Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
29 July 2021 at 01:05 #71906
Have been reading a bit more about season 13 (no spoilers though). It seems that they are going to jettison the separate story structure in favour of one story told over 8 episodes. I am assuming that this will re-engage with the consequences of The Timeless Children.
Since all we have been given so far is a 30 second teaser, it would be nice if we were told when we are likely to see season 13.
p.s. Since the end of season 12 reveals the Doctor to be the Timeless Child, I hope season 13 answers the question of why the episode was called (as I recall @bluesqueakpip pointing out) The Timeless Children.
26 July 2021 at 15:01 #71898From what I read somewhere, the 8 episodes aren’t separate, but are connected in some way.
Let’s just say my expectations are…subdued.
26 July 2021 at 01:23 #71893TRAILER at last!
Well, very short teaser, actually. But even a tiny sip of water is welcome after a long time in the desert.
10 July 2021 at 04:42 #71863@winston Great news about your second shot! Mrs Blenkinsop and I are now two weeks since ours, so we are both feeling a sense of relief. Of course, we are still wearing masks to the shops. There are variants out there, but perhaps more importantly, just being inoculated doesn’t mean you can’t get infected (even if you personally are protected from the effects) and inadvertently pass it on to someone else. So for a while, we are happy to play the game of responsibility.
Take care.
30 June 2021 at 03:32 #71829Have moved over to the pub as there is nothing “Who” about my reply, but thanks so much for asking about the heat over here. Yes, it has been a bit intense, and very unusual, as I am sure your daughter would agree (p.s. hope she is coping).
I am originally from Australia (which is where I met Mrs Blenkinsop who is originally from Canada ). We were sitting here in the living room this evening and I was telling here that the real impact on me of the heat was not so much the heat itself but that it brought back a whole lifetime of memories about growing up in a place that was unbearably hot for half of the year, every year.
In reality, this weekend was just a bit inconvenient, but psychologically, it brought back a life I thought I had escaped. I know, that probably sounds pretty feeble, but, by golly, sometimes the past just keeps intruding.
Hope you are flourishing over on the east coast.
p.s. just watched the first episode of “Picard” which was excellent. Highly recommend (if you remember “The Next Generation” that is).
30 June 2021 at 00:47 #71826That is excellent! I was unaware that the whole thing had been previously released. I would love to hear your reactions when you get around to it.
28 June 2021 at 20:59 #71823The Troughton story Wheel in Space is not yet on DVD. We got it through the streaming service BritBox. Not sure if that is available in Australia. But whichever streaming service in Australia has all the old Who should have it. Happy hunting.
28 June 2021 at 18:14 #71822At this stage it is all conjecture, of course. I have no idea of who he is.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jun/27/olly-alexander-tipped-to-be-the-next-doctor-who
27 June 2021 at 16:51 #71817Last night Mrs Blenkinsop and I finished watching “The Wheel in Space”, a Troughton story in six parts, from 1968. It was one of those stories that was previously “lost”, with only two episodes surviving. In the recent past, these type of lost stories have been animated, and as a result–in my mind anyway–somewhat clunky (the recently restored “Macra Terror” being a case in point). But with this one they used surviving still shots, photos from the shoot, and added the surviving audio track around the still shots. We both found this a far superior form of restoration, in part because you could see real facial impressions along with the dialogue.
The story is a superior Cybermen story, set on a space station, with an international and multi racial crew (and a couple of definite Australian accents). It is the story that introduces Zoe who will become the new companion after the departure of Victoria. It is a ripping yarn, of claustrophobic unease on the space station with aforementioned Cybermen, a large cast with speaking roles (you really get the sense of a crew working together) and even a sequence that involves Jamie on a space walk (but not in his kilt, I hasten to add). All in all, a great story. We accessed it via “Britbox”. Highly recommended.
25 June 2021 at 18:34 #71803@janetteb I have always thought of the Spanish Civil War as both depressing and inspirational.
I offer this photo as representative of the inspirational side of it. The soldier on the left was Oliver Law, who was the first Black American to command troops in action. It was 1937 (not 1927 as the caption claims), and it showed what was possible.
Oliver Law (left) (1927) Commander of the Abraham Lincoln brigade in the Spanish Civil War. He was killed fighting fascism 80 years ago today. from OldSchoolCool
25 June 2021 at 05:00 #71798Puro, Have moved this over to the Film thread, but…tell me about Tenet. I have yet to see it, but I find Nolan’s films far too artificial and cold. I feel like I am being given a lecture, rather than being offered an experience. Of his films I have seen, I liked Batman Begins (but not the other two) and I hated Inception. I like to be swept along by the narrative, rather than demonstrated how a narrative is constructed. Does any of this relate to Tenet?
25 June 2021 at 03:49 #71795Hi Puro, yes I too was wondering about Craig.
I have to ask…surely Thane can’t still be 16…
24 June 2021 at 19:53 #71791@craig, @phaseshift, @jimthefish Am contacting you all in your respective capacities as Emperor and Time Lords of the site about the current spammer who is flooding the site.
As the spammer’s posts are still on the site, it occurred to me that @craig might not be around at the moment. Hence this call to the collective powers of our resident Time Lords.
23 June 2021 at 04:14 #71777Have been giving more thought to who could be the Doctor and who could be the show runner. Keep in mind “Dectectorists” and “Worzel Gummidge”.
So, Mackenzie Crook as the show runner and Toby Jones as the Doctor.
Think about it. Mackenzie Crook can write for adults and for children effortlessly. And can do fantasy effortlessly.
Toby Jones can do…anything…effortlessly.
And they work together.
Yes, I know, Toby Jones has played the “Dream Lord”. But that should not be an impediment, but rather an opportunity to come up with a creative explanation.
22 June 2021 at 23:57 #71776@toinfinityandbepond Yes, there were some great suggestions in the comments. Fortunately, there is a huge pool of talented actors in Britain.
I think the real question, though, is who will be the new show runner. It has to be someone who can write humour effortlessly, someone who can write action as well as drama, and someone who can do puzzles. On the basis of current British TV, I’m not sure who that might be. Some names spring to mind, like David Mitchell, Mackenzie Crook, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but none of them cover all those bases. Who nose?
19 June 2021 at 04:10 #71770@nerys Yes, I agree with you entirely. I think she has great talent as an actor, but I think the material she had to work with was, by and large, feeble. I, too, lay all of that on Chibnall.
Well, most of it, as I think that the BBC has, for whatever reason, allowed it to happen and, as a result, allowed one of the greatest examples of British popular culture to…wither on the vine.
I do so hope that whoever is in charge of the BBC in 2022 will commit to continuing, but most importantly, reviving the show.
18 June 2021 at 20:07 #71768Not sure if this constitutes an actual spoiler, but best to be cautious.
Was reading a report that Jodie Whittaker may not be leaving at the end of the coming season (whenever that is) but staying on for two specials in 2022 that will wrap up her arc (whatever that has been…too harsh?)
Of course, the report apparently emanated from the Daily Mirror, so should be treated accordingly.
17 June 2021 at 19:44 #71767I envy those of you out there who live close enough to see this.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/jun/17/doctor-who-time-fracture-review
16 June 2021 at 23:02 #71761@craig, If you are around, could you rid us of the unwanted attentions of the meddlesome Shandi?
8 June 2021 at 18:14 #71735@dr-nao
Your painting is fabulous! And pass on my birthday greetings.
1 June 2021 at 03:51 #71724Mrs Blenkinsop and I were (last night) re-watching “The God Complex”. An excellent episode. There is something about it that is truly unnerving and at the same time very much about the bonds of humanity. But…with the exception of the supposedly comic relief of David Walliams’ character, who really doesn’t work at all. Or am I being too harsh on David Walliams?
27 May 2021 at 22:05 #71718@johnnybear Me too. And, I suspect, lots of others.
@craig, if you are out there, could you help?
23 May 2021 at 23:19 #71708@dr-nao This sounds like a great birthday present!
When it comes to alien landscapes, I would suggest an image from the story “The Web Planet” which featured the Zarbi (your husband will know…)
The thing is, the lack of budget in the early years meant that alien planets were mainly rock quarries, hence my recommendation for this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015lrxk/p015lrqc
16 May 2021 at 19:35 #71690Welcome @icharus1
It’s true, it is a pretty amazing archive of insane theories. Enjoy.
11 May 2021 at 05:50 #71672@nerys Sorry to hear about the situation in Nova Scotia. We have visited NS three times. All were wonderful. All three were in Halifax, but one of them also included a few days staying in a friend’s cottage on the coast south of Halifax, with long drives down the east coast. We both loved Nova Scotia. As for the anti-vaxers, I throw up my hands in despair. My parent’s generation played a lottery when it came to polio and tuberculosis, but now, because of vaccination, we are essentially free of those. I grew up learning that the invention of penicillin saved countless lives. And yet now…in the town I lived in before coming here the town council voted to get rid of fluoride from the tap water, in spite of every single dentist in the city making the point that it protected children’s teeth. What has happened to produce a generation that rejects science?
But great to hear that by tomorrow you will both be vaccinated. I am now two weeks past the jab, and Mrs Blenkinsop will be two weeks past the jab in a couple of days, which calms me down tremendously.
Take care. Stay safe.
10 May 2021 at 04:29 #71667@winston So great to hear of your 42 years together. Mrs Blenkinsop (and, yes, we are married) have been together for a mere 28 years. We only found each other when we were about 40, so no children, but we can fall back on 28 perfect years. Mrs Blenkinsop is the gardener (Supreme) and we were just out in the garden admiring the Peony Tree that Mrs Blenkinsop planted and has been nurturing and is currently in bloom (such a pity that we cannot share photos here).
Anyway, it was great to hear of your Mother’s Day, and, after spending some time trying to protect the garden from the deer (but how can one deny them?) it is probably time to settle in and attend to the expectations of our current overlords—the two indoor cats—Bix (as in Beiderbecke) and Dizzy, (as in Gillespie).
7 May 2021 at 04:52 #71657@winston so great to hear that you are surviving (albeit with crazy neighbours). I was just corresponding with a friend back in Australia who did not realise we were still in lockdown in Canada. Happily, Australia has coped quite well (in part because of their policy of absolutely rigorous lockdowns when needed). I had to explain to her that, unlike Australia, we have had 25,000 Covid deaths, and on Vancouver Island (where I live) we have had more deaths than all of New Zealand. Hence the need for continued caution.
But if you approach the issue with an attitude of “be kind” and “be considerate” it is possible to pull through this. Like you @winston, Mrs Blenkinsop and I spend a lot more time in the garden, which is good for the garden and good for us.
Hang in there @janetteb, and hi to @nerys (so sorry I forgot about you when I was saying hi to the Canadians on the site).
2 May 2021 at 19:38 #71637Hi Craig, Just posted on The Kebab & Calculator and noticed that is has well over 1,000 posts. It might be due for an upgrade.
2 May 2021 at 17:39 #71636@janetteb Yes, Covid is still running (ruining?) our lives here. At the end of our street is a large park. By this time of the year on the weekends it would normally be full of people playing some form of sport, with others watching on the sidelines. These days, there is just the occasional dog chasing a stick. And it is not going to change anytime soon, as Canada had some problems acquiring sufficient vaccine stock, which means that although Mrs Blenkinsop and I had our first jab last week, we have to wait 4 months (yes, months) before we get our second shot. So, a quiet, masked-up life for some time to come.
1 May 2021 at 04:11 #71631@winston, @arbutus, @…crikey, I have forgotten the other Canadians (sorry!)
I hope you are all doing well. Life for us is very quiet, and far too many purchases arrive via Amazon. However, fortunately, we have a local bookshop that calls me up when it is time to go and pick up my standing order of the NYTimes Review of Books and Private Eye (both of which probably reveal far too much about me).
How do we survive our quiet life? Well, lots of Moffat and Gatiss…
24 March 2021 at 04:26 #71491@winston and @oochillyo, Just rewatched “The Unicorn and the Wasp”. It is outrageously silly, but…it is also lots of fun. The way they incorporate so many Agatha book titles into the dialogue is wonderful. As for “Empress of Mars”, I loved it it! It is one of my favourite episodes. Thinking about it, it is probably because both stories capture something about late 19th C./early 20th C. popular literature and manage to connect it to “Doctor Who” in a way that just works…in a silly (but reverential) kind of way.
4 March 2021 at 00:57 #71467@oochillyo I had that problem with a photo on another website. My solution was to reduce the size of the photo. That seemed to work.
21 February 2021 at 03:48 #71437@janetteb Yes, snow is magical. When it first falls. Then, it is powder snow, and it is lovely to walk through. But then, as @dentarthurdent points out, it turns to slush. But worse, it freezes, and it stays like that seemingly forever. Impossible to drive through and impossible to walk on. Unless, of course, you embrace the idea of lots of accidents. Like so much of life, it is magical when it is fictional.
15 February 2021 at 04:14 #71414Yes, I am all in favour of having a viewing of some classic Who. While you like the Tom Baker Doctor (who doesn’t?) we have looked at quite a lot of his stories. Might I suggest a story from another brilliant classic Doctor? What about the story “Inferno” from the 3rd Doctor, Jon Pertwee? It is a spectacular story, with a cast who are all at the top of their game. And we have never had a dedicated viewing of that story.
It would require @craig, our benevolent emperor, to load it for us, but as he is benevolent, I am sure he would agree.
6 February 2021 at 04:55 #71401Yes, agree entirely. I tend to look back at Australian media occasionally, and came across this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-06/an-australian-familys-reckoning/13124732?nw=0
I found it very powerful and it had a resonance with my family memories (mine are not as powerful as what is represented in this story, but they are still there, and prompt me to ask: “why did I not question the statements that I heard at the dinner table?”).
3 February 2021 at 06:32 #71399Came across this and had to share it.
After a life in Australia, this is where I moved to. But not in 1936, I hasten to add. This was a tourism film made in 1936 to show off the city. Strangely, much still remains, although the topiary garden has gone, alas. What I love about the clip is the way it reveals that the whole city was designed to impose a fantasy version of England into a foreign locale. There is no reference to the Indigenous people whole lived, and still live, here. And no reference to the substantial Chinese population who also lived and still live, here.
I love artifacts from the past like this; not because they show how life was, but because they show how some people wanted to pretend what life was like.
Most of all, I would love a story where the Doctor arrived in Victoria in 1936…
28 January 2021 at 05:11 #71384Having only moved to Canada a few years ago, Mrs Blenkinsop and I were reminiscing on what we remembered most fondly about Australia.
These two commercials came to mind.
and
16 January 2021 at 19:45 #71369We decided to watch “Day of the Daleks” after you mentioned it. (I hadn’t seen it for a long time.) This was quite soon after watching “Inferno”. For me, there is no comparison. “Inferno” is far stronger and far more entertaining. You said you wanted UNIT in the story you chose—well, since you have not seen it yet, I do not want to spoil it, but the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton are there, in all sorts of ways. Pertwee gives a wonderful performance, and Caroline John is really worth discovering. I encourage you to seek it out.
13 January 2021 at 22:37 #71351@nerys So very sorry to hear this. I am glad you had the opportunity to have those good talks, though. They are tremendously important.
Take care.
12 January 2021 at 05:29 #71338It is cold here on our island outpost in Canada, so Mrs Blenkinsop and I just re-watched (for the umpteenth time) “The Lodger”.
What a wonderful episode. “Kiss the girl!”
A wonderful pisode.
8 January 2021 at 21:50 #71335Just read that Michael Apted, who made the 7 Up series (the most remarkable documentary series ever made (tracing a group of British children from the age of 7 (1964) at seven year intervals until the age of 63 (2019).
He also was a great film director, with a James Bond film under his belt, along with many other films.
The 7 Up series made a huge impact on me, and I had remained as committed to it as I have to Doctor Who (and over the same span of time).
8 January 2021 at 03:33 #71333If you are doing a Pertwee story this year, can I suggest “Inferno”
It was brilliant. And it had the last performance of Caroline John as Liz Shaw (probably my favourite companion).
7 January 2021 at 17:34 #71329Just following on from @devilishrobby, there is a spammer roaming on the site.
5 January 2021 at 02:27 #71321@bluesqueakpip Thanks for the detailed summary, and agree–yes it is effective–if it was, let’s say, the opening episode of a three or four part miniseries that was done as a dark story of corrupt business and corrupt government conspiring together to create a dystopian future. Sounds like just the type of thing Chibnall could do well–if it was paced out over three or four episodes.
Anyway, from what I am reading on the dark corners of the web (ie, The Daily Mirror), there may be changes afoot…
But just to reiterate, your summary and explanation of how the story was advanced was really very good. Thanks.
4 January 2021 at 19:39 #713194 January 2021 at 03:49 #71317It was 1964. Gerry Marsden. I am starting to realise how old I am.
3 January 2021 at 04:14 #71305I thought Martin Belam provided a very good assessment of the episode, particularly his reflection that “it was an extremely long slow burn of a set up before it got going”. Exactly. I am talking about pacing, and about showing, rather than explaining, what is happening.
For example, my reference to “Robocop”. The opening of Verhoeven’s movie wasn’t brilliant because it was violent, it was brilliant because it managed to communicate everything at the beginning (in the way Chibnall was trying to communicate) in a very concise way (the board meeting, the claim to have found a technological solution, the the calamitous outcome at the board meeting, and the satirically cynical response of the person proposing the idea). Chibnall essentially gives us exactly the same set-up, but it takes forever to get to the point. We see the Dalek from Resolution being driven away, there is a stop at the side of the road, the truck is driven away, there is huddled discussion between Robertson and the scientist, there is a demonstration of the Dalek to the corrupt politician…come on, Verhoeven’s movie had moved way beyond this by this time. It’s like, you know exactly what Chibnall is trying to do, but you are overcome with a desperate desire to go and make a coffee before he gets to his point.
And should add that I am not implying that Chibnall is drawing on Verhoeven without acknowledgement. I suspect that Chibnall is probably completely unaware of Robocop. What Chibnall is aware of, and can do quite well, is the sort of emotionally tortured slow-burn drama that was Broadchurch.
Can he do Doctor Who? I don’t think he can.
2 January 2021 at 20:02 #71303Well, first viewing: I felt it was more of a simulacrum of Doctor Who, than actually Doctor Who. Perhaps 15 minutes (toward the end) of real Who and an hour of something between a soap and a drama.
Compare the opening premise here of a repurposed Dalek to become the face of policing (with a satire on corporate greed thrown in) to the opening premise of Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop. Verhoeven was brilliant in every way. This was feeble by comparison.
Then, endless amounts of exposition, so that instead of moving forward at a clip, the story moves like treacle as every single thing is verbalised and explained to us.
Finally, when the real Daleks arrive, it start to feel like Who, but it is all over fairly quickly, and we are back to the soap. For anyone who can remember back to the way Barbara and Ian left the Hartnell Doctor or, even more impressively in terms of emotion, the departure of Susan from the Hartnell Doctor, they were both masterclasses of writing and acting in comparison to what Chibnall offered.
For me, the best realised character was Robertson, which I was not expecting.
Sorry, but the Chibnall years feel a lot like the JNT years. A bit embarrassing.
2 January 2021 at 03:06 #71287@nerys That was a very uplifting story about selflessness. In its own way, very Doctor Who.
@dentarthurdent Love the story of the sea lion. Many years ago we used to live in Newcastle on the east coast of Australia. Crappy town, but we lived across from a beautiful beach. One morning we went walking and a whole bunch of dolphins went swimming past. You don’t forget images like that.
@mudlark You mean to say that you are not a slightly decadent late 19th century Romantic…?
1 January 2021 at 03:52 #71278@winston, And a happy new year to you (and everyone on the site) in return!
All your reflections resonated (but I am not going to confess to pyjamas, of course…)
Where I am, fireworks have been set off somewhere down the street, the cats have been totally freaked out in response to the fireworks, Mrs Blenkinsop and I have been remembering past New Years where we (well, actually, to confess) stayed inside and went to bed early…
Looking forward (with a bit of hesitation) to “The Revolution of the Daleks”!
-
AuthorPosts
