Points of View
From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Points of View is a BBC One television series featuring letters from viewers, offering praise, criticisms, and general observations of recent BBC programmes. Doctor Who has been the subject of multiple segments throughout the show's run.
Times Doctor Who was covered[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Viewers complained about the scene in The Two Doctors [+]Loading...["The Two Doctors (TV story)"] in which Shockeye ate a rat.
- The broadcast of the first episode of Time and the Rani [+]Loading...["Time and the Rani (TV story)"], and Sylvester McCoy's debut as the Seventh Doctor is covered. In a negative review of the episode, a viewer referred to it as "twenty five minutes of the most appalling mindless drivel" before going on to criticise the acting, the sets, the writing, and the new theme arrangement. A counteracting positive review praised the pre-credit regeneration and the acting quality, particularly McCoy's performance.
- Presenter Anne Robinson talks about the "very robust - almost record-breaking response" to the television movie [+]Loading...["Doctor Who (TV story)","television movie"], noting the handful of complaints that the story was "far too scary" for its pre-9pm time slot among the overwhelming majority of positive responses, with "a few gripes"; a viewer expresses his dismay via a voicemail message at the movie's "nightmare of cliched banalities" and citing it as "everything that's awful about American television all rolled into an hour and a half of non-stop violence, noise, and car chases" before criticising the revelation that the Doctor is half-human, and his romance with Grace Holloway.
- The public reception toward The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"] is discussed. Matt Smith's performance was received well "despite preconceptions", as well as new companion Amy Pond, and the new TARDIS. An aspect that viewers did not like, however, was the new theme arrangement, with one viewer branding it "an abomination", and a second calling it "so far removed" from the original and "unlistenable". A third viewer panned the "nasty trumpets at the beginning, together with the silly "disco beat"". In response, Doctor Who management stated their regret that viewers did not like the new theme, before pointing out the theme has already changed multiple times throughout the show's run, and that that tradition was bound to continue.
- The backlash from the BBC's infamous continuity error in which a trail for Over the Rainbow was displayed at the bottom of the screen during the climactic final moments of The Time of Angels [+]Loading...["The Time of Angels (TV story)"] the previous week. More than five and a half thousand people phoned the BBC with their complaints and their inbox "stretched at the seams with the weight of incoming venom" over the error, with one viewer expressing their anger at the BBC for following the example of satellite TV channels in running "incredibly irritating" animated promos during their shows. A second viewer commented that it "totally removed [them] from the moment, spoiled [their] enjoyment, and put [them] in a bad mood all night", with further messages citing it as "show[ing] contempt for the viewers and the programme itself", and calls for an apology to be made. An apology came promptly, with it being agreed that it should not have happened, and revealed that steps are being taken to ensure that such an error would not happen again.
- Viewers expressed their concern over "Amy Pond's attempted seduction of Doctor Who" towards the end of Flesh and Stone [+]Loading...["Flesh and Stone (TV story)"], with many taking issue with its airing before the watershed. One viewer expressed their "shock" at the show's content "corrupting the minds of [Britain's] impressionable young children", with another branding it "a disgrace" at how "It's seen as inconceivable that two people can just be friends with each other." In response, presenter Jeremy Vine read an excerpt from the BBC Editorial Guidelines, namely that programmes broadcast pre-watershed should not portray inappropriate sexual behaviour or contain explicit sexual discussion unless editorially justified. Vine ended the segment by saying "the [editorial] team told us the decision was made that this... [a clip of Amy and the Doctor kissing is played] ...did not constitute inappropriate sexual behaviour".
- A week after the broadcast of Legend of the Sea Devils [+]Loading...["Legend of the Sea Devils (TV story)"], the segment dealt with viewers' responses to the "blossoming relationship" between the Doctor and Yaz. Some viewers felt it was unneccesary, with one viewer expressing her wish that "they would just leave the Doctor alone", while another bluntly admitted her disappointment, saying "I don't think we needed the conversation about relationship between Doctor and companion". Other viewers, meanwhile, were more positive over what they considered to be a milestone for the show; a viewer, Iain from Sunderland, talked via video about how positively his 10-year-old daughter responded to the scenes, before he went on to praise the episode as presenting the perfect opportunity for parents to have a "very simple conversation" with their children.
- The segment looked at the viewer response to the previous week's episode, The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"]. The vast majority of showcased responses were positive, with one viewer citing it as one of her favourite episodes that she would keep rewatching until it was off BBC iPlayer. A second fan responded positively despite admitting that he did not have "a clue what were going on", before bidding Jodie Whittaker a fond farewell. Another viewer expressed their enjoyment of the past Doctor and companion appearances and other references to series past. Some responses came from those who "weren't so keen", such as one longtime viewer who expressed his dismay at it becoming "such a whiz-bang show" that he could not follow. The segment ended with the positive impressions of Katherine and Meara of the Cardiff Doctor Who Society. Meara called it "absolutely incredible" and "a beautiful send-off" to Jodie Whittaker, before she and Katherine both expressed their excitement at seeing David Tennant back in the role as the Fourteenth Doctor.
- The programme was reportedly "inundated with comments" about Doctor Who's "explosive" double bill return the previous week with Space Babies [+]Loading...["Space Babies (TV story)"] and The Devil's Chord [+]Loading...["The Devil's Chord (TV story)"]. more to be added.
