10 Doctor Who Controversies That Divide Fans
From Genesis of the Daleks to The End of Time, Doctor Who has plenty of controversies to its name.
Transcript
00:00 Doctor Who has one of the most passionate and enduring fan bases in the world.
00:05 Like the Master and the Daleks, this fandom just never seems to die.
00:09 And with the excitement surrounding Russell T. Davies' return in 2023, it only looks set to grow.
00:16 But like any other fandom, Whovians do have those issues that they just can't seem to agree on.
00:22 Now the vast majority of Doctor Who storylines are well-liked and don't really cause much of a stir amongst fans,
00:29 but there are certain episodes or even certain scenes, characters or storylines that aren't quite so lucky.
00:37 So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, here with...
00:41 10 Doctor Who Controversies That Divide Fans
00:45 Number 10. Was "The End of Time" a satisfying send-off for the Tenth Doctor?
00:50 With David Tennant dominating the news cycle as of late,
00:54 now seems like the perfect time to revisit a topic that has seen much debate in the years since he left the show.
01:02 Was his final story, "The End of Time", actually any good?
01:06 Or was it a total hot mess that didn't give arguably the best Doctor of all time the send-off he deserved?
01:14 You'll often find people saying that "The End of Time" has a bunch of terrific moments peppered throughout,
01:19 like the Four Knocks, the Rassilon confrontation and the Doctor's "Time Lords live too long" speech,
01:25 but that the Master plotline is far too silly,
01:29 the Doctor's farewell tour is self-indulgent and drags on way too long,
01:33 and that sub-villain Joshua Naismith is a complete waste of screen time.
01:37 Elsewhere, some find that the Tenth Doctor's final line "I don't want to go" veers heavily into cringe territory,
01:43 while for others it instantly triggers the waterworks.
01:47 In general, it's the story's emotional beats that people praise the most,
01:53 from the Doctor's realisation that Wilf is trapped in the radiation booth,
01:57 to Geoffrey Noble lending the Doctor some money for a lottery ticket.
02:00 Thanks to Bernard Cribbins and David Tennant's incredible performances,
02:04 there's a massive beating heart, or "hearts" at the centre of "The End of Time" that does paper over some of the cracks.
02:11 But coming off the "Waters of Mars" thrilling, complex storyline,
02:16 it's hard not to wish that Tenn's conclusion was a bit more engaging in the narrative department.
02:21 Now for me personally, I think I have to agree that the storyline element of that episode wasn't the strongest,
02:28 it's not a storyline that sticks in my mind that I can always remember.
02:33 But I do think that the emotion was definitely there,
02:37 and I don't think I have a problem with the farewell tour as it's put here,
02:42 because particularly for the fourth series and for David Tennant's Doctor,
02:47 those companions are such an important part of the storylines that we've seen,
02:52 so I almost feel like it wouldn't have been right for him to have not said goodbye to them.
02:57 I do think that there is one character in that line-up of farewells that just wasn't quite right,
03:03 it seemed a little out of place, which was the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern.
03:07 Number 9. Could the Fifth Doctor have saved Adric?
03:12 Although Adric is usually at the bottom of the pile when it comes to ranking the companions,
03:18 his death in 1982's "Earthshock" was one of the most, well, shocking moments in the show,
03:25 so much so that the end credits rolled in complete and utter silence for the first time in Doctor Who history.
03:32 But rather unexpectedly, Adric found himself back in the news when series 12 was on the air in early 2020,
03:40 with fans debating whether or not his death could have actually been prevented by the Fifth Doctor.
03:46 This debate was sparked by the episode "Praxeus",
03:48 where the Thirteenth Doctor uses her TARDIS to rescue Jake Willis,
03:52 who has decided to manually pilot a small spaceship after its autopilot fails.
03:58 Right before this spaceship explodes, the TARDIS captures Jake like a net,
04:02 shielding him from the explosion and saving his life.
04:05 Many fans then pointed out the similarities between Jake's situation and Adric's,
04:10 with the eSpace stowaway also trapped on a doomed spaceship that's about to blow him sky high.
04:15 In this case though, the Fifth Doctor does nothing,
04:18 instead watching on in disbelief as his companion dies.
04:21 So why couldn't the Fifth Doctor have used the same trick that the Thirteenth Doctor did?
04:27 Seems like a fair question at face value,
04:29 but many of those riled up Adric supporters missed that the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS console
04:35 was badly damaged by a Cyberman, which prevented him from flying to his friend's rescue.
04:41 And still some fans think that this is a rather flimsy excuse,
04:45 because the TARDIS has a mind of its own and therefore should have been able to function still.
04:50 While others hilariously just think that the Doctor didn't like Adric
04:54 and so couldn't be bothered to save him.
04:56 I mean it's rather cold, but maybe understandable.
04:59 Now to be honest I don't really have much knowledge of the classic era of Who,
05:03 so I don't really feel comfortable making a personal opinion on that situation.
05:07 But our very own Sean Ferrick does indeed have some very strong opinions about Adric,
05:14 so I would suggest checking out the video where the classic companions are ranked from best to
05:19 worst, which will be linked in the description below if you want to hear his side of the story.
05:24 Number 8 in the Forest of the Night
05:27 Series 8's "In the Forest of the Night" has always been a controversial episode,
05:32 but I don't think you realise just how much it split the fandom in two.
05:38 In 2016 this Twelfth Doctor story was voted the most divisive Doctor Who episode ever
05:44 in a Radio Times poll, beating out fellow Twelfth Doctor stories "Sleep No More"
05:49 and "Kill the Moon", as well as the Sixth Doctor serial "Vengeance on Varos".
05:54 Now that's quite a feat, so what earned "In the Forest of the Night" this not-so-coveted title?
06:00 On the positive side, this Series 8 adventure was praised for its creative premise.
06:05 The people of Earth wake up to discover that the planet has been completely covered by large
06:09 forests, and its lighter, more fairy-tale tone, a refreshing contrast from the darker episodes of
06:16 the series. Detractors labelled it aimless, threatless and felt that there were a few
06:21 too many silly moments, forcing then-showrunner Stephen Moffat to jump to its defence,
06:26 calling it "beautifully and elegantly written". Now it's pretty rare for the showrunners to
06:32 jump in on the debate, which just goes to show how divisive this episode actually was.
06:37 Maybe if there was a less plodding script and a few more standout moments, such as the deleted
06:45 Doctor's speech about the "Untempered Schism", it might have been one that was slightly more
06:50 positive than polarising. Now this episode isn't particularly memorable for me personally,
06:56 but I do remember Series 8 feeling quite dark in tone, and so it was quite refreshing to just have
07:02 this episode of lighter tones to it. But I do think that you're always going to have that divide,
07:08 where there are some fans who really like the darker, more intricate episodes, and some fans
07:14 who just want to watch them stand alone and forget about it after it's finished. And so you're always
07:20 going to have that divide, so it's very important to find that balance in the middle, which I think
07:25 this episode was aiming to try and do. Number 7. The Sacha DuVern Master ignores Missy's redemption
07:31 arc. Though few people actually expected Missy/The Master to be gone for good after soaking up a
07:38 laser screwdriver blast in the Series 10 finale, it was nonetheless a surprise when the character
07:44 returned in Series 12's "Spyfall". And not because fans expected the character to be dead, but more
07:51 the fact that this new incarnation of The Master seemed to be a step backwards after the arc that
07:57 Missy had been on through her run in the series. While DuVern's portrayal of the character received
08:02 a lot of praise from fans and critics alike, there was a subset of Whovians who were displeased and
08:08 confused as to why this new Master had regressed back into a moustache-twirling villain after the
08:14 Missy arc had shifted The Doctor's oldest foe more towards the light. Missy's decision to become a
08:20 do-gooder cost her her life, so why undo such a powerful character moment for the more bog-standard
08:26 villain antics we've had for the last 50 odd years? Now credit where credit's due, Sacha DuVern has
08:31 been one of the highlights of the Chibnall era and it looks like that streak is going to continue in
08:36 the Centenary Special, but I can understand the confusion. Big Finish's The Lumiat has explored
08:43 this gap between Missy in series 10 and The Master in series 12, but there are a lot of fans who don't
08:51 have access to the Big Finish audio dramas and so it probably would have been better if they'd
08:57 explored this in the actual TV series so that that confusion could have been cleared up. Now I have
09:03 just done a little bit of research into The Lumiat and the premise does sound very very interesting,
09:09 where Missy has her own version of the Valiard. So whereas The Doctor has this version of
09:15 themselves that's pure evil, Missy has The Lumiat which is pure good, which I think is extremely
09:21 interesting, but like I said if you don't have access to Big Finish then that is going to be
09:26 very confusing to the audience. Number six, are the Daleks overused? Now there's a Doctor Who
09:34 urban legend that the Daleks are contractually obligated to appear at least once every season.
09:41 Now supposedly this is due to an agreement between the Daleks creator Terry Nation's
09:46 estate and the BBC. Whether or not there is any shred of truth to that remains to be seen,
09:51 but the Daleks do indeed rear their heads on a consistent yearly basis. Even when they don't
09:57 have an episode to themselves they can't resist a cameo, which has got fans asking the question
10:03 of whether or not they're overused and whether it would be best if they were rested for a while.
10:08 On one side of the argument the Pepper Potts have been used in some new and interesting ways over
10:13 the course of their 59 year long shift, from introducing their creator Davros in 1975's
10:19 "Genesis of the Daleks" to series 11's "Body Controlling Reconnaissance Scout". Plus they're
10:25 the bloody Daleks, they're one of the most iconic parts of Doctor Who and have been since the very
10:30 beginning. But on the other hand it's no longer exciting or surprising when Skaro's finest wheel
10:36 onto our screens. And they've also been outstripped by other villains in terms of power and scare
10:42 factor, bringing their status as the Doctor's greatest enemy into question. Personally I
10:47 don't think they're overused, maybe a little bit at the beginning during kind of series 1 to 4,
10:54 slightly maybe a little bit, they seem to be the big bad at the series finale pretty much every
10:59 season. But I also agree that they are so iconic and such a big part of Doctor Who that without
11:05 them it just wouldn't be the same. Number 5, the 6th Doctor. As many polls and rankings will
11:11 demonstrate, Colin Baker's 6th Doctor is one of the least popular incarnations in the show.
11:17 Digital Spy and Radio Times have both got him at the bottom of their fan voted lists and even some
11:24 of our own rankings do the same. And it's a similar story with episode polls too, with Baker's
11:30 debut serial "The Twin Dilemma" being voted televised Who's worst outing not once, not twice,
11:37 but three separate times by Doctor Who magazine readers. With hardcore Whovians though, it's a
11:42 slightly different story. Sure it's not like he suddenly shoots to the top of people's lists,
11:47 but there's no question that love for Baker's Doctor has increased in recent times, thanks to
11:52 his successful run of Big Finish audio dramas. Indeed many will agree that the 6th Doctor works
11:58 far better on audio, which is something that our very own Tom Housen noted in 2020, stating "Big
12:05 Finish enhances the 6th Doctor. Colin's incarnation is simply a joy and it's understandable why you'd
12:11 wish to travel with him." Colin Baker even got to do an audio story that was written by the king of
12:17 modern Who, Russell T Davies, which instantly upped his Doctor's cool factor. But all this is
12:23 to say is that your opinion of the 6th Doctor is widely dependent on whether or not you are an
12:29 audio listener. His TV era was categorised by its brash tone, violent content and frequent behind
12:36 the scenes drama, and it was this ill-fated mid-80s run that doomed him to the bottom of those fan
12:42 polls, likely for a good long while. However he is much more likeable over at Big Finish,
12:48 making his entire era a tale of two halves, and one of the most divisive runs a Doctor has ever
12:55 had. Now again I'm not particularly knowledgeable of the classic era of Who, so I don't have a
13:01 strong opinion either way of the 6th Doctor, but I have listened to some of the audio adventures that
13:08 do include him, particularly the Diary of River Song, and I do think that he sounds very fun and
13:14 exciting, so I do agree that the audio dramas have worked in his favour. Number 4. Should the Doctor
13:20 become romantically entangled with their companions? No hanky-panky in the TARDIS was basically an
13:27 unwritten rule of the classic era of Doctor Who, and according to some accounts it was actually a
13:33 firm rule. But regardless as to which version of events is true, the point is clear efforts were
13:39 made to not have the Doctor be romantically involved with, well, anyone. But all that
13:46 changed with the 1996 TV movie, where all of a sudden Paul McGann's 8th Doctor was snogging
13:52 companion Grace Holloway. Now granted this was more of an American take on the character,
13:57 portraying him as a dashing Hollywood hero, rather than the awkward weird uncle of the main series.
14:02 But even when the show returned to British waters with the 2005 revival, that romantic angle didn't
14:09 go away. In fact, it actually became more prevalent, with the 9th Doctor and Rose growing
14:14 closer and closer throughout their time together before capping off series 1 with a kiss. Things
14:19 kicked up a gear when the snogaholic 10th Doctor entered the scene, with he and Rose pretty much
14:24 becoming an item by the end of series 2, and even declaring their love for each other, or well,
14:29 almost in the Doctor's case, on the beach at Bad Wolf Bay. The modern show's decision to make the
14:35 Doctor a romantic character has been criticised and appreciated in equal measure. To some, the
14:40 Doctor is an asexual being, which is more or less what we got throughout the entire classic series.
14:45 To others, giving the Doctor a love interest makes them more relatable and adds an interesting
14:50 dynamic to their relationship with their companions. Either approach can work, which has
14:55 been demonstrated throughout the decades of the show. It just entirely depends on what the
15:00 showrunner at the time wants to do with their version of the character. We all know that I love
15:05 River Song and I do really love that story arc of River and the Doctor, but I do think that in terms
15:12 of a romantic relationship for the Doctor, it needs to be very specific. In the case of River Song,
15:19 this character is kind of 50% the point of her, is to be this mysterious, ambiguous love interest
15:25 of the Doctor, but she isn't a companion that is there all the time. In the case of it being, say,
15:31 Rose and the Doctor, it was good because it was new. As we've said, it hadn't been done before
15:36 and so it was a new approach to the Doctor Who story. But it then became a little bit repetitive
15:43 as the series went on, when you still got Martha then pining after the Doctor, and even now you've
15:49 still got, you know, you have Yaz and things like that. So I think that if it's a specific character
15:53 whose purpose is to be this ambiguous love interest, it works, because I'm always going
15:59 to defend River Song. But if it becomes too much of the main drive of the story, it takes away from
16:06 what Doctor Who is actually about, which is about adventure and friendship more than anything else.
16:11 Number three, Clara Who and Hellbent. From her shock debut in series seven's Asylum of the
16:18 Daleks, it was clear that Clara Oswald was going to be a companion the likes of which we had never
16:23 seen before. Over the coming months, that certainly proved to be true, with the name of the Doctor
16:29 revealing that she was born to save the Doctor, having splintered herself along his timeline to
16:34 save him from various threats throughout his life. Continuing this theme of being a Doctor-like
16:39 character, series eight even saw Clara on occasion fill in for the Time Lord, most notably in Flatline
16:45 when he was unable to leave his TARDIS. And this continued emphasis on the character led to
16:50 accusations that she was being overused, with detractors even coining the phrase "Clara Who".
16:56 Now it is somewhat understandable that these fans felt that Clara was overshadowing the Doctor,
17:01 but also overshadowing the show's previous companions. At the same time though,
17:06 plenty of viewers found Jenna Coleman's bubbly performance hard to dislike,
17:11 and Stephen Moffat did garner some props for trying something new, actively avoiding the
17:16 same old companion role we'd seen a million times before. The Clara controversy reached its peak in
17:21 the series nine finale "Hellbent", which was criticised for undoing her death in "Face the
17:26 Raven", as well as doubling down on her desire to be like the Doctor, with the episode actually
17:32 giving her a TARDIS of her own. Now I'm not personally a massive fan of Clara, I found her
17:38 to be a little bit dull in comparison to previous companions. I did like her original story arc
17:45 being splintered throughout the Doctor's timeline, but I think it started to take a very different
17:50 turn following that. But I'm not one who likes change very much, and so I think once the notion
17:57 of the companion changing slightly kind of put my nose out of joint slightly, and maybe that's
18:02 something that I need to get over more than the show itself. Number two, should the fourth Doctor
18:08 have destroyed the Daleks? There are few moments in Doctor Who history as pivotal as 1975's "Genesis
18:17 of the Daleks". As the name suggests, this fourth Doctor serial tells the story of the Daleks'
18:23 origins, but if Tom Baker's mad-eyed Time Lord had acted differently, it could also have told
18:28 the story of their end. "Just touch these two strands together and the Daleks are finished."
18:33 "Have I the right?" muses the Doctor, his hands clutching the device that could end the tin cans
18:39 forever. His hesitation is understandable, after all genocide is a pretty big thing to have on your
18:44 conscience, no matter how deserving the target species may be. But at the same time Sarah Jane
18:49 also makes a valid point, reminding the Doctor that he will cause untold amounts of suffering
18:54 if he lets the Daleks live. And for many years fans have been having the same debate. Was the
19:00 Doctor's decision not to destroy the Daleks his greatest mistake, or was he right to not alter the
19:06 future? From the atrocities of the Time War to their regular attempts to invade Earth, there's
19:11 no doubt that the Daleks have done some pretty heinous stuff. But as the Doctor notes, fear of
19:16 the Daleks will prompt many worlds to become allies, united against a common enemy. And maybe
19:22 that's worth all the pain they cause. I think that the dilemma the Doctor faces in this episode
19:27 was a really important message for audiences about morality. And also if the series 4 finale is
19:34 anything to go by, even if you do attempt genocide in regards to the Daleks, they're gonna manage to
19:39 survive somehow anyway. Number 1. The Timeless Child. It's tough to think of a more controversial
19:46 moment in Doctor Who history than the lore-shattering revelations in the series 12 finale,
19:52 "The Timeless Children". This episode told us that the Doctor isn't actually a Time Lord,
19:57 but a mysterious being from another universe, one with the power to regenerate infinitely.
20:02 The DNA from this Timeless Child gave the Time Lords their ability to regenerate,
20:07 meaning that the Doctor is the Chosen One, a God, the foundation of Time Lord society.
20:13 This reveal sent shockwaves through Who fandom, with many feeling that it was unnecessary,
20:18 convoluted and even disrespectful to the show's pre-established history. What was the point in
20:23 11's new regeneration cycle in the time of the Doctor? Do River's own regeneration powers even
20:29 make sense now? To some it was even boring and inconsequential, what the Doctor can regenerate
20:35 infinitely. So? This was always going to be the way in some way or another for as long as the BBC
20:42 wanted Doctor Who on the air. So the Time Lords lied to the Doctor about their past. And? The
20:48 Doctor has never got on with the Time Lords, that's part of the reason why they ran away in
20:53 the first place. While discourse on the Timeless Child skews largely negative, there are those who
20:59 appreciate how it opens up opportunities to explore the Doctor's past. There's also Joe
21:04 Martin's fugitive Doctor, an important piece of the Timeless Child puzzle throughout series 12,
21:09 who received a lot of praise for her commanding presence. All in all, the Timeless Child is still
21:14 one of the most debated topics in Doctor Who's various online communities to this day. Chris
21:19 Chibnall certainly took a bold swing here, but considering all the controversy, perhaps "Doctor
21:24 Who" was a question best left unanswered. Now at first, I'll be honest, I was very, very, very
21:31 confused by the Timeless Child story arc. I didn't understand it and I was one of those people that
21:36 felt that it was disrespecting the previous 50 years... 60 years. But I do think that there is
21:45 potential for it, so long as we are given some more explanations. As long as those unanswered
21:52 questions and those loose ends are tied, I think it has the potential to be a really, really
21:58 interesting storyline and a really good avenue for the show to go down. So long as it's explored
22:05 fully and not left ambiguous. And that concludes our list. If your opinions are different, then do
22:11 let us know in the comments below, but remember to be respectful of other people's opinions.
22:16 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
22:20 Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there @whoculture, and I can be found across various
22:25 social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words
22:31 of River Song herself. Goodbye, sweeties.