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10 January 2014 at 13:06 #24160
It’s something due to start again, really. Anyone can suggest a story for each Doctor on the Sofa, and I take a note of when people mention specific stories or “it would be great to see x” from around the Forums. We hope to start it next weekend (18th with Time Meddler).
We ran the first batch between the end of Name of the Doctor and the 50th Anniversary special, and while the number of comments varied as time went on, the ones we got were very good. Much more detailed than just posting “it’s a great story” or whatever you tend to get when discussing the BG series on many forums. Discussions on individual effects, cliffhangers, acting etc. I found it an entertaining diversion, and hopefully others did as well.
Last time, we simultaneously ran the SM retrospective which went through every episode he’s written, and that was fun as well, and added some of his episodes for 9 and 10 which the site hadn’t really covered, because its only a year old. We may choose another writer whose written for all the Doctors this time as well (favourite seems to be Mark Gatiss).
This time we will try to run a series of other material if people wish to sample with behind the scenes, themes or actor links to Doctor Who in a wider “Watch Club” of blogs and we have loads of suggestions. I did a trial just before Christmas with “The Avengers” to try to get the feel, and if anyone wants to contribute to that idea with ideas or writing, the more the merrier. An example would be when we get to Colin Baker we may take the opportunity to show his appearance in a Blake’s 7 episode, or perhaps the first Jonathan Creek episode in which he appears (although pretty briefly).
It’s an evolving idea really to try to get more content on the site, and fill that time between now and series 8. It can certainly give you something to look forward to at the weekend.
From the feedback at the moment, favourites seem to be Time Meddler for the first, Mind Robber for the Second, Vengeance on Varos for the Sixth and Curse of Fenric for the Seventh.
Third, Fourth and Fifth seem more open for suggestions with a lot competing, so any nominations for those can add to the mix. Current favourites are:
Day of the Daleks, Curse of Peladon, Three Doctors (Three)
Deadly Assassin, City of Death (Four)
Kinda, Arc of Infinity, Five Doctors (Five)The Eighth Doctor is more of a problem, so I’ll be investigating if we can get access to something from Big Finish for a group listen. We’ll see what we can do.
Also, if you are artistic, we’re asking for front page images to compliment what we are covering.
10 January 2014 at 11:56 #24157@arbutus has kindly provided a Guest Blog looking at “The Light at the End” with some thoughts comparing this alterative anniversary special to TDotD.
http://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/sidrat/the-light-at-the-end-big-finish/
10 January 2014 at 11:53 #24156Welcome back! Hope your connection is sorted because we have more “homework” starting next week to keep you occupied.
@monochromedimension (and newer members really)
The Doctor retrospectives we do are done in Forums basically. We take a story per Doctor and watch it episode by episode, week by week (as nature, or rather “The BBC” intended).
Previous stories covered are here: http://www.thedoctorwhoforum.com/before-gap-bg-episodes/. None for Hartnell listed, but that’s because we knew the BBC were repeating Unearthly Child at the anniversary, and a forum for that is available.
We started with the first episode of Talons, so reading that may give you an idea of aims and format.
10 January 2014 at 11:05 #24150On Sherlock, it seems they will go on to a Fourth series, which is nice
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/09/sherlock-back-fourth-series-steven-moffat
8 January 2014 at 22:13 #24092A vote for common sense! It’s great isn’t it?
You’re absolutely right about Quatermass II being intact. Don’t know what I was thinking about because I purchased the box set of everything remaining a few years ago. Quatermass II is a lower quality (iffy indeed), and there are only 2 episodes of Quatermass Experiment which are slightly worse if anything.
8 January 2014 at 21:51 #24087I’m appealing (no – really)
Have a scintilla of artistic merit? Know how to use a graphic manipulation package? Anytbody? We’ve had a request to change the front page image periodically and, as we are about to launch new retrospectives it may be fun to ask people to contribute images based on the stories we’re going to show. So to give people some time to think here are a couple of clear favourites if anyone wants to consider them:
1st Doctor – The Time Meddler
2nd Doctor – The Mind Robber
3, 4 and 5 have no clear winner, so we’ll recanvass opinion later.
6th Doctor – Vengeance on Varos
7th Doctor – Curse of Fenric.Your help will avoid us having to use my own contributions. I mean, you wouldn’t want to stare at these for 4-5 weeks would you. 😉
So art, characters, cartoons, whatever you want to do. Over to you.
8 January 2014 at 21:28 #24085@theprettyreckless @meadowrose @confusedpolarity
Welcome (and to anyone else who has signed in recently I’ve not mentioned – been away for a few days so still catching up). Plenty of room on the Sofa @confusedpolarity. We can always knock a wall through if required.
There are quite a few Hartnell stories I really enjoy for different reasons. It’s probably a bit of a cliche to name The Daleks and The Aztecs, so on an early blog about Top stories I named Tenth Planet (which I like, but which isn’t a strong Hartnell story for understandable reasons) and The Time Meddler.
The last one reminds me we are due to start another retrospective of episodes soon, and it looks like The Time Meddler will be the choice (and I didn’t vote for it, but delighted to see it crop up).
8 January 2014 at 18:00 #24073Sorry, forgot to mention @jimthefish, I’ve been struggling to remember anything that would fit the bill on McCallum being menaced by a hand, but I’m coming up blank. I’ve seem the version of Frankenstein before, but I don’t remember a scene like that (although that could be time playing tricks).
If you find out, let me know. If McCallum can sell being menaced by a floating pillow in S&S, he can pretty much sell being menaced by anything! 🙂
8 January 2014 at 17:54 #24072Probably a bit of an echo, but I enjoyed The Sign of Three (potential spoilers to follow) as well.
I think as others have said on the Gs board, just what would be the point of remounting the tales of ACD once again, and I can’t fault the production team of Sherlock for taking a very different path (I’m just going to acknowledge here, I’m finding it easy to load the profiles of regular commentators like @jimthefish. @scaryb, @bluesqueakpip, @juniperfish, and a few non-forum names on the G, just to avoid having to wade through some really predictable shit and save hours of valuable time).
These are really character driven pieces, and hats of to the two leads and supports who are really having a good time with the material. I think I can understand some level of wailing from those who are expecting the usual, but surely there are options for those who want the taste of reassuring olds, rather than the new?
I think this latest trio is handling the return of Sherlock and his attempts to integrate his life back into his circle of “friends” really well. He’s been shown to be attempting to capture the old magic of the relationships, and you can see it’s not working. As a result he isn’t really firing on all cylinders, hence I think the points about internal conflict (Mycroft v. John) and potentially missing certain clues (I hadn’t really noticed the observations about the now Mrs Watson, so thanks to those who did).
There are laugh out loud moments, and moments of sadness. Much of this is hilarious, but hats of to Cumberbatch for the end. I think his shock at realising Mary’s condition was well played. I think for someone trying to recapture the old magic that would have been confirmation that if marriage would take John away from him, a child would be an even more significant change. His slow walk away from the party, someone observed, reminded me of Pertwee leaving Jo’s party at the end of The Green Death. It highlights the “alien” qualities of these characters in how they are perceived.
I’m really looking forward to the concluding part.
8 January 2014 at 17:29 #24070Well, I hope you enjoy the bit on Sapphire and Steel. @miapatrick asked for it to be included on the rewatch list as well.
Just on Quatermass, I’d love to include something, but I’ve been grappling with how to do it. You can’t really overestimate it’s resonance and impact (not just in the UK – both Stephen King and John Carpenter among others cite Quatermass and the Pit as big influences), but it’s a question of go with the original TV series (and Quatermass and the Pit is the only one that survives in it’s entirety), the films (which I’ll mention as this is the film thread 😉 ) or cheat and cover the “live” attempt at restaging The Quatermass Experiment of the mid 2000s (which is notable for including David Tennant and Mark Gatiss).
Quatermass and the Pit, the TV series is 6 x 35 minute episodes, so it depends on how people feel about reviewing 1950s TV for that duration. Personally, I think it’s fantastic for its time.
8 January 2014 at 17:25 #24069Oh well, best laid plans and all that. I was supposed to be in transit for the majority of this week, but had a look at the later end of my journey up to West Cumbria and blanched at the site of the number of “bus replacement services” for trains. I bravely decided to chicken out of adding another bunch of hours to what is already a long enough journey, and delay things a bit.
That’s probably got to sound pretty hollow to our US and Canadian correspondents considering some of the conditions I’ve read about over there, but I’m cheap and lack moral fibre. Commiserations if you are stuck in wintry conditions.
5 January 2014 at 14:13 #23960I’ve just taken down mine, and have the sudden nagging feeling that the room is “missing” something that I get every year. Weird how something that you only use for a couple of weeks a year can have that effect.
@whisht , on New Years resolutions, I made my last one on New Year 1987, which was “no more New Years resolutions”. I have successfully carried this one out ever since, and always urge friends to respect my “resolution” and not ask me to break it. A cunning stratagem to avoid going through the rigmarole of making and keeping any new ones. 😀
3 January 2014 at 20:47 #23881Ah, I had quite a few of those myself (as did @whisht if I remember). I sold mine for beer tokens before disappearing to university. Alas any toy that remains unplayed with though.
Yeah, when I first bought my house my parents emptied their attic and filled mine, and I found it a few years later. Still works, which probably owes more to the fact I could never afford batteries when I was young. Other things I still have are an 18 inch tall Alien from the movie in the 70s (with a spring loaded grabby inner jaw), and a Denys Fisher K-1 Robot from Doctor Who.
This was the extent of Toys for Doctor Who in the 70s:
I had the K-1 Robot and Cyberman (with nose, and silver painted cloth suit that shed within a week of opening the package). I love how the Doctor and Leela look nothing like the actual actors! Louise Jamieson once said the only contact she had with the company was a phone enquiry that asked about her bust size. She lied, which led to something anatomically improbable. 😀
3 January 2014 at 20:43 #23880Yes, I’m not sure I could define what a casual viewer is any more. I think the BBC probably judge it right relying on a combination of vieweship and Audience appreciation index, and both are OK.
Increasingly though, it’s an international market. With the commercial arm divvying up money as well, they know what sells in what territories. Who is massively important financially, so if they perceived weakness they’d sort it out. Both Doctor Who and Sherlock are successes internationally as well as at home. I can’t help thinking there is a huge element of “tall poppy” syndrome creeping in to coverage of people like Moffat and Gatiss.
3 January 2014 at 18:51 #23872Hehheh. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know my “Woody” is in pristine condition, and was actually the Buzz Lightyear of 1979, Rom – SpaceKnight!
Someone in Forbidden Planet once got really excited when I told them I still had it and it worked and asks me the question you inevitably get asked:
“Do you have the original packaging”.
You get used to trying to count to 10 before screaming “No you f***ing idiot! I was 10! I played with it! Like I was SUPPOSED TO!!”
3 January 2014 at 18:29 #23870Don’t worry – I’m not a completist on stuff like that, but I have a couple of big Tea Chests in the attic that are full of countless passing enthusiasms as I grew up. The Doctor Who chest is very big and stuffed with goodies (Phaseshift definition)/a load of junk (MrsPhaseshift definition).
Genuinely that is the first suggestion for something I’ve never seen at all. Good one.
3 January 2014 at 18:14 #23868Talking of other TV, the Freeview channel “DRAMA” has the first Sally Lockhart drama The Ruby in the Smoke on at 10pm tonight, with Billie Piper and her companion Matt Smith. Worth a look.
And we have a new James May Toy Stories, in which they try to make a working motorcycle out of Meccano. I enjoyed the series they did, so I think I’m sorted for tonight!
3 January 2014 at 18:09 #23867@jimthefish @blenkinsopthebrave @whisht
I think it’s a bit sad. There has always been that streak of comment fodder on the Guardian, but lately they just seem to focus on what’s trending at the moment and launch half a dozen articles on whatever it is. And then criticise focusing on a handful of the population? 😉
3 January 2014 at 16:57 #23859I think the butt of the joke in Sherlock with regard to the “I’m not gay line” is Watson, who is consistently shown from A Study in Pink onwards to be the most sensitive one when the subject of sexuality crops up. Sherlock appears to treat it as an irrelevance, or just to enjoy Watson’s discomfort, and Mrs. Hudson is progressive to the extreme.
I think that is an honest reaction and does show a certain streak of “small c” conservative values in Watson that’s always been there. He was an Army Surgeon in book and TV and in that kind of environment people can get very sensitive about perceptions of sexuality full stop. He seems to be very old fashioned in many ways. Are there such people out there – absolutely. So I’d see it more as a joke at their expense.
I agree Doyle really wasn’t that much of a social commentator and your line about his belief in absolute social mobility well chosen. He was actually quite a mercenary character, aspiring to “live the Victorian dream” from very early on. I think Holmes as a creation as a consulting Detective inevitably led him more towards those who could afford to engage his services, with occasional offers of help to the less fortunate on a problem that intrigued him.
But then I think the G has rather over-egged the Sherlock pudding this year I think
Not half. The latest attempt by Mark Lawson seems tailor made for Moff Bashing, and is actually pretty inept for a few key reasons.
Lawson is one of the many writers on the G who is assuring us the future of TV is in the ongoing narrative that American TV/Netflix et al are promoting. All of a sudden, the latest episodes of Doctor Who and Sherlock are in trouble because they forgot those casual viewers. It’s not long ago he was celebrating as remarkable the achievement of Day of the Doctor (which played with more continuity issues) as watercooler moment TV with a simultaneous cinema release.
I think it’s the obvious lack of consistency across columns that is just highlighting now that these articles are not written with any particular philosophy in mind, they are written to simply promote the maximum “I agree”, “This is shit” “I need to excercise my moaning gland” comments. It’s probably OK for those with memories of a goldfish, but I can’t help thinking Lawson’s long-term credibility should take a nose dive.
I find it really easy not to bother commenting these days.
3 January 2014 at 16:47 #23857Afternoon all. Tis’ the weekend! Welcome to all the new signups.
Liked the link and idea on collections. I remember those Typhoo cards, along with the Weetabix ones that @whisht mentioned on the Memories thread. I still have a few of each, but not complete sets.
2 January 2014 at 13:05 #23811@gothamcelt @whisht @bluesqueakpip @jimthefish
The thing of using Hitler is surely that “what if you went back in time and killed Hitler” is a genre cliché? TV Tropes entry on Hitler’s Time Travel Exemption Act is not even comprehensive of its use, but covers a lot of the issues. There’s even a subset of the Grandfather Paradox called the Hitler Paradox.
The reason for his use in this piece would seem to be:
- in a show that’s currently subverting a lot of time travel clichés it would seem to be a huge target.
- Hitler is well understood to be a monster. I knew he was a monster when I was too young to really understand anything about WWII thanks to comics and TV. An example would be an episode of The New Avengers where they had saved Hitler’s Brain. I’m sure most kids today would probably sum him up as a “nasty man” through simple dint of repetition in popular culture. Mels declares let’s kill Hitler, but hardly gives it a thought because she’s trying to kill the Doctor. She’s comparing our favourite time travelling hero to Hitler (as her young self explains, he’s the reason everything bad happens because the Doctor doesn’t stop it).
From this latest Episode, you see this is The Silence’s perspective, they are trying to kill the Doctor to prevent a war. As with many attempts to Kill Hitler, they seem to be absorbed into history to push forward the outcome they least desire.
I have no objection to the use of Hitler in comedic situations, and I do think the fairly disdainful treatment of him in the episode is the right way to go (as with Kelly’s Head Butt). Counter-intuitively, making Hitler such a massive figure in history who led others astray misses a huge point about the rise of Nazism in Germany (and elsewhere – support for some of their ideas was found in pockets world wide). I think Terry Pratchett summed it up best in a footnote to one of his Discworld books:
‘Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot him and there’ll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland?’
1 January 2014 at 22:46 #23795I know! A lot of that had me laughing my head off. Especially the “Slash Fiction” interlude between Sherlock and Moriarty. Brilliant fun, and very knowing about the internet speculation surrounding the final. Has the truth actually been revealed though?
Ah – apologies for that. I’d forgotten what gets on i-player global depends on what deals the BBC have with international broadcasters.
We were presented with 3 “solutions” of various levels of likeliness, all of which are probably figments of bonkers speculation. It’s very funny indeed, and hopefully will delight after the wait. The various re-introductions of Sherlock to his “team” are really well handled.
Some aspects of your number 2 showed up. You don’t want to know about the cold start solution, which featured a bungee rope, crashing through a window and a snog with Molly.
1 January 2014 at 20:23 #23789@scaryb (nice New Year avatar btw)
I agree, when you look at the potential for stories to arise from this is seems like a new blank canvas. I quite like the idea of a substantially weakened Gallifrey who have to deal with an outside Universe on a more equal footing. Malong treaties and allies, and perhaps still having a lot of conflicting issues with The Doctor.
Ohhhhh – early nomination for mass Dalek nano-bot conversion! Harsh, but fair. Unfortunately this may lead to “last of the Time Lord” angst again though.
1 January 2014 at 20:09 #23788All sound more feasible than mine. I keep getting stuck on an image of a blue box appearing half way up St. Barts and a voice shouting “It’s happening again! Clara – open the doors to the swimming pool!”.
I fear I may be stuck in “Doctor Time”.
Here’s hoping that the i-player Global app is cost effective for you!
1 January 2014 at 18:38 #23782@juniperfish @bluesqueakpip @arbutus @whisht
It’s a great idea for speculation, and I think it’s aspects like “Mother” that makes me think a potential future showrunner could use the idea to accelerate the Time Lords beyond that conflict into new territory.
Like the Time War, they could have exciting references by a future RTD to events that happened (in a sealing the Medusa Cascade way). The Fall of Rassilon, the Siege of the Death Zone, the 100year rule of the faux Master Emperor, and his fleeing at the N-forms unleashed by The Romana Contingent.
Then, in a future anniversary, the Doctor could revisit these events, and people will moan that it all sounded so much better in their imaginations and blame whoevers writing the show at that time. ;-). The circle of time!
It would be interesting to speculate on what may come out of Gallifrey as and when they do come. Would it be good for the Doctor or not, would they see him as a hero or villain, and would they be as powerful, if they’ve gone through the Time War, and had an internal conflict to deplete their resources even more? I think it’s a perfect opportunity to re-invent the remains in a way to something much less isolationist and “all powerful”.
1 January 2014 at 18:11 #23781This has been prep, of course. I’m now rewatching the last episode of Sherlock Reichenbach Fall prior to tonights return. Anyone got any clever theories?
1 January 2014 at 18:09 #23780I took the opportunity to record some of the Mrs Bradley mysteries over Christmas from 98/99 (shown now on UK Drama). Largely because it’s the wonderful Diana Rigg and I remembered enjoying a bit of 20s set murder mystery at the time. I watched the “Death at the Opera” one and had completely forgotton it featured both Peter Davison and David Tennant way before Who returned. Quite funny really. Drama seems to repeat things fairly frequently so they are probably scheduled fairly soon if you’ve never seen them (there were only 5 made).
1 January 2014 at 14:52 #23769@besd1 @arbutus (& @osakahatter)
I think my thoughts on the crack and time passing were simply that
- They’ve had time to put a plan to contact the Doctor in motion.
- They had time to both receive information, process it and adjust their actions, responding as they did.
So that does imply some linear passing of time rather than being “frozen” in the moment that the Doctor saves Gallifrey.
Actually this little revelation is another gift to future scriptwriters in a way. If you say that Time is passing on the other side (rather than in some loop) things will be changing. The resolution of DotD when compared to TEoT would seem to see the largely sane War Council in one place and the largely insane High Council in another.
If/whenever they get brought back, this way they can come back in a substantially different form. The resolution of those two views of the Time Lords can be written in a pretty succinct piece of dialogue: The Time Lord Civil War, which could be unseen (as was most of the Time War) and leave something very different. After all, if some mad bugger 20 years down the line wanted to bring them back, he doesn’t have to worry about casting, characters or the “baggage” of the Time War Time Lords. In the meantime, it does put an end to the “last of the Time Lords” pathos in the interim as @osakahatter said.
Energy passing out of the crack and time passing would also seem to be a natural “get-out-of-jail-free” card for The Master, who made a habit of escapology in tricky situations, should anyone want to bring him back. 😀
1 January 2014 at 14:43 #23767Happy 2014 everyone. I’ve started the New Year in exactly the right way. I’ve had a massive sleep in, which in no way reflects indulgence in any celebratory drinks last night.
Well, perhaps a bit. Has anyone got a razor I can shave my teeth with?
31 December 2013 at 15:45 #23715I just had an unpleasant coincidence. I was trying to find out which one of Peter Cook’s Establishment crowd had produced a pithy quote on satire being the indulgence of capitalism and found out one of them, John Fortune, has just died! Oh well, farewell John.
I agree with you btw, but it is unusual for todays Disney to go down that route. I can’t help think it got by on sufferance as Disney was in the middle of contract negotiations with Pixar at the time.
31 December 2013 at 14:06 #23710In that spirit, let’s all bonker on into 2014
A sentiment I’m sure we call all get behind!
On Matt, we have the Faces thread (link to Matt Smith entry) if anyone wants to add to thoughts, but it may be interesting to have a blog about what his tenure has meant to them that could provide a clean slate, if someone wishes to volunteer?
31 December 2013 at 13:21 #23702That blogs here, Time Lords: Timelocked and I’m loving it.
I’ve been trying to think of ideas to better access blogs, as we get more. If anyone has any ideas let us know on the Website Comments thread.
31 December 2013 at 13:15 #23701WALL-E is absolutely my favourite Pixar film. It’s astonishing, which is why I thought I’d mention it was on yesterday On the Sofa. A great silent movie in the beginning and such an unusual tale to come published by a big corporation like Disney. Its view of humanity is pretty broad (but all the more engaging for it) satire.
It sent the usual suspects of the American Right into a right tizzy on release. The comments on @cathannabel s blog on It’s a Wonderful Life talked about how the FBI saw it as Communist propaganda. I think the reaction to WALL-E was more extreme!
31 December 2013 at 12:45 #23695I must admit the poetry aspect threw me as well. The only references I’ve found are the ones on TARDIS wiki about the use of it in this episode which @wolfweed linked to, so I guessed the author may be a private joke with SM.
I quite like the use of “in-universe” poetry, rhymes (tick-tock goes the clock) and other bits and pieces that litter the series. It’s great for mythology building and was always one of the best aspects of the spin-off novels and comics. There is a Fifth Doctor comic strip called “Tides of Time” that @wolfweed will have read, that ended up with the Doctor finding a stone statue to a temporary companion (a Knight) with a carved inscription:
The journey has not ended here,
For his spirit claimed,
By death knell’s chime,
Lies waiting still,
To cross once more a Sea of Stars,
And sail the Tides of Time.Which would be a great sentiment for the Doctors incarnations themselves.
31 December 2013 at 11:36 #23687Phaseshift ‘s “watch with Master”
I so wish I’d thought of that. 😀 Hopefully though, I won’t be writing them all.
31 December 2013 at 11:31 #23686Happy Birthday to us! A year already – who knew?
Many thanks to everyone who comments, because your thoughts fuel the fire. A special thanks to those who write blogs, take a steering role in a particular forum, or help behind the scenes when required (you know who you are). The enthusiasm is always appreciated by all of us.
Big thanks to me to @bluesqueakpip and @wolfweed for being massively useful as sounding boards for guidance and document checks, streaming content in the runup to the 50th (@wolfweed is a bit of a hero on the spoiler front, navigating a tricky issue with some thought) and many other random acts of kindness.
As ever though, if you have an opportunity to raise a toast (and on New Years Eve, I think we all may manage that one), thank @craig for his time and resources in maintaining this site. It was a real leap of faith from a lurker on the G threads, and a real act of kindness. It could have quickly died, and I hope the good times more than make up for the times he’s had to display the patience of a saint through the bad. Many thanks from me.
Cheers, one and all!
30 December 2013 at 13:41 #23658@fatmaninabox @cathannabel @wardoctor
Thanks for the thoughts, and any more just put them on the Sofa.
I’ve just noticed my afternoon viewing appears to be sorted. Wallace and Gromit, followed by Wall-E on BBC1 (any film that makes Glenn Beck rabid gets my vote 😉 ).
29 December 2013 at 22:37 #23638More than a few mentions on Charlie Brooker last night. I did enjoy the description of Broadchurch as a “new spinoff of Doctor Who – on ITV. Something good on ITV, it was mind-blowing”. 😀
29 December 2013 at 21:46 #23632Hi, I meant to reply to you about the post you linked to regarding improving/changing Doctor Who (thanks for the link). I was going to suggest something along those lines for after the new year. Start with a blank slate and do a thread about speculation/hopes for the next series. How it may differ from Matt Smith’s tenure, what people want retained, etc. Didn’t seem much point in starting it too early. We have a lot of time to kill! 😀
29 December 2013 at 19:25 #23609Oh dear @d12345, the time has come to reveal yourself as a little dullard again has it?
29 December 2013 at 16:39 #23600I’m still trying to digest @juniperfish s analysis. Both brilliant and bonkers. I may have to come back to it!
@scaryb. Maybe, like AG and BG we need to develop our own shorthand. Peter Capaldi could be Doctor 2.1. Second regeneration set, first iteration. (Hartnell was Doc 1.1, Troughton 1.2, etc with it all getting a bit messy at the end). Any other suggestions (bonkers or otherwise) taken.
28 December 2013 at 23:05 #23561@blenkinsopthebrave – Cheers, I have a bit more time tomorrow for it. I dashed that one in a rush to make sure I could upload.
It is astonishing. I think @craig said once on the boards that it could have died in a few weeks, but here we are – first birthday!
Hi, apologies for ducking out. I’ve sent you a PM (the e-mail notification should have a link if you’ve never used the function before) with some options to get it to us. Looking forward to it. Let me know if it doesn’t show up.
28 December 2013 at 15:52 #23527We’ll have a think. I’ve been having a play about with some new software which has let me finally upload images to the site (@craig s very kindly been uploading all my images in the past). Anyway – I’m sure he’ll be relieved to know that I have finally managed to get one uploaded! Huzzah! Just an experiment for our first birthday on New Year’s Eve.
27 December 2013 at 17:10 #2348727 December 2013 at 15:38 #23483I did debate whether to post that on the general books thread, but it seemed worth posting here. Love early Stephen King, and I think that’s one of his best. The sequence with Danny in the snowbound playground is so intense.
BTW – If you ever want to write a thesis on Capra and Doctor Who, let us know and we’ll do it as a blog!
27 December 2013 at 15:32 #234802. His future tomb at Trenzalore has now been averted? So Clara never did jump into his timestream but then again, if she didn’t then neither did The Great Intelligence so maybe one cancels the other out?
I think she jumped. Again it’s a consequence of the more dynamic view of time flow that Moffat has presented. Everything in it has a precedent in the Whoniverse, with timestreams that didn’t happen to exterior view, but which the Doctor and entourage lived through.
Can I just say though, I’m feeling immensely smug for not very much. In some speculation on the 50th sparked by conversation with @bluesqueakpip and other posters, I seemed to tie in the sacrifice of Tenzilore as an end-point with the regeneration limit. I’ll confess this piece of prescience back in June was entirely coincidental. 😀
27 December 2013 at 15:22 #23479I do, however, wonder this about the cracks. Why did the crack in the tower close after Clara spoke to the Time Lords, and why did it conveniently reopen in the sky outside? This would imply that the Time Lords were controlling the cracks, when I thought the Doctor had said that the cracks, opened by the exploding TARDIS, were being used by the Time Lords?
I think there are two ways of looking at this. If I can quote Sexy Fish Vampire Rosanna in Vampires in Venice:
There were cracks. Some were tiny. Some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds, and people. And through others we saw silence. And the end of all things. We fled to a nation like ours. And the crack snapped shut behind us. Saturnyne was lost.
The cracks opened up to other voids/worlds. Perhaps only one went to Gallifrey, and this was it. The Doctor had previously stated in the Doctor 10 Cybermen two parter that when the Time Lords were around hoping between Universes was no problem. Once the crack is there, they have a measure of control over it.
The other is to say that the overwriting of timelines has consequences, a rebound effect of Time lines reconciling that Doctor 11 has been living through. The Silence have travelled back from what we’ve just witnessed to a point in the Timelines where the change in state of the Time Lords is not in effect. Through those cracks to other places, there is just “Silence”. Nobody is on the other side because Gallifrey burned. That’s a more dynamic view of the Whoniverse, with states in flux, which I think I’m drawn to more.
27 December 2013 at 13:02 #23476SNOW ANGELS! I had to get that out of my system I love that scene.
Welcome, and thanks for reminding me. I loved the look of that as well.
I wrote a while ago that the only real antecedent in genre I can remember for the Angels were the topiary animals in the Stephen King novel “The Shining” (they didn’t make it to the Kubrick film), which were hedge animals that only moved when you didn’t look. This episode really reinforced that as you heard the dull thump of snow as the Angels all suddenly went into attack mode.
From his right; that soft sound again, falling clumps of snow. He looked over and saw the other two lions, clear of snow now down on their forepaws, side by side, about sixty paces away. The green indentations that were their eyes were fixed on him. The dog had turned its head.
It only happens when you aren’t looking!
(From The Shining, Stephen King)
If anyone wants a good book recommendation for the winter period, and you’ve not read it, I highly recommend it. Save it for a stormy couple of nights, and read it on your own.
26 December 2013 at 13:04 #23401I saw the adaptation of Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic that Sky did some time ago for the first time. It’s OK, although Pratchett’s trick of developing comedy in narrative is never going to transfer well to screen. Main reason for mentioning it though was the appearance by David Bradley as “Cohen the Barbarian” the Disc’s oldest surviving Hero.
Bradley was obviously having a whale of a time with it, especially with the sequences about his lack of teeth (prior to getting the din-chewers to replace them). His delivery of the line:
“You know what they shay? Shit down by the fire, grandpa, and have yourshelf shome shoup” is epic. 😀
26 December 2013 at 12:25 #23400OK – some more detailed thoughts now after a rewatch.
I got my Christmas wish in that we had a resolution to the thirteen lives thing. Nice use of the seal communicator “taken from The Master in the Death Zone”, a reference to The Five Doctors, a story in which they first offered The Master a new set themselves.
I don’t have a real problem with a way it played out. The pleading by Clara about “loving him” (surely a “LOL” moment on the other side of the crack) was probably outweighed by the fact they were about to lose their point man in this Universe. They granted The Master a new set in the Time War, so they’re not above granting new regeneration sets for their own self-serving motivations.
It does seem to suggest that the Time Lords (and Doctors) fears about them being frozen in that moment in an alternative Universe were unfounded. Time seems to play out at some pace on the other side.
The main thing I’m glad they did is have the new set thrust on the Doctor, and not have him seek them out. To me, after his many lectures on the dangers to those who seek immortality, it would have been a sad thing if it had been any other way.
So – change in the timelimes rebounds back and forth. The Doctor saves Clara from the time crack in his grave, and she’s there to change the Doctors mind in DotD, and they save Gallifrey. This, in turn, enables the Time Lords to extend the Doctors lives and prevent the end point we saw at Trenzilore. No more a grave site, but the place of renewal.
A couple of small points aside, (I didn’t really need the contents of room 11 to be verified) I really enjoyed it. Smith was excellent. I noted some criticism of the prosthetics for aging, but I thought it worked a bit better than with Tennant in Last of the Time Lords. It’s Smith’s old eyes that sold it. The only jarring thing slightly was the voice, but we can’t do much about that. He does have a natural route to be plucked away from his 300 years on Trenzilore to appear in any future anniversary though. He could be in the 100th anniversary! Now that is forward planning. The end was more restrained than End of Time, and I’m grateful. I started to have a moment at the site of Fish fingers and custard, because somehow you knew what was to come in a glimpse of Amelia and then Amy. It just made sense.
Rewatching the Doctor laughing in the face of “rules” (13th lives) on top of the clock tower was heartwarming. He’s the constant rulebreaker isn’t he? I can’t help feeling that way about SMs first tenure, breaking the formula of the RTD years in a variety of bold and surprising ways, playing with audience expectations and doing it his way. Even if the number of episodes this year has been short, it’s been a very good year for the Doctor.
On to the future with renewed vigour.
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