Doctor Who

[M j M]

Well I watched the new episode. It was good, had great pace and a solid storyline. Even the Lesson of the Week was done more subtly than the last series although I'm sure the quick-to-fury anti-woke types constantly looking for offence will find lots to hate.

Negatives: Catherine Tate still can't act, I just fast forwarded when it looked like she was going to give a speech of any length. And the sonic screwdriver conjuring up forcefield shieldy things was yet another to for that device's catalogue of convenient BS. I wish he'd lose the damned thing for a series.

That new Tardis interior at the end though was possibly my favourite bit. Literally decades we've had some weird ugly thing with preposterous manual dials and knobs, the sort of thing which encouraged Matt Smith to do his annoying stuff. This has a bit of that on the console but the rest is like a supersized version of the Tardis of my youth and I loved it

[EggFace]

21 hours ago, Futtocks said:

This is the first time in a while I've seen an episode and... it reminded me that reason I started to drift away from it was David Tennant's gratingly OTT* eye-rolling, nostril-flaring, teeth-baring hamminess.

I saw a bit of Matt Smith's early episodes, but it had already stopped being a must-watch by then.

So I cue up New Who... and Tennant's's only bloody back again!

I think I might wait 'til 2024 and see what the new Doctor's like.

*I know, Tom Baker's my Doctor, so it's a tad hypocritical, but still.

Stopped watching it after Tennant left as it's just yet half enjoyed yesterday's episode mainly because most of tV shows today are ######.....Now BBC Ghost loved that show.

[Futtocks]

7 hours ago, John Drake said:

I love all Doctor Who, even the slightly rubbish bits, which only help to make the great bits even greater. And there were a lot of great bits in The Star Beast.

I’m not one of those who is going to say the return of David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Russell T Davies is a return to some mythical ‘glory days’ era, as I really enjoyed all the stuff that preceded it, and thought Jodie Whittaker and show runner Chris Chibnall got a horribly rough ride from critics who have forgotten how to enjoy the show for what it is, rather than what they think it should be.

The pace of modern television is frenetic, and Tennant channels that in his portrayal of the Doctor. Not only is he a great actor, as proven by the roles he has played away from the TARDIS, but his love for the show shines through his involvement in it. He seems to relish the publicity rounds that are required to promote the show, or if he doesn’t, he makes a very good job of looking like he’s enjoying it! That enthusiasm transmits through to the audience. He is undoubtedly the most popular of the modern Doctors, and it’s not hard to see why they brought him back for the 60th anniversary specials. His partnership with Catherine Tate is up there with the best Doctor/companion pairings of all time.

As for the writing, Russell T Davies just has that knack of mixing drama, comedy and character development that brings the show to life. One minute he’s making you laugh, next minute he’s making you well up with tears, and he makes the storylines accessible to a general audience as well as pleasing geeks like me with subtle continuity references. He’s also unafraid to challenge the audience and play with the format to keep it modern and fresh. Basically, in my view, the bloke’s a genius.

Fans of the show are truly spoiled these days. If only some of them realised it. Those who aren’t keen on the more modern approach can now easily dip back into any era from the past on BBC iPlayer and wallow in old memories to their (two) heart’s content. Back when I first started watching the show in the 1970s, you got one chance to see an episode, as it was transmitted, and that was it. You missed one, tough luck, wait for the Target book novelisation to come out.

Here we are, sixty years on from its remarkable debut back in 1963, two more anniversary specials to go with Tennant and Tate, and then a brand new Doctor and companion arrive on Christmas Day. Doctor Who fans have never had it so good.

For the record, I love and appreciate Tennant's enthusiasm and commitment (on and off screen) for the show. But I can't get past him over-selling everything so crassly when playing the part.

[Futtocks]

48 minutes ago, M j M said:

Negatives: Catherine Tate still can't act, I just fast forwarded when it looked like she was going to give a speech of any length.

I kept expecting her to swear like a trooper, especially the scene with her and Tennant inside the spaceship. Some full-throttle effing and jeffing would have fitted well there.

But I suppose the show's slot wouldn't be right for her to properly unload.

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

For the record, I love and appreciate Tennant's enthusiasm and commitment (on and off screen) for the show. But I can't get past him over-selling everything so crassly when playing the part.

One of the genius aspects of the Doctor Who format is if the leading actor gets on your wick for any reason, fear not, there'll be another one along soon. 

[Futtocks]

39 minutes ago, John Drake said:

One of the genius aspects of the Doctor Who format is if the leading actor gets on your wick for any reason, fear not, there'll be another one along soon. 

Very true, although this one came back.

If the new doctor's looking for a look, I was catching the bus from the local shopping centre a couple of days ago, and couldn't ignore an elegant young black guy sporting a dark tartan suit and camel coat, accessorised with a pale pink fedora and a Malacca cane. All items of clothing I could never pull off with a fraction of the the aplomb he showed, separately or in ensemble.

[EggFace]

I thought I was watching a Dr Who version of Mind Your Language....it's a joke.

[Futtocks]

29 minutes ago, EggFace said:

I thought I was watching a Dr Who version of Mind Your Language....it's a joke.

Were the accents really that bad?

[EggFace]

49 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Were the accents really that bad?

Yes Southern like

[Spidey]

This did maker chuckle, post from Facebook:

”Just watched the latest Dr Who where the Tardis is almost destroyed through Donna spilling a cup of coffee over it. I’m surprised the components of such a high level of technology aren’t at least IP68 rated.”

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

On 26/11/2023 at 13:08, John Drake said:

I love all Doctor Who, even the slightly rubbish bits, which only help to make the great bits even greater. And there were a lot of great bits in The Star Beast.

I’m not one of those who is going to say the return of David Tennant, Catherine Tate and Russell T Davies is a return to some mythical ‘glory days’ era, as I really enjoyed all the stuff that preceded it, and thought Jodie Whittaker and show runner Chris Chibnall got a horribly rough ride from critics who have forgotten how to enjoy the show for what it is, rather than what they think it should be.

The pace of modern television is frenetic, and Tennant channels that in his portrayal of the Doctor. Not only is he a great actor, as proven by the roles he has played away from the TARDIS, but his love for the show shines through his involvement in it. He seems to relish the publicity rounds that are required to promote the show, or if he doesn’t, he makes a very good job of looking like he’s enjoying it! That enthusiasm transmits through to the audience. He is undoubtedly the most popular of the modern Doctors, and it’s not hard to see why they brought him back for the 60th anniversary specials. His partnership with Catherine Tate is up there with the best Doctor/companion pairings of all time.

As for the writing, Russell T Davies just has that knack of mixing drama, comedy and character development that brings the show to life. One minute he’s making you laugh, next minute he’s making you well up with tears, and he makes the storylines accessible to a general audience as well as pleasing geeks like me with subtle continuity references. He’s also unafraid to challenge the audience and play with the format to keep it modern and fresh. Basically, in my view, the bloke’s a genius.

Fans of the show are truly spoiled these days. If only some of them realised it. Those who aren’t keen on the more modern approach can now easily dip back into any era from the past on BBC iPlayer and wallow in old memories to their (two) heart’s content. Back when I first started watching the show in the 1970s, you got one chance to see an episode, as it was transmitted, and that was it. You missed one, tough luck, wait for the Target book novelisation to come out.

Here we are, sixty years on from its remarkable debut back in 1963, two more anniversary specials to go with Tennant and Tate, and then a brand new Doctor and companion arrive on Christmas Day. Doctor Who fans have never had it so good.

Regarding Chris Chibnall, he gets an awful lot of stick, I listened to a podcast he was on a few weeks back and he seemed like a decent genuine bloke, when you listened to what he had to say, its a wonder how Flux was made at all, filming with social distancing due to covid really ate into the budget and what should have been a 10 part story ended up being a 6 part story and big chunks of the story line had to be left out, then he didn't have much budget left for the new years day special, so he came up with the time loop story for Eve of the Daleks which saved a lot of money. This man deserves a big round of applause.

As for The Star Beast , I thought it was a fun enjoyable romp, if I was nit picking I would say it could have done with being 15 minutes longer because it was extremely fast paced and there wasn't much time to catch your breath. Anyway, I've heard that The Star Beast is the weaker of the 3 specials, so we'll have to see what the other 2 have in store.

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

On 26/11/2023 at 13:19, Futtocks said:

A friend of mine when we were both very young used to have a subscription to the Doctor Who comic, but he never had the habit of keeping issues in order (or keeping copies at all long-term).

This meant that if you saw any interesting episode of a multi-part story, the chances of finding the subsequent editions were slim to none.

But the Meep/Star Beast was definitely one of the very few stories I remember from way back then. Obviously, much has been adapted and modernised for this 2023 special, but the central plot was the same, as was the name of the creature.

I don't know if you saw Doctor Who Unleashed on BBC3 on Saturday night, its a new behind the scenes show, they invited the writer of the Meep the Beep comic strip and the artist that drew him, on set to see their creation brough to life, which I thought was a nice touch.

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

On 26/11/2023 at 13:22, M j M said:

This is similar to me (except Peter Davison is my doctor). It was the back end of the Tennant era when I started to stop watching as regularly. Whilst I didn't mind Tennant that much I found Catherine Tate virtually unwatchable (for some reason, maybe it's just me, this doesn't appear to be the wider consensus view of her performances). Matt Smith's approach to the role did nothing to drag me back in. I resumed watching when Capaldi took over and rated his version and his acting very highly. And I had no objections to Jodie Whittaker at all - except for the weakness of a lot of the scripts, concepts and story arcs.

Happy to give Tennant a go in these specials but I hope Tate doesn't prove too much of a distraction.

I liked Matt Smith's take on The Doctor, he won me over in the first 20 minutes, Peter Capaldi on the other hand, in the first 5 or 6 episodes, I found his Doctor really grating, however, he turned out to be my favourite Doctor. I thought the on screen chemistry between him and Jenna Coleman was second to none and both their performances were phenomenal throughout their stints.

[ivans82]

My main question on the latest Dr Who episode is why did they have to plug David Tennant into the mains before filming ? His hair looked like it was enduring a permanent electric shock .Very distracting .

[John Drake]

Wild Blue Yonder wasn't what I was expecting, but that's what keeps this show interesting.

After 60 years, still trying out new things.

And Wilf! 

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

14 hours ago, John Drake said:

Wild Blue Yonder wasn't what I was expecting, but that's what keeps this show interesting.

After 60 years, still trying out new things.

And Wilf! 

I'm not quite sure what to make of it, I'm not sure if it was good, bad or indifferent, I think I'll have to give it another watch to make my mind up. it was a really weird episode though.

I can remember seeing photo's from filming on twitter and seeing Bernard Cribbins in his wheel chair, its a real shame that they couldn't finish filming his role but it was a really nice touch to dedicate the episode to him.

Anyway, we've had 2 of the 3 episodes that make up the 60th, so how does it compare to the more recent anniversary specials?

Is it as good as Power of the Doctor? no.

Is it as good as Day of the Doctor? definitely not.

We'll have to see what The Giggle is like but I feel that RTD is really missing a trick if Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi doesn't feature.

[John Drake]

3 hours ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

I'm not quite sure what to make of it, I'm not sure if it was good, bad or indifferent, I think I'll have to give it another watch to make my mind up. it was a really weird episode though.

I can remember seeing photo's from filming on twitter and seeing Bernard Cribbins in his wheel chair, its a real shame that they couldn't finish filming his role but it was a really nice touch to dedicate the episode to him.

Anyway, we've had 2 of the 3 episodes that make up the 60th, so how does it compare to the more recent anniversary specials?

Is it as good as Power of the Doctor? no.

Is it as good as Day of the Doctor? definitely not.

We'll have to see what The Giggle is like but I feel that RTD is really missing a trick if Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi doesn't feature.

I'm quite happy not to see a load of old Doctors this time round. It's been done before. Many times, and as recently as last year. There's a danger it becomes a bit of a cliche if it happens every time there's an anniversary.

The temporary return of Tennant and Tate for three whole original episodes, not just one 'throw in the kitchen sink' special is a rare treat in itself. I don't blame RTD for making the most of these two while he has them available.

I think Doctor Who fans can sometimes be an ungrateful bunch. We've been absolutely showered with treats this anniversary year but we always want what we didn't get, rather than taking time to really appreciate what we have been given.

[John Drake]

Nice review of Wild Blue Yonder here:

https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/doctor-who-wild-blue-yonder/

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

22 hours ago, John Drake said:

I'm quite happy not to see a load of old Doctors this time round. It's been done before. Many times, and as recently as last year. There's a danger it becomes a bit of a cliche if it happens every time there's an anniversary.

The temporary return of Tennant and Tate for three whole original episodes, not just one 'throw in the kitchen sink' special is a rare treat in itself. I don't blame RTD for making the most of these two while he has them available.

I think Doctor Who fans can sometimes be an ungrateful bunch. We've been absolutely showered with treats this anniversary year but we always want what we didn't get, rather than taking time to really appreciate what we have been given.

You're correct, Doctor Who fans do like to moan, so I'm going to have a little moan . The one thing I wanted from the 60th was a multi Doctor story with Tenant, Smith, Capaldi, possibly Jodie and one of the classic Doctors, to me this just seems like a celebration of series 4(which was an excellent series), rather than a celebration of the entire show.

Anyway, lets hope it finishes with a bang at the weekend.

[John Drake]

Russell T Davies knocked it out of the park with the final episode of the anniversary specials. 

Doctor Who is very lucky to have such a creative genius at its helm (again).

Based on first impressions, Ncuti Gatwa looks like he was born to play the Doctor.

Roll on Christmas Day!

[corvusxiii]

I just knew that Ncuti would be unbearably irritating but.....it just didnt happen. Despite him scampering about in his Y-Fronts!

The Unleashed programmes are recommended. 

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

First of all, I was slightly underwhelmed by the first two stories, as stand alone episodes they were quite decent but as specials, they didn't quite hit the mark, The Giggle however, was something else, it was absolutely top notch.

Neil Patrick Harris was sensational as The Toymaker, Tennant and Tate were, well, Tennant and Tate.

It was great to see Mel back, I never really liked her in classic who but I'm really looking forward to seeing her in future episodes with UNIT and Kate Stewart.

Adric got name dropped and there were nods to Amy, Clara and Bill, there were plenty over other throwbacks to both New and Classic Who, too many to mention them all.

I had no problems with the bi-regeneration like some people did, I don't know if any body heard what RTD said in commentary, he said in his mind, that when it happened, all the previous Doctors bi-regenerated as well, if that will come to anything, we'll have to see.

Ncuti's 20 minute cameo was absolutely fizzing, I can't wait to see what his tenure brings, I think he's going to be a huge star in the future.

Finally, the red fingernailed hand picking up the gold tooth was very similar to Last of the Time Lords.

[Sidi Fidi Gold]

I don't know if any of you know that a song has been released from the Christmas special "The Goblin Song", I recommend you take a look at the video, not because the songs any good, its not, its dire but the content and lyrics are quite disturbing for a family show.

[M j M]

So is Gatwa number 15 or just 14b?

Not massively enamored with the splitting thing but suspending disbelief is part of watching this series I suppose. The rest was good. I'm not sure taken as a whole the three specials were really 'special' as such but even as regular episodes they were definitely an improvement on recent years.

Have they kept the door open for more Tennant? Hopefully not, at least not with his companion. Tate remained very annoying to the end, hopefully this is the last we'll see of her. 

[my missus]

Dr who fans are very much like rugby league fans forever complaining, they slag it when its on and plead for a new series when its off.