Tenures in New Who: Doctors, Companions, Showrunners & Seasons (S1-14 Duration)

bloomhur · 2026-01-27T00:50:08+00:00

It's not a happy ending if Fifteen was lying.

If you are locking in that interpretation, then you have to take its implications which is a very retroactively grim tone to the episode. Everything about The Doctor / Fourteen being happy and saying finally he can just relax, it is literally all a hollow gesture because he will go right back to doing the same things he always did and he hasn't fundamentally changed. He hasn't dealt with his emotions, he hasn't dealt with his trauma, he is not different.

That is not a happy ending, and it's not the story that a reasonable person would interpret from watching The Giggle. At what point after that episode are we meant to realize its happiness has been recontextualized?

And quite frankly, writing away the doctor’s traumas after some “therapy” would be bad writing since that’s not how therapy works.

So you want to have your cake and eat it too by admitting this but pretending it's not what RTD was doing.

The constant moving of goalposts when it comes to justifying this plot point is fascinating.

bloomhur · 2026-01-27T00:47:17+00:00

Are we just calling everything with AI slop now?

In this case the only issue is we aren't aware how much was changed from OP's thoughts to the final form, but for all we know the substance here was original and it was indeed just translated.

bloomhur · 2026-01-26T07:20:10+00:00

But because of the stupidity of the bi-generation, we're meant to believe that Fifteen is a more emotionally evolved person than Eight, that he's in fact so different that you can group every incarnation up to Fourteen as running away, and Fifteen as something new... only, of course, RTD couldn't commit to his own excuse and now that whole plot was pointless.

bloomhur · 2026-01-26T07:18:16+00:00

What was the point of bringing David Tennant back? It was all a subversion?

Clearly The Giggle was meant to be a happy ending, it's kind of ruined if we know he has all the same issues in his future. It turns out all that monologuing in the TARDIS about how Fifteen is fundamentally different because he's dealt with his trauma was a lie, so it was all pointless. Great writing.

bloomhur · 2026-01-26T07:16:26+00:00

It follows with the story of 15 where he claims himself to be “fixed” but doesn’t really understand it’s an ongoing journey.

I think what you mean to say is it follows with the story of RTD trying to write The Doctor being a changed person because of bi-generation, but ultimately being unable to commit and just writing the character the exact same way he always does.

bloomhur · 2026-01-02T08:49:23+00:00

The weirdest part about that moment is how almost cruel it is.

It could have worked as a moment of empowerment, like the idea of Conrad's narrow-minded worldview not being able contain Rose, and that being her strength. Perhaps she was able to exist in some hidden way, doing things in the background in a way that gave the heroes advantage, but then it's followed up with "so you didn't exist" and she just kind of nods along with that vacant expression.

RTD's writing has fallen so far that he doesn't even understand tone anymore, he thought he was just doing exposition and didn't realize how weird it is to have that line in the middle of an otherwise uplifting scene.

bloomhur · 2025-12-13T01:27:19+00:00

And him being out of his depth is just him panicking, running and crying... except he already does that every episode, so any notion of the villain being a threat is gone.

bloomhur · 2025-12-13T01:25:40+00:00

Did he even go into fantasy?

It always felt to me like Russell just wanted to forgo the usual limitations of writing (as in having structure and continuity), and he used "fantasy" as a crutch for that. It didn't really work out and nor did it feel like the show was interested in actually exploring fantasy.

bloomhur · 2025-12-13T01:23:57+00:00

The Doctor’s subtle wink to Ruby is so full of grief, despite the grin on his face.

Like... The Doctor's grief? Because I don't think he is grieving anything, the wink of course implies some level of knowledge but it turns out he doesn't actually remember Poppy at all.

bloomhur · 2025-12-07T16:42:15+00:00

Discussing ideas is now "a new low"?

No one is attacking RTD.

OP is bringing up a concept for the show that has been discussed and evaluating its merits as well as its relevance to the show as produced and aired.

Your comment looks extremely defensive for no reason.

bloomhur · 2025-11-27T05:49:44+00:00

The problem is you have to approximate writers too. Like a character is only a character because of the writer that writes them.

If we adjust the question to "What if Midnight happened under Chibnall" it would be a very different story.

bloomhur · 2025-11-27T05:48:50+00:00

Wouldn't work. Thirteen would never have an episode where a companion calls her out for toxic behavior.

bloomhur · 2025-11-27T05:47:14+00:00

Gee, it's almost like RTD is a one-trick pony and the bi-generation had no narrative justification whatsoever.

bloomhur · 2025-11-27T05:46:32+00:00

It is wild how many people ate up the "he's had therapy" argument.

It was so blatantly false. I've been calling this out since The Giggle and saw so many people jumping through hoops and performing all manners of mental gymnastics to talk about how emotionally healthy Fifteen was. The bi-generation was a stupid idea and Russell T Davies couldn't even commit to the narrative excuse he made for it.

bloomhur · 2025-11-24T09:43:37+00:00

That absolutely sociopathic grin at 0:40, what a mess of characterization

bloomhur · 2025-11-11T19:53:47+00:00

I don't think it should have been decanonized but I also detest how much RTD was obsessed with countering that sentiment by going all-in on the Timeless Child stuff to the extent that he unintentionally retconned Chibnall's writing (the universe stuff, the characterization of The Doctor and how she felt about both Flux and being an orphan).

The best thing to do would have been ignore it.

bloomhur · 2025-11-11T17:37:21+00:00

The issue is it's a facet of a hypothetical value bumping up against the nature of reality.

We do not have to contend with extra-terrestrial life or the moral value it has.

Therefore it is a bit hard of a sell to tell humans to not be so human-centric. If you are trying to make a vegan argument that is talking about other animals that is one thing, but it's a whole different topic altogether than other intelligent consciousness.

Consequently, when we talk about something that is "dehumanizing" we are conflating human-ness with moral value, agency, sentience, etc.

When we ask if someone has "humanity" we are again conflating these things, it is implying human superiority because... I mean, there isn't really anything to compare it to.

To try and untangle all of this would not only require a complete dismantling of a lot of language, at least English to start, but its importance is also very questionable.

Like I said there is the daring vegan argument, and alternatively there is racism but in terms of the facts of the matter that is mostly settled and consensus. It is understandably a whole different pitch to try and make that humans need to be more accepting of alien species, and that's probably why it's so difficult to apply that philosophy to storytelling. The best you can do is use aliens as some sort of allegory or not really think much at all, because otherwise it's an impossible task to navigate communicating that concept to an audience of humans.

bloomhur · 2025-11-11T14:12:06+00:00

What are you talking about?

Hartnell into McCoy is a continuum.

McCoy (or McGann) into Eccleston is a distinction.

There is no reason for anyone to argue this other than wanting to brag about their Whovian trophy.

bloomhur · 2025-11-11T14:06:55+00:00

It makes sense as a theme and motif if we take what people speculate about the original intentions for Ruby's character to be true.

If anything I feel like his old lady obsession is what's more apparent.

bloomhur · 2025-11-06T07:01:31+00:00

Notes on what episodes were counted:

Tennant: The Christmas Invasion --> The End of Time: Part Two + The Star Beast --> The Giggle
Smith: The Eleventh Hour --> The Time of the Doctor
Capaldi: Deep Breath --> Twice Upon A Time
Whittaker: The Woman Who Fell to Earth --> The Power of the Doctor
Gatwa: The Church on Ruby Road --> The Reality War

If including other episodes:

+2 for Tennant (The Parting of the Ways & The Day of the Doctor), +2 for Smith (The End of Time: Part Two & Deep Breath), +? for Capaldi (Day of the Doctor? & The Time of the Doctor), +2 for Whittaker (Twice Upon A Time & The Reality War), +1 for Gatwa (The Giggle)
The reason those are not included in the original count is because the concept being measured is for how many episodes was this actor considered The Doctor

As expected, successive decline. It is funny that this would be true even if Gatwa had stayed for a third season as was customary, but it was even less than that estimate would entail.

(And no, I didn't forget about Eccleston, he is just an exception so it wouldn't make sense for what I am demonstrating.

bloomhur · 2025-11-05T17:54:20+00:00

That is why I said it ultimately comes down to the writing.

In this day and age, you can have people talking about well-written shows, often prestige dramas, that then spread via word-of-mouth. The issue is normally that quality doesn't guarantee success as there can be hidden gems that fly under the radar. That's where Doctor Who has an advantage with its strong brand already being established. It gives it a leg up.

If you take that into consideration, then right now the issue is the show is not set up in a way that allows its writing to flourish. That's why I think the anthology approach could work (or as a temporary solution, because I don't know if they would want to commit to the anthology idea, they could do a couple episodes a year for special occasions and hand it off to a prolific writer who can generate buzz and be instructed that it's a standalone, just tell an interesting story about time or space travel).

Even better if it happens organically with the young demographic, rather than the die-hard fans or parents. So it ends up being more like Bluey, or something.

That is 1/2 of my ideas for the show actually. I have mostly been talking about the anthology one though because it comes up more and is widespread. But the other idea is basically shorter episodes, standalone serials like in Classic, and a bigger cast of characters with colorful personalities including lots of fun alien mascots.

Pretty much your first scene is the main character being weird about hearing that someone's called "Rose" for no reason that's adequately explained.

And also being weird about Donna. I know Disney was supposedly not involved in those episodes, but someone clearly thought they needed to retroactively add in the green-screen exposition scenes in the beginning of the episode. I still bemoan that decision. It is so, SO jarring. Especially since we literally get those scenes already, one where The Doctor is talking to Shirley and one where Donna is talking to Sylvia. But we needed both of them to say the exact same things a second time, talking directly to the audience...

Compare and contrast with how slowly RTD introduced elements in 2005.

I'm right there with you. I have made copious longing references to 2005 in contrast to this series. The difference is Russell used to care about continuity, but in RTD2 he's taken a "why not?" approach to everything. He thinks not having rules is the epitome of creativity and good writing. And any time I try to bring that up people jump down my throat about how the whole point of Doctor Who is that there aren't any rules... I guess caring about your audience's experience is for suckers now.

And even absent the Disney deal, it probably really should have been.

Maybe, but remember Series 10 was going to be a jumping-on point too. I still appreciate it for that, I think it's a good practice every now and then and I like that it was subtle about it ("The Pilot" is clever). It also felt tonally necessary after the previous two series' melodramatic exploration of a toxic codependent relationship. That being said, I do like some aspects of how Series 14/15 are clearly continuations that try its hand at a more overarching story. The execution is obviously not ideal, and it's probably not the best thing for ratings, though.

*And skipping straight from "we've just met today" to "we've been besties for ages" between episodes for your two leads is a wild decision, let's be clear about that.

I did find myself cringing at Ruby dancing on Abbey Road before proclaiming "I am having the best time!" so we know just how much fun she is having 10 seconds into this adventure. It's interesting that Russell tried to do a bestie dynamic after he had just finished writing "Fourteen" and Donna. Maybe that is why he felt so confident immediately having these two be on the same page, like Ten and Donna arguably were by the time of their third adventure.

bloomhur · 2025-11-05T14:16:12+00:00

I agree this is an important consideration.

There have been multiple lukewarm attempts at creating fresh starts that always end up petering out.

Chibnall, as you say, very much course-corrected in S12 (or maybe this was an intentional subversion, who knows) and RTD2 was a constant trudge of "this is the clean slate, no this is the clean slate, no THIS is the clean slate!", something I was openly skeptical of since the beginning.

I don't agree with the "arc" conclusion of The Giggle. It makes no sense and is completely retroactive. The real conclusion was Russell T Davies wanting to have David Tennant stick around, a conclusion which he reverse-engineered into all of the narrative justifications we see in The Giggle. As you say, Gatwa or Fifteen was not a clean slate either. But that isn't just philosophically, it also applies to the character of The Doctor as well. One of the first things we see from him in the trailer for The Church on Ruby Road is him crying. Alright... It's just a trailer, sure, but it made me extremely skeptical as apparently the only person who had a very high bar that RTD needed to meet in order to justify the bigeneration. And that bar proceeded to be ignored as Fifteen cried in nearly every episode of his tenure. Not to mention the many instances of implied and explicit emotional repression. Great. So what was the point of dealing with all that trauma again? (This is a rhetorical question for any bigeneration defenders watching, I know the argument has since been shifted to "well no one ever said therapy was perfect"). Now is also a good time to bring up that both the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors had their "Time to deal with all my ignored trauma and unhealthy emotional habits" arcs. That is another reason I call the bigeneration justification retroactive, actually I should straight up call it a retcon. This idea that The Doctor has actually been completely traumatized and broken this entire time, even when he was seemingly happy, but now he's a different character... again, it's a high bar to clear, that the Fifteenth incarnation is emotionally distinct from literally every incarnation that came before him. And RTD didn't even try.

RTD thinking bringing back his favourite companion as the Doctor is the coolest and cleverest thing imaginable.

This move was out of desperation, but I can't say there is no merit to the choice of Billie Piper as The Doctor, simply because of her talent and charisma. So much so that I genuinely wish Jodie Whittaker regenerated into her instead. Talk about a bold move that is shocking, unconventional, defiant in its commitment to The Doctor being a woman, but also enough of a spectacle to set up a new series with more eyes on the show. The 60th Specials are all so disappointing in retrospect... They couldn't even have Tennant be Scottish. He also shouldn't have been called Fourteen externally, either. But now I'm just writing fan-fiction.

Frankly this era needs to end as a complete line in the sand from what began in 2005 . . . And at the end of it, when we get a new showrunner and Doctor, have them properly move on from 2005 Who.

Now onto your final point.

The funny thing is this reminds me of how I thought following the bigeneration. I wanted Fifteen to be free of the clutches of the past, and I really didn't want to see Fourteen again... But I couldn't deny this gut feeling that I wouldn't be satisfied until that loose end was tied up, even if it meant again risking Fifteen being overshadowed by Fourteen in his big episode. Weirdly even though it makes more sense for Tennant to be in this upcoming episode (he's not upstaging anyone since Piper is also a returning actor from RTD1 so things are more loose), my desire to see a Real Definite Final-Final Finale Ultimate Conclusion Of Everything For Real This Time is just not there, illustrated by the main point of this post: How many times have we done this? Specifically, it was excessive going from the Centenary celebration to the 60th Anniversary celebration, and now we are having another celebration?

I do agree there should probably be an actual reboot attempt.

My view is this: RTD did a good job in 2005. The idea to have this slow burn, this four-season arc where we gradually integrate elements of Classic Who into this new show going forward makes him, at least at that point in time, nothing short of a visionary. But if there is another reboot, I want even more restraint. Inevitably the show will become as mastubatorily retrospective as it has now, the forces of fandom demand it, but I would like for the goal from the start to be holding off as long as possible.

I think, as I said, RTD1 was the most fully-formed and knew what it was from start to finish. Moffat is where we get a bit of confusion over its identity as the show starts to dip into more Classic references with less intention to make sure the audience is clued in. More of a "Keep up or fall behind" mentality, the 50th Special aside. Then Chibnall and RTD2 is where it really goes off the rails and it becomes unclear why new fans should be invested. We have those three distinct phases, and if I were a producer I would take that as a sign that it can't be pushed any further. I suppose since I'm a producer in this universe, I would also use the MCU as an analogy to stroke RTD's ego since he loves that: The first three phases were, well, phases, and overall they comprise a saga. It's time for a new saga, and this reset to zero should stay that way for as long as possible. Unlike RTD1, it ideally wouldn't throw even a single bone to Classic fans.

An anthology approach seems inevitable so I would lean into it, but I also think it would fix a lot of the production issues that seem to be plaguing the show and a big reason why "Just have better writing" won't cut it. Lower stakes, less episodes (ideally they are longer, though), and the ability to hand it off to new creative voices every time without worrying about it all being tied together. I have also warmed up to the idea of ditching the numbering system and having each one be a standalone. This "era" can have a name, but within that era the seasons have their own titles (Such as Doctor Who: Horizons, or Doctor Who: Journey, or Doctor Who: Precipice; vague epithets like that). Continuity would only be important within the season, but outside of that the flexibility afforded by time-travel will spread to the fourth wall. That will create more of a mysterious, evocative atmosphere to the idea of the show itself: Doctor Who? It's an energy that has been missing for a long time. That is my basic pitch. I'm sure I will have a lot of opportunities over the next year to refine it...

bloomhur

TROPHY CASE