Doctor Who

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Season 12
Season #: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
2.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 147 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 147
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 147
  3. Negative: 105 out of 147
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User Reviews

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  1. Kdog152
    Jan 4, 2023
    6
    tbh, this series isn't bad, it's just not great either. It had some decent episodes, but the timeless child was a complete retcon that we didn't need. Underappreciated, underrated series. Definitely better than series 11.
  2. Ltlombardi
    Nov 25, 2022
    0
    It was worst than the previous season. Poorly written, poorly executed. A show for all audiences, now It seems to be for very small children.

    I'm tired of seeing guns that never hit the heroes... It's just dumb. It was dumb in star wars.. it's even dumber and more exagereted here.
  3. cylun
    Jan 12, 2022
    0
    What a disgrace. This happens when you sacrifice good writing for toxic feminism and identity politics, just as an arbitrary tool without making any sense in the context of the universe others have built. Just draw the men as weak and whimsy, the women strong, powerful and superior, so you can expect the appropriate "professional reviews". Good writing doesn't matter.
  4. imthenoob
    Dec 25, 2021
    2
    Slightly more tolerable than Whittaker's first season, The issue here is the lack of a compelling season-long arc and the fact that the season totally falls apart in the second half. The introduction of the Master is the only good thing to come out of this season TBH but I am not a fan of the butchering of the established lore for the show.
  5. PurpleAvenger
    Jan 21, 2021
    9
    This season is even better than the last one. I think the character of the companions could have been fleshed out a bit more, but it was again good to have a series without having to worry about Moffat’s creepy grossness appearing unexpectedly. So good not to have that guy involved anymore.
  6. baxwar
    Jan 9, 2021
    0
    Full of nothing contains nothing and is Worth nothing, It's bad when I have to force myself to watch doctor who, **** BBC, and **** Chris Chisnall for ruining this shows legacy.
  7. LordSparks
    Jan 7, 2021
    0
    Overall, not really impressed with the continuity changes made by Season 12. It just feels like the writers behind the series don't really know how to work within the confines of an established world. You can still write new and interesting stories without having to tear up everything that came before it but the current showrunners don't seem to care to try.
    Compare those to the early    Overall, not really impressed with the continuity changes made by Season 12. It just feels like the writers behind the series don't really know how to work within the confines of an established world. You can still write new and interesting stories without having to tear up everything that came before it but the current showrunners don't seem to care to try.
    Compare those to the early days of the reboot where you had these plots and subplots that spanned entire seasons where everything came to a head at the end of the season. But nobody that writes for Doctor Who seems to be able to write those kinds of stories or maybe they're just not allowed to. I was quite excited to see what Jodie Whitaker would do for the series but it just seems to...serial. So monotone. Her performance is good but the writing is even worse than it was in Capaldi's era.

    The showrunners need to be replaced with someone who actually respects the world they're writing for.    … Expand
  8. Flipflapflop
    Jan 4, 2021
    10
    Fantastic series! Loved the new master, and the ending twist was brilliant! Hope Jodie stays for a while as the Doctor.
  9. Usernamered
    Jan 4, 2021
    10
    Jodie's performance was great and the twist at the end was brilliant! Great series overall.
  10. jamesh316
    Dec 25, 2020
    0
    The new show running is a joke and has no idea what doctor who loyal fans want from this iconic show. He and Jodie Whitaker have flushed it down the toilet. For goodness sake she never even watched the show as part of her prep, that’ will be why she makes such a poor doctor
  11. lucorp
    Dec 12, 2020
    0
    Boring, unappealing, shallow. Made me to stop watching one of my favourite TV shows.
  12. BronzeCentipede
    Dec 7, 2020
    0
    This is Doctor Who made by people who hate Doctor Who. There's no love of or interest in the history or mythos of the show. Nor is there any interest in the idea of exploring time and space, or of entertaining the viewer. Instead, we get ham-fisted messages.
  13. Shrik3
    Aug 15, 2020
    2
    I'm not a big Doctor Who fan but I love a bit of Sci-fi. The semi encapsulated format has always meant that there have been bad episodes and good IMO. This however is awful, the lead actress can act I have seen her in a previous drama but the role of playing a retarded Doctor is something I doubt De Niro could pull off. The decision to make the companions a family, the younger of whom areI'm not a big Doctor Who fan but I love a bit of Sci-fi. The semi encapsulated format has always meant that there have been bad episodes and good IMO. This however is awful, the lead actress can act I have seen her in a previous drama but the role of playing a retarded Doctor is something I doubt De Niro could pull off. The decision to make the companions a family, the younger of whom are completely without any depth is awful and the writing and story is terrible. I don't watch it anymore. Shame.… Expand
  14. DrJohnSmith
    Jul 13, 2020
    1
    I am a lifelong fan of Doctor Who (40 years of watching). I grew up watching episodes and celebrated every regeneration. I suffered through the dark times of script writing (Colin Baker's unfortunate years), the show's cancelation, and eventualy rejoiced at its return. The 50th anniversary was absolutely wonderful. Now this... I watched in horror as it devolved into a pointless, soullessI am a lifelong fan of Doctor Who (40 years of watching). I grew up watching episodes and celebrated every regeneration. I suffered through the dark times of script writing (Colin Baker's unfortunate years), the show's cancelation, and eventualy rejoiced at its return. The 50th anniversary was absolutely wonderful. Now this... I watched in horror as it devolved into a pointless, soulless series of random chases culminating in the utter butchery of the entire canon. I wish my Doctor could go back in time and provide Whittaker the story, tone, and depth this character's legacy deserves. This abysmal writing is a mockery to these actors and this once beloved series. I am devastated.… Expand
  15. mag07
    Jul 3, 2020
    0
    Embarassing to watch. 50 years of legacy murdered with dreadful, uninspired and emotionless writing. It's time to take a break BBC.
  16. dramaticwords
    Jun 26, 2020
    2
    Too preachy. Too many weak stories. And an ending that ruins the Time Lords and rewrites the Doctor's history badly.
  17. The_Batman
    Jun 3, 2020
    1
    It was my favorite TV show. WAS..... After so many years they just destroyed the Doctor. RIP
    Jodie is great, but the plot is an absolute garbage
  18. Thatbro92
    Jun 2, 2020
    0
    The BBC has ruined this show and has doomed the series to another hiatus in the name of social justice.
  19. CalDoesDrumming
    Mar 14, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A lot of people don’t seem to be warming to this season of Who as a whole and yet personally I really can’t see why. It’s definitely not prefect by any stretch of the imagination but I feel like they definitely at least made the effort to get close and at times I felt like they did, especially with Fugitive Of The Judoon & Haunting Of Villa Diodati, yes Orphan 55 despite it’s good intentions and important message to us all is pretty aids compared to rest of season, yes some of the performances from some of the side characters (especially the guy who plays Ryan) are still “questionable” to say the least and yes the direction they decided to take things in The Timeless Children is controversial without any doubt and could definitely do with more explaining or fleshing out to truly justify it, but fortunately for me it’s not left me frustrated, in fact it’s done quite the opposite and made more curious especially when The Master said that Tecteun found the child/The Doctor at the bottom of gateway to another world, what they do do next with that I don’t know but we’ll have to wait until season 13 to find out

    In terms of performances I thought Jodie Whittaker was really bang on throughout the whole thing as The Doctor, even in the weaker episodes she still did her absolute best and still showed a decent amount of dedication which is pretty amazing considering she wasn’t much of a self confessed whovian or anything before joining. I really enjoyed Sacha Dhawan’s Master, he too gave it a 110% despite everything and made me feel just the same way John Simm & Michelle Gomez’s Masters did, a person who’s clearly insane with evil intent yet for some odd reason is really likeable, only thing that annoyed me slightly with him was the fact he never explained how he managed to regenerate from Missy to who he is now, whether they’re saving that for a future episode I don’t know but I hope they do it at some point, but apart from that, brilliant job. The companions are still a bit of a mixed bag for me, as I was saying Tosin Cole’s performance as Ryan was questionable, his Yorkshire accent’s never quite on the ball, especially when you hear it next to The Doctor & Yaz’s and whilst his character’s ok it’s still extremely weak especially compared to the likes of Rose and/or Donna etc, needless to say I don’t think he’ll be missed very much when he goes. Yaz I’m definitely more satisfied with, she had plenty to do & say, had in my opinion a more stronger performance and was properly fleshed out by the end of the season (particularly by Can You Hear Me?). Graham I can’t fault all that much, even though at times he might have just felt like a bit of a comic relief he made up for it by being open about the concerns he had surrounding his cancer, and the speeches he made to both Yaz in The Timeless Children and to Jake in Paraxeus I thought were said really well by him.

    By far the biggest highlight of the season for me was when Captain Jack returned, and you could even tell on screen just how pleased John Barrowman looked to be back, needless to say if the rumours are true he’s returning again for Revolution Of The Daleks I’ll definitely be tuning in for that.

    As well as all that I thought the reveal of The Master and the Ruth Doctor were done really well and both something I didn’t see coming which I have to take my hat off to the production team for, the sets, CGI and FXs all looked great and Segun Akinola’s score although not as memorable as Murray Gold’s was still really good, creative & effective

    So whilst it’s still not a MASTER-piece (you’re welcome), this season is by no means whatsoever as garbage as some people on here seem to think it is, I enjoyed it, and if that’s not what you wanted to hear, then like Ruth taking on the Judoon in the cathedral, fight me over it!    … Expand
  20. adamchap
    Mar 9, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. NOTE:Came back to rewrite this review after the finale of season 12 to find that you can't see my comment, despite there only being six mixed reviews at the time of writing this. Nice to see nearly 40 new glowing reviews after THAT finale - whether or not the writing was compelling, the characters memorable or the sci-fi decent.

    REVIEW

    While season 12 does much better than the season before, it still falls short of what we have come to love.

    The best bits: Tesla and Edison. To an episode that mostly frames Tesla as the cool hip inventor being held back by filthy capitalist Edison - they still give Edison this line during a brief argument between the two:

    "All those men, all those inventions, I turn them from a sketch into real things people can buy. That’s how you change the world. You’re too blind to see that my factory is the best idea either one of us ever had."

    It was a breath of fresh air to have this morally grey area touched upon within a series which usually just goes for obvious tropes of "baddies".

    Sacha Dhawan - what a fantastic performance, despite some weird choices in dialogue. The problem with the Master this season is that there seems to be no acknowledgement to Missy. You'd also think the Master would have made some comment about how he "pulled the look off better" but no. Missed opportunity. Otherwise though, really sold it. Hands down the best performance in the series.

    The bad: Who are these companions and why do I struggle to remember their names? Ryan, the dyspraxic who is mostly unaffected by it. Yaz, the police-officer with the authority of a flannel and Graham "I dunno doc" "no idea doc" "Sorry doc, im stumped" "Dunno about you guys but I have no idea what she's talking about ". Sure there are moments. Graham telling Yaz how he feels about her was sweet, The Doctor getting angry in the final episode almost made me feel something and the cybermen were actually kinda cool.

    It's a slight problem that timelord energy in canon destroys cybermen, some incompatibility - but not the worse of Chibs' retcons here.

    The ugly: Did we all watch the Doctor sacrifice an old man? Didn't the Tenth Doctor break down at the idea of that eight seasons ago. Woops what about Wilf!

    Then, didn't the last doctor say this:

    "Never be cruel, never be cowardly. And never ever eat pears! Remember – hate is always foolish…and love, is always wise. Always try, to be nice and never fail to be kind. Oh, and….and you mustn’t tell anyone your name. "

    What happened? Are we watching the same Doctor here? Will Chris Chibnall read this review and explain it all in season 13? Seemed he listened to me about getting Captain Jack back, although I think he purposely only gave him two minutes of screen time to annoy me, and me alone.

    I thought it worth mentioning things people aren't necessarily mentioning. I couldn't care less about the gender (now ethnicity) of the Doctor but could you actually tell a bloody story instead of retconning incredible amounts of the show via an lore dump from The Master? It's like Chris sat around with the writers and said "How quickly can we get to the part where we show everyone that we hired a diverse range of children to play the doctor for three seconds"

    Here's a little girl with brown skin. Zero lines
    Oh lookie a little Asian boy. Give him zero lines.
    repeat some more.

    When you really think about it feels disingenuous, as if a desperate attempt to fill some quota. Just a little parade of tolerance, a show of virtue, a dance of equality.

    As a final note, because I find it interesting. The review scores from the major publications are glowing in contrast with user reviews. I've noticed recently that other shows have the same pattern. Sometimes the Users love it and the Critics hate it, other times it's the other way around.

    Altered Carbon is awesome. If you haven't seen it give it a watch. Then check the reviews.
    The Witcher, sure it had some problems, but compare the harsh critics of that show - to the ones here.

    Something smells wrong here and the Users know it.    … Expand
  21. Sabrus
    Mar 7, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Best part of this season Is Capt Jack making an appearance.. Just beings you back to when the show had decent writers and a decent DR… Expand
  22. Ameliawho
    Mar 6, 2020
    0
    “The Timeless Children” was the last straw for me as a fan of Doctor Who (Classic and New). The creators can’t simply rewrite almost 57 years of a show’s history in such a ham-fisted way and expect fans to eat it up. What makes “The Timeless Children” even worse is that the plot seems more about diversifying the show’s past rather than moving the show forward. Rewriting the Doctor’s past“The Timeless Children” was the last straw for me as a fan of Doctor Who (Classic and New). The creators can’t simply rewrite almost 57 years of a show’s history in such a ham-fisted way and expect fans to eat it up. What makes “The Timeless Children” even worse is that the plot seems more about diversifying the show’s past rather than moving the show forward. Rewriting the Doctor’s past shows a disrespect for the actors who have played the character in the past, but also a disregard for the current actors, such as Ms. Whittaker and Ms. Martin, who are now playing second fiddle to the creator’s desire to prove their progressiveness. The result of this is a show that is often a shallow and hypocritical shell of its former self. From scolding the audience about climate change while filming around the world to tackling metal illness but having the Doctor awkwardly disregard Graham’s concerns about cancer to basically ignoring Ryan’s dyspraxia until its convenient to the plot, the writers are handling social issues in such a sloppy way its hard to imagine fans from either side of the political aisle being truly satisfied. From flat characters to poor writing and now a total disregard to the show’s history, I think for many fans like me this season will be the final nail in the coffin for the show unless some major changes come to the writer’s room and the BBC.… Expand
  23. Markus_Lucidiou
    Mar 5, 2020
    0
    Complete series review: Chibnall does what no Dr Who baddie has ever done. Kill Dr Who.

    There are several scenes throughout the series that are genuinely good. Unfortunately that is nothing to do with the Doctor or the companions. The extras they employed had far better acting and performance skills than any of the 'fam'. There is far too much to mention as to why and what went wrong    Complete series review: Chibnall does what no Dr Who baddie has ever done. Kill Dr Who.

    There are several scenes throughout the series that are genuinely good. Unfortunately that is nothing to do with the Doctor or the companions. The extras they employed had far better acting and performance skills than any of the 'fam'. There is far too much to mention as to why and what went wrong tl;dr - Chibnall cannot run a piss up in a brewery. To really highlight the continued exposition from episode to episode would take far too long but allow me to put it this way, in the final episode the main character, the Doctor, quite literally stands still and does nothing for at least 3/4s of it while we get exposition from the Master. The core tenet of this series appears to be

    "Talk about stuff don't show stuff"

    The show creators and production crew can wax lyrical all they want about the amazing journey that the Doctor and co have been on, but we never see it. It took until the finale for Graham and Yaz to have a conversation. Two whole series, and the first actual conversation is in the finale. Lining the actors up and having them recite their lines one after another doesn't count Chibbers.

    Lazy writing, lazy editing, lazy acting.    … Expand
  24. FredFisher01
    Mar 5, 2020
    0
    Absolute trash - boring actors, terrible writing, and overall has ruined Doctor Who canon.
  25. ManRammer
    Mar 5, 2020
    0
    The new Doctor is just.. awful. The writing has sunk this ship for me. The season finale just kills the franchise by defining what all previous writers have tried to avoid
  26. Davrosdaleks1
    Mar 4, 2020
    7
    I had some mixed feelings about this.

    There are some pretty good episodes in this (stronger than last season; had more of a traditional DW flair) and some pretty good ideas. There are also a couple kinda weak episodes (Orphan 55 and Praxeus). Not awful, just weak. However, the biggest issue is that creator Chris Chibnall (creator of Broadchurch) brings some BIG changes to the DW    I had some mixed feelings about this.

    There are some pretty good episodes in this (stronger than last season; had more of a traditional DW flair) and some pretty good ideas.

    There are also a couple kinda weak episodes (Orphan 55 and Praxeus). Not awful, just weak. However, the biggest issue is that creator Chris Chibnall (creator of Broadchurch) brings some BIG changes to the DW universe. The problem is that I don't think they're good ideas. It feels like Chibnall was trying too hard to do something new and daring but never asked himself if it was at all what the fans wanted or needed. He messes way too much with the feel and canon of the show. (Yeah, I know the show has always had loose continuity but this is at another level.)

    Based on the general episodes, I would've rated this higher, because I did truly enjoy many of them. It's just the overarching story arc that leaves a bit of a cloud over the season.    … Expand
  27. matt360
    Mar 3, 2020
    0
    I remember last season being hopeful about the 13th Doctor, but any potential has been completely ruined by an awful showrunner. Chris Chibnall seems to hate the franchise and wants to see it destroyed, I can't think of any other reason to how this series got so bad.

    Jodie Whitaker could be a great Doctor but she's given nothing to do. The finale has ruined the series lore beyond    I remember last season being hopeful about the 13th Doctor, but any potential has been completely ruined by an awful showrunner. Chris Chibnall seems to hate the franchise and wants to see it destroyed, I can't think of any other reason to how this series got so bad.

    Jodie Whitaker could be a great Doctor but she's given nothing to do.

    The finale has ruined the series lore beyond recovery, the only way forward is to retcon this season and get a new showrunner.    … Expand
  28. Kymar4
    Mar 3, 2020
    0
    Это отвратительно, сериал превратился из околонаучной фантастики в модное говнище для нетрадиционных людей. Это просто кусок толерантности, скажите этим даунам что они сериалом ошиблись и это никто видеть не хочет. Смените уже шоураннера, он бездарен и пресенЭто отвратительно, сериал превратился из околонаучной фантастики в модное говнище для нетрадиционных людей. Это просто кусок толерантности, скажите этим даунам что они сериалом ошиблись и это никто видеть не хочет. Смените уже шоураннера, он бездарен и пресен
  29. TheILLUSIONIST
    Mar 3, 2020
    2
    For almost 40 minutes I watched the episode with a hand on my face. Terribly stupid dialogs. The characters explain in words what they are doing, as if the scriptwriters consider the audience idiots. Well, at the end of the series, a twist pleased me, on the other hand, it was proof of mindless copying of themselves.

    P.S. Initially, I set 3 points, but after watching the season finale I    For almost 40 minutes I watched the episode with a hand on my face. Terribly stupid dialogs. The characters explain in words what they are doing, as if the scriptwriters consider the audience idiots. Well, at the end of the series, a twist pleased me, on the other hand, it was proof of mindless copying of themselves.

    P.S. Initially, I set 3 points, but after watching the season finale I lowered to 2. Chibnell is just a disgusting screenwriter. He tried to be Ryan Johnson, but no. I'm not a hater, I really like the series, but Chibnell killed everything that I loved Doctor Who for. He simply threw out the whole canon, all that was for almost 60 years. And now nothing will be as before. This is not my Doctor Who    … Expand
  30. Katalkyste
    Mar 3, 2020
    0
    i had real high hopes after the Trailer. but there it is again.. the Doctor waving the sonic screwdriver aimlessly around as a plot armor device. Remember when this was used very rarely and only on purpose? yeah those times are apparently over.

    There are a lot of unrelated discoveries like the "sprint"-revelation of the Main Villain which could have been dissolved by the master by just    i had real high hopes after the Trailer. but there it is again.. the Doctor waving the sonic screwdriver aimlessly around as a plot armor device. Remember when this was used very rarely and only on purpose? yeah those times are apparently over.

    There are a lot of unrelated discoveries like the "sprint"-revelation of the Main Villain which could have been dissolved by the master by just sayin "didnt want to brag"..
    Jodie plays the doctor as promised: like Doc Brown from "back to the future" and not as "the Doctor" and thus wrecking havoc on the real doctor with its poised charm, sarcastic undertones and back then genuinely funny lines. Now its all slapstick and bulletproof Motorbikes on a Trailer being driven around..

    When they first introduced a female doctor i was stoked and had a great time thinking of someone like Tilda Swinton and Benedict Cumberbatch as the sidekick.. but now we have just way too many diversity hire side characters that doesn't do anything apart from stealing the needed screen time from the doctor and limiting the time each character has to develop in the series..

    Addendum: episode 2:

    Force bond? Force Skype?
    Man in Black "Mind wipe"?

    especially "wiping the mind" is ABSOLUTELY against the Dr. Who basics.. its directly against the base narrative of "never change the changes" it invalidates a LOT of Dr. Who.
    do not retcon stuff..

    Updater: oh boy that was a wish that did not pan out ..

    congratulations, this show is now officially dead.. Dr.Who ? was the base premise of the show ever since.. this was a question that was never supposed to be answered..

    "Great" end to a long running show..    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Jan 3, 2020
    80
    As with the latest Doctor’s debut series in 2018, the chemistry between the four leads is what drives the new Who, with Whittaker excelling as the perpetual motion human gyroscope at the centre of the chaos. Everything duly pelts along.
    Read full review
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Jan 2, 2020
    80
    “Spyfall” — a two-part episode that concludes Sunday, when the show takes up its regular time slot — comes on strong. ... It’s fun, often funny and action-packed, which is not to say things don’t get a little heavy by the first hour’s cliffhanger end.
    Read full review
  3. Salon
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    Jan 2, 2020
    80
    This first new hour bursts with the confident energy of Chibnall, Whittaker, and the writers entering an era in which Thirteen’s feels less constrained and freer to, in her words, get on with the job. ... And it is incredibly fun to watch.
    Read full review
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