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@translatorcircuit @blenkinsopthebrave

stand by for a Strictly/Who crossover with Craig Revel Horwood as show runner.

The problem with The BBC is it is a public service broadcaster. The fans may think they ‘own’ the show but so does every license fee payer, and there’s always been a vocal set of critics who will be delighted by the thought that it might cease.

The other aspect is the independent streamers. Cos I haven’t been impressed by their treatment of SF. Am I extraordinarily fussy or has Marvel trashed writing and production values?

I doubt if anyone out there will touch the Who formula as it stands. But that’s not Russ’ fault. You might say it’s Chib’s fault but actually that means it’s The Corporation’s fault because they turfed out Moffat and the heavyweight writers of his era.

Actually, you would think if Apple can make Severance, they could make Moffat era Who. They could probably make RTD2 Who if not for the damage done. Or would they shy away because Who is not really rebootable? Was The Timeless Children actually an attempted reboot, or prescribed Cartmel move, or preparation for winding up the show? Was t’flux the new streamers meta’d? Not very much like prosaic/dull as ditchwater Chib then. Gonna have to watch it one day. Maybe when I’m laid up after a bad traffic accident.

But there are 3 things a Who ‘maker’ shouldn’t do:

present the show as a soap opera

dabble in sententious exposition/voice overs

base the entire story on VR… it quickly becomes incomprehensible. Is this then a case of technical advance (AI) rendering Who redundant?

btw… Tenth Planet: Ben definitely says ‘twenty years’ on seeing the western. And it’s a big guy in a big hat.

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@mraem

Well, The Tenth Planet is set in 1986 and Ben says ‘I saw that 20 years ago.’ Of course Ben is from 1966. Does he mean he saw the film in 1966, or remembers seeing the film in the 40’s, presumably when he was quite young?
Because my impression is the clip was quite old. My other thought was about the guy in the very tall pale hat… it is quite a lid. The hat alone rules out High Noon but, anyway, I think it’s Wayne rather than Cooper. Compare with stills of ‘The Star Packer’ from 1934. Mighty big hat.

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So, why has RTD2 been so different, if indeed that is the case?

I think Marvel had been held up as a challenge since Husbands of River Song. Attract new viewers! It’s not necessarily a good fit but, like Grade making unfavourable comparisons with Star Wars in the 80’s (how about giving us the budget and 5 years’ development chap) it does raise the bar. And lower it.

Thesis 1: Steven Moffat could not successfully script a Star Wars movie. Praise The Force!

So big budgets may be a bit of a waste for a show noted for wit and ideas. Obviously we’re not talking about the various attempts to turn it into a soap opera.

Thesis 2: there are people who don’t like wit and ideas; they call it Woke.

RTD must have found cosying up to Disney problematic. The desire to make it cartoony is understandable but then there were plenty of episodes… Wild Blue Yonder, Boom, 73 Yards, The Well… which were not. Dot and Bubble, and Story and Engine were another kind of cartoon entirely. However, even factoring in RTD’s penchant for nutty season finales, this was uneven.

Thesis 3: it was written in a rush.

Specifically, at some point in 2021 say, The BBC contact Russ and say ‘we need help. That show you really like is heading for the bin. This is our wish list. What can you do?’

Not sure how that negotiation played out but, at a guess, Gatiss, Whithouse and Matthieson were all considered too adult.

Nonetheless, having had 5-10 years to cook up the first arc with or without a Cartmel 2.0, Russ thinks ‘yeah I can do this (again)’ but actually he hasn’t that many ideas banked. Blimey where do you start?

So, brainstorming, he looks at the calendar. Once he knows the proposed broadcast slots he thinks: ‘May 11th… that’s the anniversary of 2 major Cybermen stories. Now didn’t Chib somehow manage to ask an interesting question of Cybermen: that is, do they really want to be androids? Yes, the organic element is their Achilles heel, but what would they need if they were to avoid being dumb robots? Better not lead with that or you give it all away.

What else have we for May 11th? Spiders… which really doesn’t work. But Planet of the Spiders replaced the abandoned Final Game, which revealed The Doctor’s history. Very Cartmel. Frankly, that really does need some fixing. I’m thinking Susan Foreman.’

‘The 2nd series could also be based around May 24th because they made me skip 2 eps for Eurovision back in the day. Yes, nice and camp: I’ll shoehorn that in. And, historically, that date also gives me The War Games. So, we need to reintroduce people to that gem. 10 eps? Oooh! Maybe get it trimmed and colourised.

Also Silence and The Library from 31st May, because that was the broadcast date of one of the delayed shows. Donna (and eventually River) are trapped in VR! Oh tres topical! Got to make that happen! And of course excellent for Cybermen, Gromit.’

‘Now, who else messes about with VR? The Valeyard. Right. What is the negative aspect of The Doctor? Good vs Evil. He HAS committed genocide. Davros won’t shut up about it.’

‘And who likes dubious armies of mooks? The Great Intelligence! Where is TGI? In The Doctors timeline… Now, do I have the number for Grant’s agent?’

‘So. Negative Aspect of The Doctor… best exemplars…<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>Remembrance = genocide, Coal Hill + maybe chuck Omega in to keep the trainspotters happy.’

‘That aired on Oct 5th. There’s 2 others from that date. Firstly, The Mindrobber = VR!!’

‘And 3 is the charm! Paradise Towers… people go to war at the behest of a Corporation/Organisation, just like The War Games; also Great Architect (=Intelligence), and it has a useless masculine character (VR, AI, mock the Alt Gammon) Yeah, that works great!’

‘Now, we’re unlikely to broadcast on Oct 5th… no problem: as Dylan Thomas said to AJP Taylor: “don’t make it too easy for the readers.” But best drop an Oct 5th ref in some random ep.’

Boom as it happens.

‘Problem… VR stories have a bad track record and can be a tad confusing. How far can you suspend disbelief?

Well, at least there’s no Fam. Oh you want to expand Unit for a spin off and bring some old faces back? Errr… sure, the viewers won’t notice. Too much.’

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@miapatrick
As opposed to the idea that a hypothetical ‘Rosedoc’ mimics a personification of The Tardis, like Idris or The Moment Interface, could it actually be the other way round? Who has actually looked onto the Heart of The Tardis?

Moviemaster

Slitheen Woman

And Rose… I think we know which one was preferred by the Blue Box. So was Rose kept as a template, influencing the possessed character of Idris and rippling into the conscience of The Moment?

If we assume The Doctor’s relationship with The Tardis is almost symbiotic (when the Doctor has a problem The Cloister Bell tolls) then he/she might be as amenable to a ‘Rose Shape’ as Lady Cassandra was.

Rogue… I think a lot of what we’ve seen in these two series are echoes of The Doctor’s history: an attempt to ground and build the VR around him. But there is feedback. Rogue isn’t safe in a nice VR… it’s hell. In rescuing Rogue will The Doctor actually regain River? If the VR is very very good. The virtual opposite of ‘what happens if you die in Real Life?’

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@dentarthurdent

I did mention Russ… perhaps I should have said RTD2.

The main point being, those two season closers were not just messed up by the arc – the key element presumably being VR – but by slow development: UNIT; non vital personnel old and new; they have a TIME WINDOW, which requires an exorbitant amount of explanation to no effect; yet no one can explain what The Vlinx is.

I was saying that all is not lost, whether or not Billie is or not The Doctor. There were bad eps in the past. There were some great eps in both the new series.

And sadly I never saw Legend of The Sea Devils… some relation to the spin-off do you think?

 

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@whisht

Thank you!

You know, I have managed it in the past. You get an update you can’t call t’internet yer own!

Anyway, how was that ever only a b side?

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@dentarthurdent @thane16 @winston @blenkinsopthebrave @whohar

it’s easier to find duff eps pre twice upon a time than good ones after (up until RTD2 anyway)

9 eps per season does seem a bit mean, with not a lot of scope for additional writers. I would say the only real clunkers were Russ’ Legend and Empire. But did they clunker. I keep looking for reasons in the arc… whatever it is. Will the key may be UNIT? Perhaps more information may emerge in the spin-off.

Secondary companions. Those three worked. Mickey was comedy, and we did laugh at him and Jack; now persona non grata. Danny and Rory were more critical, in different ways. Danny’s departure is interesting; he was on the verge of dumping Clara, next seen in various Virtual Realities. Which seems topical. I mean, I’m sure Gallifreyan tech is fantastic, but bringing a dead Afghan kid back? Presumably to London? And no awkward questions???

Arthur Darvill was great. Big Nose for Doctor 17. Doctor who refuses to put his companions at risk…? ‘Let’s NOT split up eh?’

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@whohar @blenkinsopthebrave @dentarthurdent
11th hour. Olivia Coleman does creepy

special mention for Amy’s choice. Toby Jones does creepy.
And Big Bang was totally off the wall yet elegant. Better season ender than Wedding or Time of the Doctor.
I wasn’t overly fond of the return of The Angels at first. Especially Angel Bob. Or the Silurian story: uncomfortable foreboding of The Fam from Chib.

The Lodger is another hidden gem. The later ‘oh seen this tech before’ misdirection from The Doctor in Day of the Moon, zooms in under the radar.

I think Smith was brilliant but some people are sniffy and/or confused by Moff.

Also like to mention the 2nd half of series 7. Even the 2 difficult eps look great.

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Re RTD2 in general… Buzzcocks: ‘What do you know?’ What, after all, do we know?

https://www.bing.com/search?q=youtube+what+do+you+know+buzzcocks&pc=EMMX04&FORM=EMMXA2&mkt=en-gb

…except not sure that worked… dumb overwrought lyrics and great brass anyway

 

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@blenkinsopthebrave @ dentarthurdent

So… no talkin shop dahn the pub. Ok I’ll remember that.

I mentioned Ace, not because I thought she’d be coming back, but because she (and Sarah Jane) are the favourite Classic companions. And, of the two, the writing for Ace was probably better. And she was the first ‘supered’ companion, apart from Romana. I think Leela was wonderful too but, when not in the hands of Holmes and Boucher, the writing for Leela veered to lazy or indifferent.

So why bother to ‘design’ Rose? Of course, as it happened, Russ didn’t. Probably a meta ambition. But Rose was always clearly ‘meant’ to be significant. And, if there is a plan, I assume it must contain a stipulation that in order NOT to wreck it (as a lot of people think Chib may have) you need to create a new mystery for every one you solve.

So, Rose disappears in a parallel universe, but she’s ‘owned’ by the Vortex too. For that reason, if we are looking at the origin of The Valeyard, I don’t think it’s Rose, but 10/14.

btw in UK CB radio parlance, 10-14 is ‘prowler report!’

Will come back shortly with my grand unified RTD2 analysis.

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@dentarthurdent @blenkinsopthebrave

Sorry, posting under time pressure. Of course, I meant ‘Twice Upon a Time,’ NOT ‘World Enough…’

I haven’t studied Chib’s Dalek stories. I really will have to check out the post TTC arc and specials. Albeit reluctantly. But Moff drilled right down into Dalekdom, whereas Chib just wheeled them around, didn’t he?

But anyway I checked the Reality War credits and, long before The Martins, Letts, and Nation…

‘Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor’

‘Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor’

’and introducing Billie Piper…’

so… PROBABLY The Doctor. But might (eventually) be Ruth, The Watcher or The Valeyard. Or any of the mugshots from Morbius.

Yes, Capdoc copped a Roman face to remind him to save Ashildr, who I have speculated elsewhere was quite crucial to The Doctor’s history, so actually he really had no choice. But significant.

6, back in the days when JNT thought if you squeezed your eyes very tight, no one would notice, had previously strutted Maxil, a shouty Gallifreyan functionary. No plan. Random.

If The Doctor has Rose’s face, why?

1. Looked into The Heart of The Tardis

2. Personified The Moment’s Interface. Of course the script of Day of The Doctor would seem to indicate that 2 follows from 1 (Badwolf)

3. Russ’ last desperate throw of the dice.

4. Always part of Cartmel 2.0… there was an early draft of Nuwho in which Rose was the product of The Doctor’s attempt to design the perfect companion.

Which is weird because you would think that was Ace, wouldn’t you?

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@blenkinsopthebrave @dentarthurdent

what I meant was, John Hurt was credited as ‘The War Doctor’ in Name of the Doctor but, apparently, Billie didn’t get anything like that this time. So, I assumed she’s The Doctor… but, if she is another version, you have Ruth, The Watcher or The Valeyard. Mind you Valeyard is french for Old Man. Don’t know if anyone has told Billie that.

I will have to go back to view the actual credits, having been side tracked by shout-outs to The Bakers, Letts and Nation. I expected someone to say ‘Nation gets a credit whatever’ but, bearing in mind no-one has done anything serious with the Daleks since World Enough and Time (in the weapon forges of Villengard in fact) I wonder now if the ‘Remembrance Oct 5th ref’ was not Omega but the Pepperpots, if not the genocide of Skaro.

The Moment link is interesting though because it should imply Billiedoc has a conscience. Whereas 10 was quite willing to fry the Racknoss, torment The Family of Blood forever, waste a regeneration to keep pretty, then proclaim himself Timelord Invictus.

Wiping out the Daleks with Donna is perfectly forgivable.

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Thought I’d move the discussion here.

Well, Ncuti Gatwa has gone. Anyone going for a retrospective? This is difficult because of the supposed ‘controversies’. Answer, simple: no controversy. Rating: better than Whittaker, not as good as Capaldi/Smith/Ecclestone. That’s in respect to writing AND performance. Great performances but, whether he annoys you or not, Tennant is untouchable.
Is he coming back? He’s out there for a reason but, if Gatwa wouldn’t commit to more than two seasons, then Tennant’s isn’t back week in week out: perhaps an odd ep or, most probably, the big denouement of the arc.
So, you would think Billie would be in harness for a while.

On the other hand, and checking The Reality War thread no one has mentioned this, I have read she was credited not as The Doctor, but just ‘introducing Billie Piper.’

So, she’s clearly Gallifreyan, but who? Or Who?

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@devilishrobby @jimthefish @juniperfish

Valeyard… Villengard (and therefor their ‘Shell Company’ Harmony Shoal?) Vlinx:

We have limited knowledge of The Valeyard incarnation… basically he’s incarnation 12+

We have limited knowledge of The Master’s incarnations because Who Narrative follows The Doctor’s timeline. So:

? > Delgado > ?

? > Darwan (wielding the TCE) > ?

? > Hot Smoked Master > Tremas > ?

? > Movie Master > ?

? > Yana  > Saxon > ? Missy was pretty non comittal about the Colony Ship experience you must agree.

? > Missy > ? She looked doomed on Skaro. Pre Movie Master was executed on Skaro. She also showed Clara you could charge a teleport with a death ray. So why not Saxon’s laser screwdriver? She was last seen on a ship full of Cybermen. Then turns up on Earth with an army of Cybermen.

It may be tricky to get INTO the Time War, but not impossible. It shouldn’t be a problem to go prior to the Time War (bearing in mind we don’t know when it is) so long as you don’t cross your own timestream. Tremas MUST have knowledge from post Time War and ostensibly preferred doomed Fatdoc to The Valeyard, who MUST have been post Time War himself cos that works for post 12 even if we’re counting Hurtdoc. Ruth might be problematic because we don’t know when, how or why.

So Tremas AND the Valeyard went pre Time War, knowing they could get away with it so long as they didn’t mention The War. In other words we COULD be about to get an early Valeyard… could be 14 or 16 or more probably REG… then they make a really good VR of which the Rani’s is a shonky echo. Later on JaystonV cooks up 6’s trial (using VR) cos 6 is such fat sweaty git and bound to get sent down.

As to why REGV? Simeon is still in The Doctor’s timeline. 11 only rescued Clara. Might be some bootstrapping going on to turn The Doctor in the VR after which REGV as Great Intelligence or Great Architect, retro designs the VR.

If you can’t thwart The Doctor then become him. But you might want a bigger flow chart.

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Of course the other aspects of Rose are:

She was briefly possessed by Lady Cassandra… so she may have insight into reality that 15 didn’t.

She doesn’t have a link to Unit does she? That emerged in series 4. Perhaps she will actually point at The V’linx and say ‘what the flipping hell is that?’ Or ‘er… so who runs your recruitment?’

Having faced off with the inadequate creep from The Impossible Planet, who thought it was a good idea to scribble his face with sharpies, she might not believe every dodgy bit of CGI is sacred, divine and/or demonic.

She may still know where Elton Pope hangs out. What better way to distract The Great Architect than crack his skull open with a concrete slab?

 

 

 

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@juniperfish

Billie as Valeyard. Hmmm

I have been predicting the V man for a while, on the back of:

Vlinx

Villengard

REG in the scan; Simeon is still in The Doctors timeline.

And The Great Library (with its own nifty and inhabited VR) might be a super Data Slice to get it all off the ground

Because it’s all weird, isn’t it? It ain’t real. Sutekh wasn’t a god so much as a backward dog.

I thought V might come from 14, however, yes it might easily be 15/16. But 14 accepted Vlinx straight off… also mavity and the pantheon from the wild blue yonder.

I even postulated that a VR might have started (or be retconned) earlier… with absolutely no evidence cos, unless I’m bedridden for weeks I’m never going to watch t’floox. But could t’floox or the Cyberman Ascension (both being barking mad) be the start of a virtual Universal Rewrite? A Cyberium that wanted to ditch it’s organic component would be very interested in top notch VR. And the Great Intelligence (or Architect) might find Cybermooks much more useful than Snowmen, Yetis or Wifi.

So 14 or 15/16? There was also the torture of Kid?! What the hell hero? That can’t just go away.

So we’re all thinking (and we were, weren’t we?)… 14 meets 16: ahhh like Badwolf Bay is back and four hearts beat as one… but 14 or 16 or both could just look at each other and justifiably go urghhh!?? Like 2&3. Or one might say to the other, you are Simeon and I claim £5!

Re Gatwa and the bonehead backlash, as far as this site is concerned, it seemed almost absent this year. Not sure what that means. Certainly not that they’ve gone away.

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Billie Piper?

I actually think she’ll be the Doctor for a while. Don’t know how long cos I’m not sure where the program is going. Definitely NOT 7 seasons, most unlikely to be 4.

I think Russ is keen to show to the world how a Ladydoc moves, therefore he forklifts in Whitdoc to say ‘hiya! Bye!’ Essentially. This is exhibit A. And now exhibit B. How much do we like Jo Martin because she was one of Chib’s few genuinely fresh (if cursorily explored) ideas, AND also she wasn’t Jodie? Nothing against Jodie but that ship has sailed.

Because you can’t have broken Ladydocs for ever and ever and ever. That is AN EPIC FAIL. Sorry. Makes a complete nonsense of everything the show stands for. Got to fix it and soon. Therefore three specials is not going to do. Got to be 1 whole series at the absolute minimum.

Not saying it wasn’t a shock though. It’s one of thosr inevitable hindsights.

I imagine (?) Billie knows her career is less high profile than Tennant and Gatwa’s, and that casting gets tougher later on. Ecclestone only lasted a year; he didn’t like the way the industry treated Kate Hardie and wasn’t going to put up with Noel. And he DID NOT have to stick around.

A great many big names may not fancy the job as much as they would say 15 years ago. But maybe the rising stars you really want, your Tennants and Smiths won’t either, cos of the issues post Moff.

Whether Russ’ ability to deliver is as towering as his supreme confidence, I dunno. Who would step into Disney’s shoes without making some content stipulations – having seen the last 2 series? That also goes for The Corporation. A lot of this rides on the spinoff.

Hmmm. Do you think The Mouse did not like the look of it?

 

 

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Did you notice…

The Rani was credited to Pip and Jane Baker;

Omega to Barry Letts (I think, NOT Baker and Martin or Byrne);

The Daleks to Terry Nation. Of course.

But, is that standard form? Or should we expect some screeching pepper pot action? Perhaps some post truth modern and ‘reasonable’ Daleks?

’I am your… SOLDIER. Would you like a cup of TEA??’

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The top five Gatwa… it’s nuanced (I hope)

Pemiership: Boom, 73 yards, Dot & Bubble, Lux, The Well, Story & Engine,

Championship: Church on Ruby Road, Rogue, Joy to the World, Lucky Day, Interstellar Song Contest, Wish World,

1st Division: Space Babies, Devil’s Chord, Legend, Empire, Robot Revolution, Reality War,

Not saying anything else is as bad as Umpire of Dearth or good as Dot & Bubble.

There is an issue here. Thesis: it’s all VR. How do you know what’s good or bad; it’s all synthetic. And real.

Death of Who:

1. The Fam. The Crowded Tardis. The show is designed for Madman in Box, Exposition and Comic Relief if your lucky. And you to be lucky. And deliver Comic Relief. You have to write.

2. Unreality. Suspension of Belief is at its limit. VR is an issue. Totally relevant today but it also has history: Mindrobber; Deadly Assassin; Ultimate Foe; Greatest Show; Silence in the Library, Amy’s Choice. Might be devine or barking. And… How Would You Know?

The Unit as Fam is annoying but that’s what the forward button is for. VR/AI… unless it’s a mystery, there’s no point; but then you have to give clues or everyone will think it’s sh*t. But the clues are annoying in themselves.

Because suspension of belief is at its limit. There’s a lot of competition: Reith? Three channels? TV license? Marvel brainrot? T’internet brainrot? Do ‘t have to watch this.

What if you’ve lost your audience; people just think, ‘this is sh*t!’?

 

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@blenkinsopthebrave @scaryb

Murky. Gritty.

oft mocked. Very nasty, dumb title: Vengeance on Varos. If the current arc is VR it needs a Visit to a Virtual Varos if only to dunk The V’linx in some Vitriol!

Some will be outraged, but it’s a weird mix of unlikely personal thesp triumph not even JNT and Seward combined could contain: Caves of Androzani. The Doctor, Peri, and the Murky Gritters. Even the bats.

The Web of Fear lurks beyond the back of My Childhood Sofa; but challenged in series 6 by Fury from the Deep, if only enough of it survived (thank you Australian censors for the blacked out mouth horror that we do still have and retch faintly at)

Dalek. The shock of Ecclestone. ‘I made it happen!’ It’s alright Chris, calm down, I believe yer.

Deep Breath? Too long. But I was Murked. And Gritted. “Do you have a kid’s menu?”

And I haven’t even got to World Enough and Time. ‘Tell you what Razor, I’ll mop the floor. You fix a fry up.’ Bill… so, when exactly did the perception filter thing start?

So technically, that’s seven.

 

 

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@pete66 @thane16

I actually liked most of this series more than the resolution… even RTD1 season enders weren’t normally that barking.

So, I do miss the gritty old prosaic Who. I assume the VR theme is a way of changing the ‘tone.’ If you think about it the show was jazzed up and comic stripped after Hell Bent with ‘Husband’, presumably to facilitate bringing a streaming partner on board.

The problem with ‘The Matrix’, Mindrobbers, Dream Lords and Castrovalvas is, no one really knows what’s happening, not without Russ is dropping hints like ‘Oct 5th’ in Boom.

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Ok. That was better than the Empire of Stupid Sutekh.

That is, not even the moving scene with dust woman or the shonky but charming homemade pseudo Tardis could save us from taking the dog for walk. Even if the dog was a backward god.

Conrad really only wanted safety for all. Fathers are absent and people cope with it. Well, these two conclusions are strong. And the story moved along nicely. The ‘Unit Fam’ was firmly under control. On the other hand Omega was a bit daft and not terribly scary. Nor did he bear any resemblance to tTD or AoI. Nothing about bigeneration was revealed. Was it? There was some terribly squishy technobabble in there.

I would really like Jodie’s appearance to be more valedictory, but it felt like a contractural obligation. Can I go now? Unless… the idea was because Gatwa had just been checking out a few of his previous (male) fizzogs, she was there to remind him that there was an alternative. Which may actually be worse…

Obviously the arc is incomplete.

Takeaways.

Anita has a Boss who wanted to collapse The Rani’s VR. It seems reasonable to think this is also Meep’s Boss. And presumably Mavity hasn’t gone away suddenly. Therefore Salt at the Edge of The Universe/The Pantheon is a constructed narrative to deceive The Doctor.

Also The Time Hotel is presumably not all it seems to be. Anita was very interested in Rogue and The Doctor.

Poppy was Belinda’s child and YET she was in Space Babies. Unless she’s a munchkin so cute she gets in twice over. But Lakshmi is raising her. So… is the Doctor’s daughter, or son, fostered by someone else? Someone we know?

Mrs Flood is still out there.

RTD has presumably banked a lot of footage of CAF. Just in case.

The Vlinx, Rose and Susan Triad were hidden by The Rani’s VR. And whatever Zeta Alpha Theta Iota is, it is presumably OUTSIDE The Rani’s VR.

Lakshmi’s garden was autumnally dank and reminded me of The Data core VR in The Library… but maybe SitL was a date link too far.

But The Mindrobber, (a) Great Architect, or just a spooky hamming thesp. And, well, it wasn’t Omega (was it?) So Daleks? The destruction of Skaro?

Hoped there might be a ‘Christmas 2025’ announcement at the end. Sigh. Apparently Husbands didn’t start shooting ‘til September 2015…??

 

 

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Right. Trying not to look at anyone else’s post.

To start with, if that was Davison, he’s really let himself go. Has someone else said that? If so, we think alike. If not, gimme a chuckle.

It was better than the Stupid Sutekh thing, but how much more? How much of the regeneration story was bolted on? If you accept what was being told… IF… it didn’t seem that necessary.

And now we have 10, sorry 14, and Bill. The original Bill. Both Timelords. Presumably in the same reality. Both of them the same Timelord. Except Timelords don’t have kids like that, or not anymore, if ever.

Unless… it’s a VR within a VR??

As a resolution it was quite empty. And Whittaker’s appearance especially. You really want some profundity: whatever it was 9 said to Rose; 11… ‘the first face this face saw’ (it makes me cry) and then ‘I don’t like the colour (of the kidneys – that makes me laugh)’; 12… ‘thank you for being here…’, Nardole ‘cuddle.’ Last 2 are Moff of course. Why not leave it to him?

Was it rushed? And was this because the regen wasn’t part of the plan? Did Whittaker think she HAD to do it to defuse tensions? Cos, committed or not, Russ didn’t really give her any parting zingers, did he?

And the two big pay offs…

1. Conrad is forgiven because he really just, misguidedly, wanted everyone to be safe and happy.

2. Women do indeed have children who have an absent father.

… may well be an appropriate conclusion for THAT particular series… which seemed to be about male anxiety. Yeah OK. So, why did he regenerate?

There are some other issues. Not simply wasted bonkerising discarded like wrapping paper in the gutter. I need to think.

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@nerys
That was more a comment on Chibnall’s previous Who tendencies. I did try Broadchurch. Was mainly watching Scandinoir at the time, itself pretty flawed. So, on the one hand my comment was a cheap shot, imagining what Chibnall might have done with Who (depending on The Corp). But I can’t really say what I saw convinced me that Chibnall’s handling of character was ever not just dull and worthy. His Who contribution should be no surprise.

Crime. I can be fussy. The later (most recent) incarnation of ‘Those Who Kill,’ is consistently disturbing, frightening and yet curiously dutiful to the (female) protagonist. Great writing but not an easy watch, especially the first one (bring a friend). Also the ‘Paris’ Belle Epoque series had fantastic production values, wonderful acting and chutzpah coming out of its ears; I hope they can fund another series.

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@dentarthurdent

Ohila/12… great example. But! Ohila… would the actor be there for the read? She might be. I dunno.

Hypothesis:

1. Lots of modern drama relies on semi improv work. You get better thesps on board too.

2. Moff is genius with dialogue. With dialogue (like wings) you can fly! Not to be confused with pointless  worthy dialogue that the poor hams have to chew to death. ie you really do need ambition. My personal favourites.

3. Moff likes to work with good actors who spark back… and he’s a genius because… hey, he lets this stuff happen. He’s confident. The BBC love the show. He controls the might of Cartmel 1.0, RTD1 weird and wonderful and maybe the Cartmel 2.0 that was foretold (by me)

4. Chib was told to stay well clear of all that. That is death by nasty crit and sekjen, that is. Not doing that again.

Oh. Could I make it ‘Broadchurch’ in space? A series of Intergalactic Moiders with conflicted cardboard cutouts (my fav. Pretty please?)

No? Er… what about a soap opera with unrelated (non threatening) stories (but they don’t notice that stuff in a soap) with multiple quite boring characters. Better… maybe…

Make it as dumb as Marvel with ridiculous mooks and villains!

Hmmm. Yes. Best.

Aside… don’t you hate it when actors read your lines and take your money but actually that is ALL they’re doing? Why can’t we own their soul, like all the other wage slaves?

And there you have it!

Sorry ranting again. Time for a lie down.

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@mudlark @whohar @blenkinsopthebrave

Omega House. Delta waves… this COULD actually be based on Animal House!??

15 and Ruby duet on ‘Shout’; 14 communes with miniature spectral forms of Ruth and Swarm. Clara and Cherry dance with Ruby and Belinda’s dates. Conrad falls off a ladder…

no no no I can’t go on!

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@whohar

Bone Dinosaurs… if this is a VR, could this be a reference to the end of Mark of The Rani?

Zeta, Theta and Iota could be about the creation of VR. Alpha may be related to ordinal numbers… that is infinite sets… bumping up against the edge of a VR universe might be quite jarring. Best avoided.

Is there a mathematician in the house?

Otherwise, I really hope we don’t get Peter Davison, but I suppose it’s a possibility.

I read somewhere that the season ender is supposed to explain something about bigeneration.

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<p style=”text-align: left;”>@mudlark</p>
unless they taught the Greeks how to write… after the Greeks gave up on linear B. And you need an extra head to read Gallifreyan. So, better to rip a phonetic script off the Phoenicians.

All I can say is, when Delta Tau Chi turn up, the Universe runs out of alcohol. And Villengard share values drop. But V’ernon Wormer has their number. And a cucumber in the fridge.

 

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Perhaps the Space Babies are VR Time Lords.

Eric was The Doctor??

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@mudlark @blenkinsopthebrave

It’s a sub canon thing that The Doctor was once known as Sigma Theta or ‘Thete’.

But it ain’t sigma, it’s zeta. Zeta and theta have connections with various number theories and functions, especially Riemann surfaces which form the basis of fractal theory.

But that’s me talking, so a lot of the last paragraph could be wrong.

Iota is associated with the internet of things & AI.

Discuss.

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ZA theta 1

or

ZA 01… ie a countdown, nearly ended.

I was looking for sigma, as in sigma theta.

zeta alpha theta 1?

Zap1??

Or a Gallifreyan fraternity on double secret probation? Perhaps it’s bigger than that… on the inside. But who is Pinto and Flounder?? Toga! Toga!

Animal House… but you knew that…

 

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@dentarthurdent

perhaps ‘the idea, that a Ladydoc shouldn’t be blokey, might work’ would be better.

Different docs? ie Docs that ‘work’… If 1&2 defined the character, 3 was the first ‘constructed’ doc: stuck on Earth, gimmicky, comes with private army and bete noir. 4 is iconic but he was actually made by Holmes/Hinchcliffe… and he went on too long.

Then you’re into JNT territory. 3 more constructed docs. Davison, the best actor of the lot, was saddled with multiple conflicting and heavy handed production decisions, including the first (accidental) Fam. That is, Nyssa would have been much happier as an android.

6 could never cancel out the assault of The Myrka let alone that on Peri. Actually I thought the contrast with the Gary Sue isms of Buck Rogers was quite entertaining. But I’m a silly twisted boy.

7 recovered well from a disastrous start, with better script’s commissioned by Cartmel, but Sylvester couldn’t escape The Grade.

Effectively, in terms of the arc, 9 and 10 are the same doc. Ecclestone could be startling hostile. Loved it. Very sad that he didn’t like the gig. 10 made new who. Presumably the unscheduled change meant they had to make him estuary. Did I read somewhere that Smith ‘invented’ 11 at the audition? Moffat must have told Capaldi ‘I want Malcolm Tucker, but less sweary, in space. That should be fun!’ Not sure The Corporation agreed.

Did Chib ‘parachute’ Whittaker in? More so than 10 or 12?? Moffat’s script read-throughs were 0ften broadcast on the accompanying ‘confidentials’ with lots of improv which was probably what made the scripts sparkle. Is just my ignorance or was there less or none of that in the Chib tenure? Or none?

Sorry, I thought our favourite scratching post had taken enough punishment, but maybe not.

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@pufferfish

Not sure about the Russian’s enthusiasm for Battlestar Galactica however. DS9 The Dominion War arc perhaps, especially Weyoun. Or as they call him… Marco!

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@pufferfish

lol

on a more serious note. The seventh son of a seventh son?? 7×7 is…!!

An Arthur Lee song…!

No! It is 49 no less. And 49 + 1963 = 2012. The Christmas ep 2012 was The Snowmen. Snow. Rain. Tears.

REG. In the scan. Rogue. Who is trapped in another Universe.

May 31st, this Saturday =

1. The War Games… still like that very much, what with the colourised reissue last year. Residents of Paradise Towers going off to War. Villengard cropping up all over.

2. Silence in the Library… Built by Mr Lux. Biggest data base for a really nifty VR you could possibly want. Just full of chicken eating microbes. But do they do digital?

And who lives in the Data Core, children?

Yes! Proper Dave!!

Oh, you know…

Can I stop scraping this barrel please?

 

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@missrori

no Susan and Rogue are definitely NOT illusory. Nor is Roger ap Gwillem, Stukey Bill, or the Space Babies. However, everyone apart from Susan, but perhaps her too, are disguised. If anything, they are all rooted in The Doctor’s REAL consciousness.

We know now the exterior of The Bone Palace is unreal. But is the interior? Mavity precedes The V’indicator. So, where is the V’linx? Why is The Doctor still encountering Villengard? Could Rusty (the Dalek) really not bring them down?

Perhaps what is waiting outside is not Omega but banging video game. But who is holding the xbox?

Or I’m wrong. Omega chews the scenery into submission, and mavity goes with Antimatter like fishfingers and custard.

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While we may wince at the thought of a Russ ‘kitchen sink’ season end, if it proved to be just an annihilated Omega bootstrapping himself through force of will, I may be slightly disappointed.

I think its all a VR including the Rani VR, in which The Doctor is forced to confront his past and maybe his future. I know the Cyberium might be interested in ‘excellent’ VR if they wanted to avoid being Androids as the Master pointed out to them.

Could be a valid point to make about AI

Also… Conrad. Toxic masculinity. Tends to crowd out everything else. Sound observation. Paradise Towers has ‘Pex’… who didn’t go to war with everyone else (war games – looking at you). Pex redeems himself by blowing himself and The Great Architect up. Perhaps Ruby CAN Conrad?

Poppy? Dunno. I don’t think Space Babies was real either. The Doctor may think because she says ‘no’ to Rani’s VR, she must be real.

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From The Problem with Chris, to date analysis. I wouldn’t usually bother with this level of analysis, but October 5th does seem to have Mindrobber, Remembrance and possibly Paradise Towers links (btw the last one is hard work). Anyway Oct 5th is in the text. So kinda nailed on.

May 24th & 31st is more speculative: the War Games has recently been colourised and abridged, deals with a nefarious military complex like Villengard, and ends with a possibly contentious regeneration. Silence in the Library deals specifically with VR. See my recent posts on the appropriate forums. It also has a character called Lux as well as echoes of Dot and Bubble and Rogue.

Then I started thinking about the last series. Actually there aren’t many matching historical serials for those dates, but I did wonder why Space Babies and The Devil’s were released together: May 11th matches with Wheel in Space and Silver Nemesis. Two Cyberman serials.

Also The Planets of the Spiders. Really no idea there… accept PotS was a replacement for The Final Game, abandoned due to the untimely death of  Roger Delgado and which would have spelled the Master/Doctor relationship. In fact that portrait of The Master sounded very much like something beginning with ‘V’. Other elements were reworked into The End of Time. But the last three Masters, and indeed most of the rest of the Time Lords, now have major Cyberiad credentials.

And someone has the Master’s gnasher. Unless it’s Max Capricorn.

 

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Strictly speaking, the Forest of the Dead does not have a date link to the current series. But I had a look.

Q. If the Doctor has a granddaughter but not a child,  might things sequentially in the future for him and for us, be in the past for people who have advised him of Spoilers in the past.

I mean ‘stealing the president’s wife and the moon.’

Which moon??

If someone needed to exploit The Library say to aid machine learning and create a virtual reality. might have to disable the virus checker. Which was The Doctor Moon…

But who was the president’s wife??

Also if the resulting VR was very very good, would dead people in it come back? River, Dave, Proper Dave, Anita, Miss Evangelista… even Charlotte Lux?

Otherwise… River reads a bed time story to three kids (I can’t imagine she’d be happy doing that for long)… but Charlotte and the two imaginary kids. 3 kids.

Ok 3 is a magic mumber. But 3 Stukey Babies. Ashildr’s 3 empty cradles…

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@mudlark @dentarthurdent @janetteb

The theory that a Ladydoc shouldn’t in anyway ape a ‘blokedoc’ is not necessarily unsound. You might say it was an act of faith by both actor and writer.

But then the Faye Marsay resemblance is down to either:

1. er… ’kookdoc’ – which is a bit insulting isn’t it? On many levels. I wouldn’t put it past Moffat. But then he would have supplied JW with 5x the wit. But I’m thinking Professor Albert = Byron. Drama = threat/urghh gross.

So, maybe Chib HAD to supply JW with the Fam. In other words the politics hasn’t evolved much beyond the Chronicles of Narnia. Sigh.

2. This was actually a rationalisation formed from Cartmel 2.0 and The Corporation’s quite defensive wish list. Someone must have considered what  Ladydoc must be like in the previous decade.

Could have been the end of the road for Moff.

 

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Ok. On the basis that this ep was broadcast on 31st May… and the only other one ever was The War Games, I thought I should check it out again.

Woahhh! This is up there with Blink. Funny that Blink got a mention in Lux. And oh! Yes! THAT name!!

Thesis: the Rani is running a shonky VR based on the nonsense generated by a pathetic conspiracy theorist. If indeed the Rani isn’t itself a story, a mirror of the real VR…

…based on the contents of The Library, complete with sluggy vashta nerada, Rogue who has been ‘saved’ to another universe, and dot like security cameras. There’s even an Anita in it; 10 really likes her. And Donna is convinced her children are real.

Also the original source of… ‘Spoilers!’

Paradise Towers is much harder work. The uncredited Red Kang I was thinking of turned up in Bad Wolf.

I’m also thinking… Stukey Bill. Roger son of William. Doctor Moon. The Moon and the President’s wife even…

I think all this may emerge in the post Disney era, however.

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@janetteb

btw yes I meant Faye Marsay. T’other end o’Yorkshire and meant to be the next companion but I think this proves there is some kind of Cartmel 2.0.

Shona grooved like Ace. Or Anita (Sandringham, not Dobson. Especially in Richard Briers mode).

Russ! Time for Faye! I’ll do the script and everything. Faye… & Anita! BAMF!

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@janetteb @geoffers @mudlark

Yes! Let’s all have a good rant down the pub.

Hey! I just posted a major essay into the ether. Tsk probably a good thing.

The quintessence:

Ruth is fine but the continuity is weird. It probably needs a bit of retro conversion.

The Division is reminiscent of The Obsidian Order/ Tal Shiar/Section 31. But it and t’floox could also be Chib’s metaphor for The Corporation and the thought police.

Because Douglas was cancelled. The Doctor has a timey wimey wife and a bombshell mother in law which may or may not be sus but Clara is NOT allowed to use time travel to check out her own rear view, and jokes about the Bechdel test on the Orient Express don’t go down well. You are not to be allowed anywhere near a Ladydoc, Steven.

So Chib takes charge with complicated corporate wish list which doesn’t help him but he also has a tendency to be quite unnuanced and soap operatic. It doesn’t work.

On the other hand Ruth and The Timeless Children may have been part of a hypothetical Cartmel 2.0 plan all along. Moffat had stuff planned out til 2020. It’s just Chib is not a sub edding obsessive like Russ, so it was done badly.

The Division has obviously been nefarious forever, whatever is done with Ruth’s backstory. Does that explain Hedin or Goth, who incidentally was also the Time Lord who finally scragged 2? Of course the Doctor can be wiped. That’s why we were introduced to the Neural Block in Hell Bent.

Finally dates.

October the 5th mentioned in Boom leads us to:

The Mindrobber = VR & Conrad

Paradise Towers = Mrs Flood doing a Richard Briers turn and a brain in the basement which may or may not imply Great Intelligence.

Remembrance = Omega (strictly just the hand), Daleks, fascists and genocide. Ace doing her hair would be nice.

May 24th = the War Games. Building an army through mind control. Villengard could supply some stuff. Villengard wanted to supply a star. Where is the V’linx? Mel knows someone beginning with V! Got to be there for dome reason.

Also, Who skipped a week in 2008 thanks to The Eurovision Song Contest. The next ep on May 31st was Silence in the Library.

The Water in the Forest (of the dead) is The River. Rogue’s reaction to 10 in the scan. Dot. Everyone is eaten by monsters.

Who were Susan’s parents? Assuming one wasn’t Jenny. The Doctor has a wife. Does Darillium have a Maternity Unit?
Who is Poppy?

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@mudlark

But ‘poppy’ is also echoed in the Hellions and their ruined planet. Poppy Honey.

Space Babies and Rogue are emerging from the murk.

Paradise Towers is worth a look… just started. Pity about Mel…

There’s something somewhere about a young actress who played a Red Kang and crops up later. Can’t remember…

I shall deploy the sonic trowel!!

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On the theme of the Two Rani’s, and with some help from TWTNTW, I think Patrick Troughton is saying ‘I get a pain in the neck!’

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Chib… the fall out from Wish World.

This doesn’t seem to have much to do with him. Russ should be able to navigate his way around this admittedly clumsy execution of the Timeless Children erm… revolution. End of that particular story.

On the other hand we have Ruth. I have issues with Ruth. There was a companion who died for Ruth! Before our eyes. Terrified. He knew why Ruth was on the run. We’ve NOT heard that story. At all. I’m not happy about it. Never mind Noor Inyat Khan or Old Cockneys strutting Deep South buses looking shifty, how can you, a show runner, go THAT wrong? That’s not Who.

Got to say, I’m not sure WHAT Chib was trying to do. I understand his constraints… but what did he actually WANT to achieve?

He ain’t saying. And Russ doesn’t want lose the sale.

Is there a plan? A Cartmel type ‘guide’? Did Chib interpret it differently? Somehow. Or did he deliberately vandalise it? Because the corp, with a sale in view, may not have liked the idea of too much continuity porn. ie The Plan. The Plan is a continuity control mechanism. Another reason the beancounters can’t tell you what to do, damn their eyes!!

Over to you Chris.

Well, that didn’t work. Now we have it in spades, continuity, mainly because we need to make sense of Ruth. Ruth is the biggest thing to emerge from the pen of Chib. The Lady Doctor from before the slightly rubbish erm… sub Faye Marsand Doctor we ended up with. Sorry about the scripts. We got this new kid in.

No! How could that creative decision go SO wrong?

Ruth isn’t wrong. We like Ruth, but I wonder if the creators understood that? And if they didn’t, why?

Maybe we need less continuity, more engagement.

Discuss…

 

 

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I suggest observations with regards to this quite all right ep, and the entertaining if slightly self-serving arc that encompasses it, remain to be expressed here… or on forums related to subsequent episodes.

For stuff that pertains specifically to Chib, his decisions, the reasons for those, and the reaction to his departure, perhaps we should retire to the dartboard of The Winchester, if not the Couch of Sigmund Freud.

If I’ve got thid wrong in the past fair enough. But it seems to be a continuing issue. People want to talk about the show…

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@whohar

The issue with bigeneration is: who gets custody of the Tardis? For some reason I thought the box also split somehow. Which would seem to be wrong or at least there is no evidence but if, in Journey to the Centre of The Tardis, we learn the Tardis can make everything, why not another Tardis? That is it’s not just a space/time machine but a Von Neumann machine.

But Ruth’s Tardis is a police box decked out in 1960’s white formica. It wasn’t a Name of the Doctor death star elevator. And it wasn’t an American Diner. I have wondered about 2/3 and it looks very much like we MAY have some War Games retconning happening.

New bonkers theory… what if 3 just THOUGHT he had a functioning Tardis with a dematerialisation code problem? What if it was a mock up to keep him happy until Ruth handed the real one back? Or a duff SIDRAT someone had carelessly left knocking around?

Obviously Conrad may be ‘a’ Master… the Mind Robber type. The original churned out pot-boilers in the 1920’s…

Interesting to find out if anyone managed to isolate the ‘8’ frame… it was extraordinarily, suspiciously brief.

Need to think what to check out next… Paradise Towers, I think. Then ‘Silence’ and ‘Forest.’ The water in the forest is the river.

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The Mind has been Robbed.

The Architect is Great and has been Busy.

Omega is Handy.

Omegeddon!

Slightly ho hum. But only slightly. No Fam to speak of. So that’s a good thing.

But why Conrad? Ain’t he just this guy, you know? I really don’t want him to be The Master.

And gods, gods, gods, gods… they get everywhere, don’t  they? Was this cute ickle chuckling Wish God even on the listy list? I must have gone to sleep a year ago, but that’s what Sunday Lunch with the Unit Fam does for you.

Well, this is The Deadly Assassin/Ultimate Foe problem isn’t it? When does Mike Yarwood declare ‘and this is me!’ then sing slightly flat? Cos really Mike, we had no idea at all.

Erm… so we ain’t actually SEEN Old Mother O’Mega yet have we? Though he really rocks nonexistance and willpower, I understand. Can I also observe that The V’linx was absolutely nowhere to be seen, and Ruby is as apparently Real as anything can be said to be? Also, Shirley, you cannot be serious. And there was no 14. No Donna. No Rose Noble.

Also… was it me or was there something odd about 8 in the incarnation flash?? 14 picked 8 clubs for The Toymaker didn’t he? Wouldn’t it be great to have I reunited with Withnail? Also Ruth was shown post 13. And no 14 at all.

Otherwise… yellow mugs. Yellow bins? Micky was chased by a wheelie bin. Enormous skeletal dinosaurs? Enormous arachnidy sky palaces? We’ll have cars suspended from hot air balloons and steam trains barrelling through pyramids next.

So, next week could be anything. I predict fun and War Games because… 31st May = episode 7 of TWG in 1969. However… this is NOT another one and only broadcast. For some reason I have now completely forgotten, NuWho series 4 skipped May 24th and went straight to May 31st with…

Silence in The Library!

Hmmm. Yes. Is Rogue a projection not of Jack but River?? Didn’t I say ‘dot’ looked familiar? And the nasty arthropod/slugs might be somewhat Vashta Neradish??

If not it will just be lots of running around, scenery chewing, SIDRATS and a man in a kilt.

Should be better than The Umpire of Dearth, anyway.

 

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This season has been better, though eps 3-6 from last year were very good, and 1-2 only slightly weird with good bits.

There does seem to be hints of Omega and possibly Daleks.

I’m not what you do with The Daleks post Rusty The Good Dalek or Clara The Almost Dalek. Don’t want think about Zchib in that respect. He seemed to wheel them out when it all went wrong and everyone laughed at t’floox.

Omega. The Three Doctors was the first multidoc story. Troughton winding up Pertwee was fun. And The Brig declaring the Antiverse was Norfolk was droll. Otherwise well ‘Zaphod’s just this guy you know…’

What is Omega for? He’s an anti character. I prefer The Rani, who was only invented when they thought they’d run out of ridiculous things to do with Anthony Ainley. Let’s face it Kalid from Time Flight was the antimatter of dramatic persona. Don’t get me started on Arc of Infinity.

Similarly salt at the edge of The Universe… this is post mavity. The Star Beast and his boss exists before that departure. Something changes between that and Wild Blue Yonder. I’m not sure if, from that point, any of it is real including the salt. But the virtual reality seems to be exploring the history of the Doctor. That narrative COULD include Omega but it will logically be a VIRTUAL Omega.

If this all becomes inchoate at times (the questionable stories) then this is very reminiscent The Ultimate Foe, or the virtual nastiness of The Deadly Assassin that made Mary Whitehouse smoke at the ears. The Matrix is the virtual record of all reality but can be distorted, most famously during Trial of a Timelord.

Lots of V’s in this arc. If you wanted a Great Architect for your new reality or a maybe reconstructed Gallifrey, what better than a Great Intelligence. Simeon entered the Doctor’s time stream to defeat him and was thwarted by Clara. But what if he WAS The Doctor, ‘the amalgamation of his darker sides’: the crazy 6th doc; the second doc who briefly became an Androgum; murky Seven who goes where Four feared to tread and blew up Skaro… thereby starting The Time War; The War Doctor; slightly psychotic nine and ruthless 10?? Now 15 is getting sadistic. Never be cruel…

Ruby’s snow and 15’s tears.

So on that basis The Ranii may not be creating ‘The Fiction’ but trying to stop it, like The Master proving an unlikely ally in The Ultimate Foe.

Also Rani Chandra. It is an amazing… incidence. How old would Mrs Flood have been in 1969? Could Ranirani get chameleon arched as a baby and sent back to 1993? Could Floodrani similarly turn up in Leadworth in 1989 and get adopted by the Zucker family? The Rani is supposed to be a ‘Deca’ like The Monk, The Master and The Doctor but Cartmel rewrote that last part and the Zchib went and blew it sky high, much to Cartmel’s disgust.

What if, post Rani Chandra, she regenerates as someone loud, proud and male complete with natty facial hair, and goes back with some SIDRATS to make the perfect army?

Obviously that’s not all going to happen in the finale.

And why The Golden Tooth ✨?

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@devilishrobby
Remembrance: The Hand that killed Skaro was definitely Omega’s… though I admit I’ve made a similar mistake in the past. And there were crypto Mosleyites in the early 60’s Britain. 2 stories later, in Silver Nemesis, a statue of living metal no less, made by both Mr O’Mega and Razzy Lon (who may or may not also be Rog Williamson), caused some upset in 1980’s Windsor, though this time the James Bond comic strip fascists were shipped from South America. By helicopter I think!

But yes. Cartmel had a plan. We found out about it during the interregnum, RTD added the Time War. Then Moff gave it a cuddle, before Zchib vandalised it. Or he just couldn’t handle the pressure and ran round the town naked. In a manner of speaking.

It makes sense to have a plan. Or we might end up with Bobby Ewing stepping out of the shower. In a manner of speaking. And maybe we will yet, but it’s not for want of trying.

Temporally non linear and practically immortal life must be a challenging write, especially after 60 years of nonsense continuity, even if you’re an incredible DW auxiliary sub edding machine like Russ.

Plans are better than no plans. And here we are!

[Author]

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