Doctor Who: Festivus Airing of Grievances

Today, we celebrate Festivus, the holiday popularized on Seinfeld. Let us begin with the Airing of Grievances.

The Airing of Grievances is an important part of Festivus. Over Festivus Dinner, people go over the various ways in which they were disappointed by others in the past calender year. Well, with the length of time that Doctor Who has been on the air, it is fair to consider the show an old friend.

So, let us go over the ways that Doctor Who managed to disappoint us in the past year.

Steven Moffat still doesn’t kill characters. We were told that Clara was going to die, and that her death would fundamentally change the Doctor. Well, that lasted for two episodes. Then the Doctor used an extraction chamber to pull Clara away from the Raven at the last moment. She eventually escaped with Me to go about her own journeys on a stolen TARDIS. We were promised Clara’s death, and again, that was only a temporary inconvenience for her as she went about her travels.

Making Clara a real person. Speaking of Clara, why did it take them so long to make her a relatively likeable character? After the disaster that was Series Eight, where Clara came off as a manipulative brat, her character completely changed. She was a true friend, and a trusted companion to the Doctor. Maybe they figured out that the backlash from the Clara Oswald Chronicles that Series Eight turned out to be was the tipping point and something needed to change. If only they had realized that sooner.

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• Jodie Whittaker didn’t pick up on any of the hate for her version of the Doctor

The continual return of Mark Gatiss. Mark Gatiss has done some great things on Doctor Who. He has written some excellent episodes, and his place in the history of the show is unquestioned. Gatiss is also brilliant with Sherlock, and, given his most recent episodes on Doctor Who, that is where he should stay. More often than not, his episodes have just missed. Eye gunk monsters? Really? It is sad, but it is time for Gatiss to go away.

The sonic sunglasses. I get it – the sonic screwdriver is tradition. It is as much a part of the Doctor as the TARDIS and his companions. But, really, why does it always have to be a screwdriver? The sonic sunglasses fit with the Twelfth Doctor, and it would be fun to see different sonic devices going forward. Instead, back to the sonic screwdriver, because tradition.

The Moffat hate. Can this be put to a rest now? Yes, Moffat will occasionally say some dumb things, and it is starting to get to the time where he should be moving on from Doctor Who, but Series Nine essentially redeemed the beleaguered showrunner. This is what we had expected from the show, as Peter Capaldi’s Doctor was finally placed in situations where he could shine. Maybe it took a little longer than we would have liked, but it’s time to recognize that Moffat made the changes he needed to.

What grievances do you have towards Doctor Who in the past year? Let us know in the comments!