Doctor Who’s future in doubt as Ncuti Gatwa ‘heads for exit’
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/article/who-facing-axe-star-ncuti-gatwa-ratings-683dwnkfj
by nimobo
Doctor Who’s future in doubt as Ncuti Gatwa ‘heads for exit’
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/article/who-facing-axe-star-ncuti-gatwa-ratings-683dwnkfj
by nimobo
34 comments
Probably for the best.
New Who had a good run, but it’s been in obvious decline for a while now. Especially now with it being some hideous joint endevour with american production companies.
Throw it out, let it be rebooted in another decade or two by someone with new passion.
That was quick. I’m not sure I liked the ‘big’ness of this era with the Disney money, but I’d have hoped there’d have been more life in the old dog yet.
Shame, last season was a major improvement over the last, what, half decade?
Kind of shame.
Still have fond memories, that show and Merlin kind of contributed to my teaboo phase in middle school.
I even added the U back to color and everything for a time.
Another fine show ruined by garbage writers and questionable cast choices.
I a fan of classic who and lived Tennant but the show just diminished over time. Only latest episodes I enjoyed were Spyfall with the Master as Jodie Whitaker Doctor and then the one with Cathrine Tate back as Donna Noble.
When you read the article it feels really thin on the ground for an actual problem. Right at the end it points out Gatwa is intending to relocate to Hollywood with “several” projects standing by for him.
I don’t know about you, but if my contract was up on a job I’d done and Hollywood looked like a possibility I’d say thank you and goodbye to Doctor Who as fast as I could.
RTD has definitely taken a pretty deliberate strategy of annoying bigots who hate transgender people, gay people, POCs, and generally dislike fun, and did it in a pretty ham fisted way hoping his message would excuse how sloppily he did it. Don’t know how much Disney enjoyed presenting that to the world I suppose.
I thought it was always planned he’d only do 2 years to not stunt his career plans. The lead actor leaving is sort of the shows *thing*. If the US numbers aren’t what they want then it will need to shrink back down to BBC budgets.
Yet another cultural touchstone is destroyed by the unending march of “modernisation”. What else will they claim needs to be updated to cater to modern tastes, only to disfigure it beyond all recognition before getting rid of it altogether?
I thought he was a really good doctor. There were a few episodes where his schedule must have clashed with filming though as he barely featured
Honestly, hiring the young breakout star of a globally successful tv show and then co-star in the biggest film of the year was incredibly short-sighted, anyone could have spotted this before shooting began.
That and Davies completely shitting the bed with the writing too, not promising for the reboot.
The writing has been poor lately, think RTD shat the bed on this series. Didn’t give him the scrips he deserved.
Guess whatever disney touches, goes down the drain. Shocking, not.
The obvious fact that needs stating is that even if Disney don’t renew their partnership, Doctor Who is one of the most successful shows on the BBC. DW wasn’t the success that the mouse was hoping for, but it’s a consistent draw domestically.
The show will be fine, S2 is already shot (trailer looks better than S1 imo), coming out in the spring, and they’ll at least give him a special or two to regenerate, which is not at all a bad run at all compared to most modern doctors, 3 series and some specials tends to be the formula. As much as i love Ncuti, i predict him leaving will not be a bad omen for DW prospects (in fact probably the opposite due to all this culture war rubbish he’s been dragged into).
He’s moving on to Hollywood projects. The show isn’t in danger of cancellation. With Disney+ providing it to international audiences, the show has never been more culturally relevant.
The Doctor will regenerate again. Bigots will keep crying because they finally gained enough sentience to realize the show is “woke” and refuse to acknowledge that this was always the case. Life goes on
I think this has already been refuted by BBC at this point.
Regardless, I think the issue with Doctor Who, is that it’s had the same People at the helm for 20 years now, while I was looking forward to RTD returning, it’s obvious that the BBC had barely any faith in the show anymore.
It was always at odds with the audience, and now that the audience has just gotten bigger, there’s not really a chance it’s going to please everyone.
I hear People complain that it’s gotten too political, Doctor Who, even in the classic episodes, had political messages. Casting a woman or a black Person in the role didn’t really bother me as it’s a sci-fi show about an alien, my assumption was that Time Lords don’t really see sex or gender the same way that we do.
The issue I had is that nearly every seasonal episode I’ve seen in the last few years has just kind of dragged its feet a bit.
Space Babies is a wholly RTD idea, it’s on the same level as an episode like fear her, but it would at least be sonewhat redemeed by a satisfying finale. And that finale just retconed something and referenced a 4th doctor episode, which I don’t know how much of the younger audience would have gotten that, and the older audience would have wanted something a bit more satisfying.
So it’s left with the niche audience of folks like me, who do watch Doctor Who throughout the different eras, am more politically alligned with RTD and enjoy subversive media that plays with audience expectations. But that’s a very small part of the audience, and unless you tick all three boxes, the chances are the ending just wasn’t that good to you.
And there in lies the problem, it’s filled with People who are still working on the show 2 decades later, which is just a few years below the original show’s run. It needs new blood, it needs someone else to oversee the show and it needs new writers to breath life back into it.
Now replace rtd with some new blood show runner and writers and people new concepts to push this show
I’m a Doctor Who fan and I think the show needs to have a good few years rest again as it did in the 1990s.
On audio through big finish it has some great stories and a dedicated fan base, but the televised show just isn’t cutting it in the current age of streaming culture and the current TV landscape.
Family TV with all ages sat around the sofa isn’t really a thing anymore. Everyone has their niche on netflix, disney plus, prime etc. 13 year olds aren’t watching Who anymore, they’re watching Mr Beast challenges.
The show needs to be put on ice and really decide what it wants to be and who its audience actually is. There’s just no focus to it. Modern audiences don’t want to be watching talking babies and snot jokes one week and then a proto-black mirror episode a couple of weeks later. People want to binge. They want a consistent tone. They want a proper season arc. This is where Who is really falling down compared to its TV streaming rivals (Stranger Things, Wednesday etc).
A show I enjoyed in the 70s , loved the reboot then ruined by people more interested in pushing a modern political agenda then making a good entertaining show.
They destroyed Dr With history by inserting Doctors into the past that were never there before to attempt to justify their agenda.
Nothing wrong with a female time lord, Tom Baker had one as a companion, they could have started a whole new series following a female Time Lord instead of ruining the current one.
They are having the same problem with Star Was, pushing an agenda while destroying the show.
Snow White is a good example belittling a classic for an agenda.
Doctor Who ended with Capaldi for me.
It’s just been continuous downhill, forced cultural messaging, and just all round terrible writing.
Combined with a cast, who honestly, don’t even compare to before, just made me give up DW.
I watched it religiously, the second an episode was about to air I rushed to the TV and watched it, every week, for years. But now, I don’t even bother to look.
It pains me, but at this point, Doctor Who is dead. It had a good run, but recent decisions have been the nail in the coffin, and honestly, I wish they would just put it to rest instead further ruining it.
The Tennant specials confirmed to me that, even nostalgia bait cannot save it if the people behind it don’t know what their doing, even if said person was the same one who revived the series to greatness. Whilst I think it could be revived… again… the chances of it being a faithful continuation that holds all the best aspects of it are insanely slim with studios only looking at “MODERN AUDIENCES”, and ruining it.
Rtd has killed it. They made a mistake. They should have given it to JMS.
there’s no way an actor would leave the show and then be replaced by a completely different looking guy!
Lol remember when Dr Who actors stuck around for the long haul? Why take the role if you’re gonna ditch after 2 years? Flake.
Show’s been circling the drain for years anyway. Let it die gracefully, or give the show to someone who actually respects it.
I knew he was a bad choice because of how young he is and how much of a sensation he is. He is known worldwide it’s not surprising he has other, better, offers to take.
The array of characters seemed designed to annoy The Times and often felt more like diversity training than Doctor Who in Ncuti’s run – he’s pretty good btw
All the Doctors have to leave eventually, I can’t imagine dr who being a show that’s ever dropped fully there will always be a broadcaster, streaming site that wants it.
It’s been poor for a while because of bad writing and poor casting.
It seems like no one is allowed to criticise turning the Doctor into a woman too. Whereas I had no problem with that we could all see that a lot of fans were dead against it.. which loses a lot of viewers that’s just the fact of it, then that was combined with some shocking writing that fans found unforgivable and you lose more viewers. It’s hard to get them back.
Show runners just seem to be arrogant against the fans that make sure the show carries on and I find that weird, you insult your audience then you lose it.
The show has been in a slow decline since Matt Smith left the role.
Last go around lasted about 20 years, this iteration has also gone 20 years. Hopefully they don’t continue to milk it and let the nostalgia take effect again and reboot it in a few decades
The fact they keep bringing Tennant back shows they know it’s not what it once was. I stopped watching after Matt Smith. There’s the odd good Capaldi episode (most later on) but a lot to “wade” through to find it.
Considering how Doctor Who has been going in viewing figures and interest recently, if Michael Grade cancelled this version of Doctor Who instead of the classic series, I think most people would understand.
Not to say there isn’t fans of the current series, but it doesn’t seem like it’s enough to keep it going, so wouldn’t be surprised if this version of Doctor Who got cancelled soon.
I’ve not watched it properly in a while. Its a bit too beebified for my liking. However I’ve seen a couple of great specials. If i was to indulge myself, where would be a good place to start with NuWho? Thanks
You can’t blame the new doctor for the poor storyline and poor writing/direction. No wonder they wanted out. Gets a dream job!! Hooray and everyone else just stinks up the place.
It’s best to retire The Doctor for a while until they work out just what people want and will watch. Plainly, this series just wasn’t it.
I mean, just look at that pic. It’s not William Hartnell is it…
Personally – I loved Eccleston, Smith and Tennant. These 3 WERE SUBLIME as the Doctor from the very beginning – I was sold.
Capaldi, as great an actor as he was, I gave up after a few episodes. I hear as he got on, it became good do may have to revisit his later episodes. Jodie was a no for me (and not because she was a woman either – I was keen for a woman Doctor!)
Loved Gatwa’s first airing and first few Episodes… however I don’t know why the show did not continue to grab be after the first few episodes… even I can’t put my finger on it.
By the way my favourite Doctors other than the Nu-Who 3 I previously mentioned were Davidson, Baker (both) and yes Macoy so I’d like to think I’m easily pleased and a longterm fan!
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