@angleonashton

This was the usual eye-rollingly crazy RTD season closer… but a great season. I found the whole Osterhagen Key/exploding diamond/Davros in the cellar thing faintly ridiculous I’m afraid… that’s before we got to The Tardis towing Earth home. The metacrisis on the other hand was hilarious.

The ‘failed’ regeneration… The Doctor lose…[Read more]

@angleonashton

Online… BBC Sounds does have audio Dr Who on ‘4 extra’… if you can get it. You may need to register. It might mean declaring a TV licence; in the UK, live broadcast is free to air; not sure about streaming, cos I’m in the UK. Or you may find audio books on libraries, then rip to mp3 for your phone? I haven’t checked You Tube but…[Read more]

@blenkinsopthebrave

I was quite excited by The Colourised War Games. Such an important story canonically, but 10 eps (250mins) was a bit long: the mad charging about, scenery chewing and interminable sonic screwdriver action, tedious. Nonetheless, the contraction to 90mins seemed too drastic. Two 1hr or 75 min films (The War Games and The Time…[Read more]

@nerys @janetteb

My bf was/is a huge Bab 5 fan. And I preferred DS9. Fair to say B5 gave late DS9 it’s raison detre… forgive the font. B5 gave Trek the excuse to be dark… and NOT gunboat politics.

Lots to grind your teeth at tho… I mean DS9 and not just the Ferengi episodes. The cast was mostly (but not entirely like) as many Patrick Stewarts as…[Read more]

@angleonashton

Nu Who and Classic Who both went through highs and troughs. People carp about occasional Doctor lite eps, shipping and bad taste in the 9-10 era but it was consistently good. The end of seasons were mad. 11 & 12 showcased some amazing writing and performances but occasional quite indifferent eps too. I struggle with 13; a missed…[Read more]

@angleonashton

The Doctor is known to regenerate as a result of trauma… 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13; poison/exposure to radiation… 3, 5, 10 (twice); forced regeneration or sacrifice… 2, 9, 14; and old age… 1, the War Doctor and 11.

But there have been occasions when The Doctor ages unnaturally within an incarnation… the thing you mentioned that The Maste…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent

You misunderstand. My character analyses were for a putative reboot for OUR time: crooks are creeps, ruthless dictators are also venal idiots, freedom fighters hopelessly naive. MY kind of dystopia.

I just think you could have much more fun with the idea of The Liberator. Could a bunch of polynesians have done nothing with an…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @janetteb @whohar

I am thinking ORAC. Don’t remember the others. Future AI will surely be inanity we’ve got used to or think cool for some reason. How long have people been saying ‘ooh no it’s coming for you… SO clever and snarky’ and I say ‘for them maybe’ and ‘why do you think that? Oh you spent a lot of money didn’t you? Cui b…[Read more]

@whohar @dentarthurdent

Female Blake? Cyborg Avon? Canine Servalan??

I definitely recommend Trojan Horse Liberator… actually a Von Neumann machine, with brain wipe reverse isomorphic controls. Your dystopia has nothing on mine.

…. riffing on that, a Galactic ‘Pleuribus’ crisis, even? Canine Servalan develops disturbing (for the Telegraph)…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @whohar

I must have seen virtually all of B7 in the first run. I remember the everybody dies finale. At the time I assumed, whatever Michael Grade might say, that tv sci fi was going to look a bit rubbish compared with Hollywood. And obviously the writing was pretty consistent and good. Wouldn’t have known who Chris Boucher was…[Read more]

@whohar

You get the impression of people jockeying for position… but actually he’s making a general point that money doesn’t necessarily make shows better, and there isn’t as much anyway anymore!

‘Something went wrong.’ Really with Who and from a writing point of view, that’s only true of the season ends. The ratings are another issue, and it’…[Read more]

@thane16 @nerys @mudlark @whohar @whisht

Much (though far from all) my knowledge of Classical comes via the prism of Prog. Mind you first time I heard Tapiola by Sibelius it was a ‘building a library’ program… basically a Head of David like 1/2 hour wall of sound interspersed with two terribly educated gents asking each other… ‘which one do yo…[Read more]

@whohar @thane16

Howard Goodall (of multiple tv theme contributions) presented an interesting program a decade or more ago called ‘The Story of Music’, about the Western Classical Tradition. Not sure if it’s still in circulation.

However, I found I parted company with his narrative after Beethoven. Not because I don’t like Romantic Classic…[Read more]

@thane16

Floyd… ah, that’s Rog that is. The music became his idee fixee because the rest gave up. Money was a huge issue, everywhere. There is such a sharp distinction between the post rock collective approach of Radiohead (and others but not everywhere) and the nastiness that preceded.

Even bands like Cream, a band formed specifically to wri…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent

Hipgnosis covers are very cool.

DSotM was a breakthrough; Floyd had some success earlier but, as a band they were unaccountably down on it. Lots of sterling work, largely the setlist of their ‘69 stage show, was frittered away on movie soundtracks and b-sides.

Richard Wright had been Syd Barrett’s biggest collaborator, but Wat…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @winston @nerys @janetteb @mudlark @thane16

Happy New Year!

<p style=”text-align: left;”>@dentarthurdent</p>
if they’re clouds, and you see them, presumably they’re not vapour but condensed droplets not yet ready fall like the gentle rain from heaven

@winters3758

Only watched as far as The Deep (ep 3) so far. Interested to see the various resolutions, if Russ manages that, because there’s a lot of tropes and peculiar soft sci fi genuflections which I’m sure can’t be all they seem to be. But by the time you read this, you’ll know.

It’s interesting that this longer form seems more successful…[Read more]

@janetteb

Yes, I suppose writers’ relationship with the show was different after the gap, because of the gap. But there are loyal writers who were apparently cast aside before. And writers who were obviously commissioned, delivered and slid away after; Maxine Alderton almost made the Fam and T’floox work for ooh 45 minutes or so. Where is she?…[Read more]

@whohar @devilishrobby

Hope this doesn’t give too much away. Overall, yes watch it!

Positive:

Acting… though Russel Tovey does his best, Barclay the character could become annoying.

Theme… why ARE we specularly failing to control plastics?

Effects… those are great rubber suits! No really it’s fine and we’ll be watching that water flow down t…[Read more]