The Doctor Who 2014/15 Thread

[inflatable dalek]

Maybe he wanted to do it in Blink, but RTD slapped him down on the grounds that it's ****ing inane.

[make your own "RTD / inane" jokes at home]

He's had nearly six years in charge to slip it into one of the 800 episodes* he's overseen with the same basic plot.

I have the terrible feeling someone started with the idea of the Doctor actually playing the theme tune and worked backwards from there (I hope Capaldi actually did guitar on that. Shame they presumably won't be keeping it).




*EDIT: More seriously, apparently he's now surpassed the number of episodes RTD produced and--counting each new Who episode as equivalent to two original series ones--will have done more than Barry Letts by the end of this year. Making him second to JNT as the man who has been overall responsible for the most Who.

[Denyer]

It's clearly an experience he can only go through once, the TV and book versions really aren't in the same continuity even if it wasn't such a faithful adaptation.

But with Who, continuity is frequently re-written. I don't see a clash personally.

Now, you may well be thinking: 'Beer? What a terrible idea. That's no solution.' I would reply that you're wrong. It's a solution of hops, barley and yeast, and it is so transcendently wonderful that I long ago made the decision to sacrifice any chance of trim thighs in favour of it.

Benny is a great companion when well written, and flippant and serious in equal measure like, well, real people. Martha didn't really get more than one or two episodes of that -- although wasn't there a lot of criticism about her acting range? Suited early Torchwood better, anyway.

[inflatable dalek]

But with Who, continuity is frequently re-written. I don't see a clash personally.

Oh sure, but saying (to use the typical example for massaging new series/spinoff contradiction) "The Time War means X no longer happened" is basically the same as "X never happened".

Plus, with Human Nature I've seen people seriously suggest the Doctor would do that to himself twice. Which is clearly missing the actually point of what a personal story it is to him.

Canonicity (I know at one point Cornell was quite cheerful to consign the to non-canon, I don't know if he's changed his mind and of course that doesn't affect how people take or leave it) or lack of it doesn't affect the many qualities of the book though.

Now, you may well be thinking: 'Beer? What a terrible idea. That's no solution.' I would reply that you're wrong. It's a solution of hops, barley and yeast, and it is so transcendently wonderful that I long ago made the decision to sacrifice any chance of trim thighs in favour of it.

Benny is a great companion when well written, and flippant and serious in equal measure like, well, real people. Martha didn't really get more than one or two episodes of that -- although wasn't there a lot of criticism about her acting range? Suited early Torchwood better, anyway.

Agreed on Benny, it's been years since I've read any of the NA's so it was interesting to hear her official actress reading a book written years before her casting, it all sounded spot on to the version I know from the audios so it seems Bowerman was a smart choice for the role (they were instructed to write with Emma Thompson in mind at the time weren't they?).

Martha is a weird one in that Freema is perfectly fine in the role, and no individual episode ruins her character. But all the little mistakes and moments of pure stupidity (culminating in, as I think Tom said at the time, the safety of the Earth being guaranteed by giving her the job of blowing it up. It takes 45 minutes for her to get a Torchwood regular killed as well)--not to mention writers constantly forgetting she's a doctor and just having her stand there watching people die without even offering to check a pulse--that buggers her up.

Speaking of canon and Torchwood, the (generally solid) Big Finish adaptation of Damaged Goods removes all references to the ongoing New Adventures (Psi Powers?) arc of the time and changed it to Torchwood being behind everything, mainly due to RTD freely admitting the original references had been shoehorned in anyway and he wanted something different there. He pushed for a happier ending as well.

Oh, and back on Human Nature... most of the nods at the rest of the series were unobtrusive, but who was Verity supposed to be? Just a representation of the Tardis or some NA character I didn't recognise?

SPOILER! (select to read)

Oh, and I thought the gag with the one surviving member of the family escaping from prison almost instantly in the shape of a cow rather undid the message of not killing him. Basically anyone he eats now is going to be the fault of those kids not smashing his skull in when they had the chance. Surely for the point to be made the system needs to work?

[Denyer]

"The Time War means X no longer happened" is basically the same as "X never happened".

Depends when/where you're observing from. It's also key to a lot of plots, and not just Lawrence Miles stuff.

Yeah, Emma Thompson -- I've almost entirely bypassed her acting career, unintentionally, so can't really comment.

I think Verity is just a nod to Lambert and Newman.

[Skyquake87]

'The Girl Who Died' was pretty decent and nicely played with expectations of who Maisie Williams would be (not Jenny/Susan/The Master/ Davros/ Harriet Jones/ Rose/ Dodo/ Sergeant Benton) and a fun way of defeating the toothy fish peoples. More enjoyable fluff and it feels a bit more like the show is remembering what its good at and where the format is at its strongest. Enjoyed Clara here as well, for the first time this series. On the production front, I found The Mire's armoured forms to be the latest in a line of unconvincing robot-y forms. They just looked a bit two spongey and like they lacked any weight. Puzzling that Who has this down pat for the Daleks and Nightmare -era Cybermen, but struggles with other robot-y type things. I was also quite excited to see the show have a reference to the Nu-Who era. Perhaps because it made a change from seeing yet another barrage of clips from the Classic era.

I'll let someone else make a witty remark about the Doctor choosing his faces and what he may or may not have been thinking when he took Commander Maxill's face.

[inflatable dalek]

Easily the best episode yet of the season (and worryingly the first of a minority that aren't a proper two parter), lots of big silly fun with some very nice guest performances (even if I have no idea who Williams is she did very well). How Doctor Who was it that they defeated the monster by doing a massive piss take of them?

[Brendocon 2.0]

(even if I have no idea who Williams is she did very well)

I'm sure she'll be glad to know her acting ability exists independently from your knowledge of her career.

I liked the bit where he said "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" and then basically admitted he has no idea what that means.

[inflatable dalek]

I'm sure she'll be glad to know her acting ability exists independently from your knowledge of her career.

I wasn't expecting to be impressed considering the stunt casting doesn't always work (Denis Pennis was basically wasted doing a David Walliams impression the previous week) and that the season trailer had put a weight on her presence that would have been hard to live up (and which arguably the character didn't, it was mainly the quality of the performance which made it interesting).

I wonder if there's an influence from the Doctor Who Magazine comic here? A character in the eighth Doctor strips was made immortal in almost exactly the same "Given too good a cure" way. Which is interesting as they ended up working for The Master...

[Brendocon 2.0]

It's cos she's young and has mostly only done proper stuff. She hasn't learnt that she's not meant to take Who seriously yet.

Whereas Paul Kaye can alternate back and forth between serious stuff and turning up for the money, she's still only got the one setting.

I'm sure he'll set her straight if they overlap filming the new season of Thrones, though.

[Brendocon 2.0]

Maisie's confirmed as being back again for ep 10.

I can't see her being a long-term recurring guest star, as "character who never ages, played by an 18 year old" is a seriously risky game to play.

[Rack 'n Ruin]

So, that trailer for next week's episode...

SPOILER! (select to read)

Osgood appears to be back! Or is it her Zygon "clone"? Which one was zapped my Missy? Any thoughts?

And, on a similar note, is it possible that Clara is a Zygon? Was she ever left alone with a Zygon in the 50th Anniversary special? Maybe The Doc has twigged, and is using the new Sonic Sunnies to see the "real" Clara...

[Brendocon 2.0]

So, that trailer for next week's episode...

SPOILER! (select to read)

Osgood appears to be back! Or is it her Zygon "clone"? Which one was zapped my Missy? Any thoughts?

Show about time travel, innit.

Okay it probably won't be that straightforward because DAMN YOU MOFFAT but occam's razor needs breaking out occasionally.

[Rack 'n Ruin]

Show about time travel, innit.

Okay it probably won't be that straightforward because DAMN YOU MOFFAT but occam's razor needs breaking out occasionally.

Oh. Yeah. How stupid do I feel?

[Brendocon 2.0]

Hey, I could be wrong.

I genuinely don't remember much about Day of the Doctor, having only seen it the once. You could well be on to something. But my default setting on the situation is as mentioned.

It really depends on what setting Moffat's "OH MY GOD AREN'T WE SO ****ING CLEVER"ometer was set to during the episode's production.

[Sades]

Is this the thread where we were doing the "Oh hey yeah, that episode was good/**** Clara!" thing in, or was it the other one?

We watched the second Viking-ish (horned helmets? COME ONNN) episode a few days ago. It was entertaining. I look forward to seeing more of that Stark girl in future episodes.

[inflatable dalek]

The Woman Who Lived was generally good solid fun, even if it had to sheepishly admit near the end they've done a lot of this before with Captain Jack. I'm surprised they didn't have the Doctor going "This is quite like that episode of Blackadder the Third". Though the "Well hung" gag may have been a nod at that.

The alien plot did feel tacked on though, as if the writer realised halfway through writing it that the whole show was just two people talking and they should probably add a plot.

I was hoping that once it turned out he was a liar that it would also be the case that the villain was taking the piss with the "Mr Katt from Planet Pus-E" style stuff.

[Brendocon 2.0]

Though the "Well hung" gag may have been a nod at that.

Thing is, Blackadder I can let get away with that. DW as a program should know that it's hanged.

The alien plot did feel tacked on though, as if the writer realised halfway through writing it that the whole show was just two people talking and they should probably add a plot.

Then realised they didn't have enough plot so pointed at Rufus Hound and said "you, you're meant to be funny. Just pad for ten minutes with a shit stand-up routine for no reason."

Yeah mate, you're to be hanged. We're not going to tie you up or keep you under guard or anything. You can just stand at the gallows and we'll trust you not to do a runner. BTW we can't hang you until you've stopped talking.

**** off.

[inflatable dalek]

Then realised they didn't have enough plot so pointed at Rufus Hound and said "you, you're meant to be funny. Just pad for ten minutes with a shit stand-up routine for no reason."

Yeah mate, you're to be hanged. We're not going to tie you up or keep you under guard or anything. You can just stand at the gallows and we'll trust you not to do a runner. BTW we can't hang you until you've stopped talking.

**** off.

Well, if the puritans of Cromwell's England are famous for anything, it's liking a good laugh.

It was also odd they took the Doctor's "Pardon" seriously despite him also being a wanted man (and Hound shouting "Doctor!" at him loudly kind of remove any ambiguity there. You'd have thought the crowd would have tried to earn that twenty pounds). And then they decided to hang the man who brought the personal pardon from Cromwell because, hey, Cromwell wouldn't mind that if it was genuine would he? Famously forgiving sort of fellow.

Maybe not being able to celebrate Christmas sent them a bit mad.

EDIT: Ah, and the big historical inaccuracy in that scene is apparently that there were black people in the crowd. Oh yes, that's what's riled up Gallifrey Base. Which is of course a sensible complaint as long as you ignore the fact Doctor Who isn't remotely historically accurate and that there would have been a decent sized non-white population that close to London anyway.

[Sades]

I both <3 and hated the pointy helmets. Proper little troll, I think.

[Brendocon 2.0]

So, that trailer for next week's episode...

SPOILER! (select to read)

Osgood appears to be back! Or is it her Zygon "clone"? Which one was zapped my Missy? Any thoughts?

And, on a similar note, is it possible that Clara is a Zygon? Was she ever left alone with a Zygon in the 50th Anniversary special? Maybe The Doc has twigged, and is using the new Sonic Sunnies to see the "real" Clara...

Or, y'know, 90% of what you said.