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Doctor Who [Spoilers]

"Plus science fiction has historically been the biggest advocate of diversity in casting, and DW is no exception."

Not in DW "historically". Pre 2005, there were comparatively very few non White actors and actresses cast. We didn't even get our first non white companion until after the revival (and I'm not including K9 or Kamelion)
 
Do you mean when The Master was revealed to the Nazis? I kind of assumed she knew he'd get out of it, he's been in bigger scrapes before, but it would take a long time, and it did.

If you're talking cruelty, the Doctor watched the Master be burnt to a crisp in "Planet of Fire" and did nothing about it.
 
Dr Who asking a presenter to show him her tits in a corporate video for ZANUSSI in 1981 .. right at the end of the video ..



I recognise that actress! She was in The Profressionals a few times (Cowley's secretary/PA) and was also in The Upper Hand.



Same here, but I fear we'll just be rehashing well-worn arguments if we get into this again.

Also, Jodie has a new single out, joining the ranks of musical Doctors like Jon Pertwee ("I am the Doctor!"), Peter Davison ("We're off to Button Moon!") and Sylvester McCoy (playing the spoons).

Peter Davison did the theme tune for Button Moon? I never knew that.
 
Enjoyed these first two episodes, but I thought the but where the Doc removed the perception filter was a bit out of character.
The problem I have with that is the Germans were coming to arrest the Master disguised as a German officer, who most of them probably knew. But the version they knew was as seen through the perception filter. The Doctor removes the perception filter showing this now Asian man. This is not the Master they have come to arrest so there may be some non aryan issues but they no longer believe they have arrested the spy they were going for.
 
The problem I have with that is the Germans were coming to arrest the Master disguised as a German officer, who most of them probably knew. But the version they knew was as seen through the perception filter. The Doctor removes the perception filter showing this now Asian man. This is not the Master they have come to arrest so there may be some non aryan issues but they no longer believe they have arrested the spy they were going for.
Maybe it just appeared to them that he had been "whiting up" all this time but still looked the same otherwise?
 
Nice little medley of sci-fi classics, there. Alien, Aliens, Time Machine, Terminator.... and a bit of The Magic School Bus...

...bus wankers...
 
Nice little medley of sci-fi classics, there. Alien, Aliens, Time Machine, Terminator.... and a bit of The Magic School Bus...

...bus wankers...
And it still managed to be the worst ever epsiode of Dr Who ever. I feel it may be time for me to move away from the new, emerging Who.
 
I missed the first 10 minutes or so tonight, and ended up sort of half-watching the rest. There were a few good bits, but the last couple of minutes were more than a bit preachy, the kind of stuff that recent Who has been accused of. The Doctor might as well have been facing the camera and wagging her fingers at us...

Still, I haven't quite given up on this season yet, as I thought that Spyfall was a pretty solid piece of entertainment. But maybe, that exemplifies the problem with modern Who - cramming a whole story into 50 minutes is really hard, especially when you've got to set up the whole premise of a new location, new monsters, new friends and heroes, and finish the story in a neatish way. 2-parters (equivalent to the old 4-parters* of the last century!) give the writers more opportunity to vary the pace, and tell a much more complete tale.

*Yes, I know that some stories were 6 25-minute episodes or even more - quite a few Pertwee ones were 7 episodes long, so some reason - but the 4-parters were normally the ones I enjoyed the most. Apart from Genesis of the Daleks, of course, which was one of the best 6-part stories ever. Fact!
 
I think I may need to say the following to current Dr Who
"One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye "
 
A line of argument I've seen cropping up a lot is that Who and 3 companions is too unwieldy. Bradley Walsh is a good enough actor to absolutely hold his own, and I agree with the idea that just Whittaker and Walsh would give the narratives more time to develop rather than scrabbling about looking for things for the youngsters to do. I get they were shoehorned in for additional juvenile empathy reasons, and they do their best, but mostly they get in the way. See how it works with a two-hander.
 
Well, when the series started in the 60s the Doctor had three companions, and he had three companions near the start of the 80s too, I didn't consider it a problem.

Anyway, tonight's started as The Leisure Hive Part 2 and ended up as Threads. Nice to hear Laura Fraser in her normal accent for a change. The big reveal was very Planet of the Apes (1969) and I had to laugh at our ultimate fate (it was a hollow laugh, in case you think I'm being insensitive). But science fiction is about big ideas, and I have no problem with DW giving them a go. Not my favourite episode of NuWho, but I'm still enjoying it.
 
Well, when the series started in the 60s the Doctor had three companions, and he had three companions near the start of the 80s too, I didn't consider it a problem.

Anyway, tonight's started as The Leisure Hive Part 2 and ended up as Threads. Nice to hear Laura Fraser in her normal accent for a change. The big reveal was very Planet of the Apes (1969) and I had to laugh at our ultimate fate (it was a hollow laugh, in case you think I'm being insensitive). But science fiction is about big ideas, and I have no problem with DW giving them a go. Not my favourite episode of NuWho, but I'm still enjoying it.
I welcome big ideas being tried, plenty of times the Tardis has been very full. But poor writing and acting I do not welcome. I think the music is brilliant, I think Bradley Walsh is excellent, I enjoyed Sacha Dhawan as the Master but as for the rest of it...
 
That's a heck of a lot more than a lot of TV science fiction has! Maybe we could get Alexander Armstrong to appear on Star Trek.
 
Well, when the series started in the 60s the Doctor had three companions, and he had three companions near the start of the 80s too, I didn't consider it a problem.
Fair point - maybe that should be companions with something to do. Walsh is head and shoulders better developed, scripted and played than the younger ones.
 
Yaz in particular seems like a hanger-on, but Ryan has the whole "reluctant dad" thing with Graham I find quite endearing.
 
I like Yaz! she remind me of someone I know in a similar walk of life!
 
Yaz in particular seems like a hanger-on, but Ryan has the whole "reluctant dad" thing with Graham I find quite endearing.
As I say I don't blame the actors, it's the script development at fault. Ryan's reluctant dad thing again - to me - is more part of Graham's arc than Ryan's.
 
I have been a fan since Pertwee (went back and watched the Troughton episodes..never really have seen many of the Hartnell ones).....,after college my wife and I moved into a small apt in 1975 and one night during dinner Dr Who came on the local PBS station. It was toward the end of his run and the new Doc, Baker , started a few weeks later...I have enjoyed all of the Docs even Mc Coy who some people panned.
I like Whitaker as an actress but for some reason she just doesn't capture Dr Who for me (and I miss Capaldi...). But I did like the 2 part Spyfall.....haven't seen the newest one yet. I also feel that the Tardis is a bit crowded...and I can't say I really care for any of the current companions. I would welcome some change.
 
I wouldn't put too much store by that - check IMDB and you'll see the biggest movies of the past few years are littered with 1/10 reviews. Some people just aren't happy unless they're whingeing. Unfortunately they have very loud voices.
 
Critics' Score: 80%

Audience Score: 16%
Something strange going on over there...
Rotten Tomatoes deletes all the early user reviews for Doctor Who: Season 12

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has scrubbed all the initial user reviews for season 12 of science fiction drama Doctor Who from its site.

YouTuber Sheila Allen, who previously drew attention to the Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker being stuck at 86%, discovered that the Rotten Tomatoes user reviews for Doctor Who season 12 had been purged sometime between January 9 and January 11.
https://reclaimthenet.org/rotten-to...a0ZRIGHafifotfBI2lVtj73unu3YMVPlzAZ9jcOb07bdM
 
Hey, that was more like it! Proper old school DW episode, lots of science buffery, Easter eggs for Nikola Tesla fans, spot of commentary on how inventors would piggyback on other's ideas if you want it, cool-looking alien queen (who was a bit Alien Queen), even Yaz got something to do. They can do the traditional stuff if they want.

Next week: The Judoon!
 
I thought Tesla was Kevin Kline, until I realised how old Kline is now. Then I thought maybe it was Adam Rothenburg (of Ripper Street fame). But no, it was an authentic Serbian-American - him off of ER!

I did recognise Robert Glenister, and realised I'd seen him on Who before - anyone else remember The Caves of Androzani?
 
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