My huge Doctor Who episode marathon.

[The Friendly Dalek]

Just remembered I never gave a score for series 12 as a whole. 

Overall rating for series 12- 4/10.

The leads are more consistent in terms of acting, the writing tends to be stronger, and the reintroduction of a story arc made a world of difference in terms of retaining interest. Sacha Dhawan's Master ended up being my favourite thing to come out of this series. The episodes were of a higher quality than those in series 11, with stories such as Fugitive, Can You Hear Me and Haunting making up for the weaker stories. If the Timeless Child arc had a more satisfying conclusion I would rate it higher, but that story drags it down so much now I know what those great episodes are leading up to. 

[WilfMott]

I must say I’m sad to see your marathon complete, it’s been great to have your reviews to read over and it’s influenced some of my classic viewing (where I don’t know as much). Maybe you could start it all over again to see if your opinions have changed over the last year and a half ).

Whilst I haven’t agreed with some of your opinions it’s great to have read them. I have loved the Whittaker era so far, for example, but I think I’m biased as Jodie is from the same town as me, I saw some of the series 11 filming in Sheffield and I met Chris Chibnall at the red carpet premiere. To top it off, I could watch the series go out live for the first time in years as I work Saturday nights. It’s fair to say the production felt like it was geared towards my life! 

Chris Chibnall was such a genuinely nice man. He was very humble and clearly intelligent. I can’t help but like him and his work. I’ve sent him a couple of letters since meeting him and he’s kindly replied. But when I’m trying to be objective I am concerned about the conclusion to series 12. It did exactly what I thought should never happen: explain who the Doctor is. This said, when looking at Chris’ Broadchurch series plan, he often played the long game. I am holding judgement for now as I think there’s more to come on the subject. 
The surprises that we were treated to this last series (whether we like them or not) is something that also should be commended. In today’s day in age very little is kept secret but there was so much we didn’t know about. Even if we don’t love some of the creative choices, the Whittaker era has a strong logistic structure to keep a high quality production a secret.

Again, thanks for writing the reviews, I look forward to your next project!

[Peter Capaldi Fan]

Ascension Of The Cybermen - After the good we have the bad. The production values are good. The acting from the main cast is fine. The only support cast worth a mention are Patrick O'Kane and Ian McElhinney. The rest are forgettable. The pacing is slow to the point of boring. Apart from Ashad the rest of the Cybermen are a joke. The cliffhanger is excellent.

Overall 2/10

[Peter Capaldi Fan]

The Timeless Children - After the good, the bad well of course we have the ugly. I didn't really watch this properly first time around. It was more of a background distraction (this has been common for the last 2 series). The production was good and I quite enjoyed it. Then I made the mistake of watching it again!

I agree completely with your review. This destroyed what I love about Doctor Who. 

Anyone else bothered by the fact that Tecteun experimenting on children is classed as entertainment?

How did The Master manage to kill all The Time Lords?

Why go to the trouble of bringing Gallifrey back just to destroy it?

Why was Ashad too easily defeated?

Now a show that has been running as long as Doctor Who is bound to have contradictions. Most can be ignored or forgotten. Even if Chibnall is playing a longer game and there is more to come from this story as an intelligent man and Doctor Who fan he must have seen the potential impact.

Chibnall - I have a great idea for the finale.

Everyone - The fans will hate it.

Chibnall - It's part of my 5 year plan.

Everyone - The fans will still hate it.

Chibnall - We're going with it.

This takes away the mystery of Doctor Who. For me it doesn't add to it. There will never be any consequences to The Doctor's actions if there is an unlimited supply of regenerations (Time of The Doctor anyone?).

What happened to never be cowardly? This Doctor runs away leaving Ko Sharmus to destroy what's left of Gallifrey, The Cyber Time Lords and The Master. Previous incarnations (that we know about) would give their life to save others. 

It would have made more sense for the Timeless Child to be The Master. It would explain why they always survive. It would explain this Master rather than feel he was shoehorned in for the sake of it. It could explain why The Doctor left Gallifrey if they had discovered something.

The more I think about it the more I dislike this episode which is why I am going to do something I hate doing to a Doctor Who episode...

Overall 0/10

[Peter Capaldi Fan]

Where does Series 12 rank in the modern era? Marginally above Series 11 but below Series 1-10. There were 3 good episodes, 3 average, 3 bad and 1 atrocious. But this series has made a lasting impression.

Picture a 5 year old girl going into the sitting room to see what her two older brothers were doing. She had to be quiet as they were about to watch TV. So she snuggled up next to her Dad and watched Doctor Who. Her first episode was Tom Baker's first. She was captivated. She mourned the show ending in 1989. Watched the 1996 episode. And rejoiced as an adult when DW came back in 2005. But the last 2 series have been more of a chore than a pleasure to watch. I have absolutely no excitement for the seasonal special or Series 13. I probably won't even bother watching. I'll be back when Chibnall has gone. I'll just be happy watching earlier re-runs.

[Peter Capaldi Fan]

To finish on a positive note. You started this just after I joined the forum and I have really enjoyed your reviews. I am still surprised how much we agreed given our differing ages. I saw things in many episodes I had not noticed before. I enjoyed your passion for your reviews - doesn't matter how long this took. It was your marathon. It was a remarkable feat to complete. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to take something from this. I am going miss reading these. We'll done and thank you. 

[shodgson]

Good job lads. I didn't necessarily agree with all the reviews, but have enjoyed reading them all. I may even re-watch from the start myself. Trouble is I love watching all the extras related to every story I watch, so would take me quite a while. But as there is no time limit...

[The Friendly Dalek]

6 hours ago, WilfMott said:

I must say I’m sad to see your marathon complete, it’s been great to have your reviews to read over and it’s influenced some of my classic viewing (where I don’t know as much). Maybe you could start it all over again to see if your opinions have changed over the last year and a half ).

Whilst I haven’t agreed with some of your opinions it’s great to have read them. I have loved the Whittaker era so far, for example, but I think I’m biased as Jodie is from the same town as me, I saw some of the series 11 filming in Sheffield and I met Chris Chibnall at the red carpet premiere. To top it off, I could watch the series go out live for the first time in years as I work Saturday nights. It’s fair to say the production felt like it was geared towards my life! 

Chris Chibnall was such a genuinely nice man. He was very humble and clearly intelligent. I can’t help but like him and his work. I’ve sent him a couple of letters since meeting him and he’s kindly replied. But when I’m trying to be objective I am concerned about the conclusion to series 12. It did exactly what I thought should never happen: explain who the Doctor is. This said, when looking at Chris’ Broadchurch series plan, he often played the long game. I am holding judgement for now as I think there’s more to come on the subject. 
The surprises that we were treated to this last series (whether we like them or not) is something that also should be commended. In today’s day in age very little is kept secret but there was so much we didn’t know about. Even if we don’t love some of the creative choices, the Whittaker era has a strong logistic structure to keep a high quality production a secret.

Again, thanks for writing the reviews, I look forward to your next project!

I'm never going to do this again. 

Thank you for the kind words, and it's great to hear your story about meeting Chibnall. Although I'm not a fan of the era myself, I know a lot of people who enjoy the Chibnall episodes, and I'm happy for the people who are enjoying it. I'm sure Chibnall is a lovely person, it's just a shame I'm not a fan of his writing. I do hope his 5 year plan that he refers to has a satisfying conclusion which can hopefully reunite the divided fandom. 

It was definitely nice to have a series where the big reveals weren't spoiled months beforehand. Could you imagine how exciting series 10 would have been, had we not known about the return of Missy, John Simm and the Mondasian Cybermen? I love series 10 anyway but those would have been huge revels if the BBC didn't spoil it in trailers. I'm definitely happy that the spoilers are being kept well under wraps in this era.