[polishgenius]

Just something new. It's called Resolution and seems to have a New Year theme.

Production delays wouldn't make sense coz they'd never leave a margin as fine as five days...

[Malankazooie]

That was a pretty cracking New Year's episode. Had me proper chuffed to bits during parts.

I gotta say though, on the whole - and I don't want to be 'that guy' because of the momentous progress the show made in casting decisions - I was thoroughly 'meh'd' by the season, tbh. There were a few bangers for sure, but yucky, there were outright rubbish episodes also. I think they need to bring The Doctor's companion down to just one (I vote Yaz then Ryan, although Graham could be a lot of fun and would be best for comic relief). I think some of the emotional impact is diluted with so many traveling companions. I dunno, it might just be me, maybe you lot think it is fine? Agree? No?

[polishgenius]

https://twitter.com/...254880659509248


Trailer for the new series.

[Malankazooie]

huh, this is to air tonight. I guess it's supposed to be a nice treat. Animated sure could be a gas. Any you DVD/Blu Ray devotees see it? Any good? I've got my dvr set just in case.

Catch The Long Lost 'Doctor Who' Adventure "The Macra Terror" On BBC America Tonight!

BBC America showing animated Doctor Who re-creations Dec. 26

[Gorefest]

A lot of the older dr who episodes (mid-late 1960s) were filmed in the days that film was very precious, and the BBC would often reuse celluloid tape to record other stuff. So a number of very old dr who episodes simply were taped over and lost. Mostly stories from the 1st and 2nd (Hartnell and Troughton) doctors. But they do sometimes still have the audio recordings, so they decided to animate some of those old episodes. There are some absolutely fantastic gems in there. Some of the old 60-70s stuff is actually way creepier than the modern series.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 29 December 2019 - 01:29 AM

[polishgenius]

Worp worp worp worp


That was good and I bet you weren't expecting that at the end.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 02 January 2020 - 01:02 AM, said:

Worp worp worp worp


That was good and I bet you weren't expecting that at the end.

Holy shitsnacks was that EVER good!

I called that ending reveal moments before the actual reveal, but before that I was clueless.

[polishgenius]

I was somewhat spoiled by accident so I knew it was coming but obviously I didn't think it was him at first and in any case it was beautifully delivered.

Better episode than any of last seasons I think

[QuickTidal]

He also switched to the “character” with perfection.

And I agree it’s better than anything they did last season. Felt very WHO for the first time since 13 started.

[Blend]

I was so pissed when I was scrolling through my wall on Facebook yesterday, before I had watched the new episode, and the Doctor Who group had posted a video of

Spoiler

the new Master talking about being the Master. So not only did I know that he was coming back, I knew exactly who it was the entire time I was watching. It was still very good, and when he finally revealed that he was The Master, it was like a whole different person, so very well done!

Looking forward to seeing how this rolls out, and I agree with QT that this is the first time that 13 has really felt very Doctor Who.

[Gem Windcaster]

Apparently they're messing with some timelines, hence the different behavior than the last time we saw this character. Or so I've heard.

Spoiler

Would be interesting if the master actually regenerated into a woman because he had seen the Doctor do that first - The Master in a nutshell - he's basically a younger sibling that annoys you to death.

[polishgenius]

Spoiler

I think Chibnall has confirmed that he's before Missy, but I've seen a lot of chat that we'd need some kind of explanation if he isn't as to why he's alive and why he's evil again. I don't get why. The Master being alive after impossible situations with no explanation is basically a character trait by now, and as for evil- she barely decided to not betray him right at the end, as one incarnation, after months and months of work from the Doctor. I don't think it not sticking into another regeneration is some massive untenable character swerve.

[Gem Windcaster]

polishgenius, on 04 January 2020 - 01:24 AM, said:

Spoiler

I think Chibnall has confirmed that he's before Missy, but I've seen a lot of chat that we'd need some kind of explanation if he isn't as to why he's alive and why he's evil again. I don't get why. The Master being alive after impossible situations with no explanation is basically a character trait by now, and as for evil- she barely decided to not betray him right at the end, as one incarnation, after months and months of work from the Doctor. I don't think it not sticking into another regeneration is some massive untenable character swerve.

Agreed -

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The master and the doctor are different sides to the same coin - they're notoriously hard to kill - but it would be kinda cool if they show the character development that lead to missy, as she was quite different towards the doctor even at the start.

[Malankazooie]

Got around to watching the 2 part episode to start the new season. I was going in with not very high expectations because last season has a lot of garbage episodes. Like, arguably the worst episodes of any of the seasons. It had some brilliant episodes too, but the bad episodes were enough to turn me off coming back for the new season. With that said, the kick off to this latest season was pretty awesome I have to say and gives me hope. I believe I'll be staying on for a few more episodes. I was not so keen initially on three companions when they were introduced last season, but I think they've got a balance now with the formula. The spy story line allowed the strengths of the companions shine. I hope they can keep it up. But yeah, an excellent start. Really enjoyed it.

[Malankazooie]

Okay, that third episode was a step back for me. A lot to criticize about it, but I'll just let it lie as it is, without comment, and leave it to you lot to ponder the bad. But I will just say that the 'big surprise reveal' was sooo obvious and yeah, I guess I'm alright with the message and all, but it just seemed to be too, I dunno, corny and handled in a platitudinous way.

Tonight's new episode has me encouraged though. I gather it's subject matter deals with Nikola Tesla, who is one of my heroes. He was doing some cray-cray shizznit for his time and people during his rein of madness were all like whaaaaaa!? *mindblown

[polishgenius]

Reviews of ep 3 were so bad I didn't even bother.

Episode 4 was forgettable but fun.

Episode 5 was FUCKING CRAZY.

[QuickTidal]

Firstly, I have 100% established the one thing that really bothers me about Chibnall's run thus far (other than a lot of clunky writing; but it's DW so....)...the lack of not only music, but no theme. Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve ALL had themes that were used when the Doctor turns stuff around mid-episode or wherever...it ramped up the tension and joy of watching to a high level. Thirteen doesn't have that. Worse, the music that at least tried to be present in S11 (much of which I quite liked) is nigh non-existent in S12. Like I can't count how many times there was no music in a given scene because there were so many like that. In S11 Ep1 there was one tiny moment where I THOUGHT we heard the Thirteenth Doctor's theme, but it was never/ever played again (in fact it remains AFAIK 'unreleased'). So even her cool little speech in the finale this season felt underwhelming because it's accompanied by silence.
Like I know Murray Gold could be bombastic and in your face a lot of the time, but his leitmotifs were gorgeous, applicable, and welcome....the lack of music is what bothers me about Chibnall's era. I release this might be because Chibnall was weaned on largely music-less DW...but FFS man, at least give it a go. Modern DW isn't the same without it.

I sat this as someone who walked into the reception of his wedding on the agreed upon '(The Majestic Tale of a) Madman With a Box' music playing....so perhaps I'm biased.

Secondly, can we talk about the finale too?

Spoiler

So a fairly big retcon of Whovian lore for Gallifrey and the Time Lords. The only good part is that both the Master & The Matrix on Gallifrey have been unreliable narrators in the past, so at the very least ALL of this can be retconned away by a future showrunner fairly easily, using those factors.

I have some thoughts, and I'm going to bust them into point form so not to get lost in the telling.

- The Doctor being "extra special", progenitor of all other timelords from another universe with an unknown past...just ugh. Like do we need or WANT the Doctor to be the special snowflake?I always liked that the Doctor was a member of this elite race of know-it-all super beings who could time travel and not die...decided that it was all a bit naff, so he buggered off to travel himself, and do his own thing. The hippie bucking against the establishment. Making the Doctor be a special snowflake ultra baby for the whole race is....ugh. Just no.

- Let's be woke! Is it me or did they take the chance to cash in a diversity quotient during the Matrix explanation stuff about the Doctor's first however many lives? Black female, Asian female, Black Male, ect. through a gamut of ethnicities and skin colours...even eventually having the Doctor and the Master at the Academy as black males. Like I'm all for a diverse cast and characters...but this felt like overkill with agenda since none of those incarnations get to do anything in particular. Felt very much like the "All the Girls" scene in ENDGAME...like someone wrote it down as a good, and viable diversity idea...but never thought out how obvious and strained it would look in the show. It was like a Benetton Ad FFS.

- The Doctor's speech about how the revelation doesn't really affect her feels like a lot 'meh', and I think Chibnall wanted it to land like Eleven's I AM TALKING speech, or Ten's WATERS OF MARS speech...and it simply doesn't. Like the Doctor is being given information that is SUPPOSED to shake her to the very core (that's how they peddled it "everything you know is a lie!!" ~ The Master)...but it changes absolutely nothing of what she's done, or who she is, so it's really a wet fart of a revelation. This was Chibnall TRYING his level best to be Moffatt in A GOOD MAN GOES TO WAR, and failing...and in doing so doesn't even achieve the pizazz of RTD-era Who twists. It was just clunky, and barely changes anything for the Doctor. It only changes the status quo for US the audience. I think the problem lay in the fact that Chibnall's BEST stories in the EIGHTEEN he's written for Who are Spyfall (which has nice revelation that worked), and 42....everything else has been middling to bad.

- Ryan got nothing much to do here sadly, Neither did the other humans...even Barristan (being he token old dude) was foreshadowed to take the Doctor's sacrifice from her at the last minute...like the minute he showed up I was like "Oh, he gon die"...and sure enough.

- And ending your finale on a cliffhanger to be resolved at Christmas/New Years? Yeah Effffffff you. Series 2 finale (Doomsday) not a cliffhanger for the Xmas ep, S3 finale (Last of the Timelords) not a cliffhanger resolved at Xmas, Journey's End, The End of Time, The Big Bang, the Wedding of River Song, ...none of them do this...the only one that does do it was the ending of S7 and that's because it was designed to lead into the 50th...but no, Chibnall wants to hook us for Xmas-New Years with the narrative of his finale...by not actually RESOLVING that finale story plots satisfyingly. Worse, he even tries to APE Davies-era Ten, with Thirteen repeating an incredulous "What?!" when the Judoon show in the TARDIS. Like everything this dude does smacks of wanting to be like the other two dudes who made this show....but doing it poorly.

- Speaking of....are we really REALLY (after nearly 15 years of narrative trying to resolve the notion of the Last of the Timelords, Gallifrey is gone) going to go back to the Last of the Timelords, Gallifrey is gone? AGAIN? Except this time it's not the Time War, but the Master and his petulant revelations about the time lords? Like are we really that bereft that we can't have Gallifrey & the time lords be present in the story? I keep wanting for someone to write some good Who that has some stories that intertwine with the time lords and Gallifrey post-The Doctor Saved us....but nope, the first chance he gets Chibnall just destroys it again. It madness. Add to this that the whole 'humanity was destroyed by The Cyberwars' thing is never retconned/corrected by the Doctor (as I expected it to be)...meaning that all the 'future humanity' stories that were written before this never happen? Midnight? Never happened. Cassandra, and New Earth? Never happen. ....Like how fucking selfish do you have to be as a writer that you retcon whole swathes of Doctor Who episodes with a Cyber War, and never fix it with the TARDIS/Doctor?

- The BEST scene, and this should be saying a lot about a finale episode of Doctor Who, was the one between Graham and Yaz where he compliments her. THAT was quality DW...but the fact that the scene beats out everything else in the season finale of Doctor Who, and the narrative end of the first arc of Thirteen's story speaks volumes about Chibnall's Who.

soneofa...I guess I didn't like that much.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 02 March 2020 - 04:32 PM

[Malankazooie]

I still have to watch the 2 episode finale, but this 12th season has been quite disappointing. The season has been 8 episodes for all intents and purposes (with two-parter to start the season / two-parter to end the season), but if you were to ask me to give a summary of some of the episodes I would have no idea where to start because a few of them have been completely forgettable/throw-away. My favorite episode this season though, and it's been a stellar standout for me, is "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror". In my view, that ticked all the boxes that make for a Doctor Who instantly identifiable classic. Maybe I'm biased though because I'm a huge Tesla fanboy. I hope they make some changes to get it back on track, because season 11 wasn't that great either. Some of it may be that Peter Capaldi left quite some imposing (dare I say impossible?) shoes to fill.

[polishgenius]

Well I like it (both the season and the finale). The point-to-point writing isn't as sharp as Moffat's, dialogue wise, clearly, but he's got much better control of what's going on and in this season he managed to finesse several wow moments.

Spoiler

I guess I might be upset with the Doctor being the Timeless Child if I was more of an old-Who fan (but then I know a few of those who like it too).
I actually really liked the Doctor's reaction to it. The Master being driven wild by discovering he has a piece of the Doctor in him makes sense, the Doctor not being as affected by the revelation neatly puts a hat on that old cliche of the revelation is never as bad as the buildup.

Quote

Add to this that the whole 'humanity was destroyed by The Cyberwars' thing is never retconned/corrected by the Doctor (as I expected it to be)...meaning that all the 'future humanity' stories that were written before this never happen? Midnight? Never happened. Cassandra, and New Earth? Never happen. ....Like how fucking selfish do you have to be as a writer that you retcon whole swathes of Doctor Who episodes with a Cyber War, and never fix it with the TARDIS/Doctor?

This was a bit clunky and the Doctor did say they're the last seven humans and whatnot, but I don't think that was ever really the case and even the episode itself didn't support the theory, what with we know other survivors went through the rift. Also I don't think this is supposed to be the same cyberwar as earlier cyberwars, so it could be a lotlot further into the future- although this isn't made fully clear either (but certainly, Doc's actions at Villa Diodati didn't affect the war and weren't what she was there to retcon- Lone Cyberman dude didn't come till after both Cybermen and Humans were essentially done). As for the last comment- well that's almost the nature of being a Who writer... I'm pretty sure Davies stepped on some stuff when rebooting, and Moffatt casually wiped out huge swathes of RTD's era by having events be eaten by the crack in the universe so he could have a clean slate where Amy didn't recognise Daleks, a plotline commented on but never brought up again.

In any case this was the first time in Nu-Who I actually felt the Cybermen proper were an intimidating enemy so I dug it. Though Lone Cyberman went out a bit cheaply.

This is definitely my favourite season since 5 as a whole, though some of Moffat's later earlier seasons had higher highs.

[Malankazooie]

Got around to watching the two-part season finale. I enjoyed it.

<gulp!>

Spoiler

CyberMasters