Well, well, the DEM is just the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it?

@OB-Wan—

It’s rather rude of you to use a loaded word like “prejudice” instead of “opinion” – a little passive aggressive too.

Not really. An ‘opinion’ is a conclusion or stance arrived at via evidence and argument. As you by your own admission are refusing to be swayed by a…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip — don’t think anyone’s saying that CC is any kind of misogynist or that his stories won’t have good, well-rounded female characters (though there will almost be elements of fandom who’ll say that regardless).

What I will say is that both his Who and his Torchwood work absolutely do not fill me with confidence, once he’s holding…[Read more]

@OB-Wan—

So your argument goes ‘I’ve made up my mind it’s a DEM and no amount of evidence to the contrary is going to talk me out of that prejudice’.

PotW does not end with a DEM for two fundamental reasons–

1. Bad Wolf as a concept is seeded through the entire series.

2. The heart of the TARDIS which creates BW does not come out anywhere…[Read more]

@OB-Wan — The Parting of the Ways conclusion is not a DEM. To reiterate @pedant‘s point, go and read Pip’s blog on the subject.

Not sure I’d agree about the ‘magic’ angle either. As essentially a fantasy show, Who is full of magic. It just dresses it up in the borrowed clothes of SF a lot of the time, that’s all….

@doctordani — Who is too much of a cash-cow for it to be killed altogether. It will endure in some form or another. Even if it ends up some kind of partnership with Amazon/Netflix kind of malarkey.

I’m sure they’ll try to stretch HDM as much as they can but there are limits. Amber Spyglass is a bloated mess as it is. Calling attention to that…[Read more]

@doctordani — I think we’re probably looking at a permanent shift to a non-winter slot, yes. Just to avoid it clashing with Strictly any longer. But His Dark Materials is just three series — four if they split up The Amber Spyglass — so I don’t think there’s any need to worry. And Who is too much of a cash cow for it to go altogether. Although…[Read more]

@pedant—

Certainly controversial at the moment, given her recent spectacularly poorly judged comments. Which means I suspect she wouldn’t be allowed near a high-profile role like this, but taken all in all, she wouldn’t be a terrible choice for a Doctor….

@whisht —

well, that’ll be a Chibnall retrospective this year.

That’s probably a good idea. But in terms of Who that means

• 42
• The Hungry Earth
• Cold Blood
• Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
• The Power of Three

We could put a couple of Torchwoods in there too, I guess. And looking at that list, there’s nothing except the Silurian two-parter that I’d r…[Read more]

Have to say that I think Chibnall is possibly the worst possible choice as showrunner. Broadchurch fell apart in his hands in s2 and his work on Torchwood was pretty ropey too….

@winston— Buffy’s is well worth checking out. You won’t regret it. No one ever does. It’s on Netflix in most territories. If not in yours, then Zenmate is your friend. At least for the time being.

Yes, indeed. A shout-out to @puroandson. Hope all is well with you. And also to @phaseshift who I hope is not submerged in floodwater somewhere…..

@pedant—

I love me an an eloquent opacity me…..

OK, wrote a blog post on the episode. It’s kinda long so won’t be offended if it’s considered in the tl;dr category…

The scheduling of Sherlock, largely because of the now high profile of its two stars, as well as constraints on the time of its creator, is often something of a sporadic affair. Thus, this feature-length one-off special is all we…

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@blenkinsopthebrave — the directors thing is a fine idea. Many were just jobbing directors who just did Who as a gig and probably didn’t contribute anything that distinctive to it, but many did leave their mark. The obvious starting point is Graham Harper who straddles both the old and the new series. Also Morris Barry is probably worth a look…[Read more]

@craig — good to hear you got things sorted. And to reiterate, if you ever need contributions for the site you really only have to ask…

@miapatrick

I wasn’t aware that the original Mycroft was overweight. But I thought I saw a wedding wing on Mycroft’s finger and wondered  if this meant that 19th century Mycroft was even more unhappy Than 21st century Mycroft who is lonely, but at least not required to marry in order to seem respectable.

Mycroft is generally portrayed as corp…[Read more]

@bluesqueakpip—

Abominable Bride was very firm on the subtext of the Holmes stories, by having Watson the Victorian author point out that he has created the character of ‘Sherlock Holmes’, which isn’t the same thing as the man Sherlock Holmes. Equally, the man Watson makes the character Watson look an idiot to make Holmes shine, and the real…

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@pedant — there’s certainly a play The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, which toured with Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, that explored this theory. Moriarty as a creation of Holmes’s imagination.

@bluesqueakpip — thanks for that. Thought it was spot on and eloquently put.

@juniperfish — that’s also interesting, although I’d argue that the placing of the matrix in the notebook (much like the similar flourishes in modern Who) are just designed to mess with us rather than having a full-blown intention behind them. I’d say they stick them…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave — the list (I thought) was of Sherlock’s latest pharmaceuticals of choice. And that the deal they had was that Sherlock would always furnish such a list in order to look out for his brother. I liked this as it added yet another layer of complexity to their relationship.

@bluesqueakpip — I liked your explanation of the…[Read more]