[Craig @replies Emperor]

@thane16 @bluesqueakpip @pedant

Guys – would you try not to let the conversation get derailed? It’s what they want. It’s like you’re shouting at Fox News.

I’d hate to delete a whole load of posts again.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Thanks for all the responses last night everyone. I’d had a few wines, as you maybe could tell, but as @cumquat says, we have a great sense of community.

I don’t know if I’ve ever posted this link before so just in case – we were in a documentary about cancer patients. Just thought you might be interested. And, yes, we did get married by Elvis in Vegas!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1595422.stm

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Hugs back @winston x

Many thanks.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@kevinwho @idiotsavon

Thanks for the kind words. And you don’t know the half of how amazing she was. She took a course in trauma rescue (whatever they call it – car crashes etc) and they asked her to become an instructor. When she couldn’t nurse, because she was ill, she became the instructor for the whole hospital on patient resuscitation (which I am now an expert on as I had to go through it all several times while she perfected her lectures – on me.)

And then she went and auditioned for the University and they gave her a slot on the drama course. And then she also got a callback for one of the leads in a major TV series.

She could’ve been the Doctor right now! 🙂

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@pedant @thane16

If you check out all of the posts by @cumquat from over the last few years, there aren’t many (but they’re all really funny) – she comes and then goes.

Sometimes she’s just the ironic hero we need, at the right time.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@cathannabel @kevinwho @idiotsavon

Many thanks. I actually took that photo – she was an Intensive Care nurse, so saved many lives during her short career – her colleagues say she was one of the best nurses they ever worked with. Then she decided to do drama at university (while still nursing) to see if she could maybe act – that pic was her head shot. She got a few auditions and one call-back, but then she got ill.

The pic is a bit low res, but if you zoom in very closely, a bit like in the “The Wedding of River Song”, you can see a blurry outline of me in her eyes – which still gives me a kick.

Thanks again for the hugs. x

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@kevinwho @cathannabel

Cheers Kevin. Ah, it’s not too bad these days although I do still miss her. And the dreams aren’t all that great sometimes either as she’s obviously part of my subconscious – so it might be just her telling me I have to clean the bathroom tomorrow, or do a bit more exercise etc. But I’ll take that! 🙂

I’ll use this as a gratuitous reason to post a pic – so that I may dream of her again tonight.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@kevinwho @cathannabel

I’ve written about this before. I lost my wife 16 years ago but I still feel her presence every day. In many situations I think “What would she do?” or “What would she think?”. Sometimes I even talk to her to ask her.

And thankfully I frequently dream about her – those dreams only bring me pleasure (even after waking up although I know they’re only dreams).

[Craig @replies Emperor]

By Richard Wells: Twitter post

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@ichabod @miapatrick @pedant @idiotsavon

Let’s just say I won’t be taking any action against the hilarious cumquat – it’s not me either though, by the way.

Edit: As the new Doctor might say “Or is she?”

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@pedant

Yeah, that’s why I said “The Mirror is reporting…” I know they are well dodgy.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip @nerys and @mudlark

I was holding off posting this but I’m afraid that The Mirror is reporting it is the Daleks. And they’ve had a “makeover”. Let’s hope it’s good.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/doctor-who-new-year-special-13698163

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@devilishrobby I’m afraid not – well, not that I know of. Maybe in the next update. But no one would mind if you just posted something like:

“Just posting a comment so I can follow this thread”

If you want to unfollow you’ll have to do the same. It’s been done many times before.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip We’re kinda on the same page – that’s why I said it would need a bit of rewriting, and maybe something other than a frog to finish off the season – but that wave goodbye could have been a great way to go out. 🙂

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip I think we posted almost at the same time – I completely agree about Grace – see my post just above yours.

Edit: I was thinking of the stages of grief. One of which is anger, but it ends with acceptance.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Apologies for another post, but another thought occurred to me. As per above, you could easily swap this episode and “It Takes You Away” in the running order. Then you would have Graham dealing with his anger towards Tim Shaw, and then (with a little rewriting) have him finally letting go of his grief with Grace in the finale.

As the Doctor might say, I think that could have been “brilliant”.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip See, that’s kinda my problem. It didn’t seem to be wanting to be any kind of finale (to me, anyway). As I said, even just a bit of a cliffhanger at the end would have improved it. As it is, it could have probably slotted in anywhere in the season.

As I said, there was a lot of good in it, the ideas and themes, but it lacked something for me. I also said last week’s episode, “It Takes You Away”, could have been made into a better season finale, with an emotional Graham and Grace ending, despite no big threat to the whole world.

I would have loved that as I thought it was a much better episode. I think @kevinwho suggested the same thing. We, as viewers, care about the return of Grace much more than the return of Tim Shaw. They could have fitted Graham’s moral dilemma into that one quite easily.

But, hey, roll on New Year and watching Doctor Who with a hangover.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@arbutus Just to clarify, I don’t think every finale should feature the end of the Earth. But as Chibnall brought that into the equation I think it could have been done a lot better.

He could have left Earth out of it completely and done something a bit different and I would have been happy if it had been a bit more exciting.

Do it well or don’t do it. But that’s me. It was a good idea but I think the story could have done with a few more revisions under the eyes of a good script editor.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Yeah, I did get all that, but I think with a few tweaks it could have done all of those things but been bigger (and therefore like a season finale) and more “fun” – by which I don’t mean full of laughs, more full of wonder and excitement (or something).

Another possibility would have been if they got there, and by massive coincidence (or because the TARDIS always knows where to go) the process of stealing the Earth was already underway – so there was a countdown clock along with everything else. I dunno – just making it up as I go along. Or even just leave us on a cliffhanger.

I just feel it needed something more. But as you say, maybe the New Year’s episode will be the biggie.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

You just have to see this. Andy Serkis as Theresa May channelling Gollum. It’s great.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip

What I meant was there was no sense (for me anyway) that everyone was going to die on Earth. It was tell, not show (apart from the CGI).

I think the drama would have been enhanced if, say, they’d cut to Yaz’s family on Earth as it is encompassed by a big red lazer cloud (or whatever it was). If we saw the fear. And then cut back to Yaz, and we can tell that’s who she is thinking about. That would have also made the moment even more personal for Yaz.

I think.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I have to admit, I was a bit underwhelmed. I can see there were a lot of good ideas, and a lot of interesting themes.

But Chibnall seems to have forgotten the “fun”. I love the scene in “An Adventure in Space and Time” when Sydney Newman is coming up with the concept and his focus is “fun”. And then he focuses on science fiction and time travel, to teach the kids!

I know Chibnall should have his own take but Davies and Moffat always had a big final episode, this was just like any other. I hate to call it “Broadchurch Doctor Who” but that’s what’s in my head.

I kinda think last week’s episode “It Takes You Away”, with a lot of rewriting work admittedly, could have made a better finale, with a different dimensional being and Graham having to say goodbye to Grace forever.

I think the threat to the Earth in this episode just wasn’t dealt with well. At no point did I think everyone’s gonna die (or be bottled up, or whatever).

But it may improve on a re-watch. Just my first thoughts.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@devilishrobby I’ve restored your post. For some reason the system sometimes thinks editing is spamming. I’m really not sure why, but I’d rather it more sensitive to spam than less.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@pedant @thane16 Yeah, I had quite a few replies so went with a majority vote rather than a unanimous vote. Hope you don’t mind.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Hi @magickirin, thanks for your contribution tonight. I have deleted almost all of the conversation as I don’t want conversations about episodes hijacked in a way that may put off possible new members.

I have not, however, deleted your account or listed you as a spammer. But if you do it again I will.

We like to have conversations here, with comments that are well thought out, and well written. We are quite happy to engage with someone that doesn’t like the current show as long as you are polite and have an interesting point of view. I’m afraid you didn’t display that tonight.

You might actually enjoy talking about how you feel about the show with us, in an approachable manner that earns you some respect.

Oh, and please read the Etiquette page – it’s been there for a long time, and for a reason.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@fatmaninabox Many thanks, now dealt with.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I just found out that Karen Gillan has written, directed and starred in her own movie. Which is amazing.

It’s called “The Party’s Just Beginning” and it looks pretty good. She shot it in her home town. It’s got 67% on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@thane16 I hope your Dad enjoys it.

@pedant Yes, it was (in Scotland at least) after my Dad did it. The story goes that one of the Rangers’ players had done it the year before against Hearts. So my Dad thought “If I ever get the chance to do the same…”

But then it lead to a winning goal – against Rangers no less, the biggest team in Scotland – and so the suits got together and decided it was “unsporting”.

So, in Scotland, he is the last player to sit on the ball.

Donald Ford (who scored the goal – we lived in the same town and I went to school with his son) jokes – well, half jokes – that nobody remembers he scored the winner against Rangers with a fantastic header – all they remember is my Dad sitting on the ball.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I think I may have posted this before – but it’s worth it to post it again – nice to see my Dad, Tommy Murray, is still fondly remembered. He’s still around, just a bit more fragile.

46 Years ago today Tommy Murray famously sat on the ball at Ibrox.
The ball was crossed in for Donald Ford to score a late winner.
Rangers 0 Hearts 1 https://t.co/2GoMaZqjKn#HMFCOTD
— HeartsMuseum (@HeartsMuseum) December 2, 2018

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@whisht Surely Slayer too!

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Well that was all sorts of bonkers – and I loved it! Possibly the best one in this series yet (in my humble opinion).

Craziest episode for a long time. And maybe a hint of some sort of arc we can chat about. Who doesn’t like another dimension?

[Craig @replies Emperor]

On ratings…

I thought this was quite good.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Oh, and to @blenkinsopthebrave @jimthefish @bluesqueakpip

I do think there is a lack of fun this year (at least for us). The separate episodes are good fun but, to me, it’s probably Chibnall’s approach – no arc, just different stories every week. That’s fine, but what is there to bonkerise over? Apart from Whittaker’s different coloured T-Shirts! (shout out to @juniperfish) I mean, we could wonder about Yas getting with Ryan, Ryan finally accepting Graham as his grandfather, but there’s not much to go on so far.

There were little hints in episode 2 that there might be something more going on but that’s not been mentioned again. Moffat was the king of bonkerising, with story arcs that stretched over several series (even when he wasn’t in charge). I just think Chibnall’s taken a different route – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

And yet, he may surprise us all!

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@thane16 I don’t know if it was today or yesterday, but Happy Birthday! Hope you have/had a great day you smart young man.

To @pedant @blenkinsopthebrave @cathannabel @jimthefish @bluesqueakpip and others, I’ve just been through the Activity feed and it’s just all you beautiful people, for post after post.

As I said, if an individual becomes a problem, then they’re my problem and they will be dealt with. But the odd idiot who posts once and doesn’t come back doesn’t bother me – as long as we don’t let them derail the conversation – i.e. don’t feed them.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@pedant @blenkinsopthebrave @cathannabel @jimthefish and others

I do try and check this site every day and also try to respond to email notifications as soon as I see them.

We have had, basically, some arseholes recently but I’m still of the opinion that they’re entitled to show themselves up for being said arseholes. Feeding them leads to an evening of argument and actually brings the tone of the site down (for me anyway).

And, none have come back – they drop a comment “The Doctor should be a man” etc. and then we never see them again.

If it is persistent than, as promised, I will take them down – either via debate or blocking, or both. You have my word.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Who slapped your wrist? It certainly wasn’t me.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@pedant With YouTube you just have to post the link – with Tweets you need to get the embed code, I’m afraid. Like so:

#DoctorWho met King James I & became a 'witchfinder' in episode 8. The water ordeal, or ‘swimming’, of a witch was endorsed by James I, though technically illegal. We explore the persecution of women & many tragic experiences in our #SpellboundExhibition [Ink on paper, 1613] pic.twitter.com/bGdQgJyj1P

— Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) November 27, 2018

[Craig @replies Emperor]

“Death and Nightingales” starts tonight on BBC 2 at 9pm – it’s a three part drama. Many years ago I worked on an adaptation and only now is it making it to the screen – not with my script though. I posted my script elsewhere on this site – I think in the pub!

It should be good – the book is very strong – my film company (along with the Weinstein company) won the rights in a bidding war against Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson (when they were married). And I used to know the writer/director Allan Cubitt very well and he’s a very good writer – not sure what he’s like as a director.

Trigger warnings – it does contain spousal abuse and the threat of child abuse (although that doesn’t happen).

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@jimthefish @janetteb @pedant @bluesqueakpip @thane16 and others…

I don’t have much to add, but I just think the Doctor looks, in her own words, brilliant.

And @janetteb, it may just be me but I kinda thought the neutral jacket was a call back to Davison, so I like it for that reason – even if there’s no celery on it.

As for the so-called “fandom”, as you can tell I’m taking a back seat unless someone gets out of hand. Most of the idiots seem to be one post then gone, some a couple of posts – but then people are entitled to express their opinions. I love you all and you do a good job of keeping people in their places.

But please let me know if we could do a better job of moderating. I don’t want to delete all negative comments (if that’s what people believe) but I also don’t want this to turn into a Doctor Who hate-fest either.

Please keep me on my toes.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Many thanks – dealt with.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@pedant Sorry about that, my bad. Is open now. I got dragged into a building meeting that went on much longer than expected.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

Thanks all. I’ve marked them as a spammer now.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

From Pete McTighe on Twitter. It’s very sweet.

This kid's dream comes true tonight. #DoctorWho – KERBLAM! With the always brilliant Jodie, Brad, @MandipGill and @TosinCole, guest starring the wonderful @juliehes, @MsClaudiaJessie, @Leo_Flanagan, Lee Mack & Callum Dixon. Directed by Jennifer Perrot. ❤️ Love the lot of em! pic.twitter.com/tv5Pl8WOOp

— Pete McTighe (@PeteMcTighe) November 18, 2018

[Craig @replies Emperor]

I feel that the ‘bubble wrap as a danger’ may have been a little nod to “The Ark in Space”. Just for the giggles.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

As it was Remembrance Day (I believe it’s Veteran’s Day in the US) on Sunday I thought I’d bring this up. I found out about it when I went to the Imperial War Museum recently with my Mum and Dad.

For those of you with access to the BBC’s iPlayer (via whatever means) there’s a really incredible film by Peter Jackson (yeah, him of ‘Lord of the Rings’). He took old footage from World War One and used the full power of his special effects department, sound department and voiceover artists to bring it to life. He then used interviews with people who were there, made in the sixties, to provide the voiceovers.

It’s called “They Shall Not Grow Old” and it’s well worth a watch.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0brzkzx/they-shall-not-grow-old

And if you don’t have access, here’s a taster, with Jackson talking to Mark Kermode about the process:

[Craig @replies Emperor]

As you all, hopefully, know, I can’t stop people signing up to spam you. But I will try my best to shut it down as quickly as I possibly can – if you let me know. So thank you.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip @kevinwho I’ve marked ‘her’ as a spammer. So hopefully no more emails or comments. But let me know if you get any.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@bluesqueakpip Has she done anything wrong? I haven’t seen anything public. Is she sending private messages?

[Craig @replies Emperor]

And here are some of those involved in “Adult Life Skills”. Writer/director Rachel Tunnard (left), then Brett Goldstein, Jodie Whittaker (obvs) and Rachael Deering.

[Craig @replies Emperor]

@jimthefish Cheers. I have to admit that I never finished your book, but I got a new Kindle and it’s currently one of only two books on there so I’ll be reading it again soon. Don’t take it personally – I have many books I’ve never finished. I get easily distracted.

I have a web shop to build for a friend (more distraction), but maybe after that I’ll start writing something again. I keep telling people that one day I will write the greatest screenplay ever written. So I should really do it at some point.

‘Funemployed’ comes from a woman my friend/co-worker and I met at a festival this year. She was a free-spirit traveller type and we were having a chat. She was back from India and going off to Thailand the week after. I told her we’d both been made unemployed and she said “No, you’re now funemployed”. I loved her for that. Made my day.

[Author]

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