Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: 7 Things That NEED To Happen
It goes without comment, by and large, that Doctor Who fans are a fairly demanding bunch. Ironically much more so now than we used to be back in the wilderness years (1987-2005 with the exception of two hopeful weeks in 1996). It turns out that it's a lot easier to be demanding about the content of Doctor Who when they're actually making it. And so, for those of us who vividly remember seeing the release of The Sirens of Time and thinking that we couldn't criticize it because we'd waited so long for something new, it's easy to not want to take the new series for granted. "Don't say anything negative, we don't want them to stop making it again!"
-All of us in 2000
That said, not everybody's show gets a 50th anniversary. And as such, it's only natural that we have some pretty high expectations for it - particularly after the heartbreak of learning that there was only going to be ONE special, and not the year-long party we were sort of expecting. And so, for every statement like, 'If Clara doesn't turn out to be the Rani I'm never watching the show again!' Spoiler alert - she wasn't) there are other far more reasonable and defensible expectations.
7. Tell A Good Story In An Interesting Way
If we're being honest with ourselves as consumers of media, this is all we're 'owed'.
Tell us a good story in an interesting way, and in exchange we will give you an hour of our time to hear it. When we get both of those things we're over the moon. When we get neither we write angry reviews about how Davies/Moffatt/Gatiss/Gaiman (delete according to taste) is the worst thing to happen to Who ever. Get one or the other and things get more interesting. Take Tooth and Claw, for example. I would hold this up as a prime example of an interesting story being let down by the fact that the way it's being told simply isn't very engaging. Alien Werewolves are out to infect Queen Victoria. And they Succeed! But the way the story is told just isn't very interesting. To illustrate what I mean, the often quoted 'Books are the greatest weapon there is!' scene. That is an amazing statement and arguably the very heart of the Doctor Who view of the universe. But it's said and thrown away and ultimately doesn't matter. Nothing in the story is furthered by them looking at the books, it's just a nice shout out to literacy. On the other end of the spectrum we have Survival. When you actually stop to think about it, there isn't much story there. Some giant cats kidnap people and Ace figures out how to teleport them back home. But the way the story is told through the constant juxtaposition of the theme and the environment successfully keeps you from noticing that. In terms of modern Who, the best example I can think of of them getting both right is Blink. A fascinating story told in an interesting way. More of that for the 50th Anniversary please.