To answer the OP, the series feels like it runs the gamut of all those subgenres you mentioned.
I was first introduced to the 9th Doctor or “NuWho”, and I have to say, NuWho is on the whole a lot sillier than Classic Who. Maybe silly is the wrong word; it’s just more tongue-in-cheek. Not that the series was entirely serious, but it seemed to take itself a little more seriously during say, Pertwee’s era.
I also feel NuWho has a lot more soap opera-esque elements to it than the original show did, but that’s just me.
Well, hell if I didn’t realize that statements that are obviously opinions need to be labeled as such.
No, that’s not what happened. When people disagree, they say things like “I disagree. I think it is a drama.” They don’t quibble about the definition of “legitimate.”
I can’t agree with this. With rare exceptions (I won’t argue with the point about the Van Gogh episode) all the characters, including the main ones, are stock types; most of them don’t have a chance to change because they don’t last out the episode, or we never see them again (it is handy having a story line that can jump around like this one does). Villains are villainous and are despatched in the :ta da!: nick of time, only to pop up again as needed a few episodes later, as needed. Gadgets work differently from episode to episode or moment to moment, as needed. The companions may change somewhat, mostly due to exposure to the awe and wonder of traveling through time and space and getting into all those scrapes. Dr Who is almost the definition of deus ex machine plotting much of the time.
I don’t have a problem with any of this, it can be a very entertaining thing to watch. Perhaps instead of calling it “not real drama” we should just call it “not serious drama.” My biggest problem is that I can’t understand what people are saying. It was bad enough with Tennant and Smith who just talked too fast, usually at critical moments, which I always thought was a trick so we viewers wouldn’t figure out how lame the plot just became. Now with the heavier accents, especially the new companion, I miss about 50% of it, and so I have given up for now. Clearly it’s not geared for American ears. I’ll probably try again with the new Who when that comes out.
…Doctor Who is about people, the choices they make, the consequences of their actions, emotional and otherwise. It also is about a hero doing heroic things in fantastical settings with cool gadgets, and there is suspense and thrills. Eccleston’s Doctor was haunted by the decisions he made in the Time War. Tennant rediscovered his “humanity”. Smith was indifferent to the war. These were important parts of their characters that defined each of their respective runs as the doctor. Here is River Songs story (open spoilers) which was told in reverse order over the course of several years. Amy had an arc. Rory had an arc. The Master and Missy had clearly defined arcs.
So what is it exactly you are disagreeing with? Acsenray precisely described Doctor Who in a couple of sentences. Do you disagree with both characterizations? Because Acsenray clearly agreed with the second. Doctor Who isn’t the only programme on TV that has a basic premise of having guest stars who you will never get seen again. And iconic one-shot-characters like Sally Sparrow and “Lynda with a Y” were the opposite of “stock characters”. Years after their single appearance in an episode I still remember their names: I can’t do that with “generic henchman number 4”. In my opinion Doctor Who often (but not always) excelled at introducing memorable, living characters who we want to know more about but we only see once.
Instead of quibbling over “legitimate drama” or “real drama” or “not serious drama” how about we just call it drama? What is a real drama? Game of Thrones? Breaking Bad? Is having unlikable protagonists and depressing storylines a prerequisite to being classified as a “real drama?”
Do you want them to stop talking in British or Scottish accents? It isn’t a trick. Its how they talk.
I watched it, as a child, when it first aired and quite liked it but not enough to make it past the first Doctor. I more fondly recall The Big Pull that was on about the same time for one season. It was a more serious drama without the laughable Daleks etc.
Since people here gave me such good advice on where to dive in, I thought I’d post an update. I just finished season four of NuWho and am really enjoying it. I LOVE Alex Kingston and was thrilled to watch my first River Song episode.
I have trouble binge-watching it so I’ve been going slowly. It took me awhile to figure out why I can’t just devour it like Orange Is The New Black or some sitcom. A lot of these episodes I have to process afterward so I can only watch one or maybe two at a time. It may be considered a children’s show, but I’m finding a lot of depth to it and there can be a lot of detail. I miss some of what the actors are saying, but if I think it’s important I listen to it again with the sound up.
I have a ways to go, but I’m pretty sure I’ll want to watch the originals. I found them on the Amazon Prime channel (subscription) Britbox for $6.99 a month with a seven-day free trial. I start college again in two weeks so I think that’s my treat for Christmas break, assuming I’m through the rest of these by then.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t watch either of those, I had no interest in those sorts of protagonists or stories. Like I said, I enjoyed watching Doctor Who. My problem with taking it seriously was the unfortunate frequency with which the sometimes silly plots got in the way of that character development you’re talking about.
I watch a lot of British TV and don’t have a problem with most of them, and that’s mostly contemporary programs with a range of accents. I could be wrong that Tennant and Smith talked too fast sometimes, but that is the way it seems to me. As for the current cast, their assorted accents seem more opaque than before.
I’m sorry if I seem to be attacking the program, I’m not, I’m just not slavishly devoted.
…so what exactly would you classify as a “real drama” then?
Do you honestly think they are doing that on purpose, to cover for plot-holes? If you’ve given up on the series because you can’t understand what the actors have said, don’t you think that might have more to do with you “not getting the character development” than what is actually happening on screen?
I’m not slavishly devoted either. I don’t think you are attacking the program at all, and you don’t need to say sorry. You’ve offered your opinion: I’m offering my opinion, as I said before that’s what we do here.
I also often have problems understanding what people are saying on Doctor Who, but it isn’t the accents, it is the sound mix. Music too high, dialogue too low.
It’s not the accents, it’s the way they mix the sound (or at least the sound on the version that airs in the US). The voices are extremely muted compared to all of the other sound on the track, and it would be hard to follow even without accents. I’ve taken to turning on subtitles for the show, but I don’t need them for the original series or pre-Capaldi seasons of the new series.
I agree that the idea of saying that the show is not a legitimate drama makes no sense, and the fact that Roderick can’t name a legitimate drama that his definition doesn’t disqualify is pretty telling.
