Yeah, along with the bubble wrap, that episode in general leaves me feeling… icky. Since I last recall that the Doctor ends up being somewhat pro-Amazon in that story?
Throughout this month, we will be testing new features (like search) so you may experience some hiccups from time to time. We'll try to not be too disruptive...
Doctor Who
-
-
I remember finding Kerblam deligtful and fun.
-
Finished up Flux, wasn't great.
Despite the early promise of a return to OldWho-style long form story arc, it still suffered from the NuWho curse of rushed, somewhat nonsensical endings.There were some great moments (and a genuinely great episode in _Village of the Angels_), so it wasn't a total loss but I was hoping for more.
-
About halfway through season 12 now. That was a definite uptick in quality over the previous season. I don't know if they kept it a secret or I just wasn't paying any attention at all but I was actually surprised when the Master showed up, which is how it should be with him. And I already know about the timeless child twist, I'm prepared for that.)
Jodie still hasn't reached a point where she feels like THE doctor to me though. She's performing just fine and doing doctorey things, but she hasn't done anything really interesting with the part to make it her own, the add new quirks or layers. Aside from the "I'm a woman now" think.
No catchphrase, no giant scarves or ties or fez, no rock star gimmick, no epic speeches or obvious moment of cleverness… I'm not saying its a random costume eccentricity that makes a doctor, thats just the easy to point to example that comes to mind of an actor adding their own thing to it, a bit of quirkiness.
So far I haven't seen Jodie bring anything to the table that you couldn't just plop one of the others in and get the same feel. Her wanting to be more social I guess?
Tennant and Smith both sold me on being the doctor immediately in their first episode. Capaldi took a while. I still don't like Eccleston outside of the Doctor Dances two parter.
It's not even the gender thing, 5 and 6 never really felt like the doctor to me either. Well, not till 5's final episode anyway.
She's pleasant enough. She's all smiles and enthusiasm and that's half the battle but its just... not clicking for me.
-
Flux finale was… okay. Some solid moments here and there, and a lot of the plotlines were tied up. Just not in a terribly satisfying way. And still somewhat unclear. I left the episode feeling a big "I dunno". I plan on rewatching the whole season soon and hoping I can pick up on some stuff that I may have missed. Jodie absolutely nailed the performance though, and it's definitely a highlight of the series.
I will say, though, of all the things I expected out of Flux, I did not expect to see such a competent use of Sontarans, and their most effective strategy to date.
Other thoughts on the finale:
! So uh, did Ravagers succeeded, hence their "ascension"? What exactly even is Time? I still don't know what the Mouri are except 6 of them were necessary for Time to flow through.
! I got the sense we were never going to truly see the Doc's previous memories in that fob watch, and I'm okay with things like that remaining a mystery. But I hate that they even teased the question and chose not to follow up on it (including even opening the watch), or offer up something even more tantalizing instead. Sucks even more that the special effects for it were pretty neat.
! I enjoyed the actor of the Grand Serpent and his general presence, but his motive is still really unclear to me. Why did he even meddle with earth, or have some weird personal vendetta against Kate Stewart? He succeeded in essentially manipulating UNIT, so it's not like she got a leg up on him or anything. The only thing he was there for was Vinder's story, and for Vinder to get his payback for being exiled for doing the right thing.
! And on that note, I'm still not sure Vinder and Bel's story was intriguing enough for me.About halfway through season 12 now. That was a definite uptick in quality over the previous season. I don't know if they kept it a secret or I just wasn't paying any attention at all but I was actually surprised when the Master showed up, which is how it should be with him. And I already know about the timeless child twist, I'm prepared for that.)
Jodie still hasn't reached a point where she feels like THE doctor to me though. She's performing just fine and doing doctorey things, but she hasn't done anything really interesting with the part to make it her own, the add new quirks or layers. Aside from the "I'm a woman now" think.
No catchphrase, no giant scarves or ties or fez, no rock star gimmick, no epic speeches or obvious moment of cleverness… I'm not saying its a random costume eccentricity that makes a doctor, thats just the easy to point to example that comes to mind of an actor adding their own thing to it, a bit of quirkiness.
So far I haven't seen Jodie bring anything to the table that you couldn't just plop one of the others in and get the same feel. Her wanting to be more social I guess?
Tennant and Smith both sold me on being the doctor immediately in their first episode. Capaldi took a while. I still don't like Eccleston outside of the Doctor Dances two parter.
It's not even the gender thing, 5 and 6 never really felt like the doctor to me either. Well, not till 5's final episode anyway.
She's pleasant enough. She's all smiles and enthusiasm and that's half the battle but its just... not clicking for me.
For what it's worth, I've felt the same for seasons 11 and 12, and it wasn't until 13 that she really shines on her own. And it helps that they've given her more screentime to be on her own or with few other characters, and not bogged down by others. It sucks that she hits her stride in her 3rd season, but kinda understandable for actors to have that awkward "breaking in" time. But then again, Smith wowed me from the get-go, so… I dunno.
Real curious to see your reaction to Fugitive of the Judoon.
-
No reaction to fugitive of the judoon, that particular twist was long ago spoiled. Seems like a well handled surprise… If I hadn't be already known.
-
10th was more the doctor's cool hip younger brother to me but it works in the context of the history of the doctor and he is my second favourite after Capaldi.
Jodie I feel someone trying to be the doctor rather than being her own character. Would have liked to see her with RTD.
-
No reaction to fugitive of the judoon, that particular twist was long ago spoiled. Seems like a well handled surprise… If I hadn't be already known.
Oh I'm aware you knew, just thought it was fun how the reveal happens in the middle of a seemingly regular episode.
! I remember being spoiled that Jack returned, so imagine watching it and realizing that his return was like the 3rd most interesting thing to happen.
! It's interesting how Jo Martin had so much charisma and authority as the Doctor in her little screentime. I doubt we'll see much more of her but would love to be proven wrong.
! No doubt Big Finish has plans once they get the rights to this era. -
Finished Jodie's second season, will start on the current one soon.
THAT'S the big twist finale that everyone was so pissed off about? THAT? not only is it basically the plan they never quite got around to in the old series, but it is so, so, SO easy to retcon away if the next showrunner decided to. "Oh yeah, that was just the Master fucking with you. He'd been listening to drums again you see."
Like they literally put the doctor inside a machine that feeds her images while the Master monologues. None of that needs to stick at all if its unpopular.
I'm much more annoyed that they nuked Gallifrey. AGAIN. So they'll eventually have to undo that as well. AGAIN.
-
I finished up Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures last month.
Torchwood - Man, why couldn't this show have just ended on the third season on high note? Well, I guess the 4th season wasn't terrible, just really clunky and tedious. If nothing else, though, it was an interesting experiment, being co-produced by STARZ and implementing a bunch of American. I never expected the likes of Bill Pullman, Wayne Knight, and John DeLancie to be in a Doctor Who property. It's just a shame they couldn't have been attached to a better a story. And, oh for god's sake, they ended the series on a cliffhanger? Come on guys, you had to have known this was a long shot. And haven't we learned by now that a cliffhanger is no guarantee for another season? Well, like I said, 4th season wasn't terrible, but Season 3 was fine as a finale. Half the main cast dead, Jack leaving after going too far in compromising his morals, and Gwen and Rhys at least getting their happy ending.
Overall, the show was very hit-and-miss, but it has enough good in it that I'm glad I watched it. Still, I kinda liked it when Jack was just a light-hearted adventurer and didn't have all this emotional and morally dubious baggage attached to him.
Sarah Jane - sigh Elisabeth Sladen's death was such a tragedy. Would've been great to see what more they could have done with this show, as the quality stayed pretty great throughout its run. Still, I suppose some cracks were starting to show towards the end, especially with SJ's replacement daughter now that Luke was barely showing up anymore. But still, unlike Torchwood, it least this show went out on a high note. Or…a good note. Yeah, nothing particularly remarkable or amazing about the final episode, just a standard, if not fun, SJ adventure, which I suppose is all well and good. You did a fine job Elisabeth. Rest in Peace.
Oh yeah, and Rani (SJ's Rani, not the Time Lady) is actually going to be in a Big Finish audio. That's neat.
-
They're bringing back two classic companions in the next special.
! Ace and Teagan. Neat, I always liked Ace.
Always nice to get some of the old crew back but given that its been so many decades since they last showed its a little weird. Especially given they're showing up in the same episode. Even if they've done audios and stuff in the meantime and the characters have sort of kept existing in the secondary media.
Sarah Jane comparatively was "only" about 20 years between appearances if you count Five Doctors, and made a lot of sense because she was one of the REALLY iconic ones having lasted through two doctors being part of Baker's run, along with the Brigadier she was probably one of the best known aside from the actual doctors. Almost had her own spinoff with K-9 back in the day!
Still, neat they're getting some old ones back. We need more people that knew this Doctor in a different incarnation besides just Jack.
I just wish I could care about Jodie's doctor. Three seasons of Jodie and I still don't feel like she's the doctor. She's not bad but she's been very Fivish. Bland without really adding much energy or her own self into it. Its nice that she smiles and constantly looks like she's having a good time, that's something, but the stories she got just never really delivered. There was never a Rings of Akhaten or Zygon Inversion or Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey or "Just this once Everyone lives!" moment, for instance, where she just got to deliver a super meorable quotable scene or a great speech or even really a catchphrase.
Not to mention being undercut by the whole Timeless Child thing… looking forward to the next showrunners writing it off as a Master ploy or something.
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Yeah, nothing particularly remarkable or amazing about the final episode, just a standard, if not fun, SJ adventure, which I suppose is all well and good
Well, they only made 3 of 6 planned episodes that season for… obvious reasons. Who knows what the full season might have brought?
-
Ugh. I forgot Legend of the Sea Devils was even on yesterday. Thank god for on-demand viewing.
-
Well, I'll go ahead and say this episode was pretty bland.
There's a lot of talk about behind the scenes stuff interfering, supposedly a big chunk of the episode was cut due to potentially offensive material. Whether in regards to cultural sensitivity or not wanting to piss off China with the way the regulate media, who knows. Either way, it's noticeable that this episode had some awkward editing.! And supposedly this was originally part of Flux, which might explain the weird scene where the stars were moving? Nothing really happened with that.
I'm looking forward to some of the returning characters in the next episode, but I'm also cautious with how bloated it looks to be already.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Ugh. I forgot Legend of the Sea Devils was even on yesterday. Thank god for on-demand viewing.
I don't blame ya, the marketing for this episode (and Flux for that matter) has been abysmal.
-
I was already doubting my eyes because I thought it couldn't have been cut that badly. It was a bearable episode, but presumably badly damaged by the censors.
-
I can't even fathom how a show funded by British taxes gets censored for the same bullshit from China. It's probably just my ignorance, but if I was a British citizen and shows I loved were butchered to make money in China, I'd feel
.Check out my podcast for conversations about Greatness in anime, sports, music, and whatever else we can think of.
-
Just saw Legend of the Sea Devils and, I dunno, I thought it was fine. Not great, but it had the feel of classic Doctor Who adventure. I also liked that it had China as the setting since it's a portion of the world we don't often get to see in Doctor Who. But…yeah, it definitely felt short and I could tell some scenes were cut.
Not as good as Eve of the Daleks in any case, which I thought was a really good special.
They're bringing back two classic companions in the next special.
! Ace and Teagan. Neat, I always liked Ace.
! Yeah, that's certainly an interesting choice, especially since Tegan and Ace never met in the classic show. Also, Tegan is notorious for being one of the worst companions ever, but, hey, a companion's a companion.
[And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon] -
! Yeah, that's certainly an interesting choice, especially since Tegan and Ace never met in the classic show. Also, Tegan is notorious for being one of the worst companions ever, but, hey, a companion's a companion.
Well, it's a pretty limited pool to choose from for a variety of reasons.
If you want characters that are still alive, and on Earth, and from the old show, there's only a handful to choose from.[hide]Anyone from the first 2 doctors in well into their 80's or 90's now.. and really should have cameoed in some fashion in the 50th anniversary ten years ago. Ditto Doctors 5-7 who are all in their 70's and going on on 80's now.
They've done all 3 of the Third Doctor's companions now. and sort of Unit…With 4, they can't really do either Romana (A Romana, but not one of the originals) and even that would have a lot of baggage that would be largely lost on the entire NuWho audience especially with all the timewar stuff.
Adric is dead. Kamelion is dead and not really a character anyway.
Turlough was an alien and he went back home. Nyssa and Mel both ended up going off on random space adventures so getting any of them back requires doing a story not on earth and sequaling a 30 year old story. Certainly not impossible but a lot harder that "they were running around on Earth coincidentally."
Peri's story ended REALLY weird and kind of desperately needed the audios to fix it.
They're probably never going to bring back sexy cavewoman Leela as a 70 year old woman that has had time to completely change who she is after spending her life as a married woman on Gallifrey. She'd basically be a different character entirely and that's even more baggage than Romana. They could potentially bring Louise Jameson back but probably not as that character. (Ditto doctors 4-7)
So for Old companions that aren't either dead, and still on Earth... you have... Tegan and Ace. If you're going to bring back a classic companion there's not much left to choose from without having to do heavier backstory than "I traveled with the Doctor back in the day."
Grace from the movie with 8 might legit have legal issues due to coproduction.
And any returning companions from Nu Whu you'd want to save for the 60th anniversary next year but thats a limited pool too unless they go all five doctors and just say "screw logic, pull em out from wherever in their timeline and just ignore it if the actors have aged."
.
Rose is a bag of worms and they'd probably just use the actress in a new role again if she was up for it.
Captain Jack is legal trouble because of the actor.
Donna is great but mind wiped? But maybe she could hang out with a different doctor and be okay. Or just ignore her awful ending.
Martha and Mickey maybe?
Amy and Rory are wonky they had some time skips in their adventures, easy to slot in.
River is easy to show up any time but also has already appeared over three different doctors so...
Clara is... complicated.
Bill is dead.
And 13's companions are all still fresh and fates remain to be seen but they haven't been gone yet, there's nothing to miss or bring them back for.[/hide] -
! The thing that's interesting about Ace is that I don't think we ever got a concrete answer as to how she left the Doctor. I think it was planned or maybe happened in some continuity that the Doctor sent her to study on Gallifrey, but I guess ultimately he just dropped her back off on Earth. And evidently she started a charity.
! -
! And Aldred wrote a novel about Ace's charity and meeting 13, but I don't expect the show to work with that in mind.
Haha as soon as I saw Ace, I just thought of how this appearance will negate SO MUCH extended universe material that explained her ending.
Not that it matters a whole lot, I love the extended universe stuff and think canon taken too seriously is kind of silly. -
Doctor Who has had Atlantis sink at least three different ways. When you have the actual universe being literally rebooted on some occasions continuity doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot outside of the few years surrounding a given set of characters.
Basically its whatever stories you like.
You HAVE to hope and assume all the doctors get offscreen adventures or else some of the regens have had very, very short runs. 8 was nothing but off camera, War we saw go from young to old… and Like 11 very explicitly had off camera adventures and has hundreds of extra years, and 12 certainly had side trips, but its tough to tell if 9 had much more than the few months we saw with Rose.
-
I think we agree, canon's a weird thing to take too seriously with this show.
With all of that in mind, I'm… excited for Big Finish to give 13 the Colin Baker treatment. I'm hopeful the last episode is decent but overall, Chibnall's era has been the weakest for me. It's had great episodes here and there, and I think Season 12 is my fav of the bunch, but compared to the previous eras there's no doubt that RTD and Moffat had better dialogue, were more clever with their stories, and had more substance to their episodes. That and they just had some bigger character moments that stuck with you (10 and his whole lonely god thing, Smith being able to waver from youthful to old spirit in seconds, Capaldi's general gravatas in seasons 9 and 10, etc), whereas 13 doesn't quite have that, and has come across more passive (especially doesn't look great with her being the first female Doc).
Chibnall's era just seems more like a run-of-the-mill Doctor Who. Which I don't hate, but it's… there.
-
9 has more iconic stories and definitive moments than 13 and he only had 13 total episodes…
Check out my podcast for conversations about Greatness in anime, sports, music, and whatever else we can think of.
-
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61371123
It looks like the new doctor has been announced. For me so far someone I do not know yet and looking forward to get to know. I hope they write him good stories.
-
He’s great in Sex Ed.
Did think at first “A Doctor? Really?” but in the first season of Sex Ed in particular he showed some real range, his comedic timing is excellent but he went through some darker stuff as well.
-
Wow.
I don't know what to say.
Its bold of BBC to greenlight this casting decision.
I would have thought that they would want more star power to keep this franchise going. LOL, I am actually surprised they didn't go with Benedict Cumberbatch. Capitalize on that Marvel fame
But I guess they do it differently in UK.
Because lets not kid ourselves, if this was an American show, they would have done everything to cast the hottest actor around
-
They couldn't possibly afford him lol.
-
They already had Benedict as Sherlock, it'd be really weird to also have him be the Doctor.
Anyway, no idea on this actor's quality. Hopefully they bring something interesting. The show is at its best when it casts someone weird and lets them play themself.
-
Yeah, I think they've always gone with relatively unknown actors to play the Doctor and I think that's all for the best.
Never heard of this actor either, but hey, we finally get our first black Doctor (not counting the Fugitive Doctor and whatever's going on with her).
[And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon] -
Yeah, I think they've always gone with relatively unknown actors to play the Doctor and I think that's all for the best.
Maybe on a global level, but a lot of these people have old/big roots in British television.
-
I recently finished up to episode 200 of the Big Finish monthly range, so I figured I'd share some thoughts.
Episodes 101-200, while perhaps not as strong overall as the first 100, are still a good time. I think part of what holds the range back around this time frame is that, partway through, they started doing this thing where the episodes are told in trilogies. This may have been fine every now and then, but frankly I think having to constantly restrict themselves to this format really hurts the range overall. I don't know, maybe it was more convenient for scheduling or writing, but I preferred it when the episodes were more sporadic and you were never sure which Doctor (and companions) you were going to get.
Speaking of the Doctors, whereas I felt the 7th Doctor's episodes throughout the first 100 episodes were mostly just okay, I feel that Sylvester McCoy has really gotten a chance to shine as the Doctor with this range of episodes (as you can tell from the episodes I've listed below). Granted, his episodes can still be hit and miss, but when they hit they hit hard. Colin Baker is still great, but I feel the quality of his stories has dipped a bit. And, as usual, the 5th Doctor is just sort of there. Every now and then you get a great episode with him, but…you know...it's the 5th Doctor. Honestly, I'm not sure what could be done with him to make him more interesting. I think he's just too pleasant and lacks the darkness and spontaneity that the other Doctors have.
Oh yeah, and 8th Doctor left the Monthly range after getting his own range (coming back only for a few adventures with Mary Shelley), which I think was probably for the best.
Anyway, favorite episodes from 101-200 include: The Haunting of Thomas Brewster, Forty-Five, A Thousand Tiny Wings, A Death in the Family, The Curse of Davros, Fanfare for the Common Men, Afterlife, Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories (specifically, Doctor in the Night-Time), The Widow's Assassin, The Entropy Plague.
Aside from the Monthly range, I've of course been following a bunch of other ranges as well.
Companion Chronicles - This run was actually really great for a while, but now they've limited it to only 1st and 2nd Doctor stories, which is kind of a bummer.
Jago and Litefoot - I don't know whose idea it was to take these one-off characters from Talons of Weng-Chiang (who I honestly didn't even remember) and give them their own series, but kudos to them, because this is surprisingly one of the strongest Big Finish ranges out there.
Ninth Doctor Adventures - Yeah, this is still shaping up to be a pretty good range. Volume 3 gave us an instant classic with Monsters in Metropolis. It's a Cyberman on the set of Metropolis, and it's every bit as great as it sounds
Torchwood - Still fairly early into the run, but it seems this is another story that Big Finish has managed to redeem. It's shaping up to be an even better audio series than it was a TV series.
Needless to say, I've very much enjoyed my time listening to Big Finish's audio stories and I'm so glad that, even after listening to so many, I still have many more to listen to. Yes, the stories are largely hit-and-miss (but then so is most of Doctor Who), but it's worth it when you happen upon incredible moments like this.
-
Set photos are starting to leak from the filming of the 60th.We have at least some confirmed returning characters.
They've also officially announced Tennant and Catherine Tate are back so there's no keeping that a secret. Possibly announced now because they started filming in public.
! Tennant and Catherine Tate are on set Wilf has been seen on set? In a wheelchair, but the actor is in his 90's so understandable..
! 13's Tardis is on set… I don't know how fans can tell the difference between Tardis' but okay.
! On the more rumor side, director Rachel Talalay (who has been seen on set) recently posted pictures of herself with Matt Lucas (Nardole) and Capaldi, COuld just be coincidence as they're friends and in town together but...Tennant is zero surprise, he was always going to say yes to a return and they were always going to ask him.
I can't imagine Matt Smith saying no if asked, and I can't imagine them not asking him.
Capaldi would be nice given he's stated that he's not interested in doing a big crossover since they dilute the more you do them.
Doctors 4-9 remain the big question then, especially the earlier ones since they've all aged so much,(All of old doctors being in their 70's or 80's now) Obviously still able to do voice over roles but… if they return would it actually be in their roles? But no way we're getting 9 given he hates everyone in charge, even if he was willing to do audios during covid.
Or maybe despite everyhthing he'd be up for doing a 10 second cameo just to stop the question he's had to answer in every single interview for the last 20 years, but he didn't for the 50th so....
-
They've cast Yasmin Finney in a role! I really enjoyed her performance in Heartstopper! I'm looking forward to seeing what role she plays because I'd have loved to see her play The Doctor to bring a completely new feel to the role.
-
Well, the character she's going to be playing is named Rose so, that's certainly a choice on RTD's part. It kind of has to be a plot thing related to Rose Tyler in some way or they'd just choose literally any other name, right? It'd be like naming a new companion Sarah Jane or Romana, you just don't DO that without a reason.
-
The use of the name 'Rose' makes me wonder if she is an alternate reality take on Rose Tyler? Would that then make The Fourteenth Doctor a successor of sorts to The Tenth Doctor?
I'm going to be disappointed if this Rose is placed into a heterosexual role, though. Putting aside the heterosexual framing of the original Rose, I dislike that of the very few imagines of transgender people—particularly transgender women—allowed into media the images allowed are always extraordinarily cisgender and hetereosexual-passing. It would be nice women were not equated with "likes men and only men" for the upteemth time.
-
Trailer up for the season 2 BD:
Great stuff. One of the best things about the classic BD range are these little snippets of the classic characters that they do.
-
Power of the Doctor airs October 23rd.
-
I guess tonight is Jodie's final episode?
Guess I should get around to watching all the specials this year. I haven't bothered since I caught up on Flux. I have just really not enjoyed this era.
-
I'll watch it regardless. I just need to do the Dalek and Sea Devil episodes first.
EDIT: Just watched the Dalek new years episode. So sure, Daleks get to be super effective and competent only when there's a time loop resetting things every 7 minutes. And the Doctor gets to be an idiot and lose constantly... when there's a time loop resetting things every 7 minutes. Doctor dies stupidly five, six? different times! With no actual plan just... raw luck that there was a resetting time loop going on. And then the Dalek becomes a complete joke halfway through the episodes. Daleks will never ever be that effective again.
Onto the Sea Devil episode I guess.
-
Seadevils was pretty meh.
Power of the Doctor was okay. Complete utter nonsense, but the raw nostalgia bait moments works. Knowing it's the regeneration episode adds some built in weight that you just can't get with a normal episode... but it was still weird nonsense.
ANd so with that, Jodie's era is done. Barring a cameo in the next few specials for the 60th for reasons. And well, she's just not my doctor. She never left any real impression or felt Doctor-ey enough. I don't know what element was missing but... something. She just never had a grand speech or a really stand out episode or even a catchphrase or an iconic "I like bowties!" or "I play the recorder" or "have a jellybaby" or 3D glasses for one episode or "Just this once, everybody lives!" or a Rings of Ahkenten or...
But I know she's got fans, especially young girls and will be some people's first, so... she wasn't BAD but I don't think I liked even a single story during her era and she never sold me on anything, I don't think I'll ever be revisiting these seasons. Even the first season back with 9, where I actively hate the companion, and really disliked a bunch of episodes, had a few complete banger episodes.
-
I think Jodie's Doctor may have had the same problem as Peter Davison's. She was just too pleasant and bright and noble. And yeah, the Doctor is certainly all those things, but the Doctor also has something of a dark side to them, and I think the best iterations of the Doctor realize this. With Jodie I never really got that sense very much.
That and a lot of her stories were just kind of rubbish.
Well RTD, let's see what you've got for us the second time around.
[And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon] -
I dislike 13th. She feels like the default setting without any of her own flavour. The closest I felt to caring was in her talks with Yaz in the sea devil episode where she talk about not wanting to attach. But that came late and needed more exploration.
But I quite enjoyed her goodbye. I think its between that one and 11th for me in terms of best goodbye.
I was surprised by the characters from old who in this episode. Felt more like a love letter to who then a goodbye to that specific era. Made me wonder if that was the 60th.
I really like how sweet and serene 13th goodbye was as oppossed to how much of a show the previous ones did. I really like the ice cream and the sunset goobye was beautiful. She accepted her face and had a lovely farewell. 11th got me in term of solemness but 13th gave me peace.
-
@desa said in Doctor Who:
Made me wonder if that was the 60th.
That's not until 2023.
But given that they've already filmed those specials, its entirely possible they did extra stuff while they had folks around.
-
@Nobodyman said in Doctor Who:
I think Jodie's Doctor may have had the same problem as Peter Davison's. She was just too pleasant and bright and noble.
It's weird because I pegged her as a repeat of 5 right out the gate. Between the look and the deluge of companions and it did end up having a lot of the same problems.
Davison at least had The Five Doctors and Kinda and Caves of Androzani .
-
New logo!
...or is it an old one?
-
Yeah the Master, the cameos and other stuff in Power was fantastic, the metaplot not so much but it meant at least Jodie got to go out with a bang. The ending however smacks to me a little too cynical and desperate to get the viewers back, almost reactionary even, but at least it's not for too long, and it'll be fun in the specials I'm sure.
-
I enjoyed Power of the Doctor, and I think it helped that Legend of the Sea Devils was bad and lowered my expectations haha. There's no doubt that this episode totally pandered to Who fans, and I absolutely enjoyed those bits. The rest of the episode wasn't too bad, the plot was a bit of a mess but it was a fun mess!
Chibnall's era was by far my least favorite showrunner, and that became very noticeable when I randomly rewatched an old episode of Series 2. The early series had a good grasp on having small moments with interesting side characters that stuck with me (like Lady Cassandra being told she was beautiful for the last time), whereas Chibnall never really did that. It was a lot of big ideas that had characters responding to them.
@Robby said in Doctor Who:
ANd so with that, Jodie's era is done. Barring a cameo in the next few specials for the 60th for reasons. And well, she's just not my doctor. She never left any real impression or felt Doctor-ey enough. I don't know what element was missing but... something. But I know she's got fans and will be some people's first, so... she wasn't BAD but I don't think I'll ever be revisiting it.
At this point I'd be fine if they did away with the Doctor numbering. I know it's not going to happen since the fandom will certainly carry it on, but getting new people into the show can be tough when they hear a Doctor referred to as 13 and thinking they have 12 other Doctors to know beforehand. And that's before even getting into the technicalities. And thinking they need to watch previous seasons before starting current ones. Heck I still have to remind myself that NuWho really isn't new!
Instead of numbers they could colloquially be called the Scarf Doctor or Bow Tie Doctor or whatever.
@Nobodyman said in Doctor Who:
I think Jodie's Doctor may have had the same problem as Peter Davison's. She was just too pleasant and bright and noble. And yeah, the Doctor is certainly all those things, but the Doctor also has something of a dark side to them, and I think the best iterations of the Doctor realize this. With Jodie I never really got that sense very much.
I've always liked the complexity of when Doctors explored this, but I also think it's still possible to be pleasant, bright and noble and still be a great character. The problem is, the writers/producers don't know how to make it work within story conflicts. The next best example I can think of is (well-written) Superman, where there's tons of stories with him not embracing a dark side and still being interesting.
But ultimately, we didn't get that with 13
Much like @desa said, 13 almost feels like a watered-down Doctor. Like if an AI watched all of Doctor Who and made a script for an episode, haha: Do an exposition dump, while saying a quirky thing here and there.Part of me suspects they wanted to play it safe with the first female Doctor, especially with her first season, which is why it's so bland, with a few great episodes. The downside to playing it safe is that you don't get a character that really sticks out and… ugh. I really, really wanted to like her more. I hate to say the clichéd thing, but I'm looking forward to Big Finish working with her and taking her character in more challenging directions.
@desa said in Doctor Who:
I was surprised by the characters from old who in this episode. Felt more like a love letter to who then a goodbye to that specific era. Made me wonder if that was the 60th.
Likely because this was the Centennial special, in celebration of the BBC's 100 years. Not that everyone was expected to know that though, the marketing for this episode was horrid.
-
This guy has been doing a fantastic retrospective of the entire Doctor Who franchise, and he just dropped this video today. Great to watch if you want a long series of videos to dive into.
-
It's funny, I had started re-watching his earlier entries in this series this week and was part way through the video for the Eighth Doctor when this dropped. It's such a good series, really capturing the zeitgeist of the politics and fan energy around the series at the time of each Doctor's broadcast. This latest part does such a great job of really nailing the emotion of these episodes, too. I'm beginning to wonder how things would have worked out if Matt Smith had done an extra year and what we could have gotten.
