Doctor Who

[SeanR]

What was the truth about Clara again?

This.

[edit]

oh wait,

She's the TARDIS trying to contact the doctor (in all his guises) and put him on the right path to TDOTD

right?

Edited November 19, 2013 by SeanR

[cassidy]

Not really correct

dr goes to Trenzalore which is the site of a big battle and has his grave inside a dying Tardis. The Dr doesnt have a body but a giant bright line of lots of CGI glowing string which is his timelines and his impact on the Universe(rips)



The Great Intelligence (yes that was the bad guy in this season) jumps in there and start cancelling out every good deed the Dr did and the Dr starts dying and the stars start going out. Clara thinks I have to do something and jumps into the Dr's Timestream and starts saving him through all his incarnations and it explains how she is the impossible girl and keeps dying. She basically rips herself through time and has interactions with all of the Dr's, (which is a lovely moment for a fan).



Then the Dr is all better and decides to go save Clara and jumps in after her. It ends with the the Dr and Clara chatting somewhere in his Timeline or something, as it is revealed there was one Regeneration we have never witnessed who isnt called the Dr and John Hurt turns around and the internet and Dr Who fans in particular go WAAHHHHH!!!! Who is that??



If you watch TNOTD it explains who John hurt is and again the internet and Dr Who fans went WAAAAHHH and SQUEEEEE!!!! Me included.

[Davros sock drawer]

Thanks Cassidy. I barely got that from my viewing of the actual episodes.

It's all gotten horribly complicated IMO. I pray for the day that the show gets back to the following format:

Dr arrives somewhere

An adventure happens

Repeat x 13

[Mr Cochese]

They should make them all two parters. 45 minutes isn't nearly long enough to have any meaningful characterisation or scene setting, and it also means that the new series largely lacks one of Doctor Who's most iconic elements - the cliffhanger ending.

[Harsin]

I watched the last series, and I don't think I could adequately summarise the convoluted "arc" that's been leading up to the anniversary episodes. Like you I think it's lost its way.

I think that if you watched The Name of the Doctor, which was the last episode of last season, that would probably be enough.

Try and describe the logistics of what the Silence/Eye-patch Woman's plan actually was and get a nosebleed.

[Davros sock drawer]

Yeah, I agree with that Mr Cochese.

[DirkCrisis]

I hope Peter Capaldi turns out to be a grumpy patrician type like most of them have been rather than a dirty human-loving peter pan sex symbol like the last two.

As an aside, I've been watching the specials on Watch and I can't believe that John Pertwee was seen as a flamboyant sex symbol at the time. I suppose he came along in the 70s when absolutely everyone in the UK was pig ugly and broke so stood out by being the liberace of sci-fi.

[kensei]

Most of the two parters have been guilty of flab. 45 mins can be a bit rushed. An hour would be better, but still think I'd prefer 45 to 90 for the majority. Night of the doctor was great in 7 minutes.

[Sprite Machine]

One more time, then. For now.

Doctor Who (TV movie)

(Blog has pictures)

The Doctor Who "TV movie" is an interesting look at what could have been but, ultimately, never was. A collaborative effort between the US and UK, it would have gone on to become an American series, had the networks picked it up. They did not. On the face of it, this is probably for the best because, while it undoubtedly looks the part and is remarkably well-produced, the TV movie misses that spark that makes Doctor Who what it is.

[Picture: The parallels with 'Frankenstein' are not so subtle - in fact, the revival scene happens in parallel with the movie playing on the hospital television.]

There's little here that is recognisably Doctor Who-ish. It's VERY American, set entirely in San Francisco at the turn of the millenium, and features a cast of generic modern day American characters (doctors, cops, gang members). McGann is stuck in the middle of it like Hugh Grant in a rom com.

[Picture: "I finally meet the right guy and he's from another planet." *CRINGE*]

Sylvester McCoy's aged seventh Doctor gets barely three lines of dialogue in his twenty minutes on screen, and is unceremoniously gunned down seconds after leaving the Tardis. A botched surgery and a night in the morgue are an undignified end and he deserves better from a people he has saved from the brink of destruction many times, but perhaps the film is trying to make a point about gratuity, selfless good deeds and human stupidity, I don't know.

[Picture: The regeneration scene has a bit of CG trickery to it, but I suspect a lot of it is McCoy's excellent face acting.]

Having watched twenty-six years' worth of Doctor Who on small BBC sets with cheap production values, it is a real thrill to see an expensive-looking version. I must admit, I did get a few goosebumps during the intro montage and credits sequence, listening to an orchestrated version of the theme music while the Tardis flies through a colourful time tunnel. It's great to also see some actual cinematography at work, focus-pulls, artful compositions and a real movie-like appearance. It's a great-looking piece, and features some pretty advanced CGI for a 1996 TV special.

[Picture: The new 'steampunk' Tardis control room is considerably larger than the last one, showing its first major upgrade. It's certainly the inspiration for the 2005 reboot.]

There's no question that it looks good but, as is often the case, with a bigger budget comes a responsibility to broaden the appeal to a wider (international?) audience and tick boxes. So we have to have relatable human characters, and generic tropes like a romantic interest, a car chase, a final showdown with a villain, friends coming back from the dead, and so on. It is more po-faced than the entirety of the BBC series, lacking in nearly all the whimsical Britishness that makes Doctor Who special.

[Picture: "I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle."]

The Doctor doesn't defeat the Master with trickery or cunning, he just beats him in a fight. The relationship with Grace is the first time the Doctor has shown any sort of romantic interest in anybody, which is a contentious issue, although it could be put down to his post-regeneration state of mind. Much more contentious is the revelation that the Doctor is half-human (on his mother's side). Were they trying to make him out to be a Mister Spock character? Whatever, the fact that it's never mentioned beyond this movie should tell you it was a bad idea. It's not even relevant to the movie, really.

[Picture: I'm not entirely sure why the Eye of Harmony is in the Tardis, or why it would destroy the Earth, or why it revived Grace and Chang Lee after they died, but it's a cool-looking thing to have a fight on. Timey wimey, wibbly-wobbly...]

There are hints of whimsy and humour sprinkled throughout, struggling to break free. The new Doctor is likable and, to my surprise, the new Master turns out to be good for somebody who starts like the Terminator before becoming a mad, extravagant villain in a ridiculous costume (though I'm not sure if some of his lines are intentionally funny or just an accident).

[Picture: The Master takes Chang Lee as his apprentice, becoming a creepy father figure. "The Asian child..."]

The eighth Doctor offers a few people jellybabies, just to remind us that he's still the same character we know and love (he also has his sonic screwdriver back - its first appearance since Davison's fifth Doctor broke his), but sadly there's not a lot of time for his charms to come across, as the plot has to race towards its dramatic conclusion. Everything is crammed into the middle, and it does suffer for it. Still, at least it's never boring. That said, the best scene in the film is at the beginning, where the seventh Doctor is settling down with a book, a cup of tea and some music, while McGann narrates. It's nice to see that lively, adventurous Doctor now in his final years, and imagine all the adventures he has had since I last saw him.

[Picture: Time skips, skips, skips, skips a beat.]

With so much of the movie dedicated to getting the plot across, it's a shame we don't get more time to acquaint with the new Doctor. Paul McGann plays a more human, more charming and romantic version of the character. Less weird, less alien, but full of love for life and the Universe around him. Dashing, and not unlike Davison in terms of being young, fresh-faced and eager. As I've no particular intention to explore the audio dramas, this is my only reference from which to judge the character. If only the BBC would bring him back to the screen, perhaps in some sort of short film for the anniversary year, and-... oh, wait a minute, what's this?!

Seventeen years on, Paul McGann appears on screen as the eighth Doctor once again, bringing his character's life to an end at the hands of the Sisterhood of Karn. A lot has changed in that time, a war with the Daleks that has seemingly diminished the reputation of the Time Lords, much to the eighth Doctor's frustration. This is a world-weary portrayal of the character, still struggling to find the good in people, but ultimately letting go of the life that has run out and accepting his fate as the warrior the universe needs. I found this reversal to be rather sudden, but this is again the problem with short films, whether they be seven minutes or ninety - there simply isn't enough time to develop properly. Perhaps I will have to seek out those audio dramas after all.

Although I did originally watch the TV movie in 1996, I was surprised by how little of it I remembered. It was almost all new to me, save some fragments here and there, so this was less of a memory jog and more of a new experience, which was nice. From here on, I'm much more familiar with the show, as I did start watching it properly in 2005. For now, though, I would have to say I generally enjoyed this. The steampunk-inspired Tardis rooms look great, the visuals and cinematography are excellent throughout and overall it's a fast-paced adventure with a likable new Doctor. It's not really Doctor Who, it's more a slightly silly American B-movie with the name attached. I wouldn't have wanted a whole series like this - it's too generic and without character - but as a one-off, I was fine with it.

[Delargey]

Moffit massively overwrites now. Everything is so convoluted and timey-wimey, He think he also thinks people care a lot more about his pay offs than they actually do and most of pay-off seem to be shit "Oh, it was a robot.lol!" stuff rather than things that are cleverly thought out.

[Jumble Jumble]

Maybe we'll just catch up. TV that isn't perfect is a lot easier to stomach when you can get through a few episodes in one go and not have to wait a week before your next portion.

[Zio]

It's the strangest thing, because I'd got so fed up of how overblown RTD's stories could be and how his stories were so often resolved by the Doctor pulling some miracle solution completely out of his arse in the final 30 seconds that I was incredibly chuffed when he buggered off and left Moffatt in charge. And as a result, I always feel like I should come out and defend the Moff. But these arcs of his have been so convoluted and impossible to follow it's a joke. I have literally no clue what virtually any of that stuff regarding the Silence and the exploded TARDIS and the eyepatch lady was about.

The last season we got though, with Clara as the companion, was a lot easier to follow I thought. I genuinely really liked it and thought it was all a major step in the right direction - so I've been surprised by how few people seem to agree with me. But then again, I liked Martha.

[cassidy]

I agree with you Zio.

[Davros sock drawer]

I thought the last season was dire, but that's probably because I don't like Clara.

Hide was the only decent episode IMO.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

Hide was the only episode of the last series I actually watched, and I thought it was abominable. Nothing about it made sense, it had about three climaxes too many, the characters were terrible, etc etc.

[Davros sock drawer]

Yeah, the extra bit at the end was unnecessary, but I liked the setup, and it looked fantastic.

[SeanR]

One more time, then. For now.

Doctor Who (TV movie)

is on Watch again.

[Mr Cochese]

The reset button endings have really got out of control, supplemented by having a happy ending for the monster as well, so as not to offend minorities or scare children. In old school Doctor Who like the Curse Of Fenric or whatever, basically everybody dies and then the Doctor fucks off again.

[Jumble Jumble]

"Just this once [and from now on], EVERYBODY LIVES!"

[Red Alignment]

Doctor Who (the series) really, really needs a soft reboot, and soon. It's just become a huge knotted mess, a formulaic predictable deus-ex-machina-filled mess.

[Flub]

I have literally no clue what virtually any of that stuff regarding the Silence and the exploded TARDIS and the eyepatch lady was about.

The exploding Tardis hasn't been explained and I suspect it never will be. Given the voice at the moment it explodes I suspect it was intended to be the Silence trying to off the Doctor (There's probably one on board) but later plot developments gave me the distinct impression that Moffat changed his mind about that (Which makes sense since why the fuck would the Silence want to destroy the bloody universe when they have a better plan to kill him but leave his timeline intact). I reckon the explosion will never be properly explained. It's too far back now and with Smith about to leave and the metophorical Doctor Who reset switch about to be thrown on storylines we're out of time anyway. Moffat is obviously planning on wrapping up the Time War backstory and moving on into a new status quo and new background plot arcs. Hopefully these will involve Captain Jack at some point. I'd like him to meet Clara

The current rumour is that at the end of the special

Gallifrey will be back and the time war officially fully over

I think that would make for some very interesting stories.

[Garwoofoo]

It's the strangest thing, because I'd got so fed up of how overblown RTD's stories could be and how his stories were so often resolved by the Doctor pulling some miracle solution completely out of his arse in the final 30 seconds that I was incredibly chuffed when he buggered off and left Moffatt in charge. And as a result, I always feel like I should come out and defend the Moff. But these arcs of his have been so convoluted and impossible to follow it's a joke. I have literally no clue what virtually any of that stuff regarding the Silence and the exploded TARDIS and the eyepatch lady was about.

I agree with all of this. I think it's a particular shame that the 50th anniversary is basically the middle of one of these extended plot arcs. It won't make much sense if you haven't seen The Name of the Doctor, which in turn doesn't make much sense if you haven't seen at least some of the previous series. That's problematic enough now but in ten years time for new viewers looking for a fun multi-Doctor story it's going to seem impenetrable.

There must surely be a middle ground for Who, whereby there's a sense of progression from episode to episode (characters develop, actions have consequences) without it being impossibly convoluted OR a series of one-off throwaways. The only series of New Who that's managed anything close to it is the first series, the Eccleston one, and for that reason alone it's still my favourite of all the series.

[Jonnysaxc]

Yeah, the extra bit at the end was unnecessary, but I liked the setup, and it looked fantastic.

Looks a lot like your avatar (doomlord)!

[kensei]

The middle ground was series 5. The cracks weren't too intrusive, there were some great rose and it had a bit of mystery.

Series 6 went a bit too far, but it wasn't that hard to follow, it just had some gaps and suffered from the split, and Moffat having too much to do with Sherlock too.

[Davros sock drawer]

Looks a lot like your avatar (doomlord)!

One day they'll make a TV series of that, and I can say "I was there first!"

[Mogster]

I can't say there's been a point where I haven't enjoyed Doctor Who since the relaunch. There's been the odd dodgy episode of course, but that's all for me. Season 5 was definitely my favourite of Moffat's run though. It had a really clever arc that didn't interfere too much and was just really strong throughout. The Eleventh Hour is a fantastic new regeneration episode.

Sprite, I can strongly reccomend the Big Finish Eighth Doctor Adventures series. McGann's fantastic in it, as is Sheridan Smith actually, and it's a far more traditional take on Doctor Who than the TV movie.

I watched the TV Movie myself last week after the webisode, and despite enjoying it the first time around I thought it was really bloody awful. McGann was ace, naturally, but he was the only good thing about it. It doesn't feel like Doctor Who at all.

[davidcotton]

.

Sprite, I can strongly reccomend the Big Finish Eighth Doctor Adventures series. McGann's fantastic in it, as is Sheridan Smith actually, and it's a far more traditional take on Doctor Who than the TV movie.

I watched the TV Movie myself last week after the webisode, and despite enjoying it the first time around I thought it was really bloody awful. McGann was ace, naturally, but he was the only good thing about it. It doesn't feel like Doctor Who at all.

Agreed about the audios. If you want Mcgann in classic old school style layout then checkout Storm Warning first. A little clunky right at the start with him on his own in the Tardis but soon picks up after that. Along with India (masterchef) Fisher as Charley Pollard (yes that Charley)they make a great pair. If you want it more along the lines of the new series then checkout Blood Of The Daleks.

[Harsin]

I hope Capaldi skews closer to McGann's brief portrayal in the minisode than the previous two. I keep imagining Tennant delivering the exact same lines. Sucking in air through his teeth at the start. The inflection of his voice rising towards the end of each line making it sound like a question. Screaming "Bring me knitting!" at the top of his lungs and then making a face like Puss in Boots in Shrek so you know that he's sad.

[Creamstick]

Doctor Who : The Ultimate Guide on iPlayer. 2hrs long, and not bad except for being a bit 'BBC3'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03jgj2d/Doctor_Who_The_Ultimate_Guide/

[Huz]

I saw a bit of Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide and I was pleasantly surprised! Quite similar to the documentary specials on Watch, bringing out little facets of each Doctor that you'd forgotten about and choosing some decent clips of the old series without taking the piss. And mercifully free of Z-listers bleating on about how they used to hide behind the sofa or whatever.

I can't be bothered watching the whole thing mind.