An even more cynical interpretation would be that it's about shielding themselves from criticism of whatever they do with the programme.

Doctor Who is now a Doctor Hoe?

I'd have an opinion, but since the Beeb put the kibosh on having the show on Netflix, I'm the entire series out of the loop now.

Sexist but.. damn it's funny XD

Don't know if I've posted this before but I never quite got what this show was trying. Didn't understand if it was a whacky kids show, scary movie like parody of time travel related tropes, or something else entirely. What is this show all about? I've seen till season 4 till I gave up, does it get any better in terms of story?

Sorry about the off topic post but I felt the people here can answer this the best, also no offense meant in any way to anyone.

Stopped caring a while ago, IMHO the show has been constantly awful for quite some time now, Moffat even managed to make me regret Russell T Davies, didn't watch the last season but I heard it's not any better.

I just wonder if this new decision is a desperate attempt to bring some "new life" into the show now that Moffat is gone or just some basic virtue signaling pandering.

Oh boy

The answer is yes.

Seriously, it's, confusingly enough, all of it at the same time. The first bit I had watched had confused me the same way. It was too silly to be scary, but it was played to straight to be a parody. And then I started it from the beginning, and found it delightful precisely because of that. It's a fine line (sometimes missed by an episode or two). Self-aware camp, but taking the "hey what if" seriously enough to play along with its insane -and often creative- premises.

But I wouldn't say it gets "better" after season 4. Season 5's Matt Smith is very enjoyable in the role, some episodes are just sublime ("Vincent and the Doctor", for instance), but the overarching plots become increasingly tedious, and the quality uneven. So, I don't think you'll like them more than Seasons 1-4. It's the same, but zanier, and more light-hearted.

Assuming we talk of the "new" seasons, of course. The 2000s, not the 60s.

Season 5 is probably my favorite, it contains the two Angel episodes (The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone) and some fun episodes; but apart from that I would say you probably already watched the "best" the series has to offer as, IMHO again, it only goes downhill from there.

Doctor Who is pitched as a sci-fi horror show for kids - as a result, it shows aliens, time travel, lots of scary monsters, but the "good guys" usually win. Two reasons it has enduring appeal are (a) adults have fond memories of it when they were kids, and (b) if the show needs refreshing or rebooting, then they just change the main actor and the inside of his spaceship.

The original pitch for Doctor Who in the 1960s was alternating episodes of sci-fi and historical documentary, but the sci-fi shows were much more popular, so it was changed to an all-sci-fi show early on.

Nothing new. creator wanted a female Doctor a long time ago.

https://www.themarysue.com/doctor-who-creator-female-doctor/

As much as I hate to, I have to partially agree with Breja.
It's such an annoying thing of the times to turn established characters into another race, gender or sexuality.
If they had made it a spin-off ('Dr. Whom' or something) I wouldn't mind, but this just reeks of desperation to be edgy and attract new viewers.

I would say series 2-6 contain the best episodes, not that other series don't have any good ones though.
It would be except for one thing... No one ever said Doctor Who was male. All we know is that he/she is a time lord, and so it seems time lords can regenerate to a different gender. This isn't that surprising, if they were real it would be beneficial to be able to regenerate into a different gender to keep the population balanced. So it isn't people trying to have 1:1 ratios of male:female actors, but an evolutionary adaptation - it just makes sense.

Pretty happy with the decision thought it might have happened when the master also became a woman. It also may breath some new life in the series as i did find t was a bit stale of late.

Does it get any better in terms of Story. No I think you hit the peak.

I used to watch Doctor Who regularly but eventually realised something.

Every Season has 2 amazing episodes, such as Blink or the 2D creatures invading our 3D world.
There are then 4 appalling episodes, episodes when any hope of continuity, scientific grounding or just characterisation has to be thrown out of the window.
The rest are just OK.

Its worth noting Season 4 is in fact season 30, the series has been going since the 60's. There was a huge Hiatus between 1989 and the restart in 2005.

The biggest issue I have with the series is the complete disregard for any continuity. I can just about ignore the awful "science", but the writers just can not seem to keep the world coherent.

Not watched the last season, though will force myself through it.

As for changing the gender of the Doctor.

Personally I'm fine with it, at least they put in the ground work before hand. Though I would have preferred an older Actress, just because it would have been easier to show the Doctor's ancient wisdom.

My biggest worry is they might be adding sexual tension between the Doctor and companion again.

I think with Tenant and Rose, it worked. It built up over a long time and was more love than sex.

Smith and Pond was just horrible, with Amy being unfaithful and uncomfortable to watch.

I have nothing against a lesbian relationship, I found it ridiculous that the 14 complaints over Madame Vastra's kiss was considered news worthy, I fear its going to be forced and badly written.