Doctor Who

[Fireproofradiator]

The lack of threat in New Who is one of my biggest gripes. I know the show is never going back to the good old days, but in the classic series the Doctor would frequently be fucked. About to drown, be shot by firing squad, decapitated, arms and legs pulled off, hit by a train, you name it. And although you knew the Doctor would be back to fight another day, it was properly sold to the audience as serious peril, with a week to wait until you find out if he survives or not.

I really miss that.

Well, that's just something we lose with self contained episodes I guess. But the cliffhangers for multipart stories have been pretty good haven't they? What happens at the end of Family of Blood Part Un or whatever its called?

[Davros sock drawer]

So he was never in real peril, but you thought he might me?

Well logically the Doctor was always going to be back next week in a show called Doctor Who, but they still gave you some proper "How the hell is he going to get out of that one!" scenarios in Classic Who.

A lot of that is simply how the performances sell the danger to you. I mean, I've never seen anything as desperate in New Who as the end of episode 3 of The Caves of Androzani. Dying from disease, guns pointed at him, and about to crash into a planet. And Davison totally makes you believe it.

Matt Smith would have waved his Sonic, and kicked a football at his head. David Tennant would have fallen to the surface through a big glass ceiling, and not gone splat. Apart from anything else he wasn't superhuman, as he now appears to be.

[NEG]

Enjoying this year far more then last, so far. Thought last year was pretty poor.

Edit: Besides the usual 'look at how hot the red head is' aspect.

[El Pibe]

Ack!! Those words. Half.Series

Lazy fuckers should do a 13 episode run in one go. Shit shit shit shit!

Completely agree. Christ knows why the BBC are fecking around with the show so much. Just give us a full season as it really ruins the momentum of the season and makes it feel very disjointed.

[Harsin]

By all accounts the BBC would love normal series, the blame for the current structure lies with Moffatt and his troubled production team.

[Sprite Machine]

By all accounts the BBC would love normal series, the blame for the current structure lies with Moffatt and his troubled production team.

Can you elaborate on this? I figured the BBC had just cut the budget.

[Harsin]

There's been a few reports in Private Eye about behind the scenes turmoil and work on Sherlock interfering with Who, they were the first to report about it leading to a drip-fed split season approach. The BBC and Moffatt decalred it complete rubbish, then a few weeks later announced they were splitting the season. This was the latest report, that was referenced earlier in the thread.

[Lag]

Is Private Eye saying Ugandan discussions are involved?

[Mr Cochese]

There's been a few reports in Private Eye about behind the scenes turmoil and work on Sherlock interfering with Who, they were the first to report about it leading to a drip-fed split season approach. The BBC and Moffatt decalred it complete rubbish, then a few weeks later announced they were splitting the season. This was the latest report, that was referenced earlier in the thread.

He should have pointed his hand at her and shouted "Erase! Erase!" in a shrill metallic voice.

[Sprite Machine]

The Monster of Peladon

(Blog has pictures)

Despite a gap of fifty years since the Doctor's last visit, 'The Monster of Peladon' definitely suffers from "sequelitis", as we meet some old faces in some old settings, wander through some old caves again, uncover a plot again, and generally get bored with the whole ordeal.

[Picture: Sarah Jane Smith meets Alpha Centauri. So, is that its name or its home? Or both?]

There's a communication blockage, Federation forces sent in, a plot to capture the queen, and a comic relief alien with an annoying voice – it's like watching 'The Phantom Menace' but without the cool jedi fights and John Williams score. Pretty bloody dull, unfortunately. I do like a bit of world-building in sci-fi, but this was of little interest – one trip to Peladon was enough for me. Additionally, many of the alien effects don't hold up well. The Alpha Centauri costume frequently has a visible gap under its headpiece, and at several points I could definitely see the actor's hair sticking out from under the Ice Warrior costume. I'm not normally that picky, but I was bored.

[Picture: Queen Amidala of the Naboo. No, wait, I mean Queen Thalira of Peladon!]

This story does turn a group of Ice Warriors back into villains, however, successfully flip-flopping expectations. Having watched 'Cold War' at the weekend, it's fun to compare the new depiction of the Ice Warriors with the old ones. It's difficult to reconcile their old appearance with the armour suit in the new series, particularly when their leader (in the slim version of the costume with the Darth Vader helmet) gets killed by a stab wound to the belly. Hmm?

[Picture: The Ice Warrior's leader, Lord Helmet. There's a bulbous CGI face under there, honestly!]

Evading death this time is the Doctor, who escapes an explosion and brain damage, and is thought to be killed at least twice before miraculously revealing the opposite. I think it's fine for the Doctor to have a lucky escape now and again, but when it happens twice in one story, it's pushing it.

[Picture: The 'monster' of Peladon is little more than smoke and mirrors, intended to cause a state of alert amongst the superstitious miners. Oh, also it kills people. Lots of people. Actually, there's quite a lot of deaths in this one.]

Overall, then, this wasn't particularly interesting, and six parts was too long to spend in a setting that outstayed its welcome already. I do hope the next story is a good one, as it would be a shame if the third Doctor's adventures ended on a downer.

[NecroMorrius]

I think the problem with the last couple of seasons is that every episode has the weird sensation of being filler. It ranges between terrible and decent but never really feels like more than a distraction. They go for these massive "event" storylines which fall kind of flat because they simultaneously reach too far to be believeable, but stick within well-worn movie tropes at the same time. There's never much at stake, there's never room for real drama, there's never much range in tone beyond "which film are we pretending to be this week". The best ones are always about a small number of people stuck in a bad situation, and even then they usually go too far and introduce an impending global catastrophe that can only be solved by the power of dumb metaphors etc. I wish they'd dial it back from 11 to a solid 5, deconstruct it all a bit and reduce the scope to relearn what's good about the character. Also I like Matt Smith, but the character really lacks range most of the time. In his first season there were some great flashes of darkness and anger that we rarely see now.

[Davros sock drawer]

I do hope the next story is a good one, as it would be a shame if the third Doctor's adventures ended on a downer.

Yeah....erm, it's Tom Baker soon!

I think the problem with the last couple of seasons is that every episode has the weird sensation of being filler. It ranges between terrible and decent but never really feels like more than a distraction. They go for these massive "event" storylines which fall kind of flat because they simultaneously reach too far to be believeable, but stick within well-worn movie tropes at the same time. There's never much at stake, there's never room for real drama, there's never much range in tone beyond "which film are we pretending to be this week". The best ones are always about a small number of people stuck in a bad situation, and even then they usually go too far and introduce an impending global catastrophe that can only be solved by the power of dumb metaphors etc. I wish they'd dial it back from 11 to a solid 5, deconstruct it all a bit and reduce the scope to relearn what's good about the character. Also I like Matt Smith, but the character really lacks range most of the time. In his first season there were some great flashes of darkness and anger that we rarely see now.

Totally agree. I don't know why the occupants of that sub weren't a big enough stake. They had to expand it out to "billions of innocent people will die", just like they always do.

[Sprite Machine]

Yeah....erm, it's Tom Baker soon!

Oh god!!!!

[Cthulhu Steev]

I'm actually finding I look forward to Sprite's review of an old episode more than I look forward to a new episode. It's such a shame because I love Matt Smith as the Doctor, but he isn't being given enough to work with at the moment. And that wavy screwdriver thing is beyond annoying, still.

[Davros sock drawer]

The truth is that as much as I have deep, deep affection for the show, it has always had periods where it's not very good, and even the good periods have rubbish episodes. It would be impossible for it to be otherwise. But it'll be good again. Maybe even next week!

[Space Renegade Ulala]

Agreed. If I'm honest, I've always found it to be largely unwatchable drek with the odd gem of a tale here and there, I just like the general concepts, wicked soundtracks (well, the Workshop stuff anyway) and the lead chaps* and their scenery-chewing bad guys.

* Well, except for six and ten, those guys can get fucked.

[davidcotton]

Damn that meant to be a minus if only cause 6 thanks to big finish is awesome 10 I could take or leave frankly.

[Cthulhu Steev]

I'm watching the Masque of Mandragora and it's a regular Game of Thrones (with added energy ball) with some of the strangest 'oranges' you're ever likely to see.

It has some lovely bits fanboy service (before we were fanboys!) at the beginning as well. And a (timely - we just talked about it up-thread) explanation for just why Italian accents can be understood by all, and sound like English.

"[it's] a Time Lord gift I allow you to share."

[Fireproofradiator]

Yeah, Colin Baker's Big Finish stuff seemed pretty good. Any recommends? I've mostly listened to the Peter Davison stuff (mandatory Spare Parts shout if you haven't heard it yet).

[Davros sock drawer]

You've just reminded me that I've never heard that (or indeed any of the audio plays), so I've downloaded it to listen to on the way home tonight.

[HarMGM]

Are the big finish audios available outside the UK for purchase?

[Harsin]

You'll all be relieved to hear that Chris Chibnall has confirmed that he's writing episodes for Series 8.

[davidcotton]

Are the big finish audios available outside the UK for purchase?

Yes, I think the international customers get a slightly better price for downloads. If your not sure about them then there are usually offers on over the weekends at the moment to tie in with whatever episode is on if it's appropriate.

Have fun!

Cheers

You've just reminded me that I've never heard that (or indeed any of the audio plays), so I've downloaded it to listen to on the way home tonight.

Don't forget to post what you think of some of them. The early ones are a bit hit and miss but they get much better later on.

I envy you lot starting out on the audio adventures for the first time. They've made a slow day at work go that little bit quicker.

For those curious about the audios then try some free ones courtesy of BF here :-

https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/sets/complete-free-big-finish

Cheers

[Fireproofradiator]

BFs. Can I recommend Circular Time? It's a Peter Davison one, co-written by Paul Cornell and I thought it was tremendous. If you're fed up with nu-Who being all bombastic this is positively lyrical.

Has anyone heard The Feast of Axos? Or City of Spires, which has Colin Baker and Frazer Hines? These, and the Davison ones in Stockbridge are tempting me at mo...

[Harsin]

Really dumb sounding rumour about the 50th Anniversary doing the rounds.

That John Hurt is actually playing the 9th Doctor.

No, not an aged version of Eccleston, the rumour is that he's playing a regeneration that the Doctor has blanked from his memory for some reason - so Eccleston was actually the 10th, Tennant the 11th...etc.

It sounds like Grade-A bullshit, but both places I've read it today claims it comes from someone on Gallifrey Base who has been reliable with advance spoilers in the past. People are also posting this picture as lending credence to it. There's also Clara banging on about 'remember' for no apparent reason.

Then I remember how quickly Moffatt's storylines are disappearing up their own arse and worry that this might actually be true.

[El Pibe]

Agreed. They could probably get away with it by using the Time War or something. I really hope Mofatt doesn't screw this up by bringing back River Song.

[Harsin]

Depends how good the story around it is, but sounds like an interesting idea to me. I don't understand the anger.

Well personally, while I used to quite like Moffatt's puzzlebox scripts, his recent attempts are becoming more and more nonsensical and patting themselves on the back smug, the Wedding of River Song being the nadir of that type of 'timey wimey' story. So while there is possibly potential in an idea like this, I doubt his current ability to do it any justice.

I also feel for a 50th Anniversary story, it would be a bit rubbish if McGann and McCoy didn't even get an invite (especially McGann), but they put in a never mentioned before or likely ever again Doctor, Armin Tamzarian style.

[Professor Puzzles]

Was William Hartnell officially the first incarnation of the Doctor or could he have regenerated before that?

[Davros sock drawer]

Presumably Ecclestone isn't partaking in this anniversary story?

[Sprite Machine]

We interrupt this 50th anniversary rumour to bring you another classic review...

Planet of the Spiders

(Blog has pictures)

So, apparently, Jon Pertwee's final serial was supposed to conclude the Master's story arc, but due to the death of Roger Delgado, they had to come up with a new finale. Which is a shame, firstly because he died so young, and secondly because Planet of the Spiders just isn't very good.

[Picture: Sarah Jane is remarkably chummy with Yates, considering he previously tried to erase civilisation from history!]

Robert Sloman has gone back to his weird occult type storylines, with monks, a cult of spider-worshippers, telekinesis and chanting. Oh god, the chanting, make it stop! "Om! Om! Om!" There's also some cringeworthy bit part performances – the police officer is awful, the colonist woman is even worse – but some of the imagery, like the spiders hanging onto people's backs and controlling them, is effective and quite unsettling. Arachnophobes should give this a miss!

[Picture: "Argh, get it off, get it off, get it off!"]

The conveniently useful blue crystal that the Doctor picked up from Metabelis III ('The Green Death') turns out to be more important than ever, as the spiders need it to enhance their mind power and rule the Universe. Although these spiders (mutated Earth spiders from a crashed colony ship in the future) have grown and developed serious mind control abilities, the weird revelation here is that all humans have the same natural potential within them. This was written in the era when 'ESP' was considered a real thing, so it's understandable, but the concept hasn't aged well. The rules seems to arbitrarily change, too. The spiders' energy attacks are at one point deadly, another point not, at one point deflected by certain minerals and another by innocence of mind. It's like they're making it up as they go. And the worst part is when the Doctor gains the ability to teleport into another room for no discernible reason. What?!

[Picture: Trapped in the spider webs, waiting to be eaten.]

The plot just lumbers along unevenly. There's far too much filler, like the car chase that turns into a flying car chase then a hovercraft chase, taking up most of an episode to do so, and ending in nothing. Conversely, the Doctor's trip to Metabelis III is conveniently instantaneous. There's also another instance of the Doctor being nearly killed but miraculously surviving, which is even less necessary here because of the regeneration in the final episode – why pull the same trick twice?

[Picture: The Doctor confronts The Great One.]

As usual, it's the final moments when anything of interest happens. The Doctor bravely enters the irradiated crystal caves to confront the Great Spider, who blows itself and the mountain up (yet another explosive finish!). The abbot of the monastery turns out to be a Time Lord, in fact the Doctor's old mentor whom he previously mentioned. He gives the Doctor some advice and also turns up at the end to give his regeneration a little push.

[Picture: Sarah Jane Smith and Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart watch in astonishment as the Doctor's appearance changes. "Here we go again..."

The transformation from Jon Pertwee to a fresh-faced Tom Baker is not as seamless or drawn out as his first regeneration, consisting instead of a disappointing cross-fade. Still, I was glad to see it happen at last!