Uh-oh, big post on the way.
I think the main (and to me, only) fault of Series 6 was that the River Song storyline was FAR too prominent and intruded too much into the individual stories. I am a massive fan of Moffat's era but even so, I thought "Let's Kill Hitler" was poor and the finale a little underwhelming. Saying that there were still fantastic episodes within such as the opening two-parter, "The Doctor's Wife" and "The Girl Who Waited", which rank as some of my all time favourites. Series 5 was better though, managing to perfectly balance the cracks-in-time story-arcs and characterising the new doctor and companions. (I'd happily never watch the Silurian two-parter again though.)
I'm surprised how much praise the RTD-era has gotten, I personally thought on the whole it was mostly awful. I recognise that some episodes of Moffat's-era may become overly complicated for the younger audience (although my eight-year old cousin doesn't seem to complain), those arguing that the RTD-era was more family orientated should realise there's a fine boundary between "cheesy family-fun" and "cringe-worthy ridiculousness". For example, that finale where the Doctor defeats the Master with some magic powers obtained by everyone in the world whispering his name? Or the whole Master changing everyone on Earth into himself? Or the monster Cyberman stomping around Victorian London? Those were just insulting, and I thought that whilst RTD was good at putting the Doctor in difficult positions, he was hopeless at resolving them!
I hated how the Doctor became some sort of superhero who everyone relied on, I hated the over the top "throw everything in" season finales, I hated the stupid "Rose loves the Doctor", "Martha loves the Doctor but the Doctor loves Rose" soap-opera story-lines and how they kept bloody bringing her back long after she left. For me, it was only Moffat and Paul Cornell's (and the occasional one RTD got right) stories which kept me watching, not to mention they look even worse in hindsight. Okay, I liked Donna, I liked David, I liked Christopher and parts of Season 1, but for me, the stories really let them down.
James said:
Am I the only one that thinks Matt Smith's take on the Doctor is fantastic?
We've seen him cry, we've seen him hurt, we've seen the child within him, we've seen the excitement, we've seen his enthusiasm and most importantly we've seen the dark side of the Doctor - the life of a man that has raged through war and destruction.
The 11th Doctor has done just as much (if not more) than the 10th (David Tennant). I honestly don't see a big difference apart from the fact that people had a David Tennant fanism. The fact Christopher had one season as the Doctor didn't leave much for people to remember. So for much of the modern 'Who fans David Tennant has and will always be the Doctor - and to be honest if you feel like that then you're clearly a DT fan, not a Doctor Who fan.
I completely agree with this. Matt is arguably the quirkiest Doctor of New Who (possibly Classic as well although I admittedly have only seen a handful of Classic episodes myself) but he's more than delivered in terms of emotion, anger and excitement. The problem was that RTD made 10 so human-like and emotional that it's easy to forget he's an alien. I think the quirkiness is what defines Eleven and I hope it's pushed even more!
NastyPasty said:
But as soon as the takeover occurred, he changed the show from an hour of transportation to distant galaxies and adventures, that pulled at everyone's heartstrings, into a complicated parade for his nonsense plots. I find it difficult to understand what's happening and whilst the actors are fantastic, they are not given the plots they deserve.
Transportation to different galaxies and adventures?! Of the 60 episodes of the RTD-era, 44 of them were set on Earth (32 of them in London alone) and that's not even counting the ones set on a spaceship around the planet or various iterations of said planet! :
River Song is increasingly irritating, and Rory tags along like a spiritless whelk. There is little spark and the overpowering energy that Tennant played with is no longer present.
I like River Song, however I believe that she's being a bit overused and agree that the less of her in the future the better. But Rory - a spiritless whelk?! If anything I believe Rory's the most developed New Who companion to date. He may have been a bit spiritless at the very beginning of Series 5 but has since grown into a charismatic and to be honest - a complete badass! Sorry, but what's not to like about someone who waited for 2,000 years for the Pandorica, or who delivered an ultimatum to a Cyberman fleet dressed as a Centurion, or someone who punched Hitler and lock him in the cupboard etc...? Rory <3
Doctor + Amy (plus Rory?) -> Travel somewhere -> Universe threatened -> Run around, shout, complicated escape clause, rushed and unexplained -> Universe saved -> Typical banter between companions.
But wasn't it exactly the same in the RTD-era (just replace Amy with Rose, Martha or Donna)? Sorry to pick up on you NastyPasty but your post is the one I'd disagree with the most and I understand that the faster pace and greater complexity might throw off lots of people but I'll take complex and low-key over mindless explosions and kitchen sinks any day.
As for Series 7, I'm really, really looking forward to it! The huge number of Daleks for episode 1 is a bit worrying but the rest of the trailer looks fabulous. Particularly looking forward to the Weeping Angels (and babies!) and the Western episode! I hope it's a little less serialised though and focuses more on the often stronger stand-alones so we get more of a Series 5 feel.