The Doctor Who Thread

[F-ZeroOne]

Take this with a huge pinch of salt, as I read it in one of the lower-end British newspapers (kids, ask your... grandparents now?), but they ran a story stating that Disney were interested in a couple of "Who" spin-offs - one about UNIT, and the other starring Paul McGann. As the Eighth Doctor. 

Hmm. You may recall similar rumours swirled about when he made his re-appearance for the 50th anniversary.

[azrael]

44 minutes ago, F-ZeroOne said:

Take this with a huge pinch of salt, as I read it in one of the lower-end British newspapers (kids, ask your... grandparents now?), but they ran a story stating that Disney were interested in a couple of "Who" spin-offs - one about UNIT

The one about UNIT has been floating around for a while since Davies was announced to be coming back. Any announcement of spinoffs with the Mouse-money coming in, I'd say, is too early. With studios looking at belt tightening on streaming shows, they will likely take a wait-&-see. If Who does well on Disney+, they may consider it.

[F-ZeroOne]

As is traditional, last night was the BBCs annual “Children in Need” charity event, which included a short sequence introducing the 14th Doctor (who looks very familiar… 😉). All I’m going to say is that the arguments over whether this “story” counts as canon are going to rage on for decades… 😅

[F-ZeroOne]

I don't know if this was previously released on DVD or Blu-Ray, or if it will be available via iPlayer/Disney + but one of the BBC channels is currently broadcasting "The Daleks" - the Hartnell era story that introduced the world to Skaros murderous pepper shakers - in glorious BBC-O-Colour! (and thats Colour" with a "U", by golly chaps! 😉).

[F-ZeroOne]

So... turns out the colourised "The Daleks" was part of the 60th anniversary celebrations (look, I knew it was the 60th anniversary of "Doctor Who", I just didn't quite grasp it was the 60th anniversary... the definite article, you might say...😉). Its a 75 minute long "movie" version, with a modern score added (which sometimes works, but does also have a habit of intruding).

Following that, there was a repeat of "An Adventure in Space and Time", the docudrama about the creation of "Doctor Who" from 10 years ago. However, they made a little change. You'll find it on the interwebs, I won't spoil it... 

[Dynaman]

Watched the latest Who last night on D+.  In my opinion it suffers from the same thing the Star Trek reboot suffered from (though nowhere near the same degree).  Too many action set pieces and not enough of the banter.  I felt the same way about the "Rose" episode that started off the new Who era way back when so perhaps it will find a more sedate pace.

In general I like the new Tardis interior but it seems like a lot of wasted space for the set.

[Hikuro]

I watched it last night as well....I just don't understand why we waited nearly 2 years for this special for the 58 minutes it was. But at the sametime I'm getting really tired of all this forced wokeness going on....like when Bill was around during the end of the Capaldi era it didn't feel bad, like okay no problem she's into the same sex, it didn't feel forced. But to actually STOP the story to take a minutes to talk about pronouns of a bleeping alien furby? Come on.....

[Dynaman]

The last special was just over a year ago.  There are also a couple more specials on the way between now and December 9.

[F-ZeroOne]

I felt the overall plot was a bit weak, though that may be a fault of the story is was based on (as someone who grew up reading British comics, I did a bit of a double take at the story credits in the opening titles!) but yes, this very much felt like a reunion tour. It does feel some like some change has been deposited in the BBC SFX meter.  Not sure about the new TARDIS interior, it feels a bit too "clean" for me (I would love it if this was just a prank on the audience and that it gets trashed later, though I doubt thats likely - please note, I don't hate it, but I did almost expect the TARDIS to start singing "Let It Go"... 😄). Apparently the next episode has been kept under lock and key and is going to be a bit more out there...

[azrael]

This is suppose to be a 3-part 60th anniversary special with the next 2 episodes airing over the next 2 Saturdays.

6 hours ago, Dynaman said:

In general I like the new Tardis interior but it seems like a lot of wasted space for the set.

"You've re-decorated. I don't like it."

[Dangard Ace]

SAB - Shirley Anne Bingham.  Unit Scientific Advisor Number 56.

D - Oh!  I was Scientific Advisor Number 1.

SAB- No I know.  I read the files.  I'm gonna get a bonus for meeting you!

 

Loved that exchange.

 

Felt like a Tennant episode(which I like).  Investigate.  Run.  Snark.  Run some more.  Fire and Brimstone.  Deathstare/Remorse.  Doctor wins.   Only thing missing was him doing the, " this IS me being nice.  This is your one chance.  Go away because I'm the DOCTOR".  I might've missed it.   Guess I'll watch it again.

 

Now whether to keep D+ or let it expire in...less then a month.  hmmm...

 

[F-ZeroOne]

So when I said I hoped the next one would stretch the boundaries a bit... 😅

That was... to borrow a phrase... fantastic!

And yes, RTD is going to continue to troll the entire internet... 🙂

[Hikuro]

It was okay, kinda a call back to the older story telling of the RTD and Tennant days. 1 more to go I suppose, lets hope it goes out in a bang. 

[F-ZeroOne]

So... compared to last week, "The Giggle" is a bit of a mess. It might have been better being spread over two episodes. On the other hand, boy, are we going to be getting an interesting action figure at some point... 😅

[Hikuro]

15 hours ago, F-ZeroOne said:

So... compared to last week, "The Giggle" is a bit of a mess. It might have been better being spread over two episodes. On the other hand, boy, are we going to be getting an interesting action figure at some point... 😅

I didn't care for it, political messages left and right, which I believe on RTD did give a hint it was going to go that route. Personally unless it really helps the story out I'd rather just leave that stuff out, but that's me. It looks like this'll be another run of Doctor Who episode's I'm gonna miss out on as I'm not digging Ncuti right now. I can easily tell where they're gonna try and take him. 

[Dynaman]

Finally watched it last night.  The big bad was hardly that big or bad (really a missed opportunity there considering the hype for the character).  I really like the new Doc already and the twist that goes along with him.  I'm also looking forward to possible spinoffs from this.

[Keith]

Ok, wild theory time, but after watching the new Christmas special 

Spoiler

I just get heavy Clara vibes from Ruby. Just gonna say it, I think Ruby is Clara & the 12th Doctor's kid. Don't know how, and obviously I'm influenced by them being my favorite duo. Hell, he punched through a million years of Diamond for her.

 

[Dangard Ace]

I'm just happy the Christmas episodes are back.  Hated it when they took it away and replaced it with the non-Christmas specials at the end of the year.  

[F-ZeroOne]

Well, the story was pretty much a vehicle. It actually reminded me quite a bit of the first "new" Who episode, introducing our friend from every planets North and Rose, which probably wasn't surprising, given who wrote them!. Where it shone was the characters, which was always RTDs strength. And Gatwa seems like he has a lot of potential; yes, in general hes more upbeat than many of his predecessors, but you also got some hints of some inner anger as well. If he gets well served with scripts, I think he could be a very good Doctor indeed.

[azrael]

Hopefully the writers takes advantage of their characters and actors (Jodie's Doctor suffered from writers who didn't write good scripts).

On 12/26/2023 at 6:44 AM, Keith said:

Ok, wild theory time, but after watching the new Christmas special ...

Doubt it. Really doubt it.

We will see more "mystical" villains this season.
https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-ncuti-gatwa-toymaker-minions-story-future/

[Devil 505]

You know that you've been watching a lot of anime when the first thought that comes to mind when watching the latest Christmas episode is "Where's Goblin Slayer when you need him?"

[F-ZeroOne]

Small bit of trivia for those of you who may be less familiar with UK TV in general; Rubys elderly neighbour was played by Anita Dobson, who is best known in the UK for having played the character "Angie Watts" in the long running BBC soap opera "EastEnders" [1]; her character was famously married to "Dirty Den", played by Leslie Grantham -  who also appeared in classic "Who" back in the day. Possibly RTD was squaring a circle - as well as nodding to a certain other infamous  "Doctor Who" Christmas episode...

[1] That shows notoriously miserable storylines inspired the latter part of this "Who" quote: " 'Did you have to say that? 'There's no turning back? ' That's almost as bad as 'Nothing could possibly go wrong' or 'This'll be the best Christmas Walford's ever had.' "

Edited December 28, 2023 by F-ZeroOne

[Devil 505]

8 hours ago, F-ZeroOne said:

Small bit of trivia for those of you who may be less familiar with UK TV in general; Rubys elderly neighbour was played by Anita Dobson, who is best known in the UK for having played the character "Angie Watts" in the long running BBC soap opera "EastEnders" [1]; her character was famously married to "Dirty Den", played by Leslie Grantham -  who also appeared in classic "Who" back in the day. Possibly RTD was squaring a circle - as well as nodding to a certain other infamous  "Doctor Who" Christmas episode...

[1] That shows notoriously miserable storylines inspired the latter part of this "Who" quote: " 'Did you have to say that? 'There's no turning back? ' That's almost as bad as 'Nothing could possibly go wrong' or 'This'll be the best Christmas Walford's ever had.' "

EastEnders has had a few crossovers with Doctor Who.

The 1993 Children in Need special "Dimensions in Time" saw the Seventh Doctor meeting some of the characters from EastEnders.

In "Army of Ghosts," the "ghost" of Den Watts appeared in an in-universe episode of EastEnders, which later turned out to be a Cyberman.

In "The Beast Below," The Queen Victoria pub from the show appeared as part of Starship UK.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Devil 505

[F-ZeroOne]

Thanks, I’d forgotten all those! (Though I think most “Who” fans wish they could forget “Dimensions in Time”!).

[F-ZeroOne]

 

[Dangard Ace]

Cool.  I'm ready for some new Doctor WHo.   

 

 

Also ready for some new Torchwood too.......c'mon RTD bring back Torchwood.... and K9!

[F-ZeroOne]

 

[F-ZeroOne]

Some general impressions of the new season: excepting "Space Babies" (which some people seem to like... ) I'd say its been a solid run of episodes. If I had some niggles, its that the last three episodes all felt like they needed just a little more time to wrap up properly. The other odd thing is that we still haven't actually seen a lot of the new Doctor yet; what we have seen hints at a lot of potential, but the last two episodes feel like they lent on the companion a bit (to be fair, in the case of "73 Yards", this was because Ncuti Gatwa still had other commitments at the time and could only appear briefly; on the other hand as it was largely a standalone episode it feels like it could have been pushed further back into the run).

And no, I won't be the first to point out that the current season is leaning quite heavily on the door marked "fantasy". Maybe this is the series where we finally find out how the Doctor becomes Merlin... 😉

[azrael]

1 hour ago, F-ZeroOne said:

And no, I won't be the first to point out that the current season is leaning quite heavily on the door marked "fantasy".

Not that the Toymaker's last appearance wasn't a huge indication of where they were going this season...

"The Devil's Chord" has been my favorite episode this season. "Space Babies"...that boogey monster...🤢🤮

[Dynaman]

I'd be surprised if the events of 73 don't feature heavily in the rest of the upcoming season.  Sort of like Bad Wolf did (but more in your face) to the first season/series.

The boogey monster being actual boogies was great fun but yeah the episode itself fell flat.

[azrael]

The bigger question is ...

Spoiler

...who is Susan Twist playing? Newton's maid in "Wild Blue Yonder". The old lady at the club ruby's band was playing in the Christmas Special. The comms officer in "Space Babies". The cafeteria tea lady in "The Devil's Chord". The ambulance bot in "Boom". The hiker in "73 Yards". Now Lindsey's mum in "Dot And Bubble".

And she's supposed to show up again in a bigger form as a CEO of S TRIAD Technologies. 🤨...anagram of TARDIS?

I wonder if that was her hand picking up the Master, still stuck in the Toymaker's gold tooth. Or maybe she is Missy. Probably not. Probably another like the Toymaker or the Maestro.

 

[F-ZeroOne]

Just to be clear, this weeks episode is not an episode of "Black Mirror". You might be forgiven for thinking so. 😄Also, if anyone needs the concept of "Timmy Mallet" explained to them please let one of us Brits (of certain vintages) know... 😁

[Dangard Ace]

Just watched the latest episode Dot and Bubble.  
 

I was rooting for the monsters this time.   They deserved to be fed.  

[azrael]

3 minutes ago, Dangard Ace said:

I was rooting for the monsters this time.   They deserved to be fed.  

After that ending...Yah.

 

[Dynaman]

4 hours ago, azrael said:

After that ending...Yah.

 

Yup - that is probably the best ending of a Doctor Who story ever.

And Ncuti Gatwa's emotion at the end is incredibly well done.

Edited June 2 by Dynaman