Why do writers leave Who?

Robert Holmes, series 16

Ribos: The last but one Holmes story before he was apparently exiled for 4 years. One received well, the other rather less so. Need to be careful here because there are people who get touchy about this era. But new team of Williams and Read had a problem: the Hinchcliff/Holmes formula was…[Read more]

@nerys @dentarthurdent

In the age of ‘rage-bait’, malicious blatantly revanchist/irredentist sites and posts, of funded social media stooges, of bots and fake foreign avatars of known personalities, can we really claim the new information order down to ‘matters of opinion’ or reactions to apparent ‘mistakes’ made in obviously exceptional…[Read more]

@translatorcircuit

I don’t know John McKay… and I’m sure I should … apparently hugely influential. You get the idea that there were so many musicians like Keith Levine, who hadn’t done the grammar school music thing and so didn’t launch into classical references and jazz, though jazz was anti rock (which in early 80’s was very cool…) most of…[Read more]

@nerys @dentarthurdent @janetteb

This was the high water mark of S1. Only the finale (of the series) was a real problem, because those 2 eps dragged, and begged so many questions. That is, intelligent guesses can be made about to the arc but most people aren’t that interested. This means the show (or rather RTD and Gatwa) become a target to peop…[Read more]

@translatorcircuit

I have so so much admiration for those who, Pete Sinfield said of Ian McDonald, can pluck a string, hit a key or vibrate a reed and create a pleasing sound. Because I can’t. I can only admire and read.

The tritone is a dissonance, ‘mi contra fa’, avoided and ‘demonised’ by medieval sacred music: typically an augmented f…[Read more]

@translatorcircuit

three tones apart sounds like the tritone, long described as ‘the Devil in Music’ and rejected by musical theorists until C19th. Significantly, George Harrison did use it more than once.

Disney+… I can hardly say it was satisfactory but S1: 3-6 worked; also S2: 2-7. Only S1: 7-8 were abject failures.

The main problem is we…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @devilishrobby @nerys

I must admit of all this series, 73 yards is the most erm… enigmatic.

The distance is about the Tardis in some way: who the woman is; what she says to third parties at 73 yards, I’ve no idea. Nor why Mad Jack should be imprisoned in the ring BEFORE he manifests Roger ap Gwillem…. but that’s magic… or timey w…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @nerys

Goblin King… NOT the Jagrafess??

Music… it was a thing. Then it went away. It’s as if Russ wasn’t really interested. Contractural obligation? Exhibiting to the Head of Drama the error of his ways? Like it will make a difference.

@nerys @whohar @dentarthurdent

@whohar… that prescience got you at least one other returning classic Who villain… do you have a source or is it rude to ask? btw if you do, and the 2026 special looks precarious, then it IS bad news for bonkerising of all kind.

But you might want to think about Oct 5th. Boom wasn’t broadcast on that date. 3 and 3…[Read more]

@whohar

Ok. I knew about new showrunners choice and the rationale. My response was a bit Carry On.

Though coming straight after Dharwan stepped out in Whitaker’s it was uh… THERE.

Really, 13>14 WAS more loaded than 12>13. Again, does this reflect the unrelenting blandness of 13?

@translatorcircuit

Dharwanmaster got 13’s clothes. The revived 13 got his! 14 in that clobber would have been hilarious, but they went for the long goodbye didn’t. Fairly sure that’s the hand of Chib. RTD wouldn’t have turned that chance of a laugh.

Safe to say, the historical costume thing is a mixed bag. Queen Victoria made a lot of assumptions about Rose on the basis of some rips if I remember. 6 wearing his full regalia in late Georgian Geordieland is quite funny: but he wouldn’t be entirely sane again until Terror of The Vervoids. I’m sure someone should have said something: like ‘wa…[Read more]

The Christmas Invasion

Is THIS really 2nd tier? Well no. This is the start of the tradition. You might say Daleks’ Master Plan had a Christmas themed episode for the day, but it was part of a story not designated a special. And it’s 10’s first romp.

So, this is Independence Day. But the Doctor is having a post regen crisis, which means thing…[Read more]

@nerys @dentarthurdent

The nature of the attack on human culture by an ‘implosion’ of the musical instinct was undersold… Both those two early eps had great potential and maybe in a full season ‘chord’ could have been a two parter… because the idea is worth exploring, maybe with more than one musical number? Would have loved a Sharks vs Jets pas…[Read more]

@whohar @nerys @translatorcircuit

I suppose you have to say Chib and… what would you call it… gender avoidance (?) was a reasoned response to a particular narrative problem. The Doctor is always challenged by regeneration. He’s never the man he’s assumed to be, so SHE might not turn out to be convincingly feminine… uh. This is a case in point i…[Read more]

@translatorcircuit @nerys

@whohar (i think) mentioned that Chib didn’t tell the (other) writers in series 11 that 13 was a female Doctor. Not seen this source myself. Was the female doctor really a secret that long? Also Chib wrote or co-wrote all but 4 eps anyway.

Series 12 of course has the ep with Byron behaving badly: that was NOT a co…[Read more]

@janetteb

I’m investigating why Who struggles to hold on to good creative people. For instance, JNT was famously reluctant to work with Robert Holmes. Chris Boucher wrote Face of Evil, Robots of Death and Fendahl… all ‘A’ imho, but he left Who to edit Blakes 7 and the Beeb wouldn’t let writers do two shows simultaneously.

Looking at David Fis…[Read more]

@nerys @mudlark @janetteb

Here’s an interesting thought… Pyramids of Mars was hinted by Doggo in Space Babies and the desolate world without music… BUT I wonder if there is also a link to Image of The Fendahl, 2 years later?

Evidence…

There are 12 deities in the pantheon; The Fendahl is a Gestalt being with 12 components Fendahleen and ‘the co…[Read more]

@nerys

A lot of strange reactions to this series; gen z-ers really seem to have a down on Dot say, but seem to be more forgiving of these last two eps. On the other hand everyone else execrates them. It is hard to say because social media is so divisive.

I need to rewatch the last two; got as far Legend, gave up, not good…

The new Unit…[Read more]

So Voyage of the Damned says Christmas can take you anywhere. We’re looking at Russ vs Moff in the seasonal time. So I’ve done Next Doctor, and End of Time. One teases the end of 10 and delivers the Cyber King. Ho hum. A Dickensian message didn’t expect it to be very nice.

Then you get John Sim to do his best crazy stuff, but people don’t…[Read more]