The Doctor Who Thread.....

[Tallguy 3,381]

Yeah, I don't know if it was an intentional misdirect or me / fandom reading too much into it, but I recall it being "obvious" that the series was aiming at something with Susan. As it turns out it was actually heading for the First (can I still use that term) Doctor?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

3 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 As it turns out it was actually heading for the First (can I still use that term) Doctor?

Yes you bloody well can use that term!!! The "timeless child" shit, is bollocks!

Hartnell was #1, and he always will be!! 

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

44 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Yes you bloody well can use that term!!! The "timeless child" shit, is bollocks!

Hartnell was #1, and he always will be!! 

I don't think it would be that difficult to cancel out The Timeless Child bollocks, to use the technical term. Either Division, or some other, as yet unseen, group behind the scenes, are revealed to have planted the Timeless Child/Division stuff in the Master's head so the Master effectively made it happen, in order to control the Doctor some nefarious end. I mean, it would be a pretty big re-re-re-re-writing of the Doctor's history (and maybe RTD would figure it's not worth it) but there are ways to undo it.

 

I still don't really know why the Flux isn't something the Doctor would already have known about. When you've travelled from one end of time and one end of the universe to the other, it seems unlikely the Doctor would never have heard about it... from someone at some point. Then again, with universe changing events, I guess that's always an argument you could use. Some things are just too big not to have been noticed.

[Positivatee 327]

The Flux event cheapens the universe that our Doctor knows and loves and fights to protect, while trying to cash in on the multiverse concept that every other major franchise has adopted. 

 

Tecteun operates from a Division control room in a space between universes, showing how the Doctor's universe is ending and a new one is beginning. But then the purple Swarm guy kills Tecteun and says his master plan is to destroy the prime universe, only to rewind the video tape so he can watch all of time go forward and backward on endless loop, over and over. 

 

Okay, cool. Where's the second universe come into play? Wasn't that the destination of all the souls captured by the X-men Sentinels Passengers? A new playground for existence? Nope just another dangling plot point left unresolved, or at least unfulfilled. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

27 minutes ago, Positivatee said:

Where's the second universe come into play? Wasn't that the destination of all the souls captured by the...Passengers? A new playground for existence? Nope just another dangling plot point left unresolved, or at least unfulfilled. 

To be fair, there are three specials, including a regeneration, still to come. All might be resolved. Personally, I don't have much faith that Chibnall can pull any rabbits out of hats, but, I'll watch, anyway.

[Positivatee 327]

[DarthDementous 1,059]

…Lesbian overtones? Were there ‘straight overtones’ when the 10th Doctor had romantic tension with Rose?

 

I couldn’t give less of a shit about the genders, there’s so little chemistry and development between 13 and Yaz that if they do go that direction I can’t imagine it being very convincing.

[Tallguy 3,381]

21 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Some things are just too big not to have been noticed.

 

That's kind of the problem with Doctor Who. With the Time Lords it should be "everything all the time". But in the 1960's the Doctor and his "friends" stumbled across this nobody little race called the Daleks. Think of all of the adversaries the Doctor discovered that he'd never heard of that went on to become "a name feared throughout the cosmos".

 

Taken to that conclusion it can make things really static.

 

11 hours ago, DarthDementous said:

Were there ‘straight overtones’ when the 10th Doctor had romantic tension with Rose?

 

"It does start to happen, yes."

 

I never considered the accidental genius of "no hanky panky in the TARDIS". It keeps Rose unique for one thing. Has someone made some sort of chart of crew size and composition over the years? We didn't really get "The Doctor and his Lovely Assistant" until Tom Baker, did we? (UNIT muddies the waters a bit for Pertwee.)

 

It's funny. For all of the changes that the new regeneration was supposed to bring the assumption is that the Doctor still likes the laaaaadies.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

6 hours ago, Tallguy said:

We didn't really get "The Doctor and his Lovely Assistant" until Tom Baker, did we? (UNIT muddies the waters a bit for Pertwee.)

Speak for yourself, duckie.

Zoë Herriot, and Jo Grant are both gorgeous.

[Tallguy 3,381]

29 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Speak for yourself, duckie.

Zoë Herriot, and Jo Grant are both gorgeous.

 

No, no. I mean "The Doctor and his Lovely Assistant" are the only recurring characters on the show. Something that cracked me up about the reaction to the Chibnal era was "Why are there SO MANY companions all of a sudden?!?" I mean in nuWho the Doctor was practically a Sith. Only two there are...

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

Something that cracked me up about the reaction to the Chibnal era was "Why are there SO MANY companions all of a sudden?!?"

 

I wouldn't have complained if adding a ton of characters had actually done anything other than just reduce them to pieces of cardboard because there was no time left for character development.

[Positivatee 327]

The story was so rushed, nobody had time to breathe. The grand serpent is marooned on an asteroid and the camera cut to the next scene (or commercial break, I think) before we got any kind of reaction from him. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

"commercial break"? Never!

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Good thing about the iPlayer is that all of NuWho is currently on there, so a handier option for rewatching Christmas specials at this time of year than digging out DVD boxsets.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

The advantage of DVD boxsets is that you get all the extras, such as the Children In Need minisode before THE CHRISTMAS INVASION, and TIMECRASH.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

That's true. Timecrash was fab ... as much Tennant 'fanboying' over the actor (and future father-in-law) who was the Doctor when he was a youngster as Ten 'fanboying' over his fifth incarnation. Moffat even bothered to come up with a reason why the Davison Doctor had aged, bless him.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

TIMECRASH is eight minutes of pure joy.

I love the synthesized, retro sound of the score, when we first see Davison.

"...cos you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor".

Copy that 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

'Not every man can pull off a decorative vegetable ... fair play'. 

[Tallguy 3,381]

13 hours ago, Positivatee said:

The story was so rushed, nobody had time to breathe. The grand serpent is marooned on an asteroid and the camera cut to the next scene (or commercial break, I think) before we got any kind of reaction from him. 

 

I just watched the end of Castrovolva. I didn't notice The Master being given much time to reflect.

 

Time Crash is one of my favorite Doctor Who things ever. "You were MY Doctor!" Indeed, sir.

 

Oh, have you heard the story of putting together Davison's outfit? Apparently he is wearing Colin Baker's 5th Doctor coat! I can certainly relate.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Heh, you've reminded me of Colin Baker wearing this tee in the 50th anniversary prog 'The Five-ish Doctors Reboot' - 


 - because nowadays he's, erm, 'bigger on the outside' and can't fit into the original get-up anymore. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Hee, hee. Colin Baker is much bigger on the outside. I nearly bought a Doctor #6 t-shirt, but I went with a Doctor #7 one, instead.

It's rather nippy, up here. Time to get my Doctor #4 scarves out.

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

On 16/12/2021 at 2:57 PM, Tallguy said:

 

That's kind of the problem with Doctor Who. With the Time Lords it should be "everything all the time". But in the 1960's the Doctor and his "friends" stumbled across this nobody little race called the Daleks. Think of all of the adversaries the Doctor discovered that he'd never heard of that went on to become "a name feared throughout the cosmos".

 

Taken to that conclusion it can make things really static.

 

I guess that's one of the main issues/paradoxes with the concept of the show - things should essentially never be new as they're always there. As it were.

 

Just watched Timecrash, what a lovely but hilarious 8 minutes. Just the right mix of whimsy, meta references, sentiment and funny. Say what you like about Stephen Moffat's tenure, but he can really write some great stuff even if it's meant to be a silly 8 minutes to pad out Children in Need (political rant about paying taxes deleted).

 

 

My re-watch of Peter Capaldi's tenure has reached Empress of Mars. I quite enjoyed the few episodes dealing with the monks, having totally forgotten about them (which is kinda ironic). It's funny how they are disconnected episodes that tie quite well together into a bigger story arc. If only a recent 6 episodes had been done so well... maybe Flux would have been better had it worked up to the Flux rather than starting with it and going off at tangents that sort of returned to it by the end.

 

 

I'm not sure Empress of Mars is going to go down as one of my favourite episodes, but it has a classic "film music reference in the most unlikely places" where Bill mentions the film The Vikings and how much she loves the theme. True, Mario Nascimbene doesn't get name checked but a cutely random moment. Maybe writer Mark Gatiss is a fan...

 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

I liked the sort-of ... 'crumpling' effect that the Ice Warrior weapons had on their targets in Empress Of Mars.   

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

21 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I liked the sort-of ... 'crumpling' effect that the Ice Warrior weapons had on their targets in Empress Of Mars.   

Yes, it's quite creepy. A sinister variation on the Tissue Compression Eliminator.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

I am The Master. You will obey me.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

On 21/12/2021 at 2:58 AM, Tom Guernsey said:

My re-watch of Peter Capaldi's tenure has reached Empress of Mars. I quite enjoyed the few episodes dealing with the monks, having totally forgotten about them (which is kinda ironic).

 

The Monk trilogy had the potential to be something really incredible, but Moffat has revealed that his mother died while he was writing series 10 which directly impacted that block of the show. I can't imagine how difficult that must've been while doing such an insanely demanding job. Had it not happened the trilogy could've ended up as one the most ambitious and interesting things the show ever attempted. There's a lot to still like about it though, especially the wonderful Extremis. 

 

10 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I liked the sort-of ... 'crumpling' effect that the Ice Warrior weapons had on their targets in Empress Of Mars.   

 

That always reminds me of the terrific game No-One Lives Forever 2 and the hilarious cubed henchmen:

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Was delighted to see the TCE back in use with Dhawan's Master, and equally so to see that while the effects concerning the compression have improved greatly the result (the victim effectively ending up as a little figurine of themselves) looks much the same. 

Have watched The Christmas Invasion, The Runaway Bride and The Next Doctor these last few days - damn, it's good to have a reminder of the 'spring in its step' the revived show used to have ... family entertainment (by which I don't mean blandified, I mean there's truly something in it to please everyone from 8 to 80) from the top drawer. And what more could you want from something showing in the early evening on Christmas Day, with you and yours all gathered round the telly full of food 'n' booze?  

[Tallguy 3,381]

I watched The Husbands of River Song last night while I was wrapping presents.

 

Not counting any of the regeneration specials (Time of the Doctor is amazing) this one just knocks it out of the park on almost every level.

 

River: Does sarcasm help?
Doctor: Wouldn't it be a great universe if it did?

 

Doctor: My grasp of the universal constants of physical reality has been changed... ... ... forever.

 

It's a light-hearted romp through and through and then it hits you with that ending!

 

River: And if I happen to find myself in danger, let me tell you, the Doctor is not stupid enough, or sentimental enough, and he is certainly not in love enough to find himself standing in it with me!

Doctor: Hello, Sweetie.

 

Fortunately unlike past Christmases I got the end and turned off the TV. I have a bad habit of following this special up with Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (or at least the ending) and wind up weeping into my bourbon.

 

He had his ups and downs to be sure, but Moffat could get it done.

[Positivatee 327]

I cry nerd tears every time 12 reveals himself to River and she figures it out. It is so sweet. 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

I am perhaps alone in wishing The Husbands Of River Song had carried the light, 'rompy' tone to the end. My favourite Capaldi special remains The Return Of Doctor Mysterio ... the notion that the Doctor would accidentally create a superhero is pleasing, there's a sweet romance at its heart and it's funny too (the Doctor saying that 'Skills' are how he can carry a full glass of water in his pocket, 'I brought snacks', 'I've flooded the downstairs with Pokemon' and his 'Yeah,yeah, yeah' as he 'sonics' the defeated-but-still-giving-it-yadda-yadda-yadda bad guy's weapon (his Indiana Jones 'just shooting the swordsman 'cause he doesn't need this shit right now' equivalent, maybe) are all great.   

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Anything with Justin Chatwin in it, is worth watching.

 

I hate coming here.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

My favourite Christmas episode wasn't actually one of the specials, but rather The Unquiet Dead from Eccleston's tenure. In avoiding the light-hearted, festive spirit of most of the specials, it actually manages to feel a lot more Christmassy, and is a proper scary episode, too. A real ghost story for Christmas. Simon Callow as Dickens was perfect. TBH this is one of my all-time favourite new-Who episodes, and certainly my favourite Mark Gatiss story. It's a shame Gatiss's episodes tended to be too silly and humourous after this one.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Agreed, although I have a soft spot for VICTORY OF THE DALEKS, especially as it directly references EVIL OF THE DALEKS.

I wish that Dickens had completed THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD AND THE BLUE ELEMENTALS.

The ending of THE UNQUIET DEAD is almost identical to THE UNICORN AND THE WASP, but doesn't matter, as they are both fabulous stories.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

The opening of The Unquiet Dead with the 'reanimated' corpses is a nice example of Gatiss' affinity for horror. 

That reminds me ... he's done another MR James adap (The Mezzotint) for Christmas, and it's on BBC2 at 10:30 tonight.  

[Tallguy 3,381]

I'm taking a stand. Capaldi has the best Christmas specials. 

 

(Please bring back Christmas, RTD.) 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

THE CHRISTMAS INVASION? THE RUNAWAY BRIDE? THE NEXT DOCTOR? THE END OF TIME PT 1?

I think not!

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I watched Mysterio and Last Christmas after a huge Christmas Day, full belly and a few too many drinks. Laughed at all the silliness in both of them, and bawled my eyes out watching Last Christmas, especially the Danny scenes. So much wonderful work by Capaldi and Coleman. What a joy! Have a great Christmas all.

[Tallguy 3,381]

On 24/12/2021 at 10:52 PM, Naïve Old Fart said:

THE CHRISTMAS INVASION? THE RUNAWAY BRIDE? THE NEXT DOCTOR? THE END OF TIME PT 1?

I think not!

 

I kind of take the regeneration episodes out of the running a bit. But if I didn't then Twice Upon a Time and Time of the Doctor win.

 

The RTD Christmas specials are so good. And the Moffat specials are even better.

 

15 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

I watched Mysterio and Last Christmas after a huge Christmas Day, full belly and a few too many drinks. Laughed at all the silliness in both of them, and bawled my eyes out watching Last Christmas, especially the Danny scenes. So much wonderful work by Capaldi and Coleman. What a joy! Have a great Christmas all.

 

Yeah, we watched Last Christmas and Voyage of the Damned yesterday. Watched Runaway Bride last week. So this Christmas we watched David, Matt, Peter, and we'll watch Jodie on New Years.

 

(I need to watch The Next Doctor. Because I barely remember it.)

 

This is the Christmas where I've finally accepted that Capaldi is my favorite Doctor. (At least of nuWho.) And Clara and Donna are running neck and neck for favorite companion. And who would have thought that after Clara's first season. (Imagine if Donna had gotten three seasons?)

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Anybody get Whovian Xmas pressies? I got a sweatshirt with a snowman Dalek on it, a whisky tumbler with the Tardis and 'Doctor's Orders' etched on it and the 2022 desk calendar. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Pictures, please.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Bond fandom-related pressy also pictured.  

[Tallguy 3,381]

I like the TARDIS glass.

 

I just realized that I need to figure out a way get Eccleston into the Christmas rotation. I suppose we could watch the one with Dickens.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

24 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I like the TARDIS glass.

 

How much does it hold?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

On 27/12/2021 at 11:49 AM, Sweeping Strings said:

Anybody get Whovian Xmas pressies? I got a sweatshirt with a snowman Dalek on it, a whisky tumbler with the Tardis and 'Doctor's Orders' etched on it and the 2022 desk calendar. 

I did not get any Whovian pressies, but, quite by chance, I'm currently watching an episode of HUSTLE, which guest stars Colin Baker! How cool is that?!

In unrelated news, RTD has (apparently) already begun to hold auditions for Doctor #14. Looks like Michael Sheen is the firm favourite.

[Tallguy 3,381]

Sheen says he hasn't heard from anybody. Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland both deny any involvement.

 

I would be shocked if it was Sheen. I mean, what boxes does he tick?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

...what boxes does he tick?

None; maybe that's why RTD has - reportedly - got his eye on him?

Do people have to "tick boxes", anyway? Doctors #1 thru #12 (plus The War Doctor, and Grant), were not picked because they ticked boxes (although The Master could tick Ann Widdecombe's box, anytime ).

Maybe #13 was...and look at what happened?

 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

8 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I would be shocked if it was Sheen. I mean, what boxes does he tick?

 

He's WELSH! RTD would love to write a Welsh Doctor, I'm sure of it.

 

That said, I don't think that an older male Doctor is that likely for 14. 

[Tallguy 3,381]

8 minutes ago, Docteur Qui said:

He's WELSH!

 

Cachu hwch! 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

7 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

 

He's WELSH! RTD would love to write a Welsh Doctor, I'm sure of it.

 

 

Agreed! Much like Moffat writing Amy/Twelve  - 'I'm Scottish ... why am I Scottish? Oh well, now I can REALLY complain about things!' 

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

19 hours ago, Tallguy said:

I would be shocked if it was Sheen. I mean, what boxes does he tick?

 

Tennant's, for sure.