So, when did Doctor Who become a silly soap opera about a love triangle between the Doctor, his companion, and his companion's drippy boyfriend?
Oh, that's right...in 2005. Russell T. Davies did the first triangle storyline with Rose, the Doctor and Mickey. And it happened again later, with Amy, the Doctor and Rory. And now it's happening a third time, with Clara, the Doctor and Danny. Except this time, instead of the love triangle being a subplot, it's the MAIN plot, and the sci-fi elements of the show are being completely pushed to the sidelines. Yikes!
Also, when did the Doctor turn into a complete freak who can't socialize with humans? The Doctor of the classic series was eccentric, sure, but he was also urbane and charming in many situations. But here, Peter Capaldi is playing a scatterbrained, ridiculous cartoon version of the Doctor - totally different, in fact, from the persona he established in earlier episodes. Ah, but this is a "funny" episode, so now the Doctor must behave like a poor copy of Doc Brown.
Another question: when did the Doctor develop such a deep prejudice against soldiers? In the 1970s, he was friends with characters like the Brigadier and Sgt. Benton. Sure, he sometimes challenged their militarism, but deep down he liked them and he often treated them with respect. But here, the 12th Doctor automatically hates all soldiers and therefore hates Danny Pink before he has any reason to. Why? When did the Doctor become such a jerk? Is he just jealous of Danny being with Clara? (And I thought Capaldi said there would be no romance between his older Doctor and a young companion - so much for that claim.)
And don't even get me started on the "villain" in this episode. It looks like a pile of spare parts, assembled from the 1985 inventory at Radio Shack. I guess they couldn't have just updated the Raston Warrior Robot, huh? Yeah, that might've been cool, so obviously a bad idea.
In short - I'm astonished that Doctor Who is like this now. To me, the show has no idea what it wants to be anymore. Is it a kid's action show, a proper sci-fi series for adults, or a shallow romance for tweens? It's trying to please all of its audiences at once, and in a really pandering, goofy way. And yet it seems to be popular...go figure. (Well, pretty popular. It still hasn't sold out quite enough to compete with The X-Factor.)
What would (classic Doctor Who writer) Robert Holmes have to say about all this? I bet he would just change the channel on this stupid stuff. And I'd support his decision. In fact, I'd hand him a beer and say, "Bob, how about we watch some real sci-fi now?" Like, maybe The Caves of Androzani...
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