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It does sometimes cross my mind that the feminist issue has become something of a clouding of perceptions of Chibnall's era.
And that actually, had Chibnall not gone with the social justice angle, or a female Doctor, I think most of his current defenders would've probably dreaded his ascent to showrunner given how terrible his Torchwood episodes had been (to the point even some of RTD's biggest cheerleaders couldn't find a good word for them).
In part I think this might be because his Torchwood material was so nasty and so at odds with the ethos of New Who, and if you were a fan who loved the revival because of its ethos, you quite naturally might balk in horror at the humans at their worst, shock and awe nastiness of Cyberwoman or Countrycide (I actually had to google that just to remember the title).
Now, it might not just be that Chibnall started suddenly tooting his feminist horn.
I think frankly a lot of even the die-hard New Who fans were dissatisfied with Moffat's pile-up of an era. and they began to look to the great white hope in *anyone* but him. And perhaps they began to see hope in Chibnall. Especially since Broadchurch had seemed to represent a maturing of Chibnall's craft, and to offer what Moffat's era lacked. A sense of the modern day, characters with heart, death and tragedy with lasting consequences.
I remember however always dreading the possibility of a Chibnall-helmed series, even back in 2012, when the portion of Series 7a he got given suggested maybe Moffat was planning to pass the torch to him. I had no hopes in him at all (I'm probably the only fan who would rather the job had gone to Neil Cross instead).
But for some reason fandom seemed to hedge their bets on him anyway. Perhaps because they sensed he would more likely ape the RTD approach and could be counted on to be a good zealot in that regard.
It's strange.
And that actually, had Chibnall not gone with the social justice angle, or a female Doctor, I think most of his current defenders would've probably dreaded his ascent to showrunner given how terrible his Torchwood episodes had been (to the point even some of RTD's biggest cheerleaders couldn't find a good word for them).
In part I think this might be because his Torchwood material was so nasty and so at odds with the ethos of New Who, and if you were a fan who loved the revival because of its ethos, you quite naturally might balk in horror at the humans at their worst, shock and awe nastiness of Cyberwoman or Countrycide (I actually had to google that just to remember the title).
Now, it might not just be that Chibnall started suddenly tooting his feminist horn.
I think frankly a lot of even the die-hard New Who fans were dissatisfied with Moffat's pile-up of an era. and they began to look to the great white hope in *anyone* but him. And perhaps they began to see hope in Chibnall. Especially since Broadchurch had seemed to represent a maturing of Chibnall's craft, and to offer what Moffat's era lacked. A sense of the modern day, characters with heart, death and tragedy with lasting consequences.
I remember however always dreading the possibility of a Chibnall-helmed series, even back in 2012, when the portion of Series 7a he got given suggested maybe Moffat was planning to pass the torch to him. I had no hopes in him at all (I'm probably the only fan who would rather the job had gone to Neil Cross instead).
But for some reason fandom seemed to hedge their bets on him anyway. Perhaps because they sensed he would more likely ape the RTD approach and could be counted on to be a good zealot in that regard.
It's strange.
