@denvaldron —

 And how are  yours not combative, aggressive and with a bit of ARSE

First of all, the use of ARSE on this site has a very specific meaning — A Raging Sense of Entitlement — used to describe a certain strata of fan,the key traits of which @burrunjor was clearly demonstrating. There’s a blog on it in the archives. I suggest you l…[Read more]

@denvaldron — sorry, but no. What points @burrunjor had to make were done in a combative way from the start and aggressive towards long-standing members of this site. And, yes, I consider much of it trolling, with more than a bit of ARSE about it. What’s more, it’s clearly affected the level of discourse on this thread and to pander to it is to…[Read more]

@purofilion — I totally get what you mean, but the more trademark Whedon playfulness does emerge. And it’s certainly true that more than one member of the crew has skeletons in their closet that they’re just not talking about yet. And, yeah, it’s definitely much more of a ‘blank slate’ than the Buffiverse. But I think you’ll see over the…[Read more]

Ordinarily I’d have said please don’t feed the troll but on this occasion it has gleaned some decent discussion.

Leaving aside the idiocy of most of @Burrunjor‘s post, I concur with most that it matters not a jot what Delgado or Pertwee or indeed the BBC canteen lady of the time thought was the relationship between the Doctor and the Master. If…[Read more]

Welcome back @ScaryB — you’ve been much missed….

@purofilion — yes, it’s a big cast and I think that’s part of the problem that the network had with it. Similarly, like you, they felt there was no obviously heroic central figure. Thus the second episode The Train Job you’ll find is like a second ‘mini pilot’ and is tonally lightened up considerably. Mal is a lot less dark and brooding and…[Read more]

@thekrynoidman—

Also, sorry if my posts come off as “sound bite criticisms” as you call them, when it comes to writing about things I like or dislike, I can write a lot about them, but I’m always worried that I’ll ramble on incoherently and bore people so I try to limit myself.

Just to say if there’s somewhere you can ramble on, it’s here. I…[Read more]

@phaseshift — I also wonder if there’s a case for a series of blogs on the various producer eras of the show, or whether the Faces of the Doctor thread does the job of covering that….

@phaseshift — I think a blog is an excellent idea. Both Holmes and Hulke — and Dicks, I’d argue — deserve a bit of serious examination.

I also can’t believe we’ve not covered The Ark in Space in a BG gap rewatch yet. That’s surely something of an oversight.

@Phaseshift — good point about Holmes’s ‘second tier’ villains. They were always well-written, as were his ‘lovable rogues’ like Glitz, Garron etc. I think Holmes was always influenced by pulp tales/movies in his Who work and so his ultimate villains were somewhat in the moustache-twirling tradition and he wasn’t that interested in delving too…[Read more]

@purofilion—

W1A is a kind of mockumentary comedy series about the inner workings of the BBC. As an Aussie, your best reference point is probably The Games, except it’s about the Beeb. It’s rather hit and miss, but worth it for the hit bits.

Yay. You’re Fireflied up. Shiny. Yes, I think loss of faith is a definite thing with Mal. There’ll be…[Read more]

@thekrynoidman — yes, indeed. There’s that at least. But aside from that I don’t think there’s really anything that differentiate this Master from a number of other disfigured villains of especially this period of Who. And the Master should always be in a league of his/her own. There’s not much you can fault Robert Holmes on, but his villains do…[Read more]

@thekrynoidman — maybe I came on a little strong saying I ‘hate’ him. I think the costume design is brilliant — really scary and still gives me the wiggins even now. I just don’t see anything of the previously established character of the Master in there. He’s just generic, evil villain skulking in the shadows to me.

@janetteb—

I don’t think monster/master is convincing as the final act of Rodger Delgado’s master

Absolutely. I don’t think the story would have lost anything if the villain had been revealed to be Morbius. Who was a villain in more recent memory, was temperamentally more like the Pratt’s Master and was equally in need of new regenerations.

I thi…

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Anyone been watching W1A by any chance? By rights I should hate it for being so smug and self-referential but the script is so tight and the performances so spot on that I can’t help but enjoy it.