As I’ve explored some of the stories for my Bad Reputation™ series, it has struck me more than once that stinky is in the eye of the beholder. While to a certain degree I tend to find myself in agreement with what people in fandom say online about the relative quality of the Doctor’s various adventures—or even eras—I have learned the hard way that “received fan wisdom” (or RFW, the supposed “everybody thinks such-and-such a story is X” consensus) is questionable at best.

When I first dove into the back catalog of Classic Who, all I knew of the show was Nine and Ten’s runs (S1-S4), and vague images of Four from flipping past my local PBS channel as a kid. I’d had relatively little interaction with fandom, having only recently dipped my toe into those corners of the internet, yet already I knew what to expect from what I had yet to see.

RFW told me that the Sixth Doctor was awful. So was the First—or at the very least, he was boring. And the Third Doctor was probably not worth my while, either; “okay” at best. Of course, only selecting the “best” bits to consume is not the way I operate. I’m not going to pick and choose; if I can, I’m going to watch all of a thing. So I started from the beginning, with “An Unearthly Child,” and went from there.

At that point in time, only a fraction—maybe a third—of the catalog had been released on DVD. Right away, though, I could tell that I couldn’t trust others’ opinions. That terrible, boring, black-and-white Doctor? He was charming! Well, okay—not in the first serial. But after the initial crankiness wore off, he actually acted fond of his human friends! He fell in love. He fought for the people of Earth, and championed oppressed beings. What’s not to like?

The Third Doctor admittedly came across as campy, especially when getting attacked by tentacles in his first outing. But that didn’t last, either. Sometimes I didn’t like his decisions, or how blatantly chauvinist he was, but I was able, at least in part, to dismiss that as a feature of television of its time, just as I had some of the quirks of the black-and-white era. Besides, this Doctor had a good rapport with each of his Companions, which went a long way toward making his adventures more enjoyable.

Then I got to the Sixth Doctor. I hate to admit it, but I did not give Ol’ Sixie a fair shake. RFW had infiltrated my brain so thoroughly by this point that even the stories I now enjoy presented as terrible. It wasn’t until much later, after having been exposed to this regeneration in other media, that I came to appreciate him. With that new lens, I could review his televised catalog in a positive light, and take something positive from most of them.

This is why I’ve come to dislike RFW so much. Had I gone into the experiment unspoiled, so to speak, it’s likely I would’ve enjoyed the Sixth Doctor much more upon initial viewing, just as I did with the First and Third. Individual taste is so important for a fandom with this much source material that it’s a real disservice to anyone wanting to explore it in more depth to present any particular adventure with a “well known” rating before they have a chance to form their own opinion.

I find this tendency to pass judgment on episodes even more blatant for the modern era. Especially as new episodes air, opinions on the overall quality of a given season build up until the “general consensus” emerges. But I can guarantee you that for every “terrible” episode out there, there are fans who adore it, and for every “fan favorite,” there are folks who can’t stand to watch.

What irritates me most about FRW is the fact that it becomes a tool for gatekeeping. Various camps will greet nascent fans with declarations like, “Oh, Certain Episode is the best! If you don’t like that one, you’re not a real fan,” or “That one? It’s pure garbage!” (No matter that it happens to be the story that pulled the newbie in question into the fandom in the first place.)

That kind of taste-shaming doesn’t serve either the show or the fandom. How can a franchise grow and thrive without constantly bringing new fans on board? It can’t. While long-time fans (and, frighteningly, I now have to include myself in this group) can provide guidance by offering opinions (e.g., “I really like this episode or that Doctor because X,” or “I don’t care for that one because Y, but YMMV.”), weighing down a story with the hard-and-fast value judgements of RFW before someone has a chance to check it out themselves taints the new fan’s experience.

As a blogger, I suppose I now provide one of the pieces of the internet that feeds into the whole pot cooking up RFW. That’s an uncomfortable thought. But I hope I’m able to present my opinions clearly enough as just that—opinions—that someone can still read one of my commentaries about something they haven’t seen and have enough room left to decide for themselves.

Because that’s really all the “wisdom” I’m trying to convey.