LogFAQs > #965031121

7. Series 11 (The Doctor: Jodie Whittaker, Companion/s: Ryan Sinclair, Graham O'Brien & Yasmin Khan)

*SPOILERS BELOW FOR SERIES ELEVEN OF DOCTOR WHO*

Best Episode: Demons of the Punjab
Worst Episode: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos

There have been a lot of calls for this season's elimination, and a bizarre number of comments calling it worse than Jodie's other two outings. And while it's not GREAT by any means, to me, series eleven is simply the least offensive of Jodie's season as the Doctor. It's the season where she felt best-realized as a character, without having her entire personality tied to some sort of mysterious backstory. I remember sitting through the season when it aired, really enjoying her performance, because she felt wholly unique for reasons beyond her gender.

After seasons of the anti-war "old man trying to act young", goofball pixie dream boy, PTSD doctors, Jodie just demonstrated (to me, at least) a solid understanding of herself as the Doctor. She was the inquisitive scientist, planning and investigating in a way that felt specific to her, whereas similar traits in previous Doctors largely seemed superfluous to a more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants mentality. Plus, this is the only Jodie season where she feels like a normal person, rather than some kind of universe-shaping God in mortal form. This didn't always translate to quality episodes, because unfortunately, Chris Chibnall is a bad showrunner. But at the same time, I think I can at least enjoy or tolerate most of this season. While it never reaches the highest highs of the rest of the series (well, the rest of the series prior to Chibnall's run), it never reaches the lowest lows, either.

It's not just the Doctor though. Admittedly, this is largely in comparison to the trash fires of series 12 and 13, but the companions feel like they're at their most-developed in series 11 as well. Ryan and Graham actually feel like they have an interesting bond, and it's nice watching them develop a relationship after starting out weirdly estranged via only the connection to Ryan's grandma/Graham's wife. Admittedly, this arc doesn't conclude until their departure in series 12, but most of the heavy lifting comes in series 11, so I'll just call it that. Yas...also exists. Seriously, it's amazing that she's the only companion to last Jodie's full tenure, and I still find her to be the most irrelevant companion of the reboot.

But anyway, I largely like the stories. Woman Who Fell to Earth is a largely solid season-opener. I think Punjab and Witchfinders are fun historical episodes, and I think Kerblam, Arachnids, and It Takes You away are all interesting sci-fi episodes. The rest of the episodes aren't BAD, but they're just lacking. Even Ranskoor is largely the worst of the season because it's weirdly forgettable for a season finale. But overall, there's not abjectly offensive about this season. It's just very standard. It's the back half of series seven, without the annoying "Clara is the most mysterious mystery to ever mystery" tone about it. Granted, there's not a lot of consistency in general, and the season doesn't have a thematic hook I can point to...but it's still perfectly fine as a whole.