Dr Who

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Not sure if it was anti-Trump, or telling us to be thankful he's not somebody worse

Getting a bit 'preachy' now

Powerful scene at the end, in the Tardis. But, other than that, a bit flat.
This weeks villain was pathetic again. He just came across as a total arsehole rather than properly evil. I think the lack of a decent adversary is what's holding the show back at the moment.

The Christmas special's being done as a New Year special instead. Perhaps doing that Still Game crossover that nobody wants to see happen, and leaving Bradley Walsh to crossover to that show. Or you know, fill in your own preferred punchline.

Bit middling really this week.

Years back I was a big Dr Who fan but just lost interest with so many other things going on.

I remember watching the very first episode, Sat 23rd Nov 1963, (day after JFK's assisination, and was immediately hooked.
I thought William Hartnell was just so good.

I often wonder what modern Dr Who fans think of the earliest series in comparison to contemporary episodes.
But then I was a mere 10 year old, so any form of objective comparison is going to be difficult I suppose.

Any thoughts.

William Hartnell was, to borrow an adjective I have heard oft lately, bostin, both before the series and in it.

(04-11-2018 22:03 )Doddle Wrote:  William Hartnell was, to borrow an adjective I have heard oft lately, bostin, both before the series and in it.

Yes, doddle, he was the eponymous sergeant, in the very first "Carry On" film; "Carry On Sergeant".

Once again this was a case of good but not great, I enjoyed the episode but I wasn't blown away and am not in any rush to see it again. Essentially what we watched was the Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner, Nightmare at 20,000 feet (reimagined for one of the early Simpsons Halloween specials with Bart on the school bus). I think the episode would of perhaps been a lot more effective if we did not see the creature, that being said that may of run the risk of it coming too close to midnight which was the first thing I thought of when the noises started happening.

I really enjoyed watching Jodie get to grips with the intelligence & enthusiasm for anything intellectual that The Doctor has, the scene where she described how the anti-matter drive operated was acted perfectly. I also think that the comedy worked well enough for this episode, the delivery scene was a cliché but it was alright, again I give props to Jodie as I think she has the comedy aspect nailed particularly the scene with Yaz waiting for the P'ting to eat the bomb "Why didn't you pick a higher number than 51?" "In you're own time mate"

As for the more serious aspect I felt that the scene where Ryan told Yaz about his mum's death was well acted particularly by Tosin Cole however I felt that the scene between the General and her brother on the bridge moved too quickly & didn't get enough time to generate enough emotion, especially as they had the General die offscreen.

What I thought this episode was good for was getting more focus on Ryan & Yaz, particularly with the aforementioned scene. I feel like their two characters kind of cancel each other out. When you put together a TARDIS team it is natural that you have one character that is cavalier and one that is more cautious (Amy & Rory/Bill & Nardole), Graham in this instance is the more cautious and reluctant one but Yaz and Ryan are both really up for it, they are the same age and are just too similar. You'd think with Yaz being a police officer they would show personality traits of authority, leadership, inquisitiveness etc. Ryan we know very little about, he seems vey laid back, so it was good to have an emotional exploration of the character.

I will also say the ship interior was really well designed, perhaps the best non TARDIS ship I can think of.

Well, it could have been a great episode. It had all the ingredients, and was shaping up well. Then the comedy monster was revealed and I found it hard to take it seriously after that
As said already, Jodie's Doctor has the inquisitiveness (if that's a word) and the comedy off pat but we need a decent foe to see if she can pull off 'angry'.

What she hasn't got is authority.

Hmmm..why does it seem to me that none of these showrunners seem to actually want to write Doctor Who, as opposed to wanting to turn it into.... .?

Welsh X-Files
Romcom sitcom meets Sherlock with comedy aliens
Holby City
( "oh what sci fi ... err , shit , forgot that, help, oh sling in Gizmo from Gremlins or no whatsit blobby thing from Ghostbusters ? That'll do ")

( next week looks like it's going to be a Who Do You Think You Are? meets Viceroy's House ?)