# Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall both leaving Doctor Who - thoughts? \[Russell T Davies is returning\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, disney-hulu\ **Created:** [July 29, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620 "2021-07-29T23:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/41 "2021-07-30T22:58:25Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > > Middle of the road accents (sorry, but if I can’t understand the dialog I won’t be able to follow the story) > > Is there a Doctor you struggled to understand? Or another character? Personally, I did have trouble understanding Whittaker’s accent here, and those of some others in this series, because I am unfamilar with those particular British accents. I just turned on the CC and made it a learning experience. I got better at comprehension with practice. It’s not an insurmountable obstacle from my viewpoint. I didn’t have a problem with the Scots like Capaldi, but that was due to 30 years of involvement in bagpipes and Scottish ex-pats. I’ve been hearing that accent most of my life so it wasn’t impenetrable to me. I can see where it might be a problem for some others. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/42 "2021-07-30T23:28:35Z")
I never had a problem understanding any Doctor’s accent. However, I’ve occasionally had trouble understanding English or Scottish accents in person or on the telephone. I _believe_ I have problems with some northern and rural accents. I heard about an actress (in another British show) whose northern British accent was so strong they essentially demoted her because Americans would not be able to understand her. I think that’s unfair. If I like the show enough I’ll learn the accent. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/43 "2021-07-30T23:34:47Z")
[Even British people can’t understand Kevin Bridges sometimes. If he was the Doctor, yikes.](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kevin+bridges+horse) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/44 "2021-07-30T23:37:36Z")
I realize this is a British TV series and it is made for a British audience. I believe a lot of Brits around the country are tired of hearing people who haven’t strayed 10 miles from the Thames estuary. I don’t know how much benefit BBC gets from the worldwide audience. Most importantly, I’m not expecting them to cater to my ear for accents. I’m just listing that change as something that I would like (fairly low on the list, for that matter). ---
**Author:** ![Rata\_Sum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rata\_Sum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rata_Sum)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/45 "2021-07-31T01:35:51Z")
And as Craig Fergusen noted: "One thing is consistant though and this is why the show is so beloved by geeks and nerds. It’s all about the triumph of intellect and romance, over brute force and cynicism. Intellect and romance, over brute force and cynicism. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/M9P4SxtphJ4/hqdefault.jpg "Craig Ferguson - The lost "Dr. Who" cold open.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P4SxtphJ4) I like Jodie Whitaker just fine as The Doctor. I like her energy and enthusiasm for the role. To me Doctor Who is like pizza. Even cold bland Doctor Who is still pretty good pizza. Though I do agree about the accents. I had to turn on the closed captioning a lot to figure out what was being said. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/46 "2021-07-31T01:47:35Z")
NewWho fan here who came on with Eccleston and loved Tennant but thought the Matt, Karen, Arthur period was the best the show has been so far. I’ve never been able to put my finger on why but the 11th is definitely my preferred version of the Doctor. Whittaker was a misfire but i have to agree it largely came down to writing as I think she showed scenes of brilliance but they were always fleeting. For me each of the previous actors had an “I am the Doctor” moment. Eccleston had “Everybody Lives”. With Tennant I think of his speech to the Spider Queen alien and with Matt Smith it’s the ultimate bluster speech and the end of the pandorica arc, “Who wants to try first?” Whittaker still has a season to go, she deserves a moment like that. I really liked Jo Martin. She’d be my vote for the next Doctor. Or If they choose to bring someone back it would be Matt Smith. I honestly think a new showrunner is more important than a new actor at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/47 "2021-07-31T02:20:52Z")
Between Indianapolis Indiana and Moorsville there is a small one-story building painted Tardis blue that calls itself the Dr.Who center of America. Never seen a car in the lot. Is that a thing? Do all Who fans know of this? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/48 "2021-07-31T02:30:01Z")
I won’t miss Chibnall. I’m not sure if I’ll miss Jodie. I liked her Doctor, when they let her _be_ the Doctor, but sadly that wasn’t often. The thing I love about the Doctor is that he (or she) is supposed to be the smartest person in the room, knows it, and doesn’t apologize for it. I really enjoyed Thirteen’s first episode, because she did that. But as the show progressed, she too many times played second fiddle to her boring “fam” and their boring problems. The only one of her companions that I liked was Graham. Yaz was dull, and Ryan was duller. I didn’t care about their lives or their problems. I wanted more of the Doctor and less of them, and I didn’t get it. I really hope Jodie gets a chance to shine in this new season before she leaves. I’m sorry to see Graham go, but I definitely won’t miss Ryan. And we’re still stuck with Yaz. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/49 "2021-07-31T03:38:06Z")
Richard Aoyade as the Doctor, Emerald Fennell (Call the Midwife and Killing Eve)l as the showrunner and Felicity Jones or Hayley Atwell as the companion. Boom! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/50 "2021-07-31T04:21:43Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The run from Eccleston through mid/late Smith was greatly propelled by the notion of the Doctor, sole survivor of the Time War (except for an annoyingly ever-increasing number of Daleks, so the erosion of the premise was already under way…) and aware of what _that_ took. The later period lost much of that momentum. It would be nice if they didn’t keep rehashing the same “brief but ineffectual and temporary invasion by thought to be extinct Daleks / Cybermen” or “SURPRISE! I’m The Master!” stories. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/51 "2021-07-31T05:04:51Z")
More effort put into new enemies? Why haven’t we seen new weeping angel episodes? Iconic enemies are hard to create, they just kind of happen it seems like. Did Capaldi or Whittaker have any angel episodes? I can’t even remember. Maybe that was a Moffat thing. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/52 "2021-07-31T06:48:03Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > Why haven’t we seen new weeping angel episodes? Iconic enemies are hard to create, they just kind of happen it seems like. Did Capaldi or Whittaker have any angel episodes? I can’t even remember. Maybe that was a Moffat thing. The last Angels episode was the one where Moffat officially jumped the shark. I’m actually glad they never brought them back after that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/53 "2021-07-31T07:51:11Z")
Never heard of it before, and I’m a Whovian in Indiana… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/54 "2021-07-31T12:32:10Z")
Overall the Weeping Angels got overused and were then much derided by the fanbase. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/55 "2021-07-31T12:38:54Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > Why haven’t we seen new weeping angel episodes? We’ve already had too many of them. “Blink” was a brilliant debut as long as you don’t put any thought into the logic of their abilities. But by their second appearance, Moffat was retconning them into psychopaths. By the time it was revealed (spoiler) that the gorram Statue of Liberty was an Angel (the same episode in which the Doctor fixes River’s broken wrist by waving his fingers and magically sprinkling regeneration dust at it…no sharks were left unjumped at Porth Teigr Studios that day), I would groan whenever they were revealed as the baddie fo the week. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/56 "2021-07-31T20:45:15Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > and were then much derided by the fanbase. They should have been. All you should need to defeat one is two people and one or two hammers. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/57 "2021-07-31T22:16:37Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > By the time it was revealed (spoiler) that the gorram Statue of Liberty was an Angel (the same episode in which the Doctor fixes River’s broken wrist by waving his fingers and magically sprinkling regeneration dust at it…no sharks were left unjumped at Porth Teigr Studios that day), That was also the episode that threw Amy and Rory under the bus. I’m still angry that the show’s best companions got the worst sendoff. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > They should have been. All you should need to defeat one is two people and one or two hammers. To be fair, in their first appearance the Doctor specifically said that they only _looked_ like they were made out of stone, and in fact were utterly indestructible when not moving. The word “quantum” was used, so you know he was serious. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/58 "2021-07-31T22:35:37Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It’s that I don’t think Chibnall is either a good writer or showrunner. Yep. Broadchurch had some great acting, some lovely cinematography, and even the occasional decent scene. But it was a narrative mess and was not a good show. It did not inspire confidence that he could do a half decent job on another show. And he didn’t. Whittaker did ok with what she was given. It would have been interesting to see her with a better writer/showrunner - too bad they’re leaving together. I, too, have the NY special sitting on my DVR - I may get around to watching it someday. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/59 "2021-07-31T23:32:00Z")
Maybe everyone on Broadchurch can have a turn at being the Doctor. Next up is Olivia Coleman or that kid who got killed. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620/60 "2021-08-02T02:09:08Z")
Watch enough BBC and you’ll be able to connect every Brit actor with every other one. It’s just the nature of British TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jodie-whittaker-and-chris-chibnall-both-leaving-doctor-who-thoughts-russell-t-davies-is-returning/947620.md?page=4)