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. pjgs
    Jan 3, 2020
    10
    A fantastic start. Music is great, cast is likable, and the cliffhanger... wow!
  2. Fanowaty
    Jan 20, 2020
    10
    A fabulous start to a new series, improved writing and great stories. Acting is top notch.

    And most haters just hate the show for casting a woman to play the Doctor. Guess what - Jodie's great. Just give her a chance like you did to anyone else. Support the show you love. Especially when it is executed this well.
  3. Takhilin
    Jan 6, 2020
    10
    This show is still good - Jodie is great - Chibnall just sucks at writing. Don't listen to the haters - most people just don't like this Doctor for disingenous reasons.
  4. DoctorNoone
    Jan 20, 2020
    10
    After 4 episodes of the new series - it is clearly engaging and adventurous set of stories, with great writing that has vastly improved from the last series. Jodie is great and the introduction of Sacha Dhawan's character was a huge and positive surprise.

    Episode 4 is one of the best episodes in the modern era.
  5. hjmaier
    Feb 12, 2020
    10
    Absolutely great! I loved every single episode so far. I had some issues with the last season, but they are all solved. Very strobg episodes, fun to watch.
  6. 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.
  7. Usernamered
    Jan 4, 2021
    10
    Jodie's performance was great and the twist at the end was brilliant! Great series overall.
  8. 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.
  9. 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
  10. Lahey3
    Jan 4, 2020
    8
    It's a good start for the series. I hope that part two will be great as well. It really is MUCH MUCH better than whole series 11 combined.
  11. Doctorfeddy
    Jan 7, 2020
    8
    Per me Doctor who è tornato a piena potenza, anche per il finale di puntata. Jodie io la vedo molto bene come dottore, i compagni continuano a evolvere ( Yaz e Ryan soprattutto), chibnall non è uno sprovveduto e ho ancora fiducia in lui. Spero nei prossimi episodi
  12. mrwho
    Jan 14, 2020
    7
    First two episodes were great, third quite weak.

    Obviously there's a small group of very angry fans who go out of their way to review bomb everything Who related since The Doctor became female. User scores can basically be ignored.
  13. 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
  14. 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.
  15. ShaMana
    Jan 14, 2020
    5
    Title: Three is a crowd Description: The latest adventures of our beloved doctor are hindered by uneven writing and uninspired sequences of events. The last three episodes showed a glimpse of what it could have been but sadly falls flat not long after the start. Enemies are inventive and mysterious but the plot doesn't use them well. They are nothing more than scarecrows with close to noTitle: Three is a crowd Description: The latest adventures of our beloved doctor are hindered by uneven writing and uninspired sequences of events. The last three episodes showed a glimpse of what it could have been but sadly falls flat not long after the start. Enemies are inventive and mysterious but the plot doesn't use them well. They are nothing more than scarecrows with close to no personality or emotion and that's not the show we enjoyed before. The three companions don't really help the situation, they have their personalities but are in the end extremely linear and not well developed. Removing them, sadly wouldn't cause any issues for the show considering their lack of investment except the need to be constantly rescued. And the plots, they move at a breakneck pace towards nowhere. Events occur without reason and on occasion, there is barely any connection between two scenes (in one, everyone is in danger, they do something stupid that should never work, they are not even shown to escape and the next scene everyone is fine and no one talks about it ever again)

    Sadly it's not the actor's fault. Jodie Whitaker is fantastic. Very energetic and able to portray emotions appropriate for her interpretation of the doctor (Peter Capaldi was really bad in figuring out what kind of doctor he wanted to be for example). Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill are good actors playing boring characters. Tosin Cole, on the other hand, has some spark to be a counterpoint of the new energetic doctor but is very underutilized in the end.

    Overall, Doctor Who has become a very mediocre show and uninspired writing can be faulted for it. Production values are really good, actors do their tasks well but in the end, it falls down to bad events and occurrences. Gone are the days of clever tiny details spread across 40 minutes or more to be picked and amazed at... it's CG and atmospheric music time.    … Expand
  16. 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
  17. SilverEagle89
    Feb 3, 2020
    4
    Doctor Who continues running...but where? That’s the real question. The amount of talent on the show gets dragged down by the writing. Something just doesn’t click as in previous incarnations.
  18. nvmb3rth30ry
    Jan 2, 2020
    3
    Admirable ambition evident in production, but ultimately fails to delight, inspire or excite. Lead actor lacks needed gravitas to sell the show, hindered by execrable writing. Story quality veers between embarrassing and preposterous. Lovely to see Stephen Fry here but he is a lone raft bobbing aloft atop a swirling vortex of mediocrity.
  19. 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.
  20. 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
  21. Drael
    Jan 13, 2020
    2
    This shift from cringe, to b-grade funny (ie so bad it's funny) is actually making this more entertaining. But not really in the way people want to be entertained.
  22. 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.
  23. greenisgood
    Jan 22, 2020
    2
    TL;DR - Please Stop !!! Stop driving the show into obscurity. I wrote about the last season, was one of my first reviews onsite since frankly it broke me, so I'm gonna keep this short.
    It is as though the Companions Walsh, Cole and Gill along with Jodie are standing on shiny Metal platforms which is an allegory for their efforts and attempts to make the best of the material, surrounded by    TL;DR - Please Stop !!! Stop driving the show into obscurity. I wrote about the last season, was one of my first reviews onsite since frankly it broke me, so I'm gonna keep this short.
    It is as though the Companions Walsh, Cole and Gill along with Jodie are standing on shiny Metal platforms which is an allegory for their efforts and attempts to make the best of the material, surrounded by heaps of garbage and decomposing waste which is an allegory for the Story Writing and Dialogue Writing. As much as I want to pay attention to the leads and like them I cannot stop retching and gagging at the Stink and Filth of the writing thereby making the effort the actors are putting in mean nothing.
    I wish they would follow Henry Cavill's suit and disconnect themselves from a clear Train-Wreck.    … Expand
  24. Mikeuk81
    Jan 4, 2020
    2
    Time has run out on the current doctor, what was once essential viewing is now boring. The current Doctor is far removed moved from the acting quality of the four previous modern incarnations. Time to let the show rest for a while.
  25. ZZBEAR
    Jan 12, 2020
    2
    Dr Racismus who, boring, preachy garbage, unless you're stuck in the 1950s without a tardis don't bother with this dross.
  26. 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
  27. 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
  28. lulu2480
    Jan 2, 2020
    1
    Apart Stephen Fry, it's full of .... nothing. Everyday life is already difficult I wanted escapism at least when at home, not to be lectured or indoctrinated,
  29. Krakadon
    Mar 1, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Garbage. Season 12 is better than Season 11 but that ain't sayin' much. I can't wait for Chibnall & company to go. They can't write or produce Doctor Who for crap and have no regard for the history of the show either. I just watched the Series finale and it was so bad with so many plot holes it was pitiful. Where to even begin? Cybermen can't shoot someone standing right in front of them? Gallifrey is destroyed again? The Master can just outsmart and kill all living Time Lords? The Companion's can just slip onto the giant Cybermen ship filled with 1,000's of Cybermen undetected, find all the right spots around the engine, plant explosives, then instantly get off when the bombs explode prematurely? The Doctor can just run away at the last second and no one even tries to stop her? The Time Lords just stumbled upon regeneration from some random dimension, not from their own brilliance as the oldest intelligent race? And the person who figured it out just happens to be the first space explorer, not some team of 100 biologists working on it for years? And the Doctor is now the Messiah of the Time Lords from whom all regenerations descended? The Jadoon are now the umpteenth people to do the "impossible" and get into the TARDIS? I could go on and on but I already wasted my time watching the show. Why waste more time talking about it? Honestly, I just hope it doesn't get cancelled so at least we have a change of putting this horrible period behind us. BTW, my negative review has nothing to do with Jody, so don't play the gender card with me.… Expand
  30. BeatsMeanzHighs
    Jan 21, 2020
    1
    Yet again the latest season of Doctor Who has been hijacked by agenda. There are reviewers who insist that people who review the show negatively are doing so merely because the BBC arbitrarily changed the sex of a character that had been male for over 50 years. Well if there are such people they are more than entitled to this view and it is a reasonable complaint. But the truth of theYet again the latest season of Doctor Who has been hijacked by agenda. There are reviewers who insist that people who review the show negatively are doing so merely because the BBC arbitrarily changed the sex of a character that had been male for over 50 years. Well if there are such people they are more than entitled to this view and it is a reasonable complaint. But the truth of the matter is that the gender swap is one of a multitude of reasons why fans detest what has happened to the longest running sci-fi show on British TV. The weak story writing that abandons plot in favour of agenda, the lead actor's inability to understand who the Doctor is and how to portray the part, the uninspiring companions and a general disdain for what has come before in the show all add up to a terrible viewing experience. Each viewer will have their own pet hate when it comes to this show, but for me it's the sheer ham-fisted nature of the preaching and the social justice moralising that is the most tiresome. The show used to do some allegory in the classic era, but that has been replaced with ramming the latest message home with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. What a shame the BBC got hijacked by the social justice cult, and in turn allowed their once prestigious reputation turn into utter garbage.… 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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