[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent Not a typo. She has a car, they have a cat which is currently sulking because they have gone away on holiday leaving her in our care.

cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@nerys Best wishes for a safe journey. Sorry to hear about your Dad.

@thane16 Also sorry ot hear about your Mum.

I have not yet watched Foundation but am looking forward to doing so when I can. It sounds promising.

@winston yes indeed. I hope that your son is fully recovered now. Our children never really grow up to us at least. Our eldest is 26 and our youngest will be 21 next year. they are all still at home but the eldest has a girlfriend and cat so he is independent of us though living under the same roof. I feel really lucky to have them all around but at the same time it is not really fair on them that economic circumstances are so unfavourable. They are all students but when my partner and I were students we were able to afford a nice flat in the city and have the occasional holiday. (and we complained that student allowance was inadequate. It has not increased while the cost of living has escalated.)

Regards

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

I never tire of watching Fires of Pompeii and so will watch it some time this week so that I can join in the discussion. I have been a bit AWOL recently, lurking as always but not posting so will be a nice prompt for me.

cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@phaseshift did sum it up well. I think the BBC are desperate to keep Dr Who afloat and are turning back to “safe hands” but I am also certain that RTD has been watching Who and developing plenty of ideas of where he might go with it now. (And he is not the only showrunner returning to a former series…)

like @dentarthurdent I half agree with Missy.”I don’t really care who the Doctor is, so long as s/he is British and can act.”

The idea that Moffat might once again pen the odd episode also occurred to me. Fingers crossed.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@jimthefish YOu beat me too it Wow. I am excitted. Yes. Hope returns.

(Just the news i needed… ((after end of term Friday night drinks))

Cheers

double cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Wow a couple of days of not checking and there is soo much to catch up on. 🙂 I had to make notes.

to start with I am references posts from prior to my last post. I think I was either rushed or tired then. so, to my notes,

@dentarthurdent I fondly remember watching the old Sherlock series. I think Green Screen was either pioneered by the Star Wars film or very new when they were made so new around that time.

Hide is a good episode but I had some issues with the age gap.

Journey to the Centre of the Tardis, doesn’t really work for me though I enjoy the exploration of the Tardis, something Dr Who does not do often enough.

Crimson Horror, I like but mostly for Dianna Rigg. I was amused to find a Thomas Thomas in the family history.

@oochillyo Comments are always welcome.

@devilishrobby Re’ female Doctor. I agree, it was more than time.

Dentarthurdent. I also agree re’ James Bond not being played by a woman. We need a new female hero not a rehashed male one. My vote would be for “Peel, Emma Peel” (Yes I was a bit fan of the character when I was young.)

@aidan and @jupiterjane. Welcome to the forum.

Oochillyo and Aidan. Sarah Jane Adventures is in my opinion the best of the spin offs. It is aimed at children but has good characters, ok stories and Sarah Jane. I dislike Torchwood. Similar stories but with added (unnecessary) sex and violence because they thought that was required to make it “adult”.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave. Those were indeed the days. We have “Save the Franklin” posters up on the walls of the room in London we were living in for a time. There was so much optimism then. It was not a bad time to be young. It makes me sad when I compare those days and the possibilites we had to what life has to offer the young now.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave Congrats on becoming a bona fide Canadian and just in time too. I recall the first time I voted. I was in Dublin and went to the Australian embassy to vote. (they used to do that kind of thing back then. Sadly a service no longer on offer.) Next day I was hitching around Ireland and continually told that Australia had a new P.M who had won a beer drinking contest in Oxford.

@dentarthurdent Voting is easy here too, and compulsary but our current government would love to change that. They are of the view that anyone who does not vote for them does not deserve to vote. (Actually I must confess to being of the opposite view, that anyone who does vote for them does not deserve to vote. I just want everyone who votes to be well informed and not lied to. Then we would have much fairer elections but have a few issues with media to deal with before that is possible.)

Cheers

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent

I have been checking in, and have a post half written which I keep copying but been busy with podcasts, esssays on teh cold war, and general household stuff and so apologies for not posting. Sorry about the lockdown. We are still getting by just, holding our breaths and turning face masks into fashion items. There are some really nice ones about now. (personally the more of my face I can hide the better.)

Re you previous post. I also like the Nightmare in Silver. I fact I must be alone in preferring it to The Doctor’s Wife and it leads into the next episode which is so good. I do find the children a little irritating though but they do improve through the course of the episode.

Been looking forward to your review of Name of the Doctor. It is one of my (albeit many) favourites. All round an excellent episode. I love the stars going out. “A universe without the Doctor doesn’t bear thinking about.” Unfortuantely that is our universe.

There are some interesting discussions floating around regarding the next showrunner. Apparently the showrunner of Babylon Five, (JMS) has expressed interest which caused a minor ripple of excitement in this house. Son’s girlfriend suggested Richard Ayoade. He has often been proposed as the Doctor but would fit equally well into the showrunner’s chair. I must admit however that I would rather like to see a female in the position given that thus far all the showrunners have been male. Or maybe they can have a showrunning team.

Hope all is well with everyone..

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Firstly some old responses that I have been copy/pasting for days.

@dentarthurdent Belated Happy Birthday. Getting older is a misfortune we all share, like lockdowns. Hopefully yours will soon be over. At least you have a responsive government and have lots of water between you and N.S.W though Delta has a way of infiltrating. I believe that we had some infected truck drivers pass through the state a few days ago so we might be back in lockdown by the end of this week.

@winston I don’t think our leaders have yet worked out that it is not safe to relax lockdown until there are no cases left because it only takes one to start a whole new outbreak. The current outbreak that is spreading from NSW was caused by one man, (who I feel very sorry for), but it shows that one case is too much. They seem to look at statistics and see that it is below a certain percentage and think, “oh now we can open up, we have it under control”, and of course that is not possible. I hope you are getting some cooler weather at last. You story of cooking outside made me smile. The original European settlers here had the same idea and built seperate kitchens to keep the heat out of the main house.

@missrori Basically I don’t think I can add anything to what has already been said. @dentarthurdent, that is a lovely story. All too often we fail to appreciate just how good our lives are. It is important to be happy with what is rather than depend upon what is not for one’s happiness. Many years ago when the S/O and I were considerably younger and more care free we found ourselves on a platform of Prague station without luggage. I had saved for this “great adventure” for years and in that moment I made a decision, not to let the misfortune of having just been robbed ruin the holiday. After shedding a few tears we braced ourselves and set out to enjoy the remainder of the adventure and discovered that travelling without luggage opened up so many possibilites. Adversity happens to everyone. It is how we deal with it that makes the difference.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent A good review of the episode. There are so many good moments in it. “I may have invented the quadracycle.” Matt Smith is in fine form so too is Moffat. It is a good introduction to Clara. It is a whirlwind of an episode. “there is something in the wi fi.”

I have a feeling that “the woman in the shop” was a throw away line at the time which Moffat then had to readdress because of us annoying fans who kept theorising about it.

Oh and sorry for the lockdown. Though it is actually NSW to blame, not the rest of the country, who are furious with the state that refused to go into Lockdown because that is what left wing governments so and now has put not just our entire country but your’s too in peril.

@winston yes I kept wondering what would become of her.

We are currently re watching some old Who. We tend to switch between AG and BG depending upon our mood, the weather etc.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave thank you for posting the link to the tribute. Una Stubbs was wonderful in Sherlock.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@winston Loved the story about the fez. My moment of realisation regarding self consciousness came when I was working in a big Hotel in central London. I would watch the guests coming in with their breakfast trays and panicking because they felt as though they were being watched by the other guests and I realised that everyone experiences that fear and that is has no foundation at all, all the seated guests were more intent on eating and talking to each other.

@dentarthurdent  I notice that there are now a lot of DVD’s being sold in second hand shops. I am always on the look out for good items. It is nice to have a hard copy, to actually own the film/series. I am the kind of viewer who likes to watch and re watch and so I am rather mistrustful of streaming sites. I also dislike being marketed at but am enduring Netflix at the moment as our main computer is “down” and so I have limited access to our own collection. Also I have discovered some interesting series that I would not have known about otherwise like Dark which is very good. I just watched Shadow and Bone which I would not really recommend.

@thane16 Lovely to hear from you. I hope you are Covid safe up in Brisbane. Touching wood we are currently covid free but the government has mandated mask wearing, at last as we are almost inevitably going to get another “border breach”. I have no love for our state government but they did act very quickly last time, locking down within about 24 hours of finding the first case which meant the outbreak was quickly contained. Gladys thinks people don’t want lockdowns and that is correct but people do not want to be suffering from covid or loosing family members to coved far far less and we mostly of us at least, accept that lockdowns are necessary. I think she is more afraid of losing votes than of losing voters. On the up side both the S/O and I have now had our first jabs and the boys are all booked in for theirs though it is a very long wait.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@oochillyo Welcome back.

As to whether fate as a narrative device annoys me, it depends on how good the writing is. If it is too obvious that the writer is designing the story to get to the desired outcome, ie the death of a character and ignoring possibilities that might change that outcome, then yes it is annoying. If the script is well enough written to be convincing then it works. But then i have read Thomas Hardy so fate in Dr Who stories stacking up against the characters is minor league.

@dentarthurdent

Enjoyed your analysis of The Snowmen. It has always been one of my favourites. The script is clever, the re appearance of Madame Vastra and co very welcome and the story engaging. I also love the Tardis interior but think it was greatly improved in the CapDoc years by the addition of the bookcases. Capaldi’s Tardis is my favourite.

Cheers

Janete

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent. That’s ok and I am sure it won’t be long until we are in lockdown again. Makes it hard to plan anything. I think everyone is “on edge” just waiting for it to happen.

I love Snowmen and I agree re’ Vastra, Jenny and Strax. I was hoping that Moff would pen a spin off series about them. The potential was certainly there. Likewise Kate Stewart and Osgood could have had their own story. We were just watching Death in Heaven last night.

@winston I hope you do not get another lockdown but wonderful that you have been able to see your granddaughter at last. It is good that young people are able to be vaccinated in Canada. Here the age cut off is 40 and our excuse for a P.M. is trying to blame the population for not being vaccinated. (The wait for vaccination for those who are eligible is now up to 8 weeks.)

Moffat said that he would not outright kill off a companion as that would be too brutal for a “family” show but he also addressed the question of why would anyone want to stop having adventures in the Tardis. Companions would not simply just walk away. It always did feel like being short changed in BGWho when they did that. I feel that the only AGWho companion not to be given a fitting send of was Martha. (Not having watched the final episode of the last series I do not know who Graeme and Ryan were written out.)

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent I am in S.A, not Victoria so just out of one lockdown and holding our breathes that we steer clear of another given the fiasco in the eastern states. Our most recent lockdown was the week of the Writer’s Festival that our little writing group organise so that was disappointing. On the bright side my s/o and I had our first jabs yesterday, after a very long wait. I just wish the young members of the household were also eligible. Worrying times.

Angels in Manhatten is a good episode. I love timey wimey, and clearly so does Moffat and I am also a fan of film noir. We studied it at uni and I even attempted to make a short film noir film in third year. My second son made a much better noir short film for yr 12 drama. So this story appeals to me on two fronts. It is a fitting finale to Amy and Rory. Another thing Moffat was good out, writing out characters. He made their farewell sad and poignant while still allowing them to have a good life. He does the same with Clara and Bill.

cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

There are a few episodes that I re watch from J.W’s first two series, Demons of the Punjab, the Witchfinder one and the one set in Norway from the first J.W. season and the Tesla story and Villa Diodati from the second, so mostly historical episodes with the exception of the story set in Norway. None are brilliant. The demons in the Punjab story are a bit weak though I like the idea of aliens who are not doing harm. Dr Who needs more “good” aliens. They can’t all be intent on destroying earth or conquering the universe. I want more misunderstood aliens. Likewise the frog at the end of  Norwegian story is a bit lame but everything leading up to it is soo good. The Witchfinder story is full of holes but it is fun.

@winston, Yes indeed. Let the fun begin.Well my number one pick for Doctor is now the Master so other picks. Michaela Cole’s name has been tossed in the ring and  I can see her in the role. I have only seen her in Black Earth Rising so know she can do dramatic and evidently she does comedy too. She could even provide scripts however I suspect she has other things to do at the moment. Richard Ayoade comes up frequently but I don’t know if he has the dramatic range required. I would love to see him in Doctor Who however, as a companion maybe.

@blenkinsopthebrave I want Mackenzie Crook to be presenter on the new Time Team You tube episodes but they are only doing two at this stage so that would leave him plenty of time for Doctor Who and as the series was referenced at least once in Detectorists he might well be a potential show runner.  Toby Jones could certainly nail the role.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@jimthefish I hope that Moffat is writing the episode. Now that would be so good.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent I also suspect that the best lines in Chibnell’s stories were edited in by Moffat.

(I am trying to think of something nice to say to take the sting out of that but nothing is coming to mind just now. I don’t think that kind of humour is Chibnell’s trademark writing style while it is Moffat’s. That is the best I can do after a long Friday so apologies to Chibnell who is if not a better writer than me a far more successful one. [probably much better as well].)

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

My reactions, were sorry when I saw that Jodie is leaving, elation when I read the small print that Chibbers is leaving. Of course the new show runner might be worse and there were some good episodes scattered through the last two series but I disliked the overall arc. The Timeless Children was too much too soon. Played out for longer I could have bought it but destroying Gallifrey felt like it was just stomping on Moffat and the Day of the Doctor. If he rights that in the series much will be forgiven but  I am not hopeful.

I do wish that Jodie Whittaker was staying for one more season without Chibbers but I respect that they are friends and also that she has a career to consider. Dr Who might not do her as bigger favour as it did for David Tennant and Matt Smith. the show does seem to have passed it’s zenith culturally.

So interesting times now waiting to see who will replace both. I assume they will decide on the new showrunner first who will be the one to chose the new Doctor.

Cheers

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave thanks for the link. I would have preferred them to say, “smallest adventure yet”, but other than that was welcome. Hopefully the “biggest adventure yet” is just advertising hyperbole and what we get is just a collection of good stories, average stories and maybe, one or two brilliant stories and Gallifrey is restored or was trashed in an alternative time line. (I did not watch the New Year’s Special so maybe that has already happened and I am behind.)

cheers

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@nerys I love Staged and there is to be another series of Good Omens. Apparently Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman discussed a sequel but never wrote anything down.

@dentarthurdent I agree re’ the cubes. Such a neat idea but a very disappointing resolution. Speaking of Red Dwarf we are finally going to review it in the podcast but that is currently delayed due to lockdown. I will let you know when it goes up.

cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines was the only film I saw in a drive in cinema, when I was very young, far too young to notice a historically incorrect train though my father, who was a train enthusiast might have done. His father was a station master so he grew up living in railway stations.

When you know something is wrong for the period it is jarring. Having always been interested in historical fashion I follow a blog which looks at how historically correct or incorrect costumes are in historical movies and tv series. They have covered a lot of Dr Who stories. From memory the worst costumes were those worn by Rose, most notably that concoction she wears in The Unquiet Dead which makes me cringe when I watch that story. Gaseous creatures living in the pipes I can believe, her walking about in that outfit and not creating a sensation I cannot.

Cheers

Janette

 

 

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent I think the real difference, (and many old Who fans would be calling for my blood for saying this) is that in BG Who the scriptwriters treat life as cheap, whereas in AGWho the characters who treat life as cheap, like Soloman are “evil”.  We cannot feel any sympathy at all for Soloman who committed genocide.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is a mediocre episode, fun but not really one to rewatch too often. Mr Weasley, Brian was a good addition to the story but Mr White Hunter really contributed very little at all.  I found Nefertiti slightly irritating as well but her character did have a purpose within the story.

I am not a fan of A Town Called Mercy mostly because I hate Westerns and that cyborg looks far too much like Kryten. Have you watched The Power of Three yet?

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent and @devilishrobby In Dalek Invasion of Earth, which we watched just last week the “robomen” were wearing a kind of metal band over their heads which controlled them. And even though it is only a week ago, I am not entirely certain but  I think they were basically “dead”, and not “recoverable”. Back in Old Who days human life was generally pretty cheap, unless it was one of the main characters. I do recommend Dalek Invasion of Earth. It is one of the best of the first Doctor stories.

Cheers

Janette

 

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent And the Doctor adjusting his bow tie when it is clear that Amy and Rory have healed the breach. It is those lovely little moments that make Moffat’s writing so brilliant and the current writing seem so lackluster.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent You missed one. Rory “What colour” and when they all look at him. “There were no good questions left”. (or words to that effect.)

It is one of the “great episodes”.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent We are currently the only state not in lockdown and keeping all digits crossed. The borders are so easily breached still Victoria has gone into hard lockdown which hopefully will curtail the spread quickly. I really hope so as they keep getting hit with wave after wave.

I really love the Widow and the Wardrobe. It has such a warm, magical feel and Matt Smith is at his playful best, showing off, being a grown up kid. I love the scenes with the house. I wonder if Uncle Digby is the same Digby that is one of the back ground children in the previous Christmas Special.

Interesting re’ the planes. I guess they used what they could and hoped nobody would notice. And talking of planes and war did you ever see the BBC series about the Royal Flying Corp in WWI, Wings? It was one of my favourite tv series when I was young and I think they did get the planes right in that but then there were what it was really all about so I would be pretty bad if they messed it up.

Cheers

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

Hi. Hope everyone around the world is ok. There seem to be so many crisis happening at the moment, a planetary wake up call with the fires and heat waves in North America and flooding in Europe. If only those who have the power to do something about it take note.

Just noticed, over in the distance, bright against the dark storm clouds I see blossom.

Regards

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@winston our houseguest/tenant loves otters. His girlfriend gave him a World Wildlife Fund River Otter adaption for his birthday last year. He has the certificate on display in our living area. I don’t know however if he has ever actually seen a river otter. Your home sounds heavenly but you will have seen a lot of changes over forty years. My partner found temperature records for our local area and graphed all the days over forty for the past 100 years. There has been a dramatic escalation in recent years. We have a friend who is a passionate gardener but denies that GW is even a thing. I simply don’t understand how.

& @dentarthurdent I love bears. I was very disappointed at not seeing a bear in the wild when we were in Sweden. I visited the ones in Skansen, ( a historical theme park with zoo) several times, going back on my last day there to say goodbye.

We have booked now for our jabs but have to wait until next month for the first. That is down to our Federal government’s total bungling of the vaccination supply to the states. (along with everything else.) With the situation in the Eastern states and the federal bungling of Hotel quarantine as well, we keep fingers crossed as we can’t do much more at the moment. (In Oz health and quarantine are supposed to be federal responsibilities not state)

cheers

Janette

 

 

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent Nature is not compensating sufficiently. I saw on the news that despite the recent cold spell N.Z. is having a unnaturally warm winter.  I fear we are in for a monstrous summer.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@missy and @dentarthurdent I have to take a contrary position on the questions of whether analysis ruins the enjoyment of viewing/reading. I love to analysis as I watch/read though too much does ruin a text/ film but my majors were English and Drama the later mostly consisting of film studies so it has become second nature for me. I really enjoy helping the kids with essays that require text analysis. Youngest son has a history essay coming up on Jojo Rabbit which I am looking forward to. (I am beginning to suspect it should be me studying not him.)

Sci fi is now really and truly accepted by most academics now as valid literature and worthy of study. University English courses also study graphic novels, and even video games, which is great. Back when  I was at Uni they did not even do creative writing. They have come a long way.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@winston and @blenkinsopthebrave I saw it actually got to 49c, in Canada!! That is really scary. Hope you are all fine and not in danger from heat/fires etc. Seems you are getting a dose of our weather and that is just wrong.

I prefer the new, rule breaking Picard to the lawful Picard of Next Generation, which is certainly one of the reasons I prefer the new series. I also like a series with a clear story arc rather than just a string of unrelated stories, with the notable exception of BG Who.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@missy I had seen that series is in development but did not realise that Moffat was the writer. That explains the cast, which includes David Tennant, Dolly Wells and the other Dracula name which I have already forgotten. Now I am more interested.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent The Tessalecta was such an obvious “get out of goal free” card hidden in plain sight and we none of us guessed it. It was such a beautifully simple solution to the riddle of the series.

This is a classic Moffat episode, timey wimey story that challenges and amuses the viewer in equal parts.

cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@blekinsopthebrave. Glad to hear that your and Mrs B are holding up through the heat. Have been thinking of you when reading the news. It sounds like you are getting some of our weather.

We watched Picard last year. (and did a podcast on the first episode as a “special” as the podcast series is supposed to be dedicated to cult tv from pre 2000.) I am not really a Trekkie but I really enjoyed Picard.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave. We do have a reconstructed version in our personal library. Not sure as to the quality however. We have had the collection for some time so there might well be a better version around now but it does use stills and voice over so sounds akin to what you described.

@dentarthurdent Time Heist is certainly not Listen which is one of the best of the best. I view it as one of the better of the average episodes. BTW hope you are not too adversely effected by the storm.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

We are currently watching Listen. I must have watched it at least twenty times already. It is one of those episodes that can be watched and watched and is always a pleasure. We just watched Time Heist, out of order, and that always bears up well to repeated viewings too.

Cheers

Janette

 

 

[janetteB @replies]

@blenkinsopthebrave We have the reconstructed stories but I have only watched a couple. Not sure if we have watched Wheel in Space or not. Will have to have a look as it sounds like it might be the Dr Who story that frightened me when  I was a child. (Not even really sure it was Dr Who)

@miapatrick. I would be very happy to help as I have some experiences to share. Will message you.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent You have nailed the problem with CGI. It is often taken too far to represent the impossible. That is one of the problems I have with LOTR, the overuse of CGI that breaks the viewer’s immersion in the narrative. If something defies our sense of what is physically possible then we know that we are watching a fiction, unless it is deliberately fantasy and we have been told that what is impossible is possible, ie the Tardis is bigger on the inside. I can believe that the Tardis is bigger on the inside but I do not believe the dwarfs would survive that fall in the goblin caves. I think you are correct about the challenge re’ getting motion right in CGI. Facial expressions are also difficult. CGI works best when used for background, landscape and fantasy elements but not when it is used to replace good acting. (Galadrial at the mirror and Gandalf in Bagend)

We loved Blakes 7 too. We did one of our first Cult TV podcasts on Blakes 7. I don’t know if it survived the transition to the new site last year or not. Will check and post the link if it did.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

I have watched Inception but do not remember it at all which indicates that it left no impression so I would mark that as a fail. There are films I have watched and dislike, for instance Goodfellows, that are very memorable. A good film just not my kind of film. Inception should have been my kind of film but was not engaging at all.

Taking of engaging time travel, not a film, but I recently watched Dark which is more convoluted than River and Doctor’s relationship but I really loved it. Interesting characters, not necessarily likeable but interesting and memorable. The story resolves so neatly too. It feels as though the script writers began at the end and worked backwards so that all the threads tie up.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@devilishrobby My youngest son recently gave me a long lecture on The Cartmell Plan. If only he was that dedicated to his study. He was researching Dr Who while I was researching the Spanish Civil War on his behalf. I got the impression from what son said that the Timeless Children concept might have evolved out of the Cartmell Plan but I was far more interested in the Spanish Civil war at the time so my understanding of it is still sketchy.

@dentarthurdent I think when watching any series from the past some leeway has to be given to the special effect though at times the models used look more real that poor CGI. Over reliance on CGI can be just as bad as overly ambitions special effects in the past. One of the problems that Dr Who producers had was that the writers’ often did not understand the limitations of what could be achieved and so they were expected to produce effects that were then impossible. Quite a few scripts were ditched or heavily revised because of this. (We have a podcast where we discuss special effects, models verses CGI but I think it is still being edited. I am rather more than just a bit behind at the moment.)

@blenkinsopthebrave that is a lovely photo and  @winston I believe that there is a film or tv series, (fictional),coming out soon about a volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade which I am tentatively looking forward to.

cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

Been a busy and exhausting week, getting things prepared for our little writing festival and helping youngest son with an essay on the Spanish Civil War, a depressing subject, and so tonight, we put on The Five-ish Doctors Reboot. It is so wonderfully good, so clever, so warm hearted. We are finishing off with Steven Moffat’s first Dr Who foray, The Curse of Fatal Death. Two find un canon Dr Who offerings perfect for a lazy Friday night.

Cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@thane16 Hi. Lovely to hear from you again.  I have been worried about you too. Hope all is well with you.

I am also concerned about Craig. Hopefully he is just caught up with R.L

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@craig We have another one!!

[janetteB @replies]

@toinfinityandbepond and @blenkinsopthebrave Saw the article this morning. some interesting suggestions though most  I am unfamiliar with. I have been thinking that Michaela Coel would be an interesting candidate but suspect she has bigger things on her plate, as with Phoebe Waller-Bridge. (Which is a shame because I suspect that both have that Doctorish quality) They might take over as joint show runners however. Now that would be interesting. My choice for Doctor would have been Sacha Dhawan but he is out of the running now. ( I still think he would have been better as the Doctor than the Master.)

I like the Mackenzie Crook/ Toby Jones suggestion. Toby Jones does indeed seem to be able to do anything. I only just caught up with Dectectorists. What a delightful series. It is one of those that I instantly know I will watch again and again and again.

Not sure about David Mitchell as a potential show runner as I believe he does not like Dr Who. Ah well I guess nobody is perfect.

My suggested show runner or runners would be Simon Pegg and Jessica Haynes. (Spaced is another series that i have only just discovered and will watch again, and again.)

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent We were spared the flooding though it would have been nice to get enough rain to make the local river flow but alas, on Thursday when I walked into town it was no more than a muddy drain. The grass is green now though so something to be thankful for.

We do get extremes of weather but are geologically stable which is some compensation for living in the driest state of the driest continent I guess.

cheers

Janette

 

[janetteB @replies]

@ameliag Me too. I loved the Christmas Specials however I suspect that Chibbers is not a Christmassy kind of person so perhaps it is just as well.

Cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

welcome @ameliag It seems you are very busy right now and that I have a lot of posts to catch up on on the episode threads, which is good as I certainly never tire of discussing Dr Who.

Was Colin Baker the first Doctor you saw?

cheers

Janette

[janetteB @replies]

@dentarthurdent We watched this again just a couple of weeks ago. Not a great episode but fun and it fills in some important plot elements, ie, what does become of River Song after she is taken away by Madame Kovarian the previous episode but like the best Moffat episodes, it solves some mysteries but generates yet more questions to tease the viewer with. It was fun to see R.S. setting up her parents, essentially ensuring her own birth and Rory punching Hitler is one of the highlights.  Moffat cannot resist a time paradox. The tessalecta was a neat idea and one that really deserves to be used more. Retrospectively it amazes me that I did not see how it was going to be used later.

Cheers

Janette

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