Finally going through the Chibnall/Whittaker era fully - I only ever watched two or three episodes all the way through back when Series 11 first came out, but fell off pretty quickly. The issues with lackluster character writing are still certainly there (Ryan and Graham standing on the first alien planet they've ever been on just going "Hey, we're on an alien planet." "I know." "That's crazy." "Yeah.") but I'm not entirely hating it. Sad to see how derivative 13 is, Whittaker not really able to flex her own talents or make the character her own is even sadder when compared to how Gatwa is able to play the character so freely.
But anyways I'm only in The Ghost Monument (S11E02) and I do like some of the ideas, like the TARDIS being a landmark that's left a cultural impression on an entire planet's history.
I get the vibe that the Whittaker era is bad in the same way some of the bad classic eras were, where there's still lots of elements to appreciate and even some standout stories despite the significant things holding it back overall. I'm fairly optimistic. I'm excited to see the one with Alan Cumming.
