A tepid defense of Chris Chibnall 

My video on the issue of the BBC's support of Transphobia: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aN4uc0HZrWE.html Shaun's 1st video, which includes some additional confirmed information: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b4buJMMiwcg.html Shaun’s 2nd video, which follows how the BBC is trying to dodge accountability for all of this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qfjTG6SVjmQ.html Shaun’s recent 3rd video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fRn1UZ4fhdE.html Laura Kate Dale's recent protest speech outside the BBC offices: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hBjGnWkwAjI.html

I think the best thing about Chib's era was Jodie Whittaker. She was a fantastic choice and really was a good Doctor. I'm going to miss her.

Being a history nerd, I loved how he introduced several historical people that were not known of at all to many viewers, including me. Would rush to Wikipedia while the episode was still broadcasting to get a basic idea who they were and what they did. Just like the old days in the 80s when I would rush to the family encyclopedia about what Pudding Lane meant at the end of The Visitation. Also really loved Spyfall 1&2. Great twist ending. Loved the Master 😁.

The #1 thing I liked of this era was that Ryan and Graham’s arc had a beautiful conclusion, that didn’t involve one of them dying. (Hopefully that’s not undone in the Centennial). We’ve had too many companions die, or might as well have died, in modern Who.

I feel like Chibnall's run has had lots of good ideas without *much* in the way of good execution, but one thing that's really been strong is the historicals. Better than any other era by a country mile, I'd say- focussing on in some cases lesser known figures rather than going 'Oh, you're the famous Charles Dickens! If we let these aliens kill you, you won't be able to write any of your famous books!' I enjoyed learning a bit more about Rosa Parks, Mary Seacole, Noor Inayat Khan, etc - subjects like the partition of India that aren't really taught in UK schools, too.

Some good points here. I’d agree and say that, with the exception of the timeless child twist, I liked all the broad-stroke decisions. Starting with a canon-lite season with completely standalone stories, to attract new viewers? Yes! Then have a season with a mix of standalone stuff, some two parters, and getting into the canon more in order to indoctrinate new fans? Yes! Ending with a series that’s one big story for the hard core fans who have stuck around this far into the current era? Yes! There’s more stuff too, but I definitely think there’s an execution if this plan that could have been great

A personal thing that I actually liked during Chibnall's era (which some people might disagree with me on and that's okay) is the character of Swarm. I thought that Sam Spruell did really well with the material he was given and for me, he stole the show in every scene that he was in. He had a really commanding presence in my opinion.

My favorite things about Chris Chibnall's era: -Graham -Dan -The Fugitive Doctor -Casting Sacha Dhawan as the Master -War of the Sontarans -The direction in which he took historical stories, often focusing more/equally on the era rather just the historical "celebrity", taking them more international, and featuring more notable historical women -While I'm not crazy about 13's TARDIS box, it is the first time anyone dared to substantially redesign the exterior of the NuWho TARDIS and I'm glad about the precedent he set -Speaking of precedent, loved him casting the first woman to play an inarguably canonical on-screen incarnation of the Doctor

I really like that a lot of his historical episodes focused on time periods or historical figures that are less known rather than being "let's go on an adventure with this person everybody knows about" sorts of things. Also I think that Maxine Alderton did some great writing for the show and I really hope she gets the chance to write some more episodes in the future.

I always loved the Doctor's line in Spyfall Part 2: 'Oh, I hope it's not a liver. I hate being inside livers. People always get so offended. What you doing in my liver again??" Jodie's delivery on that line always makes me chuckle.

My favourite things about his era was the representation. Even though we've had poc characters before, i still really liked how many there were in this era. A female doctor is an AMAZING idea and I'm so glad he did it, even though i don't like 13. I loved that we even had a disabled character too.

I actually like Jodie, wish she had a better run to remember her by, I loved the music direction, and the new opening credit sequence looked great. Does that count, or are those not specifically about Chibnall enough?

I think the historical episodes are Chibnall's strength, as well as bringing back classic villains in the modern era (minus the most recent outing). My own personal favorite of the Chibnall era was Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror. I already like Goran Višnjić as an actor, so I'm biased there. Tesla was a heavily misunderstood man, and I think the episode did a great job shining a light on Tesla's unappreciated genius.

I never realized series 11 had no recurring classic villains, and looking back I think it kind of resonates in an interesting way with other choices made. It enabled the Doctor being deflective regarding her past until after the first series. Having three companions (who already knew each other) right off the bat also made it easy for the Doctor to navigate the group dynamic to keep private. I used to view most of these elements individually as oversight, but taking them all together does help me consider a more redeeming and interesting interpretation. I've yet to watch series 13 to see if and how these possible inclinations of the Doctor are addressed but I'll try and keep an open mind.

I tried my best to like the Chibnall/Whittaker era and gave it a good go, but I just flat-out don't like it and consider it the least enjoyable of DW's entire 60 year run. Unfortunately. Too many issues with the writing, the casting, the tone and creative choices for me to click with it. It's a shame too because I like the idea of a female Doctor and some of the ideas and concepts were solid, but find that the execution was way off the mark.

The growth of Graham and Ryan's relationship was definitely my highlight of the era, Graham was my favorite character overall, and I think he was at his best with Ryan.

I think Chibnall was quite good at referencing Classic Who. When Sacha Dhawan mentioned the Tissue Compression Eliminator in Spyfall, that was a nice nod to the past. Equally I loved other little moments like the history of UNIT in Survivors of the Flux, showing Pertwee era UNIT again, using sets and locations that remind me of stories like The Three Doctors and Spearhead from Space. Plus adding a voice cameo from Nicholas Courtney was a nice nod to the past. Equally, while Legend of the Sea Devils is not the most amazing special of them all, I quite enjoyed the moment that the sea devil got killed and let out the classic sea devil sound from the original Pertwee story. It's nothing huge or big, but it's moments like this, the little details, that I am a big fan of. Equally, when the Ood made a cameo and it was Silas Carson doing the voice again, that's enough to please me.

Over 10 years ago when I was a kid I wrote a doctor who story literally about Ashad. Very happy that Chris Chibnall somehow found my childhood story and wrote it. Definitely my favourite Chibnall inclusion even if it didn’t go very far.

My favourite aspect of the Chibnall era definitely is the HISTORICALS. They have been a consistent highlight and really returns Doctor Who back to its original remit of educating as well as entertaining, which I love! I particularly love the focus on female historical figures both well known and fairly obscure: Rosa Parks, Noor Inayat Khan, Ada Lovelace, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont, Mary Seacole, Zheng Yi Sao! This has been brilliant to see! I have also loved how he has used classic monsters, for example, the Daleks - he just GETS the Daleks! And the Sontarans - easily the best interpretation of them since The Time Warrior! Also him casting a woman in the role was brilliant, it opened up the role to people other than white men which was way overdue and Jodie herself was a brilliant choice, and she has been consistently brilliant as the Doctor as well as an ambassador for the show - she IS the Doctor! I even love The Timeless Child, I think it opens up so many more possibilities going forward and that is EXCITING! And just in general I think there have been plenty of brilliant episodes and stories in this era, including quite a few stone cold classics of the modern era! The Chibnall era has not been perfect, no era of Doctor Who is but it gets far more hate than it deserves and I do think part of that is down to this being the CURRENT era - both RTD and Moffat (to a slightly lesser extent) also got a lot of hate and criticism when they were in the hot seat but retrospect has been very kind and I think the same will be true of the Chibnall era too, I think it will be a lot more appreciated once it is over! But I have loved this era, from start to most likely finished - like I said, not perfect but there is a lot to really like and I am incredibly thankful to Chris Chibnall and his team for delivering Doctor Who despite all the difficulties, I will forever be grateful! I've loved this era and I am sad that it is coming to an end, Jodie will be missed... but I am also excited for what is next with RTD coming back! And with the Centenary Special coming up as well as the 60th and Series 14 with RTD and Bad Wolf I think there is a lot for Doctor Who fans to be excited for, good times ahead for this brilliant, wonderfu, silly little show! Love live, Doctor Who!

"Village Of The Angels" is one of my favorite stories of the modern era... well, excluding the ending which lacks of a proper resolution, but other than that, I love it SO MUCH.

I’ve really softened on Series 11. There are quite a few stories that I like a lot. Jodie was immediately wonderful and everything felt new and fresh. Graham was a surprising highlight and Ryan’s arc through him and Grace was well done. I also enjoyed the return to historical settings with a bit more purpose and message, especially Demons Of The Punjab. As a gal who’s not a fan of the Chibnall era as a whole, Series 11 makes me really happy to revisit.

His villains (especially the Lone Cyberman), his historicals, Can You Hear Me, Haunting of Villa Diodati, and Village of the Angels are my favorite Chibnal era things and i'm thankful for them

Jodie as the doctor. It's such a shame she never got the writing Jodie as an actor really deserved. Also the casting of Bradley (all round entertainer, game shows etc) and John bishop (stand up comedian) were really worked to my surprise and delight.

The best part of the era is Chibnall trying something different, even if people were not keen on certain things at least he had the balls to try.

Best part of the Chibnall era, one, Sacha Dhawan as the Master. Probably my favorite version of the Master since Delgado. And second, the Ruth Doctor. I really wish we could have learned more on that & seen more of her. Fingers crossed for RTD diving into that. Now, fingers crossed for him sticking the landing with the return of Ace!

I love how Chibnall’s era feels more alien/willing to depict alien concepts than RTD and Moffats era.

"Good ideas, poor execution" is the best and fairest defense of Chibnall's era. And I did like the broader range of historical settings.

In addition to things other people have brought up, 1. I LOVED Swarm's design. The creepy crystalline aesthetic was very cool. 2. The "Grand Serpent" was a really neat character concept, and I loved the actor. 3. Nikola Tesla's casting and his unique rapport with the Doctor was great 4. Managed to make one Dalek on its own a legitimately scary threat again. The first half of Resolution I thought was awesome. 5. Er... I... actually like the Timeless Child stuff... 6. A list of the episodes that I personally just really enjoyed overall, even if they had flaws: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Kerblam!, The Witchfinders, It Takes You Away, Resolution, Spyfall (1&2), Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, Fugitive of the Judoon, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, The Timeless Children, Eve of the Daleks

I love the female doctor and I love the timeless child I think it is a big gift to doctor who. It means they never need to come up with a way for the doctor to keep regenerating. I love Yaz. I love the war of the Sontarans. I love the episode Rosa. There is so much that I love about this era of Doctor who that most people hate. Thank you for this video. The last video I saw like this was an April fool's day joke.

The fact that I’m struggling to come up with a single favorite thing from Chibnall’s era says a lot. There was stuff that didn’t work, more often than other eras, I get it. Haters, I don’t want to hear it. But, we had some real high points: - Ryan, Graham, and Grace - Spyfall and the Master (and Stephen Fry!) - The glorious return of Captain Jack Harkness - Jo Martin and her uncanny screen-commanding presence - The Lone Cyberman and the Haunting of Villa Diodati - The Dalek triple special of excellence - Dan - And honestly, Flux as a whole for me. I don’t want to dispute whether or not it worked, but I’m gonna reference what Council of Geeks said during their Matrix 4 review. Overall, Flux just felt right for me. Just that, it just felt right

Also very disingenuous of Moffat to claim he didn't listen to fans. Maybe he didn't listen to them ALL the time, but we all remember the rainbow daleks and how they appeared like TWICE! And I'm sad about that honestly I wish they would have been brought back more, I liked em

I feel like the BBC got Chris to helm DW because they were tired of arguing with Steven Moffat. They wanted a team player, who would accept whatever they handed him without a word. But there's a price for that, and the show paid it. I am sorry it happened with the first woman to step in, but at least the Fugitive Doctor showed everyone that the sex of the Doctor wasn't the problem. Going in, Chris had not written a widely-regarded as good episode of Doctor Who despite repeated attempts. And he still hasn't IMO, though he came closer in Eve of the Daleks. I just wish at some point he'd bucked convention and left the writing to others to concentrate on running the show.

Sacha Dhawan's master was for sure the high point for me, the casting was on spot, easily my favourite NuWho master so far

I liked that he actually tried to address some of the realities of history. Even if it didn't always come together, I appreciate him not just pretending tricky history didn't exist. Some of my favourite episodes were from his first season - like the Rosa episode, and the Partition of India - both looked at complex, important parts of history in a really human way. And the companions were great.

One of the big course corrections Chibnall provided was to kill off an important character, Grace, in his first episode. Although she was a new character, her death continued to affect two companions as that first season went on. With Bill and Clara especially, New Who had trained the viewer to assume that some magical intervention would reverse any tragedy that befell a companion. It had been done often enough that the dramatic stakes of the program had been lowered. Chibnall's work is solid enough that if the Moffat and RTD eras had never existed, I believe his era would have been received with the same excitement that RTD's was. If you doubt that, think back to RTD's missteps with the farting aliens. In reality, though, by the time Chibnall's era came around, it wasn't enough to put Daleks and Cybermen on screen in order to create a buzz, and Chibnall didn't have enough bright ideas to keep the public fully engaged.

I honestly just like...love Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor. Sure, she hasn't always been given the best material, but I love the way she plays the character. She's like, hyper and weird and very awkward and doesn't really express her emotions very well, often deflecting when confronted by it. But she's also extremely hopeful, and also lonely, and desperate for connection, which is why she just like, latches onto the first people she goes on an adventure with. I feel like there's a really deep and interesting character there, almost entirely done in Whittaker's performance. Definitely a case of "a lot of good ideas that just needed a bit more time in the oven" for much of it. I really do like the Thirteenth Doctor (though nobody will ever replace Twelve in my heart, for now at least lol). I wish we had a bit more time with her, maybe a little bit of her under a different showrunner to just see how amazing she could be.

I'm just so sad that Jodie is leaving, I really love her as the Doctor!

I agree, the Chibnall era is a collection of some really good ideas that something very unpleasant happened to before they became flesh, rather than through and through bad stuff. And I absolutely agree he made the right choice not to listen to the fans. In terms of what I like about this era, with no buts, they would Sacha Dhawan's Master, War of the Sontarans and the intro, both musically and visually.

I really liked 99% of the first special with the mind control Dalek. Joe Martin was amazing as the guest Doctor. There are other bits and pieces I liked but those two are my favs

Chibnall has done well with classic villains (minus the Sea Devils), I’m looking forward to seeing how Tegan and Ace are incorporated into the Centenary/Jodie’s final.

Chibnall's era is fine. It deserves more than a 'tepid' defence.

A very kind and generous video, Council of Geeks! I have struggled with the Chibnall era, especially in the last year or so, but there definitely have been positives. For me, these have been: 1. The historical episodes. It's been refreshing to see more diverse time periods and locations (rather than same old Victorian England). 2. Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor. 3. Sacha Dhawan as The Doctor. 4. Dan and Yaz's friendship. (They have way more chemistry than Yaz had with Graham and Ryan). 5. The humour. Many episodes had lines of dialogue that made me chuckle (in a good way!). A classic example was in the 'Villa Diodati' episode where Ryan is playing Chopsticks (badly) on the piano, and Mary Shelley says in an earnest voice: "Such a jaunty air!" And the Doctor had many great lines too!

Excessive use of closeups aside, I think overall the visuals have been the biggest strength of this era. Every episode feels like a big blockbuster movie event due to the way they're shot and it's really helped bump up the immersion in the best stories.

Chris Chibnall did generate more interest in Doctor Who for those who felt Moffat dropped the ball. I’m a disagreeable person about the popular complaints about that era and how it turned out. However, for many, Chibnall’s era did more for what they loved Doctor Who for. If they truly feel that way, I can’t hold it against them. Any era that garnered a following like that did something right at least. Hardly worth the whole “Doctor Who is dying” rhetoric RU-vid gets off on. Even if they could stand to rewatch and reassess the Moffat era.

My favourite thing about his era was the Historicals. Particularly Rosa and Demons of Punjab but also to a lesser extent the Nikola Tesla one and Sontaran ep.

My list: Really solid companions. There's isn't a bad one in the bunch Old school Sontarions The reveal at the end of part one of Spyfall The Ruth Doctor Cybermen invading Galifry Letting companions leave without forcing them to go. Never writing the Doctor as a girl. Jodi always sounded and acted like the Doctor Bringing Jack back Village of the Angels the historicals There are a couple forgettable episodes, but none that I hate. No magic girls and no treating the guys as idiots juggling some sweet, smaller moments amongst all the big, crazy cosmic stuff \

I actually like the timeless child storyline. I loved the Weeping Angels episode in Flux, but I am biased considering that they're my favorite villains on the show.

I think Chibnall’s best work came in the form of specials, historical episodes, and bringing back villains from Classic Who because there was a lot of fun in those things. I don’t think he cracked an overarching series storyline but I think we got enough decent one off stuff from him. And he certainly hasn’t “ruined Doctor Who” as others have claimed.

I really loved the focus on important women in our history, especially if they were unknown/underappreciated. I would never have known about Mary Seacole if it weren't for Chibnall's era, and I'm better of because of it. That was the best part of it for me.

I really liked Dan and Graham.

I’m not a shipper, nor have I ever been BUT I’m one of those people that really thought the ‘Thasmin’ ship was intended from the beginning. Thought maybe I was just reading too deep into it but then when it happened, I was stunned. From the first episode of Chibnall’s era, Yaz craved a more adventurous and gritty life, trying to find it in her job as a police officer, and then she meets an alien with a time machine that looks like a police box. How was she not going to fall in love? That’s the kind of stuff I’ll really remember about his era, and less so the “lore” explanations. I’ve just never cared about that. And it’s weird because the lore itself makes the Doctor more mysterious but it’s all so expository and told to the Doctor in a slideshow instead of her being active in the story. I’m one of the people who would say Flux was Jodie’s best series because it feels like she had more effect on the story.

I liked a few things, episodes and characters....The Fugetive Doctor, Graham, Professor Jecllico well done, episodes like Punjab, Rosa, Tesla, Sontarans i really liked them. BUT most of his stuff wasnt good and i dont think there was "a big plan" it was just a director going wild, because he wanted to. You can see it on the fact that 13 barely does anything herself. There is a reason RTD got absolute control over the show. I hope Jodie will get her own Big Finish series, to show how good she really is, like they did with Colin Baker. Im happy to see / hear more about the fugetive Doctor in the new Big Finish series. Many people also went mad when he did Mary Shelly and they went like "We had this with 8!" So what? we also got Shada with 4 and 8 and we got "spare parts" with 5 and "World enough and time" with 12. Its just a spin, on who a different Doctor would act / work in the same story.

Chibnal was a fan of classic Dr Who from referencing classic moments, as well as his story style being similar. In classic style there were several independent sci-fi elements in a story, that the mystery is how they are tied together. The difference was back then each story ran longer as it was collection of shorter episodes (2-3hr overall), with Chibnial's homage being squeezed into one hour.

Since you asked at the end, I really enjoyed series 12 and 13 from Chibnall's era. They each have faults and are not perfect but overall I enjoyed them SIGNIFICANTLY more than Moffat's season 7, 8 and 9. I also like the 13th doctor a lot and am sad she is leaving. Too soon.

My fave thing that he did ... was had the balls to cast a woman. The tenure has been ropey, but you know what? She could have been sooo good in the role.... budget cuts, series constraints, bad scripts and execution made it really hard for her..... but kudos to chibnall for casting her.... I think she will come into her own when BF get to write for her.

My favourite thing about his era was the Master. Sacha Dhawan is so absolutely mesmerisingly awesome and I SO want more of him And my favourite episode of this era is without any semblance of doubt The Haunting of Villa Diodati. It's the absolutely wonderful gem in this pile of mediocrity and I would put it as one of the best episodes of the show period!

I completely disagree about your claim that very few plot points would carry over from series to series during the Moffat era. Granted, the convoluted-ness of Moffat's era makes it difficult for many people to follow along, but still, the destruction of the Tardis creating the cracks was done by the Kovarian Chapter of the Papal Mainframe, which allowed the Timelords to send a message through, as well they engineer a psychopath to kill the Doctor creating the fixed point of season 6. So Moffats era was very sweeping and connected, from the prophecy in the very first episode: "Silence will fall"

Thank you for this! I too love the show, and I have endured the whackiness + crazy costume of the 6th Doctor, the half human attempt, and the continual demolishing of Gallifrey. I know Colin didn’t get to have influence on his costume, and that the portrayal was supposed to evolve (to your point about long term planning against real time situations). Half human goes to show writers will ignore what they want later (sometimes a blessing). With Gallifrey, people sometimes say they were made too common, but that is to me even more interesting- beings not born powerful but coming to hold unimaginable power. Not sure why the Time Lords are not more aware of and safeguarding their own future. They started out blinking planets out of existence and now keep getting destroyed- there should at least be contingencies to survive annihilation ( a big re-start button). As for the Timeless Child, I respect your opinion. I just hope it has some interesting twists as it plays out. To me, the Doctor is and always will be a Time Lord as that is a classification more than anything else. No one is born a Time Lord. As for Gallifrey, it is at least his adopted planet. Fingers crossed the long game of it pays off.

Honestly, both Doctors and the Master were all great in this; Whittaker's cheery attitude hiding her deflective personality was great, though they could've worked it in more organically, given these seasons' propensity for more long-term planning. The idea of having multiple companions at once was also great, making for more of an ongoing group dynamic and more different kinds of interactions with aliens and historical figures. Many people have said Demons of the Punjab already, and for good reason; it's fantastic and beautiful and I love it. Some other historical episodes also worked well, especially with ones that just...don't really have triumphant endings, embracing that bittersweet narrative instead. I know people have issues with the Rosa Parks episode, but the idea that they can't just swoop in and change this, the idea that this is an uncomfortable part of history they need to live with and confront, rather than wishing away, was a powerful one. Also, gonna be honest: the immediate sense of adventure after Moffat's increasingly dour and self-serious stuff was very much welcome, I thought. Yes, Moffat sometimes had some of the most incredible and existential gut-punches I've seen on the show (the library and the time dilation with Billy on the starship come to mind), but he also really got up in his own ass about being *clever* about it rather than applying it meaningfully, and it ended up just being annoying in far too many instances. Those are all things I quite appreciated about the Chibnall run, for whatever it's worth.

Damned good overview! War of the Sontarans was exceptional. The Fugitive Doctor could have been so much more. There were some excellent stand alone episodes

Just one point I'd like to make, Moffat did use story arcs in his run but he also used a continued story thread throughout his run with Matt Smith at least and kind of with Peter Capaldi as The Doctor getting to Trenzalore was mentioned in Series 6 but not seen until Time of the Doctor, Silence Will Fall was established in Matt's first episode but did not pay off until, arguably, Time of the Doctor and Rivers story started in Tenths era but ended in Twelfth's.

I think the biggest problem with Chibnall's writing -- not the only one, but the biggest one -- is a tendency to spend too much time setting up a really complex story with lots of interconnected elements, and then rushing the ending. It can make some things frustrating to watch because a third act that attempts to tie up all the loose ends as quickly as possible usually isn't very satisfying. But that being said, when he actually manages to avoid doing this, I tend to like his episodes a lot. I don't think I could point out a favourite thing about his era *yet* because his final episode is going to have a returning character I've been waiting to see in modern Who for a *long* time and, given its length, I think it's likely to end up being one of his stronger stories. So I'm still holding out hope that my favourite thing about Chibnall's era hasn't happened yet. If I was to go for something else, I think Sacha Dhawan's take on the Master makes the character truly scary in a way he hadn't been since Anthony Ainley at least, and his introduction in Spyfall may be one of the best rug-pulls the show's ever had.

I loved the idea and the concept of the fam. Because of the potential for the doctor to have more than one counterpart to play against or with. But there is always a but with Chibnall, the execution could have been better. I think JayExci made some valid points in this long video about haw the characters are too flat and too inconsistent. And this is also a problem for possible dynamics in the fam, sadly.

Sticking to your guns is great general advice for dealing with insecurities about your writing. But here it's been used to go completely off the rails into Chibnall's fan-fictiony ideas, which need a lot of restraining. And that's ignoring that he just plain isn't a good writer. He wants a million characters in every story but he doesn't do anything with any of them. He doesn't know how to write the Doctor, he doesn't understand basic narrative structure. And that's why it's a problem that he also doesn't listen to anyone who tells him no.

The Fugitive Doctor (I'd love for her to actually be 14), Graham, It Takes You Away, Demons of the Punjab, The Dalek trilogy special - all of these were great moments. Plus, the show LOOKED the best it's ever looked.

I enjoyed the inclusion of women in history who are less well-known. For example, I hadn't heard of Mary Seacole and she's fascinating. . .

I like the concept of shrinking planets and taking them out of time from The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. I enjoyed speculating about which planets were taken. I strongly suspect the Assassins from, Demons of the Punjab lost there planet to that weapons which adds a sense of cohesion to the season's narrative. I like the idea that the Doctor's adventures are affected by the actions of a villain that is revealed at the end.

The Doctor being a woman seemed like a natural progression. The Master spent 3 years being called Missy and there was an army general in two episodes that changed gender. The history episodes were interesting in places. I didn't know about Rosa Parks or the events in Demons of The Punjab. I forget his name but I didn't know about the guy who dug tunnels near Liverpool even if he did result in slightly lazy writing. It was a miracle anything got filmed during the pandemic. Occasionally it gets annoying with almost no news about Doctor Who until about a week before but I guess it helps occasionally with things like the surprise appearances of The Master and Captain Jack Harkness. Hopefully they'll do more with Kate Stewart than some nonsense about wearing a magic shield.

I think most of his era has good, great, fantastic and workable ideas. I just think it is VERY poorly written and plotted.

ive loved that this era has had really strong historicals, and i love that the tardis team we've had has been able to tell us stories that previous doctors/ companions couldnt (the witchfinders, demons of the punjab, etc). ive also loved the handling of classic villans in this era, i dont think chibnall missed with any of them

I adore It Takes You Away. It's a surprise favourite for me! Something just quite weird and out there that just works.

I love the effects and the overall sense of seriousness, I felt that because of Capaldi’s age it prevented some deeper effects from coming through a lot of green screen while the chibnall era felt super real but the story didn’t to me. Yas could’ve left too and left behind graham and Ryan that was the best part of it all. I loved them.

No idea why this is the point I'm choosing to reply to but we have some idea what time lords look like undressed because several human characters saw Eleven naked and thought it eccentric rather than freakish.

Honestly I have five things I really liked from Chibnall'Era as far as ideas: - A TARDIS Team: I still think can be a very interesting idea if well executed - Graham as character and his relationshis with almost everybody - This Master, which is for me one of the best point of this Era and definitely the bast part of the Timeless Child thing. Love his interaction with this Doctor - Jodie as the Doctor and I am very sad she hadn't the room to grow and show more. After all these years, I still feel I don't know this rigeneration at all. - The historical episodes. I actually really liked all of them nd definitely think they are the best parts of this Era.

I kinda liked that in the series 11, Chibnall didnt use old villains... Im so tired of Daleks and Cyberman... sad the new villains were crappy: p

The Fugitive doctor is probably the craziest (in a good way) revael to somehow stayed secret I have ever seen chipnall. And while there are many things things I'd change about how it was revealed and what was done in flux I the idea of the timeless child it adds mystery back into the doctor's identity and gives the show so much to explore. I even like there are parts of all the he never planed to explore himself leaving room for showrunners after him something I thought Moffat would do with search for Galifrey.

I also didn't like most of this era and the decisions made, however it did give me Graham, who is my favourite companion to date, better than Donna in my opinion.

This, agreed! Been thinking (and maybe saying too?) myself a while now that he's a great ideas guy but then fumbles the execution.

I get the impression sometimes that Chibnell just can’t win with some fans. For example the end of It Takes You Away where Ryan called Graham grandad. One fan was like “I saw that coming a mile off, way too predictable.” And another fan was like “That made no sense, nothing happened between the two of them to suggest that, it came out of nowhere.” One fan hated it because they knew it was going to happen, and another hated because they DIDN’T know it was going to happen. 🤷‍♂️

I honestly think the historical/pseudo historical episodes were the best they've ever been in the modern era during the Chibnall Era.

There has been an emotional level in this era which really appealed to me and I'm not sure whether it was Jodie's acting and/or the writing. Plotting in general wasn't good though some of the ideas within the plots were intense. When I go back to earlier episodes of modern Who I sometimes feel a shallowness in relationships between the doctor and companions or the doctor and episode characters, relative to this era, though I'm hard put to be specific. I loved the Grace Ryan Graham thing! I loved the Yaz/Dr things. Loved Dan/Yaz. Liked the presentation and characterization of historical figures almost every time. Loved the Dr/Cosmic Frog episode though it took me a couple watches to really get into the choppy movement of the action (and the "Dad" character seemed carelessly written - like shouldn't he have maybe been a bit more conflicted about the choices he was making?). Lapses like that were a part of the many things that didn't totally work throughout this era. Often plots felt like there wasn't really a good enough idea behind them or the working out of the idea was weak or took a total back seat to the character relationships. And then there was Flux. Three seasons worth of ideas crammed into a 1/2 or 2/3 of a season, chopped and under cooked and truncated, all while being confusing, and completely manic/depressive, with a slapdash ending with many incomplete consequences. What a charming and off-putting mess this era has been!.

The concept of the Timeless child, I genuinely love. It adds history to the doctor and branches of different story options.

Jo Martin’s Doctor is by far the best thing to come out of Chibnall’s era. Ashad also stands out as one of the best individual villains of the new series.

Joe Martin as the fugitive doctor is amazing. Maybe I don’t like the idea of the fugitive doctor in chibnals hands, but the casting is impeccable. I had no idea who she was before this, but she absolutely blew me away.

I didn't see all the episodes, mostly because I kept forgetting when it was on (same thing happened with Capaldi's last season. One thing I liked was when fugitive doctor and our current doctor figured out they were the the same person. I would love to see more of that dynamic. The other was from the first special. When the dalik abandoned its shell. and posesed the human, I thought it was an interesting spin on the Daleks. Having said that, there was one thing that confused me. Around the time we were about to learn about the timeless child (which I had trouble believing that the master would become so angry on the doctor's behalf that he took out all the time lords), there were scenes where we watched this boy grow up. When I first saw the scene were he was shot and died only to wake up seconds later, injuries gone, I thought that scene looked a lot like what would happen when Jack died and revived.

this era is rough in the script and pacing department for all the reasons you've covered, but if i can keep anything from this era moving forward it's the title sequence, both the new theme and the swirling visuals, jo martin as the fugitive doctor, and sacha's master, everything else was a bit of a mess. despite jodie dealing with a rough hand in the tardis, her doctor hasn't connected with me, but i definately think that under better circumstances and actual closure to her arc i think i would have.

I really liked Tosin Cole, for a specific example the scene in Arachnids in the UK where if you're paying attention to him in the background you can see him making shadow puppets with a projector. It might be one of my favorite moments of this era, so much character and charm in such a small moment you might not even notice on a first viewing.

I really liked Kerblam! and it was great seeing Julie Hesmondhalgh. I actually really loved the implication that had The Doctor not messed around with the job allocation, the mystery would have been solved VERY quickly. The Doctor doesn't always know best, and I think that's important to remember.

Fugitive Doctor was his best idea IMO. The Witchfinders I think may have been the strongest episode of his tenure

While most of the Chibnall scripts have been pretty mediocre, I do like majority of the guest writer stories.

I'd prefer a more predictable story that's well-written, acted, and produced more than a "got ya" twist narrative. The latter just leaves me scratching my head and wondering what the point was. Twists are great, but they're not just doing the unexpected. The unexpected is often unexpected because doing it makes no sense

at the very least, Alan Cumming as King James was really good

The Chibnall era had the best ever opening titles/ theme music arrangement.

The only episode I connected with and liked was eve of the Daleks I've agreed with every other large criticism you've made about his era

Resolution is the third best new who dalek story I will not be taking questions at this time

The historical episodes from series 11 were really strong, and I really hoped that Chibnall would lean more into those types of stories. Imagine of he had made his mark with historic stories that focused more on the characters and less on the wacky alien stuff.

I loved the Timeless Child revelation. The idea that we didn't know who the Doctor really was after all, when "established lore" had taken away all the mystery. Was the Child left where Tecteun found her on purpose, or did she fall through the wormhole by accident? Who were/are her people? Are they looking for her? The fact that it "retcons" 50-odd years of lore isn't really that important - and besides, it didn't. William Hartnell's Doctor was portrayed as pretty much human, from some future time and possibly another planet. The Time Lords weren't even mentioned until the final Patrick Troughton story. The idea of a Time Lord having only 13 lives was introduced half way through Tom Baker's era. Paul McGann's Doctor was supposed to be half human (a relic from an earlier draft of the script, in which the Doctor's father, Ulysses had a child with a human woman); that's never been referred to since. And Steven Moffat had this idea of the Hybrid, which was never properly explained - was the Hybrid the half human McGann Doctor, or was it the Doctor and Me/Ashildr, and what was the point of it anyway? Whatever happened to the Valeyard? There are loads of massive revelations that have happened over the years, which no-one seemed to care about. Why have the haters lost their shit over the Timeless Child?

I actually like the Timeless Child and its implications, but the way the story was told could have been better. I also love Sasha's Master, and I think his characterization is damn near perfect.

The timeless child was a great concept and fit well into the established Time Lord lore. (The Doctor being the timeless child is awful though) It Takes You Away is one of my favorite episodes of the show. Eve of The Daleks was pretty dope. Jodie Whittaker was a perfect cast for The Doctor. Under better writing she could've been amazing. Sacha Dhawan's Master is perfect. Best intro the show has ever had.

The intro to this one could be the entire channel's motto lmao