Re: Doctor Who [11]

by Forest Shepherd Sat Oct 03, 2015 3:15 am

Well nevermind all that speculation, I've finally gotten a hold of a copy of the first two-parter of this current season. Unfortunately I was led towards purchasing it from iTunes as my usual method for acquiring Who (*cough*torrenting*cough*) was letting me down at every turn. I can't stream the series at home, and so I need to find a way to download the episodes.

Whatever, who cares, it's only 5 dollars. I am looking forward to finally being able to read all these pages of discussion in context!

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:46 am

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them, especially if you are watching them back to back, which I recommend doing- the BBC repeated both the following day as an omnibus single feature an hour and thirty-five minutes long.
I enjoyed both episodes as it was but I felt they worked particularly well as a single feature, particularly it puts episode one in its proper narrative context and its pacing works better as a single piece than split.

by malickfan Sat Oct 03, 2015 1:51 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Its al rumours and speculation at the moment but yes there is some talk of it, and some odd anomalies surrounding production, things actors are doing (Capaldi is directing a couple of episodes of VEEP in the US right in the middle of what would normally be Who shooting time) that would seem to fit the pattern of either a gap year or something completely different next year- maybe akin to Tennants year of specials- maybe this time we will get a year of Who films!

IIRC many of the camera crew and technical staff used on Who also work on Sherlock (series 4 will be shooting next spring, it's probably the only gap in Freeman/Cumberbum's schedules for ages, so naturally they'll want to film it ASAP) and RTD's Shakespeare thingy is also going to be filming in Cardiff at the same time, so it's possible they may only begin shooting Who later in the year when the crew and studios are less busy.

I'm personally inclined to think it's going to be another split series or, more likely a year of specials (Big Finish still haven't responded to those rumours about 10th Doctor audios, and the recent announcement of that New Spin off seems to indicate they are looking at ways to keep Who in the public eye) setting up Moffat's final year in charge of the show.

by malickfan Sat Oct 03, 2015 2:07 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Doctor Whop is gettin a new spin off to replace the Sarah Jane Adventures- set in Coal Hill School (it sounds a bit like Grange Hill but wih added aliens) its main writer is Patrick Ness, who is an American (!!!) author best know for writing childrens fiction novels (Chaos Walking Trilogy and A Monster Calls among them).
The new show will be called Class.

"I'm astounded and thrilled to be entering the Doctor Who universe, which is as vast as time and space itself.
"There's so much room there for all kinds of amazing stories and to work with Steven Moffat and [producer] Brian Minchin to find a place to tell one of my own has been an absolute joy.
I can't wait for people to meet the heroes of Class, to meet the all-new villains and aliens, to remember that the horrors of the darkest corners of existence are just about on par with having to pass your A-levels," Ness joked.
Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat, who will be an executive producer on the new show, said: "No one has documented the dark and exhilarating world of the teenager like Patrick Ness, and now we're bringing his brilliant story-telling into Doctor Who."

Glad to see another spin off happen (though I hope this doesn't mean further budget cuts for the parent show), I watched a few episodes of the Sarah Jane Adventures (enjoyable, if cheesy family fun) if this is anything similar I think it could prove a hit...the press release mentions it's a 8 ep series for BBC 3...isn't BBC 3 going online only at some point next year?

That said I'm not so sure the Who franchise has the weight it once did as event TV in the UK, and a large proportion of the Who fanbase seems to be young adults anyway...

Doesn't seem to be going down well on Facebook, Doctor Who fans can be really miserable and entitled at times...

by Mrs Figg Sat Oct 03, 2015 3:31 pm

Nothing happened in this two parter. literally nothing, apart from,

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Oct 03, 2015 3:42 pm

Spoiler:

by Tinuviel Sat Oct 03, 2015 5:45 pm

Before a debate gets going, just wanted to pop in and say I got to be the artist liaison for a Doctor Who panel at the local Children's Lit Fest. The guests were AL Kennedy (who recently wrote The Drosten's Curse) Frank Cottrell Boyce who wrote the episode "In the Forest of the Night" (the one with the forest popping up in London last season) and James Goss, who recently adapted The City of Darkness. They were all pretty quirky people and were quite fond talking amongst themselves. I have to admit I wish I had more Classic Who knowledge, since they were mostly concerned about Tom Baker and Ramona (?) so I was quite left out of the conversation. But it was still cool! Mark Gatiss originally was supposed to come (which would have given me loads more to talk to them about) but had something come up.
So there's that! I definitely felt like a small fish among much much larger fish in a much larger pond, but it all went off without a hitch so nothing to feel awkward over at least!

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:05 pm

That sounds great Tin- so envious!

Romana was Time-Lady who travelled with the 4th Doctor. She was played by two actresses as she regenerated after her first series. She much later became President of Gallifrey- what happened to her and how she was disposed to be replaced by Rassilon in the Time war is unknown as of yet.

by Mrs Figg Sat Oct 03, 2015 7:13 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:
Spoiler:

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Oct 03, 2015 7:48 pm

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:17 pm

Rather enjoyed that. Nothing ground breaking but a very solid highly enjoyable classic style base under siege story with a spooky twist, a good supporting cast with the two part formula providing the time to let them breath, some good scares for the kiddies and a cracking cliff hanger. Well paced too.The 45 minutes seemed to go by in a blink.

by malickfan Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:49 pm

Really enjoyed that episode.

A very enjoyable, and at at times creepy base under siege story so far (reminded me of the Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit at points) very funny at points (liked the cue cards Laughing

that could have come off as cringey in the wrong hands, but Capaldi played ti for awkward laughs), nicely paced, efficiently directed, and reasonably fleshed out supporting characters. Nothing too radical, but Who generally excells at these types of Base under Seige stories, and Whithouse is a pretty reliable writer.

A few cringe worthy jokes and that convenient hologram aside, a promising start so far. 7.5/10.

It may just be down to me watching some of the TV Movie the other day, but did some of Capaldi's delivery remind anyone else of McGann's Doctor? The almost maniacal curiosity the doctor had in the episode could easily be the way 8 would react to the situation as well...

The sonic shades still seem kinda silly, but Capaldi pulls them off quite well...Clara's new found thrill seeking attitude is going to cost her dearly I reckon...

by azriel Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:11 pm

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Sun Oct 04, 2015 11:30 pm

Yup great line- were a lot of good lines in this one actually.
Gave it a rewatch and it holds up well to scrutiny the second time as just a hugely enjoyable adventure tale. Nod

by malickfan Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:16 am

Sir John Hurt is reprising the role of The War Doctor For Big Finish!!!, and the 8th Doctor will be entering the time war soon...frankly I think this is much more exciting that the Tennant/Tate Rumours

Doctor Who [11] - Page 31 12105685_1134031143292733_8773978991697339283_n

Doctor Who [11] - Page 31 12105685_1134031143292733_8773978991697339283_n

Doctor Who [11] - Page 31 Time_war_cover_medium

John Hurt is The War Doctor - December 2015

John Hurt, the world-renowned star of film and television, is returning to the role of The War Doctor, in twelve full-cast Doctor Who audio plays.

The War Doctor was introduced for Doctor Who’s Fiftieth Anniversary, and played a key part in the record-breaking television special The Day of the Doctor, alongside David Tennant and Matt Smith’s Doctors. He is the secret incarnation of the Time Lord — but he has shunned the title ‘Doctor’ in order to fight in the Time War against the Daleks.

“I have been a huge fan of John since first seeing him in the repeats of I, Claudius in the 1980s and in his Oscar-nominated role as the eponymous The Elephant Man,’ says Big Finish executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. ‘Watching his performance in The Day of the Doctor I did find myself fantasising that some far off day we might have the chance to work with him on the audio adventures of Doctor Who and now two short years later it’s happened! John wove a fantastic character together from a great script by Steven Moffat. Now we have the chance to get to know that character more and hear John stretch in the role. We’re all in for a hell of a ride as the War Doctor engages in battle. But who are the greater threat - the Daleks or the Time Lords?”

The audio adventures of The War Doctor will be told over four box sets, each containing three linked hour-long episodes. The first box set is entitled Only The Monstrous, and is written and directed by Nicholas Briggs, whose many successes for Big Finish include the BBC Audio Award-winning masterpiece Doctor Who: Dark Eyes.

“The story of the Doctor who refuses to call himself the Doctor in order to do the unthinkable upon the ultimate battlefield — all of space and time — was irresistible to me,” says Nicholas. “Such a deeply disturbing and engaging character created by the formidable talents of writer Steven Moffat and actor John Hurt. It’s such a privilege to be working on this.”

The cast of The War Doctor also includes Jacqueline Pearce, who plays Time Lord Cardinal Ollistra — an arch manipulator who is waging the Time War against the Daleks. Jacqueline’s work includes The Avengers, Callan, Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Moondial and Russell T Davies’ Dark Season, and she is known to many science fiction fans for her role as Servalan in the cult classic Blake’s 7.

Only The Monstrous will be released in December 2015, and will be followed in February 2016 by the second volume, Infernal Devices, which is written by John Dorney, Phil Mulryne and Matt Fitton. Volumes Three and Four are currently in pre-production.

“What an utter privilege it is to work with such an iconic actor, playing such a brilliantly devised role,” says producer David Richardson. “This is Doctor Who at its darkest — the era in which our hero casts aside his core values in order to try and save the galaxy in its most terrible hour. We promise bold and brilliant story-telling with gripping character drama, and epic and cinematic audio productions.”

In addition to The War Doctor, November 2017 also sees a prequel box set to the saga, Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor — The Time War, which will follow the early stages of the Time War from the Eighth Doctor’s perspective. Paul McGann stars, alongside characters first introduced in the War Doctor box sets.

You can pre-order all four box sets of Doctor Who: The War Doctor, plus Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor – The Time War today from the Big Finish website, priced just £20 each on both CD and Download, or all five available in a single bundle for easy ordering. Pre-orders on CD have free UK postage, and anyone buying on CD through the Big Finish website gets access to the Download version on release.

http://www.bigfinish.com/ranges/coming_soon_reverse/doctor-who---the-new-series

Honestly surprised they could afford Hurt, I loved the War Doctor, and I'm intrigued to see how they will do the time war on audio...I think the barrier between old and New Who is well and truly broken now...I'm fairly certain by this point you could argue Who is a franchise that actually lives mostly as an audio series!, the amount of audio stories by BF must far outnumber that of the TV Series...

They have already touched directly on the Time War for McGann in at least one audio story 2009's 'Mary's Story' [spoiler]

Spoiler:

Though BF have gone on record as saying they have many more stories to tell for McGann...

..So, strap yourself in for one final ride on the Dark Eyes rollercoaster, and when the final disc stops spinning, rest assured that it's certainly not the beginning of the end. Nor even the end of the Beginning. It's a very long way to Karn. At Big Finish, the Eighth Doctor will live on...

-Matt Fitton, writers notes, Dark Eyes 4.2 The Monster Of Montmartre

(Sorry for the rambling post, just very surprised they are actually tackling the time war directly...)

Shocked

If they could persuade Hurt to do it, I think Tenannt and Smith will be a cert eventually...

A brief podcast with Hurt and Nicholas Briggs:

https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/the-big-finish-podcast-the-war-doctor

by David H Wed Oct 07, 2015 4:58 pm

We've gone a bit farther into Season 8. It's just about perfect watching for after a long day in the field when both body and mind are exhausted but not quite ready for sleep. Have now watched Heist, Caretaker, Moon, Mummy, and Flatline.

I might have liked Heist better if they hadn't tried so openly tried to make a heist film. Every heist film needs some kind of McGuffin to drive the plot, and so when they made the choice to wipe everybody's memories, that stands everything on it's ear. I was hoping they'd do something equally unexpected like not ever letting us know what the goal was, or making it deeply timey-wimey by having the goal be ever-changing as the story progresses. But in the end it was simply another lesser starwhale to be rescued. A real letdown. Also they'd have been better trying to develop only one side character well, rather than two badly. The "I don't remember my loved ones so I'm going to sacrifice my life for someone I just met a few minutes ago" just fell flat for me.

Moon.... It could have been good, if only they'd gotten their basic physical laws right. Gravity. Come on. It's not rocket science. Rolling Eyes

Hatching from an egg and instantly laying one as big as you just came out of? Rolling Eyes

Mummy and Flatline were great fun, though it's possible that i'm becoming less critical as I get more tired. I'm enjoying the characters as they develop.

by Mrs Figg Wed Oct 07, 2015 5:21 pm

Flatline was brilliant Very Happy

by David H Thu Oct 08, 2015 6:43 am

Yes, it's a good story, well written and paced, and Rigsy lights up the screen when he's on. Also the foreman of the community service gang was impressively nasty. Are these known faces in Britain?

by Mrs Figg Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:29 pm

David H wrote:Yes, it's a good story, well written and paced, and Rigsy lights up the screen when he's on. Also the foreman of the community service gang was impressively nasty. Are these known faces in Britain?

Rigsy is adorable, he is my favourite character for years theres something really sweet and vulnerable about him, I like his artistic talent and the way he is humble and awed by the whole Doctor thing, I am getting a bit tired of Clara being cocky and glib. It would be nice to see more of the Doctor taking Rigsy under his wing and letting his imagination run riot. I really hope he is the next companion he would be perfect fit for Capaldi imo.

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Oct 08, 2015 3:20 pm

Moon.... It could have been good, if only they'd gotten their basic physical laws right. Gravity. Come on. It's not rocket science. Hatching from an egg and instantly laying one as big as you just came out of? - David

The sort of hinted at, sort of leak hinted at, unofficial/hinted by author explanation is that the creature is extra-dimensional- the 'new moon' is called in out of the pocket dimension as a new egg to replace the old one. Like how Gallifrey is in a pocket universe.
The gravity one is a bit harder to get the head round but its basically the same thing- the extra weight is leached from the other dimension as a food source and in turn it uses up all the minerals on the moon (that bit is sort of in the episode, about the minerals all being gone) as it prepares to hatch (similarly to how some physicists think gravity is being leeched from our own universe into another one). But I still maintain if it had been the moon round planet Zog no one would have cared anyway and instead enjoyed the character development and the morality tale being told ( I loved how the three women left to make the choice represented maid, mother and crone in Courtney, Clara, and Lundvig and I thought Jenna put in a powerhouse performance, especially in the final confrontation with the Doctor).
However I think the episode main strength for me is the character stuff, especially between Clara and the Doctor.

Heist is good forgettable fun. Nothing I found bad or poorly written about it, just nothing special either. Although I think it was important to show that level of commitment, risk and all of compassion in 12, to show that despite the acerbic nature of 12 he is still the same man who did save a star whale.

Mummy and Flatline are considered by many the two best individual episodes in series 8 so I dont think you are becoming less critical- even more impressively they are both by a debut Who writer Jamie Mathieson.

The overall character development in series 8 between Clara and the Doctor in particular and both individually, I think is the series strongest single feature.

'I am getting a bit tired of Clara being cocky and glib. '- Figg

Spoiler:

by Mrs Figg Thu Oct 08, 2015 6:15 pm

Spoiler:

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:54 pm

Spoiler:

- Figg

I'm almost speechless- but very happy for you! cheers

by David H Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:14 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:
The sort of hinted at, sort of leak hinted at, unofficial/hinted by author explanation is that the creature is extra-dimensional- the 'new moon' is called in out of the pocket dimension as a new egg to replace the old one. Like how Gallifrey is in a pocket universe.
The gravity one is a bit harder to get the head round but its basically the same thing- the extra weight is leached from the other dimension as a food source and in turn it uses up all the minerals on the moon (that bit is sort of in the episode, about the minerals all being gone) as it prepares to hatch (similarly to how some physicists think gravity is being leeched from our own universe into another one).

Yeah, that's what's frustrating about these holes. It would have only taken a few seconds of extra dialog to explain everything satisfactorily, and the episode would have been 100 times better.
"Hey, why the **** are we floating?"
"I don't know.... maybe a pocket universe?"
"What the **** is a pocket universe?
It's like a [insert analogy] that can exchange mass back and forth."

And your done. All questions answered.

Leaving holes that big that can be closed that easily is just sloppy writing/editing, especially when your audience is as large and diverse as Who's.

by Pettytyrant101 Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:47 pm

Personally I think something by way of subplot explanation got cut for time reasons- based mainly on the fact we get the set up and its in a place they couldn't really cut it without reshooting it- when they go to the mining place and discover all the minerals have been leeched away somehow and that it started about the same time as the mass increase.
The floating thing was because the mass shifted, according to the Doctor.

But I wont argue that it was a sticking point for a lot of folks- for me its not a big enough leap of imagination that it ruins my enjoyment of the story or the character stuff, which I feel is otherwise very strong.

by David H Thu Oct 08, 2015 10:30 pm

The whole episode hinges on the moon suddenly becoming vastly more massive triggering huge changes on Earth, and one of the most fundamental principles in all of physics is conservation of mass/energy. So where did the extra mass come from????? I'm OK with a pocket universe, or a wormhole or whatever psuedo-physical explanation they want to give, but they've got to say SOMETHING! As for shifting mass causing sudden on-again-off-again weightlessness, that's pure fertilizer! The amounts of mass and energy are easily calculable and didn't come from nowhere.

Honestly, can't they even afford a 2nd year physics student to fill the "science consultant" chair and make up cool scientific-sounding bull shit to fill these holes? It would make tighter stories, and maybe plant some valid seeds in young minds that may go on to truly save our world in the next 50 years or so. This kind of needless sloppiness can get me riled. Especially now during harvest when I shouldn't be on the internet at all.

Damn you Petty! Why do you keep sucking me in to debates like this! Mad

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