The new Doctor Who

[parasiteinblack]

Bit of a mixed bag last night, an episode which promised much as it was written by Luther writer Neil Cross. Entertaining enough story with a bit more background on Clara, the story continued the fairy tail type theme that has streamed throughout Moffat's tenure as Dr. Who chief. Nods to his grandaughter Susan, which I think is the first time since William Hartnell's Dr. that we've heard the Doctor say he has a grandaughter.

Overall though I had a feeling of déjà vu, as to many times since the reboot has the plot relied on sentimentality to save the day. At times it tetters on the edge of makishness and should be used sparingly. Anyway it's the Ice Warriors up next in an episode written by Mark Gatiss.

Seconded to all of that.
I thought it started strongly and the aliens looked great but the green screen was terrible throughout and really put me off. That was weird because I can get through old Who effects no probs...
I've been waiting for the Ice Warriors to return for years but I also dread another Gatiss script. Only the Unquiet Dead was any good, the rest of his Who stuff fucks me right off. The last one he did bored me rigid, only time I've felt like turning it off halfway through...

[Jake]

Not the best episode I could have hoped for last night to be honest, my mind was elsewhere and Who failed to grab it away from that unfortunate sense of drifting. Next weeks episode promises to be a bit more, I'm quite fascinated by nuclear submarines, I guess having the ice warriors is of interest too. I'm not quiet the age to remember the ice warriors from the first time round, but I've sen all the stories and they were a fairly iconic monster. I think that Who certainly relies on the older monsters as generally speaking they represent an era with a greater sense of the imagination than the new monsters.

[unbroken69]

I think the old monsters help the reboot to look a bit more Marvel comic like, which I find appealing, although new enemies like The Weeping Angels are up there with some of the best in the show's history.

I quite like Mark Gatiss scripts, they usually have a darkly comic feel to them. The Dalek one divided opinion but to me the Dalek asking the Doctor - "would you like some tea" was the second best line in new Who. No. 1 goes to the twitter joke in the Bells of Saint John:

The Doctor - "People are living in a WiFi soup, vulnerable to something extracting souls, making them trapped like flies, crying out for help.

Clara - “Isn’t that basically Twitter?”

Tomorrow's episode is the first of two Gatiss sripts in the current run, another later in the series The Crimson Horror features Dame Diana Rigg and her daughter Rachael Stirling and sees the return of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. I have a feeling this maybe the Doctor light episode of the series.

Not the best episode I could have hoped for last night to be honest, my mind was elsewhere and Who failed to grab it away from that unfortunate sense of drifting. Next weeks episode promises to be a bit more, I'm quite fascinated by nuclear submarines, I guess having the ice warriors is of interest too. I'm not quiet the age to remember the ice warriors from the first time round, but I've sen all the stories and they were a fairly iconic monster. I think that Who certainly relies on the older monsters as generally speaking they represent an era with a greater sense of the imagination than the new monsters.

[Jake]

[quote="unbroken69"]I think the old monsters help the reboot to look a bit more Marvel comic like, which I find appealing, although new enemies like The Weeping Angels are up there with some of the best in the show's history.

I quite like Mark Gatiss scripts, they usually have a darkly comic feel to them. The Dalek one divided opinion but to me the Dalek asking the Doctor - "would you like some tea" was the second best line in new Who. No. 1 goes to the twitter joke in the Bells of Saint John:

The Doctor - "People are living in a WiFi soup, vulnerable to something extracting souls, making them trapped like flies, crying out for help.

Clara - “Isn’t that basically Twitter?”

Tomorrow's episode is the first of two Gatiss sripts in the current run, another later in the series The Crimson Horror features Dame Diana Rigg and her daughter Rachael Stirling and sees the return of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. I have a feeling this maybe the Doctor light episode of the series.

Agreed. I don't for a minute mind old monsters coming back, even if I'm not always overly impressed, well I'm not blown away by modern cybermen, I think they look and sound a bit silly to be honest. I generally quite like the new like Daleks, though I was relieved that the power rangers design wasn't solely used in 'Asylum of the Daleks'. I think the sontarans were basically alright, and quite nice that we got the Macra, have I missed any? I also quite like the angels and as you suggested I rewatched Blink, it's a good story, but to me it's not the 'all time classic' some claim it to be when compared to many stories from the past, definitely a great episode from the reboot. Also I like Mark Gattis too, both as an actor and a writer, I even though 'the Idiots lantern' was a good story, not many liked it I know.

[Jake]

Cold War was a very good episode in my opinion and I think it's very fitting it went out the week Thatcher died. I am surprised the BBC didn't pull it for not praising Thatcher enough as the winner of the cold war, instead I think it a very humanitarian aspect to it, basically saying that East was no more evil than West. The Ice Warrior was cool, OK they never showed what was under the armor in the past but it kind of worked, best episode so far this year.

[Jon the Impaler]

I liked the ghost one last night . Smith sometimes a bit OTT still - another story though with no real enemy . Guess they're building up for something big . Did like the ghost one as I said . A bit different .

[parasiteinblack]

I liked the ghost one last night . Smith sometimes a bit OTT still - another story though with no real enemy . Guess they're building up for something big . Did like the ghost one as I said . A bit different .

Yeah it was good, probably my favourite of the current series thus far.

[unbroken69]

A better story by Neil Cross this one, felt it was a bit hurried along though. Would've liked more back story on the first earth time traveller. Felt that the Doctor didn't bring her back to her own time as he naturally was unwilling to participate in a human time travel experiment. He used the fixed points in time line as an excuse.

Loved Cold War, it was Mark Gatiss at his best, great performance from Smith and David Warner as the Professor with an obsession for British 80's music. Warner would've made a great Doctor.

I liked the ghost one last night . Smith sometimes a bit OTT still - another story though with no real enemy . Guess they're building up for something big . Did like the ghost one as I said . A bit different .

Yeah it was good, probably my favourite of the current series thus far.

[Jake]

From another thread

to celebrate the 50th I think we should start reappraising classic adventures on the thread. You can start the ball rolling with one of your choice.

Good call.


Funnily enough I happen to be watching the Jon Pertwee classic, Inferno. Inferno is topical not least by today's standards, it sticks out as a very unique Doctor Who story, reflecting concerns over an energy crisis and totalitarianism. It's largely a very grim and serious story and has completely stood the test of time. Maybe the Primods looked a bit naff and maybe not so bad considering the constraints of the time. The Parallel world was a good story telling device, and I think it really shows how much fun the cast had in making this 'classic' yes 'classic' Doctor Who story. A very atmospheric story really brought to life by a very minimalist score from the late and great Delia Derbyshire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ybQGK_lewc. Not to mention great performances all around, and it's a very action based story, some great location film work, even the studio scenes encapsulate a genuine mood of tension, it may have been made on a low budget but Inferno has some serious block buster qualities.

Inferno is a classic, and I think very few Who fans are going to dispute that

[unbroken69]

One of my faves as well Jake. I haven't watched it for a couple of years so i'll stick it on now and comment more tomorrow.

From another thread

to celebrate the 50th I think we should start reappraising classic adventures on the thread. You can start the ball rolling with one of your choice.

Good call.


Funnily enough I happen to be watching the Jon Pertwee classic, Inferno. Inferno is topical not least by today's standards, it sticks out as a very unique Doctor Who story, reflecting concerns over an energy crisis and totalitarianism. It's largely a very grim and serious story and has completely stood the test of time. Maybe the Primods looked a bit naff and maybe not so bad considering the constraints of the time. The Parallel world was a good story telling device, and I think it really shows how much fun the cast had in making this 'classic' yes 'classic' Doctor Who story. A very atmospheric story really brought to life by a very minimalist score from the late and great Delia Derbyshire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ybQGK_lewc. Not to mention great performances all around, and it's a very action based story, some great location film work, even the studio scenes encapsulate a genuine mood of tension, it may have been made on a low budget but Inferno has some serious block buster qualities.

Inferno is a classic, and I think very few Who fans are going to dispute that

[Jake]

One of my faves as well Jake. I haven't watched it for a couple of years so i'll stick it on now and comment more tomorrow.

Look fwd to that, Pertwee's first season was one of the strongest periods in Doctor Who in my opinion, cheers ENJOY

[Bobinblack]

Can someone tell me why they got rid of Matt Smith?