I hope I’m just saying this because I’m tired and ill, but whatever, I’ll say it anyway:

I’m off.

I’ve been a very dedicated fan of WhovianNet. I was top commenter when the counter was up. But the sheer amount of negativity in the comments recently… Nope. Sorry. This isn’t fun any more.

Goodbye.

Oh TSG we love having you here. We’re not arguing at all. We’re merely debating as some disagree with others. Just ignore it all :)

@TSG
Sad, but I know what you mean; this place used to be a lot more positive compared to other internet Who sites, but a minority of very negative posters has def creeped in. That’s just the way of these sort of places, and it can irk a bit when you read lots of very negative posts about something you love. Not that people should hold their tongues, all opinions are valid and correct for that person; but it is unquestionably nicer if the majority of each persons posts are of a positive nature! I think this is still one of the more positive sitess though, and if some people are very negative, then it only proves that the show means a lot to people and it’s causing them to react in a strong manner.

All my opinions have been what I truly believe and unfortunately, that has been negative and I’ve apologised for that, but it’s what I have genuinely believed about the show.

I’m the third highest poster to this site, so I haven’t creeped in. I used to feel very positive about Doctor Who, there was a lot to talk about. The paparazzi shots from a hill that appeared to show that John Simm was back for David Tennant’s last stories, the pictures coming out of Timothy Dalton dressed as a Time Lord, some really great conversations there.

Times have changed though, Doctor Who has been off the air for five months, it’s gonna be off air for at least another three. Topics to have conversations and speculate about have largely dried up and in the middle of that, Steven Moffat has come out and called fans that didn’t understand Series 6 “fairly stupid”.

I think the conversation is idle at the moment, raking over the same ground because there’s nothing else to talk about at the moment. Sarah Jane and Torchwood are gone, people are focusing on things that they perhaps normally wouldn’t and it’s resulted in negativity.

My opinion about Doctor Who now and Steven Moffat hasn’t changed, of course, but I speak to TSG on Twitter sometimes and I sent her a message today and apologised if I’d contributed to the way she felt. She’s always been fair with her opinion and she expresses it in such a way that I can respect it and feel respected even if her opinion differs to mine, so I owed her that apology if it was me.

@TWWL
Regarding that point: that was essentially the downfall of Fringe over in the US. It started off as a monster-of-the-week type show with a story arc before becoming what it is now: a show where the majority of the episodes each series revolve around a certain arc with the occasional stand-alone episode.

That isn’t to say Doctor Who will suffer for the same reason (as is shown by the improved ratings for Series Six from Series Five) but it is an example of what can happen if you desert the casual viewers by focusing on the dedicated viewers. Hopefully, the ratings for Series Seven should be even better considering the fact that it’s not about the current story arc (although that could change, who knows).

@TSG I am sorry your unwell, hope your feeling beter soon.

The fact that there is more negativity should raise some concerns! People have the right to be negative about a show they love but when the direction of that show is causing more and more people to be negative, surely, even those who keep being positive must release that there is something wrong.

@TWWL The shocking true is, SM is wrong and more people are beginning to understand that.
As a compassion, Fringe (for those who have not seen it, Fringe is an American Sci Fi show were 2 Earths are beginning to colide and it effects) is brilliantly complicated but not in a way that someone could not watch it and understand the plot of the story but does not need to know the overall picture. SM is the other way around, he is (and I use his own words here) is “fairly stupid” by putting his ridiculous Soap Opera plot before the story.

@TE

As a viewer of Fringe, I have to say I have always found the ongoing story stuff MUCH more interesting than the monster of the week episodes. But anyway, Who hasn’t got to Fringe level, and it obviously won’t; we already know this new series will have more stand alone stories.

@Steve

The shocking truth is that is just your opinion; some will agree, some will not. And as for Fringe; it’s back story and ongoing story is WAY more complicated than on Dr Who; it’s an often commented on fact that Fringe is a show that is not friendly to the casual viewer, there is a lot to fill in if you, for some reason, just jump in half way through.

Also, lets remember that there were many, MANY people who hated what RTD did with Dr Who. There were plenty of viewers, and internet forums, that moaned about and hated the show under his reign. (I liked him) But yes, lots and lots of people didn’t like what RTD did; now lot’s of people don’t like what Moffat is doing. The lesson here? You can’t please everyone; the person in charge has to make it their own and, with a show as popular as this, that means a large amount of people won’t like what they’re doing. But guess what? This is Dr Who, in a couple of years, someone else will take over and make it their own, and perhaps when that happens the people who don’t gel with Moffat’s style will find themselves loving the new persons take! (And maybe I’ll be on here saying I don’t like what’s happened to my show, and Steve will be loving it! You never know)

I also agree that the negativity of this site has had a lot to do with the fact that WHO has disappointed a lot of fans, but not on its own, but the entire franchise.

One reason is that with SJA being gone and Torchwood on permanent hiatus, all we had was Doctor Who left! And what they’ve done with that is basically tell us that for our wait we get 6 eps at the end of the year (and we should be happy with that). And then we get the rest next year, which is rank for so many different reasons!

Had we gotten a great Season Six and Miracle Day we might have been okay with that jacked up idea but we were treated to a previously mediocre and dismal showing of the two remaining shows. And what do we have to get the taste out of our mouths…promises of things to come but that won’t actually be here for several more months. And unless the first couple are spectacular WHO will fall by the wayside because fans only have so much loyalty to go around.

So I agree with TSG in a way. I haven’t quit coming yet, but I definately don’t see the reason to return very often.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people have brought up DW being the only current project in the Whoniverse and that, especially because there’s been a long break, this fact may be causing the negativity. I agree.
However, instead of visiting fansites other than Whoviannet or swearing off discussion boards altogether, why don’t we do something about it?
The devotion and diversity of its fans, along with the its longevity, has always been DW’s greatest strength. We have 48 YEARS of television, audio, novels, and spinoffs to work with–who says we only need to discuss the current showrunner? Who says we only need to discuss the new series? Let’s step up and start something! We could have a weekly discussion of Classic episodes, talk about the merits of various audio plays, suggest books to read…there is an endless supply of material and we need not focus solely on the present.
I may not be a top commentor, but I love DW and Whoviannet. I know that we have the potential to do amazing things in our fandom. Let’s use this extended break to our advantage and get to know the Whoniverse!

@TWWL The shocking truth, as you put it, is that Fringe is not a Soap Opera in the way SM has dragged Doctor Who down. It is a preset show that has stuck to it’s core values! It has characters that you believe in. Doctor Who has lost that. There is not the connection between the 11th Doctor and Amy in the way there was with the 10th Doctor, Rose and Donna. As for the dismissive connection between the 10th and Martha, it was brilliantly done, although Freema Agyeman did suffer a Billie Piper backlash.
I have noticed that people who did not like RTD have now a grudging respect for him as he did, in principal, stick to the shows core. Thank god he did not make Rose pregnant.

@Grace Here here.
One thing that does excite me and, for some reason, whoviannet does not really offer a forum from what I can see, is that brilliantly done Big Finish audios. Junes 5th Doctor release, “THE BUTCHER OF BRISBANE” had it’s first episode as a freebie through a podcast and oh my god, I can not wait. It’s stunning. Also released in June is The Oseidon Adventure. It has one of the best Doctor Who creations that sadly were never developed, the Kraals. So all in all, this month, just in those 2 stories sees The Master, The Kraals, Magnus Greel and the delightfully evil Mr Sin.
It is pure SciFi fun with the Doctor and his companions having fun and getting into trouble. This is what Doctor Who on TV is missing.

@Rosalie
The only problem talking about the Classic era is that some haven’t watched any of it. I’ve watched maybe 16 episodes of the Classic era (recently done a raid on HMV for all their Classic DW DVD’s :P )but yes I admit it’s a good idea. Maybe Whoviannet should have a discussion board for the Classic era

@Patrick Now that’s a brilliant idea.

I’ve seen the very first serial of Doctor Who, a couple of 3rd Doctor serials and the 8th Doctor movie, but that’s it before 9th Doctor onwards.

I’ve read most of the 10th Doctor books and have a couple of audio book versions of those stories.

@JC I would recommend the Hinchcliffe era! Now that was a scary and brilliant era.

And where as Fringe is wandering aroun, trying to find a new core (next season seems to be now about the Observers invading), Dr Who, at it’s centre, is STILL about the same thing it always was; an alien in his time machine getting into adventures through time and space with his (usually) human friend.

@Steve
@Patrick
This is precisely my point. There are those of us who have watched Classic Who and those of us who haven’t, but what better way to keep things interesting and somewhat positive than to increase the range of our discussions? All of us who have watched the classic series can give suggestions, while those who haven’t can learn more about the show’s history. Win-win!