Apart from Peter Capaldi, I've really struggled with Dr Who since Tennant. I guess it's like Marvel Comics. I'm not their market anymore. I'm not bothered about race or gender (Olivia Coleman would have been great), but I like 'em old. Hartnell is my favourite, with Pertwee and Baker behind him. The intellectual but slightly sinister professor is for me, whereas the target market is watching Celebrity Love Island.
Totally with you on that.
I was a bit disconcerted by Ecclestone's Doctor - but once I had cottoned on to what he was about (roughly: a more working-class Doctor) I was okay with it. Then came Tennant.
It amazes me that so many older fans of
Who like and approve of Tennant as the Doctor. Good actor though he is, I personally can't stand sight nor sound of him in this role. He turned the character into a loud, sexy, hyperactive swashbuckler - and set the bar for all the actors to follow (much the same as had Patrick Troughton done for a previous generation).
And yes, the touchstome for
Who is now the
Marvel franchise and things like
Buffy the Vampire Slayer- just as before it had been Fifites B-Movies and
Quatermass. (Contrary to popular myth, Doctor Who has always been far more of a trend-follower than a trendsetter). So special effects (which now just means a morass of bombastic C.G.I) and a suoerhero ethos (once completely at odds with the whole concept) rule the day.
My first thought on seeing the new 14th Doctor was that he had the bland, cheery good looks of a children's television presenter. No sense of mystery or the harbouring of nooks and crannies in his personality there.
And no - it's not about skin tone. I have long though that Don Warrington (as he is now) could have made a decent Doctor. But I may be missing something and will give Ncuti the benefit of the doubt - if I could be bothered to watch it at all that is.
The fact is that
Doctor Who is a kids show - and I'm using the word `kids` broadly. It isn't - and can't -be aimed at us. It is undignified at our time of life to pretend that we somehow own a show like this. Let the kids have it.