I’ve really liked Ncuti as the doctor, I’ve liked the companions as well. I’ve liked a good bit of the overarching mysteries of the last season and this one. But as someone who grew up watching starting from Eccleston, and then went back to watch the original series, the only part of the new season I really dislike is the front and center focus of “Magic” villains. I understand that this was done a bit in the original series as well, but I disliked it there too. It really cheapens the entire narrative when the doctor can somehow overcome what are essentially gods with an almost unsurmountable level of power that doesn’t have to be rooted in some sort of scifi explanation.
Obviously this is a personal opinion, and it does seem that the target audience has shifted a bit more mainstream (not that it was super niche before, it’s just that stories now feel very surface-level), it just saddens me that a show I liked has taken a turn for the worse, narratively speaking. I’m still mostly enjoying these seasons, and their more grounded stories feel pretty similar to the 2005 series.
I’ve really liked Ncuti as the doctor, I’ve liked the companions as well. I’ve liked a good bit of the overarching mysteries of the last season and this one. But as someone who grew up watching starting from Eccleston, and then went back to watch the original series, the only part of the new season I really dislike is the front and center focus of “Magic” villains. I understand that this was done a bit in the original series as well, but I disliked it there too. It really cheapens the entire narrative when the doctor can somehow overcome what are essentially gods with an almost unsurmountable level of power that doesn’t have to be rooted in some sort of scifi explanation.
Obviously this is a personal opinion, and it does seem that the target audience has shifted a bit more mainstream (not that it was super niche before, it’s just that stories now feel very surface-level), it just saddens me that a show I liked has taken a turn for the worse, narratively speaking. I’m still mostly enjoying these seasons, and their more grounded stories feel pretty similar to the 2005 series.