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27 October 2026 at 11:02 #78967
The Lodger. Another fondly remembered ep with a particularly significant departure: the mysterious ‘Silent’ space ship posing as, Craig’s first floor flat. That is we think it’s a space ship, the Doctor says it is, HADS has come to life and trapped Amy on The Tardis.
Of course, at this stage we don’t know it’s a ‘Silent’ spaceship because we’ve only heard the name from Prisoner Zero.
But the post Pandorica arc is being thoroughly seeded, and also earlier, with Supermarine ‘Spacefires’ in Victory of the Edsel Daleks.
This is the significant ep however; though Moff kids us that the control panel was an accident, just a bit of set for reuse, it obviously ain’t.
Otherwise, the whole of series 5 is fizzing with clues. If you think about it, RTD was a little more circumspect: we might have some messing about in a parallel universe here, Martha’s family being menaced there; disappearing planets… you really could maintain that you ‘didn’t see (whatever ludicrous scenario) coming’, just had to brace yourself.
It’s not that Moff is telegraphing stuff, because his imagination, is of course, a party. At this stage, he IS like a kid with a new bike. River is reintroduced and there’s no doubt she IS significant. Otherwise, the crack reoccurs in every ep except this, Victory, Vampires and Vincent. However, foreboding abounds. Moff likes prophecies. Not always sure myself. I suppose you might all it ‘remembering in the wrong direction.’
The Lodger is a great bit of comic froth. Smith and Cordon bounce off each other, ably supported by Daisy Haggard. Do I believe the best friend dilemma? Not really bothered.
Smith CAN play football.
25 October 2026 at 17:44 #78965the duck-pond has no ducks…
it IS a thing. The Doctor discusses it with Amy at length.
The only thing I can think of is The Doctor texts ‘duck’ just before he enters hospital on a fireman’s ladder.
Maybe it got away from him (Moffat)
23 October 2026 at 15:20 #78960The Eleventh Hour. This ep is pretty much universally praised. Or, at least, it’s not immediately named unacceptable even by the ‘where’s Tennant?’ brigade. You know: Matt Smith is considered insufficiently blokey; a twitty toff last seen demonstrating at Aldermaston. The daleks turn up three eps in but they were considered too Ford Edsel.
This doesn’t bother me; what is the difference between the man discussing Who on the Clapham Omnibus and Jacob Rees Mogg defending Sacha Baron Cohen? Answer: Jacob never takes the bus. And I didn’t hear him because a dog was barking.
BUT!! What IS Moff doing? He fearlessly works with kids if not animals. Though there is a dog. And a man who barks and growls. His principal cast are allowed to ACT; your eyes are glued to Caitlin Blackwood as she watches Smith goof-off.
And he introduces Karen Gillan in a ridiculous faux WPC uniform. Clapham bus man, you can relax now. As it happens Arthur Darvill is a male nurse, as is Strax (a year later), so it ain’t virtue signalling? This is Moff’s instinct to muck up the back story: Reptilian Gentleman Jack; maths teacher former soldier, cute kid who’s really NOT very cute, seriously ugly villains who turn out to be a kind of priest, apparently.
Is this Woke, bearing in mind I’d never heard of it before Farage disinterred it, or had the concept explained to him beyond the pond? Or is it just MORE fun?
Moff’s arc is surely a case in point. Let’s laugh at the doctor. Let’s see him deal with a very angry woman. Sorry, story got in the way. And that is perfectly correct.
Amy. We’ve had supered companions before: Romana doesn’t count… Time Lady reduced to screamer in really not many eps at all; Nyssa the alien endling… but can she scream?; Adric a parallel universe prodigy/ijit; Ace was a child of Fenric. Then it’s Rose, Badwolf Girl; Donna the metacrisis Karen… Martha was ‘normal’, a reaction to Rose in every way. Under instruction from head office, I wonder?; I have mentioned the script of Empty Child/Doctor Dances before now.
Aldo, interesting that Martha is the companion in the story which had Mrs Saxon though. And Saxon, being a thorough sadist, gets at Martha through her family.
Anyway, let’s see what Moff can do. Amelia is NOT normal. The crack, the universal fear, like… something under the bed… eventually takes over the series. But this isn’t Anthony Stevens, sitting at his soon to disintegrate typewriter and observing the birds and the slugs take over his garden. Moff has actually thought this through. The crack doesn’t go away for three whole series.
So, this is a super-arc, just like the fall-out from The Time War. It even includes a brief detour into The Time War. And, I’m afraid that does imply a series of truly universal threats. Ho hum. Never a particularly good look. But RTD did it; why can’t Moff?
That aside, what could be more natural than this progression? If ‘the break’ was the origin of The War, Moff’s first arc takes on what came before, the Cartmel Plan, slowly unpeeling the nature of The Doctor.
Except, in this case, Moff is revealing The Family Who. Which would also seem to be a problem… what if you reveal too much? Where would you go? Remember, McCoy + latest bit of Gallifreyan tech wasn’t necessarily gold.
But all this is yet to be revealed. Eleventh Hour breezes the hour-long season opener format. Also, bit-part Olivia Coleman, at the time unknown beyond fans of Mitchell and Webb, simply eats the screen. And, are the Atraxi the police? I thought that was the Judoon? Bad police! I mean, this is just fun and clever.
More workaday than Blink perhaps, but the quality threshold is always the Moff issue. What’s the view downhill look like? We NOW know, it might be a lot worse. Chib, Whithouse, Gatiss and Gaiman all test Moff’s script edding skills; that is, until Matthieson comes along, Moff remains the best writer.
21 October 2026 at 11:23 #78959New Project: 2010-2017; The Moff Arcs.
How does ‘the arc’ illustrate the inner working of NuWho? Do 45 minute standalone stories fail to ‘do it’ anymore? Even the most charitable critic must admit Chib’s approach, was problematic. How will a new show-runner choose to handle it? And does the question define the problem with some of the audience? We’ve all heard it…
‘It’s too complicated; I don’t know what’s going on. How are kids meant to understand? Can’t they just bring back the Daleks?’
Is this the less ‘barky’ fragged edge of the hater fringe? Or this there a large and largely uninterested potential audience expressing their preference for reality/soap/gameshow?
Equally the corporation can point to this and use it for editorial leverage. Family Show! The arc… a sequence of related stories… COULD be seen as weaponising continuity.
The arc isn’t just an extended story, which in Classic years were often cobbled together to correct production issues elsewhere. Nor is it a change in scene such as the original Unit set up. And I would argue it’s not just the repeated return of a character such as Delgado’s Master.
In The Arc, The Doctor must deal with the consequences of past decisions: he/she is revealed NOT as an Ivory Tower super being; there are more twists, deeper questions, and previous stories are presented in a new light. The mechanics of writing, I would argue, is better. But, for all RTD’s flippancy, it needs to be planned. Or else you get The Flux.
Whereas the program platform would probably much rather have an editorial checklist. Soaps often introduce controversy to characters but they obey the rules; honest legal and decent. It can be argued that sci fi doesn’t obey rules.That is part of the thrill: ‘but what if’ meets ‘no, you really can’t.’
The Time Lord Stories are a sporadically repeating theme from War Games onward. The Key of Time is the first proper arc: and actually I like most of the individual stories in it more than the framing device. Two series later, the ‘Entropy Arc’ was high concept but it limped. The JNT era was arc free, aside from the brief Turlough/Black Guardian sequence, up until the rather forced ‘Trial of a Timelord.’ JNT’s third script editor, Cartmel, rewrote the nature of the Doctor’s narrative rather than present a coherent arc, though he laid the foundation of The Time War.
Of course The Time War was also ‘the break’; the logic being it’s absent from canon because events were time-locked.
The RTD arcs proceed straightforwardly from this premise: survivors from The War are revealed; these are The Doctor; The Daleks in series 1, 2 and 4; and The Master in 3 and the final specials. RTD’s end season resolutions were not always satisfactory.
Series 4 has one notable departure: Silence in The Library and the introduction of River Song. She was the plan of the next show-runner.
And Moffat then took the arc to a new level, delighted some and annoyed, horrified and confused many more. So, I will be looking at the specific arc episodes. When it comes series 7 of course, the second half is ALL about Clara. I’ll largely deal with the principle eps.
19 October 2026 at 09:41 #78955@dentarthurdent @janetteb @nerys
Reverse the polarity…?
Well, if so, it’s a bit sad really.
The reason for the regeneration was a bit forced. Jodie’s reappearance decidedly non-valedictory. The fact that the new face WAS Billie was by far the best bit of Reality War… and that says it all.
Perhaps that’s RTD’s point: someone’s not available; your streaming partner is useless; the money’s run out; but the show MUST go on.Ching!
I don’t want to paint myself into a corner where I feel I HAVE to hate whatever’s coming next. Partly because I’m not convinced it will happen. The BBC ditching or delaying stuff all over.
Coming back to Jed Mercurio, that Chib’s previous ‘triumph’ was also police procedural isn’t exactly promising. But Line of Duty is far better than Broadchurch. It even has a line humour.
On another note, I’m going back to review Moffat’s ‘arcs’… the beginnings, ends and other significant bits… though not every appearance of the cosmic crack. I wonder if the concept will survive the transition.
17 October 2026 at 13:46 #7894912 October 2026 at 13:25 #78946@nerys @janetteb @dentarthurdent
the dropping of Jed Mercurio’s name is very much to do with media reacting to his profile as an established BBC showrunner.
But, Line of Duty is a VERY good police procedural/organised crime group/vice and corruption drama. Lots of mystery, shock, twists and tension. Also humour. Transferrable skills.
The Billie conundrum. Personally, I would love a good run for a second Ladydoc, but the circumstances do seem unpromising. Equally you’d like developments that might resolve the arc left dangling by the Disney fiasco. Not about to place any bets.
7 October 2026 at 19:15 #78940Just seen this. Probably clickbait… Jed Mercurio is in the running for WHO??
That might not be too sad…
6 October 2026 at 12:28 #78939Female authored ‘speculative’ fiction, even May or LeGuin, does seem to be qualitatively different. How would they have written Bayta Darrel? Better than Isaac I’m sure. Though Issac is himself qualitively different to Samuel Butler say. Then you remember Azimov is as much removed from us as he was from Erewhon.
Scifi I like: Star Trek ToS and DS9 both problematic but rewarding, some worthy exceptions aside, I can leave the rest; WHO in patches; Dark Star and the original Alien; Hammer’s Quatermass & The Pit; the remake of Bodysnatchers… an element of horror perhaps? I used to be a big fantasy head but no more.
Azimov’s early writing is superior. More description and some dense dialogue but more balanced: he was drawing up a template. Foundation, of course, is the Decline and Fall in Space. General Bel Riose is Belasarius. So, Hardin is a technocrat Germanus or Patrick? Mind you, Ike was deeply uncomfortable with the fascistic turn the Second Foundation took… are they in fact Jesuits? Perhaps what we need is a Foundation/Godfather III crossover?
The point of Foundation is you can’t fight City Hall ie psychohistory. Unless you’re a mutant. Yes, Daneel Olivaw is immortal until his brain overloads but the protagonists have to do stuff in 50-60 years tops then hand over the baton; that’s the entire premise. But then you’d need new actors every other week. TV isn’t done like that! OK. And I don’t have to tune in, do I?
In fact I’m struggling to tune into<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>Silo series 3. I had my doubts from the start: small town sheriff, deep state, birth control, heroic blue-collars but urban monocultures. Err? Who produced this? Oh! HE’s a MAGA Republican. Yes.
Series 3 has Iran and a new and terribly familiar ‘azure’ antagonist.
Don’t mind me: I suspect Trek’s Prime Directive is the Monroe Doctrine.
I WILL have another go. Maybe at both. Looking forward to the return of Severance.
27 September 2026 at 17:01 #78933Thank you!
I did actually copy the entire ‘Editorial’! With my humbly submitted commentary. You know my regrettable opinion of the Beeb. Though I do LIKE the Beeb… but…
I still haven’t tackled more than 10 mins of Apples’ ‘Foundation’. I must sound like a curmudgeon, but this IS a very grown up story. They fatally misjudged the tone.
In the books, Salvor Hardin (beautifully written) uses symbolic logic to get to the bottom of Lord Dorwin’s diplomatic, reductive meaning. Which is… NOTHING. Dorwin is a genius. His message is… NOTHING. Bye!
The Corp is under acute financial pressure; really, it’s like a charnel house.
WHO MAY return. But, should it bear any relationship to the show WE love, whoever has taken it on WILL be a hero.
But I’m not holding my breath. Ready to be heartbroken. Poison pen ready.
18 September 2026 at 09:28 #78926So. The ‘Editorial’ immediately attracted me, and also had me foxed, which forced me to get Salvor Hardin to dust off his Penguin guide to symbolic logic. And his notes are on the back of this menu.
‘We are commissioning a new flagship series of Doctor Who.’ A WHAT?? Flagship? Does that mean NOT Big Finish?
‘The series should feel contemporary, and creatively ambitious, whilst remaining true to the values and characteristics that have made Doctor Who a beloved series across generations.’ And here is a waffle.
‘Aside from the central character of the Doctor, you will need to develop at least one companion for the series.’ We still quite like The Fam you know.
‘Companions should be distinctive, authentic characters in their own right, whose lives, relationships, ambitions, and personal journeys enrich the series. They should serve as an access point for audiences whilst also challenging, supporting, and influencing the Doctor.’ We don’t really understand Sci Fi.
‘We see this pitch as an exciting opportunity to innovate and surprise us.’ Cheap. Do it cheap. But not obviously so.
‘Stories should balance high concept science fiction with strong emotional narratives, ensuring that spectacle is always grounded in character and human experience.’ There, we used the words science, and fiction. Now we understand.
‘Episodes should transport audiences to extraordinary times and places, ranging from historical settings to distant futures, alien worlds, and contemporary Earth. Successful pitches will deliver ‘back of the sofa’ scares, jeopardy and tension, whilst remaining suitable for a broad family audience.’ Keep it clean. No sexualised masonry.
‘Doctor Who embraces themes that celebrate curiosity, courage, intelligence, and compassion, themes that interrogate the human condition and most of all, it should and will always be distinctively British storytelling. We are flexible in the way the series is structured i.e. serialised or ‘story-of-the-week’ and the number of episodes which make up the series.’ We hate those Mouse Guys.
‘Iconic, established villains are a mainstay of the series over 60 years and we invite you to use them, but we will want to begin to get an understanding of the original characters, aliens and themes that producers wish to bring to the show and are keen not to be overly reliant on existing Doctor Who lore.’ Ok. You are now entering the reboot zone. Any continuity may be torched before your horrified, pleading eyes.
‘We are looking for a new perspective that ensures Doctor Who remains relevant, surprising, brave and inspiring for both long-standing fans and new audiences.’ Reboots are good. We think. You trust us. Don’t you?
‘At this stage of the process, it is not a requirement to formally attach a writer. You may want to pitch with writer suggestions, or if you are already working with a writer, please do include them and their ideas/vision in your submission. We are not necessarily looking to work to a strict showrunner model and would expect once in production that the series will also use episodic writers.’ Not putting up with that again. You do what we tell you to.
‘Visually, the series should feel cinematic, distinctive, and ambitious, capable of competing for audience attention in a highly competitive global market. We encourage innovative approaches to production, world-building, visual effects, and storytelling that maximise the scale and emotional impact of the Doctor Who universe.’ Cheap. But not… we said this before, right?
‘We are seeking a creative vision that embraces the breadth of what Doctor Who can be and could be. Doctor Who is a show that has sparked conversation, taken risks and inspired audiences for decades and we are looking for this series to continue that tradition.’ No car crashes. Please.
‘Be brave, have fun and we look forward to hearing from you.’ You gotta be crazy.
10 September 2026 at 22:31 #78915instrumental verse…
The Beatles did it with Yer Blues, unintentionally: maybe the engineer failed to plug in the vocal lead for the last verse or something (you can just hear Lennon on the background).
Starless by Crimson has a 3 verse ‘1st movement’. Sonata and through-composed are the two default positions for Crimso. Apart from improv. In this case, there’s a VERY odd third theme (in 13/8), with a lead guitar ostinato and extraordinarily percussion, before a final ‘workout’ including the first melody and the verse played by a cors anglais, I think.
7 September 2026 at 18:50 #78912Yes. That’s enough Floyd.
Spotify is also excellent for sampling the unknown, just exceedingly parsimonious to the artist. I must listen to ‘On the Turning Away.’
If you are venturing into ‘The Tube’, there was an excellent BBC (?) compilation of Floyd films from Arnold Layne (I think) through to The Wall.
The Dave Gilmour‘s tribute to Rick Wright on Jools Holland, ‘Remember a Day’, was very moving.
4 September 2026 at 08:37 #78910Improv. Always fun to pontificate on something you never have a chance of doing…
Miles Davies could obviously improv and knew many fine musicians who could achieve exactly what he wanted. He also said he wanted to form a rock band because they made lots of money and the music was simple.
That is improv in rock and jazz is normally three/four musicians comping along while another shows their special moves. In any case, even the free sections consist of memorised phrases with some variation and occasionally altered sequencing. In the case of Cream the improvs do seem to have been truly ‘free’ but only because all three players were soloing simultaneously and loudly for inordinately long periods: I’m sure this was a result of Jack Bruce refusing to compose with Clapton and Baker, and so taking the lion share of the royalties.
Otherwise, the extension of rock songs after 67 was mostly about solos. Gilmour and Wright could do that of course. But this still didn’t solve PF’s issue about coming up with written material… in their opinion. Actually even Ummagumma is original, but they could and did do better. They obviously wanted to compose in a ‘non tin pan alley’ manner. Was that because of Soft Machine, Zappa and Crimson?
What they couldn’t hack was ensemble improv. Waters and Mason couldn’t read music and had to design ‘architectural charts’ to illustrate their ideas. PF collectively did well when responding to a pre-existing idea… like a film. Though they didn’t always appreciate the nervousness exhibited by the directors.
When it came to Meddle they composed independently in sections according to predetermined ideas and moods, then eventually knocked it together to write ‘Echoes.’ This is the song which starts with the sonar ‘ping’ of a piano fed through a Leslie cabinet, includes a nightmarish ‘whalesong’ section achieved by plugging a wah-wah pedal in incorrectly, and finishes with a white-noise sheppard/tone. Waters thought they should have sued Andrew Lloyd Webber over the theme of Phantom of the Opera. But this was in the 80’s: he had no money, had fallen with the band, and both they and ALW had probably lifted the same theme from a classical third party.
Early Floyd…
‘Piper’ is quirky literate pop songs + a bit of Space Rock.
‘Saucer’ has Remember a Day, my favourite Wright song, but the title track is a bit much. Perhaps I should listen to it again.
‘More’ is surprisingly good… some excellent straight forward songs.
‘Ummagumma’ is exceedingly uneven. Generally listeners favour the live disc.
IMHO ‘Atom Heart Mother’ is great: even, or especially, Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast.
‘Meddle’ might be just as good but it’s let down by a couple of duff songs at the end of side one.
‘Obscured by Clouds’ is as good as More. Interesting pygmy choir!
1 September 2026 at 22:09 #78907Sorry, made a mess of that last post… half measures really won’t do. But perhaps an in depth discussion of PF belongs here.
Richard Wright was probably the most original of the five core players and wrote off-beat pop songs with Syd Barrett. He tried to continue in the same vein after Syd left but encountered much resistance from Waters and Mason. There again, rather like late Yardbirds, the demands of the music market no longer reflected PF’s live show. Fortunately, Floyd didn’t attract the attention of Micky Most. However, like many bands in 68-69, they realised the despised Tin Pan Alley business was actually quite demanding; they didn’t have many songs and (as above) didn’t rate Rick’s.
Nor were they as competent as their peers at improv. So they experimented: programatic music… the soundtrack albums (More, Obscured By Clouds, Zabriskae Point would eventually lead to elements of Dark Side), solo-writing (Ummagumma), orchestral collaboration with Ron Geesin (Atom Heart), and semi improvised programmed development (Meddle). They also spent an inordinate amount of time playing squash. The songs generally got longer.
And Roger eventually took over. Prior to that they produced some fascinating music… and made money too!
But it was The Dark Side got them on Learjets.
31 August 2026 at 20:50 #78905Floyd! It’s difficult to talk about them without sounding like an obsessive. I really know nothing about their later post Walters incarnation. I know Gilmour was a friend of Jackie Leven, who I greatly admire.
I’m bewildered by their struggles after Syd Barrett ‘imploded.’ There was a huge struggle over what they were going to do and do frittered a lot of great music away on soundtracks and bizarre compositional experiments. Much of this seemed to come about in order to avoid a battle between Waters and Wright. But some great music was recorded and in fact the Waters dominated Dark Side to Final Cut era comes across as quite dull in comparison.
In particular, I love Atom Heart Mother (1970). The surviving members of the band have nothing good to say of it. Curiously the main theme of the title track was originally ‘theme to an imaginary western.’ It does have a Morricone thing happening.
I wish the original plan of a shorter version of Wish You Were Here combined with Animals had come to fruition. There are some great words there.
26 August 2026 at 21:15 #78896The beginning of Once Upon a Time in The West is astonishing. I still remember the first time I saw it… WHAT???
But it had been brewing since A Few Dollars More. Love Morricone’s scores.
Touch of Evil has another outrageous opening shot. Also the opening sequence of Goodfellas. What shall I watch tonight? Oh dear ain’t got the last two. Or Once Upon a Time. Why you lookin at me like that Clint?
25 August 2026 at 08:46 #78890@thane16 @dentarthurdent @whohar @winston @nerys
The Doctor Lies
The Soufflé is not the Soufflé, the Soufflé is the Recipe
Planet of Hats here I come
Just Some Bloke??!
Mark Gatiss made a rather downbeat interview recently, rather different to the ‘all is not over shtick’ issuing from the usual armchairs. He points out the BBC’s stance now is straight from Grade fils playbook from 30 odd years ago.
Will try to locate the link.
Would really like to join in on the analysis of the last series but to tell the truth, though the tone was more even, I didn’t appreciate it as much as the central two quarters of the previous series. And Omega was ridiculous and gratuitous.
Then I watched The Pilot again and realised what I was missing.
16 August 2026 at 21:31 #78862This isn’t really an explanation but…
DOCTOR: ….four digits. That narrows it down to a possible 10,000 numbers. Feeling lucky?
JOY: Really not.
DOCTOR: I mean, the variables are never equally weighted. I could figure it out if I just had…
JOY: What?
DOCTOR: Time. The Time Hotel.
JOY: The what?
DOCTOR: I couldn’t use the Tardis again, that would re-engage the causal nexus, but in this hotel, the time zones are physically connected. They’re already interacting. So in theory… Come in!
(Less than five seconds. A second Doctor bursts in.)
FUTURE DOCTOR: 7214.In the words of Harry Shearer in Chicken Little. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it’s just gibberish. Gibberish of an insane person.’
I mean, it’s techno babble of a sort, the general concept presumably being that there are only so many variables, The Doctor is very clever, but even HE can’t always do this because the Tardis would normally cancel it out.
Could it be Moff going extremely meta. Folks, this is no more nor less than the squidgy nature of the Heart of Who. aka Timey Wimey.
It’s also… probably… a VR. Like something out of a dreammm…
I also speculated that the numbers were significant: McCoy, Troughton, Hartnell, Baker T.
Or, I suppose McCoy, Troughton, Tennant.
I was more concerned with why Courier One didn’t immediately ask for the Silurian? Why didn’t the Silurian go straight to The Cretaceous Door? Was it because he was distracting The Doctor? Was the Star Seed MEANT for The Doctor? Bearing in mind The Time Hotel is linked to… oops Spoilers!
Well, may not be relevant now.
But, IF you ignore the doubt over the future of the show, you would think there was a lot of stuff seeded in this ep… as if The Plan was still being devised and developed. I know RTD said nothing was written… surely that means it WAS all written. The initial delay was the BBC stalling.
Does that go toward illustrating the RTD/corporation stand off?
Otherwise, the progress of The Star Seed WAS a bit loose for Moff.
15 August 2026 at 22:59 #78859You made me watch The Pilot again. Really NOT a problem… indeed from the age when watching Who REALLY wasn’t a problem.
’The Pilot.’ I feel there’s story in the title…
Moff’s given another chance? ‘No no you’ll just scare the broadsheets with your saphic africs…’
Moff given a surprise extra series? ‘Chibnall is very busy and successful. He says you’re a good sort…’
Moff requested to illustrate where the show is going. ‘You mean cybermen don’t HAVE to be MEN?’
The writing is Maxine Alderton + 30%. Maxine being 30% better than the rest, certainly Chib. What actually is SO difficult? Unless it’s the BBC…
Anyway great ep. Lots of stuff the usual knockers will baulk. I expect no less.
11 August 2026 at 08:31 #78846@whohar @dentarthurdent @thane16 @janetteb @winston
Davros and ablism. It’s not a simple ‘No! Not on my watch’ surely? Yes, the world has moved on, and we got Shirley and (see below) Jinkx Monsoon on the show, but there are ways of playing it, ain’t there? 12 turfed Davros out of his unit and rode it like a bumper car. I’ve said it before but The Space Babies looked like half-baked machine learned VR daleks to me.
I didn’t like 14’s regen costume change. And not sure I get it. On many levels. 13 wore trousers. The Master got 13’s trousers. Why didn’t 13 stay in The Master’s carefully selected Master Trousers? Then there’s no problem. Surely Chib and RTD had a tiff in the hand-over? 15 bigenerated without trousers.
Hmmm. Am I going gammon?
Omega gets shot? That’s not Omega. It’s not a weapon. Anyway, The Doctor blew up Skaro’s sun. The Doctor is being subverted… see the Song Contest ep.
RTD wrote the excellent Dot and Bubble too. I STILL don’t understand 73 Yards. Looks like a million dollars tho.
Can I repeat my ‘Pantheon is The Fendahleen in a VR’ theory? They came to earth via Mars. There’s 12 of them. The Time Lords destroyed planets 5. So, Sutekh ain’t an Osirian but a VR Fendahleen. No wonder he looked so dopey.
Anyway, all irrelevant now. Maybe.
6 August 2026 at 22:24 #78837@thane16 @whohar @dentarthurdent @janetteb
RTD1: weird narcissistic racism, venal politicians, polyamory, shaggy dog stories about royal malaises, tech monocultures, nerds and their love interests, racism in the past, environmental collapse, imperial heritage, more venal politicians, assisted weight loss, slavery, xenosexuality, super-wealthy crazed tech ijits… it’s quite a provocative list.
And the audience lapped it all up… apart from the nerd and love interest.
Moff had far less obvious ‘issue plotting’… what was there? Old people are weird! And that was in a dream. The Doctor is creepy sometimes. What are soldiers FOR? What do you believe happens after death? Would you call the GI machine learning? Are the Zygons foreign? Because they seem to be people.
Moff was more about the companions’ stories, especially Amy. Though I have also described Amy, River and Clara as ‘bloke adjuncts’… as if every ‘bloke’ has a guardian angel…
And Bill was presented as an antidote to that. And Moff was duly criticised and/or admired. But he really did nothing about race in series 10. Georgian bloke is grumpy. And not much really about sexuality either. Clueless lad is disappointed in Knock Knock. Moira is relieved that Penny is NOT a man. And Roman Legionaries turn out be improbably tolerant and restrained. Still, kids’ show. However, try posting this opinion on Meta today.
Do we think Chib virtue-signalled? Yes, I do. Only the writing was so poor it’s quite hard to tell.
RTD2 seems to have been pushed for time, stuck with a novel funding model, but nonetheless up for a fight. Then he introduces Donna’s trans child and immediately abandons the idea. Space Babies and Devils’ Chord were undeveloped, but at least there was some intent. Rogue, yes. Crying, yes. Toxic male internet idiocy, someone’s not going to like that. But the message is in the arc, baffling series ends, woozy unease, ridiculous classic villains, the lot.
So there’s pattern here. Do what you have to showrunner, but DON’T spell it out. RTD1 did that once, but we think he got away with it.
This seems to have been the case since before The End of Time. So was it really Disney, and Disney only, who set the tone?
5 August 2026 at 23:01 #78834@thane16 @dentarthurdent @whohar @janetteb
On the face of it, the ‘let it go’ moment is definitely a bit clumsy. Or you could read it as a generic ‘hey, these are just people’ statement.’ Or it’s RTD getting his revenge in first. I wasn’t studying the forums or meta at that stage, but I imagine Russ knew what was coming.
Otherwise you wonder if RTD had his attention drawn to the Cholmondley Warner ‘Women! Know Your Limits!’ (Do NOT Attempt to Discuss The Gold Standard) sketch. In that respect, it should have been hilarious. He’s just got to rescue Martha from Mickey now.
But also, we must suspect what with Sylvia jumping around screaming ‘none of this is real!’ that we’re already in a VR. The UNIT of ‘War’ is significantly different to the V’linx UNIT; surely it’s supposed to be woozy and nightmarish? Otherwise it may simply be a case of bad art.
Now… Chib also launched many ‘story’ characters and generally failed to back them up. And why ARE most historicals SO disappointing? Is this the Corporation limiting the ‘political damage?’ Did Disney adopt the same stipulation? You can cut the right shapes but keep it woolly.
3 August 2026 at 09:38 #78827@thane16 @dentarthurdent @janetteb @whohar @winston
Was RTD rubbing the viewers’ nose in it? Being ‘arsy’? Not arf!
I’m not sure ‘woke’ would be anymore than a novel and obscure adjective if not for The Culture Warriors. Why persecute religious or racial targets when you can choose to denounce absolutely anyone who disagrees with you?
Of course RTD would think a meta narrative of the Virtual Nightmare a brilliant idea. And for him it’s as an existential threat as it is for Piers Morgan, fulminating on breakfast tv, just to remind everyone he is still there.
If Chib was indeed performing similar, if rather more prosaic genuflexions to ethical topicality, RTD may have thought he had the Corporation’s encouragement. Doesn’t matter; the BBC is another target. Why pay for a tv licence when you can watch streamers on your mobile? The viewers have nothing to lose but their intellect.
Sci Fi is the realm of ideas. Yet you can’t MAKE the viewer think, even if the success of Severance suggests it is still possible. ‘Oh. You’re talking down to me. Can’t you make it more like a soap?’
Actually ‘The Disney’ series were nearly as confusing as, if mostly superior to, The Flux, but Moffat was also criticised for obscurity. And the Red Reset Button also was principally his (and Paul Cornell’s). Aside from the odd jammy dodger, it was certainly prominent at the end of series 5, possibly also several critical moments of 6; and of course Journey to the Centre of The Tardis.
Thereafter Moff seemed anxious for plot resolutions to come with a cost. Not sure the phrase ‘red button’ was ever a particularly stinging criticism, more a warning against overuse. But what is the phrase ‘madman in a box’ if not a kenning for Dei Ex Machina? There’s Temporal.
Resolution by VR would be more like Bobby Ewing emerging from the shower.
31 July 2026 at 22:34 #78820Again… not really about a specific ep so I moved it here.
Sorry, my mulling over RTD turned out to be a bad post, late night etc. And then I changed it half through. The contraction of titles in two parters was started by Den of Geek, I think.
So, what the hell has just happened?
I’m not sure how RTD got the gig the first time, but he must have stored up some goodwill for round 2. ‘Yeah I can do that guvnor! Gaffer tape, blutack, safety pins, fourbetwobefourbe…’ BUT:
Ratings… the Streamers (in meta speak, The Flux?) have done their damage.
Disney was a BAD fit.
The speculated Cartmel 2.0 Plan (I can explain in detail IF you want) is quite possibly still an issue for some people at The Corp… but, having had a long look their own (and Chib’s) handywork, maybe not all.
A virtual reality framing story based on Classic/Nu looks lazy at best. As it turns out, it was nearly as incomprehensible as The Flux. But remember, VR wasn’t a good look in Deadly Assassin or Ultimate Foe either.
RTD reverted to his trusted method: seed spin-offs. But the key was the new Unit. And erm… it REALLY didn’t work. My language there could be far more colourful.
The Culture Warriors now have RTD in their sights. These guys are everywhere, barking like dogs, but they used WHO in particular to normalise some REALLY nasty politics.
RTD didn’t get much time to plan this time; the 2005 relaunch had a looong 16 year run up.
So, the outcome is no surprise. I still think The BBC have been firstly, clueless, and thereafter, spineless. BUT there may now be NO MORE money. Or not for anything so… risky.
What did I expect from RTD’s ‘monster arc’? Here we go. The deadlidullness of the Chib era would be retconned into part of a slowly developing virtual reality created by The Great Intelligence in the guise of The Valeyard. How the Doctor relates to Susan, Jenny (?) Ashildr (??) or The Master, I don’t know. It’s in The Plan. The Rani may even be a bigenerated River in the guise of Mrs Flood, and manifested in the Virtual Reality as Rogue.
And I’m afraid most fans are uninterested in this level of plotting. They want stinks and bangs.
In any case, it’s almost certainly NOT now going to happen.
30 July 2026 at 23:52 #78818The Arc…
The weird thing is the incomplete arc so obviously echoes the RTD vs Corporation gambit played out. But you HAVE to pay because only I can EXPLAIN! Although, as I keep observing, someone signed off those press release.
Well, the DG has just cast a whole raft of shows adrift… all light entertainment but… WHO KNOWS WHAT’S NEXT??
Or… it’s another part of the deep game. Make the usual subjects uninterested in the show. Then we can do what we want.
Wish World/Reality War was an obvious throwback to Big Bang/Wedding of River Song. Anyway, better than Legend and Empire. I’d be worried if it was worse!
28 July 2026 at 22:03 #78814Yes. What the hell, hero? Also sketchy science. Though it looked great. Also, in the words of Sylvia Noble in The Star Beast, ‘none of this real!’
Also, Eurovision looms large in Who History.
So, in my view, as you know, RTD was cooking a monster arc in which The Doctor is being tested: it was all Mind Robbers, War Games, Matrixes, tears and snow, with a familiar face masquerading as The Doctor.
Also neologisms beginning with ‘V’!
And now it almost certainly won’t happen… though Moff has been heard to say ‘no hard reboot please. Won’t work.’ And Chib is apparently very sorry, or sad, or something. I need to read both those interviews I suppose.
26 July 2026 at 11:01 #78805Right. Chib. The socio-economic years.
The history eps: Rosa, Demons… yes there’s commentary there but, because it’s buried in the (recent) past, you can (if you want) mentally sanitise it to oblivion. And, worthy though the ambition is, the narrative of Rosa is a problem. Old white bloke on bus. Then we get proper risk in Witchfinder: only it’s strangely undersold; also quite badly plotted. Most historicals are unsatisfactory.
Then Tesla: dunno what that’s about; and Villa, which was very much about the arc. This fatally detracts from what seems a superior script.
We got the Crimean War later but The Flux and the final specials stand alone. Well alone.
The new year specials were the Dalek zone. Yawn.
Arachnids, Orphan and Praexeus were essentially concerned with the environment. Oooh! None of them great stories.
Otherwise series11 was basically a new monster arc: Predator with a tooth fetish rather than cloaking; nasty military hardware aplenty. But there were some nods to sexual and generational politics. It’s interesting that it’s not just RTD2, but then it never was.
Before this, Moff and his mates gave us: scary old people in Amy’s Choice; blokes being idiotic in a flat-share; Nixon! and rogue CIA bods, faith on a space ship; much major sexual politics with Amy. And then a lull in series 7 until we get The Soldier Arc. Thereafter, The Zygon two-parter. A ‘nation of strangers’?
Series 10 really HAS to bring us race and gender: Thin Ice (pretty imperfect), Knock Knock, the unrelated but wonderful capitalist critique of Oxygen, revisited magnificently in the final two parter, and Extremis and the slightly undersold Monk two parter.
This of course is when vulgar noises off became (retrospectively) more noticeable. Thereafter, the new hostility is otherwise all about those creating a specific narrative about RTD. ‘None of this is real!’ as Sylvia would say.
Back to Chib. Kerblam is Amazon, I think… sigh… I can’t go on. This is not a terribly impressive record is it? Hard to distinguish from the other nonsense really.
Except ‘It Takes You Away’ was pretty wild and unique. Or just very odd. Can I watch it again? Yeah maybe.
Season 12 sets up The Timeless Children and you know what I think of THAT. Spyfall reintroduces the Master, who comes equipped with the Delgado/Pratt/Beevers/Ainley TCE. Curious. The Doctor rescues Noor Insyat Khan. Except she obviously doesn’t, does she?
Is all this an attempt to tone down ‘The Plan’ (if that exists)? Because it looks like elements of it, the Cyberman and Gallifrey, Missy and the Cybermen, and ‘I knew him when he was a little girl,’ survived the RTD/Moff era.
Even Tecteun is an alternate origin myth; not necessarily gospel. Maybe a deliberate red herring? The family jewels stay in the safe deposit box.
The Fam are, of course unsupered, companions. Just people. But they didn’t have to be dull, dull, dull. Alright, Thasmin was quite touching, especially the Bedknobs and Broomsticks sequence… er hold on! Was that Chib’s little joke?? Like Moff’s puddle? RTD and concrete slabs? And mopping… remember the mopping.
You’re ok, Chris. I can imagine I didn’t see it.
The two ‘nu’ non/supered companions before then were Martha; maybe Bill as the character was developed. But she IS cooking chips while Missy is in the basement. You couldn’t make it up.
Was it Chib then? Or The Corp? They wanted editorial control. There you are: ultimately a right mess. Though, yes, the ratings were better, or at least as good as Moffs.
But things have changed. Are the ratings recoverable? Can you really prolong a franchise through making it tedious and incoherent?
Of course, Trek is also in trouble. The old narratives are possibly now irrelevant. You REALLY want Daleks? That’s like using tanks against drones.
So, how do these Streamers stay so shiny wonderful. By NOT taxing you. Funny that.
I can’t watch all of it. I can’t afford it. But, from what I have seen, what do I find? Silo gives me ‘bad’ creeps. I can explain that if you want. Severance is wonderful but a slow dark burn, though not as a slow as Pluribus. Now, this looks a million dollars and it really wants you to appreciate every inch and every single second.
Hey! This is ‘A for Andromeda’, ‘Bodysnatchers’, ‘Soylent Green’ and ‘The End of Summer’ (classic ‘50’s sci-fi spot); everything I could smugly want and SO intelligent! But one entire episode seemed to be a woman chipping golf balls through all the windows of the varied condominiums of Albuquerque, while a Paraguayan gent learns to say ‘yellow dog’ in English as he takes a road trip through South America.
Beautiful. Bit boring. Maybe self indulgent.
So, what are you going to do with our 45 minutes of ideas, humour, comment and horror, BBC?
25 July 2026 at 17:12 #78803have you SEEN some of my posts?!
25 July 2026 at 10:34 #78800I’m afraid the BBC didn’t want Moffat anywhere near Ladydoc. And I can see their point.
I also suspect they loaded Chib’s tenure with many, many stipulations; or maybe he thought The Fam up all on his own. BUT either RTD and Moff were both phenomenal auxiliary script editors (and I really don’t think that’s Moff’s forte) or Chib CAN’T be that bad a writer. For all the tick box soap features of Hungry Earth and Cold Earth, he could spin a half decent yarn. So, wherefor tedium and incoherence?
Not really bothered about the Tardis; it’s a prop. Some people loved the original Crowded Tardis but, for all the lunacy of T’floox, Dan did usher in an improvement. A few tweaks and some half decent scripts and Jodie might have been fine. If not a Earth Shattering.
And then The Timeless Children. I am NOT saying either the rehabilitation of Gallifrey, or the new cycle of regenerations were sparklingly perfect solutions, but to take both down in one plot move is absolutely shocking. I don’t understand the sheer hostility. Unless Chib… and The BBC… really thought Moff was an existential threat to the show??
But the hostility IS out there. Moff DID go away and write Douglas Is Cancelled.
24 July 2026 at 20:04 #78797The ‘23 specials contained a few clues. Sylvia runs around yelling ‘none of this is real!’ For forgetful Donna’s benefit. This is BEFORE Mavity raises its now possibly completely irrelevant head.
Und zen ze Toymaker scene mit der outrageous Central European mugging. This would seem to be a straightforward catchup. Hmmm. Really?
Yes Rose and Donna were ‘supered’ companions, and Martha was NOT, and all the better for that. There again, Moff might be considered quite sadistic to ‘his’ companions. RTD’s lot did live more or less complete lives. Rose’s was presumably an alternative true love story in Bad Wolf Bay. Donna had a fourteen year hang-over. Martha got Micky. Aaaah.
Bill gets a return as part of Testimony. Aren’t all women made of gIass (as it were)? Is Clara the actual girl who points 1 to the ‘correctly malfunctioning’ tardis in ‘Name’? None of that tine-stream fragment nonsense. Amy presumably gets to witness bebop, beat poets, greenwich village, ceebeegeebies… does that qualify as enrichment?
The toymaker makes an accusation, surely? So, is RTD also? Meta? Could be. Of course, we didn’t know how the return would work out…
The Flux… I reckon that’s Streamers, that is. It’s what Chib is being told. By The Man. It’s where yer wanna be, honest Chris (he’s… unsure). We’ll see yer right. (Heavy cracks knuckles) I got this biltong cheap dahn the market. There yer go.
Chib did a press release recently. When I feel stronger I may take a look. But my first impression was ‘meh, meh, mumeh, meh, meh…’
24 July 2026 at 14:41 #78795I observe these were criticisms made of Moffat. They are aren’t my accusations. But, yes, RTD was also quite up for all that. Personally, I don’t really understand the angst, other than it being the natural tension of a kiddult scifi show. To me it’s Hinchcliffe/Holmes vs Whitehouse or JNT/Seward vs Grade.
I went out and researched some details: and there you are. Moffat seems to have got it in the neck, because of falling ratings and the burgeoning streaming scene. Moffat was aware of this and kicked back, which didn’t win him any new friends, but it entertained me.
Now if someone said ‘Time of The Doctor’ was barely coherent mate, or your sub edding of ‘Kill the Moon,’ ‘Nightmare in Silver,’ ‘Sleep No More’… etc left much to be desired, I would say ‘yeah, they have got a point.’
But are you seriously going to what? Rigorously define and distinguish humour, suggestion and innuendo, to protect the kiddie winks, until every character is two dimensional and speaks soap opera cliche? Because, as you may have noticed, I’m not particularly keen. Or you could remove the politics by making The Doctor a woman. Absolutely no reason why that shouldn’t work. Is there?
But, tone it down Chris. Ah. Well…
@thane16. I find it hard to discern any Chib message or theme, perhaps because I’m not eager to go back and check. It’s hard work. Or do you mean a societal theme was meant to replace Companion Interaction? Could be. Big push to ‘The Doctor is asexual’ claim accompanying RTD2. That IS a retcon. Also, once The Corporation or the showmaker do retreat, there’s no way back. ‘You’re lecturing me.’ ‘Ere luv! Where’s the Dalek?’
Maybe RTD thought he was brought back as the saviour of the show. He seems to have designed an arc accordingly, chock full of meta, aimed at the haters. And an incomplete arc explains some of the odd imagery. Maybe he took the brief and tried to us it to scare off Disney (surely not?)
Whatever was planned, it’s not going to happen now. Was he deluded? Dunno. Someone at the corporation signed off those press announcements. Someone changed their mind. New chairman 2024. New DG May 2026.
23 July 2026 at 20:58 #78783@thane16 @dentesrthurdent @whohar
Thought I’d move over here…
Right! Neither I, nor Cardinals Fang or Biggles quite expected that!
Personally, I start off with the existential question ‘why should any right-minded Whovian be u fuly critical of Moff?’; and ‘how could the show written by Chib be both SO tedious AND incoherent.’ It shouldn’t be possible.
Not saying Moff was perfect but, as he kind of pointed out himself, he entertained.
The pointiest criticism (aside from the disintegrating first arc and the scattergun script edding) is levelled at the scene in ‘Listen’ when Clara is seen to observe approvingly her own derrière. Like the ‘The Test’, I can only observe it is there.
Bloke Adjuncts? Rose and 9/10 get on famously. Martha is disappointed. Donna was designed to confound hanky panky. Amy is, improbably, the Doctor’s mother in law, River is his (psycho) wife, Clara is… um… his ‘guardian angel’?? Skip Ashildr…
And Bill does the chips. Though she does have a good long look at the pictures of Susan and River on 12’s desk. And though she doesn’t know it, Missy lurks in the basement.
And her mum was (very briefly) in Day of The Doctor.
Was this tendency because the Doctor was (then) male, and the companions, as ever, were female. Or did Moff and RTD utilise ‘a plan’, whereas Chib thought he didn’t have to (though I would argue he did).
And then Chib got the Ladydoc. And The Fam.
22 July 2026 at 10:06 #78775The Test. I did kind of say Moff didn’t really care. Do I? Well, it’s there now. You would think it might be successfully extolled at some point. And yet examples are few. To the extent that Dan ended up giving Yaz the talk… I mean… ah???
But Moff (and Jamie Matthieson) did lock Clara and Maisie in the baggage car of The Orient Express in Space, where Maisie is heard to say ‘here we are, talking about some man.’ Now, I think that’s hilarious. The current Commissioner of Drama (I assume he’s still there) wasn’t yet in place.
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. It’s either that or laugh. Moff was a trooper for carrying on for another two years, but he wad on his way. All hail The Commissioner.
It’s not so much Hell Bent, though The Diner, the Star Wars Elevator, and the bust chameleon circuit is begging for Occam’s Razor to fall. I’m thinking Day of The Doctor (Gallifrey), Time of The Doctor (regenerations), and Twice Upon a Time (the First and Original). I think some people questioned the elegance of the first two solutions… ‘Time’ was a bit duff… but the quality of Moff’s other invention and writing bore all before it.
And I actually think RTD was on board re Gallifrey… and indeed Chib’s Cyberlords also echo The Doctor Falls; maybe so does Missy turning up with Gallifreyan tech and an army of Cybermen. It seems to me there was a plan. And Chib was encouraged to turn it against itself.
The Plan puts Who beyond the BBC’s editorial control and that means perpetual trouble. Right wingers don’t like ideas. That’s the kind of thing that gives people funny ideas. But sci fi IS about ideas. Hmmm. Can’t you make it more like a soap?
People only want to look at David Tennant anyway.
21 July 2026 at 15:14 #78771Moff: you know where my sympathies lie. But there are those who cannot stand him, consider him ‘unwho’. He clearly wasn’t bothered what side of the Bechdel Test he landed. I am inclined to think an awareness of the principle of the Test should be enough. In the words of Arcade Fire: ‘I guess we’ll just have to adjust.’
BUT the plots did sometimes get out of control. And most people DID tend to live. The Toymaker’s repeated comment, ‘well THAT’S alright then’ was telling. At least it wasn’t the bemused tone that greeted Der Floox.
The Timeless Children was however aimed deliberately and squarely at Moff: Gallifrey, the regenerations and ‘the original’, not all of them particularly elegant it’s true, but all flushed away in a single ep.
I’m not sure how you find any message at all in Chib. Perhaps my attention span was defeated by his improbable combination of tedium and incoherence.
20 July 2026 at 22:21 #78769Hi!
I went off on one a bit. How could RTD speak so convincingly about the special that wasn’t? The BBC authorise the press releases don’t they?
But, what with the dire ratings, it was hard to see how there wouldn’t be a problem at some point. Murky business.
The furore over Billie Piper was really quite distressing. She’s an actor. What’s the problem?
Not had the heart to finish The War Between the Land & Sea but I shall. What I saw was ok without setting the world alight. Not sure how Disney or RTD thought it would pan out.
My Moff theory stems from the observation that his original co-executive producer later returned, to bid him farewell and usher in Chib. The BBC didn’t like the innuendo, the sexual politics or cybermen blowing up in 2014. Moff would have gone in 2015 but Chib ‘wasn’t ready.’ The later dismantling of The Moff legacy confirmed my suspicion.
Beyond that, what did the BBC want? To get someone else to fund the show and flush away the show’s history.
Yes, I should actually try to watch more of Foundation. I am fussy about sci-fi and those books are particularly iconic. I certainly don’t imagine a story extolling Azimov’s slow deconstruction of determinism, even if that is the story. But sci fi has to be about ideas. Or it’s space opera. If you want space opera, let’s have Lensmen. Cleon, as an anagram of clone, was not at all<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>impressive.
I also think a certain deceased international undesirable modelled himself on Hari Seldon and his organisation on The Foundation. Now, that might be fun.
Otherwise, Azimov himself acknowledged technological advance was an issue. Answer: set the bar low; Galactic Empire held together by gaffer tape; epic, dreadnoughts, soviet era environmentalism and rust-belt scenery gorn; even though they don’t know it, it’s a joke.
The fun and games starts with The Mule anyway.
Azimov’s later books could be more than a bit embarrassing. The Elijah Bailey series was good and even prophetic; thinking about our emperor of Mars unelect. I DID like Foundation and Earth… a mixture of The Odyssey and really fantastic new and yet inevitable ideas.
Also, if you can find it, The Gods Themselves is entirely original.
14 July 2026 at 11:47 #78758For All Mankind has been recommended to me. Not sure its on my package though. Anna Maxwell Martin ought to make an appearance in Line of Duty too.
Slow Horses entertains and annoys. It would seem to occupy a very ‘LeCarresque’ universe and I’m not sure that takes kindly to send up. The ex CIA mastermind was ludicrous.
Chris Packham seems to be trying on Sir David’s mantle. I did like Attenborough’s First Life, from about 15 years back. Lots of Ediacara Hills and Burgess Shale. But the first enigmatic Precambrian complex life form was discovered in Leicestershire!
It sounds as if the things you didn’t like in Small Gods were what attracted me. It was an effective satire.
Wish list for sci fi or other adaptions?
I mentioned Heliconia. The Lensman Series has never seriously been tackled. Or Earthsea! Azimov’s Elijah Bailey. Mind you all those could get hideously mangled.
But someone, one day, what with CGI, MUST tackle Peter Robinson’s Goshawk Squadron.
11 July 2026 at 09:48 #78754TP… have I the patience to read the whole canon? I read Colour of Magic and Small Gods many years ago. Very enjoyable and intelligent. But that would be a big commitment.
There was a discussion online about whether anyone could make a satisfactory series from Aldiss’ Heliconia books. Having been quite unimpressed by what was attempted with Foundation, I thought it would be unwise. But I’d love someone to try.
@janetteb. I hadn’t noticed costume issue with Other Bennett Sister. I really wouldn’t know. The vibe with much recent factual Austen programs is that Jane is a (very) proto modern woman, so riffing on modern concerns is fair game. I enjoyed the general fluffiness of it and the gold-diggery of ‘the others’ was delicious.
An interesting and modern parallel was the episode of ‘Fake or Fortune’ concerning the portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray, great nieces of William Murray (Lord Mansfield), who of course inspired Mansfield Park. Dido was born in the west indies but raised as a gentlewoman at Kenwood (Hampstead) Murray prevented slavery from becoming legal by precedence in Britain, but was obliged to make Dido his ward for her protection.
A century later the name and status of Dido had been lost and the portrait was described as ‘Lady Elizabeth Murray and a servant.’ The Georgians do seem closer to us than The Victorians.
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</div>9 July 2026 at 18:23 #78748Moffat… you would think Clara the Dalek was such a rich scene that the whole two parter was written around it… and indeed Clara can only save herself (apparently) by invoking a word which a Dalek shouldn’t be able to express. And so resolves the story. And leave many unanswered questions.
Adams… I still invoke the locked filing cabinet in the basement equipped with a ‘beware of the leopard’ sign. It’s very British bureaucracy.
9 July 2026 at 11:06 #78742@whohar @jeanetteb
Yes, I’ll be watching the new series of Ludwig. Gentle comedic mystery. The Other Bennett Sister was dismissed as light-weight but that again was part off its charm: it actually worked.
Silo season 3 coming soon… in 2 minds about it, but I’ll watch it. Pluribus intrigued by I couldn’t stay with it; may go back to it. Also Slow Horses (the last story was better), Severance, and Line of Duty in production.
Chris Packham has a series about early evolution which intrigues.
9 July 2026 at 10:50 #787412 July 2026 at 22:09 #78733Paul McGann as The War Doctor would have been fascinating. We got John Hurt instead.
Otherwise…
I AM annoyed with The BBC:
Putting Grade and the first cancellation aside…
In my opinion they undermined Moffat.
They set an agenda for Chibnall. Who was pretty poor anyway.
They give every impression that they want to sell the show… you can call it ‘putting it to tender’ if you want. They get broadcasting rights; someone else carries the can.
But what happened with the BBC abandoned special? It was clearly never just a figment of RTD’s imagination. They must be divided over the show because…
… they’re in a right wing press/streaming competition bind. And we are, all of us, as far as the press and the streamers are concerned, toxic fans. Yep! That’s us. Because we like the show. But most of us rather actually like Steven Moffat, and they can’t cope with him again.
Probably, ‘kiddult,’ as a genre… frothy, not too serious, but some real threat and jump moments, isn’t actually possible anymore. Not sure The Streamers will touch it. It would need a reinvention, to be ‘like’ something probably irrelevant to WHO. And I would never want someone to do to Who what Apple did to Foundation.
The issue are ratings: we ARE niche, toxic, unrealistic, sentimental and NOT amenable to soapification, the holy grail for the proper hack.
And yet somehow we still exist, somewhere, down the river. Sold.
28 June 2026 at 16:50 #78712I shall consider my response to all these parallels. Couldn’t give a two peeps on Bessie’s horn about Jimmie Bend-Sinster.
The rest is too raw.
Moffat’s recent response to the ongoing Whovian Torture sounded quite alarmed. The corporation is in charge, why are they asking a very ex show-runner?
Who has The Ming Vase??
22 June 2026 at 23:51 #78706Someone posted a clip of Star Beast on Meta with subtitles and there is Donna’s mum screaming to a hall full of 14, Donna, Rose and The Meep… ‘None of this is real!!’
Which is kind of what I’ve been saying.
17 June 2026 at 16:24 #78702cbeebies… always look on the bright side of life. Or time for bed.
15 June 2026 at 10:05 #78698@dentarthurdent @janetteb
I’ve said enough. I think we agree that something peculiar happened with the show at some point, and this was manifested by the mess of Chibnall’s tenure and the unsatisfactory elements of the latest RTD run. I don’t think the BBC are interested. And they now seem happy to blame showrunners. Michael Grade all over again.Perhaps now the story has broken someone will eventually confirm what actually happened.
HG Wells. War of the Worlds is genius. I’m also a big fan of In the Days of The Comet. There’s a fascinating scene where the protagonist is punched out and it’s so vivid, I was sure it must be inspired by Herbert being assaulted by Hubert Bland at Paddington station when Wells attempted to elope with Bland’s daughter. The book was published in the same year 1906. Maybe Wells wrote it quickly. Maybe Herbert knew all about getting regularly thumped.
I also read somewhere recently that Tolkien approved of (presumably early) Azimov. I need to confirm that. CS Lewis was, of course, both fascinated and appalled by Wells.
13 June 2026 at 20:47 #78692@translatorcircuit @nerys @janetteb @whohar
the cbeebies thing is frankly an insult. Kid’s show.
I might say the bbc’s behaviour was inexplicable but you may well get your wish @translatorcircuit, the days of The Corporation as we know it could be numbered. They know it. They literally cannot afford a challenging exciting show.
This may explain their frankly truculent behaviour; some people may consider RTD and Moff arrogant but they clearly loved the show. What is the BBC’s vision? A kid’s cartoon? Chib’s incoherent and interminable Soap? Somehow, I’m not sure they’re as committed.
Were there successful season closers in Nu Who? Doomsday entertained until Rose’s extraordinarily improbable rescue. Last of the Timelords without Doctor Dobby would have served. Bits of End of Time were magnificent.
Moffat handled season ends well… down-played them at the start. Hell Bent and Doctor Falls with their related eps were of course utter triumphs. Time of the Doctor did rather unravel after 20 minutes. Death in Heaven is a conundrum: something very odd going on with that and Last Christmas. Entertaining though.
Arcs. Both writers mixed it up or disguised the arc. The second half of season 7 was a bit uneven but wonderfully entertaining.
Annoying comments about Leela’s ‘instincts’ vs reason aside, the classic Holmes/Hinchcliffe run was all stand alone eps. The War Games, Unit and the Master IS an arc, extending to include 4’s first season too. The Key of Time is obviously an arc, and the whole of 5’s sorry travail. 7 and Ace most definitely had their own arc.
Arcs go hand in hand with the problem of continuity. You can do stand-alones, and by all PLEASE no Universe ending threats, but in Who the history of the show IS its meaning. Chib may have been operating under instruction or simply someone who couldn’t actually hack the job, but the removal of arcs and continuity may mean incoherent boredom.
12 June 2026 at 07:44 #78687@whohar @janetteb @translstorcircuit
The Big Spoof? As you say, surely not. The only explanation must be the slow motion car crash. This was coming since RTD finished series 4 with The Parting of The Ways.
At some point the special was planned and The BBC then decided they couldn’t back it. It’s not the same institution that brought the show back. The show is too difficult, too much of a target. The sub-canon sausage machine too bland, I’m afraid.
What we’ve seen is a struggle for what the show really means… trying NOT to use the word ‘soul’… so obviously Disney was never going to work. Then what?
Seriously, has Ben Stiller ever indicated he’s a fan? That’s about the only level of production value, tension, humour and pointy-stickedness that would be acceptable.
But it’s competitive tender. Expect gaffer tape and blu-tack soap with daleks. Hint: stormtroopers were scary 18 years after WW2. They’ve been deconstructed. It’s the omniterror now.
11 June 2026 at 09:49 #78685@whohar @janetteb @translatorcircuit
The cliff-hanger, as Belam says, does seem to be the key, almost a taunt. ‘You want a show based on continuity but without continuity? Try THIS.’ This suggests both sides knew what was coming.
I am actually very annoyed, mainly with the BBC. I’m afraid for The Corporation too; it’s been in right wing’s cross hairs since the advent of satellite and cable, and it’s senior management have made appalling misjudgments about celebrities. They need shows that are bankers ratings-wise. In this respect RTD was set up to fail. But of course, this was also a long term set-up.
Who seems to have been a particular target since it’s inception: the bug eyed monster question , kiddie winkies hiding behind the sofa, the… erm companion conundrum, and ultraviolence. When the right wing philosophical machine began to blame the 60’s in earnest, it couldn’t be good for Who.
RTD 1 did not pull punches: companion conundrum taken to the nth, sexualised concrete slabs, lycanthrope royals, the ENTIRE script of Empty Child/Doctor Dances and, oh yes, he found a star writer who was even worse. Well, if we can’t dodge Steven Moffat, we better bring him under control. My view is they appointed The Man to do just that. But Steven wouldn’t be tamed. He kept harking back to continuity. So The Man left briefly to look at what the competition were doing, and came back with someone more biddable, part of the same team too! Continuity!
Interesting thing about Moffat, he didn’t think he would survive season nine, we got three special s and series 10 because the third season of Broadchurch had to be completed. But he said the show was sketched out til 2020. Does that mean there was an actual plan? Cartmel had a plan. RTD and Moff had arcs, and they obviously shared ideas, and with Mark and Toby too.
They do Meta too! Do I NOT like that. People might think the show is under threat, like Trial of a Time Lord. They might think WE’RE the monsters. But Moff starts writing about A Hybrid, and a Confession Dial. What was THAT supposed to mean? Just because we asked him to pen a cartoony special to attract a bit of interest from these new streaming platforms. It’s a good idea. Maybe one of these can fund the show. And take the flak.
But plans. Evidence for. There is the question of origin and family. In NuWho that was seeded with The Library, and The Woman and Wilfred’s question at Donna’s wedding. Interesting that this specifically should be turned on its head by Chib, then resurrected by RTD.
Some of you may be aware of my opinion of the Girl Who Died. I also pointed out that, once practically 2 seasons of meandering dull, badly written and continuity free Who was out of the way, Chib deliberately trashed Gallifrey, the regenerations, and The First, in the most infamous story of all. Get In! But maybe Chib was flushing away Ashildr too.
Why so tense Chris? Were you operating under instruction?
How specifically was Disney brought on board? And when and how did the saviour return? Anyone know? Obviously The Mouse was a ‘kid show’ move. No hebephile bait or gender politics please. Well, Russ was never on board for that was he? Were those two series a hatchet job to get rid of the inappropriate partner, an engineered Parting of The Ways? And there you are, had Russ been down this Meta road before?
Then there is V’linx, V’indicator, Villengard… it is actually the new Trial of a Time Lord with a cast of Who’s greatest hits in cartoon form: Sutekh and maybe The Fendahl too, the Mara promised and teased in The Well, Midnight, River/Jack, and Coal Hill lost in the fog. And virtual reality: how relevant! All this could be yours. Or do you really want that soap?
I get the sense of brinkmanship from both sides, The Beeb furious that they were put on the spot. But how did that initial plan for a Christmas Special come about? That’s The Corporation upping the ante; it couldn’t be publicised without their approval.
Of course no actors were approached to be The Doctor; it was Billie. Of course Russ didn’t have to write, it was already in the bag. He’s a man literally with a plan, and the Corporation can no longer allow that.
Bobby is in the shower. Will he ever come out?
Maybe we should all collaborate on an arc. Heavy to Meta.
10 June 2026 at 15:37 #78678@whohar @jeanetteb
The bbc are not holding the purse strings without creative control. But if someone else holds the purse strings and annoys the telegraphed mailfist, that’s not our fault.
yours faithfully PW
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