New Series of Dr Who

[TheHoodedClaw]

Although he should have just thrown some paint over the creature.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Found it enjoyable/abit different to the other episodes.

 

[strung out]

really lovely change of pace. got a tad sickly at the end, but not overly so i don't think. i enjoyed it.

 

[mwgdrwg]

The Ultimate Ginger

 

[Santino]

I wonder if it was originally a little darker, i.e. Vincent never gets over killing the misunderstood monster and that's why he kills himself.

 

[Santino]

STILL not ginger.

 

[strung out]

I wonder if it was originally a little darker, i.e. Vincent never gets over killing the misunderstood monster and that's why he kills himself.

not with richard curtis writing it. i'd imagine they had to tone down the cheesiness as much as possible, and it was still a bit cheesy.

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Tony Curran was outstanding. I'm not sure if I misheard, but did Richard Curtis manage to squeeze "contrafibularities" into the script when Vincent was asking about the Tardis console? If so bravo!

 

[mrsfran]

Cue Atomic Suplex complaining that it was mawkish and patronising.

 

[rollinder]

really lovely change of pace. got a tad sickly at the end, but not overly so i don't think. i enjoyed it.

^ this really. A bit silly in places (the Dr acting like a prat - like him getting fighting in the wrong direction and getting bored/frustrated by ) and Vincent looking at the tardis was sweet but corny. Bit overly smug/sentimental in the look how wondrous everyone thinks you/your paintings are gallery (that was lovely though) & life is wonderful now scenes but they kept it real by showing Vincent being overwhelmed by it all & Bill Neigh doing the mental 'that looks like...nah can't be' followed by the punch that even letting him know he would be appreciated in the future wasn't enough to change established (real) history and him from being consumed by his own demons.

Vincent picking up Amy's secret loss and The Doctor accidentally calling him Rory was (and him being extra nice to her + her "I'm not the marrying kind" )

Thought the creature was better when it was as a monster rather than a dino Turkey from Primevil until it was shown that was meant to be the point.

Good he/they (wonder how much was actually by Curtis) didn't sanitise Van Gough mania and despair & it wasn't written as him as a wacky painter who wasn't mad just seeing aliens. The Doctor telling him he didn't think he was mas as depression is very complicated was v good writing - so was the moment Vincent realised 'the monster' was lashing out from the same fear as the people who'd attacked him

Little bit similar to The Unquiet Dead with Dickens (historical figure gets a moment of hope and knowledge they'll be appreciated in the future but still dies).

at squashing the credits for the "if you've been affected by any of the issue in this programme.." help thing.

Although he should have just thrown some paint over the creature.

^ true dat lol

The Doctor's done it before too.

 

[rollinder]

I wonder if it was originally a little darker, i.e. Vincent never gets over killing the misunderstood monster and that's why he kills himself.

^ if only.

but there's nothing to contradict that.

adding to what I've just typed (got interrupted by a phone call), when Amy went back to the gallery talking about lots of new paintings, I had a horrible feeling that it would really dark & they were going to show time totally fucked up - i.e no Van Gough exhibit because if he hadn't died as established no one would cared about his paintings.

V cool getting a Hartnell & Troughton id printout and 'Reign Of Terror' /geek

 

[spanglechick]

I think it was excellent, and yes, it made me cry.

I find it funny that people can't credit curtis with the whole script, or not without having his hand held during writing (something like who, everyone's script will need rewrites as they check -in with the series arcs etc.)

don't get me wrong - i've no time for curtis's love of sentimentality and cheese... but he's an accomplished writer. It seems completely credible to me that someone whose writing includes the last series of Blackadder would also want to write the darkness in this.

I applaud Who generally (and specifically here) for not skirting around some of the hardest parts of being a person - here manic depression and suicide (and there was another suicide in the Waters of Mars - and those are only to my recollection) despite it being squarely, if not exclusively, aimed at kids of about six and up. Bloody good stuff.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

I cried! But I love Vincent Van Gogh's work and one of my dreams would be to show him what his paintings mean now

 

[cybertect]

Good he/they (wonder how much was actually by Curtis) didn't sanitise Van Gough mania and despair & it wasn't written as him as a wacky painter who wasn't mad just seeing aliens. The Doctor telling him he didn't think he was mas as depression is very complicated was v good writing - so was the moment Vincent realised 'the monster' was lashing out from the same fear as the people who'd attacked him

Fuck.

Yes.

I knew Richard Curtis' sister quite well. She suffered from bipolar disorder and killed herself last year.

I'm now trying to work out when he wrote the script.

 

[T & P]

I thought it was a lot blander than usual for this series. Enjoyable story, but far less thrilling and eventful than usual.

 

[SpookyFrank]

A little light but enjoyable. I even liked the ending, bar the shit music anyway.

They managed to deal with the mental illness theme with some degree of subtlety and class as well as humour, the idea of a monster only Van Gogh could see was effective on a number of levels IMO.

e2a: yeah, and when they were laying there looking up at the stars...that got me a bit choked up. Bill Nighy's speech as well. That Curtis is an evil genius when it comes to schmaltz.

 

[TAE]

I really like the new series.

At the end, in the gallery, I was half expecting to see a painting of Amy somewhere in background which they both miss. The writing on the vase was a much nicer touch though.

The doctor clearly remembers Roy, interesting ...

 

[spanglechick]

this week's confidential is worth watching, if you skip all the 'this is how we do stunts' bollocks. In the last section (from about 36 mins on) they talk about dealing with depression as a storyline.

Moffat is quite clear that Curtis wanted to tell a story about how you can't save people from their own demons, even if you're the doctor. In light of the revalation about his sister above (for which, thanks awfully, cybetect) I can see that quite sincerely in his contributions to Confidential.

 

[spanglechick]

btw, surprisingly relieved not to see the crack being shoehorned in.


another thought: is this the first ep of Moffat's era not to feature a child?

 

[cybertect]

On a slightly less personal note, this was a bit of a return to the 1960s style stories - going back in time to visit a historical character or event (Marco Polo or the French Revolution in the first series in 1964). That the machine showed Hartnell and Troughton Doctors was somewhat appropriate.

 

[spanglechick]

On a slightly less personal note, this was a bit of a return to the 1960s style stories - going back in time to visit a historical character or event (Marco Polo or the French Revolution in the first series in 1964). That the machine showed Hartnell and Troughton Doctors was somewhat appropriate.

There's been at least one in every new who series:

Ecclestone - Dickens
Tennat S1: Queen Victoria, Mme de Pompadour
Tennant S2: Shakespeare
Tennant S3: Agatha Christie
Smith: Churchill, Van Gogh

did i miss any?

 

[TAE]

btw, surprisingly relieved not to see the crack being shoehorned in.

Ah yes, that's the other thing I was half expecting to see on a painting at the end.

Worth going back to iPlayer for?

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

On a slightly less personal note, this was a bit of a return to the 1960s style stories - going back in time to visit a historical character or event (Marco Polo or the French Revolution in the first series in 1964). That the machine showed Hartnell and Troughton Doctors was somewhat appropriate.

Yup, educate, entertain and inform.

 

[krtek a houby]

Cue Atomic Suplex complaining that it was mawkish and patronising.

 

[danny la rouge]

I much prefer the historical stories, so this was good for me. I liked it very much, right up to the ending, which I thought was typical Curtis emotional manipulation.

 

[cesare]

Call me a sentimental old fool, but that made me cry. Just a little bit, mind.

Made me cry quite a lot

 

[PursuedByBears]

Cue Atomic Suplex complaining that it was mawkish and patronising.

Not sure whether I liked the episode or not... but all the way through I was thinking "Atomic Suplex is going to HATE this..."

 

[DotCommunist]

I thought t was OK but lacked the crack and there was not enough Amy time. Other than that a solid, if not classic, episode.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

liked very much

ending was a bit wonky but i did like it it just felt a little ott inn places

i'm glad the crack wasn't there... it should either be somew3hat integral to the episodes such as the first one or the weeping angels one or at least be a major plot point such as vampires in venice... it's really shit when it's just shoved in like in starship uk or the dalek one

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

and although mawkish as hell in places i don't think it feels patronising in the same way that some episodes are it managed to be fairly adult in presentation