Just jumping into the thread here after reading just a few posts (one warning: I probably am repeating myself here, as I think I posted something similar in the past; please forgive!).
I just wanted to mention that I watched a couple episodes this season. I enjoy the new Doctor, and I appreciated that she seemed to play the role, at least when I watched, in a bit more of a serious, restrained manner.
Doctor Who, in my opinion, has become a disappointment. It's no longer about storytelling driven by strong concepts (perhaps it never was and I just think it was, I admit). It's about the characters and how emotional they can get. It's about silliness. There is no danger in the stories. No one dies, there's never any tension, etc. I would love to see a season where, every week, a companion either dies or is stuck in a time loop or marooned somewhere or, simply, leaves. That might be a good way to shake things up...have a new companion every episode, with maybe some guest stars along the way. Literally off the top of my head, imagine Penn and Teller as companion guests, playing themselves, with the Doctor landing in Vegas and needing their help; she needs them to perform a magic trick on a planet halfway around the galaxy...they need to make a black hole disappear, or appear to do so, to the inhabitants for whatever reason! And Teller talks, until he starts to perform the trick. I'm sure you get what I mean...shake things up. Not having the Daleks in a season really doesn't do anything. I appreciate the new actress and think she is a great Doctor, again, because from what I have seen so far, she isn't like the last guy, who just overacted and became insulting to me. It all became like a bad recitation of Shakespeare.
I wonder if we should have a serious version of Who at some point. What would crossing the tone of The Walking Dead with Who be like?
I just realized I could search within the thread for author posts, and I have in fact repeated myself, in some spots almost verbatim essentially! Talk about being consistent. I decided to still post this since some stuff is different, and perhaps some here will find it of some message-board value. I will repeat this as well: being disappointed in Who is not a life-shattering event, certainly... I will try to watch the rest of the season...and hopefully the show on New Year's Day is a quality one...