10 Fixes For Doctor Who's Future

The Disney era purported to be a jumping-on point for Doctor Who. However, in reality it was anything but.

For starters, it began by bringing back the Doctor and companion from fifteen years ago. As a one-off for the show’s sixtieth anniversary, there was some logic to this. But the callbacks continued throughout the Fifteenth Doctor’s era, which relied heavily on obscure characters and villains from Doctor Who’s past.

You can kinda of see what they were going for – a MCU-style approach where the past is celebrated and everything is connected. But in execution it pleased no one.

Take the returns of Sutekh and Omega, whose significance was lost on new viewers, and whose controversial redesigns alienated existing fans. And lest we forget the endless flashbacks, from the Doctor and Ruby literally rewatching Pyramids of Mars in Empire of Death to the constant Doctor clip-shows in Season 2.

At this point, we just need a clean break where Doctor Who’s lore is brought in again bit by bit, in a way that new viewers can easily understand. (Ironically this is the approach that RTD championed in his original era!)

You can still do big backstory stuff like the Time War, but it needs to be able to stand on its own two feet. And a story from fifty years ago should never, ever feel like required viewing.