the series already had a touch of self-parody when I last saw it

Allow me to offer that parody and self-parody are two different things; the former mocks & trivialises, whilst the latter is can be an unconscious affectation by which it measures the shortfall between its perceived glory days and the depths to which it has sunk through no fault of its own. One may self-parody ones self in a way that is endearing & self-referentially quaint; one may also do it a way that is self-serving to the point of pretentiousness. That Nu-Who does so (i.e. self-parodies Nu-Who) is part / parcel of the vacuous concepts it uses in lieu of any actual narrative (something it has in common with Harry Potter). The Day of the Doctor was a classic case of self-parody at its most soul-sappingly tedious. Episode 799? Pah! Not even close!

In any case Attack of the Cybermen was broadcast in 1985 and manges to be charmingly self-parodic & cracking stuff throughout, right down the supporting cast. Amazingly - and weirdly - it was broadcast the same month (but several days before) Wilfred Brambell died. How's that for coincidence?

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what you believe are my 'personal snipes'

Anything with YOU in the sentence basically.

and I will believe that "overblown ill-conceived histrionic shite lacking in substance, magic, humanity and joy." is constructive criticism :-)

That's just basic observation, DtheG. The criticism I've accounted for above and in my last post there (28 Nov 13 - 11:40 AM).