The Single Biggest Mistake Every Doctor Who Series Has Made
What can the new season of Doctor Who learn from its predecessors?
Some Doctor Who series are more popular than others. But none of them are perfect.
Though overall episode quality is subjective, there’s always something that certain fans take issue with, from unconvincing monsters to controversial writing choices.
In most cases these misfires only affect individual stories and can be easily overlooked, but some cast much larger shadows over the series they appear in.
More often than not it’s a case of the show taking a step outside its comfort zone and paying the price, from adopting new formats to drastically changing the characterisation of the Doctor.
There are also fudged openings, where it took a little too long for things to get settled, and underwhelming finales, where ambitious storylines ultimately didn’t stick the landing.
With a new series (or season, as we're calling them these days) on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to look back at past mistakes. So what are the worst crimes committed by every series of the revived era?
13. Series 1: Misjudged Comedy
For the most part, Series 1 was a triumph. RTD knew how important this was and so threw the kitchen sink at it, and it shows.
There’s gripping drama, like the Doctor’s confrontation with the ‘Metaltron’ Dalek, or his dinner date with Margaret. There’s rich emotion – no episode is more tragic than Father’s Day, but honourable mention must go to the Doctor’s Time War trauma. And of course, there are scares. “Are you my mummy?”.
There’s also comedy – some of which lands, and some of which doesn’t.
For every genuinely funny gag (the Doctor being oblivious to the London Eye in Rose, or his “happy medium” line in The Unquiet Dead), there’s a burping bin and a farting alien.
Sure, a large part of the show’s audience is children, and younger viewers probably enjoyed these moments of goofy humour. But in hindsight they seem misjudged.
The mission statement of the 2005 revival was to prove that Doctor Who deserved to be taken seriously. Including a slapstick burp in your first episode somewhat clashes with that goal. Similarly, Aliens of London/World War Three is remembered as a silly story rather than a sharp satire, all thanks to the Slitheen’s flatulence.
Unsurprisingly, there were far fewer moments like these thereafter.