DogAndPanda: Criticism of the New Series.html
Reaction to the new (2005) series of the new Doctor Who has been fairly positive, but watching it, I find it more and more compelling to create a list of important things that the original series had/did that the new one does not:
Too many humans, no alien-perspective stories
In the new series, every single episode has revolved around humans as a main part of the story: stories either take place on earth, or in humankind's future in some way. Any aliens portrayed are portrayed as being "other" from the humans in some way. In the original series, the Doctor would visit planets which had nothing to do with humans (even though they may look like humans - thanks, BBC props dept.). This seems to be a huge loss for the focus of the series - increasing the importance of humans.
Too much Doctor-action
In the original series, the Doctor was often only a small part in what was going on in the story - many episodes had him only assisting revolutions, and some merely had him on the side almost as an observer. In the new series, there is a lot more concentration on what he is doing, and very little action for the supporting cast other than to die or listen to the doctor when convenient.
Too war-happy
In the new Doctor Who, war is glorified in some ways (the child in Human Nature is a good example of this), while in the old (particularly Pertwee era),
No progressive subtext
In old Doctor Who, there were episodes about pressing relevant matters,
such as colonization (Colony in Space), slavery (The Mutants), beaurocracy/taxes
(The Sun Makers), government beaurocracy (The Sea Devils). Rather than address
current concerns (health insurance, terrorists, iraq, etc.), the new series
at best rehashes the old progressive ideas, and at worst promotes
a surprisingly pro-establishment message.
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