I am a long-time fan of Doctor Who, watching classic Who from my youth. I have seen almost every episode still in existence and love the Doctor’s story. Well mostly…
I think it’s time for a mulligan. The video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXe82G8A_B4 does an excellent job of explaining why Timeless Child ruins Doctor Who. In a nutshell, the Doctor used to be special because of what he did, but now she is special because of who she is. Now the Doctor would seem selfish if she didn’t lay down her life to save anyone.
Not to mention the inconsistencies. Matt Smith’s Doctor was dying of old age in the town of Christmas and lacked the regenerative energy for a new incarnation, until the Time Lords on Gallifrey sent him a new set of regenerations (presumably 12 additional regenerations).
Matt Smith’s Doctor was dying by poison in Berlin and lacked the regenerative energy to save himself, but River Song used her remaining regenerations to save the Doctor.
River Song (Melody Pond) was conceived in the time vortex and therefore gained regenerative abilities.
William Hartnell’s Doctor enters a plain Type 40 Time Capsule when he and Susan leave Gallifrey. The time capsule disguises itself as a police box upon landing in 1963 London and the chameleon circuit gets stuck. There is no reason for any earlier version of the Doctor to have a Police Box.
It’s as though the show has been handed off to people who don’t know anything about it. Speaking of which, the sex change…really? Spontaneous sex changes only occur in lesser life forms. I understand the drive to bring a strong female character to Doctor Who, but Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor isn’t that anyway. Romana, on the other hand, was one of the best characters ever on Doctor Who. With Gallifrey safe again, there was opportunity to have another Time Lady companion. (Not sure why the reboot writers hate Gallifrey)
In my opinion, the best shot of saving Doctor Who is to bring Peter Capaldi back to make the whole Jodie Whittaker Doctor a dream sequence before he regenerates into a different Doctor. And this time, cast a better Doctor, don’t change his sex, and hire better producer/writers. If you want a strong female character, bring one on as a companion. The point of Doctor Who is that it doesn’t matter who you are, but what you do.
