I agree it got bad at times when the budgets were even lower. But there were still some brilliant episodes with Sylvester and Colin Baker.

It didn't really mine old material as much as it parodied old material. It showed us classic, real Who through the eyes of modern, PC, shallow culture. The shallow culture people can't really understand classic Who. "But but but, there are no shiny effects, and it isn't loud enough, and it isn't fast enough".

Good grief, New Who fans think they're so clever. Not following New Who isn't about clever. It's about not wanting to follow it, because it's shallow.

You know, that would be terrific.

They're a reflection of the writers. New Who writers, like many people today, are overly self reflective.

Those utilitarian departures were much more real. When the episodes first aired, those departures were in the present. People weren't as shallow. They weren't just interested in shiny and big: big effects, bright lights, loud music.

Real people are in complete control of their lives. They can travel in cars and planes and boats. Yet friends exit their lives: relationships end. Even close relationships often end in an instant.

Why is getting married the finger?

"Go live a life" is a great reason. That locking out, Susan's departure, without all the music and self delusional cleverness, was much more real and much more dramatic than anything the shallow New Who creators can imagine.

The moral dilemma of "would you kill Hitler as a child" is only a dilemma to people who don't really understand the world. I'd not only kill child Hitler, I'd resurrect him to kill him a second time, just to show I meant it.

It doesn't make sense to people who don't understand real life. In real life something can be very important, regular, basic to existence. A friendship is like that. Then it's over in an instant. There's no long goodbye. There's just life. 10 years of going through life pass, then suddenly you realize "I haven't…

Sarah's departure was far more dramatic than any of the over blown New Who departures. It felt more real.

Watch Sarah Jane's departure. It's way more real. It's not big. It doesn't have lots of "moments" It just happens the way things happen in real life.

It's exciting until you realize it's just a shadow of those things. The current writers/producers try too hard to be clever and cool. The real Doctor Who, for example Genesis of the Daleks, was miles more clever without trying half as hard.

It is tired. That's why it has to try so hard to be cool and clever. The reviewer tries just as hard, and thinks he's as clever as the writers of MA think they are.

The reviewer, and Carade, think they're as clever as the episode thinks it is. They're all trying too hard to show how clever they are.