First up I will say that I was very disappointed with season 11. I like Jodie and the companions (individually), but I thought that the writing in season 11 was really bad and didn't allow the actors much scope. I personally think three companions is at least one too many and I thought that fact was partly responsible for the bad writing - too little to spread around.
Season 12 started off really well in my opinion. The new master is great! I think the second of the two-parter wasn't quite as good as the first, but it was still engaging. The humour vs. drama balance was just right in both episodes, I think.
"Orphan 55" was a major disappointment to me. It was full of meaningless trivialities and stuff that made no sense at all. For example, if the "dregs" were mutations, that presumably took ages to evolve, how is it that an earthly underground system is still intact? Surely that wouldn't have withstood the millennia? Why was the Doc seemingly unconcerned about leaving the planet without the two women?
The overall storyline, such that it was, was insufficient to sustain the Doc and her three companions, never mind the additional tacked-on storylines of the guests and workers of the resort that did nothing for me at all.
Others have complained about the "preachiness" (which was a common complaint about many episodes in season 11) and I agree to some extent. But had the entire story actually been any good, I don't think I would have noticed it that much.
I hope that the season improves, but at the moment I am not sure it will. And it has nothing to do with Jodie and everything to do with the writers.
Season 12 started off really well in my opinion. The new master is great! I think the second of the two-parter wasn't quite as good as the first, but it was still engaging. The humour vs. drama balance was just right in both episodes, I think.
"Orphan 55" was a major disappointment to me. It was full of meaningless trivialities and stuff that made no sense at all. For example, if the "dregs" were mutations, that presumably took ages to evolve, how is it that an earthly underground system is still intact? Surely that wouldn't have withstood the millennia? Why was the Doc seemingly unconcerned about leaving the planet without the two women?
The overall storyline, such that it was, was insufficient to sustain the Doc and her three companions, never mind the additional tacked-on storylines of the guests and workers of the resort that did nothing for me at all.
Others have complained about the "preachiness" (which was a common complaint about many episodes in season 11) and I agree to some extent. But had the entire story actually been any good, I don't think I would have noticed it that much.
I hope that the season improves, but at the moment I am not sure it will. And it has nothing to do with Jodie and everything to do with the writers.
