I’m happy for the franchise that people are coming back to the fold because of Tennant and Tate, it will set Gatwa up for success in the long run…
…But man, you are all missing out by not giving the Capaldi Era a fair shake. Sure it has its dodgy episodes like every single season of Doctor Who since 1963, but it also has some dizzying highs and each series has a new approach to the show.
Capaldi’s performance is superb - he handles the beautiful speeches, quirky humor, subtle heartbreak and righteous anger befitting the character as well as any other actor has. The Twelfth Doctor gets a character arc too that no other incarnation can boast of - where he starts and where he ends up are poignantly far apart and it’s a joy watching him get there.
His companions are great too. I know Clara wasn’t as easy to empathize with, but the arc given to her is daring and I love how her dynamic affects the Doctor, it’s like nothing the show ever did before. Bill was an utter delight and the show would have been on better creative footing if it had kept such a well-defined character on for another year or two.
There are some great Jamie Mathieson and Peter Harness scripts in those seasons, but it’s Steven Moffat who pulls out all the stops. Listen, Last Christmas, The Witch’s Familiar, Heaven Sent, Hell Bent, Extremis, World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls are magnificent scripts that deserve every ounce of praise, with Heaven Sent quite possibly being the single best episode of the new series.
I am forever a big fan of what Moffat and Capaldi did with their time together.
