are the times fans got the answers they wanted, the guest appearances they'd long desired, and the perfect casting suggestions they asked for, only to be spectacularly disappointed.
10. A Proper Series-Long Story
One of the recurring complaints about 21st century Doctor Who (from fans who grew up with the classic series) was that it didn't have enough time to tell a good story. With most episodes only running about 45 minutes, it felt like all the character development and intricate plotting had been lost.
In reality, all that had happened was that the repeated scenes of the Doctor and their companions being imprisoned, escaping, then being imprisoned again had been trimmed out.
While Doctor Who had experimented with long-form storytelling since 2005 - from hints of the Bad Wolf in Series 1, to the mystery of Amy's hallucinations in Series 6 - these were additional elements for loyal viewers, that were bolted on to the monster-of-the-week format.
So when the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated significant changes to Chris Chibnall's planned Series 13, classic fans got their wish, with a series-long story about the destruction of the universe. However, Flux received many of the same complaints that NuWho episodes tend to suffer from: it was too confusing, the resolution didn't make sense, and it was rushed.
It seems that the longest, most consistent Doctor Who story is fans being disappointed with what they're given.