Doctor Who

[Cthulhu Steev]

Can we look forward to posters being accused of being "miserable" or "haters" by people every week by people who get upset about others having a different opinion than them about a piece of light entertainment?

I can only assume I'm in a pretty small minority though but I kind of looked past a lot of the plot holes to just enjoy it. Each to their own eh?

Yeah, pretty much. I wish I had joy in my heart to accept it, but sadly I don't

[Lorfarius]

I can only assume I'm in a pretty small minority though but I kind of looked past a lot of the plot holes to just enjoy it. Each to their own eh?

Well you are a Metal Gear fan

[BitterToad]

No idea what you're ta

Well you are a Metal Gear fan

No idea what you're talking about...

[Meh]

I hate it now, but I can't stop watching. Stupid sexy companion lasses.

When even rllmuk is grumbling about the quality, you know something's wrong.

[JPickford]

Indeed. I'm pretty loyal to this show but the nagging doubts are really kicking in now.

I think dropping the 2-parters was a mistake. It's getting like the older series of The Bill where every story has to get established and wrapped up in a single show. Inevitably practically every show has a rushed, disappointing conclusion.

I'd rather they went the other way and only made serials.

[scottcr]

exactly... I'd like a story spread out over 4-5 weeks.

[jonamok]

It's primarily a show for all ages (the less controversial way of saying 'y'know, for kids') so fast-moving incessant plot evolution is pretty much a nailed-on requirement.

[Matt Defis]

I actually really enjoyed it, which is odd because I've come to loathe Dr Who, don't get me wrong the whole singing bit was shit but I loved the way it looked, I loved the shot of the Dr with the star, it reminded me of the Illusive man in Mass effect, the moped made me think of Flash Gordon and the market with all the aliens was a proper Mos Eisley moment, Who needs more of these, space and lots of aliens and alien enviroments. I loved all the little details, as a whole it was a pile of shit but it was made up of lots of little excellent bits which I really enjoyed.

[DirkCrisis]

Well at least it wasn't as awful as the 2012 olympic episode.

NEVAR 4GET

[Davros sock drawer]

I'm a bit behind, just watched the wi-fi episode. I loathe all those Sherlock stylings, and I wonder if the show knows what it is anymore, but overall I rather enjoyed it. Mainly because of Matt Smith and the new Tardis I think. "I invented the Quadracycle!". Very watchable.

Can't get excited about The Great Intelligence as this season's big bad though.

[Sprite Machine]

Indeed. I'm pretty loyal to this show but the nagging doubts are really kicking in now.

I think dropping the 2-parters was a mistake. It's getting like the older series of The Bill where every story has to get established and wrapped up in a single show. Inevitably practically every show has a rushed, disappointing conclusion.

I'd rather they went the other way and only made serials.

I've been watching Classic Who and finding some of the longer serials (the six parters or more) to be glacially slow and infuriating. I suspect there is a happy middle ground. With 45 minutes apiece, two or three parts would be fine - plenty of time to breathe, to explore whatever far-out ideas it needs to without having to rush onto the next thing. So long as it has decent writing and an ending that isn't pulled from thin air, I'd be well chuffed.

Single episodes can be excellent too, though, but they have to tone down on the "the universe is in danger!" stuff and just be about little stories.

I think my favourite run of new Who episodes was the whole Blink/Family of Blood/Utopia stuff from Tennant's run.

[Frosty]

I'd really like if it could just cut down on THE POWER OF LOVE being the solution to any apocalyptic scenario. I get that having to think of creative solutions to the problems you've written is a massive ball ache, but they could give it a shot. I'd applaud them for the effort alone.

On the other hand, I do love that song and that movie.

[SeanR]

I'd really like if it could just cut down on THE POWER OF LOVE being the solution to any apocalyptic scenario. I get that having to think of creative solutions to the problems you've written is a massive ball ache, but they could give it a shot. I'd applaud them for the effort alone.

On the other hand, I do love that song and that movie.

Bend it like Beckham?

[Garwoofoo]

I loved all the little details, as a whole it was a pile of shit

That's modern Who summed up right there.

I'm actually gutted that we're going into the 50th anniversary at such a low creative ebb. I know RTD had his faults but I'd swap his first series or much of his third for pretty much anything Moffat's done while he's been in charge.

[c-cat114]

Too many irons in too many fires. Fear of the Twitter mob, too clever for own good/too many ideas and, maybe, RTD wasnt lying when he said he had to do rewrites in his scripts. Maybe Sherlock distraction too. Such a shame, whichever way around it is.

Havent seen the past ep but it looked like an unimaginative retread of Beast Below meets the Ecclescake star one from the trailer.

The one thing you can say about Moffat is that it does at least now look the biz rather than the RTD CBbc stylings he went for.

[linkster]

Moffat was supposed to be the saviour of the series...what happened!

He believed it.

[linkster]

Too many irons in too many fires. Fear of the Twitter mob, too clever for own good/too many ideas and, maybe, RTD wasnt lying when he said he had to do rewrites in his scripts. Maybe Sherlock distraction too. Such a shame, whichever way around it is.

Havent seen the past ep but it looked like an unimaginative retread of Beast Below meets the Ecclescake star one from the trailer.

The one thing you can say about Moffat is that it does at least now look the biz rather than the RTD CBbc stylings he went for.

I've been watching Classic Who and finding some of the longer serials (the six parters or more) to be glacially slow and infuriating. I suspect there is a happy middle ground. With 45 minutes apiece, two or three parts would be fine - plenty of time to breathe, to explore whatever far-out ideas it needs to without having to rush onto the next thing. So long as it has decent writing and an ending that isn't pulled from thin air, I'd be well chuffed.Single episodes can be excellent too, though, but they have to tone down on the "the universe is in danger!" stuff and just be about little stories.I think my favourite run of new Who episodes was the whole Blink/Family of Blood/Utopia stuff from Tennant's run.

Plenty of truth in this. Even the best of old Who is padded almost to breaking point (almost..), and yeah you a right Family of Blood really was outstanding and maybe gave that room to breathe

Still I think they showed plenty of times 45 minutes isn't a barrier to a good show, it needs someone hungry to do things with the proper ethos in charge again

[Meh]

Too many irons in too many fires. Fear of the Twitter mob, too clever for own good/too many ideas and, maybe, RTD wasnt lying when he said he had to do rewrites in his scripts. Maybe Sherlock distraction too. Such a shame, whichever way around it is.

Havent seen the past ep but it looked like an unimaginative retread of Beast Below meets the Ecclescake star one from the trailer.

The one thing you can say about Moffat is that it does at least now look the biz rather than the RTD CBbc stylings he went for.

See, I've never thought Moffat's era has been clever at all. Very little of it makes actual sense, especially that last season finale.

[Mr Cochese]

At least Russell T Grant knew he was an idiot. That Bad Wolf thing he did in the first series, for instance, didn't even try to make sense.

[Davros sock drawer]

I've been watching Classic Who and finding some of the longer serials (the six parters or more) to be glacially slow and infuriating.

You'll be glad to hear that there are very few 6 parters after Pertwee's run. There are only 5 six parters during the whole 7 years of Tom Baker's run, compared to 13 in Pertwee's (including 7 parters like Inferno etc). After that there are none.

[linkster]

You'll be glad to hear that there are very few 6 parters after Pertwee's run. There are only 5 six parters during the whole 7 years of Tom Baker's run, compared to 13 in Pertwee's (including 7 parters like Inferno etc). After that there are none.

Hmm, yeah but...

it's not just the number of episodes... have you SEEn Genesis all the way through? The fucking clam cave and all that? Climbing the rocket...???? I dunno if it's cos I grew up not only on the novel but having an LP of this (god how old...) which edited it to perfection but MAN it tests your patience

[Davros sock drawer]

I've seen Genesis all the way through about 10 times. Yeah, it's padded. All 6 parters are, with the possible exception of Seeds of Doom, but that's because it shifts location after the first two episodes.

Point is there's fewer of 'em from hereon in for Sprite, and even a Two Parter (The Sontaran Experiment).

[Cthulhu Steev]

You'll be glad to hear that there are very few 6 parters after Pertwee's run. There are only 5 six parters during the whole 7 years of Tom Baker's run, compared to 13 in Pertwee's (including 7 parters like Inferno etc). After that there are none.

And two of those are Daleks and Krynoids!

[kensei]

Most shows run out of steam after seven seasons. Who is into its seventh season in its second run. It's inevitable there will be some repetition of ideas. In Moffat's favour, I think his first season was better on average than any of RTD's and since then he's been experimenting to try and rind a new groove. It's never going back to.the.70s and as pointed out that's not a bad thing. Plus, and this is important, you are all miserable bastards. The hit rate has been about the same as ever, it's always been the world's most inconsistent show.

I think the biggest problem is the relatively small pool of writers. The best eps in his era have tended to come from new writers.

[Harsin]

Most shows run out of steam after seven seasons. Who is into its seventh season in its second run. It's inevitable there will be some repetition of ideas.

I don't think that applies to Who as much as other shows. It's got a premise that allows a remarkable degree of flexibility, it can take place anywhere at anytime and cross a wide range of genres. The only constant is the Doctor himself and he's not that much of a constant since he can be played by different actor in significantly different styles.

[joeplus]

Can we look forward to posters being accused of being "miserable" or "haters" by people every week by people who get upset about others having a different opinion than them about a piece of light entertainment?

Aww, I was only joshing really. I can totally see why people would dislike the ep.

[kensei]

I don't think that applies to Who as much as other shows. It's got a premise that allows a remarkable degree of flexibility, it can take place anywhere at anytime and cross a wide range of genres. The only constant is the Doctor himself and he's not that much of a constant since he can be played by different actor in significantly different styles.

As pointed out, you wind up repeating "Alien invasion", "evil corporation", "assistant in peril" etc repeatedly very easily. Plus you end up with the problem of increasing threat level. Even if you go back, Genesis was great but the third go at the same story.

And youse are all miserable

[Sprite Machine]

The Time Warrior

(Blog has pictures)

It's been a while since we've had a historical episode. The middle ages are the setting for 'The Time Warrior', and the anachronistic arrival of a crashed Sontaran warrior threatens to contaminate history. Luckily, the Sontaran happens to snatch a few present day scientists back through time, which gets the Doctor's attention.

[Picture: Professor Rubeish helps the Doctor rescue the other kidnapped scientists.]

Few stories lately have dealt with historical events, and even fewer with the consequences of meddling with them, so this one was interesting. Naturally, you get a load of knights saying things like "you speak in strange tongues, star warrior", and calling the Doctor a wizard, which is fun. But it also asks serious questions like what would actually happen if medieval people had access to weapons that could kill so easily – would we be sophisticated enough as a society to handle that responsibility? The period characters are portrayed as fools, so the answer would seem to be "no". Fortunately, the Doctor is able to destroy the Sontaran's ship, and the explosion takes out the castle and the weapons too. Lots of stories lately seem to feature explosive endings, it's becoming a theme!

[Picture: The Doctor plans an assault on Irongron's castle.]

I'm familiar with the modern version of the Sontarans, but I was very surprised by how little they've changed. The head, the face, the voice and the mannerisms are all basically the same. They're not evil, as such, just single-minded and amused by warmongering. There is only one of them in this story, but one is enough to provide a worthy foe for the Doctor and his new travelling companion.

[Picture: Make-up and prosthetics may have improved in 30 years, but this Sontaran looks remarkably similar to the modern ones.]

Yes, Sarah Jane Smith joins the Doctor's travels for the first time in this story. A journalist who accidentally stows away on the Tardis, she is a refreshing change from Jo, actually challenging the Doctor and, for a while, even thinking he is the villain of the piece! I already like her, so that's a good start.

[Picture: Sarah Jane Smith questions the Doctor.]

A couple of noteworthy mentions here. Firstly, the Doctor mentions to the Sontaran that his home planet is Gallifrey – I believe this is the first spoken reference of this name (first I've noticed, anyway). Secondly, this story features a brand new title sequence with a more familiar (to me) "time tunnel" graphic, and a brand new logo. It's very nice. Same old music, though.

[HarMGM]

The Time Warrior is easily one of the best Pertwee episodes. Great review Sprite!

[linkster]

Yay Sarah Jane