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Dr. Who had lost its way a long time ago. I do not blame the actors, who have all been good.

It really has been the writing that has let it down. Too many member-berries, too much eccentricty, not enough cracking dialogue, and not eough solid Doctor and Companion interactions that highlight that the Doctor is not-all-right.

It tried to do monster-of-the-week with an overarching thread, but that type of story-telling is a bit played out now-a-days. I hoestly think the Doctor is perfect fit for Monster-of-the-week or planet-of-the-week or even theme-of-the-week story telling. It needs to get back to more of that.

I stopped watching after the transition from Matt Smith To Peter Capaldi. I'm sure there were some good episodes, but after watching since Tom Baker to the series revival with Eccleston I was ready to move on for a bit and just never felt compelled to go back.

Tales from the Crypt Season 7.

The final season, and Gor blimey apples and pears Mary Poppins! It’s only gorn and gorn all British, ain’t it? Roll out the barrel!

Happy to say that whilst a chance of pace? The quality is still here and there’s a lot of fun to be had.

Highly enjoying The Owl House on Disney+ with my daughter. Anarchic and hugely entertaining with a solid story arc and great world building. Yes it’s for kids, and plays out like 80s US school dramas, but the world is awesome. Especially Hooty!

 aku-chan wrote:
Yeah, it'll be a shame if this is it for Dr. Who, even though it hasn't been particularly good for a while now, I still enjoyed watching it.

Echoing what others have already said, if the show does come back, I would love to see it return to its roots. No more superhero Doctor saving the whole universe every week with their super special Companion/unrequited love interest, just let them be this eccentric alien hobo bumbling their way through time and space and getting up to shenanigans.
And also try and find a showrunner more interested in telling a good story than leaving their sticky hand prints on the lore.

(I'd also like no more "magic wand" sonic screwdriver, but I think that's 100% a lost cause at this point!)

The whole love interest thing was very unfortunate and a little creepy given the age differences. And the whole sonic screwdriver reliance is very bad.

Yeah. Also please, no more psychic paper. I’ve never liked that. I get it’s a time saving plot device, but it just always felt lazy to me.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Yeah. Also please, no more psychic paper. I’ve never liked that. I get it’s a time saving plot device, but it just always felt lazy to me.

For me things like that all depend on how they are used and presented.
It's like the sonic screwdriver - it did stuff in old Who but it was just there as a tool and nothing more. It didn't steal the show nor the moments.

In New Who there's a distinct shift and such tricks become repeat major solutions that make it feel like the Dr (or companions) does very little and the solution is always the fancy tool/item. They end up stealing the show and the problem there is that the characters start to lose value*



*which then often prompts writers to start pushing tell rather than show elements. Eg how so many characters tell us how amazing/awesome/terrifying etc... the Dr is. We don't see him do the things; other characters just keep telling us he's those things
It doesn't help that they handwave a lot of the Timelord War as this deep, dark depressing moment which is, again, often off-screen in intervals we don't see, but endlessly hear about.

The old Doctors never used psychic paper. There natural authority and way of doing things was enough. When in-control types asked who he was, he simply said, "I'm the Doctor." and his air of authority and power was enough to carry him. I miss that.

 Flinty wrote:
Highly enjoying The Owl House on Disney+ with my daughter. Anarchic and hugely entertaining with a solid story arc and great world building. Yes it’s for kids, and plays out like 80s US school dramas, but the world is awesome. Especially Hooty!

Love that show. Became a real comfort watch for me. Recommend it wholeheartedly.

And yes, Hootsifer is an absolute gem. They manage to thread the needle of "character which is annoying to people in-universe but not to the audience watching" with him.

The other two shows which make up the trifecta of the modern great Disney animated shows, Gravity Falls and Amphibia, are also very much worth a watch!

Revisiting Punished, One Last Kill

And I’m liking it even more. The first bit makes Castle look like a right English Monarch that reigned from 1016 until his death in 1035.

We see him having completed his revenge, and doing absolutely eff all about just how badly he’s destabilised his neck of the woods.

Then? We see him accept his self-caused responsibility and become a protector. Thinking beyond himself and his own vengeance.

So we get this nice loop from anti-hero (taking out people that absolutely caused untold misery) to uncaring English Monarch that reigned from 1016 until his death in 1035 and thinking of no one but himself, and then a somewhat more heroic anti-hero, using his same extremely questionable approach to protect the little people. Yet, in doing so? Almost, kind of, and I think I’d like to see that explored more in future, the very thing he originally set out to destroy.

Among Us

I know nothing about the game this is based on, apart from the fact it was really, really big during Lockdown time.
The show itself is a surprisingly good animated, horror/comedy take on The Thing, it's such a shame it's come out so long after the sun has set on its time in the pop culture spotlight, it's going to get completely overlooked and it quite frankly deserves better.

Squatters, Get The Flip Out Of My Home

Lightweight documentary series on squatters in the USA. Oddly entertaining.

The League of Gentlemen

A gloriously dark comedy, now an upsetting 27 years old.

It’s still got it, though of course it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Squatters, Get The Flip Out Of My Home

Lightweight documentary series on squatters in the USA. Oddly entertaining.

Not if you have to deal with these human vermin/thieves.

True. But there are happy endings to these shows.

Time Team

Enjoying some classic episodes on YouTube. Can’t think of a better way to spend a lazy Sunday when all the housework is done and the sun is shining,

Not only a genuinely informative show*, but one which shows just how passionate archaeologists are, and how much they love their job.

*To the point whilst I wouldn’t say I’d be especially competent, I do think I could join a dig and armed with the knowledge from Time Team, not be an active liability.

Because Glitch is fashionable of late;

The Amazing Digital Circus

Clips I'd seen of this series led me to believe it was some terminally online brainrot memefest. I mean, in a way it sort of is, but it's a lot more intelligent than that. For how goofy the show looks it's surprisingly emotionally deep, heartfelt, and fun. Really good series about tackling complex emotions, feeling stagnant in your life, and the importance of reaching out for help when you need it. One of the best series I've seen in a long time and honestly better and more sincere than anything coming out of Disney, HBO, or Paramount in years. 9/10 series. The humor and animation style will not be for everyone but it really aims for the feels and hits hard. The finale is a bit rough but does leave me satisfied with the conclusion of the series and its characters.

Murder Drones

Again, I thought this would be a cringefest of a show based on clips and it is. But this show owns the cringe with an earnestness that makes it nostalgic instead of painful. This show is why the Netflix DMC series deluded itself into thinking it could be; an edgy emo teen cringe fest straight out of the early 2000s but it makes all of that absurdity work with endearing characters, and a whole lot of quirk. I don't think it's as good as TADC, but I honestly think I enjoy it more. Funny bits and gags that aren't cookie cutter. Adorable characters. A really solid spooky mystery, and while its kind of tonally all over the place Murder Drones does the one thing any series absolutely should do; its fun. The first episode is a bit rough on the animation and VA department but it gets better with each episode after and has one of the most satisfying climaxes of any show I've seen in awhile. Really fun fight sequences. Genuinely creepy spooky parts. High rewatch value because clues and hints to the story are hidden all over the series and you won't notice all of them on the first viewing.

House of the Dragon, S3

Blimey, feels like this arrived really quickly! And it’s a joy to watch it on HBO Max, sparing me the frequent, insipid and typically utterly irrelevant ads on Now TV.

And it’s a strong start!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So, abandoning the original Gundam anime. Without slagging it off any, I need something with more of a pace. I can see why it became what it did, and why it remains beloved. But like other cartoons of that era? I think it’s something best enjoyed as a wide eyed kid, or a grown adult that was once that wide eyed kid that discovered something wonderful. Sadly, I didn’t get the chance to enjoy this as a nipper.

To quote Tim Bisley? I wasn’t there at the beginning. I don’t know how good it was, how important. But I absolutely can see how it birthed a massive fandom.

So I’ve moved on to Iron Blooded Oprhans. A good bit more modern in style and pace.

The Odyssey (1997)

Shamefully I must leave the faithfulness of this adapation of Homer's classic to those who've actually read it, but I genuinely like this two-part TV special starring a spirited cast featuring Armand Assante as Odysseus, with practical creature effects from the Jim Henson Company.

I'm a simple man who loves movie monsters and my interest in this whole tale is the sea monsters; one whom can destroy Odysseus' entire ship, the other that will only take a handful of his crew. While not taking the stopmotion path, the two monsters are still impressive for a TV show and being honest...rather scary! I think the problem with this scene is that Odysseus is meant to choose one or the other, but in this adaptation they end up falling prey to both in sequence. Once again I've not read the classic story, and must leave it up to others to pass judgement.

If not here for the monsters then...well...there is always Vanessa Williams! I must tip my hat to Little Britain and say....Ooooooh she's gorgeous!

I must also point out that I have spotted...TWO GREEK ACTORS! Yes indeed - Yorgo Voyagis portrays Agamemnon and Irene Papas as Odysseus' mum, Anticlea! Why given time we might see twice as much Greek representation in a Greek epic!