Doctor Who 2024 - News, views, spin-offs

[Silas Loom]

I am really looking forward to tomorrows episode, I normally watch when it is aired according to the schedule, but I have to be up early tomorrow at around the time N gets home from work - does it go on iPlayer from midnight tonight? Or do we have to wait til Sunday to watch together?

It’s Thursday.

 

[Epona]

It’s Thursday.

Oh ffs

 

[Epona]

Thank you though.
Just trying to rearrange things I have to do now I know where we are in the week.

 

[Epona]

It's all the time travel, I think the TARDIS must have had a hiccup and I arrived a day earlier than planned

 

[PTK]

I have watched most of the episodes of the current series on Sunday mornings, for some reason.
I was annoyed when the episode last week ended, and wished that I had known it was a two-parter, then I could have watched them together.
I am irritated that Doctor Who is on for so few weeks. In the good old days, it was on for most of the year.

 

[Epona]

I have watched most of the episodes of the current series on Sunday mornings, for some reason.
I was annoyed when the episode last week ended, and wished that I had known it was a two-parter, then I could have watched them together.
I am irritated that Doctor Who is on for so few weeks. In the good old days, it was on for most of the year.

I've been watching Saturday night when it's aired, but re-watching Sunday morning with N cos he works nights including over the weekend, and isn't at home in the evening to see it - and I like to watch it with him to see his reactions and discuss it.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Hmm. I think Who strayed away from hard sci fi a very very long time ago. It might have been supposed to be something along the lines of what you say in 1963 but I don't think there was a lot left of that by the seventies.

Rubbish.

They moved away from the educational element pretty early on, and it became more sci-fi based if anything. To reinforce this, it wasn't until something like Black Orchid (Peter Davison- no.5) which stood out as being a purely historical episode. The only sci fi element by that stage was only the TARDIS and the TARDIS crew which was the delivery mechanism. That was 1982 (we think).

It stood out as being historical because everything before then and after that was sci fi heavy (not fantasy).

Since then, when nu Who started, it was still mainly sci-fi with some weirdy shit in it, but it was always more star wars than LOTR.

Modern who, Disney who (and maybe starting with Capaldi, but not really total garbage until Whittaker,), is just a bunch of old shite.

It really is. Weak writing. Hardly any research into science. Weird incomplete story arcs where they wish away gaping plot holes with rubbish "magic wand" resoltion reminiscent of Dallas "and then JR woke up".

It's all hyped up, over dramatisation, with no build up of any tension and out of place dialogue. Meanwhile (the thing that must not be named) RTD is cuckooing it for his own mid life crisis political agenda.

It seriously needs another hiatus.

We used to watch it live. Can't be arsed anymore. Even this took us a week to be brave enough to get round to and the cringe was hard.

It really is a pity but Cukoos are gonna Cuckoo, and parasites are gonna parasite.

 

[Epona]

OK then...

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

 

[danny la rouge]

It really is a pity but Cukoos are gonna Cuckoo, and parasites are gonna parasite.

Weird.

 

[CNT36]

Rubbish.

They moved away from the educational element pretty early on, and it became more sci-fi based if anything. To reinforce this, it wasn't until something like Black Orchid (Peter Davison- no.5) which stood out as being a purely historical episode. The only sci fi element by that stage was only the TARDIS and the TARDIS crew which was the delivery mechanism. That was 1982 (we think).

It stood out as being historical because everything before then and after that was sci fi heavy (not fantasy).

Since then, when nu Who started, it was still mainly sci-fi with some weirdy shit in it, but it was always more star wars than LOTR.

Modern who, Disney who (and maybe starting with Capaldi, but not really total garbage until Whittaker,), is just a bunch of old shite.

It really is. Weak writing. Hardly any research into science. Weird incomplete story arcs where they wish away gaping plot holes with rubbish "magic wand" resoltion reminiscent of Dallas "and then JR woke up".

It's all hyped up, over dramatisation, with no build up of any tension and out of place dialogue. Meanwhile (the thing that must not be named) RTD is cuckooing it for his own mid life crisis political agenda.

It seriously needs another hiatus.

We used to watch it live. Can't be arsed anymore. Even this took us a week to be brave enough to get round to and the cringe was hard.

It really is a pity but Cukoos are gonna Cuckoo, and parasites are gonna parasite.

They did move away from it but I think it still persisted in some form for a long time. They often used sci fi concepts to illustrate scientific theories. Black Orchid was significant for being the last purely historical episode. Historical stories were common for the first doctor and still a thing for the second. I'd argue one of the more interesting thing Chibnall did was try to sneak historicals in by the backdoor. In Demons of the Punjab for example the sci fi was very much a B story. The historical events happening around them and Yaz's personal connection to them was very much the focus.

 

[danny la rouge]

In Demons of the Punjab for example the sci fi was very much a B story. The historical events happening around them and Yaz's personal connection to them was very much the focus.

One of the best episodes of the Chibnall era.

RTDI had historicals too, though. Lots of them. Dickens, Shakespeare, WWII, Pompéi, and so on. Not as teachy as Chibnall, but that’s a good thing. The Punjab episode was one of the very few he wasn’t too heavy handed with the “and the moral of the story is…” vibe.

 

[lazythursday]

Chibnall's first season had pretty much everything FabricLiveBaby! thinks should be Who. It was very much back to basics, less hype, less bombastic drama, a more realistic tone. And I had high hopes for it, but that style of Who turned out to be dull as fuck.

I think the RTD approach has some huge flaws. But it's an entertaining ride, on the whole, with some absolutely terrible episodes you have to get through. I feel like there should be a way of making Who that combined the grounded realism of Chibnall season one with the clever plotting of Moffat and the emotional range / character focus of RTD but i fear I'll be still hoping for my personal vision to be realised on my deathbed.

 

[danny la rouge]

I think RTD as show-runner, but Moffatt doing some writing is a far better formula than Moffatt as show-runner. I think RTDI, especially the Eccleston season, was the benchmark. Russellon’s domestic drama is the grounding that is needed for the sci fi to work better. When he gets that right, it’s magic. He pulled it off with the Tennant return episodes that had Donna’s family. That’s the stuff. His sci fi/fantasy is weaker, but he nails the family stuff. And he and Moffatt, by the way, both have a tendency to drone on with too much emoting after the plot conclusion. Stories need to reset stasis after the plot conclusion, but we could cut back on the number of minutes spent doing that.

Moffatt on the other hand is crap at writing relationships, realism and, interestingly, female characters. And as show runner he lost me a lot of the time.

RTDII has not lived up to RTDI yet. There’s something off about the tone and pacing. But none of it is as bad as 80s Who.

 

[Gromit]

lazythursday and danny la rouge

If you want a job done properly...

I suggest you too join forces to write Doctor Who fanfiction. It's becomes so popular you get recruited by the BBC to be the new showrunners. Bringing in a new golden era of Who that is talked about two centuries later...



Whilst simultaneously being sued by Disney for copyright infringement, as they're like that.

 

[danny la rouge]

lazythursday and danny la rouge

If you want a job done properly...

I suggest you too join forces to write Doctor Who fanfiction. It's becomes so popular you get recruited by the BBC to be the new showrunners. Bringing in a new golden era of Who that is talked about two centuries later...



Whilst simultaneously being sued by Disney for copyright infringement, as they're like that.

Nah. My job as a fan is to moan, not to try to do it better!

 

[starfish]

Was a bit bored with the football last night so while blipping about it seemed that bbc4 was showing the Pyramids on Mars episodes, so i watched that for a bit. Cant say if i remembered them or not but it was a fun half hour or so.

 

[lazythursday]

Nah. My job as a fan is to moan, not to try to do it betteri

I think what you meant to say was 'conduct important socio-cultural criticism' not 'moan', but otherwise I agree, creativity is for people with far higher motivation and commitment than me.

 

[CNT36]

One of the best episodes of the Chibnall era.

RTDI had historicals too, though. Lots of them. Dickens, Shakespeare, WWII, Pompéi, and so on. Not as teachy as Chibnall, but that’s a good thing. The Punjab episode was one of the very few he wasn’t too heavy handed with the “and the moral of the story is…” vibe.

I'd say they were sci-fi stories set in the past rather than historicals. An argument could be made otherwise of course. A pure historical would be something like the Aztecs or Marco Polo where for better or worse the TARDIS drops them off then the characters are drawn into a story without aliens and lasers etc.

 

[CNT36]

Was a bit bored with the football last night so while blipping about it seemed that bbc4 was showing the Pyramids on Mars episodes, so i watched that for a bit. Cant say if i remembered them or not but it was a fun half hour or so.

It's a good story. The radio telescope bit was a bit weird. The free Scarman brother invented it early but it was never developed why/how or did I miss something?

 

[danny la rouge]

It's a good story. The radio telescope bit was a bit weird. The free Scarman brother invented it early but it was never developed why/how or did I miss something?

No, he just has:


DOCTOR: Interesting contraption.
LAURENCE: Kindly leave that alone, sir. That apparatus is delicately adjusted, and furthermore is a receiver containing highly dangerous electrical current.
DOCTOR: Yes, so I see. What year is this?
LAURENCE: What year?
DOCTOR: It's a simple enough question, surely.
LAURENCE: Are you telling me you don't know what
DOCTOR: If I knew I wouldn't ask. Don't be obtuse, man.
LAURENCE: Nineteen hundred and eleven.
DOCTOR: Ah. Splendid. An excellent year. One of my favourites. Yes. I really must congratulate you, Mister Scarman.
LAURENCE: On what?
DOCTOR: Inventing the radio telescope forty years early.
LAURENCE: That, sir, is a Marconiscope. It's purpose…
DOCTOR: Is to receive radio emissions from the stars.
LAURENCE: How could you possibly know that?
DOCTOR: Well, you see, Mister Scarman, I have the advantage of being slightly ahead of you. Sometimes behind you, but normally ahead of you.
LAURENCE: I see.
DOCTOR: I'm sure you don't, but it's very nice of you to try. Now, why don't you show me how this gadget works?
LAURENCE: Do you mean you want me to
DOCTOR: Please. Just a little demonstration.
(Scarman flicks three switches then pulls down a lever, which connects the electrical circuit with a spark and cloud of smoke. The wheel begins to spin.)
DOCTOR: Amazing. That's really amazing.
(Scarman disconnects the power but the wheel continues to spin faster and faster.)
LAURENCE: I can't switch it off!
(A large diode explodes and the machine finally dies.)
SARAH: Oh, very impressive.
LAURENCE: It's never done that before.
DOCTOR: Fascinating. A regular pattern repeated over and over again.
SARAH: Like an SOS?
DOCTOR: I wonder. Where was your aerial tuned?
LAURENCE: Mars. Why?
DOCTOR: I just thought I'd verify the signal.
(The Doctor takes a small radio from his pocket and extends the aerial.)
LAURENCE: What's that you have, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Well, in principle it's exactly the same as the gadget you've invented, only less cumbersome. Yes, it is the same signal. Obviously automatic. Well, if it's a message, it shouldn't be difficult to decipher. They'd want to make it easy.
(The Doctor starts to make notes in his notebook.)
LAURENCE: Who would?
SARAH: Whoever transmitted it.

 

[CNT36]

It was just a really contrived way of picking up the signal from Mars. "I've made this and pointed it at the one place I'd receive a signal crucial to the plot".
Obviously it needed 6 episodes.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

I'm tempted to rewatch PoM before watching tmoz's finale. I know most fans view it as one of the all-time best serials ever, but I remember being quite ill when I first watched it, drifting in and out of fever dreams etc, and so not liking it as a result. That being said, I watched the One Show this evo after my Friday afternoon snooze - only because Cyndi Lauper was on - and she said she'd watched it (in her hotel presumably) so for her sake, I'm willing to give it another go!

 

[Epona]

I'm tempted to rewatch PoM before watching tmoz's finale. I know most fans view it as one of the all-time best serials ever, but I remember being quite ill when I first watched it, drifting in and out of fever dreams etc, and so not liking it as a result. That being said, I watched the One Show this evo after my Friday afternoon snooze - only because Cyndi Lauper was on - and she said she'd watched it (in her hotel presumably) so for her sake, I'm willing to give it another go!

Of Classic Who, certainly my favourite story - yes it does look a bit dated now, but I think it's probably worth a watch even if just to get the background on the enemy in the current story.
And yeah watching stuff when you're ill and hallucinating due to fever (which is not nice in the way that doing it voluntarily in good health can be!) can be a very odd experience.

 

[PR1Berske]

Watching last week's before going straight into the new drop.

 

[Gromit]

Just finished Ep8.

That was really really really bad.
I'm trying to work out if it was so bad it was good. Nope, just plain bad.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

So Tom Baker got blamed for the fire of london in 1666 (Pyramids of Mars finale), but it was Davison Who started it later. Does that mean that there was a bit of off screen (almost) crossover?
Maybe someone found the sonic screwdriver and blamed Baker, who said "Can't be me, I still have mine" (or something). . . but then it does turn out to be him.

Baker also says he told Newton how gravity worked in 1666. He was in the tree (as baker or a previous doctor) and drops an apple on Newton, but Newton still doesn't get it, and the Doctor explains it to him over dinner. . . but in 1666 Tennant smashes into a tree (same one?) and Newton mishears 'maverty'. Does this wipe out that timeline? That doctor? Timey wimey?

Fucks sake.

 

[Silas Loom]

That was pretty bad. So, two duffers to open, four that ranged from very good to perfectly adequate, and a two-part finale that was Davies at his incoherent soppy worst. Can we have Moffat back now?

Actually, scrub that. Can we have a room full of young, hungry writers on fat Disney salaries who challenge each other viciously on every line and on whether every plot point actually makes sense?

 

[PR1Berske]

So, here goes.

Broadly speaking, an alright season closer.

RTD is great with human emotions, he's a soap opera producer at heart. And the unfortunate consequence of being such a good "realist" is you can't marry that with the supernatural or the science-fiction.

It was a good collection of suggestions, with some very high high points, and some rather low low points. We've had much worse.