10 Current Doctor Who Problems And How To Fix Them

3. Valuing Spectacle Over Quality

In the original series, a single story was referred to as a serial since it would often take multiple episodes to conclude. Before its cancellation, Doctor Who's average serial length was roughly two hours, this allowed each adventure to unfold slowly, making the audience feel attached to the new characters because they were given enough time to get to know them properly. Of course, if a serial was disliked, the viewer would feel like the story was taking forever to finally end so they could start the next one. In modern Doctor Who, very few episodes stretch over the 45 minute mark. Of course storytelling has improved since the 60s, and fans likewise have less interest in elongating stories. But sometimes the episodes feel rushed, pushing from start to finish from the word go. Many Whovians bemoaned Moffat's removal of two-part episodes in Series 7 and likewise their absence in Series 8 (with exception to the finale). This shows that a longer story isn't necessarily a bad one. Of course, not every story needs to reach the two hour mark of the preceding show, but maybe it should just take the time to smell the flowers and actually build up an adventure's character before running off again.