Splitting this off from the TV thread, as it’s a pretty big development in Nerd.
Basically, the BBC is now hosting all remaining classic era Dr Who on iPlayer in the UK. Which is an immense collection of some really solid sci-fi fare. And indeed some super dodgy sci-fi fare.
It’s also introduced “Tales from the Tardis”, which are select classic adventures bookended with new, in-character scenes of Doctors and Companions past. So far I’ve enjoyed The Time Meddler, and Curse of Fenric.
The bookending might feel a bit superfluous, yet I think they’re a nice idea to hook those who’ve only really known modern era. They give a chance to explain the importance of the story, and introduce the classic characters. And a solid kick in the nostalgia for us Sad Old Gits. Certainly the closing booked of Curse of Fenric had me in tears, because Ace and the 7th Doctor were my personal era - and it teased the possibility of seeing them reunited in a new story. After all? Somewhere there’s danger. Somewhere there’s injustice. Somewhere, the tea is getting cold.
Anyways, feel free to discuss and recommend your favourite classic adventures, now we can all readily access it. Even if you need to use a VPN!
There's quite a of 20th Century missing from my DVD collection so I'll be diving in to that, probably starting with the adventures that are part of the 'Tales of the Tardis' collection. I'm also feeling a bit nostalgic for the Matt Smith era (also not in my DVD collection) so I'll be viewing that too. I wonder, is K-9 and Company up there too? Is it, in fact the whole of the Whoniverse?
K9 and Co is indeed on there! As are Torchwood, Class and some aminated gubbins. The underrated Sarah Jane Adventures and all, which are ideal for younger Who fans.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, and Tales from the Tardis are omnibus versions, so all the episodes stitched together into a single feature length erm, feature.
And I know I’m biased because of Rose Tinted, but particularly the Baker and McCoy eras show how interesting plots and fun acting can cover a lot of the sins inherent to low budget sci-fi.
Don’t get me wrong, few if any were in danger of a BAFTA etc, but you still get some excellent telly out of it. And just occasionally? Some proper thought provoking fare.
An amusement for the BBC's flagship charity. Guest staring 'The Voice of Nyder'.
Back on the Whoniverse - I've just watched Planet of the Spiders - Jon's swansong and he goes out getting to play with a hovercraft and loads of martial arts (sort of). Archetypal '70's Who and possibly the regeneration story with the most actual death-rebirth content so far.
Yeah, it's the first 'real' regeneration with all the things we associate with it these days: erratic behaviour, call backs to the previous incarnation... before the new Doctor 'discovers himself' and we see the new character.
Just watched The Evil of the Daleks: the legendary 'final end' of the angry pepperpots. This was an animation to the surviving audio, using telesnaps as a basis. And it stands up - the plot is pretty good, the Dalek's plan sort of stands up, and it's a David Whitaker story rather than Terry Nation, so it's not a retread of []The Daleks[/i].
I have to say the Daleks them selves in the cartoon are much superior (I feel) than in the original. They're more, well, animated! The move while they talk, and all their 'stick's can move at once. They also glide effortlessly through the mansion doorways and amongst one another, a struggle I'm sure for the director and prop operators in 'real life'.
There's also a wonderful shot where a Dalek hides in room opposite where Jamie is taking his 'test' and as the Dalek backs up in to the room he just fades into the darkness until just the pinpoint of light in it's eye-piece remains. Quite sinister.
I reccomend it for those wanting a teste of the best of classic, 1960's Doctor Who.
Now this is of great interest. Due to strikes, the original was never completed.
There was a release on VHS, where the unfilmed scenes had linking narration by Tom Baker, explaining what was happening. But, it didn’t flow right.
This however has animated replacement scenes, like they’ve used for other missing episodes where the audio was recovered.
Very interested to see how this shakes out.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Yep. Massive improvement. The animated sections are well done. And interestingly, the audio was newly recorded by the cast, using the original engineer and equipment - so it’s pretty seamless.
Always a treat to hear Tom Baker reprise his role. And there’s a lot of Classic 4th Doctor “I’m just going to act the fool and get on your pip until you make a mistake” stuff going on, which works best when you know Tom Baker had that twinkle in his eye.
Watched the colourized Dalek story tonight and much prefer the original episodes. The effort to add colour is commendable, but the extra music was annoying as it usually is in the new era. Its okay if one prefers to watch a continuous presentation of the story I guess.
You have a good point, although the animated episodes for Dr Who would probably be done by different studios that were available at certain times - Cosgrove Hall, for example. And then you have animation styles that change as individual animators come and go.
It definitely works better if the whole serial is animated (like 'Evil of the Daleks'), then at least you have consistency of style and it doesn't clash with the live action.
He has done some excellent stories. But also some of the worst drivel to ever carry the brand name.
However I’m a now 43 year old grumpy old git. Which means I just have to accept a lot of media that’s been going since I was tiny just isn’t exactly aimed at me anymore.
Just a speedy in to the story for the Doctor. The Second incarnation was having to pretend to be a visiting official, despite no paperwork or else First and Second had to have a convenient double they could fill in for. And for every Fear Her there is a The Web Planet, The Underwater Menace, Day of the Daleks, The Power of Kroll....etc
SamusDrake wrote: Started off alright but soon descended into Russell's usual nonsense.
I don't know. Even the start was rather rough. Didn't need opening narration telling me why I was supposed to really feel something about the characters
Spoiler:
And what was maybe going to happen (but obviously not)
One thing I will say is that the Meep was the highlight of the episode, voiced by the wonderful Miriam Margoyles. Didn't know she went as far as Pacific Heights and Little Shop of Horrors! I'll have to give them another butchers...
I thought it was pretty good.
Dialogue was a bit clunky in places, and I'm not happy with the the sonic screwdriver becoming even more of a magic wand (Hopefully that was just them showing off their influx of Disney Dollars), but I'm looking forward to the next episode.
Every episode of Dr Who is someone’s first episode of Dr Who.
So what?
If the show itself needs to tell new watchers that they need to feel something for the characters, the writing has gone wrong. New properties with new characters don't feel the need to tell you that its super important that the characters matter to the viewer. Its just crappy writing.
Spoiler:
It also doesn't help that the end of the episode wraps back around and just tosses one of the more tragic ends to the series out the window with a meaningless 'just let it go' joke
Given it’s been 15 years since we last saw Donna and The Doctor together? The “so what” is there’ll be people watching this latest offering that weren’t even alive at the time.
Given a chunk of the plot ties directly to that previous outing, there’s a need to impress upon the audience why that matters. And when you’ve just an hour of screentime? A recap is the most efficient way of achieving that.
So take two more minutes and work it into plot like everything else rather than be hacks and tell not show.
Especially since they also take the time out for him to repeat the exposition when Science Lady shows up to interrupt his wand work for the Silent Image spell (to set up Lesser Wall of Force later).
Audiences aren't as dumb as you seem to think. Most movies present relationships in the course of the film and generally assume the viewers will catch on, without feeling the need to prep the audience with cliff notes before the movie starts.
I don't usually say that one Doctor Who era is better than the others, or compare stories, but I'd have to say that Caves Of Androzani is the "Empire Strikes Back" or "Wrath of Khan" of Doctor Who.
No one has their sights on avenging themselves upon the Doctor, nor Peri, but they walk into in the middle a brutal stand off where they cannot charm nor sonic their way out of a bad situation, and having "read the script" isn't going to do them much use neither. Little bit of Dune and Fellowship of the Ring( the bit in Moria ), its really good.
Oh, definitely worth catching for the final moment, which is legendary. Especially if you watch the "making of" to get Peter's account of it!
I know the scene you mean. Burned into my retinas!
The later 7th Doctor stories are, for me, just as good as Androzani, in their own way.
For the first time my lifetime? The Doctor was a threatening, mercurial figure. Manipulative. Deceitful. Maybe just a little bit evil. Certainly showing a malevolent streak as he tricks not one but two species into making themselves near extinct.
But, his justification remains pretty much solid, even if his means are….morally questionable. This is best demonstrated by Remembrance of the Daleks.
Wind up your opponent. Play them like a Fiddle, preying on their ego and insecurities.
McCoy's era was the bomb! I clearly remember watching The Happiness Patrol with the Kandyman, who was really cool for this 8 year-old's eyes. Friggin loved it!
And yes, he was knocking out his enemies one-by-one, like Kevin Peter Hall!
Happiness Patrol and Paradise Towers are excellent stories, but poorly mounted.
The overall story and message in each remains relevant, and insightful. But at that point the then head honcho of the BBC was a “me not like, me smash” type.
Certainly Happiness Patrol will forever be why I’m still drawn to House Escher to this day.
But I’m gonna argue the charm of Original Who is that even when the end product was a Bit Crap? There was always an effort. An underlying brilliance regardless of the outcome.
I mean, even the best regarded stories suffer from wobbly sets and that. But it was the plot and Lead that carried it and kind of forced, maybe tricked, us into caring about tuning into the next episode.
Which is the root of my personal discontent with New Who. When you give a story teller say six to eight hours of screentime to weave their tale, it’s an entirely different task to “no, you’ve got an hour at best”.
I’ll spare you all an idiot’s lecture, and simply acknowledge I accept the TV landscape has massively changed, and somewhat tied hands and tastes.
But I’d still love to see an Original Who season approach done in the modern day, dodgy cliffhangers and all.
Tonight's episode "Wild Blue Yonder" was good and one I'd actually watch again sometime. The pace and logic were in harmony as far as Dr Who stories go.
SamusDrake wrote: Tonight's episode "Wild Blue Yonder" was good and one I'd actually watch again sometime. The pace and logic were in harmony as far as Dr Who stories go.
It was... neat?
Pretty intense for a bit, then kind of faded out into an extended 'but why, though?' And in typical Doctor Who fashion, raises important background questions and then simply... declines to talk about it.
Also felt like a bit of a rehash of the 'Midnight' episode during the Donna season itself (Ep10)
That was pretty nifty!
A fairly common sci-fi plot but done well and was rather creepy in the beginning.
Disappointed by the references to some of the Chibnall Era nonsense (Was hoping they were going to quietly retcon that stuff by ignoring it).
Shame there's only one episode to go, I'd forgotten how much I liked this pairing, and Donna is easily one of of my favourite companions. She's not a focus hog (nor has the weird romantic overtones) like most of the Nu Who ones, but she's also not as superfluous as Old Who ones tended to be.
The first time Bonnie Langford, let alone Mel, hasn’t irritated me!
Neil Patrick Harris is superb.
Importantly? I now want to go watch the original, as I’ve never really watched very early Who. Pertwee and on I’ve seen everything. But Hartnell and Troughton have only been the odd serial here and there.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Really liking the new Doctor too!
What is it with Nu Who villains getting a dance number to show how crazy they are?
Overall I liked the episode, the Toymaker made an intimidating villain despite the silliness, but I'm not too sure on the ending:-
Spoiler:
I'm guessing they were going for even more of a reboot than the usual regeneration, with the "Old" Doctor effectively retiring, while there's also a "New" Doctor to go on adventures and stuff. But it feels a bit gimmicky to me and gives them the ability to wheel out David Tennant whenever the ratings start to slide again.
Kate didn't apologise to Donna and Mel - so maybe there is a red-head conspiracy!
Looks like Fourteen is going to have a job working for UNIT as their unpaid Scientific Advisor!
Nerdy Pedant Alert: In Star Beast Fourteen described himself as Scientific Advisor No.1 - which is doing Dr. Liz Shaw a bit of a disservice, who was technically employed first.
The first half was good enough but the Spice Girls bit was just plain embarrassing and not in a good way at all. The worst part was the new Doctor running around without trousers on.
Not sure I want to see the Christmas Day special if being honest. Depends what else is on...
I was under the impression the point was to set up Tennant as the filler arc doctor for while they wait for Gatwa to finish his current project.
I expect one season of Tennant, then they meet again the finale and Tennant somehow sacrifices himself, as is tradition, and then we switch to Gatwa full time.
SamusDrake wrote: The first half was good enough but the Spice Girls bit was just plain embarrassing and not in a good way at all. The worst part was the new Doctor running around without trousers on.
It took me a minute to figure out they were each wearing half his original outfit. Tenant was going commando.
lord_blackfang wrote: I was under the impression the point was to set up Tennant as the filler arc doctor for while they wait for Gatwa to finish his current project.
I expect one season of Tennant, then they meet again the finale and Tennant somehow sacrifices himself, as is tradition, and then we switch to Gatwa full time.
RTD revealed that they are recording the 2025 Christmas Special now... which will be (brace yourself) the 20th Anniversary of David Tennant's first appearance (sit down, catch your breath). That might be a good to resolve the 14th Doctor's recovery arc.
I was disappointed we didn't a proper multi-Doctor story for the anniversary - but RTD might have been keeping his powder dry for a '20 years of Nu-Who' shindig instead.
At least we’ve thus far been spared John Simms ruining the Master again.
For the record, I like John Simms and think he's a good actor.
But Last of the Time Lords was another great example of Russell showing that he can provide a great beginning, but then turn it into annoyingly flamboyant crap by the end.
I've enjoyed the three specials but I'm really concerned with what bi generation says about Ncuti.
It smells of bet hedging, keeping an old favourite around in case your new guy doesn't do well. It prevents Ncuti from truly taking on the role because he now has to share it contemporarily, rather than historically.
He's the first black man to play the character and also the first one not to get to be the sole doctor in current media.
I was excited to see Ncuti regenerate but instead got a chunk of the episode with him having to fight with Tennant for screen time.
RTD is in danger of George Lucas/Peter Jackson ing and getting high on his own farts...
2023 Christmas Special, and Ncuti Gatwa’s first full outgoing as everyone’s favourite Timelord.
Original monsters, and well realised ones.
RTD song and dance number.
Overall a solid episode I reckon. Certainly a satisfying Proper Debut episode. Though I for one could’ve comfortably done without the song and dance bit. But then, I’m a grumpy old git.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ooooh!
Spoiler:
End sting as well. Well. Pre-credits “they think it’s all over” sting. With a neighbour knowing the TARDIS for what it is.
And we saw a female hand picking up the Gold Tooth that contained The Master….
That was a pretty enjoyable episode, even the singing and dancing bits, the new guy looks like he's going to make a decent Doctor.
I'm just hoping they're not building up to Ruby being super special or anything, I've kinda accepted there's always going a bit of a romance angle going on nowadays, but please no more super special companions.
Spoiler:
Really not sure what to make of Mrs. Flood. She knows what a TARDIS is, but doesn't seem to recognise the Doctors one, so she shouldn't be any of the usual suspects that get name-dropped whenever a mysterious character turns up.
Dysartes wrote: I enjoyed what I saw of it - missed part of it due to having to supervise the dogs in the garden (due to a new puppy).
What about it made you think it was garbage, Samus?
The labyrinth influence was painful to sit through, the Doctor going beyond boyfriend material to "my gay bestie" material, and that it felt overall like I was resitting an updated Open University social science module.
I found it very enjoyable. Not many quibbles, especially if you apply the 'Christmas Episode' filter, which why the song gets an allowance, although it might have been great if Neil Hannon had written it. And I'm up for a happy, angst free Doctor.
Spoiler:
Anita Dobson as the Master? I hope not.
Ruby's mother: The obvious twist (if that is such a thing) is that was Ruby herself, placing her baby self at the church. The short-cut trousers and hooded coat did have a 13th Doctor vibe, but that is either a red herring or lead-in to a multi-Doctor episode in 2025. So probably a red herring.
Ruby's mother: The obvious twist (if that is such a thing) is that was Ruby herself, placing her baby self at the church. The short-cut trousers and hooded coat did have a 13th Doctor vibe, but that is either a red herring or lead-in to a multi-Doctor episode in 2025. So probably a red herring.
Spoiler:
The odd bit about the old lady is her knowing it is a TARDIS, specifically - there've been enough events in London over the years for some random people to be aware of a disappearing blue police box, but knowing the specific name is weird. Ex-UNIT is one option, as is an aged - even unknown - companion, who may not know this face of the Doctor.
Aye, Ruby being the woman to leave herself at the church was my immediate thought, given the set-up - though that wouldn't necessarily mean she was her own mother. 13 being involved is an idea I hadn't thought of.
So much this. The trauma porn since Capaldi's run turned me off on the show. I really wanted a fresh start, so I groaned during Special #3 for the resurgence of the self-guilt-trip and existential crisis doctor.
I groaned the rest of the time for Doogie Howser's bad attempts accents and 'acting,' as well as the shaky premise of nothing. (And both Special #2 and #3 felt like a retread of old material that didn't quite land the first time around. Special #1 just felt like the didn't actually explore anything they introduced, just handwaved everything off at the end.)
Plus, like Hellebore, bi-regeneration feels... dubious to me. Executive meddling wanting some way to roll things back. The new guy didn't need a shadow hanging over his run.
Yup, thoroughly enjoyed that. New doctor is great, and the goblins were pretty much as expected for a Christmas special, which have generally tended to be more light and silly in the past (flying sharks, anyone?).
Ruby so far really feels like a blonde Clara - same character, same styling. Will be interesting to see how that progresses, though.
Arise thread, arise! For the new season is upon us
Fun fact? This our fourth Scottish Doctor (McCoy, Tennant, Capaldi and now Gatwa)
Now, two of those four happen to be my favourite incarnations, Tennant was fine, and Gatwa of course we’re just getting to know.
RTD is of course back at the helm, which for one am dubious about. Forever thankful he got it back on our screens, but he’s responsible for some right guff.
Example here? Talking Baby. FFS. Did the world learn nothing from Superbabies???
That being said, there’s some immediate parallels to the Mechanicus and Not Really Knowing What You’re Doing. Also, this Sad Old Git needs to remember he’s 43, nearly 44, and this show is primarily aimed at a much younger audience. And so the overall value of my opinion is highly questionable.
Plus it’s all about the underlying story and its moral.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So..erm…that was a Kid Friendly version of Alien.
And better than Prometheus and Covenant.
RTDness is there, which means as is tradition I’m unlikely to give it a second watch. But it’s quite enjoyable overall.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Second episode was good….up until The Shameless Selfish Indulgence At The End.
The less said about the baby episode the better (Apart from that oh so casual name drop of The Rani).
Really enjoyed the second one though, the Maestro was weirdly terrifying and I'm looking forward to seeing more members of The Pantheon (Although it speaks to Nu Who's obsession with ever increasing stakes that it takes god-like, other dimensional, reality-warpers to trouble the Doctor now), although I'm not happy the era of super special Companions has returned.
Space Babies (uuuuggggggh) really wasn’t as bad as I feared at first. I mean, it’s not still no great, but it could’ve been a lot, lot worse. And a good chunk of my distaste is talking babies creeping me out. Not “Looks Who Talking” style. But the digital mouth style. Doesn’t matter if it’s a movie, tv show or advert, it just creeps me right out.
Also, they massively over used the “SpAcE bAbIeS” line.
The Devil’s Chord though was really really enjoyable. The Maestro was a terrific villain, but the whole thing was nearly ruined for me by the superfluous ending.
I’m still in for the rest of the season, as I want to see what the injection of Disney Cash does for it. Better effects seem certain, but that’s not the only way one can spend cash on a kid’s science-fiction show.
First off, love the exuberance of Ncuti and the chemistry with Millie.
It seems like Rusty is retreading the 2005 launch and we're in prime 'animated wheelie bin and plastic Mickey' territory. We've had a present day adventure as the start, a 'celebrity historical' and a comedic adventure in the future. Therefore I'm sure things are going to 'darken up' as we progress.
Space Babies. Not my thing. when I saw the infants in jars I thought 'phew'. But then....
Still, the language filter gag and the literal bogey gung was funny.
The Devil's Chord This is better. The scene of ruby at the piano was sweet and we get out first old backstory reference for new viewers. Maestro was a pantomime villain of an enemy but they worked.
Like Tegan, I'm not fainted to go any further with Dr Who after the Christmas Special. Talking with some mates it's apparently got worse with the new episodes and I think I'll be better waiting until they get a new show runner.
Yup, a decent episode! Disney money seems to have been put to good use on costumes if nothing else. And some interesting concepts I might nick for Necromunda….
There were a few How? and Why? moments but the story was enough to pull you along for the duration. But why did the Doctor vanish? Who put the circle there in the first place? What did the old woman actually say to turn the closest to her against her? Maybe, as a supernatural story, those things may never be answered.
Not only am I a sucker for Folk Horror, but I do like a mystery. And it’s always nice to get a Doctor Light tale to boot, especially when the companion is new.
I thought the mention of UNIT getting involved in the supernatural too is probably setting the scene for the UNIT spinoff that's it's not just going to be aliens.
Interesting premise for ep4, but not so interesting for its runtime. And then just stopped without really answering a single question. Also the ending breaks established rules of time travel and paradoxes. I’m finding I like this Doctor and Companion, but most of the stories they’re being put into are mid.
OK, so kind of going for the feel of the first Weeping Angels episode, without just going for Weeping Angels. And some royalties for one Timmy Mallet! Also a slight feel of Day of the Triffids. And a dash of Knightmare and all.
Oh wow. And a pretty brutal murder! A surprisingly dark episode overall.
The flip could’ve gone horribly wrong, but I think they pulled it off nicely.
Spoiler:
Though as an increasingly curmudgeonly grump? The idea of social media devices deciding their users need to get it has a certain appeal. Goodbye, “Influencers”. Goodbye, Tik-Tok Numpties.
They absolutely fooled me with Ricky September, was totally expecting him to be the main villain, but nope, not only was he a good guy, he was probably the only good guy.
They absolutely fooled me with Ricky September, was totally expecting him to be the main villain, but nope, not only was he a good guy, he was probably the only good guy.
Hadn’t even considered it might be him. My prediction was
Spoiler:
that the humans were a herd being kept by the slugs specifically as a food source and they dots came from them to keep everyone calm and peaceful.
They absolutely fooled me with Ricky September, was totally expecting him to be the main villain, but nope, not only was he a good guy, he was probably the only good guy.
Hadn’t even considered it might be him. My prediction was
Spoiler:
that the humans were a herd being kept by the slugs specifically as a food source and they dots came from them to keep everyone calm and peaceful.
Spoiler:
I was suspicious of how competent and helpful he was.
Definitely a surprisingly well written episode. Because I’m not gonna lie, the trailer made it look crap.
Yet, here we are. Having enjoyed probably one of the finer Dr Who stories in recent years, and which in time may be seen as a genuine classic.
Spoiler:
Also shame on me for missing the racial allegory here. The Doctor is the only non-white cast member in this episode. And he’s treated pretty dismissively by those he’s trying to save. It is subtle, but it is there. Which again is arguably to the script’s favour.
Could’ve been darker though. Consider if the slug things were sent in by the parents, a way to quietly get rid of their most vacuous children.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Definitely a surprisingly well written episode. Because I’m not gonna lie, the trailer made it look crap.
Yet, here we are. Having enjoyed probably one of the finer Dr Who stories in recent years, and which in time may be seen as a genuine classic.
Spoiler:
Also shame on me for missing the racial allegory here. The Doctor is the only non-white cast member in this episode. And he’s treated pretty dismissively by those he’s trying to save. It is subtle, but it is there. Which again is arguably to the script’s favour.
Could’ve been darker though. Consider if the slug things were sent in by the parents, a way to quietly get rid of their most vacuous children.
Spoiler:
That might still be the case. A more gruesome 'Golgafrinchan B Ark' scenario. I first thought the bigotry might be colour, but they didn't say to Ruby "you're OK" so it might they are strangers/off-worlders/not from Homeworld. It might be deliberately left to the interpretation of the viewer.
Seeing their home world devoured kind of settled “wait, are the parents just getting rid” to bed in my mind.
But I guess it’s still possible “oh bugger, they’ve broken out!” could explain what happened there.
My fear is that someone might’ve kicked off watching Space Babies, called it a day there (and understandably so!). Because they’d be missing out on solid fare for the most part.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Definitely a surprisingly well written episode. Because I’m not gonna lie, the trailer made it look crap.
Yet, here we are. Having enjoyed probably one of the finer Dr Who stories in recent years, and which in time may be seen as a genuine classic.
Spoiler:
Also shame on me for missing the racial allegory here. The Doctor is the only non-white cast member in this episode. And he’s treated pretty dismissively by those he’s trying to save. It is subtle, but it is there. Which again is arguably to the script’s favour.
Could’ve been darker though. Consider if the slug things were sent in by the parents, a way to quietly get rid of their most vacuous children.
Spoiler:
That might still be the case. A more gruesome 'Golgafrinchan B Ark' scenario. I first thought the bigotry might be colour, but they didn't say to Ruby "you're OK" so it might they are strangers/off-worlders/not from Homeworld. It might be deliberately left to the interpretation of the viewer.
About the ending:
Spoiler:
Add in there 'not-rich, older (for The Doctor) and non-believers', and that's a lot to choose from.
Pretty average RTD fare. Acting is pretty decent, even the monster make up is uneven. And what feels like a pretty blatant “here, have a new Jack”.
Also, not sure that “I can’t allow you to kill them” and “I’ll send them into an empty dimension” are morally all that different. Sure, you’re not actively taking their lives, but you are consigning them to no food or water…
Yeah, Rogue was a little too Jack for me, I kept waiting for a reveal that he Was Jack, and I had a similar thought about the empty dimension. It didn’t get better when he made the comment about wanting them to just suffer for six hundred years. Otherwise I thought the premise was pretty good.
Shape-shifting aliens cosplaying as humans, was an interesting enough concept, as was the Doctor qualifying as a 'shifter himself due to regeneration). But the villains became too pantomine-ish. Maybe Indira Varma wanted something cartoony to be in Doctor Who after Susie).
The latest one was okay, had some interesting ideas, but they were trying too hard to make Rouge a tone-downed Jack.
Plus I'm always going to be a little weirded out by the Doctor being openly attracted to someone (My only real complaint about Fifteen so far is that he's just too dang flirty!).
The music being played in the ballroom was odd. I am sure they were playing 'Bad Guy' the first time the Doctor was on the balcony
[Yep, IMDB thinks so: When the Doctor is talking with Rogue on the balcony about brooding, the orchestra is playing an arrangement of "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish.].
Skinnereal wrote: The music being played in the ballroom was odd. I am sure they were playing 'Bad Guy' the first time the Doctor was on the balcony
[Yep, IMDB thinks so: When the Doctor is talking with Rogue on the balcony about brooding, the orchestra is playing an arrangement of "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish.].
When Ruby and Emily were'fighting' in the library it was a string ensemble version of 'Poker Face'.
OK, outside of Space Babies, I think this has been overall one of the better runs of Dr Who. And not just the new stuff.
I do wonder if perhaps Space Babies was someone forcing RTD to get all the RTD (not a rude acronym, for clarity) out of his system and instead focus on decent story telling, which he absolutely can do.
And this is a nice ramping up. So much so I don’t lightly say I was riveted. Good number of plot threads going on and not a little mystery.
I would have to agree, even the episodes I've had an issue or two with were still pretty good overall (Apart from Space Babies, such a bafflingly bad way to start the new season).
RTD has really being digging through old Who, first The Rani gets name dropped (Although I'm a little sad that it appears that that's as far as that goes) and now the Mara gets a mention.
And Kate seems to be getting really angry with the Doctor getting her people killed. Hopefully this isn't a way to write UNIT out of the show again (Although it is better than the last time, when it was disbanded because of budget cuts).
I do like that Anita Dobson’s character remains a mystery, but I agree it was a bit of a damp squib. Lots of jumping around and it never quite came together.
Having been out of the country for a few weeks I finally got to watch the last two episodes. Of course, anyone with the slightest online presence will have seen all the memes (there were 10 Sutekhs orbiting Galifrey in Day of the Doctor, a tiny Sutekh in Flatline, and did Fifteen create a second Sutekh with his magic hammer?).
Any, even knowing Sutekh was coming didn't detract from the impact of the cliffhanger. It was built up so well (I thought) that I didn't miss out too much from knowing who was coming.
The finale? Acceptable. a solid B-. Ruby's mum being just an ordinary person was sweet, and bringing death to Death = life? Well, I guess I can roll with that.
It's a shame that Sutekh was destroyed, but then Gabriel Wolf's 91, and Sutekh without him would be... well, it just wouldn't be right!
