With one thing and another, I’ve been catching up on a lot of TV thanks to iPlayer, Netflix and Prime. One reason it’s been quiet on Red Rocket Rising is I’ve done a lot of blogging on my original (and non Doctor Who) blog Reality Checkpoint. If you’re observant, you’ll not the URL includes the title of one of my Big Finish stories. Meanwhile, back to the point. The show I’m most obsessed with (and very late watching) is Lucifer. Recently I read a piece on how Tom Ellis had wanted to play the Doctor (and was in a story). This got me thinking. Is Lucifer better than Doctor Who?

Let battle commence

It turns out if you search for Lucifer vs Doctor Who, it’s a thing. The answer is always whichever one people are most a fan of. My own cop out view is they would team up against a greater foe, but what do I know! This then moved me on to which is the best TV? Here my answer is clear: I’m enjoying Lucifer far more than Doctor Who, probably due to suddenly finding 75 episodes of something fun. We’re a long way past the novelty stage with Doctor Who, but I also think in many ways it’ better made television. Much of that is US expertise, but not all.

Character wise, both Lucifer and the Doctor are otherworldly beings with unusual friends and British accents. Both have charisma, and both seek to do right, though for different reasons. One is mostly immortal and one regenerates a lot. Both can fall in love with mortals, and both rebelled.

Of course the shows are very different: Lucifer is set in LA where the hero works with the police; Doctor Who is often set in the UK and the Doctor is rather arbitrary when it comes to working with authority. If you read around, Lucifer recognises the influence of Buffy as does Doctor Who. Here is where Lucifer does a good job; it puts a season together without making it too artificial. RTD may have done well hiding Bad Wolf in plain sight, but in recent years seasons have been at best loosely put together, with any central theme feeling bolted on. With Lucifer a secondary character takes time, gets a bit of backstory, has development and grows. With Doctor Who we see Graham, Yaz and Ryan often visibly having nothing to do.

The writers/ showrunners seem reluctant to have an actor do little or nothing for an episode or two, yet it’s often done with soaps.

So who would really win?

Of course there’s only one winner in the contest between Lucifer and Doctor Who and it’s us, the fans. Two series to enjoy and speculate about. What could be better? OK, some new episodes of either would help!