#it's the stupidest hill for rtd to die on and he did. and it bothers me to no end. and there's no reason for it in universe.

[crystal-lillies]

how was the 13th doctor robbed ?

Well. This is gonna be a long one anon.

For starters, she had a shorter episode count for each of her series (two consisting of 10 episodes, her last only had 6!!! SIX!!! and even with the ending specials that's 3 more, but they did not deal with the third season much at all. That story barely had anything.) Each season since the start of NuWho has been 13 episodes plus Christmas specials, give or take extra specials depending. (10th Doctor had FOUR extra specials after the end of his last season. Plus he showed up in Day of the Doctor, so he's been extra spoiled). Just think of how much more could have been done with more episodes!

She was also robbed of the traditional Christmas specials, which was a staple of EVERY NuWho season before her, and GUESS WHO GOT ONE RIGHT AWAY when RTD came back? (13 got a couple New Years specials which are fine, but she will be the ONLY multi season NuWho Doctor to not have a Christmas special, and that's just wrong. The Christmas specials are iconic and holiday time classics and always focus on familial bonds the Doctor makes and 13 is missing that).

The 13th Doctor's tenure also had to endure COVID, which isn't on the BBC or the showrunners obv, but it still detracts from what she could have had that the past Doctors had and what the future Doctors will have.

The 10th and 11th Doctors particularly had oodles of extra content like shorts and mini features that was nowhere to be found for the 13th Doctor. (In fairness, 12 didn't get as many extra bonus things also, but 12 had full seasons and Christmas specials, including one of the best ones with River Song).

And one of the most egregious forms of theft was from Jodie Whittaker herself. She is an incredible actress and she was hardly given the space to fully go as hard as she could. If you've ever seen the Antigone performance she gives...it's stunning. Legendary. Raw. She is a brilliant actress so she was able to bring some of that into certain moments of the 13th doctor's tenure, but there are painfully few epic moments of 13 in the same way there are so many of the 10th, 11th, and 12th doctors.

Also she was robbed, again with the shorter episode count, of breathing room and development with her companions. Short season runs (10 or less episodes) are So So Lean, and they really hurt so much not just from Doctor Who but the Netflix ATLA, Percy Jackson, Marvel and Star Wars shows, etc. We could have had more development time with Yaz, especially with her feelings toward 13, have them properly shown a lot more, rather than having Mandip and Jodie carrying everything on their backs with little add ins and crumbs. Plus Graham and Ryan! And poor Dan got shafted as the new Flux companion. He got so much less time to really get fleshed out and form a bond with 13. The show even makes a point of that! He's closer to Yaz than anyone.

And 13 was also robbed of one of the most important things of all: passing on her wardrobe to the next doctor.

RTD can say what he likes but he was a coward and an asshole for not having David wear Jodie's costume. He can't in one breath claim to be treading lightly about crossdressing to be respectful (when it's Perfectly Fine to have the POC male villain rock the wardrobe not a half hour before, weird) and in the same breath have Rose Noble's deadname used multiple times in the first TenThree special.

Apologies about the ramble, anon, but more or less, those are many of the reasons why I feel 13 has been robbed in ways her predecessors and her successors were/are not. (I've said these things before and I have said them again, and I'll probably keep saying them.) I genuinely hope this helps you understand some of the lingering feelings of disappointment.