Sorry, doing my best not to get involved in CC’s series. I agree with rather a lot of what you write. CC is a talented writer and producing (sorry show running) but S11 has just demonstrated that […]

Your first one sounds like something in Time of Angels (a Matt Smith two part story), but I don’t remember the actual scene so I may be wrong.

The mechanisms which cause evolution (natural selection, isolation of species, random mutations, and the others) are well understood both in theory and in practice, which is why the scientific community no longer considers evolution to be a theory. The details though, are a different matter.

The problem with the fossil record is…[Read more]

I’m not arguing that @jimthefish is wrong on the changes that are happening, but (in a different way) we’ve been through something similar before which we might use as pointers to what might happen with the way people consume entertainment and that the alliance between content production and money mean that the big TV that drives…[Read more]

It started of as a debate about new media arising from a discussion about the importance of ratings and whether we’d past Peak New Who or not (from a UK perspective) which sort of came out of a debate about the standard internet theme of “moff is a poor writer” which itself started of about the Christmas story and my opinion that Moff…[Read more]

Isn’t Streaming more like listening to a specialist radio station (easy listening, country etc) where you get to listen or watch what you want to (or at least think you want to). Interesting for a while, something good to do occasionally, but ultimately a little dull ?

Sometimes, I do think the more things change, the more they stay…[Read more]

I would leave Trump out. He’s President because the US election system is flawed.  You win all electoral college votes from all (most ?) States, even if your vote majority is only 1 person. If electoral college votes were proportional to the actual number of ballots cast, then Clinton would have won, since she got more votes overall…[Read more]

You can accuse me of wanting to have my cake and eat it 🙂 However I think there is a difference between something that can be proven to be factually correct in an absolute sense (evolution) and something which is subjective and unproven (unproveable even).

They do, however, lay themselves open to charges of misogyny because the…[Read more]

Isn’t biology an important element in generating character ?

I think, that the Doctor’s character, in its fullest sense, is broad enough to encompass gender change. My point is that if someone else doesn’t believe that to be true, who are we to criticise them for thinking something different, let alone call them misogynist.

in the case of Judaism itself has roots into earlier religions, essentially in pre-history, which are little known.

Does it?

Yes. It evolved out of polytheistic religions that pre-existed it and merged elements of that and other middle eastern religions before it came into existence. Yahweh had a wife at one time for example. Even then,…[Read more]

New technology has always increased employment in the long term

Hmm, tell that to a worker in a car plant, or a travel agent, or a typesetter. While it’s true that technology creates jobs that never existed before while getting rid of others, that’s not an endless process (leaving aside the quality of the jobs they create.) We’re looki…[Read more]

I suppose it depends on how you look at the variety of opinion within each religion. In my, no doubt simplistic way looking from the outside, I see all three as a tree with a trunk (ie the basic common doctrine that defines you as a Christian say) and then branches which reflect the various stems of thought. Each religion (Judaism,…[Read more]

because Doctor should be male because he’s always been can be a shorthand statement for everything else that an an individual may value about this character. The history of the programme, the stories, your emotional attachment to the character, your dislike for change for sake of change etc.

In terms of acting (which is a form of make b…[Read more]

English is really a rather poor language sometimes. can one talk about a particular group of people within a larger group of people without sounding wrong (its venn diagram’s in words).

There is a group of Christians (and Muslims) who do literally believe that the bible is the word of god, and everything it is is absolutely true (a 100…[Read more]

Apologies if I was being too definitive, it is a fault of mine, but

Except now, I see the point Blue is making. If you don’t want  a female Doctor because you’ve always had a male one and that’s your only excuse then those people are showing hints of possible  misogynist behaviour.

No, I don’t believe there is any reason to suggest…[Read more]

The point at which you worry about ‘legitimising their arguments’ is when you realise that their argument is in fact simply that you, or people you know, do not have a right to an argument. Because you (or people you know)are the wrong gender, or the wrong race, or hold the religious belief that God (or a god, or goddess) sch…[Read more]

I agree with you that its difficult and that it could be seen to be legitimising arguments and points of view that reprehensible, but what else can we do ? If you ignore it, then you leave them inside a bubble of silence, where they actually grow stronger and, if the circumstances are right, start to influence public policy (as in the…[Read more]

But really the only people who will ultimately lose out will be the monolithic corporations who until now could control the channels of distribution. A few will survive but many won’t as it becomes easier and easier to bypass them.

That’s certainly possible for music and writing, but I don’t think it ever be the case for films and m…[Read more]

The debate did initially generate rather more heat than light but I think thanks to discussion and debate that seems to have softened a bit.

In essence, this is what I’m suggesting is the right thing to do, even if/when the tone/arguments to the opposite are racist or misogynist (and I appreciate how difficult…[Read more]

Older yes, wiser ? perhaps not 🙂 All or nothing  -because there isnt an obvious middle ground when debating subjective things of this nature. The things that make the Impossible Girl story line impossible for me to like are the things that either dont bother you or you found enhanced the story. This makes it a circular, endless debate,…[Read more]

Can you (belatedly) wish Puro happy birthday 🙂 or perhaps I should say I hope that she has had a very happy birthday.

Longer term, I agree things will certainly change. The problem with automation is the unemployment that it will create. Some form of universal income might off set that financially (although I do wonder if those bit of the economy which become very automated will generate enough tax revenue given competition from equally automated…[Read more]

Hi Jim. If we agreed on everything, life would be very quiet and dull. I agree with you. I like the vast majority of Moff’s stories and have loved both Matt and Peter’s version of the Doctor under him. I still find parts that could have been done better. The discussion does seem to be all or nothing sometimes, even on…[Read more]

I’ve been struggling to respond to your larger post thoughts. A couple of things I suppose. One, yes I’m a Twit and I don’t mind admitting it 🙂 I may be in a minority on this site, but possibly not across the entire audience. Unlike most of the twits, who probably just shrugged their shoulders (assuming they caught every episode) or…[Read more]

I do “worry” about ratings, but only because audience related statistics (whether ratings or AI or awards) are the only measures where a public broadcaster funded by a £147 annual poll tax can justify its existence.

If most people watch by download/streaming, the BBC licence fee will go and the BBC…[Read more]

I have the DVD release and saw several different reconstructions of the final episode before the BBC did one with the animation.

As you suggest, this:

‘No, I can’t go through with it! I can’t! I will not give in.’  This line of dialogue isn’t in the transcripts, so unless it was in the original script and dropped from the episode, t…[Read more]

Thane – I was amused that your original argument (80 % of the tenth Planet is missing so its ok) changed (flipped) to 90 % of it is here, but its still ok to rewrite a bit 🙂

I have no problem if you (or anyone else, including Moff) doesn’t care (or care significantly enough) about past Doctor stories, that they are happy to rewrite and…[Read more]

It’s great. Personally I find the its all gone to pot argument very very much over done. That said, Capaldi era hasnt seen any of the viewer choice style awards that David and Matt routinely got (hopefully that  might change given series 10.These are the sort of little things that make me think Who is post peak right now, but in a very…[Read more]

and announce that my personal dislike of his most recent story arc and character choices for the leading role means he must be prey to “poor writing and pretentious nonsense”.

Of course not, you’re far to intelligent to do that. However, there are a large number (it appears) of people who have done just that. No one individual vie…[Read more]

Sorry I forgot one thing I wanted to say re Much of Who under Moffat has expected us to work out the little teasers on our own but as long as they don’t interfere with the ‘why’ or the story between people and how the people grow because of that meeting then it’s not a difficulty.

For me one great strength of Series 10 compared to serie…[Read more]

Hi Thane. I like the flip in your argument 🙂 I don’t find either point of view is particularly valid argument from my point of view .

It seems to me that the essential argument boils down to “is that its ok, the original artistic endeavour (I hesitate to call it art) doesn’t have much value (as it is), so its ok to change it to…[Read more]

🙂 Thanks. Font of all knowledge.

I do know that various BG Who characters belong to the writers or their heirs and permission is need to use their characters. I don’t know if the BBC has special rights that differ from use in other media (Books etc).

I must have missed the Trek stories that have done that (not entirely…[Read more]

SM perhaps felt the show would be better off doing by formalising the conflicts inherent in the show’s history. (cf RTD’s infamous ‘ming-mong’ comment a few years previously.) The other aspect of it is that as the 50th approached, he knew that he wasn’t going to bring back any BG Doctors in the strictest sense (Curator notwithst…[Read more]

The other interesting question is why does SM and MG revisiting Arthur Conan Doyle’s material raise nary an eyebrow, but doing so with Pedler and Davis is considered problematic? Is it purely time? Or the fact that he’s not the first with one to do it with the ACD?

I can only give my personal view. There are three main approaches to…[Read more]

Hi Thane. It’s a bit hard for me, not having encyclopedia level knowledge of Who history, to be 100 % sure of what is on screen fact or from Terrence Dicks (and others novelisation writers) and fan thinking.

So far as I recall, the original idea was that the Tardis was in for repair/scrapping as an old out of date version, which is why…[Read more]

Yes of course, you’re right. But does Chibnall, say, need RTD or Moff’s approval to rewrite or add new scenes into any of their stories ? They have copyright ownership (unless they’ve agreed with the BBC to pass ownership as part of their contract). Were they even BBC employees ?

The thing is, if you went back to the original…[Read more]

The only thing that is missing is the video from the final episode (and there are several short clips available from that episode, The sound track, photo’s, a novelisation and the script are all available (and now an animated version). There aren’t actually any gaps to fill in. There are spaces where you can take the Docto off for…[Read more]

Hi Jim. Since I didnt like (putting it mildly) or understand the Impossible Girl scenario, I expect I’m not getting the point. I dont see how the whole idea changed anything, let alone in the way you describe. Can you explain how you see things to me ? There’s no point going around in circles and I’m not going to brwak this one…[Read more]

Fantastic. It seems Mark has had a lot of bonkers ideas. Chibnall should hire him as, at least, an “ideas contributor” to his writing room (if it exists).

I have already stated that a new story can easily be added into the Tenth Planet during the episode 3 or in the gap when the Doctor leaves the cyber-ship before Ben & Polly. I agree that the final scenes before the regeneration were a bit weird based on later stories. The Tardis is…[Read more]

Finally, he can do what I’d love to see done; treat early Who as scripts, not holy relics, and permit David Bradley and the actors playing Ben and Polly to interpret them within the established characterisations. Judging by the subtle differences in the trailer scene, that’s what’s happening- this is going to be David Bradl…[Read more]

is the pinnacle of SM’s achievements on the show. And he did it for a very good reason, I think. To free future showrunners from the burden of 50 years of canon without erasing that canon in the process

Jim – Finally something we disagree on ! For me, its the lowest point, the only lower thing I can think of is Colin Baker D…[Read more]

Thanks. I didnt realise there was more than one version of some (all ?) of the plays. My impression was that most (many ?) were found in the manuscript pulled together some years after he died. I never got that impression from any of the BBC making of documentaries I’ve watched over the years (the last one I remember was Tennant in…[Read more]

We’ll have to wait and see, but the only easy places to add a new adventure (and Doctor only ones at that) are either in episode 3, when he passed out or right at the end after leaving the Cybership, as he was a few minutes ahead of Ben & Polly.

I don’t think anyone can have a problem with fitting another adventure into either of those…[Read more]

I dont call the ending of the Impossible Girl (should be woman of course) “arc” sensitive – he rewrote every story for no good reason at all, other than to create a companion who is more important to the series than all of the Doctor’s. Ego anyone ?

I assume the rumoured Clara bit is for her to appear as a…[Read more]

Of course, I’ll wait and see. I dont think writing new scenes into an existing story makes it fresh or relevant (apart from disrespecting someone else’s writing and acting). I’m happy to disagree though 🙂 . I dont agree with what Lucas did (it served no purpose and weaken Han Solo’s character), but at least Lucas created and wrote it…[Read more]

Having rewatched, it does seem to be the South Pole Base set. Refilming a small part of an old episode around the regeneration is one thing, but adding new scenes into someone else’s writing shows nothing but Moff’s hubris.

From the reconstructions I’ve seen, they never filmed shots showing him fall to the floor from the clips of him standing at Tardis console (while the controls operate themselves, while the door doesnt open). I wouldnt be bothered if they reshot that with DB or even morphed DB back to WH for the regen itself as they’ve did in the…[Read more]

Moff could write and show that, but I rather hope he doesnt. If he wants to show the first Doctor regeneration then in my opinion he should use the original footage (adding some colour if he must).

Genek I had assumed it was Capaldi because Ben & Polly were outside when the Doctor collapsed (and I have the…[Read more]

I think I’d prefer they used the original footage (colourised and cgi the glow effect if they must for the modern day general audience).

One thing no one seems to have commented on regarding the trailer is the apparent Polly footage with Capaldi Doctor. I’ll be interested to see what they do, but it seems plausible that…[Read more]