I thought I'd share with you lovely and kind people my negative thoughts on Doctor Who lately, most prominently this awful "Mad Man in a Box" phase that we've got going on.

I don't mean to bash Moffat in the head with a cricket bat, but I never saw any of this sort of stuff with any other Doctor. Some of the things that the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors have done, like hitting themselves in the head and saying "ow" and eating fish fingers and custard. Of course, fish custard was funny at first, but as the show went on, it became more and more manifested into some sort of comedy show at an eight year old's birthday party.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good laugh. My favourite type of film genre is comedy, and I usually like to make a lot of jokes around my friends. But this lingo the Doctor has going on, sometimes I just think, "what the hell is he doing?" And it just doesn't make sense to me. It's this sort of stuff that makes me miss pre-2010 Doctor Who the most. It was more "to the point".

I'm not trying to cause a flurry. Not that it won't cause a flurry, I'm highly certain that I'm so far in the minority that I will certainly cause something of a flurry. I just thought what better of an opinion than an opinion shared.

I too miss the RTD era, but not particularly because of the amount of comedy. To me, it was just all round better writing. During the first 4 series, arcs were established, fleshed out and completed by the end of each individual series. Back then there weren't gaping holes of explanation in plot like now where we just get told 'they shouldn't have to explain everything' even though there is a difference between not explaining minor point and not bothering to explain huge things. Also, during the RTD time, characters, even minor one's felt more fleshed rather than gimmicky catch phrase quip speaking type characters. Even Moffat himself seemed to write his best stuff during that period, and as such I was one of the people who thought it was a good idea that he was taking over, but now I feel that, even though there have still been many good individual episodes, and even though series 8 was a slight improvement for the series arc as a whole, I still feel Moffat has yet to produce a complete series which matches up to any one of the RTD series when taken as a whole.

Next thing you know he'll be doing terrible Ghostbuster impressions, defeating enemies by putting his tie around his head and acting like an embarassing drunk at an office party, wearing Hawaiian garlands around his neck, doing silly mimes and saying things like 'you're Mr Thick Thickity Thick Face from Thick Town Thickania'.

Rumour has it they're even planning on him sticking a vegetable to his lapel.

I know. *shudders*

Don't we all miss the gritty adult HBO version of Doctor Who we used to get?

Haven't heard the phrase used to describe 12 yet (besides by yourself previously, Firegazer ) - happy to keep it that way

"Gregory House in the TARDIS" on the other hand... save the patient without meeting the patient, working for the greater good with little awareness of one's own actions and behavior harming those closest.. and an awkward hugger.

Sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't. A lot of Moffat's characters seem to have the same voice (Moffat's), so the dialogue can come across a bit flippant and insincere.

It can be witty and fun, especially when its an episode surrounded by other writers, but it can also be forced and lacking in character; just quips and exposition. But in varies from episode to episode.

Its very obvious when you watch Moffat penned episodes of the RTD era.

So the problem is..? What? The doctor isn't serious enough? Is the argument seriously that pre-2010 the doctor embodied the very pinnacle of emotional sanity? He used to put on a fake Scottish accent and throw bananas at people! Not to mention the jelly baby enthusiasm.

He's always been a mad man with a box. That's basically what the show is about.

Do you really have to come across as rude in your reply? A simple "I disagree, I thought the Tenth Doctor was also quite mad." would have done justice.

I agree with this exactly! Moffat is a good writer, but that's all. Perhaps he should stick to the minor decisions.

To be fair, your OP did cherry-pick behaviours which aren't too far removed from those displayed in 2005-2009 Doctor Who. And do you really want me to bring out the BIG GUNS of late 1980s pratfalling?

Don't think that is correct at all. I certainly wouldn't call the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th or 9th Doctors "mad" in any way and the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th only occasionally. The show is definitely not basically all about a mad man in a box.

But he was also including the ninth and the eleventh... Not just the tenth.

This Dalek has Lupus

I presume by "mad" this thread actually means "wacky" and non-human behaviours. Which every doctor has had in some form or another. Yes since the revival we've had more physical "wackiness" than before. I'll give you your dues, probably not so much with CE, but he had his moments. DT was possibly the "wackiest" of all the doctors. So this pre-2010 thing is utter rubbish.

It depends on what you choose to take from the programme. "Mad man with a box" although incredibly simplified is the general theme of the show. An alien and his time machine. The alien is usually in the guise of a pretty strange bloke, and the time machine is in the guise of a blue box. Mad man in a box.

The show is definitely about a mad man in a box. He just doesn't always describe himself as such. Some incarnations have been more whimsical than others. Eleven was more self-consciously eccentric than Ten, and Twelve less than either of them.

I see DS has morphed into Tumblr. No, I don't miss RTD at all. I wasn't keen on Matt's era, but Twelve's is excellent so far.

No, no no, saladfingers81's reply made me splurt coffee on my keyboard and is an example of why the internet is great!

We all go a bit crazy sometimes. River his own wife said he was a psychopath. Guess sometimes he has to be like that. Fights some pretty scary people and creatures. That's why he needs friends. They keep him out of trouble. Doesn't always work but they try.

Wow, now I remember why I left this forum in the first place. Everyone on here is quite pathetic, bringing down other users like me.

Woah! You asserted your OP quite aggressively, which was always going to get a rebuke. The post by saladfingers81 is a fair parody of your own cherry-picked evidence.

Oh behave. You started what you acknowledged (and seemed to be quite excited about) was a contentious thread about a rather spurious topic that you backed up with practically no evidence. Honestly? It seemed like a thinly veiled excuse to start a brand new shiny Moffat bashing thread (because goodness knows there haven't been any of them). I think you got the response you were looking for when another poster just rehashed the same 'Moffats era is rubbish' stuff that's been stated a thousand times. Which is great! Say it as much you like. But don't pretend to be grasping at something new when you couldn't even be bothered to expand on your original point instead making vague mention of two examples.

My post was intended as a mildly humorous response to what I felt was a badly thought out and badly argued OP. I mean are you seriously trying to paint Twelve as some comedy clown compared to those that appeared between 1963- 2009? I mean this is easily proved wrong by anyone with even a passing interest in the show.

And then the old 'Yes I posted something which was bound to wind people up and was controversial and contentious but if anyone dares disagree then they are bullying me' routine. This isn't your private blog. It's a discussion forum. And it's this kind of nonsense that meant I couldn't be arsed to read the forum let alone post in it from Death in Heaven to January.

Glad I did though. Otherwise I wouldve missed the 'Moffat destroys children's dreams of Santa' thread which was golden.

Sorry. Far too long a post. The first two words sum it up nicely.

Ignore.

It's hard to ignore a madman in a blue box

Oh I wouldn't say that - I tend to ignore that Series 6 and 7 ever happened

The Twelfth Doctor is a far more level-headed, sensible and calmer incarnation than both his immediate predecessors. I gotta say, this thread is about 6 months late as Twelve does not come across as a madman, but more of an abrasive eccentric in the same vain as Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker's Doctors.

There's nothing outstandingly in common between Eleven and Twelve that's for sure besides the generic shared traits that most Doctors have between each other.

I've always thought Eleven and Twelve are far more similar in terms of personality than Eleven and Ten. Eleven and Twelve are both fairly ''odd'' individuals who don't seem to particularly care about human social conventions. Ten, on the other hand, was very charismatic. He was more human and social than perhaps any other Doctor. I'd say Ten and Eleven are actually among the most differing of any pair of consecutive Doctors.