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Author Topic: Doctor Who  (Read 132592 times)

Theta9

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #600 on: 31 Jul 2018, 08:21 »

IMO, the writing for 'NewWho' has always been a bit uneven but began to seriously decline after the introduction of Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald. Capaldi's time was forgettable for me and my concern is the introduction of Jodie Whittaker's incarnation of The Doctor is nothing but a desperate attempt by the BBC to create hype for a show that is creatively losing its way.
I blame Moffatt. He wrote great single stories but as a show runner he was ass. A new show runner is what we need now. I'm cautiously optimistic.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #601 on: 31 Jul 2018, 09:59 »

Intentions are not magic and for me that cuts both ways. Does it actually matter why we get a female Doctor?
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #602 on: 01 Aug 2018, 16:49 »

IMO, the writing for 'NewWho' has always been a bit uneven but began to seriously decline after the introduction of Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald. Capaldi's time was forgettable for me and my concern is the introduction of Jodie Whittaker's incarnation of The Doctor is nothing but a desperate attempt by the BBC to create hype for a show that is creatively losing its way.

I'm with you when you say that the show has been in decline. It's a reasonable opinion.

However. You must think very little of Jodie Whittaker to claim that creating hype for the show is the sole reason to hire her.

Especially since I would have thought that hiring a new writer is more obviously an attempt to address the creative decline of the show.
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

Theta9

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #603 on: 02 Aug 2018, 07:00 »

Five gets you ten, that when Whittaker eventually bows out, the role is recast as a white guy again.
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jwhouk

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #604 on: 02 Aug 2018, 12:04 »

I'll take that. I think 14 will be a male of African or Asian descent.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #605 on: 02 Aug 2018, 15:23 »

Call me hopelessly naive, but I think the audition process might have something to do with it.
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Theta9

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #606 on: 02 Aug 2018, 17:23 »

Call me hopelessly naive, but I think the audition process might have something to do with it.
You're hopelessly naive.

There's no open casting call for a new Doctor. The producers offer auditions by invitation only.
Who gets invited? Mostly your usual white guys.
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Tova

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #607 on: 02 Aug 2018, 19:40 »

Maybe? Do you know who they auditioned for the role this time? I don't.

Look, I can totally understand your cynicism. It's justified, no question. Casting a white male, not only in this iconic role but also in many others, has long been the norm. Still, to respond to the first ever casting of a female in the role with, "Yeah sure, but it won't happen again" seems churlish. Yes, okay, there's a selection process before they audition, that is so. But I imagine open auditions would be a nightmare.

While I can hardly claim with certainty that it won't be a white male next time, I don't see any reason to dismiss the possibility. I chose to remain optimistic about future casting. If that makes me hopelessly naive, then I'll wear that.

Everyone has their own incompatible designs on who should be cast, each for their own reasons. The only thing I can guarantee about the next casting is that there will be a loud chorus of whining about it from a subset of those whose designs were not met.

Unfortunately, claims regarding the motivations of the people responsible for casting such a culturally significant pop culture figure are unfalsifiable, as none of us can read their minds.
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #608 on: 03 Aug 2018, 01:00 »

Who gets invited?

Well, hopefully. The whole point is to find them.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #609 on: 03 Aug 2018, 01:18 »

My concern was that the BBC cast Ms Whittaker simply as a publicity stunt dressed up as inclusivity in anticipation of her drawing in a large young, female audience. Because of this, I fear that she won't be given a fair chance; if she doesn't immediately start brining in enormous ratings, then they may not give her a chance to prove her ability but will be canned in favour of a return to a 'safe' casting.

Lots of in-house BBC productions suffer from this 'old white male pretending to be hip' syndrome.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #610 on: 03 Aug 2018, 01:36 »

The only Doctor from the new series who has had to 'audition' for the role was Matt Smith.

Eccleston was handed it.
Tennant's "audition" was down to working with Russel T Davies on Casanova
Capaldi was 'discussed' among the production staff (mainly Andy Pryor, Moffat and Minchin) and given the role after being walked through a reading. (Moffat was "obsessed" with seeing Capaldi as the Doctor)

But the casting of a female Timelord was on the cards almost as soon as Matt Smith took the role on.
Whittaker was called personally and asked to read by showruner Chris Chibnall (who she had worked with before) and whereas She has said she was up against other female's (but she didn't know who) HE has said only that he always wanted her for the role.

Personally I don;t care who plays the Doctor as long as they are good actors.
But if the rumour is true that they are brining in Bradley bloody Walsh as her 'companion'....
As well as a slew of other bog-standard soap actors etc... I'm dreading that it becomes another farce of bringing in the crew's mates and trendies which almost killed it for me in (new) series 3.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #611 on: 03 Aug 2018, 01:52 »

I suppose time will tell on both counts.
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Theta9

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #612 on: 03 Aug 2018, 06:51 »

Look, I can totally understand your cynicism. It's justified, no question. Casting a white male, not only in this iconic role but also in many others, has long been the norm. Still, to respond to the first ever casting of a female in the role with, "Yeah sure, but it won't happen again" seems churlish. Yes, okay, there's a selection process before they audition, that is so. But I imagine open auditions would be a nightmare.
I live in the USA. After 43 white guys, they finally elected a man of color as President. Need I remind you what happened next? (PS: I just live here.)

I'm not dismissing the possibility. I just think another white guy is the most likely to follow Whittaker.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #613 on: 03 Aug 2018, 08:09 »

I don't know if BBC producers are as risk-adverse as Hollywood producers, but I'd say it largely say it depends on how popular Jody Whittaker's Doctor is. If it's all gangbusters and people cheering in the streets, then sure we'll see more non-white dude Doctors. If her reception is less than stellar, then they'll probably rush back to what they know fast enough to give whiplash, the way it usually works. I truly think that Missy was testing the waters for a female Doctor. I think that the show writers have wanted to do it for a while, but to convince the producers they had to show that fans would accept that a Time Lord could change gender and still be popular. If Missy flopped or the push back had been strong then they could have just dropped it all and nothing more said. The next regeneration the Master would have been back to his villainous self and it would have been no more than a blip on the radar. But she proved to be hugely popular and thus, they are willing to try a female Doctor.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #614 on: 03 Aug 2018, 09:22 »

Heck, the BBC has wanted to do away with the franchise regularly since they first "canned" it back in 1989. The suits still can't understand why everyone loves the crazy little TV show about an idiot in a blue box with a screwdriver.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #615 on: 14 Aug 2018, 04:37 »

The only Doctor from the new series who has had to 'audition' for the role was Matt Smith.

Eccleston was handed it.
Tennant's "audition" was down to working with Russel T Davies on Casanova
Capaldi was 'discussed' among the production staff (mainly Andy Pryor, Moffat and Minchin) and given the role after being walked through a reading. (Moffat was "obsessed" with seeing Capaldi as the Doctor)

But the casting of a female Timelord was on the cards almost as soon as Matt Smith took the role on.
Whittaker was called personally and asked to read by showruner Chris Chibnall (who she had worked with before) and whereas She has said she was up against other female's (but she didn't know who) HE has said only that he always wanted her for the role.

Personally I don;t care who plays the Doctor as long as they are good actors.
But if the rumour is true that they are brining in Bradley bloody Walsh as her 'companion'....
As well as a slew of other bog-standard soap actors etc... I'm dreading that it becomes another farce of bringing in the crew's mates and trendies which almost killed it for me in (new) series 3.

Jodie also auditioned. It's been mostly confirmed that it was Just with other women but she did audition.

Also, she has a ridiculous amount of range. Between all her short films she has played gay, straight, bi/pan, a mother, a badass alienhunter, and even someone with gender identity issues(Very short film)

I'm curious who she beat out for the part but she has a real wide variety of.roles to pull inspiration from. Also in Trust Me she was brilliant and a lot of things she did(the way she gets angry) were quite intriguing.

But she DID audition. I've even gathered it may have been against a decent amount of people.

Walsh is an excellent actor. mandip's showreel is very impressive.

Tosin has only played Captain Blokey mcBloke Blokes in the roles I have seen. I trust Chibi but I hope he gets a chance to do some variation. Even something as simple as comic relief would be a departure.

Broadchurch was.phenomenal. And Torchwood consitently had fascinating ideas and I assert that Cyberwoman is actually a very moving story if you ignore her costume(Which was NOT in the script)

I think Jodie will be great. As a North Irish it also excites me to see two characters from the North of England.

The stygma is sadly similar. I don't hear as mich public vitriol on North Irish but we're even rarer than North of England accents on telly.

So both as a woman and someone with a Northern accent that is derided and criticised I feel very excited to be represented.

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JoeCovenant

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #616 on: 14 Aug 2018, 05:34 »

The only Doctor from the new series who has had to 'audition' for the role was Matt Smith.

Eccleston was handed it.
Tennant's "audition" was down to working with Russel T Davies on Casanova
Capaldi was 'discussed' among the production staff (mainly Andy Pryor, Moffat and Minchin) and given the role after being walked through a reading. (Moffat was "obsessed" with seeing Capaldi as the Doctor)

But the casting of a female Timelord was on the cards almost as soon as Matt Smith took the role on.
Whittaker was called personally and asked to read by showruner Chris Chibnall (who she had worked with before) and whereas She has said she was up against other female's (but she didn't know who) HE has said only that he always wanted her for the role.

Personally I don;t care who plays the Doctor as long as they are good actors.
But if the rumour is true that they are brining in Bradley bloody Walsh as her 'companion'....
As well as a slew of other bog-standard soap actors etc... I'm dreading that it becomes another farce of bringing in the crew's mates and trendies which almost killed it for me in (new) series 3.

Jodie also auditioned. It's been mostly confirmed that it was Just with other women but she did audition.

Also, she has a ridiculous amount of range. Between all her short films she has played gay, straight, bi/pan, a mother, a badass alienhunter, and even someone with gender identity issues(Very short film)

I'm curious who she beat out for the part but she has a real wide variety of.roles to pull inspiration from. Also in Trust Me she was brilliant and a lot of things she did(the way she gets angry) were quite intriguing.

But she DID audition. I've even gathered it may have been against a decent amount of people.

Walsh is an excellent actor. mandip's showreel is very impressive.

Tosin has only played Captain Blokey mcBloke Blokes in the roles I have seen. I trust Chibi but I hope he gets a chance to do some variation. Even something as simple as comic relief would be a departure.

Broadchurch was.phenomenal. And Torchwood consitently had fascinating ideas and I assert that Cyberwoman is actually a very moving story if you ignore her costume(Which was NOT in the script)

I think Jodie will be great. As a North Irish it also excites me to see two characters from the North of England.

The stygma is sadly similar. I don't hear as mich public vitriol on North Irish but we're even rarer than North of England accents on telly.

So both as a woman and someone with a Northern accent that is derided and criticised I feel very excited to be represented.

As I Said above...
She was asked in to read. That's an audition.

However, whereas she said she thought she was up against other actresses, she did not know who any of them were.
And the show runner has only ever said they wanted her.

That's not strictly an audition... that's "can you play THIS character as well as all the others we've seen you do?"
It's a required necessity... but not what we would call an "audition" in the normal sense of the word.
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Tova

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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #618 on: 15 Aug 2018, 00:43 »

I call BS.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-auditon_uk_59a7d15be4b07e81d3554dee

Maybe a mite 'strong' putting it that way...
But you know what, SO DO I !!

(Different website)
"Strevens reveals that he and Chibnall “saw a few actresses for the part,” but couldn’t stop thinking about Whittaker. “She was just so compelling,” says the EP. “In a way, it was a no-brainer. The fact that we were casting a female Doctor disappeared really quickly from our minds. We were just casting the Doctor and she felt like our Doctor.”
Chibnall says that casting Whittaker “was the easiest decision I made in my whole career.”"

That is the only place I've seen someone other than Whittaker say there were other actresses 'seen'.
(I still haven't seen CHibnall say anyone else was auditioned... but I don;t actually care either way TBH)

However, I still maintain that the audition process is still not quite the same as what we might call 'standard'.
Certainly 'not' an Open Audition... and I would imagine limited to less than a handful.
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Tova

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #619 on: 15 Aug 2018, 01:33 »


"Strevens reveals that he and Chibnall “saw a few actresses for the part,” but couldn’t stop thinking about Whittaker. “She was just so compelling,” says the EP. “In a way, it was a no-brainer. The fact that we were casting a female Doctor disappeared really quickly from our minds. We were just casting the Doctor and she felt like our Doctor.”
Chibnall says that casting Whittaker “was the easiest decision I made in my whole career.”"

You really are interpreting these articles differently to the way I am.
You see, that says to me that he auditioned actresses but Whittaker was the strongest applicant.
Not that they didn't audition anyone else and only ever considered her.

Look, I'm not saying their audition was 'open' or 'standard' or whatever. Just that they did audition, and it did play a role in their decision. Otherwise why would they bother?
« Last Edit: 15 Aug 2018, 01:39 by Tova »
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #620 on: 15 Aug 2018, 03:16 »


"Strevens reveals that he and Chibnall “saw a few actresses for the part,” but couldn’t stop thinking about Whittaker. “She was just so compelling,” says the EP. “In a way, it was a no-brainer. The fact that we were casting a female Doctor disappeared really quickly from our minds. We were just casting the Doctor and she felt like our Doctor.”
Chibnall says that casting Whittaker “was the easiest decision I made in my whole career.”"

You really are interpreting these articles differently to the way I am.
You see, that says to me that he auditioned actresses but Whittaker was the strongest applicant.
Not that they didn't audition anyone else and only ever considered her.

Look, I'm not saying their audition was 'open' or 'standard' or whatever. Just that they did audition, and it did play a role in their decision. Otherwise why would they bother?

No, I'm agreeing with you. :)
I might not be making it very clear though.

In a nutshell...
All I had ever seen until the article you quoted was;

-Whitaker saying she had auditioned... and that she *thought* other actress also had, but she did not know who they were.

-Chibnail saying he always wanted Whitaker in the role.

WHich to me says NO audtion, just a pre-requesite reading 'just to be sure'.

BUT - your quote brings Strevens into the equation.
Which I had not seen before.
And he does say others were seen...

So, whether it's true or not - it's two to one against... so I can only accept that! :)
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #621 on: 15 Aug 2018, 05:03 »

Would SOMEONE please tell the BBC that they NEED to give us a start date for the new season?
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #622 on: 17 Aug 2018, 01:22 »

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #623 on: 28 Sep 2018, 18:00 »

Hey everyone! Remember that "leaked clip" from a few months ago?

It's not "leaked' anymore...

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #624 on: 07 Oct 2018, 20:57 »

Well. That was interesting.

That last bit at the end wasn't exactly... understandable
(click to show/hide)
but it was a nice little episode.

Enough of a hook to want to watch it again next week.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #625 on: 07 Oct 2018, 23:51 »

I quite liked it. Ms Whittaker is clearly going to have to grow into the role as all new lead performers must but, generally, it was a workman like episode that makes me think that the new production team know what they're doing.

I really appreciate one thing: No overt gender politics. The casting team and script-writers are just using performers from multiple ethnicities in a believable way, reminding us that all humans have common experiences, feelings, qualities and flaws. Similarly, we don't have a 'Woman Doctor' but The Doctor, the 'crazy old man in a magical blue box' who just happens to be in a female body this time around.

One critic has lambasted the episode for not emphasising Ms Whittaker's 'femininity and sexuality' more and that honestly made me wonder just what he was expecting from the show.

@jwhouk,
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: 08 Oct 2018, 00:47 by BenRG »
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #626 on: 08 Oct 2018, 00:32 »


That ending was significant as it reminded us that, ...


Haven't seen it yet - but don;t think that was quite ENOUGH of a spoiler there, Ben.... :(
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #627 on: 08 Oct 2018, 01:12 »

Quite enjoyed that and not just because I recognise all of the locations that they used.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #628 on: 08 Oct 2018, 01:29 »

FWIW, the way I would have handled it if a requirement from above was a female Doctor would have been to have either Georgia Moffett's Jenny or Jenna Coleman's Clara find out about the Doctor's death (maybe the TARDIS seeks them out because of some homing beacon effect that can be handwaved into existence with a single line of technobabble). Deciding that the universe needs The Doctor, they take up the fallen hero's mantle and name.

Instead of thus risking backlash from established fans, you instead have the possibility of a true 'new Doctor', with her own views and standards of behaviour who is, nonetheless, trying to be true to the original owner of the shoes she is trying to fill.

Clara is, of course, functionally immortal due to Twelve's stupid messing with space and time and Jenny, as a Gallifreyan, probably has the full twelve regenerations. So, in both cases, it is possible to recreate the 'different performer, same character' feature.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #629 on: 08 Oct 2018, 05:23 »

I like the backlash from the "established fans".

Mind you, a lot of long running fans seem to have given their seal of approval to this latest incarnation so I think those "established fans" might not be the commanding force they think they are.

Several retcons have already established that the number of regenerations aren't really set in stone and The Master, at least, had already shown that Gallifreyan's aren't tied to a particular gender.

I think that inviting this backlash is quite important in allowing The Doctor and the show to reflect the prevailing social trend that these anachronistic opinions aren't really worth respecting and allowing fans to effectively dictate terms to creators shouldn't be a thing. When I see kids get excited about The Doctor being a woman, I know the show is serving a better audience than if they were appeasing a bunch of middle-aged windbags.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #630 on: 08 Oct 2018, 08:29 »

Clara is, of course, functionally immortal due to Twelve's stupid messing with space and time and Jenny, as a Gallifreyan, probably has the full twelve regenerations. So, in both cases, it is possible to recreate the 'different performer, same character' feature.

I think Jenny might work, but Clara, not so much. Being functionally immortal due to being frozen in a moment, is a different animal than regeneration. Though, a bit of clever writing could possibly solve that.

Several retcons have already established that the number of regenerations aren't really set in stone and The Master, at least, had already shown that Gallifreyan's aren't tied to a particular gender.
There's that. And it's not exactly a surprise; if I remember correctly, there's been hints dropped since even before Missy entered. Not to mention that a part of the fanbase did want to see it happen.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #631 on: 08 Oct 2018, 14:16 »

I enjoyed that episode. Whittaker was instantly recognisable as the Doctor. I'm feeling very optimistic after seeing this episode and a couple of interviews with her. I'm happy with Chibnall's writing debut as well.

I'm amused by the proposition that it's even remotely feasible to avoid 'risking backlash from established fans'. It's part and parcel of the role changing hands.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #632 on: 08 Oct 2018, 15:12 »

I am highly amused at the amount of whinging that is going on over at twitter about the accents though. These aren't even the hardest ones we've got.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #633 on: 25 Oct 2018, 07:24 »

...so, The Doctor might be Banksy? :?
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #634 on: 25 Oct 2018, 07:42 »

The Doctor is a notorious name-dropper and braggart. The number of famous people they have claimed to have met or secretly be is too large even for one of their 1500 or so years.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #635 on: 25 Oct 2018, 11:24 »

(Just to remind you)  :wink:
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #636 on: 26 Oct 2018, 05:12 »

Now Paul. Just because you have that old Police Box out in front of your flat...
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #637 on: 26 Oct 2018, 07:28 »

The Doctor is a notorious name-dropper and braggart. The number of famous people they have claimed to have met or secretly be is too large even for one of their 1500 or so years.
Merlin is confirmed though - see the 7th Doctor story "Battleground".
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #638 on: 26 Oct 2018, 07:41 »

The Doctor is a notorious name-dropper and braggart. The number of famous people they have claimed to have met or secretly be is too large even for one of their 1500 or so years.

Merlin is confirmed though - see the 7th Doctor story "Battleground".

Merlin, I suspect, is one of the mistakes that the First Doctor made that led him to decide that stealing an obsolete TARDIS and vanishing from Galifrey was a good idea.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #639 on: 26 Oct 2018, 13:26 »

The Doctor is a notorious name-dropper and braggart. The number of famous people they have claimed to have met or secretly be is too large even for one of their 1500 or so years.

Merlin is confirmed though - see the 7th Doctor story "Battleground".

Merlin, I suspect, is one of the mistakes that the First Doctor made that led him to decide that stealing an obsolete TARDIS and vanishing from Galifrey was a good idea.
Nope, at the end of the novel Lungbarrow he says to Ace that he knows he can't be about to die, because he hasn't been Merlin yet.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #640 on: 19 Dec 2018, 08:19 »

OK, I've posted this elsewhere, might as well post it here too - my ranking of series 11:

10. Arachnids in the UK. The Trump-wannabe was a bit over-the-top, and the whole "how the spiders ended up back at the hotel" was a bit too much to swallow.

9. The Tsuranga Conundrum. It was actually a really good episode... until the Pting (aka "Stitch") showed up.

8. It Takes You Away. A great episode that had three bad moments: the parent just up and leaving his blind daughter; the whole sudden change-of-heart with Ryan towards Graham, and... the frog. The FROG.

7. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. I think practically everyone guessed who the villain was going to be about a third of the way through the episode. This didn't feel like it should have been a season finale, to be honest.

6. The Woman Who Fell to Earth. The big plus was that it was Jodie's debut as The Doctor. The minuses were that the characters seemed rather mopey on first glance, and the death of Grace just seemed so unnecessary.

5. The Witchfinders. This was one of those episodes that seemed to be targeted more toward the US crowd than the UK, as witch hunts are more "our" specialty. The pull-out that "it was aliens" was a bit... creepy, but it was something of a general tone for this whole series. It wasn't brash and brassy like 11, or old and brooding like 12, or silly and somewhat fun like 10. Oh, and a plus for finally dealing with the 800 lb. elephant in the room: "This was so much easier when I was a bloke."

4. The Ghost Monument. Okay, it was "part two" of the series opener, but it wasn't that bad. The Doctor was doing her usual "the ship's falling apart/Don't worry Yaz it'll be okay" thing, while promptly dealing with the issue of two competitors for a "survivor" prize on a planet designed to kill people. The planet's menace was a bit underwhelming (though Ryan going all "Leeeeeroooyyy Jenkinnnss!" on the sniperbots was hilarious). The best part of this one, of course, was seeing the interior of the new TARDIS.

3. Rosa. Oh, hello BBC America watchers! Here's your episode! Hey, whaddya know, racism still exists in the 25th century! Enough where someone takes a vortex manipulator and sets out to keep Rosa Parks from being arrested on the bus in Montgomery! Who'd have thought? My only complaint was that they avoided the obvious things - using the N word, for one. And what a gut punch for Graham there at the end. But this was probably the best episode of the early ones.

2. Demons of the Punjab. This is what we call "Yaz's Episode." It had layers, along with the whole MacGuffin of the wristwatch, the alien menace who weren't menaces, and "who's the real monster?" who The Doctor couldn't save. It also caused a bunch of Americans to look up the Indian-Pakistani Partition on Wikipedia. Who knew that drawing a line in the sand would be so problematic?

1. Kerblam! This just felt like a Doctor Who episode. The Fez, the secret cry for help, the companions all looking for answers, the bait-and-switches, the morality question, and the just... well silliness of an episode named "Kerblam!" Any one of the recent doctors could have done this episode, and nothing would have been questioned. (Okay, maybe Eccleston couldn't have done this one, but you get the point.)
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #641 on: 27 Jan 2019, 07:42 »

I still think it would have been better to kill off The Doctor at the end of Season 10 and have someone else pick up the mantle. Maybe Jenna Coleman's Clara or Georgia Moffett's Jenny. When The TARDIS realises that The Doctor is dead, it flies to the closest match it can find in the time stream.

After an Xmas Special of denial and trying to persuade the TARDIS that she is not the person that she is looking for, the new leading lady in question realises that the universe needs The Doctor as a concept rather than the man himself. So, she takes up the mantle and becomes The Doctor to continue his work of helping the helpless and being the unexpected pebble on the road to universal catastrophe. You could then, as a script-writer, do almost whatever you want as this is a totally fresh character bringing her own perspective to the role of The Doctor both in- and out-of-universe.

Maybe bring back Suranne Jones as the avatar of the TARDIS's main computer, playing the role as the new young neophyte's adviser and mentor.

This would basically mean that show would be radically changed and re-balanced but this would not necessarily be a bad thing. It would be less the Travelling Paragon and more the Young Apprentice trying to fill a very large pair of empty shoes and thus be a kind of Hero's Journey all of its' own.
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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #642 on: 27 Jan 2019, 17:44 »

Doubtful, considering that the TARDIS never liked a lot of the Doctor's companions (in fact, it tried to send Jack to the end of time and it refused to open its doors for Clara). In fact, the only companion the TARDIS ever truly liked was River Song.

Here's the thing about the TARDIS. It is as much the Doctor's companion as it was a vessel to travel through time, space and dimensions. The Doctor claimed they stole the TARDIS, the TARDIS claim it stole the Doctor. The Doctor may change, but deep down at the character's core is the same person who sneaked onto an old Type 40 and set out from Galifrey. Passing the title to someone else, well. It wouldn't be the same for the TARDIS, because no matter what, whoever controlled the TARDIS wouldn't be their Doctor.
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BenRG

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Re: Doctor Who
« Reply #643 on: 27 Jan 2019, 23:19 »

I never suggested that she would like the new Doctor, only that she would recognise that they were needed (both in a broader sense and to give the TARDIS's own existence a meaning).


Fix'd tags
« Last Edit: 28 Jan 2019, 04:32 by BenRG »
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