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** Series 13, the "Flux" StoryArc, had a ''very'' TroubledProduction thanks to COVID-19 restricting TV production in the UK. The episode count was reduced to eight, with two of those episodes being delegated as specials. Chibnall had to write every episode himself, with only one receiving a co-writer. While "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E2FluxChapterTwoWarOfTheSontarans War of the Sontarans]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels Village of the Angels]]" were considered highlights, with fresh takes on old monsters, the Timeless Child arc was revisited in a severely truncated fashion with no real payoff. The finale proved to be [[RandomEventsPlot nigh incomprehensible]] and was left on an unsatisfying note, with the characters themselves not seeming to acknowledge one way or the other about the destruction that was wrought.
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** Series 13, the "Flux" StoryArc, had a ''very'' TroubledProduction thanks to COVID-19 restricting TV production in the UK. The episode count was reduced to eight, with two of those episodes being delegated as post-season specials. Chibnall had to write every episode himself, with only one receiving a co-writer. While "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E2FluxChapterTwoWarOfTheSontarans War of the Sontarans]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels Village of the Angels]]" were considered highlights, with fresh takes on old monsters, the Timeless Child arc was revisited in a severely truncated fashion with no real payoff. The finale SeasonFinale proved to be [[RandomEventsPlot nigh incomprehensible]] and was left on an unsatisfying note, with the characters themselves not seeming to acknowledge one way or the other about the destruction that was wrought. The post-season specials were seen as average at best (especially "Legend of the Sea Devils"), and Thirteen's GrandFinale "The Power of the Doctor", in a seeming attempt to top "The Day of the Doctor", got bogged down in ContinuityLockout going back to the ''1980s'' episodes and ''still'' didn't resolve the lingering threads of the Timeless Child MythArc.
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* Many fans found Season 17 (the season Creator/DouglasAdams script edited) the weakest of the Creator/GrahamWilliams era. Yes, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" is almost universally considered to be one of the best stories of all time, but it doesn't make up for the despised "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]", the innuendo-laden "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E3TheCreatureFromThePit The Creature from the Pit]]", the {{Anvilicious}} "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E4NightmareOfEden Nightmare of Eden]]", the ridiculous "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon The Horns of Nimon]]" or the fact that the entire season was cut short by a poorly-timed crew workers strike.
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* Many fans found Season 17 (the season Creator/DouglasAdams script edited) the weakest of the Creator/GrahamWilliams era. Yes, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" is almost universally considered to be one of the best stories of all time, but it doesn't make up for the despised "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]", the innuendo-laden "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E3TheCreatureFromThePit The Creature from the Pit]]", the {{Anvilicious}} "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E4NightmareOfEden Nightmare of Eden]]", the ridiculous "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon The Horns of Nimon]]" or the fact that the entire season (and the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E6Shada story]] they were working on at the time) was cut short by a poorly-timed crew workers strike.
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Being a {{Long Runner|s}} with a huge fanbase, ''Series/DoctorWho'' seems to be [[BrokenBase called on this one]] with [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks every season]], with symptoms ranging from [[TheNthDoctor cast changes]] to [[ReTool shifts in direction]] to questionmark lapels appearing.
* While not a severe case of this trope, the last full seasons for both the First and Second Doctors (Seasons 3 and 6 respectively) are felt to be a slight step down after two very solid seasons each. While both Seasons contain great stories, they also contain some of their weakest stories of their tenure in both seasons.
* Season 11, the Third Doctor's last season, is often considered his weakest. It did introduce one of the best-loved companions, Sarah Jane Smith, in the well-received first story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior The Time Warrior]], but "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E2InvasionOfTheDinosaurs Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]" is a good story with awful special effects, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks Death to the Daleks]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E4TheMonsterOfPeladon The Monster of Peladon]]" contain a lot of RecycledPlot and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet of the Spiders]]" feels quite padded. It didn't help that the [[ArchEnemy Master's]] actor had [[DiedDuringProduction suddenly died]], scrapping the original plans for an emotional sendoff to the Master ''and'' the Doctor.
* Many fans found Season 17 (the season Creator/DouglasAdams script edited) the weakest of the Creator/GrahamWilliams era. Yes, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" is almost universally considered to be one of the best stories of all time, but it doesn't make up for the despised "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]", the innuendo-laden "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E3TheCreatureFromThePit The Creature from the Pit]]", the {{Anvilicious}} "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E4NightmareOfEden Nightmare of Eden]]", the ridiculous "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon The Horns of Nimon]]" or the fact that the entire season was cut short by a poorly-timed crew workers strike.
* Conversely, Season 18 is often considered an overreaction that went too far the other way. New production team producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner and script editor Creator/ChristopherHBidmead declared their intention to make the show "less silly" and produced a season that came across as rather dour and humourless at times. Creator/TomBaker often looked a shadow of his former self, forced to play the role in a way he disliked, and popular companions Romana and K9 were replaced with [[TheScrappy Adric]].
* The Fifth Doctor's middle season (Season 20) is generally considered the weakest of his three, due to nearly every story being SoOkayItsAverage and lacking any of the memorable episodes such as "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]" in Creator/PeterDavison's first season, and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]" in his last.
* One thing nearly everyone seems to agree on is that Seasons 22 through 24 (1985-7), better known as the two seasons of the Sixth Doctor and the first season of the Seventh Doctor, were the nadir of the classic series, although different fans pick different ones of those seasons as the worst.
* Season 22 saw Creator/EricSaward going overboard with the DarkerAndEdgier, with the Sixth Doctor (Creator/ColinBaker) acting like an arsehole most of the time (including to his own companion), grim plots with lots of BlackAndGrayMorality, and enough FamilyUnfriendlyViolence to, for the only time ever, cause the fans themselves to start getting uncomfortable. Saward was also purported to dislike Baker's performance of the Doctor and reduced his role accordingly, to the point that in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]" the Doctor is completely superfluous to events.
** Season 23 had the unpopular "Trial of a Time Lord" extended arc, some very lacklustre writing, and an ending that revealed the behind-the-scenes chaos the show had descended into by being almost incomprehensible, unintentionally. Both this and the previous season are also notable for bothersome amounts of ContinuityLockOut and ContinuityPorn.
** Season 24 suffers from a LighterAndSofter shift that many fans considered to go too far into glitzy {{Camp}}, Creator/SylvesterMcCoy playing the Doctor as an actual [[TheDitz Ditz]] instead of his later, more popular performance as a world-weary ManipulativeBastard who occasionally engaged in ObfuscatingStupidity, and Keff [=McCulloch=] and his disco-aerobics brand of incidental music.
** All three seasons also suffered from having two of the most widely unpopular companions in the show's history: Peri who was one of the few pre-1989 companions to genuinely be as [[DamselScrappy hapless]] and frequently-demeaned as they are often stereotyped as; and Mel who was [[TheScrappy just annoying]] and played by an actor who had an irritating public image and a lot of baggage from earlier roles.
* Series 2 of the new series (Season 28 overall) is considered the least of the first five, due in part to an over-reliance on the Doctor/Rose ship and the show in general becoming a little too goofy, even for ''Who''. A lot of people also found the Doctor and Rose's behaviour unbearable. It also produced two of the least liked Doctor Who stories, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E10LoveAndMonsters Love & Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E11FearHer Fear Her]]". It wasn't a ''complete'' disaster, though; Creator/DavidTennant's performance as the Doctor was fantastic, catapulting him to star status and making him the most popular Doctor since Creator/TomBaker. The series also brought back classic series favourite Sarah Jane Smith in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion School Reunion]]". The two-part finale is also well-regarded, though the ending is divisive.
* Series 3, while generally viewed positively and as an improvement over Series 2, is something of a polarizing season. On the one hand, it has a much better, more defined story arc than the previous seasons, and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature Human Nature]][=/=][[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood The Family of Blood]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]" are two of the best ''Doctor Who'' stories ever. On the other, there's a thoroughly-despised DeusExMachina ending, a weak Dalek two-parter that marked the beginning of their VillainDecay, and companion Martha is a bit of [[BaseBreakingCharacter a hot-button issue]] in fandom, likewise Creator/JohnSimm's portrayal of TheMaster.
* The "Specials Year" that saw out Tennant's tenure is seen as a step down compared to Series 4, with the first two stories, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E14TheNextDoctor The Next Doctor]]", and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead Planet of the Dead]]" being fairly average and unmemorable, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars The Waters of Mars]]" actually pretty decent, and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" massively divisive, with some considering it a worthy GrandFinale to both Tennant's and Davies' time on the show, but others seeing it a bloated and Wangst-filled example of Russell T Davies overindulging in some of his worst flaws as a showrunner, and bringing Donna back after her heart-breaking exit only to do nothing with her.
* Series 6-7 (Eleventh Doctor) and 8 (Twelfth Doctor) constitute an AudienceAlienatingEra collectively to the Creator/StevenMoffat era. The complaints summarized:
** Series 6 had a good premise and cast, but ''very'' shaky writing, culminating in the TroubledProduction and disastrous reception of the mid-season premiere "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler Let's Kill Hitler]]". The StoryArc, in its attempts to continue and top the wildly popular arc of Series 5, was incredibly convoluted and marred by [[RandomEventsPlot constant plot twists]], odd swerves in tone and character development (thanks in part to two episodes being switched to different halves of the season), {{Romantic Plot Tumor}}s, and controversial plot points poorly presented (Amy's pregnancy, River Song's existence, etc.). Tellingly the best-received episodes were the ones that had the least to do with the arc, such as "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited]]". For "bonus" points, the post-season ChristmasEpisode "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011CSTheDoctorTheWidowAndTheWardrobe The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe]]" was seen as a big comedown from "[[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol A Christmas Carol]]".
** Series 7: With the show effectively trying to make two seasons out of one AND fix the issues fans had with Series 6, AbortedArc, pacing issues, and TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot set in. 7A meandered with little more to say about the Ponds and their relationship with the Doctor, and ''then'' they were [[DroppedABridgeOnHim thrown under a bus]] in favor of Clara Oswald in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen The Snowmen]]" and 7B, with the long term mystery of just who she was being seen as poorly handled and causing many to label her as an over glorified LivingMacGuffin. The Great Intelligence (re)introduced at the same time as Clara never reached its full potential as an arc villain. The post-season [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor 50th anniversary special]] and associated shorts were huge hits, but the [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeoftheDoctor Christmas special]] the following month was divisive in its clumsy attempts to wrap up Eleven's story after a season spent neglecting it. All this meant trouble for...
** Series 8: An inconsistent characterization/companion dynamic affected Creator/PeterCapaldi's performance and the Twelfth Doctor wound up too [[DarkerAndEdgier dark]] and [[GrumpyOldMan grouchy]], not softening soon enough for many viewers' tastes. Finally defining Clara as a character meant she got so much screen time that the derisive fan nickname "''Clara Who''" emerged during this season; her RomanticPlotTumor with a [[TheScrappy Scrappy of a boyfriend]] was part of a gloomy StoryArc which implied, among other things, that her gallivanting around with the Doctor was bad for her. There were two dumber-than-usual episodes ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon Kill the Moon]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight In the Forest of the Night]]") calling back to the early revival seasons, while the biggest development in the post-Series 7 specials ([[spoiler:Gallifrey's return]]) went unaddressed except to provide a minor plot point in a finale that had '''many''' controversial twists ([[spoiler:Clara's blackmail attempt, female Master, murder of Osgood, Cyber-Brigadier...]]) and a mostly-sad ending. At least it laid the groundwork for the very well-received "[[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas Last Christmas]]" and [[GrowingTheBeard Series 9]], which broke the show's losing streak.
* The Creator/ChrisChibnall era in general, overlapping with Creator/JodieWhittaker's tenure as the Thirteenth Doctor, was divisive at best:
** With Series 11, even those who like it do feel it suffers for Yaz being an underdeveloped companion, several weak and unmemorable stories (with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E6DemonsOfThePunjab Demons of the Punjab]]" being exceptions), and an underwhelming SeasonFinale, though the follow-up New Year's special "[[Recap/DoctorWho2019NYSResolution Resolution]]" was the best-regarded Dalek story in years. Creator/JodieWhittaker's performance is praised, but a lot of those excited for a female Doctor were rather put off that Thirteen's initial season made her the most ineffective Doctor since Five, hardly ever getting a clean win as {{Karma Houdini}}s abound. HistoryRepeats as well with the issue of Yaz's underdevelopment, since a major criticism of Five's era was his having too many companions.
** Series 12, despite some improvements on Series 11 (the big one bringing back some "classic" antagonists and concepts after 11 focused solely on new ones), hasn't been much better. Some in the fanbase believe Thirteen became more insensitive and ruthless for no clear reason[[note]]to the point that Creator/TheBBC issued an apology for the ending of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E12CanYouHearMe Can You Hear Me?]]"[[/note]], Yaz remains a non-entity, and Graham and Ryan have far less compelling arcs. Episodes alternated between {{Filler}} and {{Wham Episode}}s that contradicted canon [[ContinuitySnarl even more than usual]]. Without going into spoilers, the SeasonFinale "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]" became one of the most divisive episodes in the entire show's history thanks to a {{Retcon}} that changed the entire lore of the show for seemingly very little payout -- and yet still avoided the brunt of the criticism for the season due to the almost-universally reviled "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E3Orphan55 Orphan 55]]". To make matters worse, the ratings were the lowest since Series 1 in 2005.
** Series 13, the "Flux" StoryArc, had a ''very'' TroubledProduction thanks to COVID-19 restricting TV production in the UK. The episode count was reduced to eight, with two of those episodes being delegated as specials. Chibnall had to write every episode himself, with only one receiving a co-writer. While "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E2FluxChapterTwoWarOfTheSontarans War of the Sontarans]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels Village of the Angels]]" were considered highlights, with fresh takes on old monsters, the Timeless Child arc was revisited in a severely truncated fashion with no real payoff. The finale proved to be [[RandomEventsPlot nigh incomprehensible]] and was left on an unsatisfying note, with the characters themselves not seeming to acknowledge one way or the other about the destruction that was wrought.
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* While not a severe case of this trope, the last full seasons for both the First and Second Doctors (Seasons 3 and 6 respectively) are felt to be a slight step down after two very solid seasons each. While both Seasons contain great stories, they also contain some of their weakest stories of their tenure in both seasons.
* Season 11, the Third Doctor's last season, is often considered his weakest. It did introduce one of the best-loved companions, Sarah Jane Smith, in the well-received first story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior The Time Warrior]], but "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E2InvasionOfTheDinosaurs Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]" is a good story with awful special effects, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E3DeathToTheDaleks Death to the Daleks]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E4TheMonsterOfPeladon The Monster of Peladon]]" contain a lot of RecycledPlot and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet of the Spiders]]" feels quite padded. It didn't help that the [[ArchEnemy Master's]] actor had [[DiedDuringProduction suddenly died]], scrapping the original plans for an emotional sendoff to the Master ''and'' the Doctor.
* Many fans found Season 17 (the season Creator/DouglasAdams script edited) the weakest of the Creator/GrahamWilliams era. Yes, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" is almost universally considered to be one of the best stories of all time, but it doesn't make up for the despised "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]", the innuendo-laden "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E3TheCreatureFromThePit The Creature from the Pit]]", the {{Anvilicious}} "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E4NightmareOfEden Nightmare of Eden]]", the ridiculous "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon The Horns of Nimon]]" or the fact that the entire season was cut short by a poorly-timed crew workers strike.
* Conversely, Season 18 is often considered an overreaction that went too far the other way. New production team producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner and script editor Creator/ChristopherHBidmead declared their intention to make the show "less silly" and produced a season that came across as rather dour and humourless at times. Creator/TomBaker often looked a shadow of his former self, forced to play the role in a way he disliked, and popular companions Romana and K9 were replaced with [[TheScrappy Adric]].
* The Fifth Doctor's middle season (Season 20) is generally considered the weakest of his three, due to nearly every story being SoOkayItsAverage and lacking any of the memorable episodes such as "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]" in Creator/PeterDavison's first season, and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]" in his last.
* One thing nearly everyone seems to agree on is that Seasons 22 through 24 (1985-7), better known as the two seasons of the Sixth Doctor and the first season of the Seventh Doctor, were the nadir of the classic series, although different fans pick different ones of those seasons as the worst.
* Season 22 saw Creator/EricSaward going overboard with the DarkerAndEdgier, with the Sixth Doctor (Creator/ColinBaker) acting like an arsehole most of the time (including to his own companion), grim plots with lots of BlackAndGrayMorality, and enough FamilyUnfriendlyViolence to, for the only time ever, cause the fans themselves to start getting uncomfortable. Saward was also purported to dislike Baker's performance of the Doctor and reduced his role accordingly, to the point that in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]" the Doctor is completely superfluous to events.
** Season 23 had the unpopular "Trial of a Time Lord" extended arc, some very lacklustre writing, and an ending that revealed the behind-the-scenes chaos the show had descended into by being almost incomprehensible, unintentionally. Both this and the previous season are also notable for bothersome amounts of ContinuityLockOut and ContinuityPorn.
** Season 24 suffers from a LighterAndSofter shift that many fans considered to go too far into glitzy {{Camp}}, Creator/SylvesterMcCoy playing the Doctor as an actual [[TheDitz Ditz]] instead of his later, more popular performance as a world-weary ManipulativeBastard who occasionally engaged in ObfuscatingStupidity, and Keff [=McCulloch=] and his disco-aerobics brand of incidental music.
** All three seasons also suffered from having two of the most widely unpopular companions in the show's history: Peri who was one of the few pre-1989 companions to genuinely be as [[DamselScrappy hapless]] and frequently-demeaned as they are often stereotyped as; and Mel who was [[TheScrappy just annoying]] and played by an actor who had an irritating public image and a lot of baggage from earlier roles.
* Series 2 of the new series (Season 28 overall) is considered the least of the first five, due in part to an over-reliance on the Doctor/Rose ship and the show in general becoming a little too goofy, even for ''Who''. A lot of people also found the Doctor and Rose's behaviour unbearable. It also produced two of the least liked Doctor Who stories, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E10LoveAndMonsters Love & Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E11FearHer Fear Her]]". It wasn't a ''complete'' disaster, though; Creator/DavidTennant's performance as the Doctor was fantastic, catapulting him to star status and making him the most popular Doctor since Creator/TomBaker. The series also brought back classic series favourite Sarah Jane Smith in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion School Reunion]]". The two-part finale is also well-regarded, though the ending is divisive.
* Series 3, while generally viewed positively and as an improvement over Series 2, is something of a polarizing season. On the one hand, it has a much better, more defined story arc than the previous seasons, and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature Human Nature]][=/=][[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood The Family of Blood]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]" are two of the best ''Doctor Who'' stories ever. On the other, there's a thoroughly-despised DeusExMachina ending, a weak Dalek two-parter that marked the beginning of their VillainDecay, and companion Martha is a bit of [[BaseBreakingCharacter a hot-button issue]] in fandom, likewise Creator/JohnSimm's portrayal of TheMaster.
* The "Specials Year" that saw out Tennant's tenure is seen as a step down compared to Series 4, with the first two stories, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E14TheNextDoctor The Next Doctor]]", and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead Planet of the Dead]]" being fairly average and unmemorable, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars The Waters of Mars]]" actually pretty decent, and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]" massively divisive, with some considering it a worthy GrandFinale to both Tennant's and Davies' time on the show, but others seeing it a bloated and Wangst-filled example of Russell T Davies overindulging in some of his worst flaws as a showrunner, and bringing Donna back after her heart-breaking exit only to do nothing with her.
* Series 6-7 (Eleventh Doctor) and 8 (Twelfth Doctor) constitute an AudienceAlienatingEra collectively to the Creator/StevenMoffat era. The complaints summarized:
** Series 6 had a good premise and cast, but ''very'' shaky writing, culminating in the TroubledProduction and disastrous reception of the mid-season premiere "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler Let's Kill Hitler]]". The StoryArc, in its attempts to continue and top the wildly popular arc of Series 5, was incredibly convoluted and marred by [[RandomEventsPlot constant plot twists]], odd swerves in tone and character development (thanks in part to two episodes being switched to different halves of the season), {{Romantic Plot Tumor}}s, and controversial plot points poorly presented (Amy's pregnancy, River Song's existence, etc.). Tellingly the best-received episodes were the ones that had the least to do with the arc, such as "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited]]". For "bonus" points, the post-season ChristmasEpisode "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011CSTheDoctorTheWidowAndTheWardrobe The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe]]" was seen as a big comedown from "[[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol A Christmas Carol]]".
** Series 7: With the show effectively trying to make two seasons out of one AND fix the issues fans had with Series 6, AbortedArc, pacing issues, and TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot set in. 7A meandered with little more to say about the Ponds and their relationship with the Doctor, and ''then'' they were [[DroppedABridgeOnHim thrown under a bus]] in favor of Clara Oswald in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen The Snowmen]]" and 7B, with the long term mystery of just who she was being seen as poorly handled and causing many to label her as an over glorified LivingMacGuffin. The Great Intelligence (re)introduced at the same time as Clara never reached its full potential as an arc villain. The post-season [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor 50th anniversary special]] and associated shorts were huge hits, but the [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeoftheDoctor Christmas special]] the following month was divisive in its clumsy attempts to wrap up Eleven's story after a season spent neglecting it. All this meant trouble for...
** Series 8: An inconsistent characterization/companion dynamic affected Creator/PeterCapaldi's performance and the Twelfth Doctor wound up too [[DarkerAndEdgier dark]] and [[GrumpyOldMan grouchy]], not softening soon enough for many viewers' tastes. Finally defining Clara as a character meant she got so much screen time that the derisive fan nickname "''Clara Who''" emerged during this season; her RomanticPlotTumor with a [[TheScrappy Scrappy of a boyfriend]] was part of a gloomy StoryArc which implied, among other things, that her gallivanting around with the Doctor was bad for her. There were two dumber-than-usual episodes ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon Kill the Moon]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight In the Forest of the Night]]") calling back to the early revival seasons, while the biggest development in the post-Series 7 specials ([[spoiler:Gallifrey's return]]) went unaddressed except to provide a minor plot point in a finale that had '''many''' controversial twists ([[spoiler:Clara's blackmail attempt, female Master, murder of Osgood, Cyber-Brigadier...]]) and a mostly-sad ending. At least it laid the groundwork for the very well-received "[[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas Last Christmas]]" and [[GrowingTheBeard Series 9]], which broke the show's losing streak.
* The Creator/ChrisChibnall era in general, overlapping with Creator/JodieWhittaker's tenure as the Thirteenth Doctor, was divisive at best:
** With Series 11, even those who like it do feel it suffers for Yaz being an underdeveloped companion, several weak and unmemorable stories (with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E6DemonsOfThePunjab Demons of the Punjab]]" being exceptions), and an underwhelming SeasonFinale, though the follow-up New Year's special "[[Recap/DoctorWho2019NYSResolution Resolution]]" was the best-regarded Dalek story in years. Creator/JodieWhittaker's performance is praised, but a lot of those excited for a female Doctor were rather put off that Thirteen's initial season made her the most ineffective Doctor since Five, hardly ever getting a clean win as {{Karma Houdini}}s abound. HistoryRepeats as well with the issue of Yaz's underdevelopment, since a major criticism of Five's era was his having too many companions.
** Series 12, despite some improvements on Series 11 (the big one bringing back some "classic" antagonists and concepts after 11 focused solely on new ones), hasn't been much better. Some in the fanbase believe Thirteen became more insensitive and ruthless for no clear reason[[note]]to the point that Creator/TheBBC issued an apology for the ending of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E12CanYouHearMe Can You Hear Me?]]"[[/note]], Yaz remains a non-entity, and Graham and Ryan have far less compelling arcs. Episodes alternated between {{Filler}} and {{Wham Episode}}s that contradicted canon [[ContinuitySnarl even more than usual]]. Without going into spoilers, the SeasonFinale "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]" became one of the most divisive episodes in the entire show's history thanks to a {{Retcon}} that changed the entire lore of the show for seemingly very little payout -- and yet still avoided the brunt of the criticism for the season due to the almost-universally reviled "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E3Orphan55 Orphan 55]]". To make matters worse, the ratings were the lowest since Series 1 in 2005.
** Series 13, the "Flux" StoryArc, had a ''very'' TroubledProduction thanks to COVID-19 restricting TV production in the UK. The episode count was reduced to eight, with two of those episodes being delegated as specials. Chibnall had to write every episode himself, with only one receiving a co-writer. While "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E2FluxChapterTwoWarOfTheSontarans War of the Sontarans]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS39E4FluxChapterFourVillageOfTheAngels Village of the Angels]]" were considered highlights, with fresh takes on old monsters, the Timeless Child arc was revisited in a severely truncated fashion with no real payoff. The finale proved to be [[RandomEventsPlot nigh incomprehensible]] and was left on an unsatisfying note, with the characters themselves not seeming to acknowledge one way or the other about the destruction that was wrought.
----
