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17 January 2018 at 18:29 #63019
@craig —
I’m loving these videos and what he says about fan communities is spot on….
11 January 2018 at 11:20 #63008@thane16 —
See, I knew Puro would be on the case. Cheers for that.
10 January 2018 at 16:27 #630048 January 2018 at 21:42 #62996@bluesqueakpip — I think you’re probably right but I just can’t help but feel that doesn’t help the skint parents of the ardent cosplayer who’s wanting to do the 13th Doc on a budget. (It’s not without precedent, of course. The whole JNT era must have been a nightmare for cosplayers.) And the cynic in me can’t help but think that part of the motivation is the lovely licensing money the Beeb will get from official costumiers.
@mudlark — Maybe the earrings are going to be sonic. Wearable technology a la the sonic shades. How cool would that be?
8 January 2018 at 17:30 #62992Yep, I’m sure AbbyShot and Magnoli Clothiers etc are all over it even as we speak. I suppose what I was thinking was that it seems a shame to create something so specific that it allows the cosplay companies to have something of a monopoly. Capaldi’s outfits and Smith’s early costumes were ideal for the DIY cosplayers. I always thought it quite cool at conventions etc when you saw hand-me-down tweeds and Crombies and old pin-striped suits being put to a good use. In fact, I seem to remember that being part of Capaldi’s reasoning for his costume choice?
8 January 2018 at 13:01 #62990@craig — I’m in no way a musical authority but I think I tend to echo your thinking. There seems to me to be slight differences with the Radiohead and the Hollies but nothing I would have thought you could have sued over. The Hollies just seems to echo the musical tropes of the 50s in general to me. But the Lana Del Rey seems to me pretty blatant and near identical. I’m not surprised Radiohead are suing tbh.
But really that’s just what it sounds like to my tin ear. Puro would know.
8 January 2018 at 12:58 #62989@craig — I think you’re probably spot on as to the vibe we’ll hopefully get from Whittaker. There’s something of your quirky best friend in first year of art school vibe about her.
@wolfweed — Yes, it’ll be interesting to see how they do the earrings thing. Maybe she’ll just arrive with them on a la Troughton with his gear. Maybe she’ll do the piercing herself. If the TARDIS can knock out sonic screwdrivers, I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be beyond it.
That’s a nice photoshop job on Colin’s coat btw. Strangely suits him. Ah, what might have been. Mind you, it’s quite Capaldi-esque in a way.
7 January 2018 at 17:06 #62983I have to say I just don’t like the coat. And I think largely on the fact that it’s too costumey looking. Would much prefer it to have looked like a ‘found’ object. Won’t someone think of the cosplayers? (Not that I’m ever planning to cosplay as 13. Although I’m not ruling it out….)
7 January 2018 at 13:11 #62980That’s a curious edit. Wonder why they did it? Was it the porn reference maybe?
6 January 2018 at 15:44 #62974@wolfweed — video’s back up and it’s very good indeed.
Cheers for posting…
29 December 2017 at 14:45 #62855I’ve been looking at Capaldi’s first episodes again in the past few days and it’s certainly striking how different he looks, but he’s certainly more comfortable in the role at the end, it seems. But what’s been striking me is how Twice Upon A Time calls back to so much in those first stories. His scepticism to Bill’s ‘reality’ mirrors Clara’s initial rejection of him in Deep Breath.
There’s other moments of circularity too. Rusty the Dalek being another obvious one, I suppose. But also more generally the Doctor’s acceptance and understanding of soldiers — an issue in s8 but brought to closure by his final salute to and saving of The Captain.
But most of all, there’s the defining question of 12’s run — ‘Am I a good man’. In both his speech to the Masters and his final advice to his future self in Twice Upon A Time, he finally has the answer ‘Yes, of course I am.’ Those passionate speeches are one of 12’s defining characteristics and they are important; because the knowledge and insight contained within them is not something he’s inherited from other Doctors, it’s not something he’s remembering. Rather, it’s something that he’s had to (re)learn for himself. It’s a lesson that he values because there was a lot of effort and even a bit of pain attached to the acquiring of it. And that’s maybe why he’s so keen to make sure it gets passed on to the next Doctor.
I have one question though. If 12’s Scottishness was imprinted from Amy, is there going to be an in-universe explanation of 13’s Yorkshireness?
29 December 2017 at 14:25 #62853@missrori — I think the idea that Moffat hates women is patently nonsense but it’s a drum that the Mary Sue is obviously going to refuse to give up.
Rather on rewatching I think he’s doing something rather clever with the First Doctor. I suspect he might have deliberately ramped up the sexism as a pointed comment against the old stick-in-the-mud contingent of fans to point out how ridiculous and un-Doctorly a lot of the rather toxicity they’ve been generating since July. It was something of a dig at them but also an appeal for them to cultivate an open mind, to ‘let the Doctor go’ and to welcome the new one.
29 December 2017 at 14:18 #62852@ichabod — well said. Although I’d have said innovatory rather than gimmicky. Who survives by trying things out — regeneration, Earth exile, etc. This is just the latest.
But @scaryb is right. This really has very little to do with companions past or present. We’ve had a long and varied 13th Doctor discussion and there doesn’t seem much to add to it until September.
28 December 2017 at 15:29 #62810I hope you all good lots of cool reading material for Chrimbo. But just in case you didn’t and are in need of some SF-related material to get you through to the Doctor’s return, I’d heartily recommend the first two books in Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer series….
28 December 2017 at 14:13 #62809That red TARDIS is on Sauchiehall St and is usually a coffee kiosk. And yes it is annoying in its wrong colour. (Though could be worse, the one on Buchanan St was a hideous lime green for a while….)
28 December 2017 at 01:47 #62795@wolfweed — loved the After Show. That’s a very nice interview with Moffat. I’m going to miss his interface with the Who world, no matter what he gets up to in the future. And I’ll look forward to the extended interview in the new year….
28 December 2017 at 01:03 #62793Some thoughts on second viewing–
Generally great and a fine end to both Moffat’s and Capaldi’s time on the show. As others have said, it’s definitely more of a character piece than a full-blown adventure — which I think is wise — just how often has a Christmas episode had a memorable or enduring plot? Moffat, I’d argue, has always seemed uncomfortable with Christmas episodes in particular, compared to RTD. If anything, the episode struck me as a coda to The Doctor Falls. It felt to me as if Capalid was meant to regenerate at the end of The Doctor Falls and that Moffat had to stretch it out when Chibbers decided he wasn’t starting at Christmas after all. And while I enjoyed all this, it didn’t seem particularly vital. 12 could have regenerated at the end of The Doctor Falls and it would have made that story possibly more powerful, with less of a delay between his ‘going out fighting’ and his ultimate regeneration. And have a newly regenerated 13 interacting with the First Doctor might have been lots of fun too.
But that’s just a niggle because there was absolutely heaps to love here. Capaldi knocked the regeneration right out the park with his ‘greatest hits’ speech and as I said above I think it gave closure to the now clearly defined character trajectory of his Doctor.
Whittaker too totally sold me with her first appearance. It’s impossible to tell from such a brief snippet, of course, but I think you can get some inkling of how a Doctor is going to pan out from their first unguarded introduction. Capaldi’s ‘kidney’s line gave us an inkling of how changeable (and perhaps internally examining) his Doctor was going to be, Smith’s ‘geronimo’ kind of speaks for itself and Tennant’s ‘Barcelona’ seems to point to the hand in hand exploration of the universe with Rose that took up at least the first part of his tenure. At the moment, I’m getting a feeling of Tennant/Davison mash-up from Whittaker. I’m totally sold on her already. (Although, like @pedant, I’m still slightly wary about Chibnall himself.)
Other general thoughts–
— the Testimony as non-malevolent phenomenon seemed to me to give the story an early Hartnell vibe, where this kind of thing would often be the case. I’m sure that’s deliberate. As was, I think, the crux of the story being a real historical event.
— Rusty’s planet also had a very Hartnell-esque feel to it. The danger climbing up the walls, hiding in the bushes etc was pure Terry Nation.
— The First Doctor’s disapproval of just about all of Capaldi’s paraphernalia is surely a meta commentary on some of the comments on the likes of the Graun over the last few years. But I must admit there was a brief moment when I was just hoping that the First Doctor’s monocle was going to turn out to be sonic too.
— Felt the First Doctor’s sexism was just over-egged slightly. I do think the posters elsewhere who try to say it didn’t exist in Hartnell’s performance are not quite right, and it was something still being recognised in The Five Doctors but I think it was definitely a case that less would have been more here.
— Bill, Clara and Nardole. Blub.
— For a Doctor who seems to be increasingly held to be a tragic figure, it’s worth noting I think just how much Capaldi smiles and grins and jokes in this episode. Again, it’s part of the closure of his character arc. He starts closed off and introspective, someone who ‘doesn’t do hugs’ but ends happily cuddling the people he loves (or simulacra of them anyway). (I hope, by the way, @missrori that that fulfilled your hope for this Doctor not to die quite so alone.) And Capaldi’s wonderful ‘Doctor, I let you go’ line is surely a riposte to Tennant’s petulant ‘I don’t want to go’ reaction. It’s interesting for a Doctor who was initially quite forbidding how 12 became (I think) the most genuinely open-hearted, empathic and compassionate of the modern Doctors.
Anyway, it was great. Highly emotional and a fine end to what I still think is going to be remembered as one of the show’s golden ages. Hope you all had a great Christmas. Big waves to @pedant, @scaryb, @juniperfish et al. Hope you’re all doing well and it’s great to see your names popping up again.
See you all in ’18 I hope…
27 December 2017 at 00:23 #62757Liked it a lot. Although it felt more like a coda to the real drama and near-perfect ending of 12 in The Doctor Falls. The actual regeneration was very affecting though — I’m so glad they used the theme from Heaven’s Sent, which to me will always be Capaldi’s finest hour. Think this will require a second viewing before more detailed comment though.
The darkness of his era would have been much more suited to a Doctor coming to the end of his life
That’s a nice theory and I kind of like that. But I read Capaldi’s early introspection as a kind of PTSD. He’d reached the end of his life, perhaps mentally prepared himself for it and then found he was having to start over again. I’m not sure I ever got the impression that his journey felt wrong or discordant. Also I’m not sure ultimately that the 12 Doctor’s era constitutes a ‘tragedy’. It’s certainly been poignant in places but after his first series I thought Capaldi also had lots of joyous moments too.
I know you’ve never really got on with 12 but I think I’ve loved every moment. Certainly he’s the first Doctor I feel who has got a proper character arc. 9 had the makings of one but didn’t stick around long enough. 10 I think started off well but to be honest I really disliked him as a character by the end. 11 was great but I never really got the sense that he developed in any way. He emerged from regeneration more or less fully formed and didn’t particularly grow by the the time of, erm, The Time of the Doctor. 12 I think did. He started off with doubts and even a dodgy (ish) moral compass that gave us the ‘did he fall or was he pushed?’ moment in Deep Breath but by Twice Upon A Time, despite his questioning about whether or not to go on, he has come to understand much about himself and his credo of kindness. He starts off ‘who am I?’ and ends ‘this is who I am’. I’d say we’ve never had quite an interrogating and self-aware Doctor as 12
I know it’s not for everyone but I’ve found it very beautiful and I totally salute Capaldi’s performance throughout. I could happily have had another year of him and I’m already looking forward to (hoping for) a multi-Doctor appearance by him in the future. I’d love to see him sparking off Smith or Tennant or even Whittaker in the way that we’ve just seen him spark off Bradley.
19 December 2017 at 21:30 #62643@bluesqueakpip et al —
According to certain corners of the t’interwebs, it’s a screengrab from the regeneration shot in the second trailer. Colour me sceptical though…..
18 December 2017 at 20:30 #62639Saw it this afternoon and have to say that I was left not exactly loving it either. Definitely preferred Rogue One. It’s too long for starters definitely. And there’s a few nonsensical plot moments. It’s a shame because it does go out of its way to correct some of the bloodline supremacist nonsense that had crept into Star Wars lore and there are also some fine moments too… but overall oddly soporific for what’s basically an action movie….
18 December 2017 at 01:29 #62635Think I’m with @bluesqueakpip and @whisht that the animated version is preferable and enables a greater appreciation of the narrative.
So in this episode Cutler goes proper mental before getting offed by the Cybes. Unlike other antagonistic chiefs of base in this type of story in the future, it’s interesting that he never becomes an ally but is always part of the problem. And it has to be said that there was seldom anything particularly, um, subtle in Beatty’s performance.
Good to see the Doctor back in action. Sort of. Although (for obvious logistical reasons) has there ever been a story where the Doctor actually does so little in terms of actual terms of the plot? Obviously, it’s understandable but it’s a shame that the First Doctor didn’t go out in a more dynamic way. And I guess it’s clear that he really couldn’t go on, no matter how he might have wished to.
And so we come to a perennial problem with the Cybermen, that will pretty much every story afterwards — how to kill the buggers. I’ve always felt it odd that they would be so afraid of radiation. It just doesn’t seem likely that a race of scientists, augmenting their entire race would overlook something quite as fundamental as this. But as Pip says, it was just something of a hot topic in the 60s. (Similarly the lack of emotions thing. Again, I hark to an idea (which I read in Michio Kiku, I think) that it’s actually not possibly to make any kind of far-reaching decisions, anything beyond simple algorithms or logic puzzles without emotional input. It’s a conceit that’s incredibly difficult to pull off. I think the only iteration of the Cybermen that did seem truly emotionless were the ones we see during the Troughton era. By the time we get to the 80s, they’ve become incredibly camp. And this version are pretty emotional too. Almost boastful on first appearance and bordering on tetchy later on — am I the only one when the Cyberleader was trying to take names in episode 2 wanted Cutler to shout out ‘Don’t tell him, Pyke’?)
The collective loss of power ruse at the episode’s end seemed a bit convenient too — and something we’ll see again in other Cyber stories, I seem to remember. But for all that, I love this version of the Cybermen and think it’s never been beaten — and s10 has shown I think that they still work, even 50 years later. I do hope that CC takes that on board for the next time they return. Also their spaceship was very cool.
And so to the regeneration. It’s an odd one, isn’t it? And it’s interesting just how involved the TARDIS is in it. Which, to my mind, lends credence to the idea that the Doctor has to be in or very near the TARDIS for it to work. (I’ve always had the theory that the console somewhere contains the data for regeneration but the ‘imprinting’ idea they seem to be going with these days seems to go against that.) But all the levers moving etc suggests that this time there’s a technological/mechanical component at play here. Or maybe the TARDIS is having to jumpstart the process because the Doc has been so stubborn in avoiding it — like induced labour almost.
It will be very interesting to see just how much they play with Episode Four in Twice Upon A Time.
15 December 2017 at 16:52 #62616The Big Sick is definitely one of the gems of the year.
Interesting to hear your thoughts on Last Jedi too. Hearing wildly conflicting reports on it. Some love it. Some hate it. Will probably check it out next week though have to see I am feeling a little bit of Star Wars fatigue at the moment. I wonder if Disney’s production line approach to Star Wars movies at the moment is going to end up being counter-productive. It’ll all be down to the tone, I guess. I really liked Rogue One and its grittiness was really quite refreshing.
11 December 2017 at 23:59 #62607Yes, the Doctor is rather shouty here. I wonder whether that was to do with Hartnell’s ill health in any way.
In general, I’d say this is possibly the most ‘modern’ of all his serials. As I said before, it’s setting the template for a big chunk of the Troughton era and also has that Quatermass-ey vibe of early Pertwee too.
And I’ll be very interested to see just how much this episode/story is actually revistited in the Xmas episode. I’m guessing not that much. The fact that the set is being touted in the pre-publicity is usually a dead giveaway that it’s not going to be an integral part of the story.
5 December 2017 at 02:46 #62586Fascinating to watch this again. A bona fide piece of Who history on so many levels. I always feel that BG Who was at its best when ingenuity and commitment trumped budget limitations and I feel this is absolutely one of those times. The rocket sequences are a bit static and the ‘space acting’ is a bit odd but for me it works — although I agree with @wolfweed that it’s a bit less suspenseful than it could have been. But for Who to be attempting this in ’66 is quite impressive.
Cutler is an absolute arse, naturally. But as @mudlark says he’s very much a type inherited from Quatermass and US 50s B-movies. He’s also a type that we’re going to see a lot of in the next couple of eras of Who. He’s a close relative of Hobson in Moonbase, Clent in The Ice Warriors, Carrington in The Ambassadors of Death and so on. And perhaps even a harder more unsympathetic take on the Brigadier.
In fact, is this the first example of something that will repeat through the entire show’s history — the pre-regeneration story setting up the model for the change of direction for the incoming era? Is this the first example of the ‘base under siege’ trope that’s going to be the staple of the Troughton era. It strikes me that both this and The War Machines are templates for the entire direction of the show from 66-69. The Moonbase is essentially a total remake of The Tenth Planet.
Oh, and Mondasian Cybermen. Yay! They really are genuinely creepy and easily the best iteration of this particular alien. And they haven’t even said a word yet.
27 November 2017 at 01:31 #62500Apologies to all for not being near a computer to save @craig having to do this. Crazy time.
Sorry to hear about the redundancy btw, @craig. That sucks. Must be something going around at the moment (and we all know what it is) cos while you can’t make a freelancer redundant, you can tell them that there’s no more work for them come January. Do hope you manage secure a good payout and that your lawyers and negotiations to their damndest…
18 November 2017 at 17:38 #62437@wolfweed — unfortunately Radio Times takes somewhat exception to my adblocker so I won’t be able to actually read the article without a load of faffing around on my whitelist but that’s nice news. He’s the fellow who did the rather splendid ‘rain’ trailer for Capaldi, isn’t he? It’s also a nice reminder that far from being dismissive of fans, as he’s often accused of being, Moffat seems to have gone out of his way to reach out to them, to involve them, to make use of their talent creativity. I hope it’s something that Chibnall also fosters.
As to the CiN clip, as @bluesqueakpip says, it ticks all the boxes, being self-contained enough to be understandable on its own and entertaining enough in its own right to fit into the larger scheme of the charity evening. Personally, I liked it, although it is making me mourn the passing of 12 already. Capaldi is very comfortable in his role here and has totally nailed his Doctor’s look here. I could totally do with another series of him in this ‘midway between Pertwee and Tom Baker’ mould. Bradley is great too, of course. He’s very much got a Hartnell vibe going on (far more than Hurndall managed) and yet he’s bringing something of his own to the party. It’s great that he’s going to continue with the audios, but part of me kind of wants to see full-blown modern reconstructions of all the 60’s shows (with the possible exception of The Gunfighters).
12 November 2017 at 10:58 #62408@whisht —
Yes, I’m hoping that we’ll see some crossplaying (great word) as JW.
While I very much like the costume my one worry is that it looks like it might very much have been designed with a specific ‘concept’ in mind a la PD or CB. PC’s costume definitely evolved as his character did and I would have liked JW to have that same flexibility. And it seems MS’s did to an extent too, or at least he was allowed to be playful with it.
It’s too early to tell, of course, until we’ve actually seen the s11, but I do hope that it’s not the case that CC has too fixed a conception that doesn’t give JW enough wiggle room to evolve and grow her interpretation of the Doctor.
10 November 2017 at 14:49 #62386@bluesqueakpip — on the nomenclature, I’m happy to be guided by people who feel more strongly about this than I do and maybe we should aim for some kind of consistency but personally from here on in I’m going to stick to PC, JW etc. as it’s just easier to type, if a little impersonal….
As to costume discussion, yep, it’s definitely always been a ‘thing’ for as far as I can remember. I can just about recall all the jabber when PD’s godawful cricket costume was unveiled….
10 November 2017 at 12:50 #62382@thane15 — I think it’s really only the coat that presents the real problems. It’s pretty obviously a bespoke item and unless cosplayers want to make do with a ‘that looks close enough’ then they’re going to have to fork out the big bucks for a replica. I imagine that Abbeyshot and Magnoli Clothiers are sizing up their patterns even as we speak. Personally I think Capaldi was right to say that the costume should be something that fans could easily emulate. And this is largely why I disliked Matt’s later plum outfit or pretty much any costume of the JNT era.
@tardigrade — I seem to remember Capaldi’s costume exciting a lot of comment at the time. Certainly it made the front pages of most websites here and into most of the newspapers, sometimes on the front. And certainly people never stopped complaining about the hoodies (which I personally loved). I don’t recall Matt’s getting a big reveal though. (On the names thing, I don’t think there’s any particular sexist intent here and merely that people tend to go for the shortest word with the least ambiguity of meaning).
And for those ambivalent about this costume, it’s probably worth remembering that the costumes often evolve over time. Capaldi’s first austere ‘dad at a wedding’ look didn’t really last as there clearly came a point that it didn’t quite fit the Doctor he was becoming, who was a little more funky around the edges. Chances are that the same will happen with Jodie as who her Doctor actually is evolves through the telling.
I think the most interesting thing about this image is that it gives us suggestions of just where the show is going. It’s going to be more colourful and sunny where the Capaldi years were all black-and-white costumes, noirish shadows and introspection. I’m now imagining something very much in the Tennant-era mould with lots of kisses to the 70s. At this point, I’m not ruling out Mandrels….
9 November 2017 at 18:58 #62370My one reservation is that I’m not sure it follows Capaldi’s dictum of making the costume easy and inexpensive to cosplay. Which is a bit of a shame.
9 November 2017 at 15:52 #62361I was thinking more Rod, Jane and Freddy myself.
I like it. It’s certainly very 70s and definitely points to a less sombre direction. If Smith was channeling Troughton and Capaldi Hartnell/Pertwee then Whittaker looks like she’s going for T Baker/Davison
6 November 2017 at 15:12 #62340@missrori–
Not necessarily. For one thing, it is possible that all you’d need for such a plot is Bill and Clara. But at the same time we don’t know one way or the other who (or what) is returning. They’re clearly keeping quite a lot under their hat and don’t forget Rachel Talalay did tweet some time back about the heavily ‘fangasm’ nature of the script. That suggests to me more than One and Bill….
29 October 2017 at 11:13 #62283@bluesqueakpip-
good luck with NaNoWriMo — always meant to have a go myself. Maybe next year…. Hope it goes well….
26 October 2017 at 00:31 #62246@craig — Sorry to hear that. Obviously hope that it’s going to be the latter too. Hope it’s all not too stressful — although obviously it always is.
Take care.
24 October 2017 at 12:39 #62236@bluesqueakpip @janetteb et al — yep, soaps have been considered the proving grounds for actors as well as writers for a long time now. Writers too, of course. I did some training with the sadly now-defunct TAPS was all very much based around writing for continuing drama, mostly Emmerdale but also Corrie, The Bill and Doctors too. Sad thing there is this sector has really contracted too and it’s much harder to get a shot there now than it used to be. And I imagine the same goes for actors and directors too.
23 October 2017 at 16:22 #62217@bluesqueakpip — yes, but nice to see Martin Belam stepping up to the plate BTL to call out the ‘it’s political correctness gone mad’ brigade. He’s a writer I really like and his articles on Who are always really interesting.
And yeah, CC’s casting choices have been anything but boring so far. Long may it continue. Interesting to note that those choices so far have almost all had a strong track record in soaps or continuing dramas as they’re called these days. I wonder if this signifies a likely direction of the show or just that CC prefers actors with experience in this area…
23 October 2017 at 12:33 #62210@wolfweed — think this is a good home for it right here.
Interesting that we may be looking at quite a populous TARDIS crew, which is quite old school. (Let’s hope it doesn’t go too Torchwood-ey). But I suspect that we’ll be getting something a bit more rotational, in the way that Nardole and Rory didn’t feature in every travel. Also wonder if Walsh is going to be some kind of Brigadier type figure, not a companion as such but a regular fixture in wherever the show is ‘based’. I kind of hope so because I really want JW to be able to shine and not be overshadowed by TARDIS full of characters. Because that’s essentially what happened to Peter Davison’s otherwise great Doctor.
Also have to say that the regular moaning about ‘box ticking’ over that Graun and elsewhere is depressingly familiar. Finding the same thing surrounding Star Trek Discovery which I’m currently quite enjoying (and which I think is about to pull something quite clever out of the bag). I get that all fandoms have their conservative element, but is it my imagination that it seems to be getting increasingly angrier and more intolerant than it used to be?
18 October 2017 at 15:20 #62195@wolfweed — I’ve always loved that picture of the Voord with the watches. (The true reason for the invasion of Marinus? To set up a budget jewellery concession?)
To be honest, I’ve found these episodes a bit of a slog, so I’ll probably just remain an interested observer for the Aztecs….
19 September 2017 at 12:17 #61962@wolfweed–
Yeah, saw that. Almost impossible to get hold of, I reckon. Though it may show up at collectors fairs and what have you. No indication of what this ‘signature collection’ might be though. I’d be very disappointed if it was just a collection of signatures, for example…
18 September 2017 at 16:43 #61958Cheers for that, especially the designs. I really like Cusick’s work, not least because it points to a time in the BBC’s history when it had whole armies of these guys who seemed to look upon what would now be considered jobs as High Creatives from a kind of National Service-inflected just-a-job technician point of view. I think it’d be really interesting for someone to write a book about him, as a means of being able to talk about the whole Beeb set-up of the 50s and 60s. Plus it would have some really cool illustrations to go with it. I dunno, maybe someone’s done it already.
18 September 2017 at 00:38 #61953@wolfweed–
seconded thumbs-up for the colour pics…
@bluesqueakpip–
So that’s why Billy was so uptight about the glass breakage. He was fearing it was going to come out of their wages….
And what is it about the Brains of Morphoton that is reminding me of Blakey from On The Buses?
16 September 2017 at 21:07 #61942@winston–
I totally want to see 12 meeting Susan just for that to happen….
16 September 2017 at 21:05 #61941I’m sure I used to go to a goth nightclub called The Velvet Web….
Yes, that was a fun ep too. The Brains of Morphoton were surprisingly creepy and have stood the test of time — although they were surprisingly obliging with the exposition.
Lots of other fine Who tropes on show here too. Like hiding just slightly behind a pillar will instantly render you completely invisible.
@bluesqueakpip–
How did Hartnell manage to make himself seem so very, very creepy?
Yes, he did, didn’t he. Mind you, he’d pretty much made a career of that kind of performance prior to Who. It’s interesting that the Doctor is still something of a dick here. Would any other incarnation give the remotest stuff about Barbara breaking up a set of ‘exquisite’ glass goblets. He’s also less interested in Barbara’s wellbeing than in seeing his new laboratory (shades of the selfish old arse of The Daleks there). He also seems very keen to get to Millennius on his own (and without Susan), presumably so he can kick back for a while, rather than a burning desire to find the key.
I think Terry would have found himself entirely at home in the world of Post Gap Who
I think he possibly would have. But then again he was also notoriously unreliable which he got away with in those days but absolutely couldn’t now. I’m thinking here of the 11 episodes of the Daleks Masterplan he was meant to write but which he turned in instead a couple of typewritten sheets of ‘notes’ and left poor old Donald Tosh to write the majority of the thing while he buggered off on holiday (but presumably pocketed the cheques anyway).
Mostly I dislike the shoddy way Nation screwed over Raymond Cusick though — who once again produced another timeless classic Who design in the form of the Voord last week, and the Brains this week actually.
You’re right though that he deserves heaps of credit for having Barbara lead the episode. It never struck me before that Verity Lambert herself could be the model for Barbara and I think you could well be right there. I think with the different locations within an overarching narrative he’s trying to channel the old Flash Gordon serials and the like and it’s largely working.
With regards to Susan, there has to be some latitude because the concept of Time Lords as we understand them now hadn’t really been thought of but I suspect that at some level the production team realised they’d dug themselves into a hole by giving Susan that history and that they would either have to explore that and deepen it or get rid of her ASAP to avoid the awkward questions that would inevitably arise. Same with her telepathy, which would surely have been relevant to this story.
So next week Billy is off to Torremolinos and the others are going to have to fend for themselves. Try getting away with that these days.
15 September 2017 at 14:51 #61913For all the Big Finish fans, the core cast of An Adventure in Time and Space are going to reprise their roles for Big Finish.
Could be very interesting.
14 September 2017 at 21:57 #61910@bluesqueakpip–
Yes, must admit I did think I was being a bit harsh. But then again, I will always be a bit harsh on Nation. Can’t help but feel he deserves it…. 🙂
Certainly I think he’s still chanelling his own childhood influences in these first two series and it’s not until Dalek Invasion of Earth that he gets a bit more interesting when he finds the tropes that he’s more personally interested in — living under fascism and you have to do to survive.
13 September 2017 at 22:28 #61906Well, that was quite fun.
First of all, going by her behaviour I’m less and less inclined to think of Susan as any kind of Time Lord. She’s much too much of a wuss. I get that that was how teenage girls were written back then but still.
As @whisht pointed out, the TARDIS crew was much more even-handed in those days (which is rather in the eye for the ‘it’s just the Clara Show now nitwits’. It is interesting just how much the Doctor doesn’t know, and how much more he shares the limelight with the other members of the crew, with Ian rather being the alpha male. (and yes, there’s some terribly bum-puckering sexism on display here too.) Also interesting to see the edutainment aspect still being pushed in those days. Precise distribution of weights, indeed.
Ah, the Voord. Or The Alien Voord as it used to be they had to be referred to. I’ve always thought they were rather cool and another classic bit of 60’s design. It’s interesting that for essentially a one-shot man-in-a-rubber suit monster, that they found such an enduring place in fandom’s heart, eventually becoming the proto-Cybermen (which I believe is now canon if I read The Doctor Falls correctly). Certainly, they’re one alien race that Chibnall could totally bring back and do something interesting with.
In terms of the episode itself, there’s more than a bit of Nation hackery going on, even at this early stage in proceedings. Mysterious city surrounded by a hostile environment. Susan being separated to provide the in-episode peril. Even the ‘wait a minute, is that something on the scanner. Oh, never mind, I’m sure it’s nothing’ moment. And I have to say that all the revolving door business was pure Carry On.
But I have to say that Hartnell was great. When I first got into Who I never liked him at all. He was always the boring old guy you had to endure to get to the fun ones like Troughton, Pertwee and Baker but I’m really looking at him in a new light now.
22 August 2017 at 22:26 #61780It’s an interesting choice, that’s for sure. But I think Pip’s right in that he’s going to be a ‘secondary’ companion — I’d say less Nardole and maybe more like Wilf or Brian. I think CC will have learned that Doc + M + F trio in the TARDIS seems to be the optimal configuration for Nu Who.
17 August 2017 at 23:39 #61754@wolfweed–
This sounds awesome — and the Romana thing sounds intriguing….
I’m so kicking myself that I never got down to the Experience before it shut up shop….
14 August 2017 at 16:49 #61715And just to echo @bluesqueakpip‘s estimation of CC’s ability to bring a Doctor (who just happens to be female rather than a ‘female Doctor’) to the screen. Barring RTD himself, I don’t think there’s any writer more capable of doing the interesting character nuances (I’d agree that SM had just that bit too much of tendency to make everyone Special — which I kind of like actually. Everyone should be — and is — special, but there’s also scope for other approaches too.) Anyone who doubts CC on this score should go off and watch Pond Life immediately.
I do still have reservations about CC’s grasp of structure within individual stories but that’s a whole other can of worms.
14 August 2017 at 16:37 #61714@janetteb–
if Jodie Whittaker has the courage to take on the role then I think she has something of what it takes to be the Doctor
Amen to that.
With regards to JW in Broadchurch, it’s a very specific role and Beth Latimer is in a very particular place and JW plays it brilliantly. But it’s in no way going to give you an idea of how she might be as a Doctor — any more than just watching Eccleston in, say, Jude the Obscure would have prepared you for his Doctor.
I initially shared some of the ‘girl next door’ misgivings of JW but really all it took was a couple of hours of looking at some of her other performances to put that to bed for good and her recent round of interviews have only reinforced my belief that she’s a perfect choice.
As to the SJW drivel that it still rearing its head — is there any more clear-cut or enduring poster boy/girl for being a social justice warrior than the Doctor? That’s pretty much been the character’s mission statement for the past 50 years. If the Doctor has had an overriding arc, it’s his gradual socialisation and growing awareness of fighting the ‘dark corners of the universe’, initiated by Ian and Barbara but continued by every companion since. To complain about SJW’s is to complain about the Doctor themselves and makes me think that the complainants have been watching some other programme to everyone else all this time.
The fact of the matter is that no one knows how JW is going to approach the role, so any attempt to dismiss her performance now is pointless. Also its disingenuous to say any attempt to do is not based on gender. What else can it possibly be based on at this point? Neither Tennant, nor Smith, nor Capaldi, while they were met with reservations, were met with this continued wall of negativity before they’d so much as picked up a sonic and frankly I still have reservations about leaving this thread open. The news is well and truly out, everything that can be said has been pretty much said. Can’t help but feel it would have been far preferable to focus on the Capaldi thread, the Xmas special and honour PC’s last months in the role.
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