Because it amused me...

[seawasp]

... I have to mention how james_nicoll is such a kidder. Under the title of "I assume there's a consensus...", he asked the following innocent question: "What's the worst episode of NuWho thus far? Count two-parters as one thing."

Comments

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

The one written by Russell T Davies. :)

[seawasp]

That implies that there was only one episode written by RTD, and that it was bad. Neither of these is true.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

My bad, then. I meant to imply that *all* of the episodes written by Davies are the worst. I don't much care for what he's done to the franchise. It says "Dr. Who" on the label but it isn't Dr. Who inside.

[seawasp]

You are in a minority, I suspect. My wife and I think RTD, for the most part, brought out everything that Doctor Who could have been and made it better, while keeping the essence of the show the same.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

I know I'm in the minority. It does not change my opinion. Objectively, RTD's reboot isn't bad per se, but to put a fine point on it, his Doctor Who isn't Doctor Who. It's Russel T Davies' Doctor Who. This is why I call all of his episodes "the worst".

[seawasp]

Well, we obviously disagree, because I think RTD's Doctor Who is just like the old one, only much better (most of the time), with a budget. Make no mistake, I loved Old Who -- particularly Pertwee and Tom Baker -- but this is at least as good and in many ways better.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Then we only half-disagree. I'll agree that the new show is technically better in every imaginable way than the old one. I'll disagree that it's just like the original. It doesn't feel the same. Davies' writing is excessive, and his Doctor is outlandish in ways only matched by Colin Baker's stint, and Baker the Second had an excuse: his Doctor was genuinely insane.

I understand that it improves with the Steven Moffat/Matt Smith episodes, but I dread plowing through Tenant's stint to get there.

[seawasp]

Hm. I just don't see it. Tennant certainly isn't any more insane or outlandish - barring the ability to FILM it -- than Tom Baker's Doctor used to be. In fact, near as I can tell, Tennant was "doing" a combination of Two, Three, and Four, with a dash of Seven.

Certainly Eccleston's was "off" -- but by the episode "DALEK" it was clear WHY, and he got more himself along the way.

If you thought Tennant was excessive, you'll HATE Matt Smith. He's taking Tennant's doctor, adding a dash of Grumpy Old Man Doctor #1, and being off-the wall.

Me, I like Matt Smith's Doctor (and he has one of the most Crowning Moments of Awesome in the entire series in his first episode), but he's really pushing the boundaries at times -- and the writing is NOT up to RTD's standards. I find Smith's episodes consistently weaker overall. It's like watching poor Peter Davison trying to play through the abysmal scripts he was given.

[seawasp]

As an aside, which Doctor was your favorite?

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Back in the day, when the local PBS affiliate was cycling through Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, I'd have said the latter. Today, it's Jon Pertwee.