Doctor Who

[DFF]

Definitely enjoying this season so far. Whilst I thought the Trump-esque character was a bit OTT, the episode as a whole very much reminded me of some of the monster-of-the-week stories with political commentaries that are rife in the 70s Who era. 

[Skummy]

Yeah, the whole series feels very classic Who, in that there's a bit of history, a bit of a moral message, a bit of political commentary - moments that are almost educational. Really feels like a conscious effort to get back to basics, and I'm enjoying that.

Tonight's episode;

Spoiler

Maybe the weakest so far, but nowhere near the bottom of the barrel as far as New Who goes.

The thing with modern Doctor Who is that there are so many different far future sci-fi civilisations that trying to make sense of the timeline would be a fool's errand, but it also means that they can just pluck sci-fi ideas out of thin air and run with them - so at no point am I saying, "oh fuck off, a neuropilot wouldn't be able to do that", because they've just made up neuropilots five minutes ago. There's not really any internal logic to worry about being inconsistent with, and in the hands of a poor writer that just means a string of deus ex machina, but it mostly worked here. 

I liked the monster - basic concept, but good fun. 

The male pregnancy thing felt like a simple sight gag that overstayed its welcome, before playing pretty heavy-handedly into Ryan's story, but it was what it was. 

The Doctor and Graham continue to be the best parts of every episode.

 

[Colly]

Do we need spoilers for the weekly episodes? 

Spoiler

I thought it was a step up from last weeks which left me a bit cold, especially with the slow murder of a shitload of spiders before being judgemental about finishing one off in an arguably more humane way. Plus where were the (other) spi-ders?!? 

Back to this one I enjoyed it, clever villain who wasn't a villain (plus the CGI didn't look shite as it may have in the RTD days) and some nice characterisation, decent cast too with Doc Brown and Brett Goldstein. I think I'm just a sucker for a space episode. 

Next weeks looks a really interesting setting, definitely a bit new. 

[Adam]

Yeah I really liked this episode. I'm loving the whole series to be fair, hasnt been a weak ep yet and I love the overall feel of the new era and the main characters together.

[Adam]

Loved this episode, really impactful and a well told story with some good beats and twists. Can see what they were going for on Armistice Day.

I'm a big fan of Yaz particularly of the new main cast.

[Colly]

Did it strike anyone else as weird that the Doctor didn't seem remotely arsed when Prem tried to shoot the aliens? Normally there'd be lots of grumping about guns being bad, felt like some missed characterisation. 

[Adam]

She did make some comment about it, didn't she? After the aliens had disappeared again.

I suppose she did also know/presume that said aliens were deadly assassins, so maybe she wasn't feeling as "no need for guns" as usual.

[Lineker]

No Christmas Day episode. It'll be New Year's Day instead.

[DFF]

17 minutes ago, Lineker said:

No Christmas Day episode. It'll be New Year's Day instead.

Yeah, heard about that a few weeks ago. Gonna be weird no having one on Christmas Day. Wanna say it'll be the first time in 13 years or so? 

[Adam]

Yeah it will apparently.

I'm glad though, I don't like watching tele on Christmas Day.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Quite glad, I'm a tad bored of Doctor Who saving Christmas.

[Naitch]

Although I agree with the Christmas themed episodes being incredibly worn out I now have literally nothing to look forward to on the day itself except Secret Santa.

[Skummy]

Has someone died in every single episode of this series?! Seems a bit much.

Loved the latest episode, by the way. Utterly daft, but some good jokes, and more great social satire through sci-fi. And I love the Version 1.0 delivery robot.

[Colly]

It's not even so much that they're dying, it's that it almost doesn't matter, they're very glossed over. Odd. 

Good episode though. 

[Adam]

21 hours ago, Colly said:

It's not even so much that they're dying, it's that it almost doesn't matter, they're very glossed over. Odd. 

Good episode though. 

It felt very glossed over this week, poor Kara. Think that was one of the reasons I didn't like it. Kept expecting it to turn out she wasn't actually obliterated by that bomb.

Weakest episode of the series so far for me, but it's been a good run tbf.

[TheWho87]

Well these are some interesting rumours

There were rumours of there not being a series in 2019 and them skipping over to spring 2020. This seems to be false with a plan to run a shorter series in 2019 as the BBC want to have a series a year. On top of that Chris Chibnall seems to be unhappy in his role and looks like leaving after series 12, supposedly he didn't want the job in the first place but the BBC went after him due to Broadchurch. And to make things all better it's likely that Jodie Whittaker will leave with Chibnall. Then add to that the future of the companions right now is in the air.

[DFF]

I know it's all just speculation, but I hope it isn't true. 

As for Chibbers allegendly not liking doing a series per year - he would have melted at the thought of the schedule of the show in its earlier incarnation! 

[GhostMachine]

Chibnall leaving I wouldn't mind, but Jodi? HELL NO!

I like her a lot as the Doctor. But if she does leave, then I hope the Doctor regenerates back into a man. Wait a bit before giving us another female incarnation, rather than two in a row.

Also, I've heard that John Simm wouldn't mind showing us as the Master to face Thirteen. OH, HELL YES, PLEASE!

 

[TheWho87]

 

[Lineker]

No new series until 2020.