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Doctor Who [Spoilers]

I've now watched ep two and can join in! Well, looks like I was right in my assumption that the Stenza keeping their hunt victims in stasis is going to be a 'thing'. And those cloth monsters looked so much like my memory of seeing a 'ghost' when I was young that it quite gave me the creeps, very M R Jamesian. Loving Jodie's acting, the characterisation of the Doctor not so much, it did seem as though she threw her hands up and admitted defeat a bit too easily. I also predicted the entire plot as soon as the cigar was mentioned, but hey ho, kids will have found it entertaining and I love Art Malik, so it was all good for me!

Plus I want a biscuit dispenser.
 
catseye said:
I've now watched ep two and can join in! Well, looks like I was right in my assumption that the Stenza keeping their hunt victims in stasis is going to be a 'thing'. And those cloth monsters looked so much like my memory of seeing a 'ghost' when I was young that it quite gave me the creeps, very M R Jamesian. Loving Jodie's acting, the characterisation of the Doctor not so much, it did seem as though she threw her hands up and admitted defeat a bit too easily. I also predicted the entire plot as soon as the cigar was mentioned, but hey ho, kids will have found it entertaining and I love Art Malik, so it was all good for me!

Plus I want a biscuit dispenser.
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To be fair, she's had a rough 24 hours or so, she's just regenerated, fell through a train roof, had to build a sonic screwdriver from bits left over (very Blue Peter, I thought), fought off an alien, transported her new friends into space, fought off killer bandages and thought she'd lost the Tardis forever (it's the only thing she has left, really) - she needs a big bowl of soup, a lie down and some understanding...
 
Dinobot said:
To be fair, she's had a rough 24 hours or so, she's just regenerated, fell through a train roof, had to build a sonic screwdriver from bits left over (very Blue Peter, I thought), fought off an alien, transported her new friends into space, fought off killer bandages and thought she'd lost the Tardis forever (it's the only thing she has left, really) - she needs a big bowl of soup, a lie down and some understanding...
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She's got a biscuit dispenser - she can just woman up! She's been through worse.
 
She’s done knives. She’s done Guns. Next week.... Jelly Babies are sugary obesity-inducing killers.
 
Dinobot said:
Yeah, she's been Colin Baker...
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Mythopoeika said:
Worse - Sylvester McCoy.
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Harsh! Although I reduced my viewing of Who when Colin Baker arrived on the scene, and thus never really saw much of Sylvester McCoy's tenure, either, I've seen quite a few stories from both of them more recently, and you know what? They're not too bad at all.

Yes, the budget was nil, and some of the acting a bit hammy, but there are still some great stories, and I think that posterity will be much kinder to the 6th and 7th Doctors than viewers at the time.
 
There's already plenty of 7th Doctor fans about, his first year was dodgy, but once he settled in he got some pretty decent stories to do. There may be ardent 6th Doctor fans, but I've never met one.
 
Why does it sound like it was recorded in a tin bath at the bottom of a mine?
 
I hate it when that happens!
 
GNC said:
There's already plenty of 7th Doctor fans about, his first year was dodgy, but once he settled in he got some pretty decent stories to do. There may be ardent 6th Doctor fans, but I've never met one.
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Big Finish really made me enjoy him, Colin as well.
And of course McGann.
Can't put my finger on it exactly, but these episodes definitely feel more like the older shows and Big Finish to me. Needs to get settled in, still in the "You changed it, I don't like it" period. Waiting for everything to settle into place still.
 
I think the 6 and 7th Doctors were when the BBC was reducing the budget to nearly nothing in order to try to get Doctor Who off the screen. So some of the problems might not necessarily be Colin and Sylvester's fault and may be why the Big Finish audio adventures work in their favour.
 
Hmm, DW was never exactly lavished with cash in the 60s and 70s. I did hear a really good Colin story guest starring Sam Kelly on Big Finish a few years back, so it was the material they were given that was the drawback. Mind you, if Colin had had his way he would have turned DW into a panto.
 
GNC said:
Hmm, DW was never exactly lavished with cash in the 60s and 70s. I did hear a really good Colin story guest starring Sam Kelly on Big Finish a few years back, so it was the material they were given that was the drawback. Mind you, if Colin had had his way he would have turned DW into a panto.
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I did hear that Colin Baker was instructed to make his personification of the Doctor more annoying (he succeeded triumphantly in that), and that even he thought that the costume was ridiculous. Overall, while I'm certainly not trying to make out that his Doctor was the best (it still wouldn't trouble the top 10!), I think he did a brave job with what he was given - stories, production values, producers who wanted the show killed off, etc...
 
A shoehorn operated by a sledgehammer.
The Doctor operating as an enthusiastic supply teacher ramming home the agenda.

Not so much a programme as programming.
 
I had my reservations about DW "doing" Black History Month, however on seeing it and appreciating it was meant to teach the kids about the importance of Civil Rights, I think they did a darn good job. Is it OK to find the racists scarier than the Daleks?

Succeeded as a timey-wimey adventure where the slightest "nudge" can send things out of whack, and also as a history lesson (though Ryan happening to meet MLK Jr was a mighty huge coincidence). Above all, it was generous and hopeful, which is at it should be, and tied it nicely in with spaaaaaaaace at the end.

Next week: Planet of the Spiders 2!
 
GNC said:
I had my reservations about DW "doing" Black History Month, however on seeing it and appreciating it was meant to teach the kids about the importance of Civil Rights, I think they did a darn good job. Is it OK to find the racists scarier than the Daleks?
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Except, when you think about it, it was white people who made the whole thing happen.
Maybe not the lesson to take from this episode methinks. Time travel as a narrative is tricky enough. Gender and Race politics is a fucking minefield.
 
Ryan and Yasmin aren't white. Ryan's nan who had taught them all about Civil Rights wasn't white. Malorie Blackman who wrote the episode isn't white. Rosa Parks was her own person and made her own decision and wasn't white.
 
I haven’t watched Doctor Who in years, despite recalling seeing the very first episode, and having been a fan for years.

Since its revival I’ve inadvertently happened on just a couple of episodes. Each time it’s reminded me of why l don’t watch it any more: it’s a ticky-box exercise in right-on politics.

This evening l came downstairs from a nap to find the missus watching it. Strong female lead? Tick. Achingly diverse team? Tick. White people are bigots? Tick.

I saw only two minutes. Was there an evil American? (Extra tick if he was the president!) Climate change? Contemptuous attitude towards international borders?

If l want to view a party political broadcast, I’ll wait until conference season. Or keep watching the BBC.

maximus otter
 
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My favourite bit in tonight's episode was where the Doctor went "Don't forget, guys, white people are rubbish!"
 
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