@robertcaligari

Who is to say 14 is gratuitous? Who is to say he a positive incarnation? This is the same Timelord Invictus who wasted a whole regeneration to preserve himself. His metacrisis version commits genocide and is viewed by the original as ‘born of battle full of blood and anger and revenge’ just as he was. Perhaps he contains an ‘am…[Read more]

@robertcaligari I am NOT saying FX are more important than other factors, in fact they can’t compensate for inadequacies elsewhere (though some producers try). I don’t disagree with you. If it doesn’t need FX then it doesn’t.

Army of Darkness was a product of Sam Raimi, who, along with Rob Tapert, founded Renaissance Pictures which for five…[Read more]

@robertcaligari @dentarthurdent @devilishrobby

Any story can crippled by acting, production, or effects (remember Capdoc on the prop horse in The Woman Who Lived?) but Whovians like to think the show lives or dies by the script/story.

Sometimes villains remain on their backside (Sutekh, numerous Master stories, The Gatherer) sometimes it’s The D…[Read more]

@devilishrobby Well, I only know Whitaker from Doctor Who, so to me she’s an awfully hammy actress. Everyone who’s seen her in other productions says she’s good, so I’ll just conclude that she was possibly slightly mis-cast (I think a ‘darker’ character would have done better) and certainly mis-directed and had some awful scripts. (“I’m the…[Read more]

@robertcaligari Sarcastic but a fairly valid generalisation, I fear. And as CGI gets better, there’s even more temptation to just ‘blow stuff up.’ Of course most of Who, most of it’s life, has suffered from pathetic special effects and rubber monsters. The recent ep with Tennant and Donna in the blue spaceship was a magnificent exception…[Read more]

@robertcaligari Just reading your comment (which I agree with btw), I just have trouble visualising ‘Whittaker had the acting chops to go dark if the script called for it’. I believe you, most people seem to share that opinion, just that I’ve only ever seen her as the Doctor so I can’t imagine her as ‘dark’. Reportedly she was advised not to watch…[Read more]

@robertcaligari

Yes. Chibnall will be largely defined by the problems with 13. Although you won’t get anyone involved with show to admit this; no-one wants to lose the sale.

But Jodie Whitaker was unfairly served by her scripts. That’s down to Chibnall. And there were a lot of other problems.

Having said that, being DW showrunner is tough; a ‘…[Read more]

@robertcaligari

Thanks. Is that the Evil Dead spinoff / continuation? The ED movie scared the bejaysus outta me when first I saw it, although I was pretty young at the time. ED II didn’t have the same impact, although I clearly remember the scene with the detached hand that was trapped under a bucket with a pile of books hastily applied to ensure…[Read more]

@robertcaligari

what’s stopping RTD from revisiting this idea over and over again? Is this going to be a recurring thing now, with the Doctor “splitting” like an amoeba every time he’s mortally injured?

I guess the answer is nothing, but I suspect it won’t happen again, for a while at least. Could be wrong, probably will be.

And, talking about B…[Read more]

@robertcaligari

I admit to some reservations when I heard that RTD and Tennant were returning – my concern being that the show was in such deep trouble that it could only be saved by bringing the band back together. And that bringing the band back together is never as good as the first time around.

However, I think it’s all worked out very well,…[Read more]

@robertcaligari

It’s a contentious subject I know but can we please keep it civil? You’ve started an interesting discussion here (imo) and everyone’s entitled to agree and disagree but let’s try to do it in a friendly way? Part of the point of this site’s inception was as a refuge away from the more combative corners of the internet and we should…[Read more]

@robertcaligari it’s interesting that ‘what if a white man was cast to play Martin Luther King’ is the example so often used, because it’s a really, really bad example. Unless Newton was campaigning against racist laws and politics applied against white people by people of Indian heritage.

@jimthefish plus there is the largely under explored debt…[Read more]

@juniperfish exactly, to all your points. And @Jimthefish and
@robertcaligari

I think we’ve had excellent responses covering points as to why it’s acceptable -if not necessary – to consider a non-white Newton.

The argument, that an actual famous person shouldn’t be black or brown because he’s an actual white guy, folks, neatly summarises our pro…[Read more]

@robertcaligari—

Basically what @juniperfish said. There’s a long history of a one-way street in blind casting so it’s nice to see it going the other way (not that it’s not still unproblematic.)

However, it’s still a question of context. I’d agree if that had been a Rosa-esque episode focused solely on Newton’s life and influence then maybe the…[Read more]

@robertcaligari  Well, representation, casting and identity are certainly complicated contemporary questions, on several fronts, so, having a discussion about it is perfectly acceptable!  The people I have contempt for on this question are those with no interest in thoughtful debate, who just want to scream that some cultural artefact or other i…[Read more]

@juniperfish yes the differences – and his awareness of them – are interesting. I mean, metacrisis Doctor was pretty much sold to Rose on the basis of his being able to say he loves her (I believe that’s what he whispered to her to make her kiss him like that). Each Doctor incarnation is a distinct personality influenced by the same (and making…[Read more]