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Skinnereal wrote: Is there a "This is what Brexit will do to us all!!!" vibe to the historical ones, or is it just me?
I don't think that was the intent.
This year being the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI there has been more of an emphasis in the UK media on the rile played by folks from the commonwealth.
I think that was the intent here plus a recognition of the absolute horror that partition brought about.
If it was a warning about anything it might be addressing the problem we humans still suffer from in modern times where neighbour or family turn against each other. That usually stems more from religious differences - which is something the writers might have been poking at.
Doctor Who Christmas Special will be on News Year's Day, the BBC have announced.
It will be an hour long prog featuring an insidious evil from human history.
Sounds exciting but I hope there will also be a good dose of fun and joy. The Christmas Specials have often been criticised for being too light-hearted, but I like that for a change of pace from the normal episode.
Compel wrote: It seems they're onto 1 good one, 1 bad one...
This episode was total tripe, and I think they forgot half their own plot elements.
Spoiler:
So, why were people getting liquidised again... I see the Doctor wasn't too angry at 'the system' for murdering Kira...
Bleh, just bleh.
Spoiler:
Aye that one was a bit...confused. I mean I kinda get what they were aiming for - technology isn't inherently bad, but can be put to bad uses - but I'm not quite sure they grasped the subtext of their own writing when you have the Doctor give a speech literally defending "the system"
I mean, you can conceivably read that episode as a defence of the employment practices and workplace policies of Amazon et al. Which, again, I get that likely wasn't the intent(or at least, hope it wasn't), but they've muddled their own messaging enough that it is a possible interpretation.
Also, if the real baddie was the maintenance worker all along and The System was trying to stop him...why was The System spoofing the missing workers' tags to make the management team think they were still alive? Hell, it sends the Doctor that message, it shows Generic Smarmy Middle Manager Bloke surveillance using some of the bots, it clearly still has some level of agency - why didn't it just inform someone that the guy mopping the floors was a radical luddite terrorist?
On the plus side, I can foresee some entertaining YouTube videos this Christmas of wee kids terrified to open their presents because of the bubble wrap, which I will(slightly guiltily) laugh at.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/11/19 00:04:06
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
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"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
I'm trying to like it, but it seems BBC america has returned to the days of Doctor Who where the music is so loud that it drowns out the speaking.
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."
Defo not getting that problem in the U.K., if that helps?
Half way through Kerblam at the moment, having had to renew my TV License this morning.
I’m getting shades of a better executed Paradise Towers. Whilst the original was a bit of a mess, the story itself was actually pretty damned excellent. Would’ve been twelfty times better with Ace rather than ‘third worst, after Clara and Adric in that specific order’ Mel.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
Yeah, Im watching the previous episode a out Pakistan, and to bear the voices the music is so loud I feared I'd wake the little ones in the next room over. So far this season it hadn't been a problem, but during the Peter Capaldi episodes it started to aggravate me so much I stopped watching.
I have heard of others experiencing it on BBC America, too.
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."
It's really odd! Do the editors remix the soundtrack for the US release? And if so, why?
There have been some TV shows in the UK which people grumbled about because the voices were so mumbling they were hard to hear (Poldark, for instance) but that wasn't competition from the music, it was just bad recording or direction of the voices.
The Poldark issue is due to the rest of the world subconsciously filtering out anything said by the Cornish (even pretend fictional ones)
A bit behind on Who just finished Demons, and whilst it hits the occasional mis-step the show works way better as a kids adventure of the week show than the cack-handed sci-fi fan-spank Matt and Mr Capaldi had to wrestle with, although 3 sidekicks sometimes seems one too many
"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED."
For me, Demons felt like I was trying to hear someone speaking to me while a live orchestra played in the background. The episode with Rosa Parks was perfectly fine.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/11/24 00:33:24
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."
Other than the opening music blaring out my speakers, I’ve not had any problems with it myself.
Otherwise kablamo was the weakest episode to date I think. It had some ideas there, but the plot was full of more holes than a sheet of bubblewrap two minutes after I’ve gotten my grubby mitts on it.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I think next week is the end of this year's run except for the Christmas Special which has been transposed to New Year.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/11/25 21:02:09
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
Witchfinders was alright really. On the good side of the line, but not one of the massively memorable ones I'd say. An average-good episode, I suppose.
The Witchfinders was alright, I thought - until the monster reveal. The infected Lady Savage turning her self-hate outwards onto others was great - and then she becomes another gloating B-monster with a funny face. Alan Cumming was great though as James I.
I dunno about anyone else, but in terms of the episode I felt it very close to the McCoy era (my favourite era. Other eras are available!).
The use of the companions is also getting better. Certainly far better than when The Doctor just travelled with one. Usually one looking at him and thinking 'Oh Doctor, you're ever so dishy' - which is one thing I just cannot stand in the New Who.
This lot genuinely feel like friends, like they've bonded over their adventures. Sure, they could do more with them, but it's only their first series.
Just wish they'd find a way to bring back Bill Potts. Seriously. Her time in The Tardis should be swapped for The God Awful Clara's time in The Tardis
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
The big plus of the series so far has been the seeming lack of a big concept overarching story arc involving The Doctor's dishy female companion being the secret saviour of the meta-cosmos. Again.
The last one started out a lot of fun. Bradley Walsh got some excellent one-liner asides in and the King was great. They were allowed to push the boat out with the sexism angle given the time period.
And then the last 5 minutes happened and my rating went from a 4/5 to a 2/5. Interesting Becka Savage became bland screechy 'take over the world' monster of the week. No ta. Three times now for me the historical episodes have been let down by the 'sci fi' elements that seem shoehorned in.
Interesting juxtaposition between the King's attitude towards Ryan and the repeated threats to 'fill the King' towards the end. Just me then?
“Good people are quick to help others in need, without hesitation or requiring proof the need is genuine. The wicked will believe they are fighting for good, but when others are in need they’ll be reluctant to help, withholding compassion until they see proof of that need. And yet Evil is quick to condemn, vilify and attack. For Evil, proof isn’t needed to bring harm, only hatred and a belief in the cause.”
MarkNorfolk wrote: The Witchfinders was alright, I thought - until the monster reveal. The infected Lady Savage turning her self-hate outwards onto others was great - and then she becomes another gloating B-monster with a funny face.
Well, yeah... it's Doctor Who.
B-monsters with funny faces are what it's all about.
Alan Cumming was great though as James I.
He certainly sank his teeth into the role, but it seemed just a little too ridiculously over-the-top, really.
Just wish they'd find a way to bring back Bill Potts. Seriously. Her time in The Tardis should be swapped for The God Awful Clara's time in The Tardis
While I don't disagree that more Bill would have been a good thing, we found Clara much less irritating on the 2nd run through.
Then again, I had the same thing with Donna - while my wife loved her, I found her excruciating on the first watch, but then she sort of grew on me the second time around. Billie Piper's constant puppy-dogging around didn't get any better, though...
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kilkrazy wrote: The Independent review makes the point that maybe this episode was too scary for children.
It's about time Doctor Who had them hiding behind the sofa again, I say.
I've never really got the claim that Doctor Who was a kid's show. There's a lot for kids to like (I certainly did), but an awful lot of not-very-child-friendly stuff going on, on a regular basis.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/11/27 23:38:13
Doctor Who was specifically conceived and designed as a children's programme.
The traditional transmission time was always between 5:30 and 6 on a Saturday afternoon, after the end of Grandstand (a general sports programme.) This used to be prime time for children's viewing at weekend.
Over the decades things have changed a bit. The revival with later transmission time perhaps placed it more as a teenage show, or at least a show for young children to watch with rather than without the parents.
It was never a ‘childrens’ programme, from the outset it was a ‘family’ programme and made by the drama department. It should appeal to children, but it’s not children’s programming.
Arguably most of its failures throughout the history of the show have been a result of sliding too far towards being ‘adult’ or ‘childish’ instead of offering something to all. The best parts of the show craft stories without patronising the younger viewers or insulting the intelligence of older viewers, becoming a comedy or outright nasty and frightening, being too simplistic or becoming obsessed with American style season arcs impenetrable to the casual viewer.
Howard A Treesong wrote: It was never a ‘childrens’ programme, from the outset it was a ‘family’ programme and made by the drama department. It should appeal to children, but it’s not children’s programming.
Arguably most of its failures throughout the history of the show have been a result of sliding too far towards being ‘adult’ or ‘childish’ instead of offering something to all. The best parts of the show craft stories without patronising the younger viewers or insulting the intelligence of older viewers, becoming a comedy or outright nasty and frightening, being too simplistic or becoming obsessed with American style season arcs impenetrable to the casual viewer.
the curse of fenric..... not for kids at all, scared the crap out of me when i was younger.
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