Most people who say they don't like anime have either never watched anime or they think all anime is aimed at children, here are some Anime suggestions for you Harbo to change your mind as anime is possibly the best form of media for telling stories.: Hellsing Ultimate - Vampires,Werewolves,Zombies, now make them Nazi's rampaging through modern day London Death Note - It needs no introduction these days as everyone and their mums have heard of it Future Diary - A group of people are thrown into a battle royale by a god to determine who will inherit it's power all while being drip fed possible future events through their phones Deadman Wonderland - boy is framed for murdering his classmates and he's sent to a prison that is designed like a theme park death trap, he then discovers he can manipulate his blood and is thrown into an underground arena to fight other people that can "Bloodbend"
That's why I like the Moffat era. There barely had stories focused on contemporary London nor alien invasions to Earth, it really felt like the TARDIS could travel anywhere.
@@CreamySun582 No really, the first modern day alien invasion in London in the Moffat era was the Cube episode. Even that was the return of UNIT after many years.
I do like that he tried to set an episode in the TARDIS itself, though I don't see the point of a room that's just a cliffside with a giant waterfall. I do like the bigger wardrobe than the one in Classic Who, but we don't see enough of the TARDIS in New Who while in the classic show we've seen bedrooms, the Zero Room, and a swimming pool and heard about rooms with a turkish bath and I think a library. I'd like to see the TARDIS be more than an RV.
I think the Moffat era was peak doctor who because he was able to write some really good stories in my opinion, also the actors managed to properly mutate his scripts into something convincing. And you're right; he did manage to make it feel less restricted which was really good too. Obviously he had hiccoughs but overall it was great. (Totally unbiased and not nostalgic opinion👀)
The best example of modern day earth being used too much is when they fly off in the TARDIS, leaving modern day earth in “Fugitive of the Judoon” to go through the time vortex to end up on… modern day Earth in Praxeus… Fugitive of the Judoon and Praxeus
I'd argue Series 8 was worse as not only were six episodes set on modern day Earth, but we had Flatline, then In the Forest of the Night, then the two part finale (four straight episodes on modern day Earth). And that's not including Last Christmas and then the first half of The Magician's Apprenctice
I completely agree with your point about companion variety and how stagnant it's become. I personally felt this during the latter stages of the Peter Capaldi era. I legitimately thought that Moffat was lining up Missy to become a companion. Like, can you actually imagine The Doctor AND The Master working and travelling across space and time and all the narrative potential that could've had? Instead Missy got taken out by her own self and all that potential was lost. I can just imagine it now, all the friction between how these two Time Lords would solve an issue. Or the type of villain you could bring in to face them. Imagine for Capaldi's final story they had him, Gomez's Master, the First Doctor and even a potential First Master, all facing down a returning Omega? It sounds fanfic as hell but that's kind of what makes the series so special, and it's different and unique, which is something Doctor Who needs now more than ever.
Imagine the Ghost Monument was the entirety of Series 11 instead of just one episode. The Woman Who Fell To Earth plays out normally. They get picked up by the two competitors in the race, learning that a very powerful ship (the TARDIS) is the prize. Each episode sees them hop over to a different planet where someone zany happens. Or maybe Tzim Sha is another competitor. It could have been a really great concept.
16:41 It's especially baffling that even Classic Who dared to do that with less budget than today with characters like Chameleon! Technically Nardole counts but he just looks human.
5:20 I would love to see an episode set in Japan. Doctor Who in modern Tokyo? Or an historical set in Edo period? Yes, please! I 100% agree that if there are going to be so many stories set on Earth, they need to use MORE of the Earth. Now that you mention it, I had forgotten the Chibnall era's deliberate attempt to use more foreign settings, but I suppose that's the one thing I would give him tremendous cerdit for, especially since two of those stories, Demons of the Punjab and It Takes You Away, were among the few standouts of his era.
An interesting idea to consider would be “pure futurical” stories, set in the future but with a more realistic (for Doctor Who) take lacking the wackiest sci-fi elements. A good example would be Smile from Series 10.
Makes me think of recently recovered Second Doctor serial “Enemy of The World”…set in then-future 2018 but with the zaniest bits merely talked about, any future tech seen was rather contemporary in nature…😅😁 I still wish we could just get a simple pure historical in, “Rosa” would’ve been perfect for that but Chibnall just HAD to throw in Krazlo just to keep that from happening AND HE WAS TOTALLY SUPERFLUOUS TO THE PLOT! 😵💫😒
@@christopheralthouse6378 I think Demons of the Punjab would've done just as well as a pure historical. I appreciate the Thijarians, but the story could work without them.
another point on classic who and five’s era specifically is that the doctor is in fact trying very hard to get to contemporary England but alas the TARDIS ends up landing inside spaceships, on jungle planets or at the right place a few hundred years too early 😅 we’re on earth quite a few times in s19 but it always feels distinct enough that it’s still fun and interesting!
Yeah, whatever happened to The Doctor not being all that good at piloting his own ship? Closest thing we got to that in Modern Who was River Song making a joke about 11 leaving the parking brake on…🙄 I want a return to “right place wrong time” type settings…👍🏻
You know this is a large reason why I so dreaded RTD's return. Of the three showrunners, he loved modern day London and referring to British culture the most. Fingers crossed that the new trailer is a sign that he's changed gears.
That's why I loved that the Thirteenth Doctor's era had Sheffield as a main setting. Even within the UK, which has very different unique settings, they still can't show anything else than London!
Honestly Imagine moffet didn't build on them after blink Imagine it's a stand alone episode Now the end of season 1 of class happens I think that would have been enough to save the series, word of mouth would have spread saying you have to watch it just for the ending, when asked, all they'd say is, just watch it, I can't say more
My favourite Dr who stories are set in the past. My favourite are stories set in ancient past like The Fires of Pompeii or the Romans I would love to see it come back
It might need to take a few years off. I'd love to see Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton take on lead writing duties. I think they'd be perfect. Dark, quirky, creative, cinematically literate and with plenty of experience with this form of writing.
Oh my god, that never even occurred to me. They might be perfect. It’s whether they’re sci-fi minded enough to come up with ideas. Inside No. 9 is great tho
9:00 Heck, we don't even need Europa for that! Our own deep seas are more mysterious than space still! Like, Doctor Who could do a mermaid episode using the pseudo-science theory of the aquatic ape hypothesis - and if you think: "Oh come on, Doctor Who shouldn't do pseudo-science!", may I remind you of the use of the Dinosauroid theory with the use of the Silurians and Sea Devils?
4:59 As much as I like SG-1, by the time they actually moved on from the Goa’uld, it felt directionless without the enemy it built up the show around. The Ori felt more like a weird afterthought than anything.
5:09 As a German Doctor Who fan, I loved that the Thirteenth Doctor era showed other countries and their histories and I hope this will continue! I mean, Germany alone has some amazing historical eras and events (And it would also help to avoid the trope of German history = Nazi era because, while it’s important to remember the horror of fascism, we should also show other eras in German history!). And then there are the many non-European histories to explore. Also, concerning a returning setting as the home for the companion could be done in another country in present day as well while perhaps a second companion from the past or future UK could still allow for a British setting. You could explore future UNIT, past Torchwood etc. And concerning British history, you could show events that are part of both British and another country’s history. For example, on his second voyage to the Pacific from 1772 to 1775, Captain James Cook hired German geographer, naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary Georg Forster as well as his father. Georg was just 18 at the time and used the journey to see whether there were human societies without class, oppression and conflict. On this voyage, Georg not only categorized many plants previously unknown to Europeans (some of the finds he brought back now offer new possibilities using genetics) but he also discovered and names the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights, Antarctica’s equivalent to the Aurora Borealis of the north. Georg was also the first ethnologist to not see cannibalism as pure savagery and the people practicing it as inhuman. He tried to see other non-European cultures without bias (and he was also a huge critic of the racism and the emerging preudo-science of classifying people into different “races”). Now that would make for a great Doctor Who episode that also has some connection to British history.
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7o Pretty much everything & the way you wrote it. As someone from the subcontinent, Demons of the Punjab did this for me & I would love to see other cultures be explored in the show.
12:11 Maybe not that legal drama. But in the Keys of Marinus there is an episode where Ian is framed and sentenced to death and the Doctor has to be his lawyer. They could try something like that.
I think a good way of changing things up would be that an end of an episode would lead into the next. Not only would it keep the viewers watching threw out to see what happens but it could also prevent viewers from wondering what happened between stories.
Well, that's due to the changing TV landscape and costs getting higher among other things but yeah, a show like Doctor Who should be capable to adapt to this.
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7oit's already adapted to it The jodie era was mismanaged and covid wrecked the schedule further but now we're back to yearly seasons and specials with the second season and special being pretty far into production combine that with the increased availability of the show worldwide and things are looking up
I'd say all the issues you've raised here are pretty fair. On the whole though I'd say the good still outweighs the bad. It's not like there haven't been ATTEMPTS to innovate. I think Moffat tried to do so with his Companions by doing stuff like the Impossible Girl arc, and with the season arcs by making them more complex and timey-wimey, but he got SO MUCH flak for doing those things that he ended up choosing to play it safer with the Capaldi era arcs and Bill. I think Chibnall probably learnt the same lesson from observation, so ended up spending much of his era trying to replicate the qualities of RTD1. I think the intent has certainly always been there, it's just not been pushed far enough or in the right/most effective way so far.
i think we need more pure historicals. i always say this but i think it'll help quite a bit. the most annoying thing about the celebrity historical episodes is they need to shove some aliens in there every single time. it would be great to have some more relaxed historicals where the doctor and companion go back in time to meet like some sort of ancient king or something and the whole episode is court intrigue and they have to stop an extremely normal earthly assassination because the king is supposed to rule for 20 more years. no aliens at all. doctor who would greatly benefit from just having a period piece episode every once in a while, where the only sci fi in there is arriving and leaving in the tardis at the beginning and end and maybe the doctor using the sonic to unlock a few doors. like something like the agatha christie episode could literally just have been solving an extremely normal murder without any aliens involved at all and i feel like it would have been improved. i would actually love to see a companion who is some ancient person picked out of their life. they can pick a historical figure who mysteriously vanished if they want just to have the choice to do whatever the hell they want with the character without having to deposit them back into their life at the end of their run on the show.
Ooooh, how about a Neanderthal as a companion or a Paleolithic Homo sapiens! So many concepts that are foreign to them. They wouldn't even know what stairs are! And their cultures and sense of seeing the world would also be completely foreign to modern viewers, which could be used greatly for comedic effect. Imagining a Neanderthal arriving in our present, becoming hungry and thus hunting a cow or something because obviously they aren't aware of grocery shopping.
I definitely agree with the companion issue, why do they all have to be from Modern day London? I was excited when I first saw Asylum of the Daleks seeing Oswin clearly being set up as a new companion, and while the twist of her being a Dalek was really good, I almost wish they hadn't done that so Oswin could have been a new companion from the future to get a break from the modern day London trope. Also, I have always thought it would have been good if the Daleks truly stayed defeated after Journey's End. It was a perfect ending and bringing them back, especially so soon in Series 5, meant that the impact of that perfect ending is lessened as well as the 10th Doctor leaving Rose in the Parallel World because of the Meta crisis Doctor's genocide of the Daleks, he killed them all, but in Victory of the Daleks they're just like " Hey we're mostly dead lol" it's never explained how they survived, and I never liked that.
People will definitely be more impressed if RTD manages not to use Daleks throughout his entire run than if he does. I'd be impressed, I know that for sure
ive been dying for a non modern day earth companion for the past 10 years! I was so upset when moffat went with modern Clara instead of the victorian one. IDK if he ever stated why he made that change or not but i feel it was the wrong move.
I always thougth the idea of a Doctor Who anime series. It could be a good oportunity to bring new stories with this new format. A good example of this is Star Wars Visions. The first season had stories from different characters, who wasn't in the main protagonist of the movies. And was produced specificly from famous animation studios of Japan. Or how about to create doctor who stories like Big Finish with previous Doctors. A anime with stories of previous Doctors and companions. Without deaging (exept the voices) and full of anime style action that even the original show never met.
yeah, or something weird like entering an animated dimension and either being turned animated or (though probably more awkward) having to handle interacting in such a universe as the weird beings like in that graffiti aliens episode.
I'm sorry I'm just laughing at the thought of the third doctor in an anime fight scene with his martial arts stuff. I was not prepared for this mental image.
Theres so much untapped things in the eu that the show could use from companions to enemies to just settings to concepts to just plain old characters..... but everytime i say this im told no since not everyone even ascribes to the eu and since its behind a paywall its not accessible and therefore people wont know about it???? which is a wild thing, like Charley and the Viyrans can't be in the show ever because people dont know who she is or the Viyrans? or we can't run into Benny (like if Lisa doesnt wanna do it thats fine but like idk you'd think even someone like her would make an appearance)? or like idk have a new Zagreus or Eminence story? like all because some fans wont know? as if no fan started out not knowing who daleks, silurians, sarah jane, the tardis, the master, k9, regeneration, etc were.... you'd think the more people you got interested in the eu the more people who'd buy it and therefore the more you could do...
I like to imagine a world where Clara was a companion as Victorian Clara and there’s an episode where she gets to see modern day England and learns about silly things like phones and cars
I would love to see a companion from the future, either alien or a human from a point so far in time that they're living alongside aliens, which was less clueless and needing less constant outright exposition. And have them being dedicated to something time or technological related, kind of like Jack being a former time agent, or a character from a UNIT like background. I think the dynamic it would create with the Doctor and the companion being more in the same page and the companion being useful without needed deux ex machina moments could be really interesting and fun to explore. Having the modern time English companion as the side character and switching the roles for once. Even a temporary companion from the past could have potential. Maybe not as a full time companion but someone who is with the doctor from episode three to six, offering a very different perspective from someone from our time who has lived most of their life under obvious alien invasions.
We need a story kind of like the mcu's cival war, where The Doctor messes up and human lives are losses in the consequence, which then causes Earth and humanity to turn against him, and banish him from Earth. But then a new villain realises now that earth is vulnerable, proceeds to invade etc etc but in this period, it could set up a new team/ society of heroes for earth, in the vain of unit creating their own suicide squad of sorts, comprising a malfunctioned cyberman, a zygon, an ice warrior, a silurian etc etc, for them to also turn eventually, teaming up with the big new villain, having the doctor return to earth, saving the day and regaining humanity's trust etc etc
I hope RTD sees your video. I am a long time fan from all the way back to the late 60s. It's ironic that as you observe with a handful of exceptions that the show unfortunately has a lack of imagination despite having the biggest budget in its history with access to technology that could make a return to 'The Web Planet' spectacular and easily doable, but we all know they won't. You correctly mention that the classic era had so much imagination with a fraction of the budget and shooting schedule that the current series has. Unfortunately this situation is not exclusive to Doctor Who, the very same could be said for modern Star Trek. Even 'Picard' season 3 had to imitate the style of STNG series. It's unfortunate with so many science fiction novels fan and non fan fiction alike that neither programs have the vision to tap into it. On the one of two occasions that RTD did we got a unqualified classic in 'Human nature' and ' Family of Blood'! Keep up the good work.
As someone who grew up with mostly NuWho as I was 11 back in 05 and is now currently halfway through watching Classic Who for the first time at 30 after putting it off for too long, I have to admit I've been impressed with the variety of companions that weren't just present-day humans, as some were from different timelines and even nonhuman including a fellow Timelord which to me is fascinating! And I wish modern who would bring back these elements by having a non present-day human companion and maybe perhaps have the Doctor be stranded on another planet or different universe for a while.
With so few episodes in the modern era of the show, it must be hard to decide whether or not to use familiar foes, or bring something back. Classic Who had lots of episodes per season to work with, so I guess it wasn’t that much of an issue. You could have one Dalek story, and one Cyberman story per season, and it didn’t feel like overkill, because there was so much more Who to watch. Personally, it doesn’t feel like Doctor Who to me, if we don’t get one of a Dalek, Cyberman, or Master story a season - they are classic villains for a reason, and that reason is they are the Doctor’s nemeses. One of my favourite stories was from the Pertwee era. We started with Draconians, a new “race”, and the Master, on his way to becoming one of the Doctor’s primary nemeses. But it was the Ogrons, who I think were new, at the time, impersonating humans and Draconians. Of course, the Ogrons ended up being patsies for the Daleks, another nemesis. All in the same (well, really two related) stories. And it was great. I’ve forgotten if I was trying to make a point here, or not… :) Cheers,
Yeah, you're right it seems this show is stagnating. I mean I think having an alien companion would really spice things up and people stopped watching would be interested in the show again.
I don't really mind stories, but I think the root of all stagnation is companions being generic young-adult-women. Can we already have a long-lasting off-worlder companion or a companion from different time? It can lead to opportunities in both storytelling and humor. "Modern-day earth" is suddenly will become not so campy and boring if we see it through the eyes of someone who's not local. P.S. "Audience surrogate" is boring and outdated concept. Every character can be relatable if you write them good enough, it doesn't need to be generic social worker girl.
You do make a good point. They should take more risks, do things differently and bring new ideas and concepts. I agree about the companions, let's stop being earthbound, and show other species. I do agree lets not do the big three of villains, lets give others a chance and introduce new ones. The idea of change and renewal should happen, let's take more risks and try different things.
Given you've reviewed Ultraman Geed before, seeing Doctor Who crossover with similar type aliens that are giant or immensely small, or some kind of kaiju based story, would be pretty fun to see. Or even wackier, have live action interact with other forms of visual media. The TARDIS can travel to different universes, why not have the Doctor travel to universes with differing laws of physics, or interact with wacky animation characters in an animated world, or a world of puppets? Some form of horror in near complete darkness with only brief glimpses of glowing lights of some sort, as suggested in the video, could also work especially as a budget saver episode lol.
1. Absolutely I agree with you. I love the big three enemies, but the flux series I have to admit that you were right on the money with the Sontarans and it was not only refreshing, but it was actually showing them to be a threat when other series kind of showed that to be more or less a joke. 2. Yes, we do need more companions aside from modern day companions. I get it to a certain mix in because modern day viewers can I identify with a modern companion but come on. We’ve had characters from the future in past series. Heck the second doctor had Jamie and Zoe, who were from the future in the past respectively. the doctor had an Australian and alien starting out as his companions. More alien companions, and more people from the past to the future please. I understand the need for modern companions, but come on. 3. More futuristic earth indeed. Yes it will date the series but that’s half of the fun. This is a time traveling show. Of course things are gonna change. And more variety on alien planets too. 4. And yes, I’m also in agreement with you with them constantly going to England. Particularly Davies obsession with going to modern day London and Moffat obsession with Victorian London. I just like to say that Chibnall at least remember that we have the rest of the globe to explore. And look I get that they might not have the budget for it at times, but they can think of something. Heck, I liked it in “flatline“ when they manage the Landes in Bristol and that was a running joke where they landed in Bristol where they weren’t supposed to land.
They could do a spin off set in the 51st century time that jack is from through dr who and torchwood we learn bits about this era from the time agency etc but would be good to explore that time more.
Personally I've always liked the idea of a story where the Daleks turn the Doctor's love in humanity against him. Imagine a scenario where the Daleks frame the Doctor for murder so he is locked up in jail whilst they carry out their invasion plan. The Doctor can't do anything to stop them because the very race he admires more than any other don't trust him and his Sonic Screwdriver has been confiscated. The Doctor must prove his innocence in a court of law to escape and stop his greatest enemy. I think it would offer some interesting dramatic material.
I think it might be cool to explore the pure historicals again. Pick a period post 1900 with an interesting enough social event, and you could have a very good story. It'd be worth the risk, because Doctor Who has become very stale.
IMO a modern day human companion can still be interesting if you give them personality traits that haven’t been done before. One idea I had is a companion obsessed with the mechanics of time travel, who prompts The Doctor to use the TARDIS to do new things, but is anxious about actually going anywhere. At the end of their first episode, The Doctor offers to take them on their first trip, but they’re overwhelmed and would rather go home and think about it for a few days, so they tell The Doctor to time travel a week into the future when they’re ready. Before leaving, they say “I’d say goodbye, but it’ll only be a minute for you so… see you in a bit, I suppose.” The episode would end with the Doctor travelling to that point in time to pick them up, and then episode 2 would start from the companion’s perspective, showing how they spent the week preparing to leave with The Doctor, which would characterise them while also being a subtle nod to the audience waiting between episodes. (And that’s just one of the ideas I had thinking about what I’d be like as a companion)
Stargate also had the Replicators and the Ori. But I will say that Battlestar only ever had the Cylons and that worked most of the time, but it was also one of the reasons that show only had 4 seasons, by the end of that were was pretty much nothing left to do with them. Star Trek Picard season 3 is a perfect example of what Harbo is talking about, after DS9 went off the air there was no mention of the Dominion for decades so when the Changelings showed back up again they were a new and fresh threat and it really worked.
I never even made it to the Replicators or the Ori, I got a few seasons in and then drifted away because of how samey it always was. Keep meaning to pick it back up but I just really don't feel much urgency to go back to it
@@HarboWholmes The Ori are very similar to the G'Oauld or however its spelt lol. Basically their evil energy creatures who feed off of the belief of their followers. The show got really weird and kind of more into the realm of magic with King Arthur being real. The Replicator stuff is really good though.
Now is the perfect time to experiment with the following format, something I have wanted for YEARS: we're getting eight episodes per season, yes? Try this - new companion every week.
3:55 Ugh... I know you are trolling us saying "Oserans" instead of Osirians, but seriously, dude, Must You? 11:09 YES! I still think the finale of episode 1 of Embrace the Darkness is still one of the most chilling of all time! 17:04 YES! Agreed! Liv is not only from another planet, an Earth Colony, but she's from the distant future. Ok, I thought going in I'd disagree with this vid, but I don't. We need new villains, companions, settings, and styles!
I agree with you on many things. I like the location changes. And people are going to slam me for this, but I'm getting tired of seeing David Tennant as the Doctor. How many times has he reappeared? Also, the Daleks/Cybermen are so one dimensional. How much more interesting can they possibly get? We'll see what Ncuti brings to the story.
Some monsters I'd like to see as series finale or overarching villains for finales are... Silurians. The previous owners of the planet are sleeping under us, technologically more advance than us. Why hasn't that been explored more. With Doctor Who introducing magic and supernatural elements into the show why not reintroduce the Beast, saw their destruction in series 2, but magic can be a way to bring them back. Challenge the Doctor and universe. Lastly something unique where time is the problem, Moffat played with time in series 5, 6 and 7 and while it isn't dangerous in the conventional sense, it's still something that could rewrite the universe, erase people or worse. Imagine companions travelling with the Doctor and then the Doctor saves the day in the finale but the companions are gone forever. They can't come back. The only other thing I have to say is I like serialised storytelling, Moffat and Chibnall are blamed for this. But I genuinely enjoy it so much more than standalone stories because it allows time to explore settings and dive into other aspects of a larger story. I really hope this will be explored more going forward because while Monster of the week stories are enjoyable, I want something I can really bit into.
Dalek and Fear her both took place in the future at the time of broadcast but are now both taking place 12 years ago and it sort of works. The Doctor did carry the Olympic torch in reality, just not the one you were expecting and who's to say that a metaltron didn't rampage through a top secret underground base, nobody would know.
I wonder what it would be like to have essentially the reverse of the third Doctor's exile arc where all stories were set entirely on 20th Century Earth. What if there was an entire series where we never visit current day Earth at all. Heck I'd like to see them do something like the Divergent Universe arc from the 8th Doctor audios. There is a lot of potential in the concept of putting the Doctor in a completely unfamiliar setting thats never been fully realised. Also make Doctor Who anime a thing please.
I do want more varied companions, but the problem with them is that if theyre from the past, the show spends too much time explaining the future and theyre often stereotyped as dumb and then future companions, they look down on the past because theyre just so advanced now that things of the past are jokes. It gets very obnoxiojs in the TARDIS with companions from other eras. Vicki just laughed at modern day earth and Jamie spent half his time asking what things were. It gets quite painful to watch.
Might even be a good idea to utterly avoid big villains for a long while or go way back into the past to Roman or Celtic Britian to return to it's origin as an edutainment show.
I said before, it would have been interesting to see something different for this mew series. I thought 15 could have started with a lost memory, maybe on a reformed gallifrey, working for a big bad, as some kind of time agent, meant to be guiding civilisations the way the big bad wants it but the Doctor starts to piece things together as he meets people from his past who know him. Some the fans would recognise, some new. Itd be part politcal thriller, part space adventure, part intergalactic who dunnit. Then at the end of this story line the doctor runs away from gallifrey (again), memories not yet complete.
One thing they could do would be a long trip, without being on earth, maybe being lost They did do that in some ways in classic Who, but I am thinking of more a Quantum Leap vibe. Or do it differently I think they should have had Victorian Clara survive, and be the ongoing companion
I agree with everything Doctor Who can do. It has done very little with in. My suggestion to how Doctor Who can do more new things is to experiment with the season format, the companion types, create completely new types of villains, and question the doctor's character in ways never done before - great video.
imo the way in which s11 used no returning villains was incredible! it was imaginative! bringing back older monsters and villains would do the show a world of good, like how there could be a good story using the chameleons from the faceless ones, or the mara, or even older new who monsters like the sycorax would do some good! one of the reasons that classic who is so engaging is even during the very formulaic periods of the show, there was still experimentation and different aliens all the time. there were five year periods where the daleks wouldn't appear! and that worked in the favour of their appearances in the 1980s. I actually hope that one day I can be a writer on the show because I would write stories set outside the uk, because I'm not from the uk. I'm australian. I think there's multiple moments in our own history, yet alone everywhere else, that could be incredible dr who stories. and yes, who cares if it ages poorly? part of the fun to watch enemy of the world today is just how wrong it got 2017/18. on a similar note, a historical set on an alien world could be genuinely incredible, especially if used as a returning planet like metebelus iii, or skaro, or new earth, and we see the evolution of the planet through a few unconnected stories that are just set on that planet. also the show really could do with something that lowers the stakes. I think the issue I have with the 60th is that it tries so hard to be big, but there's been no way to build up to that. the bigeneration is meant to be big and shocking, but it really doesn't do anything other than give annoying fans who want tennant back all the time ammunition for their wishes. but yeah!! dr who needs innovation
I have to agree with you on all these points you raise. The Daleks and the Master certainly need a holiday, its time to create new villains. Series 1 is my favourite despite the repeated modern-day London setting but with the new budget there's no reason not to have more varied locations, including alien planets. And it would be interesting to see the show take bigger risks with new companions. Having said that, i also think its two golden ages were the Hinchcliffe era and RTD's first run. And the best companion of Hinchcliffes run was Sarah Jane (modern english) and the best stories were often set in England's past (Pyramids of Mars, Talons of Weng-Chiang), England's present (The Seeds of Doom) or featured Daleks (Genesis of the Daleks). And the very best of Nu-Who has (modern, english) companions Rose, Martha and Donna in Dalek (recurring villain, though admittedly after a very long time), The Empty Child...(London blitz) The Parting of the Ways (space station/modern day London) Human Nature...(Englands recent past though admittedly a great twist on the character of the Doctor). Even Blink and Turn Left are modern-day England. Even The Impossible Planet, with its base under siege vibe, has plenty of precursors. Midnight also. But these are my very favourite dr who stories.
I'm looking forward to the new series, which seems to involve a lot more fantastical stories rather than sticking to its normal "sort of sci fi" brand. Hopefully it'll make things fresh again.
Your point about there not being many futuristic Earth settings has to do with the fact that they don't write Doctor Who with a sci fi premise in mind first and foremost now. They plan some dumb emotional plot about the Doctor or his current companion and THEN shoehorn something vaguely fantastical or the softest sci fi just as a dressing but not as the conceptual focus.
I’m really worried that Disney is going to grossly misunderstand what doctor who is and think it’s just “Rick and Morty but PG” with stuff like the talking babies. I hope they don’t make this a “lol XD what silly gimmick does the episode revolve around?” show
As a fan of classic Who, I've been impressed with the style and characterization of the new series, appreciative of the nostalgic callbacks... and disappointed with the overall tone and theme. I'm not keen on the soap-opera tone, and while I'm dazzled by the superior visual effects I don't consider them very important. More importantly to me, I don't see much exploration of the universe, and I don't see the Doctor as an adventuring scientist any more. I keep asking "Where are the alien worlds and alien cultures? Why are we landing on Earth every other episode? Why is it always the current year?" And of all the modern Doctors, only Capaldi struck me as an actual scientist (despite getting stuck with some awful scripts). Where are the clever insights, improvised gadgets, and clever what-ifs about technological breakthroughs and their implications? In short, where's the SCIENCE in my science fiction? I don't want Doctor Who to be "all about people and relationships," as is sometimes suggested as the measure of good TV. I don't want each season to be Twilight fanfic, where an Everyday Modern Girl gets whisked off to a life of romance in a fantasy world the rest of us never see, only to learn she's the (current) Most Important Girl In the Universe(TM). Companions are fun accessories, not the stars.. and they don't all have to be the 'relatable' modern British girl (remember Jamie and Zoe? Leela? Romana? Adric and Nyssa? K-9?) I want Doctor Who to be all about exploration and adventure. Courage and compassion. Cleverness and futurism. These elements still exist, but they've been scaled WAY back. I'm sure I'm in the minority at this point. After all, Doctor Who evolves. And it sounds like I'm taking the opposite position of the video, wanting a return to the old formula instead of these new experimental directions, with the only caveat being a complaint about *too much* attachment to the old and familiar. But I'm looking for sci-fi adventure focused on ideas, not science-fantasy romance focused on character (specifically ONE character--the companion). I want to see alien worlds and other times, with NON-relatable companions and a focus on situations rather than relationships. If that's looking backward, so be it.
I thought "Oh No another bashing Doctor Who video "but turns out I agree with most of what you said. I've been saying I wish they would rest the Daleks, Cybermen & The Master for a couple years and been bashed and insulted in online forms for suggesting that. I'd also like to see them go where there's a variety of different aliens. I mean humans come in lots of different shapes sizes and colors how about an alien species that's not all the same. Some aliens are blue, bluegreen, reddish/purplish or orange/yellowish. One of my favorite classic stories is "Planet of Evil". The planet sets are creepy and eerie done mostly with creative lighting & strange looking plants. All done on a budget for the entire season that doesn't even equal the current series for one episode.
So much of the issues described in this video will have a connection to budget. The Daleks are already designed, and built. The operators don't have to spend hours in makeup having latex being glued to their faces. The same few Daleks can be duplicated (split screen) without the issues of obvious repetition with actors in makeup. Plus they are easy to CGI. Money also affects locations. I remember an old Dr Who Confidential where they said CGI shots were charged by every 6 seconds. No wonder that you see an establishing shot then the episode is filmed inside a set (spaceships and space stations are conveniently cramped to save on set costs). However none of that changes the fact that you are right. Dr Who has became repetitive. Hopefully some Disney money will help fund some changes.
15:43 True but (and that is especialyl true for a current and future Doctor Who audience): the audience aren't all 20-somethings from the UK. Have the companion be from a different nation! I hope they go about this with Verada Sethu's character!
I agree with essentially all of this video and there's a lot of points I hadnt considered eveen being a long term fan. I guess my only potential disagreement is that I do think earth invasions are a good idea, I think they ground the show to a mainstream audience to easily tune in/relate to e.g. families watching. Especially in christmas specials at least.
Personally I think the writing is the main issue, returning monsters are fine if they’re done well. Personally I only really remember the finales that featured the big three, despite having watched them all within the last year. All of my favourite finales (S1, S2, S3, S4 and S10) feature them so I have no problem with their use when done properly.
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Osurans
Rewatch the story please
Oh-sigh-runs
Most people who say they don't like anime have either never watched anime or they think all anime is aimed at children, here are some Anime suggestions for you Harbo to change your mind as anime is possibly the best form of media for telling stories.:
Hellsing Ultimate - Vampires,Werewolves,Zombies, now make them Nazi's rampaging through modern day London
Death Note - It needs no introduction these days as everyone and their mums have heard of it
Future Diary - A group of people are thrown into a battle royale by a god to determine who will inherit it's power all while being drip fed possible future events through their phones
Deadman Wonderland - boy is framed for murdering his classmates and he's sent to a prison that is designed like a theme park death trap, he then discovers he can manipulate his blood and is thrown into an underground arena to fight other people that can "Bloodbend"
Where is Azbantium level patron Nathan Gibson? is he safe? Is he alright?
He was absorbed...
#freenathangibson
harbo ate him
Noooooooooooo he’s gone
he stagnated
That's why I like the Moffat era. There barely had stories focused on contemporary London nor alien invasions to Earth, it really felt like the TARDIS could travel anywhere.
This Moffat revisionism needs to stop. Moffat had plenty of london and aline invasion stories.
@@CreamySun582 No really, the first modern day alien invasion in London in the Moffat era was the Cube episode. Even that was the return of UNIT after many years.
I do like that he tried to set an episode in the TARDIS itself, though I don't see the point of a room that's just a cliffside with a giant waterfall. I do like the bigger wardrobe than the one in Classic Who, but we don't see enough of the TARDIS in New Who while in the classic show we've seen bedrooms, the Zero Room, and a swimming pool and heard about rooms with a turkish bath and I think a library. I'd like to see the TARDIS be more than an RV.
I think the Moffat era was peak doctor who because he was able to write some really good stories in my opinion, also the actors managed to properly mutate his scripts into something convincing. And you're right; he did manage to make it feel less restricted which was really good too. Obviously he had hiccoughs but overall it was great. (Totally unbiased and not nostalgic opinion👀)
Moffats era will always be my favourite.
The best example of modern day earth being used too much is when they fly off in the TARDIS, leaving modern day earth in “Fugitive of the Judoon” to go through the time vortex to end up on… modern day Earth in Praxeus…
Fugitive of the Judoon and Praxeus
I'd argue Series 8 was worse as not only were six episodes set on modern day Earth, but we had Flatline, then In the Forest of the Night, then the two part finale (four straight episodes on modern day Earth). And that's not including Last Christmas and then the first half of The Magician's Apprenctice
So it's not just the American entertainment industry that gets caught in the trap of "if it worked once, it'll work EVERY time" school of thought.
I completely agree with your point about companion variety and how stagnant it's become.
I personally felt this during the latter stages of the Peter Capaldi era. I legitimately thought that Moffat was lining up Missy to become a companion.
Like, can you actually imagine The Doctor AND The Master working and travelling across space and time and all the narrative potential that could've had?
Instead Missy got taken out by her own self and all that potential was lost.
I can just imagine it now, all the friction between how these two Time Lords would solve an issue. Or the type of villain you could bring in to face them.
Imagine for Capaldi's final story they had him, Gomez's Master, the First Doctor and even a potential First Master, all facing down a returning Omega?
It sounds fanfic as hell but that's kind of what makes the series so special, and it's different and unique, which is something Doctor Who needs now more than ever.
Imagine the Ghost Monument was the entirety of Series 11 instead of just one episode. The Woman Who Fell To Earth plays out normally. They get picked up by the two competitors in the race, learning that a very powerful ship (the TARDIS) is the prize. Each episode sees them hop over to a different planet where someone zany happens. Or maybe Tzim Sha is another competitor. It could have been a really great concept.
Like Hunger Games meets Squid Games
@@JoshPinder92 I wish it was that. The Tardis just been gone, but we won't get the legend as Binny. The GOAT of DW memes.
@@JoshPinder92 Meets Doctor Who. That could make a crazy good series of Who
16:41 It's especially baffling that even Classic Who dared to do that with less budget than today with characters like Chameleon! Technically Nardole counts but he just looks human.
We need a companion from the past or the future, even a alien.
Yes! I would love a medieval knight as a companion. Or an ancient greek guy. Or anything else than a modern-day british person X)
@@DonklopfenWish we’d gotten Victorian Era Clara
5:20 I would love to see an episode set in Japan. Doctor Who in modern Tokyo? Or an historical set in Edo period? Yes, please! I 100% agree that if there are going to be so many stories set on Earth, they need to use MORE of the Earth.
Now that you mention it, I had forgotten the Chibnall era's deliberate attempt to use more foreign settings, but I suppose that's the one thing I would give him tremendous cerdit for, especially since two of those stories, Demons of the Punjab and It Takes You Away, were among the few standouts of his era.
An interesting idea to consider would be “pure futurical” stories, set in the future but with a more realistic (for Doctor Who) take lacking the wackiest sci-fi elements. A good example would be Smile from Series 10.
Makes me think of recently recovered Second Doctor serial “Enemy of The World”…set in then-future 2018 but with the zaniest bits merely talked about, any future tech seen was rather contemporary in nature…😅😁
I still wish we could just get a simple pure historical in, “Rosa” would’ve been perfect for that but Chibnall just HAD to throw in Krazlo just to keep that from happening AND HE WAS TOTALLY SUPERFLUOUS TO THE PLOT! 😵💫😒
@@christopheralthouse6378 I think Demons of the Punjab would've done just as well as a pure historical. I appreciate the Thijarians, but the story could work without them.
another point on classic who and five’s era specifically is that the doctor is in fact trying very hard to get to contemporary England but alas the TARDIS ends up landing inside spaceships, on jungle planets or at the right place a few hundred years too early 😅 we’re on earth quite a few times in s19 but it always feels distinct enough that it’s still fun and interesting!
Yeah, whatever happened to The Doctor not being all that good at piloting his own ship?
Closest thing we got to that in Modern Who was River Song making a joke about 11 leaving the parking brake on…🙄
I want a return to “right place wrong time” type settings…👍🏻
You know this is a large reason why I so dreaded RTD's return. Of the three showrunners, he loved modern day London and referring to British culture the most.
Fingers crossed that the new trailer is a sign that he's changed gears.
That's why I loved that the Thirteenth Doctor's era had Sheffield as a main setting. Even within the UK, which has very different unique settings, they still can't show anything else than London!
Speaking of the Weeping Angels being series wide villains.
I wonder what the plan for them in Class was...
Honestly
Imagine moffet didn't build on them after blink
Imagine it's a stand alone episode
Now the end of season 1 of class happens
I think that would have been enough to save the series, word of mouth would have spread saying you have to watch it just for the ending, when asked, all they'd say is, just watch it, I can't say more
@@snakedaemongaming6590 That would have been perfect, honestly. Because Class is already amazing, just needs more viewers.
@@sacrificiallamb4568I had never heard of it until recently. It should have had at least a second series, it was indeed class.
My favourite Dr who stories are set in the past. My favourite are stories set in ancient past like The Fires of Pompeii or the Romans I would love to see it come back
It might need to take a few years off.
I'd love to see Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton take on lead writing duties. I think they'd be perfect. Dark, quirky, creative, cinematically literate and with plenty of experience with this form of writing.
Oh my god, that never even occurred to me. They might be perfect. It’s whether they’re sci-fi minded enough to come up with ideas. Inside No. 9 is great tho
While your at it get Neil Gaiman and the lady who wrote Loki involved
9:00 Heck, we don't even need Europa for that! Our own deep seas are more mysterious than space still! Like, Doctor Who could do a mermaid episode using the pseudo-science theory of the aquatic ape hypothesis - and if you think: "Oh come on, Doctor Who shouldn't do pseudo-science!", may I remind you of the use of the Dinosauroid theory with the use of the Silurians and Sea Devils?
The Cybermen are pretty much the Master's goons at this point
Alien companions would be interesting. It would definitely shake things a bit and give a different perspective
4:59 As much as I like SG-1, by the time they actually moved on from the Goa’uld, it felt directionless without the enemy it built up the show around. The Ori felt more like a weird afterthought than anything.
It really didn't help that the show got canceled partly through the Ori storyline
5:09 As a German Doctor Who fan, I loved that the Thirteenth Doctor era showed other countries and their histories and I hope this will continue! I mean, Germany alone has some amazing historical eras and events (And it would also help to avoid the trope of German history = Nazi era because, while it’s important to remember the horror of fascism, we should also show other eras in German history!). And then there are the many non-European histories to explore.
Also, concerning a returning setting as the home for the companion could be done in another country in present day as well while perhaps a second companion from the past or future UK could still allow for a British setting. You could explore future UNIT, past Torchwood etc.
And concerning British history, you could show events that are part of both British and another country’s history. For example, on his second voyage to the Pacific from 1772 to 1775, Captain James Cook hired German geographer, naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary Georg Forster as well as his father. Georg was just 18 at the time and used the journey to see whether there were human societies without class, oppression and conflict. On this voyage, Georg not only categorized many plants previously unknown to Europeans (some of the finds he brought back now offer new possibilities using genetics) but he also discovered and names the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights, Antarctica’s equivalent to the Aurora Borealis of the north.
Georg was also the first ethnologist to not see cannibalism as pure savagery and the people practicing it as inhuman. He tried to see other non-European cultures without bias (and he was also a huge critic of the racism and the emerging preudo-science of classifying people into different “races”).
Now that would make for a great Doctor Who episode that also has some connection to British history.
I love this comment
@@Comicbroe405 Thank you! 😊
What do you love about it? Do you have similar thoughts? 🙂
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7o Pretty much everything & the way you wrote it. As someone from the subcontinent, Demons of the Punjab did this for me & I would love to see other cultures be explored in the show.
@@Comicbroe405 That is so beautiful and heartwarming that this story touched you so much! 🥹
Timeheist felt pretty narratively new and timey wimey like how Doctor Who should strive to be in its very nature, timey wimey.
I always smile when i get a notification telling me Harbo has uploaded and i think you raise a lot of good points in this video, keep it up mate 😊👌
12:11 Maybe not that legal drama. But in the Keys of Marinus there is an episode where Ian is framed and sentenced to death and the Doctor has to be his lawyer. They could try something like that.
I loved the first Dr who as there was such varied ideas back then, or end of the world when they had all the aliens
I think a good way of changing things up would be that an end of an episode would lead into the next. Not only would it keep the viewers watching threw out to see what happens but it could also prevent viewers from wondering what happened between stories.
That used to happen all the time. Alas, now it only happens sometimes. (Ascension of The Cybermen, I think. Or two-parters.)
We def need serials to make a comeback!
They did do that during Series 10 but the ratings weren't brilliant.
"Boring and safe, it's too easy and inoffensive".
*Hands you the controversial 13th Doctor era and the Timeless child.*
That's why.
Stagnation is inevitable when you take 3 years to make a only a couple episodes
Well, that's due to the changing TV landscape and costs getting higher among other things but yeah, a show like Doctor Who should be capable to adapt to this.
@@Lia-zw1ls7tz7oit's already adapted to it
The jodie era was mismanaged and covid wrecked the schedule further but now we're back to yearly seasons and specials with the second season and special being pretty far into production combine that with the increased availability of the show worldwide and things are looking up
I'd say all the issues you've raised here are pretty fair. On the whole though I'd say the good still outweighs the bad.
It's not like there haven't been ATTEMPTS to innovate. I think Moffat tried to do so with his Companions by doing stuff like the Impossible Girl arc, and with the season arcs by making them more complex and timey-wimey, but he got SO MUCH flak for doing those things that he ended up choosing to play it safer with the Capaldi era arcs and Bill. I think Chibnall probably learnt the same lesson from observation, so ended up spending much of his era trying to replicate the qualities of RTD1.
I think the intent has certainly always been there, it's just not been pushed far enough or in the right/most effective way so far.
i think we need more pure historicals. i always say this but i think it'll help quite a bit. the most annoying thing about the celebrity historical episodes is they need to shove some aliens in there every single time. it would be great to have some more relaxed historicals where the doctor and companion go back in time to meet like some sort of ancient king or something and the whole episode is court intrigue and they have to stop an extremely normal earthly assassination because the king is supposed to rule for 20 more years. no aliens at all. doctor who would greatly benefit from just having a period piece episode every once in a while, where the only sci fi in there is arriving and leaving in the tardis at the beginning and end and maybe the doctor using the sonic to unlock a few doors. like something like the agatha christie episode could literally just have been solving an extremely normal murder without any aliens involved at all and i feel like it would have been improved.
i would actually love to see a companion who is some ancient person picked out of their life. they can pick a historical figure who mysteriously vanished if they want just to have the choice to do whatever the hell they want with the character without having to deposit them back into their life at the end of their run on the show.
Ooooh, how about a Neanderthal as a companion or a Paleolithic Homo sapiens! So many concepts that are foreign to them. They wouldn't even know what stairs are! And their cultures and sense of seeing the world would also be completely foreign to modern viewers, which could be used greatly for comedic effect. Imagining a Neanderthal arriving in our present, becoming hungry and thus hunting a cow or something because obviously they aren't aware of grocery shopping.
Historical with Henry the 7th being an absolute tyrant 😇
I definitely agree with the companion issue, why do they all have to be from Modern day London? I was excited when I first saw Asylum of the Daleks seeing Oswin clearly being set up as a new companion, and while the twist of her being a Dalek was really good, I almost wish they hadn't done that so Oswin could have been a new companion from the future to get a break from the modern day London trope. Also, I have always thought it would have been good if the Daleks truly stayed defeated after Journey's End. It was a perfect ending and bringing them back, especially so soon in Series 5, meant that the impact of that perfect ending is lessened as well as the 10th Doctor leaving Rose in the Parallel World because of the Meta crisis Doctor's genocide of the Daleks, he killed them all, but in Victory of the Daleks they're just like " Hey we're mostly dead lol" it's never explained how they survived, and I never liked that.
Is explained in the episode, that ship travel to the past.
People will definitely be more impressed if RTD manages not to use Daleks throughout his entire run than if he does. I'd be impressed, I know that for sure
Wow feeling a little attacked right now with the dig at SG-1
ive been dying for a non modern day earth companion for the past 10 years! I was so upset when moffat went with modern Clara instead of the victorian one. IDK if he ever stated why he made that change or not but i feel it was the wrong move.
I always thougth the idea of a Doctor Who anime series. It could be a good oportunity to bring new stories with this new format. A good example of this is Star Wars Visions. The first season had stories from different characters, who wasn't in the main protagonist of the movies. And was produced specificly from famous animation studios of Japan. Or how about to create doctor who stories like Big Finish with previous Doctors. A anime with stories of previous Doctors and companions. Without deaging (exept the voices) and full of anime style action that even the original show never met.
I’VE SAID THE SAME THING! ANIMATE SOME BIG FINISH STORIES YAAAAAAS!!!!!!! 😅😍🥰😁
yeah, or something weird like entering an animated dimension and either being turned animated or (though probably more awkward) having to handle interacting in such a universe as the weird beings like in that graffiti aliens episode.
I'm sorry I'm just laughing at the thought of the third doctor in an anime fight scene with his martial arts stuff. I was not prepared for this mental image.
Theres so much untapped things in the eu that the show could use from companions to enemies to just settings to concepts to just plain old characters..... but everytime i say this im told no since not everyone even ascribes to the eu and since its behind a paywall its not accessible and therefore people wont know about it???? which is a wild thing, like Charley and the Viyrans can't be in the show ever because people dont know who she is or the Viyrans? or we can't run into Benny (like if Lisa doesnt wanna do it thats fine but like idk you'd think even someone like her would make an appearance)? or like idk have a new Zagreus or Eminence story? like all because some fans wont know? as if no fan started out not knowing who daleks, silurians, sarah jane, the tardis, the master, k9, regeneration, etc were....
you'd think the more people you got interested in the eu the more people who'd buy it and therefore the more you could do...
The fact the brief dinosaur visit in Space Babies felt fresh to me is crazy
I like to imagine a world where Clara was a companion as Victorian Clara and there’s an episode where she gets to see modern day England and learns about silly things like phones and cars
That was the original plan tbf, and imo would have worked so much better
I would love to see a companion from the future, either alien or a human from a point so far in time that they're living alongside aliens, which was less clueless and needing less constant outright exposition. And have them being dedicated to something time or technological related, kind of like Jack being a former time agent, or a character from a UNIT like background.
I think the dynamic it would create with the Doctor and the companion being more in the same page and the companion being useful without needed deux ex machina moments could be really interesting and fun to explore. Having the modern time English companion as the side character and switching the roles for once.
Even a temporary companion from the past could have potential. Maybe not as a full time companion but someone who is with the doctor from episode three to six, offering a very different perspective from someone from our time who has lived most of their life under obvious alien invasions.
Yet my favourite episode of New Who is _Dalek._ It shows how lethal the Daleks are.
I wish the Victorian soliders on Mars during the episode the Empress of Mars where actually Mondasians missed opportunity right here
Why?
We need a story kind of like the mcu's cival war, where The Doctor messes up and human lives are losses in the consequence, which then causes Earth and humanity to turn against him, and banish him from Earth. But then a new villain realises now that earth is vulnerable, proceeds to invade etc etc but in this period, it could set up a new team/ society of heroes for earth, in the vain of unit creating their own suicide squad of sorts, comprising a malfunctioned cyberman, a zygon, an ice warrior, a silurian etc etc, for them to also turn eventually, teaming up with the big new villain, having the doctor return to earth, saving the day and regaining humanity's trust etc etc
I hope RTD sees your video. I am a long time fan from all the way back to the late 60s. It's ironic that as you observe with a handful of exceptions that the show unfortunately has a lack of imagination despite having the biggest budget in its history with access to technology that could make a return to 'The Web Planet' spectacular and easily doable, but we all know they won't. You correctly mention that the classic era had so much imagination with a fraction of the budget and shooting schedule that the current series has. Unfortunately this situation is not exclusive to Doctor Who, the very same could be said for modern Star Trek. Even 'Picard' season 3 had to imitate the style of STNG series. It's unfortunate with so many science fiction novels fan and non fan fiction alike that neither programs have the vision to tap into it. On the one of two occasions that RTD did we got a unqualified classic in 'Human nature' and ' Family of Blood'! Keep up the good work.
I think they should do this with companions too. Why shouldn't we have a T-Rex as a companion? We deserve it.
As someone who grew up with mostly NuWho as I was 11 back in 05 and is now currently halfway through watching Classic Who for the first time at 30 after putting it off for too long, I have to admit I've been impressed with the variety of companions that weren't just present-day humans, as some were from different timelines and even nonhuman including a fellow Timelord which to me is fascinating! And I wish modern who would bring back these elements by having a non present-day human companion and maybe perhaps have the Doctor be stranded on another planet or different universe for a while.
Would absolutely LOVE a future based Earth story set in Japan - I think it could visually be so stunning and such a cool change of scenery!
This is why I in many ways prefer the expanded media to the show- they branch out and explore a lot more, especially back in the wilderness years
With so few episodes in the modern era of the show, it must be hard to decide whether or not to use familiar foes, or bring something back. Classic Who had lots of episodes per season to work with, so I guess it wasn’t that much of an issue. You could have one Dalek story, and one Cyberman story per season, and it didn’t feel like overkill, because there was so much more Who to watch.
Personally, it doesn’t feel like Doctor Who to me, if we don’t get one of a Dalek, Cyberman, or Master story a season - they are classic villains for a reason, and that reason is they are the Doctor’s nemeses.
One of my favourite stories was from the Pertwee era. We started with Draconians, a new “race”, and the Master, on his way to becoming one of the Doctor’s primary nemeses. But it was the Ogrons, who I think were new, at the time, impersonating humans and Draconians. Of course, the Ogrons ended up being patsies for the Daleks, another nemesis. All in the same (well, really two related) stories. And it was great.
I’ve forgotten if I was trying to make a point here, or not… :)
Cheers,
I would love a companion from the past, it doesn't have to be a caveman/woman but perhaps from the Victorian or Roman era, it could be really fun
Yeah, you're right it seems this show is stagnating. I mean I think having an alien companion would really spice things up and people stopped watching would be interested in the show again.
I don't really mind stories, but I think the root of all stagnation is companions being generic young-adult-women.
Can we already have a long-lasting off-worlder companion or a companion from different time? It can lead to opportunities in both storytelling and humor. "Modern-day earth" is suddenly will become not so campy and boring if we see it through the eyes of someone who's not local.
P.S. "Audience surrogate" is boring and outdated concept. Every character can be relatable if you write them good enough, it doesn't need to be generic social worker girl.
You do make a good point. They should take more risks, do things differently and bring new ideas and concepts. I agree about the companions, let's stop being earthbound, and show other species. I do agree lets not do the big three of villains, lets give others a chance and introduce new ones. The idea of change and renewal should happen, let's take more risks and try different things.
Given you've reviewed Ultraman Geed before, seeing Doctor Who crossover with similar type aliens that are giant or immensely small, or some kind of kaiju based story, would be pretty fun to see.
Or even wackier, have live action interact with other forms of visual media. The TARDIS can travel to different universes, why not have the Doctor travel to universes with differing laws of physics, or interact with wacky animation characters in an animated world, or a world of puppets?
Some form of horror in near complete darkness with only brief glimpses of glowing lights of some sort, as suggested in the video, could also work especially as a budget saver episode lol.
1. Absolutely I agree with you. I love the big three enemies, but the flux series I have to admit that you were right on the money with the Sontarans and it was not only refreshing, but it was actually showing them to be a threat when other series kind of showed that to be more or less a joke.
2. Yes, we do need more companions aside from modern day companions. I get it to a certain mix in because modern day viewers can I identify with a modern companion but come on. We’ve had characters from the future in past series. Heck the second doctor had Jamie and Zoe, who were from the future in the past respectively. the doctor had an Australian and alien starting out as his companions. More alien companions, and more people from the past to the future please. I understand the need for modern companions, but come on.
3. More futuristic earth indeed. Yes it will date the series but that’s half of the fun. This is a time traveling show. Of course things are gonna change. And more variety on alien planets too.
4. And yes, I’m also in agreement with you with them constantly going to England. Particularly Davies obsession with going to modern day London and Moffat obsession with Victorian London. I just like to say that Chibnall at least remember that we have the rest of the globe to explore. And look I get that they might not have the budget for it at times, but they can think of something. Heck, I liked it in “flatline“ when they manage the Landes in Bristol and that was a running joke where they landed in Bristol where they weren’t supposed to land.
They could do a spin off set in the 51st century time that jack is from through dr who and torchwood we learn bits about this era from the time agency etc but would be good to explore that time more.
Certified slaying Harbo Holmes
Personally I've always liked the idea of a story where the Daleks turn the Doctor's love in humanity against him. Imagine a scenario where the Daleks frame the Doctor for murder so he is locked up in jail whilst they carry out their invasion plan. The Doctor can't do anything to stop them because the very race he admires more than any other don't trust him and his Sonic Screwdriver has been confiscated. The Doctor must prove his innocence in a court of law to escape and stop his greatest enemy. I think it would offer some interesting dramatic material.
That sound so stupid. And Chibnall did that.
I think it might be cool to explore the pure historicals again. Pick a period post 1900 with an interesting enough social event, and you could have a very good story. It'd be worth the risk, because Doctor Who has become very stale.
IMO a modern day human companion can still be interesting if you give them personality traits that haven’t been done before. One idea I had is a companion obsessed with the mechanics of time travel, who prompts The Doctor to use the TARDIS to do new things, but is anxious about actually going anywhere. At the end of their first episode, The Doctor offers to take them on their first trip, but they’re overwhelmed and would rather go home and think about it for a few days, so they tell The Doctor to time travel a week into the future when they’re ready. Before leaving, they say “I’d say goodbye, but it’ll only be a minute for you so… see you in a bit, I suppose.” The episode would end with the Doctor travelling to that point in time to pick them up, and then episode 2 would start from the companion’s perspective, showing how they spent the week preparing to leave with The Doctor, which would characterise them while also being a subtle nod to the audience waiting between episodes. (And that’s just one of the ideas I had thinking about what I’d be like as a companion)
Stargate also had the Replicators and the Ori. But I will say that Battlestar only ever had the Cylons and that worked most of the time, but it was also one of the reasons that show only had 4 seasons, by the end of that were was pretty much nothing left to do with them.
Star Trek Picard season 3 is a perfect example of what Harbo is talking about, after DS9 went off the air there was no mention of the Dominion for decades so when the Changelings showed back up again they were a new and fresh threat and it really worked.
I never even made it to the Replicators or the Ori, I got a few seasons in and then drifted away because of how samey it always was. Keep meaning to pick it back up but I just really don't feel much urgency to go back to it
@@HarboWholmes The Ori are very similar to the G'Oauld or however its spelt lol. Basically their evil energy creatures who feed off of the belief of their followers. The show got really weird and kind of more into the realm of magic with King Arthur being real.
The Replicator stuff is really good though.
Lots of solid points here
Now is the perfect time to experiment with the following format, something I have wanted for YEARS: we're getting eight episodes per season, yes? Try this - new companion every week.
3:55 Ugh... I know you are trolling us saying "Oserans" instead of Osirians, but seriously, dude, Must You?
11:09 YES! I still think the finale of episode 1 of Embrace the Darkness is still one of the most chilling of all time!
17:04 YES! Agreed! Liv is not only from another planet, an Earth Colony, but she's from the distant future.
Ok, I thought going in I'd disagree with this vid, but I don't. We need new villains, companions, settings, and styles!
I agree with you on many things. I like the location changes. And people are going to slam me for this, but I'm getting tired of seeing David Tennant as the Doctor. How many times has he reappeared? Also, the Daleks/Cybermen are so one dimensional. How much more interesting can they possibly get? We'll see what Ncuti brings to the story.
Hold up, im at 0:08 seconds into the video, where's Nathan Gibson????
I feel some folks might take this video the wrong way but I love what you're trying to say here. First & foremost we need more new writers.
They have to use the daleks every season or they lose the licence or some crap like that.
Some monsters I'd like to see as series finale or overarching villains for finales are...
Silurians. The previous owners of the planet are sleeping under us, technologically more advance than us. Why hasn't that been explored more.
With Doctor Who introducing magic and supernatural elements into the show why not reintroduce the Beast, saw their destruction in series 2, but magic can be a way to bring them back. Challenge the Doctor and universe.
Lastly something unique where time is the problem, Moffat played with time in series 5, 6 and 7 and while it isn't dangerous in the conventional sense, it's still something that could rewrite the universe, erase people or worse. Imagine companions travelling with the Doctor and then the Doctor saves the day in the finale but the companions are gone forever. They can't come back.
The only other thing I have to say is I like serialised storytelling, Moffat and Chibnall are blamed for this. But I genuinely enjoy it so much more than standalone stories because it allows time to explore settings and dive into other aspects of a larger story. I really hope this will be explored more going forward because while Monster of the week stories are enjoyable, I want something I can really bit into.
Dalek and Fear her both took place in the future at the time of broadcast but are now both taking place 12 years ago and it sort of works. The Doctor did carry the Olympic torch in reality, just not the one you were expecting and who's to say that a metaltron didn't rampage through a top secret underground base, nobody would know.
I wonder what it would be like to have essentially the reverse of the third Doctor's exile arc where all stories were set entirely on 20th Century Earth. What if there was an entire series where we never visit current day Earth at all. Heck I'd like to see them do something like the Divergent Universe arc from the 8th Doctor audios. There is a lot of potential in the concept of putting the Doctor in a completely unfamiliar setting thats never been fully realised.
Also make Doctor Who anime a thing please.
I hoped Flux would end like this, honestly.
At that point just animate the 8th Doctor audios. More McGann would be awesome.
@@yospidey0078 Scherzo is easy, just get a blank piece of paper and hold it in front of your face.
I do want more varied companions, but the problem with them is that if theyre from the past, the show spends too much time explaining the future and theyre often stereotyped as dumb and then future companions, they look down on the past because theyre just so advanced now that things of the past are jokes. It gets very obnoxiojs in the TARDIS with companions from other eras. Vicki just laughed at modern day earth and Jamie spent half his time asking what things were. It gets quite painful to watch.
Might even be a good idea to utterly avoid big villains for a long while or go way back into the past to Roman or Celtic Britian to return to it's origin as an edutainment show.
I said before, it would have been interesting to see something different for this mew series. I thought 15 could have started with a lost memory, maybe on a reformed gallifrey, working for a big bad, as some kind of time agent, meant to be guiding civilisations the way the big bad wants it but the Doctor starts to piece things together as he meets people from his past who know him. Some the fans would recognise, some new.
Itd be part politcal thriller, part space adventure, part intergalactic who dunnit.
Then at the end of this story line the doctor runs away from gallifrey (again), memories not yet complete.
great vid mr wholmes, keep it up, proud of you *smooches*
One thing they could do would be a long trip, without being on earth, maybe being lost
They did do that in some ways in classic Who, but I am thinking of more a Quantum Leap vibe.
Or do it differently
I think they should have had Victorian Clara survive, and be the ongoing companion
I agree with everything Doctor Who can do. It has done very little with in. My suggestion to how Doctor Who can do more new things is to experiment with the season format, the companion types, create completely new types of villains, and question the doctor's character in ways never done before - great video.
I think doctor who should be put on indefinite hold for a couple of years and come back when it's got it's creative juices going again.
I wish they had gone on a hiatus after the Capaldi era. Season #9 felt like a natural conclusion of the modern series.
In my opinion Sleep No More is a risk that more than paid off. Scariest episode of the show in my eyes, I'm literally obsessed with it.
imo the way in which s11 used no returning villains was incredible! it was imaginative! bringing back older monsters and villains would do the show a world of good, like how there could be a good story using the chameleons from the faceless ones, or the mara, or even older new who monsters like the sycorax would do some good! one of the reasons that classic who is so engaging is even during the very formulaic periods of the show, there was still experimentation and different aliens all the time. there were five year periods where the daleks wouldn't appear! and that worked in the favour of their appearances in the 1980s. I actually hope that one day I can be a writer on the show because I would write stories set outside the uk, because I'm not from the uk. I'm australian. I think there's multiple moments in our own history, yet alone everywhere else, that could be incredible dr who stories. and yes, who cares if it ages poorly? part of the fun to watch enemy of the world today is just how wrong it got 2017/18. on a similar note, a historical set on an alien world could be genuinely incredible, especially if used as a returning planet like metebelus iii, or skaro, or new earth, and we see the evolution of the planet through a few unconnected stories that are just set on that planet. also the show really could do with something that lowers the stakes. I think the issue I have with the 60th is that it tries so hard to be big, but there's been no way to build up to that. the bigeneration is meant to be big and shocking, but it really doesn't do anything other than give annoying fans who want tennant back all the time ammunition for their wishes. but yeah!! dr who needs innovation
I have to agree with you on all these points you raise. The Daleks and the Master certainly need a holiday, its time to create new villains. Series 1 is my favourite despite the repeated modern-day London setting but with the new budget there's no reason not to have more varied locations, including alien planets. And it would be interesting to see the show take bigger risks with new companions. Having said that, i also think its two golden ages were the Hinchcliffe era and RTD's first run. And the best companion of Hinchcliffes run was Sarah Jane (modern english) and the best stories were often set in England's past (Pyramids of Mars, Talons of Weng-Chiang), England's present (The Seeds of Doom) or featured Daleks (Genesis of the Daleks). And the very best of Nu-Who has (modern, english) companions Rose, Martha and Donna in Dalek (recurring villain, though admittedly after a very long time), The Empty Child...(London blitz) The Parting of the Ways (space station/modern day London) Human Nature...(Englands recent past though admittedly a great twist on the character of the Doctor). Even Blink and Turn Left are modern-day England. Even The Impossible Planet, with its base under siege vibe, has plenty of precursors. Midnight also. But these are my very favourite dr who stories.
I did love the pertwee era that was pretty repetitive... ie mostly set in earth and mostly featured the master....
I'm looking forward to the new series, which seems to involve a lot more fantastical stories rather than sticking to its normal "sort of sci fi" brand. Hopefully it'll make things fresh again.
Your point about there not being many futuristic Earth settings has to do with the fact that they don't write Doctor Who with a sci fi premise in mind first and foremost now. They plan some dumb emotional plot about the Doctor or his current companion and THEN shoehorn something vaguely fantastical or the softest sci fi just as a dressing but not as the conceptual focus.
6:08 On that front, I strongly recommend District 9! Immagine if the Doctor had been involved into that story!
Greatest show is The Good Place. I will not be taking questions at this time
Completely agree. They should have the mara as a series wide villain only.oroperly showing up at the end
Wait, that middle-eastern country in the Zyrgon Invasion/inversion was fictional? Always thought it was a spelling error.
I’m really worried that Disney is going to grossly misunderstand what doctor who is and think it’s just “Rick and Morty but PG” with stuff like the talking babies. I hope they don’t make this a “lol XD what silly gimmick does the episode revolve around?” show
Excellent video with an important message.
As a fan of classic Who, I've been impressed with the style and characterization of the new series, appreciative of the nostalgic callbacks... and disappointed with the overall tone and theme. I'm not keen on the soap-opera tone, and while I'm dazzled by the superior visual effects I don't consider them very important.
More importantly to me, I don't see much exploration of the universe, and I don't see the Doctor as an adventuring scientist any more. I keep asking "Where are the alien worlds and alien cultures? Why are we landing on Earth every other episode? Why is it always the current year?" And of all the modern Doctors, only Capaldi struck me as an actual scientist (despite getting stuck with some awful scripts). Where are the clever insights, improvised gadgets, and clever what-ifs about technological breakthroughs and their implications? In short, where's the SCIENCE in my science fiction?
I don't want Doctor Who to be "all about people and relationships," as is sometimes suggested as the measure of good TV. I don't want each season to be Twilight fanfic, where an Everyday Modern Girl gets whisked off to a life of romance in a fantasy world the rest of us never see, only to learn she's the (current) Most Important Girl In the Universe(TM). Companions are fun accessories, not the stars.. and they don't all have to be the 'relatable' modern British girl (remember Jamie and Zoe? Leela? Romana? Adric and Nyssa? K-9?) I want Doctor Who to be all about exploration and adventure. Courage and compassion. Cleverness and futurism. These elements still exist, but they've been scaled WAY back.
I'm sure I'm in the minority at this point. After all, Doctor Who evolves. And it sounds like I'm taking the opposite position of the video, wanting a return to the old formula instead of these new experimental directions, with the only caveat being a complaint about *too much* attachment to the old and familiar. But I'm looking for sci-fi adventure focused on ideas, not science-fantasy romance focused on character (specifically ONE character--the companion). I want to see alien worlds and other times, with NON-relatable companions and a focus on situations rather than relationships. If that's looking backward, so be it.
I feel like the Eleventh Doctor was the mad scientist we saw with a lot of gadgets and insane ideas.
Where has Nathan Gibson gone?
I thought "Oh No another bashing Doctor Who video "but turns out I agree with most of what you said. I've been saying I wish they would rest the Daleks, Cybermen & The Master for a couple years and been bashed and insulted in online forms for suggesting that. I'd also like to see them go where there's a variety of different aliens. I mean humans come in lots of different shapes sizes and colors how about an alien species that's not all the same. Some aliens are blue, bluegreen, reddish/purplish or orange/yellowish. One of my favorite classic stories is "Planet of Evil". The planet sets are creepy and eerie done mostly with creative lighting & strange looking plants. All done on a budget for the entire season that doesn't even equal the current series for one episode.
Doctor Who has just 60 years, sometimes feels like it's older
Nardole was super fun.
So much of the issues described in this video will have a connection to budget. The Daleks are already designed, and built. The operators don't have to spend hours in makeup having latex being glued to their faces. The same few Daleks can be duplicated (split screen) without the issues of obvious repetition with actors in makeup. Plus they are easy to CGI.
Money also affects locations. I remember an old Dr Who Confidential where they said CGI shots were charged by every 6 seconds. No wonder that you see an establishing shot then the episode is filmed inside a set (spaceships and space stations are conveniently cramped to save on set costs).
However none of that changes the fact that you are right. Dr Who has became repetitive. Hopefully some Disney money will help fund some changes.
15:43 True but (and that is especialyl true for a current and future Doctor Who audience): the audience aren't all 20-somethings from the UK. Have the companion be from a different nation! I hope they go about this with Verada Sethu's character!
I agree with essentially all of this video and there's a lot of points I hadnt considered eveen being a long term fan. I guess my only potential disagreement is that I do think earth invasions are a good idea, I think they ground the show to a mainstream audience to easily tune in/relate to e.g. families watching. Especially in christmas specials at least.
Greatest TV show ever made? Clearly it’s Mr Benn. That guy is a legend! 😎
Personally I think the writing is the main issue, returning monsters are fine if they’re done well. Personally I only really remember the finales that featured the big three, despite having watched them all within the last year. All of my favourite finales (S1, S2, S3, S4 and S10) feature them so I have no problem with their use when done properly.