Doctor Who 2 (Avast! There Be Spoilers!)

[GNC]

But logically, if you make a Dr Who for people who don’t normally watch Dr Who, some of those are going to drop off. And then you’ve potentially already distanced yourself from traditional Who fans in the process.
The attention spans of those who’ve been watching streadily since the sixties can hardly be questioned.

Despite what some loud complainers have been claiming, there are plenty of dedicated Who fans who have watched the whole lot of the 2018 series, millions of them, and I'm one of them. They're the core, and if Chibnall can snag two or three million more that's not to be sneezed at. I'm not saying it's the best it's ever been, but I had a good time watching it. It'll be interesting to see how many people watch the New Year's special.

 

[Analogue Boy]

New Year episode. First the positives. I thought it was well structured and the pacing worked well.

Spoiler: Spoiler

But it all seemed a bit like a fan fiction version of a Dalek invasion and like a lot of this series rather derivative. One (alien) Backhugger mind squid. And a pretty rubbery one at that. The Worzel casing that has all the futuristic tech you’d be able to construct on a farm in a few hours. An excruciatingly tedious exchange when trying to contact UNIT by phone. Like the Doctor, who has a time machine, would.
Chekhov’s Microwave appears fairly early on and replaces the sonic as a way to attack the Dalek squid at the end.... entirely predictably.
Alien must have made a big impression on Chibnall as the same idea of sucking the huggy Dalek into space was used here.
The dialogue was childish when it was intended to be moving. Where did the (tiny) army come from?
Biggest bollocks was this. Remember the script from the bandage monster episode that must have read, ‘They are surrounded by robots on both sides. Just as they raise their guns and shoot, our heroes duck and both sides shoot each other’?
Well tonight’s was a tank that shoots a shell at the Dalek but the Dalek fires a rocket which nudges it out of the way and destroys the tank. Bollocks did it.

Assistants multiplied to the point where even the Tardis was straining for space. Oh. And Bubble was just as Bubble as usual.

Overall, better than most episodes of the series but that’s not really saying much. I’ll probably not bother with the next series based on this one.

 

[GNC]

Great holiday episode, just the thing to unwind with after dinner, who says Chibnall's stories are the worst? This was a cracking little thriller, taking a leaf out of RTD's first Dalek episode by keeping it small scale but with big consequences. Once again Bradley handles the emotional stuff with skill - we could forgive Ryan's dad for being human, but couldn't forgive the Dalek for being a big alien bastard. There's degrees of these things. Plus it rocketed along. Some good laughs, a dash of self-awareness, the ruthlessness this new series has contained giving it an edge, the only bad thing is that we have to wait a year for more. But this bodes very well, very well indeed.

 

[Analogue Boy]

Does your tv show programmes from an alternate universe because what I saw was very average bordering on crap.

 

[Anome]

Does your tv show programmes from an alternate universe because what I saw was very average bordering on crap.

Or it could be that some people enjoy different things.

Not having seen it, yet, I'll reserve judgement, but on the whole I'm willing to let other people enjoy things they like.

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

I enjoyed it!

There were a few WTF moments but it's a sci-fi kid's show so I don't really care. The body-possession stuff was creepy and great (Charlotte Ritchie was brilliant) and a single Dalek was actually scary again.

(By the way, they didn't knock-up all the hi-tech stuff in a workshop, they just made the casing in there. The kit was in those boxes they nicked from the arms company.)

 

[GNC]

Does your tv show programmes from an alternate universe because what I saw was very average bordering on crap.

Although we disagree, I do appreciate reading your comments for another perspective, but I'll never get on with the popular view on the internet that everything is either the worst thing ever or the best thing ever, with no in between. Something doesn't purely have to be a masterpiece for me to respond to it favourably. Plenty of things are just fine. I found a lot to like in last night's episode. Maybe DW isn't for you anymore?

 

[Analogue Boy]

Although we disagree, I do appreciate reading your comments for another perspective, but I'll never get on with the popular view on the internet that everything is either the worst thing ever or the best thing ever, with no in between. Something doesn't purely have to be a masterpiece for me to respond to it favourably. Plenty of things are just fine. I found a lot to like in last night's episode. Maybe DW isn't for you anymore?

It’s all gone downhill and I don’t think it is for me anymore. I’m not alone in this by any means and there’s a huge amount of criticism for this series. It’s not just that the scripts are weak, the casting is woeful and there are glaring contradictions and plot holes in each episode. It’s not just the fact this series has been very derivative of other sci-fi plots but has concentrated on the soapy exposition of the weak assistants rather than delving into the more interesting character of The Doctor. Who is just Bubble but without the range.

Oh.... and it didn’t help that the Dalek laughed like a Smash Robot.

I’m with the viewers on Rotten Tomatoes who’ve given it an audience score of 24%.

 

[Anome]

I enjoyed it. I wasn't overly happy with the Ryan storyline, it really did seem to bog down the narrative somewhat, but the race against time stuff was fun.

And for future reference, a rel seems to be about the same as a second, so it was about 2 and a half hours.

 

[Analogue Boy]

We also learned that Daleks can regenerate under UV. Which, of course, is in natural sunlight so all those Daleks killed on Earth could simply teleport themselves together, regenerate and continue their conquest as laughing mind squids. Bet The Doctor will be carrying a lot of Factor 50 from now on.

Or, more likely, it’ll be forgotten.

 

[Mr_Hermolle]

It was... okay. I actually stopped watching halfway through the last series, and I've watched Doctor Who my whole life. I guess the modern series just isn't for me any more. It just doesn't bear much resemblance to the series I love (still love) from my childhood / teenage years. I imagine some William Hartnell fans might have thought the same about later years too. hope it has a happy future though... now, where's that Twin Dilemma DVD...?

 

[GNC]

It’s all gone downhill and I don’t think it is for me anymore. I’m not alone in this by any means and there’s a huge amount of criticism for this series. It’s not just that the scripts are weak, the casting is woeful and there are glaring contradictions and plot holes in each episode. It’s not just the fact this series has been very derivative of other sci-fi plots but has concentrated on the soapy exposition of the weak assistants rather than delving into the more interesting character of The Doctor. Who is just Bubble but without the range.

Oh.... and it didn’t help that the Dalek laughed like a Smash Robot.

I’m with the viewers on Rotten Tomatoes who’ve given it an audience score of 24%.

It seems to me too many viewers (read: old time fans) are approaching the new series expecting to be disappointed, which is one way to protect yourself against what you may not like, but is also a way of preventing yourself enjoying what you might have ordinarily enjoyed. It's happening with Star Wars too. But plenty of people loved The Last Jedi, and plenty of people thoroughly enjoy the new DW, many of them newcomers without all this baggage and near-pathological need to denigrate the new fans.

You can either stay in the past or move with the times. If DW doesn't suit you anymore, move onto something else. A friend of mine hates most music post-1986 and nothing I say will convince him that, for example, 2018 was an excellent year for music (I think it was). Doesn't make him a bad person, he's just stuck with what he liked when he was younger. Although saying that he does enjoy the new DW... Then again, he thinks any SW after RotJ is worthless.

 

[Analogue Boy]

It seems to me too many viewers (read: old time fans) are approaching the new series expecting to be disappointed, which is one way to protect yourself against what you may not like, but is also a way of preventing yourself enjoying what you might have ordinarily enjoyed. It's happening with Star Wars too. But plenty of people loved The Last Jedi, and plenty of people thoroughly enjoy the new DW, many of them newcomers without all this baggage and near-pathological need to denigrate the new fans.

You can either stay in the past or move with the times. If DW doesn't suit you anymore, move onto something else. A friend of mine hates most music post-1986 and nothing I say will convince him that, for example, 2018 was an excellent year for music (I think it was). Doesn't make him a bad person, he's just stuck with what he liked when he was younger. Although saying that he does enjoy the new DW... Then again, he thinks any SW after RotJ is worthless.

If the future of Dr Who is going to be anything like that shit frog thing, include me out. Sod it, I’m already out.
And the Star Wars franchise is flopping for the pretty much the same reasons as Who’s ratings drop.

Don’t blame the mental approach of the viewer when the fare dished up is a thin, poorly plotted, badly acted, awfully executed shadow of a show people have stuck with for decades.

 

[GNC]

I'm just not seeing it like that, I'm seeing a conscious attempt to keep the franchise alive by making it change while keeping its core aesthetic. It's divisive, but it has to move on to stay vital, or else we get... the Colin Baker era. And nobody wants that.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I'm just not seeing it like that, I'm seeing a conscious attempt to keep the franchise alive by making it change while keeping its core aesthetic. It's divisive, but it has to move on to stay vital, or else we get... the Colin Baker era. And nobody wants that.

I missed out the entirety of the Colin Baker and Peter Davidson eras.

 

[GNC]

I missed out the entirety of the Colin Baker and Peter Davidson eras.

I liked Davison and was sad when Adric died (!) because I was a kid, but nobody I knew liked Colin. Revisiting his era, it's a mixture of ice cream headache gaudiness and the downright unpleasant. But it wasn't only DW going that route in the mid-80s, I suppose.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Only got around to watching it tonight.
Was one of the better stories of this relaunch, but Bubble's slack-jawed, gormless, gob-smacked expression is REALLY irritating me!

 

[ramonmercado]

Be sad to see the Dalek shed exterminated but it is in front of a listed building.

A family-run science fiction museum may be exterminated because a Dalek display does not comply with planning regulations.

The owners of the Museum of Classic Sci-Fi have been ordered to remove a shed from the front of their home which houses the replica Doctor Who villain. It has been on display since the museum opened in Allendale in October. Northumberland County Council said the shed did not fit in with the character of the couple's Grade II-listed home. Art teacher Neil Cole, who owns the museum with his wife Lisa, teamed up with members of an after-school club to build the Dalek.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-46990874

 

[DrPaulLee]

"Mission to the Unknown" to be recreated:

https://www.inquisitr.com/5308686/d...nced-for-lost-episode-mission-to-the-unknown/

 

[Mungoman]

I stopped watching this series half way through, and didn't bother to watch the Christmas episode.

It seems that it's getting a little too focused on the 'formula' of Doctor Who, and not the 'throw the manual out the window' Doctor Who that it has been...until recently.

At the start of each series I will watch a couple of episodes in the hope that things have changed - until then - I have other things to do.

The new Doctor reminds me too much of my Mum.

 

[DrPaulLee]

The new Doctor is the love child of David Tennant and Victoria Wood

 

[gordonrutter]

Some good Dr Who coming. The Patrick Troughton story The Faceless Ones is getting an animated blu Ray and dvd release, next year.

 

[Analogue Boy]

The Regeneration Problem.
The Dalai Lama has said his next incarnation, if a woman, should be attractive.
He also said she should have a sonic screwdriver and she should only use it while clenching her buttocks and straining an outstretched arm at the same time.,

Apparently, he’s getting internet flak for this.

 

[Mythopoeika]

They're surprised that he has a sense of humour.

 

[Stringtheory]

If anyone happens to use the free streaming app Pluto TV, they've recently added a classic Dr. Who channel. So all classic episodes, streaming 24 hours a day. With commercials of course, but it's no worse than any regular television channel would be. Watching "The Sun Makers" right now in fact.

 

[DrPaulLee]

RIP Terrance Dicks

 

[Anome]

At one point, it seemed he wrote all the Target novelisations, and every second TV story. The impact he had on people my age is probably larger than we realise.

Plus pretty much everyone who met him at cons or professionally found him lovely and encouraging.

 

[DrPaulLee]

I only met Terrance once, at a book signing at Longleat 83. I was delighted to find one of the only two Target books missing from my collection (Dinosaur Invasion) and Terrance signed it. I was thrilled to meet him and he was very pleasant. Of course, my mother embarrassed me with mum-isms: "He's got all your books" etc.

 

[Kryptonite]

RIP Terrance Dicks

Very sad news. I'd estimate that 90% of my reading from ages 8 till 16 was written by Terrance Dicks.

Thanks for everything Terrance, you won't be forgotten.

 

[ramonmercado]

I want one!

Engineer, 52, builds a life-size replica of a Doctor Who Dalek complete with a petrol engine that can reach speeds of up to 20mph - and a voice changer

• Andy Farley, from Wool in Dorset, constructed a 6ft 6inch life-size Dalek
• The replica of the Doctor Who nemesis was built from a 1973 Radio Times
• It has been names Top Fuel Dalek 478 - after the hours put in to its construction

By EMER SCULLY FOR MAILONLINE

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7515447/Engineer-52-builds-life-size-replica-Doctor-Dalek.html