Doctor Who: 10 Biggest Mistakes Of The Chris Chibnall Era

Everything Chibnall got wrong during his time as Doctor Who showrunner.

By Ruby Jones /

Lifelong fan Chris Chibnall came into Doctor Who ready to shake-up and reinvent the show from 2018 onwards.

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Right from the announcement of Jodie Whittaker's casting, Chibnall set out his vision for an all-new version of Doctor Who, and continued to challenge and surprise viewers right up until the last second of his final episode, The Power of the Doctor.

Like all of us however, Chibnall isn't immune to criticism (sorry Chris), and in the process of attempting to redefine the show, he made several mistakes which angered fans across the world. Some of these missteps were small - like little continuity issues, or slightly altering the arcs of popular characters - whereas others had huge implications for the canon of the entire show.

Annoyingly, several of these new ideas were also left unfinished by Chibnall at the time of his departure, with little chance of incumbent showrunner Russell T Davies exploring them. This list is entirely meant with love - as it's always sad to see a showrunner depart - but these are a selection of the biggest mistakes Chibnall made on Doctor Who.

10. No Returning Villains in Series 11

One of the unwritten rules of Doctor Who is that every Doctor must face off against an iconic villain in their first series. This gives fans - who may be unsure of the new Doctor - a reason to watch, to see how our new Time Lord fares against a well-established foe.

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However, Chris Chibnall decided that his debut series would not feature the return of any past villains. In place of the Autons and the Cybermen we saw Tim Shaw, the Pting, and the Thijarians. While these baddies were serviceable enough, they unfortunately didn't give fans a reason to tune in and see how Jodie would handle them.

This decision was also short-sighted considering how reliant on classic monsters the Chibnall era would become. By the time of Flux, the show was once again wheeling out the Weeping Angels, the Sontarans, and the Daleks, as well as the Master and the Judoon in Series 12.

This choice of axing classic creatures also makes Series 11 stick out when compared to the rest of Doctor Who. And not in a good way.

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