10 Times Doctor Who Gave Fans EXACTLY What They Wanted (And They Hated It)

The first big controversy in Doctor Who fandom was Robert Holmes' The Deadly Assassin.

Written to convince Tom Baker that he needed a companion to replace the much-missed Elisabeth Sladen, it had the opposite effect by being one of the all-time great Doctor Who stories, establishing a lot of the mythology that continues to define the show in 2023.

However, on broadcast in 1976, it attracted the fury of organised Doctor Who fandom, which was in its infancy.

The story famously inspired the quote: "WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE MAGIC OF DOCTOR WHO?" in a review for the Doctor Who Appreciation Society by Jan Vincent-Rudzki. He singled out the fact that Gallifrey was a dull, stuffy planet full of old bureaucrats and scheming politicians. A race of all-powerful beings that had rested on their laurels and become boring.

It's almost as if Robert Holmes was trying to show why the Doctor left his home planet in the first place!

Doctor Who fans always seem to think that Gallifrey is a fascinating location for a story, based on the opportunities it provides to shed light on the Doctor's backstory. However, these stories are almost always hated. The Invasion of Time? Overlong and incredibly silly. Arc of Infinity? Unbearably dull. Hell Bent? Ruins Heaven Sent.

Maybe we should've thanked Chris Chibnall for blowing the place up.