The 13th Doctor - A Legacy Of Failure

you know legacy is a funny thing when you think about it at some point in our lives each of us will probably wonder how future generations will look back on our work and achievements will they regard our lives with admiration or scorn more importantly will they even remember us at all for obvious reasons most of us never get the answers to these questions in our own lifetimes but there are exceptions to this rule and one of them is the select group of actors lucky enough to play an iconic role for a long period of time the creative legacy they leave behind them when they eventually move on can largely define the rest of their careers and truly what role could be more iconic in the uk than that of doctor who one of the longest running shows in television history only 13 actors have been chosen to play this character in the past 50 years each of them bringing something new and unique to the table and each of them forging their own particular legacy for example christopher eccleston will be remembered as the man who successfully brought the show back from a decade-long hiatus david tennant invested the character with new energy and passion elevating the show to the very peak of its popularity matt smith largely maintained this success for the next few years before moving on while peter capaldi will be remembered as a talented actor who inherited a show on the decline dutifully doing his best with what he had before being unceremoniously pushed out the door in favor of someone more diverse [Music] which brings me neatly along to the 13th doctor played by nobody's favorite actress jodie whittaker recently rumors began to circulate that whitaker is going to be leaving the role after her third severely truncated season and if you're wondering what that noise is it's the 20 or so people who still watch doctor who all cheering with wild relief that the nightmarish destruction of their favorite tv show is almost over i mean i wouldn't pop the champagne anytime soon to be honest ultimately doctor who is still owned by the bbc whose creative quality has declined at the same rate as their embrace of identity politics and for now at least it's still headed up by a man who seems to actively hate the very show he has to write for not to mention the dwindling fan base that still watch it so if you're expecting some kind of triumphant return to the glory days when doctor 13 finally pisses off well you're going to be disappointed but it did get me thinking what exactly will the legacy of the 13th doctor be once all is said and done i mean this is the doctor who presided over a nearly 60 drop in viewing figures not to mention some of the worst audience scores in the show's entire history so what the hell happened where did it all go wrong well for a start they hired a showrunner who absolutely shouldn't have been allowed within a hundred miles of a doctor who writing room chris chibnall pretty much exemplifies everything wrong with the modern bbc he's a man of modest talent with only a passing knowledge of the show he's supposed to be running who seems to view every creative endeavor as a chance to shove as many progressive intersectional lectures down his audience's throat as possible things might still have worked out if only he'd been supported by a strong writing team with deep knowledge and passion for the show unfortunately what we got instead was a motley crew of mostly talentless nobodies hired because they ticked the right demographic box and spouted the correct political opinions and [ __ ] man did they love their politics especially politics rooted in present-day social justice movements doctor who fans were used to their show exploring the furthest reaches of time and space introducing outlandish races of aliens reality defying technology and strange new cultures instead they now found themselves in 1950s america or 1940s india or [ __ ] present-day sheffield whoa there you crazy guys come down with that out of control creativity this combination of apathetic leadership and preachy agenda-driven writing was bad enough but the show could still have been saved by casting a smart dedicated and engaging actor in the lead role it's called doctor who for a reason after all the doctor is the very heart of the show i mean [ __ ] peter capaldi managed to polish the creative turd of his final season with his professionalism and sheer [ __ ] passion for the role an actor of similar stature could have snatched victory from the jaws of defeats instead what we actually got was jody whitaker an actress with almost no knowledge or interest in doctor who hastily bumped to the front of the line for no other reason than because chris chibnall had worked with her on broadchurch i mean he'd made it clear to his bosses at the bbc that whitaker was his one and only choice for the role and if he didn't get her they didn't get him man she must have [ __ ] killed it as the doctor in that case [Laughter] actually the only thing she did kill was the show's popularity the thing is i'm not entirely unsympathetic to whitaker's situation here peter capaldi was always going to be a hard act to follow and being the first female actor to play such an iconic and distinctly male character was an even tougher prospect there was inevitably going to be skepticism from the fan base and accusations that whitaker was just another untalented diversity hire by an increasingly partisan organization that cared more about filling quotas and lecturing its audience on the evils of modern society than actually providing quality entertainment but the thing is she could have silenced her critics pretty quickly and effectively by doing some really simple stuff such as being humble and grateful to have landed such a prestigious role expressing her admiration and respect towards the history of the show reassuring the fans that her one and only priority was to deliver the best and most entertaining performance possible i mean it's not exactly rocket science here all people really want to know is that you'll take your job seriously respect the show and try not to [ __ ] it up instead when she embarked on the usual stream of puff piece interviews pretty quickly a theme began to emerge with statements like this what chris wanted to do particularly in the cast and in the story is reflect the world we live in today very often we're only seeing stories being told through the white male gaze that's what doctor who always celebrated nice one jody what a way to ingratiate yourself with the fan base by insulting everything and everyone that came before you and trying to cast yourself as some kind of divine savior that's going to lift the show out of the festering mire of sexism and misogyny has been trapped in for half a century you go girl then came a string of other embarrassing admissions like how she refused to do any research on the show or study the portrayal of the character by other actors because she couldn't be arsed oops which is an interesting statement considering she basically acts like an over-the-top parody of david tennant for her entire run or the fact that she didn't bother to change her yorkshire accent because doing accents is hard no kidding jodie you understand the point of being a highly paid actor is that you usually have to play people that are different from yourself right the overall impression this created was of someone who got shoehorned into the role because of who she happened to know and the boxes she happened to take and not because of any particular talent suitability or strong work ethic someone who didn't have to strive or struggle to prove herself to get here and as a result put no [ __ ] effort into it she seemed to just show up unprepared and unapologetic with an irritating sense of entitlement and a big old chip on her shoulder and of course she was more than happy to blame any negative fan reactions on the usual mix of isms and phobes fanning the flames of resentment and division across a fan base that was rapidly tearing itself apart what does this remind me of it's the same trite worn out argument that's been used in star wars star trek the mcu and god knows what else if you don't like the garbage we've served up then clearly you're the problem not us the end result of this unsavory mix of bad writing worse acting divisive pandering and absolute refusal to accept any kind of criticism was a shit-tasting cocktail that fewer and fewer people were willing to drink and instead of seeing the millions of departing fans as a sign that their work just wasn't up to scratch and perhaps trying to improve themselves chibno and his friends seem to take it as some kind of personal challenge to be even more obnoxiously dismissive than before but the problem with trying to undo 50 years of history and going to war with your own fan base in the process is that in the end the only real loser is the show itself doctor who once a staple of british tv and even a big player on the other side of the pond has become a kind of tragic joke without a punch line just another casualty in the endless war for our cultural heritage and i guess that's the real legacy of the 13th doctor a scorched earth abandoned and mocked by everyone and destined to be consigned to the flaming dumpster of history well if that's the case then i hope you're happy with your prize you dicks [Laughter] anyway that's all i've got for today go away now

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 1,308,126

Keywords: Chris Chibnall, SJW, feminism, Yaz, Graham, Ryan, fam, BBC

Id: MGWxjHBSn-4

Length: 9min 8sec (548 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 05 2021