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.
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00:00Doctor Who has one of the most passionate and enduring fanbases in the world.
00:05Like the Master and the Daleks, this fandom just never seems to die.
00:09And with the excitement surrounding Russell T. Davies' return in 2023, it only looks set to grow.
00:16But like any other fandom, Whovians do have those issues that they just can't seem to agree on.
00:22Now the vast majority of Doctor Who storylines are well-liked and don't really cause much of a stir amongst fans,
00:29but there are certain episodes or even certain scenes, characters or storylines that aren't quite so lucky.
00:37So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, here with...
00:4110 Doctor Who Controversies That Divide Fans
00:45Number 10. Was the end of time a satisfying send-off for the Tenth Doctor?
00:50With David Tennant dominating the news cycle as of late,
00:54now seems like the perfect time to revisit a topic that has seen much debate in the years since he left the show.
01:02Was his final story, the end of time, actually any good?
01:06Or was it a total hot mess that didn't give arguably the best Doctor of all time the send-off he deserved?
01:14You'll often find people saying that the end of time has a bunch of terrific moments peppered throughout,
01:20like the Four Knocks, the Rassilon confrontation and the Doctor's Time Lords live too long speech,
01:25but that the Master Plot line is far too silly, the Doctor's farewell tour is self-indulgent and drags on way too long,
01:33and that sub-villain Joshua Naismith is a complete waste of screen time.
01:37Elsewhere, some find that the Tenth Doctor's final line,
01:40I don't want to go, veers heavily into cringe territory, while for others it instantly triggers the waterworks.
01:48In general, it's the story's emotional beats that people praise the most,
01:53from the Doctor's realisation that Wilf is trapped in the radiation booth,
01:57to Geoffrey Noble lending the Doctor some money for a lottery ticket.
02:00Thanks to Bernard Cribbins and David Tennant's incredible performances,
02:04there's a massive beating heart, or hearts, at the centre of the end of time,
02:09that does paper over some of the cracks.
02:11But coming off the Waters of Mars thrilling, complex storyline,
02:16it's hard not to wish that Tenn's conclusion was a bit more engaging in the narrative department.
02:21Now, for me personally, I think I have to agree that the storyline element of that episode wasn't the strongest,
02:28it's not a storyline that sticks in my mind that I can always remember.
02:33But, I do think that the emotion was definitely there,
02:38and I don't think I have a problem with the farewell tour as it's put here,
02:42because, particularly for the fourth series and for David Tennant's Doctor,
02:47those companions are such an important part of the storylines that we've seen,
02:52so I almost feel like it wouldn't have been right for him to have not said goodbye to them.
02:57I do think that there is one character in that line-up of farewells that just wasn't quite right,
03:03it seemed a little out of place, which was the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern.
03:08Number 9. Could the Fifth Doctor have saved Adric?
03:12Although Adric is usually at the bottom of the pile when it comes to ranking the companions,
03:18his death in 1982's Earthshock was one of the most, well, shocking moments in the show,
03:25so much so that the end credits rolled in complete and utter silence for the first time in Doctor Who history.
03:32But rather unexpectedly, Adric found himself back in the news
03:36when series 12 was on the air in early 2020,
03:40with fans debating whether or not his death could have actually been prevented by the Fifth Doctor.
03:46This debate was sparked by the episode Praxeus,
03:48where the Thirteenth Doctor uses her TARDIS to rescue Jake Willis,
03:52who has decided to manually pilot a small spaceship after its autopilot fails.
03:58Right before this spaceship explodes, the TARDIS captures Jake like a net,
04:02shielding him from the explosion and saving his life.
04:05Many fans then pointed out the similarities between Jake's situation and Adric's,
04:10with the e-space stowaway also trapped on a doomed spaceship that's about to blow him sky high.
04:15In this case though, the Fifth Doctor does nothing,
04:18instead watching on in disbelief as his companion dies.
04:22So why couldn't the Fifth Doctor have used the same trick that the Thirteenth Doctor did?
04:27Seems like a fair question at face value,
04:29but many of those riled up Adric supporters missed
04:33that the Fifth Doctor's TARDIS console was badly damaged by a Cyberman,
04:37which prevented him from flying to his friend's rescue.
04:41And still some fans think that this is a rather flimsy excuse,
04:45because the TARDIS has a mind of its own and therefore should have been able to function still,
04:50while others hilariously just think that the Doctor didn't like Adric
04:54and so couldn't be bothered to save him.
04:56I mean, it's rather cold, but maybe understandable.
04:59Now to be honest, I don't really have much knowledge of the classic era of Who,
05:03so I don't really feel comfortable making a personal opinion on that situation,
05:08but our very own Sean Ferrick does indeed have some very strong opinions about Adric,
05:14so I would suggest checking out the video where the classic companions are ranked from best to
05:19worst, which will be linked in the description below if you want to hear his side of the story.
05:24Number 8. In the Forest of the Night
05:28Series 8's In the Forest of the Night has always been a controversial episode,
05:32but I don't think you realise just how much it split the fandom in two.
05:38In 2016, this 12th Doctor story was voted the most divisive Doctor Who episode ever
05:44in a Radio Times poll, beating out fellow 12th Doctor stories Sleep No More and Kill the Moon,
05:51as well as the 6th Doctor serial Vengeance on Varos.
05:54Now that's quite a feat, so what earned In the Forest of the Night this not-so-coveted title?
06:00On the positive side, this Series 8 adventure was praised for its creative premise.
06:05The people of Earth wake up to discover that the planet has been completely covered by large
06:09forests, and its lighter, more fairytale tone, a refreshing contrast from the darker episodes of
06:16the series. Detractors labelled it aimless, threatless and felt that there were a few
06:21too many silly moments, forcing then showrunner Stephen Moffat to jump to its defence,
06:26calling it beautifully and elegantly written. Now it's pretty rare for the showrunners to
06:32jump in on the debate, which just goes to show how divisive this episode actually was.
06:38Maybe if there was a less plodding script and a few more standout moments,
06:43such as the deleted Doctor's speech about the untempered schism,
06:48it might have been one that was slightly more positive than polarising.
06:52Now this episode isn't particularly memorable for me personally, but I do remember Series 8
06:58feeling quite dark in tone, and so it was quite refreshing to just have this episode of lighter
07:04tones to it. But I do think that you're always going to have that divide where there are some
07:09fans who really like the darker, more intricate episodes, and some fans who just want to watch
07:15them stand alone and forget about it after it's finished. And so you're always going to have that
07:20divide, so it's very important to find that balance in the middle, which I think this episode was
07:26aiming to try and do. Number 7. The Sacha Dwan Master ignores Missy's redemption arc. Though
07:33few people actually expected Missy slash the Master to be gone for good after soaking up a
07:38laser screwdriver blast in the Series 10 finale, it was nonetheless a surprise when the character
07:44returned in Series 12's Spyfall. And not because fans expected the character to be dead, but more
07:51the fact that this new incarnation of the Master seemed to be a step backwards after the arc that
07:57Missy had been on through her run in the series. While Dwan's portrayal of the character received
08:02a lot of praise from fans and critics alike, there was a subset of Whovians who were displeased and
08:08confused as to why this new Master had regressed back into a moustache-twirling villain after the
08:14Missy arc had shifted the Doctor's oldest foe more towards the light. Missy's decision to become
08:20a do-gooder cost her her life, so why undo such a powerful character moment for the more bog-standard
08:26villain antics we've had for the last 50-odd years? Now credit where credit's due, Sacha Dwan has been
08:32one of the highlights of the Chibnall era and it looks like that streak is going to continue in the
08:36Centenary Special, but I can understand the confusion. Big Finish's The Lumiat has explored
08:43this gap between Missy in series 10 and the Master in series 12, but there are a lot of fans who don't
08:51have access to the Big Finish audio dramas and so it probably would have been better if they'd
08:57explored this in the actual TV series so that that confusion could have been cleared up. Now I have
09:03just done a little bit of research into The Lumiat and the premise does sound very very interesting
09:09where Missy has her own version of the Valiard, so whereas the Doctor has this version of themselves
09:15that's pure evil, Missy has The Lumiat which is pure good, which I think is extremely interesting
09:22but like I said if you don't have access to Big Finish then that is going to be very confusing
09:28to the audience. Number six, are the Daleks overused? Now there's a Doctor Who urban legend
09:36that the Daleks are contractually obligated to appear at least once every season. Now supposedly
09:42this is due to an agreement between the Daleks creator Terry Nation's estate and the BBC. Whether
09:48or not there is any shred of truth to that remains to be seen, but the Daleks do indeed rear their
09:54heads on a consistent yearly basis. Even when they don't have an episode to themselves they can't
09:59resist a cameo, which has got fans asking the question of whether or not they're overused
10:05and whether it would be best if they were rested for a while. On one side of the argument the
10:10Pepper Potts have been used in some new and interesting ways over the course of their 59
10:15year long shift from introducing their creator Davros in 1975's Genesis of the Daleks to series
10:2211's body controlling reconnaissance scout. Plus they're the bloody Daleks, they're one of the most
10:27iconic parts of Doctor Who and have been since the very beginning. But on the other hand it's no
10:33longer exciting or surprising when Skaro's finest wheel onto our screens. And they've also been
10:38outstripped by other villains in terms of power and scare factor, bringing their status as the
10:44Doctor's greatest enemy into question. Personally I don't think they're overused, maybe a little bit
10:49at the beginning during kind of series one to four, slightly maybe a little bit they seem to
10:56be the big bad at the series finale pretty much every season. But I also agree that they are so
11:02iconic and such a big part of Doctor Who that without them it just wouldn't be the same.
11:06Number five, the sixth Doctor. As many polls and rankings will demonstrate Colin Baker's sixth
11:13Doctor is one of the least popular incarnations in the show. Digital Spy and Radio Times have
11:20both got him at the bottom of their fan voted lists and even some of our own rankings do the
11:26same. And it's a similar story with episode polls too, with Baker's debut serial The Twin Dilemma
11:32being voted televised Who's worst outing not once, not twice, but three separate times by
11:38Doctor Who magazine readers. With hardcore Whovians though it's a slightly different story.
11:44Sure it's not like he suddenly shoots to the top of people's lists, but there's no question that
11:48love for Baker's Doctor has increased in recent times thanks to his successful run of big Finnish
11:54audio dramas. Indeed many will agree that the sixth Doctor works far better on audio, which
12:00is something that our very own Tom Housen noted in 2020 stating,
12:04big Finnish enhances the sixth Doctor. Colin's incarnation is simply a joy and it's understandable
12:10why you'd wish to travel with him. Colin Baker even got to do an audio story that was written
12:16by the king of modern Who, Russell T Davies, which instantly upped his Doctor's cool factor.
12:22But all this is to say is that your opinion of the sixth Doctor is widely dependent on
12:27whether or not you are an audio listener. His TV era was categorized by its brash tone,
12:34violent content and frequent behind-the-scenes drama. And it was this ill-fated mid-80s run
12:40that doomed him to the bottom of those fan polls, likely for a good long while. However he is much
12:46more likable over at big Finnish, making his entire era a tale of two halves and one of the
12:52most divisive runs a Doctor has ever had. Now again I'm not particularly knowledgeable of the
12:58classic era of Who, so I don't have a strong opinion either way of the sixth Doctor, but
13:05I have listened to some of the audio adventures that do include him, particularly the Diary of
13:10River Song, and I do think that he sounds very fun and exciting. So I do agree that the audio
13:16dramas have worked in his favor. Number four, should the Doctor become romantically entangled
13:22with their companions? No hanky-panky in the TARDIS was basically an unwritten rule of the
13:28classic era of Doctor Who, and according to some accounts it was actually a firm rule. But regardless
13:35as to which version of events is true, the point is clear efforts were made to not have the Doctor
13:41be romantically involved with, well, anyone. But all that changed with the 1996 TV movie where all
13:49of a sudden Paul McGann's eighth Doctor was snogging companion Grace Holloway. Now granted
13:54this was more of an American take on the character, portraying him as a dashing Hollywood hero
13:59rather than the awkward weird uncle of the main series. But even when the show returned to British
14:04waters with the 2005 revival, that romantic angle didn't go away. In fact it actually became more
14:11prevalent, with the ninth Doctor and Rose growing closer and closer throughout their time together
14:16before capping off series one with a kiss. Things kicked up a gear when the snogaholic
14:21tenth Doctor entered the scene, with he and Rose pretty much becoming an item by the end of series
14:26two and even declaring their love for each other, or well almost in the Doctor's case, on the beach
14:32at Bad Wolf Bay. The modern show's decision to make the Doctor a romantic character has been
14:37criticized and appreciated in equal measure. To some the Doctor is an asexual being, which is more
14:43or less what we got throughout the entire classic series. To others giving the Doctor a love interest
14:48makes them more relatable and adds an interesting dynamic to their relationship with their companions.
14:53Either approach can work, which has been demonstrated throughout the decades of the show,
14:58it just entirely depends on what the showrunner at the time wants to do with their version of the
15:04character. We all know that I love River Song and I do really love that story arc of River and the
15:10Doctor, but I do think that in terms of a romantic relationship for the Doctor it needs to be very
15:16specific. In the case of River Song this character is kind of 50% the point of her, is to be this
15:23mysterious ambiguous love interest of the Doctor, but she isn't a companion that is there all the
15:29time. In the case of it being say Rose and the Doctor, it was good because it was new. As we've
15:34said it hadn't been done before and so it was a new approach to the Doctor Who story, but it then
15:41became a little bit repetitive as the series went on, when you still got Martha then pining after
15:47the Doctor and even now you have Yaz and things like that. So I think that if it's a
15:52specific character whose purpose is to be this ambiguous love interest it works, because I'm
15:59always going to defend River Song. But if it becomes too much of the main drive of the story
16:05it takes away from what Doctor Who is actually about, which is about adventure and friendship
16:10more than anything else. Number three Clara Who and Hellbent. From her shock debut in series 7's
16:17Asylum of the Daleks it was clear that Clara Oswald was going to be a companion the likes of
16:22which we had never seen before. Over the coming months that certainly proved to be true with the
16:28name of the Doctor revealing that she was born to save the Doctor, having splintered herself along
16:33his timeline to save him from various threats throughout his life. Continuing this theme of
16:38being a Doctor-like character, series 8 even saw Clara on occasion fill in for the Time Lord,
16:43most notably in Flatline when he was unable to leave his TARDIS. And this continued emphasis
16:48on the character led to accusations that she was being overused, with detractors even coining the
16:54phrase Clara Who. Now it is somewhat understandable that these fans felt that Clara was overshadowing
17:00the Doctor but also overshadowing the show's previous companions. At the same time though
17:06plenty of viewers found Jenna Coleman's bubbly performance hard to dislike and Stephen Moffat
17:12did garner some props for trying something new, actively avoiding the same old companion role we'd
17:17seen a million times before. The Clara controversy reached its peak in the series 9 finale Hellbent
17:23which was criticised for undoing her death in Face the Raven, as well as doubling down on her
17:28desire to be like the Doctor, with the episode actually giving her a TARDIS of her own. Now I'm
17:34not personally a massive fan of Clara, I found her to be a little bit dull in comparison to previous
17:41companions. I did like her original story arc being splintered throughout the Doctor's timeline
17:48but I think it started to take a very different turn following that. But I'm not one who likes
17:54change very much and so I think once the notion of the companion changing slightly kind of put my
18:00nose out of joint slightly and maybe that's something that I need to get over more than the
18:05show itself. Number two, should the fourth Doctor have destroyed the Daleks? There are few moments
18:12in Doctor Who history as pivotal as 1975's Genesis of the Daleks. As the name suggests,
18:19this fourth Doctor serial tells the story of the Daleks' origins, but if Tom Baker's mad-eyed
18:25Time Lord had acted differently it could also have told the story of their end. Just touch these two
18:31strands together and the Daleks are finished. Have I the right, muses the Doctor, his hands
18:36clutching the device that could end the tin cans forever. His hesitation is understandable, after
18:41all genocide is a pretty big thing to have on your conscience no matter how deserving the target
18:46species may be. But at the same time Sarah Jane also makes a valid point, reminding the Doctor
18:52that he will cause untold amounts of suffering if he lets the Daleks live. And for many years
18:57fans have been having the same debate. Was the Doctor's decision not to destroy the Daleks his
19:03greatest mistake or was he right to not alter the future? From the atrocities of the Time War to
19:09their regular attempts to invade Earth, there's no doubt that the Daleks have done some pretty
19:13heinous stuff. But as the Doctor notes, fear of the Daleks will prompt many worlds to become
19:19allies, united against a common enemy. And maybe that's worth all the pain they cause. I think that
19:25the dilemma the Doctor faces in this episode was a really important message for audiences about
19:30morality. And also if the series 4 finale is anything to go by, even if you do attempt genocide
19:37in regards to the Daleks, they're going to manage to survive somehow anyway. Number one, the Timeless
19:43Child. It's tough to think of a more controversial moment in Doctor Who history than the law-shattering
19:50revelations in the series 12 finale, The Timeless Children. This episode told us that the Doctor
19:56isn't actually a Time Lord but a mysterious being from another universe, one with the power to
20:01regenerate infinitely. The DNA from this Timeless Child gave the Time Lords their ability to
20:06regenerate, meaning that the Doctor is the Chosen One, a God, the foundation of Time Lord society.
20:13This reveal sent shockwaves through Who fandom, with many feeling that it was unnecessary, convoluted
20:19and even disrespectful to the show's pre-established history. What was the point in Eleven's new
20:24regeneration cycle in the time of the Doctor? Do River's own regeneration powers even make sense
20:30now? To some it was even boring and inconsequential, what the Doctor can regenerate infinitely.
20:36So this was always going to be the way in some way or another for as long as the BBC wanted
20:42Doctor Who on the air. So the Time Lords lied to the Doctor about their past and the Doctor has
20:49never got on with the Time Lords, that's part of the reason why they ran away in the first place.
20:54While discourse on the Timeless Child skews largely negative, there are those who appreciate
20:59how it opens up opportunities to explore the Doctor's past. There's also Joe Martin's fugitive
21:05Doctor, an important piece of the Timeless Child puzzle throughout Series 12, who received a lot
21:10of praise for her commanding presence. All in all, the Timeless Child is still one of the most
21:14debated topics in Doctor Who's various online communities to this day. Chris Chibnall certainly
21:20took a bold swing here, but considering all the controversy, perhaps Doctor Who was a question
21:25best left unanswered. Now at first, I'll be honest, I was very, very, very confused by the Timeless
21:32Child story arc. I didn't understand it and I was one of those people that felt that it was
21:37disrespecting the previous 50 years, 60 years. But I do think that there is potential for it, so long
21:47as we are given some more explanations. As long as those unanswered questions and those loose ends
21:54are tied, I think it has the potential to be a really, really interesting storyline and a really
22:00good avenue for the show to go down. So long as it's explored fully and not left ambiguous.
22:08And that concludes our list. If your opinions are different, then do let us know in the comments
22:12below, but remember to be respectful of other people's opinions. And while you're there, don't
22:17forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter
22:22and follow us there at WhoCulture, and I can be found across various social medias just by searching
22:27Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye, sweeties.