Topic: New Doctor Who (Read 53839 times)

McDohl · « **Reply #840 on:** July 24, 2013, 08:56:13 AM »

So, I've been gushing over on Talking Time about me busting my Doctor Who cherry wide open. I've already burned through 3 seasons in the last month. I've been having a lot of fun with it.

Since I was a total Who newbie, I started at a logical starting point: Eccleston's run. Rose and End of the World gave me a pretty good sense at what the show is all about. Part of the show's versatility is that because of the premise of time travel and nonsense, each episode can be something new and unique. I just gotta wonder: with all the Doctor's aimless wandering, does he really choose the places he goes, or is there some ulterior motive for his destinations to meddle? "Oh hey, let's go hang out with the Face of Boh when the Earth blows up! Oh hey, look, something bad is happening!" Then, "Oh hey, let's go hang out with William Shakespeare! Oh hey, look, something bad is happening!"

Some of my favorites:

Rose: Great introduction. I must admit that Rose kinda accepting everything that is going on during the episode is kinda off. Some strange man blows up my workplace, I'd be all over calling the police about the guy who CAME UP TO ME, SHOWED ME THE BOMB, AND THEN BLEW THE PLACE UP.

Dalek: While I get a sense that these things scare the shit out of The Doctor, I really don't get an idea why. Eccleston's performance is great, though. "No...maybe I am. Exterminate!" ZORRRRRT.

Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways: Good finale.

Still working my way through the Tennant years. I love how the Christmas episodes eventually start making fun of all the bad shit that happens to London around Christmas time.

The Cybermen invasion was really good, and the whole situation with Rose felt really natural, and despite the regeneration, these characters were close.

I like Eccleston more than Tennant, but Tennant's grown on me, and I'll be sad to see him go after season 4.

I want to try and catch up to where we are now before the 50th anniversary.

Mothra · « **Reply #841 on:** July 24, 2013, 09:55:41 AM »

I think there's like eight conflicting explainations for why the Doctor goes where he does. My favorite is Neil Gaiman's idea that the Tardis is actually intelligent, and brings the Doctor to places she thinks might be fun.

Beyond that, I think they've said the he chooses places at random, or goes to places he thinks might be fun, or just accidently ends up somewhere because he can't drive his ship. That doesn't quite answer why he'd choose to go to, like, an empty sleeper ship floating in orbit infested by giant alien bugs, or worse, London.

McDohl · « **Reply #842 on:** July 24, 2013, 09:58:52 AM »

If the TARDIS is responsible, then holy shit, she must be a sadist, with all the nonsense she puts the Doctor and his companions through.

But yeah, I'm totally hooked on Who, and it's taking all my willpower to not go back through this thread and read the discussion from 5 years ago, because the discussion from 5 years ago starts about where I am right now in the series. I just watched the Pompeii episode last night.

Bal · « **Reply #843 on:** July 24, 2013, 02:05:55 PM »

The exact exchange was

Doctor: You didn't always take me where I wanted to go.
TARDIS: No, but I always took you where you needed to go.

The idea isn't that she's a sadist, it's that she knows where the Doctor is needed, even if it hurts him. It's not actually an entirely new concept, at least among fans, and I quite like it.

Mothra · « **Reply #844 on:** July 24, 2013, 02:40:15 PM »

Quote from: McDohl on July 24, 2013, 09:58:52 AM

If the TARDIS is responsible, then holy shit, she must be a sadist, with all the nonsense she puts the Doctor and his companions through.

But yeah, I'm totally hooked on Who, and it's taking all my willpower to not go back through this thread and read the discussion from 5 years ago, because the discussion from 5 years ago starts about where I am right now in the series. I just watched the Pompeii episode last night.

Mmmm... I loved Tennant, but Russel T. Davis is a bit out there, as a writer. I didn't really think his humor worked, for the most part, but he took chances, which I liked, and sometimes they paid off nicely.

Once you get to Girl in the Fireplace and Blink, you'll start seeing some real good Moffat episodes. He takes over the show after Tennant, and for the most part, I think it's been at its best since. So you have something to look forward to!

McDohl · « **Reply #845 on:** July 24, 2013, 02:51:05 PM »

I've already seen Girl in the Fireplace AND Blink, and while I got kinda bored with the former, I REALLY loved the latter. Interesting way to do non-linear storytelling. Plus I can't help but think that "wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff" is actually an untranslatable Time Lord Time Science word for whatever temporal shenanigans is happening.

Thad · « **Reply #846 on:** July 24, 2013, 03:16:58 PM »

Unfortunately I think "wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey" has kinda become a synonym for "handily-wavily magicky-wagicky" in Moffat's years as showrunner, but I still think he's doing damned clever work that's almost always better than what Davies did. But he's never quite reached the quality of Blink since.

I think a lot of it's simply that when he was doing one episode a season he really made it count, whereas now that he's got writer credit on about a third of any given season and is shaping the direction of the rest, well, even the most talented writer doesn't always function at 100% of his potential. And again, while his work hasn't been QUITE as consistent, I'd still say that in the aggregate the show right now really is the best it's ever been.

But hey, when you're caught up go watch City of Death from the original series on Netflix. It's co-written by Douglas Adams, who reused good big swaths of it in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

McDohl · « **Reply #847 on:** July 24, 2013, 11:35:55 PM »

No, I agree that "timey-wimey" has the chance to go the route of Star Trek technobabble. I'm just kinda drinking the Kool-Aid of the show, and, you know, "it's just a show, so I should just relax". Right now, it's TV comfort food.

Thad · « **Reply #848 on:** July 25, 2013, 01:45:11 AM »

Nah, its first use was perfectly valid. The Doctor was explaining that causality can be violated, which is kind of important to the premise of the show. I'm not faulting its use in Blink, just its subsequent use as an occasionally hasty way of pretending plot holes aren't really plot holes.

Thad · « **Reply #849 on:** July 25, 2013, 03:21:41 PM »

Latest unsourced rumor is that McGann has filmed something or another.

McDohl · « **Reply #850 on:** July 26, 2013, 05:11:48 AM »

Alright, polished off the last of Season 4 this morning, save for "The Next Doctor".

It was kinda heartwarming to see all the Doctor's friends come back for this big ol' romp. Wasn't crazy about all the spinoff crossovers from Torchwood and Sara Jane Chronicles, but they didn't feel TOO shoehorned in. Still frumpy that Eccleston doesn't want to do any more Who stuff, because, even though I've only seen two Doctors, I like him more than Tennant. That's not to say that Tennant's bad, on the contrary! I just like Eccleston's range. "Everybody lives, Rose! This time, everybody lives!" gives me goosebumps, juxtaposed with "Dalek".

Glancing through the old pages of the thread, it looks like there's some more Tennant stuff before Smith takes over, but I can't seem to find it on Amazon. I'm guessing it's gotta do with #10's death and regeneration in to #11.

I do like how they foreshadowed the way #10 was able to cheat his way out of burning a regeneration. But they're also foreshadowing his demise, and seem to pull it back in the 11th hour.

As for Professor Song, I'm kinda mystified by her. What significance is she going to play? I really want to see what's going to come of "The Next Doctor", and the Tennant stuff after Season 4.

Smiler · « **Reply #851 on:** July 26, 2013, 05:20:27 AM »

Yeah uh wow, it looks like amazon just straight up doesn't include the end of Tennant in season 4.

Check this out.

McDohl · « **Reply #852 on:** July 26, 2013, 05:31:08 AM »

Thanks, Smiler. Totally gonna get on that gravy train tonight, after "The Next Doctor". Kinda ruins the mystery of the episode, because I saw the teaser before leaving for work, and THAT'S NOT MATT SMITH. YOU LYING LIARS.

Mothra · « **Reply #853 on:** July 26, 2013, 10:19:57 AM »

When you watch "Last of the Time Lords", make sure to watch this right after. It's quite good, and only about 10 minutes.

Thad · « **Reply #854 on:** July 26, 2013, 12:48:24 PM »

Quote from: McDohl on July 26, 2013, 05:31:08 AM

Thanks, Smiler. Totally gonna get on that gravy train tonight, after "The Next Doctor". Kinda ruins the mystery of the episode, because I saw the teaser before leaving for work, and THAT'S NOT MATT SMITH. YOU LYING LIARS.

I don't think anyone here thought it was really going to be the Governor, though.

Lottel · « **Reply #855 on:** July 26, 2013, 08:54:18 PM »

It was the third New Who episode I saw. I wasn't convinced it was the new Doctor but..

(He's still one of my favourite Doctors.)

Thad · « **Reply #856 on:** July 27, 2013, 10:46:04 AM »

Images from the trailer from Comic-Con: Daleks surrounded by flaming wreckage; sure looks Gallifreyan.

While I still think the bulk of the Time War will and should be left up to the audience's imagination, I think it's pretty damn likely we're going to see at least a piece of it in the anniversary special. Conjecture: they'll probably spend about as much time on the Time War in the anniversary special as they did on the previous Doctors in the finale.

The full trailer hasn't been posted publicly yet.

Thad · « **Reply #857 on:** July 28, 2013, 07:32:52 AM »

Audition scripts for the Twelfth Doctor. A regeneration scene, an encounter with a Cyberleader, and a boy with monsters in his bedroom.

Pretty generic stuff, and everybody's pointing out that it sounds exactly like the Eleventh Doctor. Which, you know, is true, but that's kinda because the Twelfth hasn't been cast yet, isn't it? He can't exactly write material to the new Doctor's strengths before he knows who the new Doctor IS and what those strengths ARE.

Moffat did a perfectly good job writing Eccleston and Tennant differently; while Matt Smith has been the only Doctor he's shaped as showrunner, he's distinct from both of them and I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume the next guy will make the role his own too and Moffat will welcome that.

Hell, he's even discussed how Eleventh Hour was originally conceived with Tennant in mind and rewritten to introduce Smith. I don't see why the next regeneration episode should be any different.

Moffat's a fan -- he knows the importance of affirming that all the Doctors are the same man, but he also knows the importance of making every one of them different in his own way.

But hey, if you want a statement of purpose for what a lot of people think is wrong with Moffat's approach to the show, here's a freebie:

Quote

CYBERLEADER: Magic is not logical

THE DOCTOR: I know – isn’t it great?

Thad · « **Reply #858 on:** August 01, 2013, 04:37:16 PM »

BBC has announced that they're going to make an announcement.

Which is stupid.

But here's Tom Baker!

Exclusive -- Tom Baker talks regeneration - Doctor Who - BBC

Royal☭ · « **Reply #859 on:** August 04, 2013, 07:51:49 AM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDGzzGRKukE&feature=youtu.be

Glad he's not young, bored that he's still male and white.

News:

Author Topic: New Doctor Who (Read 53839 times)