in the social messaging of Chibbers I thought it was overtly political – except I understand that’s both essential (plays & stories were always this) & part of Who’s rich history but something about the execution of their messages was clunky or unsubtle….

That’s one episode I rewatch because it’s funny, it takes one out of oneself but the ending, where the clone-grown humans are  released & well, brin…[Read more]

I’ll do a recap. @whohar @dentarthurdent @ps1l0v3y0u

I enjoyed Listen, particularly how Clara & the Doc can play against each other & poke fun? In my 20s I couldn’t accept my figure or my face.

I wondered as to how RTD with his “that’s alright” from the Toymaker seemed a gentle dig at Moffat? Though RTD brought b…[Read more]

I think @ps1l0v3y0u meant that women could sometimes be written as “another bloke” as opposed to a well thought out female character. If I’m wrong please chip in.

I’m not sure what that means. Well, if they got drunk with the other – girls, cracked juvenile bad-taste jokes, and went out on the pull on Saturday night, I guess t…[Read more]

Was this tendency because the Doctor was (then) male, and the companions, as ever, were female

I mean, yes I think so. The companion does tend to riff off the lead and, with Moff’s previous writing, we know he likes to explore the sexual politics of the traditional male-female relationship.

I liked RTDs take:…[Read more]

There are so many rules or concepts associated with writing for any character that I don’t know how anybody does it without facing criticism. But I was impressed with Am…[Read more]

Some people were annoyed that Moff’s companions were obvious bloke adjuncts. They have a point. I’ sure Bill ‘molested by a puddle’ also had some people frothing. 

Not sure what ‘bloke adjuncts’ means.   They were normal heterosexual people (like, the 90%) who naturally had boyfriends (or, in the case of Bill, girl-puddl…[Read more]

@ps1l0v3y0u

Ah, the infamous Bechdel test, aka the Bechdel–Wallace Test, was developed in the 80s, named for Alison Bechdel and Liz Wallace.

It’s pretty broad and, yes, limited in its usefulness. I believe it was originally developed to bring a focus on the roles of women in film, with their being quite the numbe…[Read more]

Well, ‘Alien’ would fail that and the hero was a woman, ffs! So would ‘Hell Bent’ (I don’t think Clara and Ashildr talked to each other about anything other than the Doctor, although…[Read more]

Until about 8 years ago I was ignorant of the Bechdel Test myself. I actually thought Moff’s female characters were well rounded (not just …ahem….well rounded…) progressing from confused & helpless to “being the Doctor.”

Over the years one notices how companions evolve. In the 2000s the Doctor saved his beloved com…[Read more]

Cor, yes! MI5’s ziggurat: a perfect description of it. I wonder who employed the architect to build THAT?  Oh yes! El Trumpo presenting the prize. What a delicious moment.

Yes, the fan service was evident, wasn’t it? I think even Mrs Flood’s status was confused with her monologue to Ms Cherry in Season 1 (almost like AD or CE org…[Read more]

yes I think they did undermine Moffat a little. And McGann was wonderful in the minisode.

Do you think the BBC didn’t much like Moffat or were tired of his stories or expectations?

I actually enjoyed Foundation- not so much season 1 or 3 but definitely season 2 and quite a bit of season 3. The books are so dense with characters t…[Read more]

All the other books are satire too, of course.   And I’m certainly not saying Small Gods was bad, I’d sooner read it than, say, anything by a less talented writer  (which is most of them).

You don’t need patience, or any commitment, to read the Discworld books.   Any more than you need a commitment to watch an isolated episode of Doctor Who.   The ‘recommended reading lists’ give the impression, possibly inadvertently, that each ‘series’ is one continuing story.  This is just not the case.   Although many of the charac…[Read more]

I am reading the T.P books from the beginning. Half way through now. Death is one of the best characters but htey are all gold. I think if I have a preference, and it is only by a smidgen, it would be for the witches. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and of course the fabulous Greebo.

The tv adaptation of…[Read more]

And it appears the Dalek syste…[Read more]

I think ‘Fifth Elephant’ may well have been derived from ‘5th Element’. It’s very common in literature and drama, I think it’s perfectly legitimate and a nice nod to the original work.
There are plenty of examples in Doctor Who. ‘Spyfall’ obviously comes from ‘Skyfall’ (James Bond). ‘Empress of Mars’ is very obviously a tribute to Edgar…[Read more]

@janetteb

@ps1l0v3y0u

Also too much YouTube for me; it burns through my writing time so I really should stop…

Some interesting suggestions here. Big thumbs up for the 5th Element. I’ve watched it several times and always enjoy it. Incidentally there’s a Discworld book called The Fifth Elephant but that may be coincidence.

Re…[Read more]

I have only watched one series of Slow Horses as yet. The remainder is on my “too watch” list. I am not sure I will get around to Silo. too much to catch up on. I have the…[Read more]

Bravado. Yes. Creative Differences. Also yes.

The BBC are going to go out to competitive temder for the new series, so my read is that there was definitely some tension about the show. Maybe the external discussion also affected the decision.

The BBC went out to tender for the CBeebies version of DW last year. It’s…[Read more]

So, how did Belinda and the Doc know to dress in Stormtrooper uniform? Did the ‘patriots’ win in the 2020’s? Is all the future a militaristic hell?

The exploration of the base is a bit reminiscent of Aliens (or indeed a dozen other sci-fi’s. I guess there’s only a very limited number of ways to…[Read more]

Lux.   Yes, there wasn’t a lot of content in it.   Basically just “all cartoons wish to be people”.   I’m not sure if that’s a common…[Read more]

Then someone spectaculated that the special had already been filmed in secret.

I’ve heard the same rumour. It would be hilarious if true.

But yeah, too much noise, not enough actual information because:

Cash needs clicks, and clicks need content. And the content doesn’t even have to be that good.

so same old, same old?

I guess. Alot of the Who fan channels are protesting a bit too much, so there are a few logic fails on their parts about why it is not true. We’ll find out when we find out.

But…I did discover that previous Christmas specials weren’t filmed until the September, so there’s a bit of a bigger open…[Read more]

I think the gap in actual Who news (Whows?) and the accompanying content vacuum mean the DW sites (and there are many) are scrabbling around for something, anything, to say. They often have quite significant followers and need to stay relevant so any minor rumour is jumped on as if it were something significant.

And talking…[Read more]

Honestly, who can say at this point. It’s pretty quiet atm and Who does have fans / commentators who like to fill the vacuum.

Probably nothing, but it’s (another) slow Who day.

(And if it isn’t true then it ought to be…)

@ps1l0v3y0u   That moment of turning down the ‘patient’s’ speaker was probably the most horrific of the entire episode.

@ps1l0v3y0u   The Mondasion Cybermen are really horrifying because they show so clearly what or who they used to be. So human and yet they are monsters like…[Read more]

stay safe

@ps1l0v3y0u It seemed to be very much about Peter being a fan, his devotion to the classic show… and adjusting to overwhelming public recognition.

Yes, I would think going from relative obscurity to international stardom would be a challenge for anyone. But Peter handled it with aplomb during his run with Doctor Who.

I’ve been lurking/incommunicado the last few days because we flew down to Christchurch last Tuesday and, among the things I forgot, was my laptop charger.   Since then I’ve been running on battery, just enough to check emails.  I ordered a charger online…[Read more]

Ruddy turnstones, in their breeding plumage, have a feather colouration much like a calico cat (which is why I called them the calico cats of the bird world):

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Turnstone/species-compare/64811941

@ps1l0v3y0u Now, if you want to see Turnstones in April, try the end of Southend Pier.

First time I ever saw ruddy turnstones was along beaches in our neck of the woods (southwestern Nova Scotia) in summer and fall. They are the calico cats of the bird world. Very distinctive!

But it runs into the same logical continuity problem (not sure if there’s a word for it) as the fact that Sean Connery ‘was’ Jame…[Read more]

Two other ones, ie not the two Dalek eps that were recently found. I have no details but Film is Fabulous (who uncovered the two Dalek Masterplan eps) seems very confident.

@janetteb @ps1l0v3y0u

I guess it’s the first Tenant ep proper, but it does seem odd to make such a song and dance about it. Tieing it into an announcement about the…[Read more]

@ps1l0v3y0u We got lucky with our last state election. there was…[Read more]

Things would have been very gloomy if Orban had stayed in power.