Re: Doctor Who [9]

by **Orwell** Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:40 am

Loved it! A grumpy cynical (Scottish?) Doctor! Aint it obvious? Also, gets things wrong. And Clara playing a sweet girl - like my daughter still does when she's around her Dad (and she's 22). Daughters can feel safe and secure and joyful and themselves around their Dads. (Maybe not all Dads, mind!) Love how pleased Clara is to be around her two heroes. There is still enough darkness without being over the top like the two Doctors before. Also plenty of having to suspend disbelief; like in the old Doctor Who Episodes. As I said, loved it. cheers

The High Adventure tact with the new Doctor pleases me too btw. Nod

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:01 pm

Good to see you enjoying it so much Orwell. And I agree about the Doctor being wrong, he has been a bit too omnipotent in NUWHo, its nice to see him going back to making errors, miscalculations and letting his ego get in the way as often happened in classic era. Gives the companion something meaty to do too.
There is definitely a more classic vibe so far to this series than any other of the NuWHo run.

by Mrs Figg Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:12 pm

Clara is the standout great thing for me. totally transformed character.

by Tinuviel Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:46 pm

I agree about Clara. Her character is really beginning to shine through, especially since her being a teacher has been added (well, not added so much as emphasized). She's teaching the Doctor how he is supposed to be and what he is supposed to do. And he listens. He's trying to figure out who he is (as I think Petty mentioned above) and therefore is open to listening to little Clara. Doctor Who indeed.

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:21 pm

Tin-

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:34 pm

In honour of 12th Doctors wonderfully silly and fun spoon fight, "I'm the Doctor and this is my spoon!" heres the 7th Doctor showing his skills with spoons-

by **Amarië** Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:05 pm

So... That was...

Are we still doing spoilers?:

by Pettytyrant101 Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:11 pm

I want to see something I haven't seen before- Amarie

Um exactly when was the last time you saw a sword fight where one of them uses a spoon? Cant get much more Who than that. Shrugging

by **Orwell** Mon Sep 08, 2014 10:58 pm

Spoiler:

by Mrs Figg Tue Sep 09, 2014 3:12 pm

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Tue Sep 09, 2014 5:19 pm

Well I am with Orwell on this one- Im loving it. Best feeling Who since classic and Tom Baker and Sarah Jane, a vibe I get very strongly from the series at the moment.

Looking back over NuWHo I would argue this series is the best start to a new Doctor out of all them taking all three episodes into account.

9 started with Rose, which does its job of introducing the premise and characters well enough, but is a bit of a tough watch now.
The second ep, End of the World has some good moments in it and is fun, but not anything special
Unquiet Dead is one of Gatiss better efforts, but still suffers from, well being a Gatiss episode really.

10 spent his debut in bed for 3/4 of the running time in a dull episode with the Sycorax.
New Earth was average and again the third episode is probably the best of the opening three, Tooth and Claw.

11 had a good start in my view with 11th Hour, slipped up with Beast Below (Moffat own least favourite episode he has written) and Gatiss's Victory of the Daleks has a few moments in it but generally falls pretty flat.

They seem to have a much better plan of how to introduce 12 and how he is being developed to become the Doctor again over the series after becoming 'lost in the ruin of himself' as Vastra put it in Deep Breath.
Each episode has brought him that bit closer to finding himself again.

So for my money this series has easily the strongest and most consistent opening three episodes of any NuWHo Doctor.
And with the revamp and and deepening of Clara added to that too its just been a delight for me that has only got better the more I see of 12 and Clara.

by Bluebottle Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:26 pm

I didn't mind that. Though it was so lightweight it might just have floated away.

Spoiler:

Would have been interesting to see Cipaldi in an episode with a bit more nerve and edge. Something like Cold War perhaps.

We'll have to see what's coming up, I guess.

by Pettytyrant101 Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:37 pm

One reviewer summed it up well for me Blue, 'fluff, but highly enjoyable fluff'.

Todays Sun gave the most glowing review I have ever read of a Who episode in print-

Spoiler:

by Mrs Figg Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:10 pm

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:46 pm

I am not saying they are not entertaining, well apart from Rose, but new Doctor first episodes are rarely good, same is true of classic, its a tricky thing to do everyone is adjusting, writers to audience.

And there is only so many ways you can do it. Rose has an advantage in a way in that its also reintroducing the show to a generation who have never seen it before, so it has more to work with, more to introduce and set up and it does that bit well. But the episode taken on its own as a Who episode its typically for a new Doctor story about nothing- a big blob in a hole is taking control of plastic and shop dummies are attacking, the Doctor and Rose have to stop the blob before it takes over the world and polluttes it. End of story. Its about introducing the characters, same a all first episode stories have to be. And so less rewatchable.

With the other two episodes they are entertaining episodes of Who, but once you watch it you've seen all there is too see, its all on the surface.
When I rewatch the first three of this run there is always more layers, and quite a bit of that is also down to Capaldi's portrayal working with Moffats writing.
One of the things I am loving about his performance is that he had a strong idea of how he wanted to do this Doctor, and he and Moffat worked together on it, the slower pace and more character beats and longer interactions were all part of what Capaldi wanted to bring to the direction of the show. What Moffat brought was through the writing stlye shift, letting the performance tell more of the story.

Where before with Smith Moffat would layer a certain amount of the subtext in the performance, an awful lot more was in puzzles and abstraction through the writing, now he is layering the sub text of the story more through the actor.
A good example of this in the Robin Hood episode is

Spoiler:

by Mrs Figg Tue Sep 09, 2014 9:58 pm

Nah this latest season is lacking the verve and giddy excitment Eccy and Rose gave to us. As for so called Capaldi layers you can keep them, they are boring. I am not convinced capaldi is telling a story yet. He is up and down and floundering around like an eel Wrangler in jelly. One minute he is teetering on the edge of interesting then he blows it in Robots. Rolling Eyes

by azriel Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:13 pm

I like Capaldi, & I think he could really offer something in the role, Im just waiting to see how well he opens up & makes this one of the best Dr's Ive seen. I feel hes got potential, but its a bit dormant at the moment, just finding his feet in a sea of of new territory ? Im going by gut feeling & I feel hes gonna suddenly come up with the goods,
{{{ I fooking hope so or Im gonna look a right lemon Rolling Eyes

}}}

by Forest Shepherd Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:09 pm

Curses, I am forced to wait until my sister is available to watch the new Doctor Who and I've yet to see even episode two. These spoilers are so tempting. And I can't even add anything to the conversation!

by **Orwell** Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:55 pm

Mrs Figg wrote:Nah this latest season is lacking the verve and giddy excitment Eccy and Rose gave to us. As for so called Capaldi layers you can keep them, they are boring. I am not convinced capaldi is telling a story yet. He is up and down and floundering around like an eel Wrangler in jelly. One minute he is teetering on the edge of interesting then he blows it in Robots.

Admittedly, Ol' Anon would have been the better choice to write Robot of Sherwood, but nonetheless you're out of kilter on this Mrs Figg. Out of kilter! Mad

{{{I wonder who the 'Robot' of Sherwood was if Robin isn't a robot btw? scratch

}}}

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Sep 11, 2014 12:06 am

Orwell-

Spoiler:

by Forest Shepherd Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:37 am

Damn! I clicked on your spoiler Petty, not expecting anything too large in the first line (I like to peak), but it was something large in the first line. Sad

Anyway I've been taking season 12 of Classic Who real slow, and I just started on Revenge of the Cybermen today. I was quite surprised that

Spoiler:

Anyway it was an interesting episode, if awfully corny with all the strangely homo-erotic gun-handling by the local military. Razz

I especially liked the ending, with how the Doctor doesn't really win but doesn't really lose either. Quite appropriate and satisfying for the themes involved.
And wow has anyone else seen The Sontaran Experiment recently? Now there's a real Sontaran villain. None of this supporting-role comedic stuff for him! The torture was quite dark for Doctor Who, in my opinion, and the ending as well of course.

Semi-spoilery screenshot!:

(And I just love whenever the Sontarans are tricked by the Doctor thanks to their own rigid procedures and systematic rationalized brutality.
"You fool, You've fallen into our trap! This is but the weakest slave form of the human race. I represent the real strength of humanity!")
*Doubt enters the Sontarans mind*... Razz

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:21 am

Well thats why I put it in spoilers Mad

Although if you only read the first line its oddly enough no longer a spoiler, which was the point of the post. The statement in the opening is no longer at all clear in the actual episode.

I like the Sontaran Experiment, but there is a Sontaran used for comedic effect later in the 4th Doctors run. Its nothing new.

Spoiler:

by Bluebottle Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:58 pm

by Mrs Figg Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:30 pm

Rose Tyler triumphs in Doctor Who Companion Champion

Billie Piper's Rose narrowly beats John Barrowman's Captain Jack to be crowned best Doctor Who companion EVER. Razz

By Radio Times Staff
Wednesday 10 September 2014 at 02:20PM

Rose Tyler has triumphed in RadioTimes.com's Companion Champion, a grand tournament of every companion in the history of Doctor Who. The character played by Billie Piper narrowly beat John Barrowman's pan-sexual Time Agent in the final, after five rounds, and more than 2.3 million votes.
Following a qualifying round, 32 companions, friends and fellow travellers from over 50 years of the show competed in head to head popularity contests. En route to being crowned winner, Rose saw off favourites including Strax the Sontaran, River Song and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Her final bout with Captain Jack attracted more than half a million responses alone, with a late push snatching victory for Tyler by a mere 2,000 votes.

Fans mobilised on social media, with the stars themselves getting involved. John Barrowman's official Twitter account encouraged his admirers to vote "If you love Captain Jack Harkness as much as I do," while Piper thanked everyone who voted, saying Rose was "still a very precious character to me."

Both Rose and Captain Jack accompanied Christopher Eccleston's version of the Doctor in the relaunched series, before moving on to David Tennant's era. Captain Jack's adventures continued in spin-off show Torchwood and a version of Rose reunited with Tennant in last year's fiftieth anniversary special The Day of the Doctor.

We love you Rose!!!!! cheers

by Forest Shepherd Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:42 pm

Yeah well, Captain Jack wouldn't have gotten so much attention if he didn't have his own TV show.