Thumbs Down For Moffat's Who...

The votes are in and it's not looking good for Steven Moffat's latest Doctor Who outing - 40 per cent of HeroPress readers voted this season to date as "not very good", while only two per cent felt it was the best season ever!

I have to confess I'm surprised as I'd thought I was in the minority of really not liking the direction Moffat is taking this beloved, British institution.

Ten per cent of voters gave the half-season only one out of five, 21 per cent felt it was "average" (three out of five), and 24 per cent gave it an above average score of four out of five.

My ratings (out of five) for the five episodes of season 33 (or season seven, depending on how you count Who seasons) only managed to rake up a paltry 2.9 average (and that was boosted by my penchant for Westerns resulting in a surprisingly high rating for A Town Called Mercy).

Calculating a score out of five based on the votes in the opinion poll, HeroPress readers rated the season so far as worthy of a 2.67 (even less than I rated it!)

To put that in perspective, the Australian K9 series scored a 2.27 average, the first season of Torchwood netted a 3.31 average and Christopher Ecclestone's sole season (season 27) as The Doctor rated a 3.01 average.

Subsequent new Who scored:

• Season 28 - 3.70
• Season 29 - 3.61
• Season 30 - 3.81
• Season 31 - 3.46
• Season 32 - 3.82

The new Who seasons so far have been reasonably consistent - and obviously season 33 is far from over, even though it's now on a mid-season hiatus.

However, from what I've read, Moffat is promising "more of the same" (ie self-contained mini-movies) when the show returns after its Christmas special.

But will this audience dissatisfaction be reflected in declining audience figures or is Who a show people now stick with out of "brand loyalty"? I, for one, know I'd find it difficult to not watch it when it was on, despite my constant railing against the current regime.

Has new Who reached its tipping point? It's not as if HeroPress readers - from what I can gather - are blindly fanatical about the show, they are your typical, average, sci-fi watching geeks and if they're not enjoying the show then something must be going wrong.

I suggested before that perhaps it's a simple matter of age and target audience: are we, who grew up with Doctor Who, no longer the people that the production team want watching the show? With its fairy tale logic and sturm-und-drang subtly, the show is clearly being aimed at a less discerning audience. It's competing for the short attention span of the Twitter-generation and clearly no longer feels it's necessary to rely on good storytelling and well-rounded characters.

While I don't want to keep flogging this dead (dying?) horse, I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has any insight into what's happening to this once great show?

Of course, commentating on the decline of Doctor Who wasn't the only the opinion poll running on HeroPress in recent weeks.

I was also sounding you all out on the two Hobbit trailers - and, unsurprisingly, 70 per cent of you loved both of them and are chomping at the bit to get your tickets for An Unexpected Journey in December.

Eleven per cent, however, liked neither trailer and felt they didn't do anything for them, while the balance of votes favoured the original trailer over the more recent one.

I think it's probably safe to say more HeroPress readers are excited about seeing The Hobbit at Christmas than Doctor Who. And while it's fantastic that we have such options available to us at this festive season, there's still no escaping the looming sadness of a 50-year-old British show being run into the ground on the eve of its half-century celebrations.