Dr Who

Some credit to Chris Chibnall, who's had some fair criticism, for managing to hide the major plot twists leaks in this episode ( & Spyfall). Fair to say no one saw them coming, which is how it should be. And what else is coming?

What I liked about it was that last season was a bit of a snooze fest and this was a fucking thrill ride. Great seeing Captain Jack back, personally not seen him since the original airing of Miracle Day in Sept 2011

What concerns me is that we have been here before with Moffat during season 6, where there was a million and one things all happening at once, it was very confusing and it all fell flat at the end. I stopped watching the show is season 6 and had to go back after a while to catch up when it came on Netflix.

Here's hoping Chibnall does a better job but even it does come together well the reality is that when you create that much ambiguity & uncertainty the reality never matches the build up in the audiences head. That's why in my view the more straightforward narratives of the Capaldi era were Moffat's better years

What I continue to like about Chibnall's run is the characterisation, Ryan & Graham were one of the highlights of the last season and this season is we are trying to figure out who 13 really is. We don't really know who she is, she has been very closed off and I love that since the destruction of Gallifrey she has been getting really quite snippy with the companions and at the end of this episode she had a real go at them, it was uncalled for, it was flawed and it was authentic. We haven't seen that kind of authenticity since Clara fell out with 12 over Kill the Moon.

There is so much though:

Who is this second "Doctor"?
Who was Gatt ? Who by the way would of got it
Who is the contractor that hired The Judoon?
What is the loan cyberman?
What is the timeless child and why did it cause the Master to destroy Gallifrey ?
When will Jack be back?
Surely The Master is gonna come back? Is he the contractor ?
Will the Judoon be back? The last thing the leader said was the contract must be obligated so I don't think she is done chasing the other Doctor

We've had the situation with other Doctors existing and interracting with each but of course they were their own previous incarnations; this new one throws up some interesting questions and did you notice in the end titles it said "Introducing Jo Martin as the Doctor" I wonder if that isn't the last we see of her and perhaps it will explain how she came to exist. If the Cybermen(man) are/is around will that mean the Daleks get re-introduced again?

I also ask the question if Gallifrey has been destroyed surely the Doctor could have gone back before and prevented it. I doubt you can fully kill off The Master so I would expect to see him back towards the end as I also think Captain Jack Harkness, well it was a cameo role for John Barrowman but again he might return towards the end of the series. I like the three companions perhaps there is a simmering relationship between Ryan and the girl and Graham and Ryan might get closer as a father & son. Can't wait to see the last episode resolved in the next.

I'm wondering whether the other Doctor was an incarnation that we never knew about that was in between one reincarnation and the next, or if she is playing the "Doctor Donna" part that was played so superbly by Catherine Tate. But if I remember rightly, couldn't the Master take on a doctor's previous disguise to meddle with the current doctor in some form?

You can be sure the Cybermen are around the Daleks can't be that far behind them. I did wonder if "Jo Martin" had anything to do with when the Doctor battled with the Cyber King in Victorian London.

For me so far Season 12 been disappointing.

^What would you say it is lacking the most or what would you say is your biggest criticism of it?

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If there is anything I would like to see in the future I would love to see the Doctor return to some storylines from the classic eras of Doctor Who (Pertwee - Baker era) that have I think would throw up some new problems & Ideas like the Spiders, The Sea Devils & the Green Death andif there is one monster that should be allowed to return the Giant Robot!!

If they were looking for new ideas for monsters I'm wondering if a monster race based on Lego would be good!! I know one of us hasn't eaten Licqourice Allsorts since the Bassett man from the Colin Baker era appeared!!

(02-02-2020 07:07 )babelover48 Wrote:  ^What would you say it is lacking the most or what would you say is your biggest criticism of it?

The writing is often lacking. Script editing is not what it should be.

The TARDIS crew is overcrowed, blandly written and played* (yes Jack is OTT but he really showed up how uninteresting the new bunch are last week).

The Doctor is no longer the sufficent focus of her own show. (Fuck off with this Team TARDIS and "fam" [urghh] business; the Doctor should be a bugger to get along with at times not all inclusive and touchy feely.) Still falls down when gravitas is required too.

The scope of the plotting is hampered for ambition. (Just how many stories on Earth are we getting this season?)

But most of all the focus is wrong. Every single story is agenda led... instead of a sense of wonder and adventure being laced with a subtle mirror to our own world on occassion. It's driven by people obsessed by their impact on their own space; when the majority of the public want light hearted, occassionally thought provoking, escapism for their Doctor Who.

EDIT: Oh yeah and so unremarkable is it that it took tonight's episode to remind me that the show's incidental music has gone from being lavishly iconic (if a little overbearing at times) in the pre-Whittaker era to so instantly forgettable that it's hard to recall where any of it actually helped the mood or drive of the episodes when you look back. (Maybe the motorbike chase in Spyfall is the main exception to that?)

* Graham aside on occassion.

You have to admit these Doctor Whos didn't spend half their time running down the same corridor or landing on an alien chalk pit or dissused quarry like they used to-they get to go to real locations AND have some very good sets built and even the special effects have improved a lot too

The sets aren't wobbly like they used to be aren't they?