The Doctor Who Thread.....

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

6 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

"I KNOW!"

"Ooh! So, that's what I am: rude, and not ginger".

 

Is it me, or is Penelope Wilton kinda sexy?

 

 

8 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I watched The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe

It's that the one set on Androzani Major?

 

 

8 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

...it's a nice reminder of when Alexander Armstrong was still mostly an actor.

He's pointless.

[DarthDementous 1,059]

Well this is unexpected, sneaky 60th anniversary trailer drop coming tomorrow?

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

 

[DarthDementous 1,059]

Beep the Meep and Wrath Warriors! Now those are some fun deep cuts. They started off as Doctor Who Magazine strips creations and then eventually made it into some Big Finish. I enjoy when really obscure extended material stuff makes it into the main property

 

Donna yelling “skinny man!” while Sylvia was trying to hide The Doctor behind her gave me a hearty chuckle. It’s just a pity the tone of the trailer is so serious and dramatic which made it fall flatter than it should’ve, I can almost guarantee the actual episode is going to have a much greater balance of comedy and drama

 

I’m liking how it’s looking visually, seems like a blend of Series 4.5 and Capaldi’s era (unsurprising given the first special is being directed by Rachel Talalay herself). Nice colours without being too over the top. Very welcome to see after Jodie’s era which had some seriously ugly and flat color grading at times.

[Richard Penna 3,679]

And.... we're back.

 

Except the trailer music, ffs. They have 10 seasons of Gold's music to use.

[Tallguy 3,381]

On 25/12/2022 at 6:08 PM, DarthDementous said:

Donna yelling “skinny man!” while Sylvia was trying to hide The Doctor behind her gave me a hearty chuckle. It’s just a pity the tone of the trailer is so serious and dramatic which made it fall flatter than it should’ve, I can almost guarantee the actual episode is going to have a much greater balance of comedy and drama

 

That was the high point of the trailer. I'm actually excited to see Sylvia back. Of course every scene just outlined a big Wilf sized hole.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Seeing a besuited, madly-haired DT peering out from the Tardis door/charging about the place etc just feels ... RIGHT, doesn't it? Like all is well again in the Whoniverse. 

[Tallguy 3,381]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Seeing a besuited, madly-haired DT peering out from the Tardis door/charging about the place etc just feels ... RIGHT, doesn't it? Like all is well again in the Whoniverse. 

 

Imagine if they had brought back Tom after Colin.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

5 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Imagine if they had brought back Tom after Colin.

An intriguing possibility, but, in all reality, it was never going to happen, especially since JN-T de facto fired Tom Baker.

 

 

 

On 26/12/2022 at 2:39 AM, Tallguy said:

Of course every seen just outlined a big Wilf sized hole.

... that being?

[Tallguy 3,381]

The hole of him not being there. 

[mstrox 6,649]

Expect your Wilf-hole to be filled.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Bernard Cribbins appeared in scenes for the specials, there were pics of him doing so. Think it was the last thing he filmed before he died. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Indeed. Cribbins will be in at least one of the specials. How they write him out, is another thing.

 

 

4 hours ago, mstrox said:

Expect your Wilf-hole to be filled.

Ooh, er. I can't wait, f'nar, f'nar 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

I like to think RTD will give him a hero's send-off. I also hope that seeing as Fourteen seems to be a version of Ten, Wilf will gain some 'closure' over being responsible for Ten's death. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Yes, absolutely! Good comment there, Sweep.

Just a thought... is this the Metacrisis Doctor?

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

I believe this is something else. Speculation has it that it is somehow due to interference in the regen process by the Celestial Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) ... allegedly. 

Personally, I think there's also a chance that the Master's 'splicing' of himself with the Doctor in the most recent episode may have messed with the regen process.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

It it confirmed that NPH, is playing The Celestial Toymaker?

I thought that RTD was going to retcon the whole of the Whittaker era?

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Not confirmed, hence me saying it was speculative at this point. Don't think RTD has stated that he intends to retcon the Whittkaer era.  

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Hmm. In that case, RTD would do well to forget about it, completely... but that's "retconning", isn't it? 

I like the idea of NPH being The Celestial Toymaker, but I wish that "The Nightmare Fair" had been made, especially as it would have seen the return of Michael Gough.

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

It was announced when The Abominable Snowmen was released that it was to be the last of the lost stories to be animated, as there was no more budget for same. However it has recently been announced that for the 60th anniversary, animated versions of Hartnell story The Smugglers and Troughton story The Underwater Menace will be released (the latter has had a previous release with the 2 missing episodes of the 4 replaced by 'telesnap' versions.)  

[IheartMelissaBenoist 34]

20 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

It was announced when The Abominable Snowmen was released that it was to be the last of the lost stories to be animated, as there was no more budget for same. However it has recently been announced that for the 60th anniversary, animated versions of Hartnell story The Smugglers and Troughton story The Underwater Menace will be released (the latter has had a previous release with the 2 missing episodes of the 4 replaced by 'telesnap' versions.)  

 

"Announced"? Or "rumored in The Mirror"? I've not seen an official announcement, everything I've seen only refers to the Daily Mirror's article. I'd love it to be true, even though I'm not a fan of the animations, but I love having official releases with reconstructions. 

 

Speaking of animations, with all the talk about how much they cost to make, why do they keep making animated versions of existing episodes? Surely *not* animating episodes that actually exist and can be watched on the same video release would save *some* money?  

 

Faceless Ones: 2 episodes exist, both animated

Evil of the Daleks: 1 episode exists, animated

Abominable Snowmen: 1 episode exists, animated

 

That's four episodes there. Which could be used to animate something else, surely? Yes, I know, there's a huge cost to set up and create a story's animation apart from just the "cost of an episode" rate. But wouldn't it at least help, budget-wise, in *some* way? 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Ah - it does seem that there's no 'official' announcement yet, I thought there had been.   

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Watched 'Doctor Who Am I' last night, a docu about the writer of the McGann TV movie (Matthew Jacobs) reconnecting with the US fandom after the frosty reception it received in the States. Amusing, poignant and likely to remind you just why the show has a special place in the hearts of us Whovians.    

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

THE MOVIE pulled in approximately 9 million viewers, in the UK.

Although I didn't like it at the time, I am sure that McGann would, given the chance, have made a fine Doctor.

[blondheim 1,157]

So I finally made a lot of my friends happy and caved to buy a BritBox subscription. I just started Doctor Who for the first time. I’m working through the classic series first and then the revival. Which frustrates some of them that have never seen Classic Who and also the ones that want me to get caught up faster. I’m excited for my long journey through each of the doctors. 

 

Right now I’m in Series 1 with William Hartnell. Loving it so far. Interesting to me how the Doctor isn’t a typical hero and actually isn’t even always the nicest guy. More of an eccentric wizard character with flaws of his own. Love the title music.

 

When should I watch the Cushing movies btw?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

@blondheim, you've taken your first step into a larger world 

Honestly, starting with "An Unearthly Child" is the way to go.

"Edge Of Destruction" is the story where the principals start to come together and function as a unit.

Bill Hartnell rocks 

 

1 hour ago, blondheim said:

When should I watch the Cushing movies..?

You don't really need to watch them, at all. They are not canon, but that doesn't mean that they are without merit, but since they are not "official", you could watch them any time.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

When I got into Who it was with Tennant's second season so there was only two seasons of new Who to catch up on so I did that first, and then went back and sampled stories from each classic Doctor, the ones that seemed most popular/liked.  And then based on which Doctor I liked most (T. Baker) I started watching all of his.  It didn't seem like the kind of show that absolutely required watching in chrono order, so I was happy to just jump around following my curiosity.

 

But this was also long before there was an easy legal way to watch Who (new or classic) online, so it wasn't as easy to just watch series by series like it is now.  I mean this was the days when new Who didn't air in the US until months after it did in the UK.

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

4 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 

You don't really need to watch them, at all. They are not canon, but that doesn't mean that they are without merit, but since they are not "official", you could watch them any time.

Re the Cushing movies (which I seem to recall finding pretty terrible but maybe I’d appreciate their charm more these days). The only thing I would add is that both are technicolour remakes of older serials (both Hartnell era) from the actual show so you may want to watch the original serials first. 

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I haven't watched the Cushing movies but I'd like to, they look like fun. 

 

There's a hilarious moment in Moffat's novelisation of Day of the Doctor implying that the Cushing movies exist within the universe of Who; posters for the films appear in the Black Archive and Clara and the Doctor have a short exchange about it. That easter egg was apparently supposed to be in the televised story but they couldn't clear the rights for the posters which is a shame. I recommend reading the novelisation, it's a lot of fun, and also captures some of the mystery and poeticism around the Time War which could never be translated to the screen.

[enderdrag64 624]

On 06/01/2023 at 10:16 AM, schultz.kevin1972 said:

Speaking of animations, with all the talk about how much they cost to make, why do they keep making animated versions of existing episodes? Surely *not* animating episodes that actually exist and can be watched on the same video release would save *some* money?  

 

Faceless Ones: 2 episodes exist, both animated

Evil of the Daleks: 1 episode exists, animated

Abominable Snowmen: 1 episode exists, animated

 

That's four episodes there. Which could be used to animate something else, surely? Yes, I know, there's a huge cost to set up and create a story's animation apart from just the "cost of an episode" rate. But wouldn't it at least help, budget-wise, in *some* way? 

 

I wonder if animating already existing episode helps the animators get a better idea of replicating the directing style/cinematography of the missing parts

[Goldfinger 59]

7 hours ago, enderdrag64 said:

I wonder if animating already existing episode helps the animators get a better idea of replicating the directing style/cinematography of the missing parts

 

The animations that came out post Power of the Daleks were largely funded by BBC America to air. As such, they wanted fully animated stories rather than ones that jumped between animation and live action, thus leading to animating existing episodes. If they are doing more animations, I doubt this practice would continue unless whoever is footing the bill requested as much. As said earlier, it's just an unnecessary cost that could be used to either animate more episodes or dedicate more time to ones that need it.

 

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Must admit I didn't really enjoy the 2017 version of Shada with animation filling in for the missing live-action segments, it felt kinda disjointed.    

[Jay 37,337]

‘Doctor Who’ spin-off in the works starring Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

It should be called FIVE ROUNDS RAPID.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

That's great news, hopefully a sign of what's to come from the new management of Who! I really enjoy Jemma Redgrave's performance - it hits just the right note between serious and a little bit camp, which is where Who shines the most IMO.

 

Also, this quote from the article has me excited:

 

Quote

Davies is midway through the Season 14 edit and he told BBC Radio 2 yesterday that episode four is “one of the greatest things I’ve ever made in my life.”

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

I thought when Nicholas Courtney passed, the show handled it beautifully ... Eleven hears that the Brig is gone and that he poured out 2 'drams' every night in his retirement home, in the hope the Doctor might turn up sometime. 

Felt him then being 'Cyberfied' in Capaldi's first season finale was a Moffatt misstep. Felt disrespectful.   

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Today marks the 10th anniversary of The Rings of Akhaten:

 

An underrated episode in my opinion. I like the overall idea (there's something of a cross between Douglas Adams and deep mythology to it), and because it relies more than usual on Gold's score as part of the story - and Gold brilliantly rose to the challenge with some of his best music for the series.

[Richard Penna 3,679]

Wow, 10 years ago 

 

It's probably one of the better attempts to turn a non-earth based idea into an episode, although off the top my head I don't remember exactly what it was about.

 

Gold's score is indeed very good, particularly the song the kid sings near the end, which demonstrates how good he is at writing memorable song-based melodies, along with the one from 'Stolen Earth'.

[Jay 37,337]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

And underrated opinion in my opinion

 

What does this mean?

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

I see that the latest cast addition is a drag queen who was a two-time winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. Of course there's a element of camp and silliness or whatever in the show, there has been for quite some time ... but I can't help wondering if it might all get to be a bit much?

To pull an example from the classic era, there may well be those who cite The Happiness Patrol as a favourite. But I daresay they're few and far between. 

  

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Today marks the 10th anniversary of The Rings of Akhaten:

 

And underrated opinion in my opinion. I like the overall idea (there's something of a cross between Douglas Adams and deep mythology to it), and because it relies more than usual on Gold's score as part of the story - and Gold brilliantly rose to the challenge with some of his best music for the series.

Wasn’t it that melody he used for the 11th Doctor’s Regeneration? Where I Am The Doctor is perhaps not quite suitable in that context, the Akhaten

melody is perfect. Probably my favourite regeneration cue. David T’s is great in its own way but the epicness slightly overshadows the emotion. 

2 minutes ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I see that the latest cast addition is a drag queen who was a two-time winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. Of course there's a element of camp and silliness or whatever in the show, there has been for quite some time ... but I can't help wondering if it might all get to be a bit much?

To pull an example from the classic era, there may well be those who cite The Happiness Patrol as a favourite. But I daresay they're few and far between. 

  

As long as they can act does it matter? I thought Catherine Tate was a bad choice as she was far more used to acting as larger than life comedy characters but they reined her in just enough to make Donna a hugely popular companion and her acting became considerably more nuanced by the end. I’m sure RTD knows what he’s doing. 

[Tom 4,650]

On 05/02/2023 at 8:53 PM, Docteur Qui said:

I haven't watched the Cushing movies but I'd like to, they look like fun.

 

You will not believe how bad they are. 

[Goldfinger 59]

I think the Cushing movies are actually quite good, albeit hollow. They're cut down versions of the first two Dalek stories, with all the fluff cut out and presented in glorious Technicolour.  Plus, the second features the actor better known as Milfred Mott so its a nice treat for new series fans.

 

Neither are going to win awards for sure, but they don't overstay their runtime and present fun stories (admittedly, the first is better than the second).

 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Heh, I prefer the 2nd Cushing movie ... that said, the public at the time didn't and plans for a 3rd were duly shelved. 

@Tom Guernsey ... well, yes. RTD is a good 'balancer' of the show's various elements, this is true. 

[Tallguy 3,381]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Wasn’t it that melody he used for the 11th Doctor’s Regeneration? Where I Am The Doctor is perhaps not quite suitable in that context, the Akhaten

melody is perfect. Probably my favourite regeneration cue. David T’s is great in its own way but the epicness slightly overshadows the emotion. 

 

It absolutely was. He used Saving the Doctor / I Am the Doctor for the last battle, he used Inifinite Potential for the speech, and (of course) the last thing we hear before he regenerates is Mad Man with a Box. It's so perfect. I wonder what he could have written with original score, but I almost can't imagine he would have done better.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

What does this mean?

 

The first "opinion" means "episode".

[Jay 37,337]

Ah!

[Tom Guernsey 2,282]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

It absolutely was. He used Saving the Doctor / I Am the Doctor for the last battle, he used Inifinite Potential for the speech, and (of course) the last thing we hear before he regenerates is Mad Man with a Box. It's so perfect. I wonder what he could have written with original score, but I almost can't imagine he would have done better.

Yeah it’s a beautiful traversal of various themes for 11. The score for that whole episode is terrific though. 

[Sweeping Strings 2,352]

Rewatched Tennant Easter special Planet Of The Dead. I know there's also last year's Sea Devils special, but erm ... yeah. 

Hoping RTD will bring this kind of sparky, fun and spirited adventure back. DT is great (of course), Michelle Ryan is an absolute FOX as Lady Christina and into the bargain, this is one of the rare occasions when I haven't found Lee Evans hugely irritating.   

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I know there's also last year's Sea Devils special, but erm ... yeah. 

"erm ... yeah" is a fucking understatement.

Don't go anywhere near that fucking thing, if you know what's good for you!

There is a very good reason why it's now regarded as the absolute nadir of all DW.