Capaldi Leaving Doctor Who

Yes, I know - it’s absolutely earth shatteringly awful news! :frowning:

Peter Capaldi began as the Doctor proper in 2014, yet thanks to 2016’s wasted gap-year, this will be only his third, and now last, season in the role.

Was he pushed to make way for a younger, prettier replacement? Possibly. I’m sure we’ll know all in the years to come… For now, all we know is, Christmas will be his last episode, and I’m darned upset about it.

I stopped watching after the first season of Matt Smith’s doctor. Am I missing much?

None of the current Doctors have had a long run really, personally I think that the crap writing of late may be the reason for Capaldi’s departure.

@gehanna I would have walked except for my son who loved Smith… Capaldi’s casting promised SO much, but they spent a season asking “Am I a good man?”, then a season getting rid of the companion…

If you were to watch 1 episode from recent years, let it be Heaven Sent; last year’s penultimate ep, and possibly the best Who Ever.

1 Like

I didn’t like Capaldi’s first season. Possibly a combination of the scripts and his portrayal of the character. Second season was great - better stories and I began warming to him.

This past Christmas special was fucking terrible. I know they’re supposed to be a bit of fun but this one was just awful. Capaldi was fine, it was the story.

1 Like

I am a lifelong who fan but I stopped watching after a few Capaldi episodes in 2014. I liked Capaldi but was sick of Moffat.

1 Like

I haven’t watch Doctor Who since the 1990s.

Oldmacs, I was with you - I walked out half way through the Mummy on the Orient or whatever it was called… But my kids kept me vaguely watching, and his second season was indeed a lot better once they got over the awful “Am I a good man” crap.

Like you, @andyb, I was hoping that Capaldi would get at least 1 year under the new guy, but rumours are BBC management wanted him out, so the new guy can have a clean slate and basically do a soft reboot of the franchise (no doubt with lots of instructions to make as many merchandisable things as possible.)

@Orestes In all honesty… I’d almost be inclined to say - KEEP AWAY! For me at least, it’s been a real rollercoaster, with some good bits, but lots that, as a fan of the classic era, just drive me nuts…

The image of The Doctor I’ll always have in my head is Tom Baker.

For me it was Clara, they girl is just annoying!

I never thought she had much purpose in the show apart from making up the numbers. Rose and Amy had story arcs and drove the plot. Didn’t see that with Clara at all. Cute af though.

I loved the idea of Clara, until they then took her and made her into the Doctor’s saviour throughout all of time and space… Blech.

And then I was happy with her apparent final episode… until of course, they brought her back. sigh

I think it would have been cool if they’d ran with the idea of her popping up as different but identical Claras, like in that one Christmas episode and the one with the Dalek asylum.

I believe Moffat wanted to do that, but the producers nixed it as they felt it would be too jarring for the audience to have it happen every episode. (Certainly if she was to die every time - that would have gotten painful - we went through it with Rory). Unfortunately, they “kept” the modern day boring Clara instead of the Elizabethan one…

Easy to get around it - don’t have her die every episode.

How many of the modern companions have got to just say ‘alright, I’m done, bye!’ like they often did in the old series? Martha got to leave on her own terms as far as I can recall, but Rose and Donna were locked in a parallel universe & mind wiped. Amy & Rory got trapped in the past because of some stupid reason. River Song died and then was a ghost or whatever (too confusing to think about).

What would have been wrong with Clara hanging around with the Doctor for an episode and then going ‘well that was fun, good to meet you’ and dashing off, only for another Clara to turn up again next time? The trend of every companion’s exit having to be a massive moment is tiring.