Having been a fan of Tom Baker's portrayal of the Doctor in the 70s, witnessing the success of the 2005 revival after over a decade of being on hiatus has been nothing short of amazing. However, despite Doctor Who reaching new heights in terms of visual appeal the overall surrounding elements seem to lack freshness.
Doctor Who has taken a turn for the dull and foreseeable. Similar to many productions from the BBC, this beloved children's show is marred by the unwelcome presence of politically correct themes (read: wokeness). It seems that the focus has shifted away from the monsters, and now the emphasis is more on conveying a specific message (read: wokeness).
The infusion of woke ideology into Doctor Who became prominent under the leadership of departing showrunner Chris Chibnall. When Chibnall assumed control in 2018, he initiated a gender swap for the title role, casting Jodie Whittaker as the first female Doctor. The era of virtue signaling began even before the series aired, as the BBC's advertising campaign for the 2018 series declared, “It's about time.” Simultaneously, a cadre of advocates for woke perspectives were quick to label anyone who raised questions about the casting choice as a vehement misogynist.
This dynamic played out within the show itself. A significant portion of Whittaker's initial series depicted her encountering individuals taken aback by the Doctor's newfound gender identity, as she took the opportunity to challenge their stereotypical assumptions. This didactic tone was coupled with a noticeable absence of imaginative monsters and captivating settings. It's perhaps unsurprising that the nine lowest-ranked Doctor Who episodes on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) all feature Whittaker as the Doctor.
Some of the politically charged sermons delivered during her tenure in the TARDIS were truly cringe-worthy. Consider "Arachnids in the UK," an episode from series 11 and one of Whittaker's early outings. The plot revolves around a loud and abrasive man, a hotel chain owner vying for the U.S. presidency—a thinly veiled satire of a particular real-life political figure. The Doctor and her companions discover his Sheffield hotel infested with enormous spiders, an unconventional nemesis for Doctor Who. As the story unfolds, it becomes unsurprising that the true antagonist was the nefarious American hotel tycoon all along. His company's negligence had led to the release of hazardous chemicals, causing the spiders to grow. Thus, in addition to the not-so-subtle Trump critique, there was an environmentalist twist to the narrative.
Claiming the title of the lowest-rated Doctor Who episode ever is “Orphan 55” from 2020. The Doctor and her companions find themselves on a remote planet devastated by an ecological catastrophe. The Doctor solemnly remarks, "The people who used to have this planet could have changed, but they didn't," delivering a message that's less subtle and more like a sledgehammer to the face. If the climate-change analogy wasn't clear enough, it's revealed that the planet is, in fact, Earth, now “orphaned” by its heedless inhabitants. The episode garnered an abysmal IMDB rating of 4.2 out of 10. The Guardian, predictably, described it as “thrilling” and “prescient”.
So, naturally, there had to be some changes made over at the BBC which is precisely why they brought back Russell T. Davies as writer/producer and David Tennant recast as the Doctor: this was all about sagging ratings.
Frequently celebrated as the golden era of the Doctor Who revival, David Tennant's tenure as the 10th Doctor was marked by the collaboration with Russell T Davies' writing and the inclusion of beloved companions like Rose and Donna. A delightful revelation for many occurred when Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor regenerated into the 14th Doctor, a role reprised by Tennant.
But instead of learning from the mistakes of the Chibnall era, Davies has apparently decided to double down on the same wokery that saw viewers switching off in the millions.
Judging by the PR campaign, the upcoming series seems to emphasize diversity, with a specific focus on LGBT representation. Recently, the BBC disclosed that Jinkx Monsoon, a two-time winner of RuPaul's Drag Race who uses she/they pronouns, will play a significant role in the upcoming series. Alongside Monsoon, Ncuti Gatwa's casting has garnered widespread acclaim in the media, largely due to the celebration of his identity: he is set to be the inaugural black lead in Doctor Who, and the character he portrays as the Doctor will also identify as gay.
Not that there’s anything wrong with a gay Doctor but, rather than applauding these actors for their skills and reserving judgment on how effectively the show utilizes their talents, the BBC and the broader media have exclusively emphasized identity. They've transformed these actors and characters into symbols solely representing their sexuality, race, and gender expression.
And I fear it will only get worse.