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Doctor Who 2023

How is fifteen not using his brains? Be Sherlocked that cop, has been learning a new science, designed those gloves and generally worked things out quickly. He's definitely not relying on brawn!

We had a lot of plot nitpicks as usual - like why was a baby found in the countryside taken into inner London to be fostered? Why was she named Ruby after the road the church was on when the church was not on a road? Why were they just now decorating "to make the flat their own" when they've been living in it since the 80s (rent control)? Why did Mrs Flood completely change personality and suddenly know about the TARDIS at the end when she just thought it was a discarded police box at the start? Etc etc.

But overall we enjoyed it a lot. Fifteen is SO fucking charming, and we like Ruby and her family. The song worked. The bad guys were OK - there have been better, but there have also definitely been worse. And hopefully the next storyline won't be so plagiaristic.
 
It's fine, the joy for Boris Sprinkler and I was in the slating of it....so in that respect- it delivered to our satisfaction 🤣.

I do really like Nctui Gatwa though.
To be fair the last Doctor Who I recall watching was the 3D Eastenders/Drwho/Childreninneed mashup in the mid90s so I’m clueless really. But there were some continuity things that perplexed our slowed down minds. Like when he’s running and then in the next shot carrying a suitcase.
 
How is fifteen not using his brains? Be Sherlocked that cop, has been learning a new science, designed those gloves and generally worked things out quickly. He's definitely not relying on brawn!

We had a lot of plot nitpicks as usual - like why was a baby found in the countryside taken into inner London to be fostered? Why was she named Ruby after the road the church was on when the church was not on a road? Why were they just now decorating "to make the flat their own" when they've been living in it since the 80s (rent control)? Why did Mrs Flood completely change personality and suddenly know about the TARDIS at the end when she just thought it was a discarded police box at the start? Etc etc.

But overall we enjoyed it a lot. Fifteen is SO fucking charming, and we like Ruby and her family. The song worked. The bad guys were OK - there have been better, but there have also definitely been worse. And hopefully the next storyline won't be so plagiaristic.
What makes you think that the church was in the countryside? If the church was not on a road, how do people get to the church?
 
The Docs are always a mix of dark/cold/reserved/kind/emotional/egotistical and other things. From what I remember Colin Baker was at one of this messy continuum, whereas Gatwa is probably the nicest most open of the lot. Be interesting to see how they mix in the darker stuff later on.
 
Really? I have been watching a lot of Classic Who lately, and some of it is far better, story-wise and plot-wise. Much of it is not.
Really. Classic Who is strictly for aficionados who are willing to overlook appalling production values, plotting that is not just slow but often hits a stand-still for several episodes in a row, and which really doesn’t stand the test of time. Don’t get me wrong: I love Hartnell through to Tom Baker. But I wouldn’t want a casual viewer to watch even the best stories by mistake, thinking they were getting New Who.
 
Really. Classic Who is strictly for aficionados who are willing to overlook appalling production values, plotting that is not just slow but often hits a stand-still for several episodes in a row, and which really doesn’t stand the test of time. Don’t get me wrong: I love Hartnell through to Tom Baker. But I wouldn’t want a casual viewer to watch even the best stories by mistake, thinking they were getting New Who.
If I have the time, I might do a critique, and point out some Old Who that is well plotted, but don't hold you breath, as I probably will not.
 
Because she was pretending, in order to disguise her true identity. Except when she thought nobody was listening and couldn’t resist.
I hope that does turn out to be true and isn't just a weird thing that gets dropped.


What makes you think that the church was in the countryside? If the church was not on a road, how do people get to the church?

Because we see it from above and you can see quite far around it. It's definitely in the countryside. And it's in massive grounds set far back from any road. It's as if, when the script was written, they planned for it to be an inner city church, and then when it came to sourcing locations they ended up going for something different but kept the story the same.

Just like they have a northern main character who grew up in Notting Hill. Why not change it from Notting Hill to where the actress is from?
 
How is fifteen not using his brains? Be Sherlocked that cop, has been learning a new science, designed those gloves and generally worked things out quickly. He's definitely not relying on brawn!

We had a lot of plot nitpicks as usual - like why was a baby found in the countryside taken into inner London to be fostered? Why was she named Ruby after the road the church was on when the church was not on a road? Why were they just now decorating "to make the flat their own" when they've been living in it since the 80s (rent control)? Why did Mrs Flood completely change personality and suddenly know about the TARDIS at the end when she just thought it was a discarded police box at the start? Etc etc.

But overall we enjoyed it a lot. Fifteen is SO fucking charming, and we like Ruby and her family. The song worked. The bad guys were OK - there have been better, but there have also definitely been worse. And hopefully the next storyline won't be so plagiaristic.

They'd only recently moved there from up north to look after nan. Maybe it's nan's flat.

The most annoying thing about it was the fact they left the flat with a fucking great hole in the roof when there's a sickly old woman living there.
 
If you are going to go back in time to stop a baby being stolen, then why not go back to just before the kidnappers grab it, so you do not have to battle them for control of the baby? It would be less dramatic, but then the drama of that final battle was not worth watching anyway.
 
The most annoying thing about it was the fact they left the flat with a fucking great hole in the roof when there's a sickly old woman living there.
Not only that, but the granddaughter of the old woman then goes off for an adventure in time and space.
 
They'd only recently moved there from up north to look after nan. Maybe it's nan's flat.

The most annoying thing about it was the fact they left the flat with a fucking great hole in the roof when there's a sickly old woman living there.

They hadn't though. They'd lived there for decades.

Agreed about the damage to the house - they'd all have to move out.
 
People did not bother to change channels when Charles was speaking, so many "watched" his speech by default.

A few years ago I heard the Queen's Speech, because the radio was on, and I was busy doing something, and did not manage to get to the radio to turn it off.
 
People did not bother to change channels when Charles was speaking, so many "watched" his speech by default.

A few years ago I heard the Queen's Speech, because the radio was on, and I was busy doing something, and did not manage to get to the radio to turn it off.
But it’s on at a time nobody has the TV on. I’ve never seen it, accidentally or otherwise. If you’re not still eating dinner at 3 (and because of timing drift surely most people are), then you’re probably napping. Who has the tv on then? Only psychopaths.
 
Really. Classic Who is strictly for aficionados who are willing to overlook appalling production values, plotting that is not just slow but often hits a stand-still for several episodes in a row, and which really doesn’t stand the test of time. Don’t get me wrong: I love Hartnell through to Tom Baker. But I wouldn’t want a casual viewer to watch even the best stories by mistake, thinking they were getting New Who.
Would defend classic Who to the death, but also realise just how ropey a good deal of it is.

Am sure there are plenty of my generation who recoiled in horror at the thought of the first Dalek story being edited and colourised, but reckon it's a clever way to introduce this generation to the old stories, should they feel the need.

Started watching in 74/75 so had been too young to see the first 3 Doctors. But thanks to the Target books was able to enjoy the adventures. Seeing some of them years later... well, they just didn't live up to the Terrace Dicks, Malcolm Hulke etc novelisations.
 
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