The new Doctor seems to have enough trolls after her on Youtube for a large Runequest campaign. I think she's doing pretty well; curious about the prevailing opinion here. Thoughts?
I'm enjoying the new series. They key thing is we are watching this series, which we haven't for the last couple. The change in time slot to Sunday may have helped.
I think the idea of a female doctor is great, although why was nothing made of the Master regenerating as female? However I find the current series to be dull and frankly too sermonising. Getting pretty sick of the constant telling off by the BBC for Britain having an Empire that was already on its way out before I was even born. Growing up in a children's home in the 50s and 60s I was already used to people are just people before I was even at school. It is interesting that all this sermonising is foisted on us by middle class people who probably never came across a black person before they went to university. Furthermore the first two episodes were just a mess of what's going on? what's going on? I enjoyed the episode set in 50s Alabama, but lost interest when the next trip back in time was to Indian partition. Presumably further time travelling episodes will feature such things as the Jamaican slave rebellion, shipping slaves across the Atlantic in the C18th and the Mao Mao in 50s Kenya. Doubt we'll get any on African tribal warfare which provided the slaves in the first place; the enslaving of Britons by the Romans, or Anglo-Saxons by the Vikings, or the appalling treatment of the Anglo-Saxons by the Normans (French) which has developed into the pernicious class system which is still highly evident in this country.
I'm loving it
Overall, I'm with Leman. (Sorry, Leman.)
My preferred option for the Dr has been Sandi Toksvig, with Bill Bailey as sidekick. However, in the latter part of the Capaldi era some fairly heavy handed messages slipped in.
Although there has been a bit of politicing in this series, my main problem with it has been it is rather dull. This I put down to the complete lack of malevolence with any of the "monsters". In the Punjab issue, what was the point of the assassins that weren't assassins? That episode could have been far more moving had it just been the story of Naz's Granny. The spiders were just spiders. The cute all-eating monster (which I expect Futurama to put a copyright claim on) was just hungry. Where's John Simm's Master? (Even Missy would be fun). Show me some Weeping Angels or even, bless it, a Dalek or two.
The sidekicks are too numerous. I'd have dispensed with Ryan, and have Graham be a stepfather to Naz. That would have tightened up the companions yet retained one of the interesting relationships in the series.
How can it be improved? 1) Get a better writer in. 2) Get rid of Chris Chibnall as showrunner and 3) add 3" to the Dr's trousers. If you really want to spice it up, bring back River Song!
I'd love to join in the debate...But I haven't managed to see a single episode with the new Doctor.
Cheers - Phil
haven't seen last Sunday's yet, but as far as the rest are concerned, I like the cast (particularly impressed by Bradley Walsh!), like the characters & acting, but the stories have been dull dull dull, and a couple - the Rosa parks & Indian partition stories - have had nothing whatsoever to do with Doctor Who. With an obvious hamfisted attempt to prove the BBC's various equalities & political correctness quotas have been fulfilled, we have a 2/2 split in gender with the main characters, a couple of minorities and an OAP (well, OK, not quite...), stories covering appropriately racially important issues, and... just about bugger all excitement...
Even the Arachnid episode, very well done, was used as an anti-Trump rant.
Great cast, great sets, good camera work ..... dull, dull, dull!, dull!! scripts.
Important subjects, well handled but NOT Dr Who, IMHO. None of those stories needed The Doctor stuffed in the middle of them to make them relevant or dramatic.
I liked the idea of a female Doctor, though my preferred actor was Ruth Wilson. Having seen her as the psycho Alice Morgan in the BBC crime drama, "Luther" she's a lady who should be able to handle "not actually human" in spades!
Jodie Whittaker's character is a bit too scatty for my tastes but as an actor she's making the best of what she's given I reckon.
Overall, worth a watch when it's on. Not worth the hassle of i-player if I miss it.
I thought Peter Capaldi was excellent as The Doctor, but half way through the Matt Smith Episodes I had got fed up of the endless resurrections of Amy Pond's Husband (so good I can't remember his name). I thought some of the episodes were very poor.
Then we went into the realms of being all PC with a lesbian companion, a Regeneration of the Master into Missy, then the regeneration of the Time LORD into a Time Lady. (That finally finished it for me.) I have not watched any episodes of the latest series, and from the descriptions given I am glad I have not.
I will retain fond memories of the era from Jon Pertwee to David Tennant. But the latest episodes I will not give the time to.
We're a bit behind with the series over here so I haven't seen the Indian partition episode
I find myself in agreement with Leman & fsn
By the way, I download all episodes automatically with the iPlayer app (in case I miss any). All episides are now available for a further 6 months...
...except 'Demons of the Punjab', the Indian Partition episode, which is now available for only 19 more days...
I like Jodie as the Doctor, but my hopes of her bringing a little maturity to the show and stop the sort of frantic running around antics has sadly not transpired.
The show has had some interesting episodes, particularly the Rosa Parks one, which should have been a one off in that style and an iconic episode, but we seem to have a series that consistently and persistently wants to push a PC agenda, at both a subtle and unsubtle level. The companions acting is not great, saved only by the steady Graham.
Overall the big asset of making Jodie the Doctor has been undermined by other elements and it has left me indifferent as to whether I watch it or not. With 5 episodes in, the trend looks set, at least for this series. Nice try, but no cigar! All I want is some decent Sci-Fi and Dr. Who should be able to deliver this by the shovel load.
I have an idea for an episode, a wargamer has a tardis and every time they roll a 1, they go back in time to get a re-roll. By the time such a story got past the writers, the wargamer would either be someone who realised how abhorrent wargaming is and sent all their games to a desolate rocky moon, or the character would be changed to be the current holder of the Ludo Championship Cup, who just needs to learn lose gracefully and if nothing else, will get a nice gentle cuddle at the end.
Oh ... and if only they could stop Jodie throwing that Sonic Screwdriver out in front of her in an overly exaggerated pose, it seems that it only works if you have a straight arm and an arched back. Please make my childhood programme a bit more grown-up!
I've been kind of luke warm myself. I caught up with the Indian Partition episode on BBC i-player last night but after reading all the mumping and grumping above was surprised to find it quite entertaining. Still getting used to the new doctor mind you. Commenting on the subject matter of this and previous episodes, Mrs Westie, with some 40 years experience in education (Teacher, Deputy Head Teacher, Head Teacher, School Inspector), said it was very educational - if you think about it, there will be a lot of younger viewers watching this (and ignorant older ones too, I suppose) who know nothing about Indian Partition and Segregation, etc.
Got to go, now - teacher has duties for me. :-[
Have to admit, the Indian one was more than a little insipid, despite the potential for high tragedy in the historical material.
Boohoo, nasty things happened in India. Lets have an episode where the doctor stops something bloody unpleasant happening in this country. It might involve Irish republicans, misguided muslims, kids with knives - there's plenty to choose from. Why not the completely brutal replacement of the 5000 Saxon jarls with 200 Norman knights. We still haven't recovered from that particular French exchange visit.
On a slightly different tack, this series has turned me off to the same extent that Colin Baker did. As a result the only time I ever saw Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor was as he was turning into one of the McCaan brothers (can't remember which one).
Quote from: Westmarcher on 22 November 2018, 09:55:17 AMMrs Westie, with some 40 years experience in education (Teacher, Deputy Head Teacher, Head Teacher, School Inspector), said it was very educational - if you think about it, there will be a lot of younger viewers watching this (and ignorant older ones too, I suppose) who know nothing about Indian Partition and Segregation, etc.
There's no doubt, this and the Rosa Parks episode were well told and informative stories of historical & cultural importance, but that alone doesn't make them suitable material for Doctor Who!
Maybe they were returning to the show's roots - before the first episode aired, the intention was for the Doctor to visit various historical times and make the show more educational then has been the case ever since.
Quote from: Wulf on 22 November 2018, 12:01:52 PM
Maybe they were returning to the show's roots - before the first episode aired, the intention was for the Doctor to visit various historical times and make the show more educational then has been the case ever since.
Maybe that is why the first Doctor, William Hartnell, is still my favourite. Many of his trips were historical, and I particulalrly remember his visit to the Aztecs.
Quote from: Wulf on 22 November 2018, 12:01:52 PM
There's no doubt, this and the Rosa Parks episode were well told and informative stories of historical & cultural importance, but that alone doesn't make them suitable material for Doctor Who!
The "historical" side does tend to get a swift overcoat of gooey gloss. For example in the Partition of India episode the message ws "well the British have partitioned India." This wasn't a whim of the Raj, it was something that was being pushed for by both Hindus and Muslims. They made great play of the Indians who volunteered to fight for the Empire, but no mention of the Indian Nationalist Army who were on the other side.
In our hobby, we should know that history is complicated and messy. My concern with the Who writers is that they put over a single message without any nod to the wider story. Just think how the Punjab story would have been different if Graham had asked "why are the British partitioning India then?"
Very well said, Nobby.
From what's been posted already....I just won't bother to watch any episodes, at all.
I'll just 'cheat' and tell Von the results of 'Strictly' before they show it, on the Sunday...As that's Von's 'thing'.
Cheers - Phil
With Hartnell the producers were told to alternate between sci-fi and educational historical stories
In discussions with a long time friend and Dr Who watcher [both of us started with Hartnell] our general conclusion was that whilst the new show runner/main writer can write and the cast are OK [in Female Doctor] he does not understand sci fi and appears to just be rehashing well worn sci fi tropes.
Whilst Dr Who has always done this in part there is a massive lack or imagination and reinvention in this series [accidentally caught some old David Tennant episodes on free view and was reminded how good some of these episodes were].
Whilst Moffat appears to have had some failings as a show runner in the last couple of seasons many of his 40+ stories were significantly impressive, inventive and creative.
Hopefully the series will improve as it would be a shame if the Female doctor experiment failed due to poor stories
Not just poor stories, but, as has been mentioned, the character Jodie Whittaker has had to assume: the manic behaviour, silly trousers and never seeming to actually explain anything. Surely the doctor's character should not really change so dramatically from one regeneration to the next. I think this has been a flaw in the entire series. Although I liked Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker as the doctor, they did seem to be totally different people from their predecessors. Another problem is the programme audience - it is clearly no longer a children's programme. Some of the stories have been quite disturbing, eg. Are you my mummy? Yet it still seems to want to cling to the children's hour audience as well - hence I presume the clowning around. It is fast becoming a curate's egg past its sell by date.
Quote from: Leman on 23 November 2018, 11:09:46 AM
Are you my mummy?
That definitely
WAS creepy !!!
If I'd been as young as when the Daleks first appeared.....I'd have been hiding behind the sofa...Again. X_X X_X X_X X_X
You're quite right, Andy......It's not a children's series anymore.... I don't think it
has been for quite a while.
I'll try and catch it this weekend...So I can at least join in with the discussion. ;)
Cheers - Phil
That's my fancy dress party outfit - lab coat, bow tie and gas mask. :D
Just ask a few people if they're my mummy and you can clear a room.
Quote from: fsn on 23 November 2018, 12:32:28 PM
That's my fancy dress party outfit - lab coat, bow tie and gas mask. :D
Fsn putting on his gas mask ...
p.s. I watched the most recent episode on BBC i-player last night .... and quite enjoyed it. :-/ Still prefer David Tennant and Matt Smith, mind you. Maybe we've seen it all and it's simply getting harder for the script writers to come up with new story lines to please us?
I break into a cold sweat & get short of breath near waxworks & shop window dummies. Madame Tussaud's was a hideous experience for me.
I most definitely blame the Autons... :(
The other beasties (Not Dr Who) that I found very disturbing were the Cybernauts, from 'The Avengers'.
They moved very slowly, but with an awful lot of menace....Like they were never going to stop until they caught up with their victim. EEEEK !!
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 23 November 2018, 01:44:02 PM
The other beasties (Not Dr Who) that I found very disturbing were the Cybernauts, from 'The Avengers'.
They moved very slowly, but with an awful lot of menace....Like they were never going to stop until they caught up with their victim. EEEEK !!
Yes, like the old movie Mummy, shambling along dragging on foot, but always right behind you no matter how fast you run...
Quote from: Techno on 23 November 2018, 01:44:02 PM
The other beasties (Not Dr Who) that I found very disturbing were the Cybernauts, from 'The Avengers'.
They moved very slowly, but with an awful lot of menace....Like they were never going to stop until they caught up with their victim. EEEEK !!
Cheers - Phil
I thought Purdey was creepy. Never giving poor Gambit a break....
Quote from: Wulf on 23 November 2018, 01:59:49 PM
Yes, like the old movie Mummy, shambling along dragging on foot, but always right behind you no matter how fast you run...
Exactly !! :-SS :-SS :-SS
Quote from: FierceKitty on 23 November 2018, 03:13:04 PM
I thought Purdey was creepy. Never giving poor Gambit a break....
I wasn't keen on Purdey.....Don't think anyone could have bettered Emma Peel. :x :x ;)
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Leman on 22 November 2018, 11:36:23 AM
Boohoo, nasty things happened in India. Lets have an episode where the doctor stops something bloody unpleasant happening in this country. It might involve Irish republicans, misguided muslims, kids with knives - there's plenty to choose from. Why not the completely brutal replacement of the 5000 Saxon jarls with 200 Norman knights. We still haven't recovered from that particular French exchange visit.
On a slightly different tack, this series has turned me off to the same extent that Colin Baker did. As a result the only time I ever saw Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor was as he was turning into one of the McCaan brothers (can't remember which one).
I'm more bothered that the Doc' can't make up her mind about interfering or not interfering.
Usually ends up meddling, but didn't seem to resolve the problem for 4 of the first 5 episodes.
Fascinated to see the usual suspects in our "Opinion forming media" calling out the Rosa Parks episode as "PC (gone mad optional)" - do our Press barons really support the idea of segregated public transport?
Returning to the Television Show for the minute.
I don't mind Jodie Whittaker - as good an most of the post revival doctors, and better than the latter half of the pre-revival ones.
I'm sure she will grow into the role and shine when better written episodes are presented.
The Scatterbrained business can get a bit tiring when there's only a weak plot to pull on, but no more so that scatterbrainbed Tennant "Allons Y!!" or Smith (Let's run about madly).
It originates with Tom Baker, and reflects screenwriters attempting to portray a genius solving problems in an accessible manner.
Other items:
Special effect budget is notably improved on earlier versions, there's some nice CGI going on there.
Team Tardis: Too many sidekicks; leaves none of them with much to do. Batman had one Robin, Robin had one Little John. Boss, Sidekick, Allies - It's the law.
Scriptwriting:
Feels like the weakest link to date.
Too long spent in build up leading to rushed unsatisfying resolution.
All comes across as a bit random, but paradoxically extremely predictable - The last (Amazon warehouse spoof) episode being an honourable exception.
Pace:
It's difficult to tell whether a common theme will unite the episodes - something that turned into a curse of the Moffatt era - of whether each episode will be a standalone.
I'd like to see the stories established rather earlier in each episode leaving more time for the adventure to develop.
Still a better story than Twilight.
Quote from: Wulf on 22 November 2018, 12:01:52 PM
Maybe they were returning to the show's roots - before the first episode aired, the intention was for the Doctor to visit various historical times and make the show more educational then has been the case ever since.
It certainly was. Look at the first ever series - cavemen, sci-fi (daleks), Marco Polo, sci-fi, Aztecs, sci-fi, French Revolution.
I stopped watching 'original' Dr. Who sometime during the Tom Baker era - I distinctly remember his costume suddenly acquiring question marks embroidered onto his shirt collars and thinking 'this is just silly now'. (Probably me just growing up).
Started watching the re-booted series, stopped sometime during David Tennant's second series (I think - after Billie Piper had left) when I realised that most stories consisted of him running around at high speed, and then solving everything by waving his
magic wand sonic screwdriver (or there'd be some unlikely explanation as to why the
magic wand sonic screwdriver would not work in this particular set of circumstances).
So, never seen Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor.
The ridiculously on-message PC slant has been a part of Doctor Who since the re-boot started, as far as I can tell.
Cheers, M.
--
Quote from: Leman on 21 November 2018, 12:43:16 PM
... or the appalling treatment of the Anglo-Saxons by the Normans (French) which has developed into the pernicious class system which is still highly evident in this country.
Ooo, The Dr. versus Bill the Conq & The Harrying of the North would make an awesome episode...
We've enjoyed them, whereas we watched none of the Capaldi run and had switched off after not many of the series before (I recall Clara turning out to be the "trick key" for the Dr.s entire timeline and life was a "meh" moment, but I think our patience had worn out well before then!).
I never saw any of the Capaldi series, which is odd as I quite like him. I am enjoying the new series, never an award winning series but one worth watching.
I will try to catch up on previous Drs to see how they compare.
cheers
Ian