The return of Doctor Who (SPOILERS)

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  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    edited May 2018
    Not so much Dr Who but its sister series Torchwood is back on bbc radio 4. ( radio player ) with some 45 min plays. -{ I was a fan of the Torchwood tv series.
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    I watched season 1 of Broadchurch, as several had recommended it up above as something Jodie Whittaker had done. This is very good in and of itself and I highly recommend it.
    Turn out there are several Doctor Who connections aside from the Thirteenth Doctor

    so if this is the basic plot setup of Twin Peaks without any of the surrealism or laughs, Jodie Whitaker is playing the Grace Zabriskie/Sarah Palmer role, and she is very good as the grieving mother whose world is torn apart. There is a sequence in the second episode where she goes out in public for the first time after her child's body is discovered, that is exceptionally well played. I understand the actors were allowed to improvise a lot of their performances aside from the dialog, and this is a largely silent sequence that that is an actors showcase. She is good.
    Not much relevant to how she would play a silly eccentric alien Timelord however, so we will still have to wait and see.

    Tenth Doctor David Tennant plays the senior detective, the outsider in the community. He demonstrates some major acting chops never seen in Doctor Who. I guess this show is just more of an actor's showcase.
    And Arthur Carvill, Rory from the Eleventh Doctor's tenure, plays the local priest.

    Most relevant actually is Chris Chibnall who wrote the whole story and produced it. I had feared up above the next showrunner for Doctor Who would continue the inhumane and too-clever storytelling we had seen for the six seasons of Moffat's reign. Well this show is all about the characters, lots of humanity, contrasted with the remorseless logic of detective work. We get to know and like a large cast of specifically drawn characters and watch their lives shattered by the police procedure needed to find the killer. Like the rational ideal of Sherlock Holmes is in reality a type of cruel vivisection done unto the survivors. (Whittaker at one point says "I don't want to know" and scolds one of the detectives, her best friend, "is this what you do for a job?")
    So if Chibnall's Doctor Who contains even a fraction of the character work this series does, it will be a major change in direction, back to the Russell Davies days if not further. Hope he remembers to include some scifi amongst all the actorly showcases.
    (to show my preferences, my favourite season of the new Who was the one with Catherine Tate)

    Olivia Coleman, who plays the junior detective who has lived all her life in the community, I think has no Doctor Who connections but we all know her from The Night Manager. She delivers the heaviest performance of all here, her reaction shot to the revelation of the killer's identity is just incredible.
    I'd woof my cookies too
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,417Chief of Staff
    Olivia Coleman, who plays the junior detective who has lived all her life in the community, I think has no Doctor Who connections...

    Olivia is in the Doctor Who story The Eleventh Hour from 2010 -{
    YNWA 97
  • emtiememtiem SurreyPosts: 5,686MI6 Agent
    Season One also has David Bradley, who played the First Doctor in the most recent episode of Dr Who.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    emtiem wrote:
    Season One also has David Bradley, who played the First Doctor in the most recent episode of Dr Who.
    ah, I didn't recognise him. He was very good in Broadchurch. His was one of the more disturbing plotthreads in a series full of disturbing plotthreads.
    I suppose Torchwood, which I've never seen, would be more of an indication as to how Chibnall will do Doctor Who. But I did think this Broadchurch was a very impressive show, and it convinced me Doctor Who could be taking a very positive course correction once he takes over.

    From the online discussion I've seen, the next season was not nearly so good, but really the story was resolved so completely in the last episode there shouldn't be anywhere left to go. There are a lot of things that are said in the first seven episodes that come back with a very nasty irony once the killer is identified. It is just such a perfectly symmetrical and efficiently designed plot-machine designed to deliver that final blow.
    one example I just thought of, three days later: Coleman's character is in a vastly worse place when that episode closes than Tennants was when the story began … and this after all the negative judgements all, including Coleman, have been imposing upon Tennant. If he was "the Worst Cop in Britain", what does that make her?
    I don't think the concept could be nearly so powerful continued as a more conventional ongoing police procedural.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Just a reminder that the good Doctor returns tonight -{
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Well. Not really
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  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    That was sh*te! :s They've even fooked up the theme music! X-(
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    :# yep, I said I'd give it a chance, but felt like
    Switching off half way through. Very disappointed.
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    I thought it was good, hopefully will get better.
    Definitely the storytelling was more coherent than the last six years of Moffat's Doctors.

    But much less zany, and I already miss the striking images that Moffat was really good at (Tennant spotting the clockwork clown's feet under the little girl's bed way way back during the Girl in the Fireplace was the specific shot that made me a fan of the new Doctor Who for me once and for all).

    Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith's first episodes all stick in my mind years later though. They each started with a bang. I cant remember Capaldi's for some reason, but Whittaker's debut is rather lowkey compared to the other 20th century Doctors.
    Hopefully the new series picks up energy.
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Episode 2: That was also sh*te! :s They've even fooked up the theme music & the inside of the Tardis!! X-(
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    And tonight's Silly Moo in a Police Box had the potential to be something special but no it was an environmental message about the horrors of land fills! X-( X-( X-(
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    This just gets worse. I think the BBC should refund our TV license fees and change the title to Dr Excrement! X-(
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I gave up with the second episode :)) and began watching
    Some of the older series on the BBC i_player.
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,644MI6 Agent
    That's what happens when you let a woman take over things. :p
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    I gave up with the second episode :)) and began watching
    Some of the older series on the BBC i_player.

    A very wise decision Mr TP. It's just so bloody awful ....Can't wait for the Christmas Special ...Cyberpersons & PC Daleks! :#
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,417Chief of Staff
    That's what happens when you let a woman take over things. :p

    It’s odd...I actually think Jodie is doing a decent job as the Doctor, I just find the episodes a bit ‘preachy’ :#
    YNWA 97
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    She reminds me of Bubble from Absolutely fabulous :))
    That's all I can think of when watching.
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    edited November 2018
    ppw3o6r wrote:
    I gave up with the second episode :)) and began watching
    Some of the older series on the BBC i_player.

    A very wise decision Mr TP. It's just so bloody awful ....Can't wait for the Christmas Special ...Cyberpersons & PC Daleks! :#


    There is no Christmas episode this year. Chibnall actually said he’d run out of ideas for an Xmas special

    https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/2018/11/03/doctor-who-christmas-special-cancelled/?fbclid=IwAR0K-AEmlLiSvgWGsP4Z4T74iBVgG-ULNmK6Z_2w3N_Mrnj3-_Dvlg3Vaus
    ..................Asp9mmSIG-1-2.jpg...............
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    ppw3o6r wrote:
    I gave up with the second episode :)) and began watching
    Some of the older series on the BBC i_player.

    A very wise decision Mr TP. It's just so bloody awful ....Can't wait for the Christmas Special ...Cyberpersons & PC Daleks! :#


    There is no Christmas episode this year. Chibnall actually said he’d run out of ideas for an Xmas special

    https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/2018/11/03/doctor-who-christmas-special-cancelled/?fbclid=IwAR0K-AEmlLiSvgWGsP4Z4T74iBVgG-ULNmK6Z_2w3N_Mrnj3-_Dvlg3Vaus

    That article explains a great deal, run out of ideas. First episode, a Predator lands on Earth to hunt humans & takes souvenirs/body parts from the fallen ...where did that storyline come from? This weeks mess a creature eats a bomb, it explodes & smiles afterwards ....all it was missing was a/the Mask! :s
    Personally this Donkey does not feel like he is watching Dr Who, regardless of gender. It's just a run of the mill sci-fi show & apart from Colin Davidson & most Capaldi, DW was never a run of the mill sci-fi show! (although the later McCoy storylines & creatures sucked ass!)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-11-04/doctor-who-series-11-villains-will-they-be-back/
    A question from the Radio Times, why do all the latest villains
    From the new Dr Who, ....... just wander off ?
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • HardyboyHardyboy Posts: 5,882Chief of Staff
    Sir Miles wrote:
    That's what happens when you let a woman take over things. :p

    It’s odd...I actually think Jodie is doing a decent job as the Doctor, I just find the episodes a bit ‘preachy’ :#

    Very much in agreement, Sir Miles. . .I feel like every episode is patting itself on the back.
    Vox clamantis in deserto
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Hardyboy wrote:
    Sir Miles wrote:
    That's what happens when you let a woman take over things. :p

    It’s odd...I actually think Jodie is doing a decent job as the Doctor, I just find the episodes a bit ‘preachy’ :#

    Very much in agreement, Sir Miles. . .I feel like every episode is patting itself on the back.

    Being as common as a dung beetle, they're just crap! It's political correctness gone mad & we the viewing public don't need that on Dr Who ...thank you X-(
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Westward_DriftWestward_Drift Posts: 3,085MI6 Agent
    I still have 3 episodes on my DVR to watch. Not particularly interested in doing so.

    I don't think Chibnall is a good science fiction writer. If the current season doesn't improve I may start missing the "subtlety" of The Happiness Patrol from the McCoy Era.

    I miss the days of social satire written by Robert Holmes.
  • UnderwaterBattle007UnderwaterBattle007 Posts: 284MI6 Agent
    The story lines are crap, easily written on the back of a beer mat when pissed up......don't get me started on the female doctor....I'm old school and I can't believe he's now a she, a Time Lord into a Time Lady......not for me I'm afraid.
    FRWl, CR, OHMSS, TSWLM, SF, GF, TLD, LTK, TND, FYEO, OP,TWINE, GE, LALD, TB, SPECTRE, DN, YOLT, TMWTGG, QOS, MR, DAF, DAD, AVTAK, NTTD.

    "Do you expect me to talk? "No Mister Bond I expect you to die"
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    ppw3o6r wrote:
    And tonight's Silly Moo in a Police Box had the potential to be something special but no it was an environmental message about the horrors of land fills!
    I must point out that the Third Doctor's adventures often had an environmental message, typically when silly humans drilled too close to the centre of the earth, and that his companion Jo Grant exited the show when she fell in love with an environmental activist. Some of that was because Pertwee was the earthbound Doctor, so the monster-of-the-week had to come from somewhere closer. But I think it was also the times: pollution, overpopulation, and species loss were all starting to become big news in the early 70s. And Dr Who was always intended to be an educational show.

    But I would agree these new shows lack any subtlety, seeming to assume nobody in the audience has considered the costs of a landfill before. Also, the Alec Baldwin look-alike character in that episode was a very onedimensional stereotype, equating American businessman with pollution and guns. As if the Industrial Revolution had been invented in the USA not Britain. I assume this character is meant to be a recurring villain?

    I think one very big problem is too many companions. They are really cluttering up the show. For an all-new Doctor, they should have just given us one companion, to ask lots of questions of our new Doctor and allow the shows star to reveal her personality. Then maybe after a season, once we've got to know the new Doctor and her one companion, then add a couple of hanger-on to complicate the dynamic.

    Also its just visually very dull. I now officially miss Moffatt's striking images.
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Well Auntie Beeb has truly surpassed herself. Tonight's Silly Moo in a Police Box episode was perhaps the biggest crock of sh1t this Donkey has ever seen. The only Indian thing it was lacking was a song and dance routine at the end however some Indian chap? with a bad case of piles did wail the DW theme music at the end! Why is this Donkey even bothering to watch this excrement? X-(
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Watched around five minutes of it tonight as I
    Surfed the channels, ...... Quickly moved on.
    No Christmas special, and a change of time,
    After the change of day of broadcast ? Doesn't
    Sound like a huge success. :)) could be another
    Top Gear fiasco for the BBC.
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • ppw3o6rppw3o6r Great BritainPosts: 2,270MI6 Agent
    Hmmmm ....Amazon workers? mindless robots? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz X-(
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