Considering the title of this post, it ought to be obvious that I will be discussing major plot points. However, to be fair to those who have not yet seen Doctor Who Series 8: SPOILERS BELOW!!!
SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Whenever a new doctor takes over in DW, there are always fans who whine about how the current doctor is not and cannot ever be as good as doctor "- 1". Here in the US people were outraged by the change from Tom Baker to Peter Davison. It was a terrible thing that Tristan Farnon from All Creatures Great and Small would be taking over the role of the doctor. I'm not entirely sure, but I would guess that happened after each actor change, in all of "Classic Who".
Many people have said that Peter Capaldi's first season as the doctor was terrible, but most back away from saying that Capaldi is an inferior incarnation of the doctor. They blame the writing instead. I'm afraid that I am also in that camp.
While people were complaining at the beginning of Matt Smith's run, about how they wanted David Tennant back, I was not. The approach to portraying the doctor was different, but it breathed new life into a story that was getting tired and staid. The yippy skippy fervor of a Jack Russell Terrier (in the form of Matt Smith) breathed new life into the series.
If Capaldi just had a gruff and brusque manner as the new doctor, then all would have been well and good. The real problem was the quality of the scripts that were produced for his first Series. There is nothing wrong with pandering to the kiddies in Doctor Who. It was a children's show at its beginning and children have always been a major part of the Who audience. Its just that Mr. Moffat and his stable of writers seem to be going for low hanging fruit.
Story gripe number one: Dinosaurs. While kids have been fascinated with Dinosaurs for many years, it is an easy pick. No real work went into that, as far as I can see. What will be next? Attack of the Lego people? The menace of the Kerplunk tribe? There is so much potential to be harvested from the science fiction concepts of 50 years ago right up through the genre bending ideas of today.
Story gripe number two: Madame Vastara, Jenny and Strax. Recurring characters can be a great thing, but they should be kept fresh and not having them repeat some variation of the same words they said the last 5 times we saw them. These characters are tired. If they have nothing new to say via the writer, let them rest for a time or kill them.
Story Gripe number three: Clara, Clara, Clara! Who does this woman think she is anyway? She smacks the doctor around all the time. It would not be politically correct, but the doctor ought to haul off and smack her right back. She seems to think she is the center of the universe (e.g., commanding the doctor not to wipe out the Timelords in Day of The Doctor). Its like she thinks the doctor is her child and she is his mommy. And an abusive mommy at that! William Hartnell would have ceremoniously shown her the door. The doctor is her whipping boy. Then when she is given the responsibilities that the doctor carries she starts whining about how he abandoned her, not acknowledging that she isn't even close to being able to carry his mantle.
Story Gripe number four: Danny Pink. What a waste of a character and the viewer's time. His entire story is just to point up the doctor's faults and make Clara question her already dubious motiviations.
The one word I can think of to refer to Mr. Pink is "cardboard". This term has been overused by critics to the point of making it cliche. However, in this case, the description fits. He is one dimensional, bland, pre-fabricated and uninteresting. He is what Clara was in Matt Smith's final series, a placeholder for plot points.
There are other complaints, but I think I've made my point about poor plotting in Series 8. In future posts I will discuss each Series 8 episode.
