In light of what NuWho has become in recent years, retrospective criticism of Series 8 tends to focus primarily on how Missy paved the way for the disaster which followed, but even without the gender-bending bullshit, Series 8 almost feels like it was specifically designed to alienate the family audience. At the time, it was marketed as "the biggest departure since 2005" and "the darkest series yet". This, combined with the casting of an older, ostensibly more traditional Doctor led some to believe we were in for the modern equivalent of the Hinchcliffe era, which told stories dark and substantial enough to engage an adult audience, but did so with a sense of childlike wonder, adventure and escapism. Series 8 certainly is darker than the Smith era, but in the worst possible sense. It seems to view the very core of what Doctor Who is with cynicism and disdain.
The whole dynamic of this series is centred around a toxic relationship between a prejudicial, mean-spirited Doctor and a smug, narcissistic, part-time companion with such little passion for adventure that she'd rather work a stressful, underpaid 9 to 5, live on a shitty council estate, and go through the banal drudgery of everyday life than travel through time and space. Where's the sense of escapism, wonder and excitement? Which part of this is supposed to inspire and capture the imagination of bright young kids?
This scene perfectly demonstrates the problem with Series 8. It presents several brief clips which hint at interesting sci-fi adventures, yet swiftly casts them aside as a nuisance, a scornworthy distraction from "real life" rather than an alternative to it, which really lays bare the weary, cynical disdain with which Moffat had come to view the heart and soul of the show. By this point, writing stories about sand piranhas and fish people was as much a chore to Moffat as living through them was to Clara. This theme continued into Series 9, with the sci-fi elements (even those as significant as the return of Skaro and Gallifrey) relegated to backdrops for his spiteful deconstructions of the Doctor's character and relationship with his companions. Contrast this with the adventurous, escapist spirit of Series 5, and it becomes clear that Moffat had utterly fallen out of love with the show.
While much of this stems from Moffat's fanboy neuroses, I have to wonder how much of it was a deliberate marketing strategy on the BBC's part. The generation that grew up with the RTD era was moving on, the show had increasingly failed to draw in new viewers due to Moffat's overcomplicated, made-up-as-he-went-along story arcs, and the core fanbase isn't enough to sustain the franchise commercially. Perhaps they thought that their best bet was to reinvent the show for tumblr millennial crowd who'd become an increasingly vocal part of the fanbase over the previous few years. The sudden injection of SJW propaganda was obviously part of that, but what if the later timeslot and things like the "don't cremate me" shit (which the BBC were uncharacteristically eager to defend) were part of a deliberate attempt to shake off the child demographic in favour of a new target audience whose prevalence they'd vastly overestimated - a misjudgment they're only just beginning to comprehend?
The whole dynamic of this series is centred around a toxic relationship between a prejudicial, mean-spirited Doctor and a smug, narcissistic, part-time companion with such little passion for adventure that she'd rather work a stressful, underpaid 9 to 5, live on a shitty council estate, and go through the banal drudgery of everyday life than travel through time and space. Where's the sense of escapism, wonder and excitement? Which part of this is supposed to inspire and capture the imagination of bright young kids?
This scene perfectly demonstrates the problem with Series 8. It presents several brief clips which hint at interesting sci-fi adventures, yet swiftly casts them aside as a nuisance, a scornworthy distraction from "real life" rather than an alternative to it, which really lays bare the weary, cynical disdain with which Moffat had come to view the heart and soul of the show. By this point, writing stories about sand piranhas and fish people was as much a chore to Moffat as living through them was to Clara. This theme continued into Series 9, with the sci-fi elements (even those as significant as the return of Skaro and Gallifrey) relegated to backdrops for his spiteful deconstructions of the Doctor's character and relationship with his companions. Contrast this with the adventurous, escapist spirit of Series 5, and it becomes clear that Moffat had utterly fallen out of love with the show.
While much of this stems from Moffat's fanboy neuroses, I have to wonder how much of it was a deliberate marketing strategy on the BBC's part. The generation that grew up with the RTD era was moving on, the show had increasingly failed to draw in new viewers due to Moffat's overcomplicated, made-up-as-he-went-along story arcs, and the core fanbase isn't enough to sustain the franchise commercially. Perhaps they thought that their best bet was to reinvent the show for tumblr millennial crowd who'd become an increasingly vocal part of the fanbase over the previous few years. The sudden injection of SJW propaganda was obviously part of that, but what if the later timeslot and things like the "don't cremate me" shit (which the BBC were uncharacteristically eager to defend) were part of a deliberate attempt to shake off the child demographic in favour of a new target audience whose prevalence they'd vastly overestimated - a misjudgment they're only just beginning to comprehend?