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11 December 2023 at 23:33 #74967
Not quite sure where to post this – @craig, @jimthefish, @phaseshift feel free to relocate it.
I know there are a good few Ballad of Halo Jones and 2000 AD fans in our little group, and I just wanted to mark the sad news today of the passing of artist Ian Gibson, after a long battle with cancer. Pat Mills tweeted it out earlier, but it’s now been announced officially. Apparently he kept himself amused through long blood transfusions by continuing to draw.
I loved his style, first with Robohunter, but then Halo arrived and exploded all my ideas of what a comic book story could be. A groundbreaking masterpiece. And a real shame that the grinches preferred to have no further stories than to let Gibson and his writer partner Alan Moore have a fair share of their copyright.
2023 – you’ve been a bitch!
10 December 2023 at 17:52 #74933Couple of thoughts – if all the Doctors have bi-regenerated (bi-generated?) is that RTD doing a call back to The Curator in The Day of the Doctor? (And as I think @phaseshift mentioned, it explains how they can come back looking older in The TARDIS Tales, or indeed any cameo appearances from now on). The more I think about it the more impressed I am with what feels like a major re-set. Acknowledge the baggage (clip of Hartnell and the original Toymaker, Mavic Chen mention – woohoo!)… then just drop it and walk away! (As Donna and Rose chose to do in The Star Beast).
Anyone got any ideas on what the hell the Vlinx(?) is? Have I missed something?
@mudlark Of course you are spot on about the long history of mysterious magic shops in literature/media, the HG Wells one just jumped into my mind as I was watching. The young son – the rather ambiguous “the right kind of boy” embracing the magic (which could be something or nothing) – and the father worrying about the unspecified bill to pay down the line!
@miapatrick – it’s not spamming if the posts are on point 😉 And thanks for the comment about wheelchair users/normalising sometimes standing etc. Ruth Madely has a very emotional interview about how much it meant to her to have a wheelchair accessible TARDIS.
RTD’s unabashed belief in representation as one of the moral goods of Doctor Who
Totally agree. Dr Who has always been an implicit “safe space” for people who felt a bit outsiderish, and now it’s explicit as well.
And Gatwa Doc as “a huge campy flirt” – he was even flirting with his other self, LOL I thought they were going to kiss and re-merge for a minute!
10 December 2023 at 14:38 #74929And from the old to the very new!
Ncuti Gatwa introduces his new sonic, a very different beastie from the previous phallic influenced designs. A torch, a portal connection and a Gallifreyan inscription of a Rwandan proverb:
“The sharpness of the tongue beats the sharpness of the warrior”
Nice 🙂
The Doctor’s NEW Sonic! ⚡️
Ncuti Gatwa tours us through the Doctor’s new version of his essential gadget, the Sonic Screwdriver! #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/lisy2LGUiV
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) December 10, 2023
10 December 2023 at 00:36 #74916This is a lovely article where Waris meets up with RTD, talking about how much times have changed. It’s great that he’s lived long enough to see his work from 60 years ago appreciated, especially after the challenges of being the only Asian director in the BBC at that time, being young, and gay to boot. There was also an insightful series where Radio Times published his diaries (and in conversation) from his first months of working on the show. Can’t find those at the moment, sorry.
10 December 2023 at 00:13 #74914One other thing – took me ages to dig this out, but it was nagging at me as I watched tonight’s episode. I came across this short story earlier this year – The Magic Shop by HG Wells. Features a father and son and a slightly creepy old fashioned Magic Shop which has mysterious hidden corridors, an ambiguous proprietor, and it disappears after their visit. The son loves it, and embraces all its surprises, the father is suspicious and unsure, but it turns out OK in the end. Probably!
Wondering if RTD had come across it. Link here if you want to read it.
10 December 2023 at 00:04 #74913Great comments as always, thanks everyone.
A “pet Tennant” 😀 Who wouldn’t want one of those?!
That’s interesting @phaseshift about the bi-generation reverberating back through all the incarnations. I think Ncuti-Doc says something about he can only go on unencumbered by the PTSD if Tennant-Doc takes his retirement/rehabilitation seriously, so yes it sounds like there’s forward memories there (same as Donna knows about the Doctor’s experiences since they last met).
Binary, doppelgangers, bi-generation – I’m sensing a theme here 🙂
@mudlark Totally agree re RTD’s maturity as a writer. The threats in these last 3 episodes have felt personal, not universe threatening and all the better for it. I thought It’s a Sin was an amazing series, and I think RTD has found his own voice and a new confidence in himself, his place in the world, and being bold about what he wants to say.
I agree with the various comments about wariness about an expanded universe/Disneyfication but for now I’m happy to trust the production team. Realistically there’s a limit to how much/how long they can use “old doctors”. Great to see the extra budget being used well, especially on the cast (all brilliant). I think they’ve just wiped the slate clean in terms of back story, which was getting just a bit overblown, but they can still dip into it if required. Ncuti looks like he’ll very firmly put his own stamp on the role. As @jimthefish said, he took control from the get-go.
Ncuti’s Doctor is as charmingly full of charisma as I knew he would be. He’s going to eat up the role.
Here’s to the next 60 years!
9 December 2023 at 23:26 #74909This week of all weeks, there can be only one choice for me for music for The Giggle (which starts on a rainy night in Soho (a long time ago)):
(RIP Shane MacGowan)
“I’ve been loving you a long time…”
Dr Who – I’ve been loving you a long time too. Long may you run!
9 December 2023 at 23:17 #74908Came across this lovely thing on Twitter/X;
Post by Patrick Mulkern (“Radio Times and Dr Who Guide scribe”) who was watching The Giggle with (director of the very first Dr Who stories) Waris Hussein (on his birthday). Happy birthday Waris – we owe you so much! (And looking very spry for 85). That is one WEIRD looking birthday cake! 😉
9 December 2023 at 00:15 #74866GOOD Whisht!!! Yes, yes and YES! Exactly that! 😉
the stage in the Chibnall cycle when my brains started leaking from my ears.
😀 😀 😀
8 December 2023 at 23:19 #74863* But if I failed to notice on first viewing that Nathaniel Curtis’s skin tone and facial features differed slightly from the North European norm, maybe my powers of observation are not particularly reliable
Ha! Me too 😉
But I think you’re spot on with the class thing (which @jimthefish pointed out in a blog post many moons ago, and is probably as much to do with the times in which they were created as anything)
OTOH certain sections of the interwebs are going ballistic about it 😛
8 December 2023 at 23:10 #74861Interesting chat above. I like the imprinting idea. I don’t think Timelords are specifically “race” particular – I suspect that skin colour is similar to hair colour eg “not ginger” in that it’s just an aesthetic choice. As is gender. (Awareness of race as in Shobogan or Time Lord may be a different matter!)
Meanwhile – back to the specials.
Argh! I’m just getting used to weekly Who episodes again and it’s all about to change again.
Loving having DT back as a slightly different, huggier but darker #14, and really looking forward to Gatwa Doc, but does it REALLY have to be so soon??!
I’ve seen a few predictions that Donna is going to die, which has obvs been foreshadowed in both The Star Beast and Wild Blue Yonder, but I think that’s a tease. I’ll be very shocked if they go there. My feeling is that #14 will sacrifice himself to save her (and break our hearts!) possibly involving the use of a screen (which has featured in both episodes so far, and memorably in 10’s regeneration to save Wilf).
I’m expecting full on bonkers (but trying to avoid spoilers 😉 )
I don’t think the Toymaker’s behind the events in the recent episodes, but maybe there’s a bit of a reset coming.
What y’all think?
A special personal thing happened for me this week – my family has always just tolerated my Whovian tendencies (my SO still can’t get over the fact that Daleks got over the stairs thing decades ago!). Sprog on the other hand was excited about Whit-Doc but didn’t really get involved. This week she decided to watch both the 60th shows with me and admitted they were “pretty good” esp Wild Blue Yonder. We’ve got a date tomorrow at 6.3o to watch The Giggle. Never give up!! 😀
8 December 2023 at 22:38 #74859@Whistht
Ha! Spot on. There again you can’t go wrong with Tom Waits in my book 🙂
Thoroughly enjoying being back in this lovely place – just like the old days… hmm. my boy, yes?!
I give you this in return, in memory of Denny Laine who passed away this week (Blue(s) and Wild, if not Yonder)
8 December 2023 at 22:25 #74858@jimthefish Would love to read your blog, but can’t see a link… can you make it live?
8 December 2023 at 22:23 #74856@mudlark I noticed that Graun article too, and thought exactly the same thing. Thanks for posting.
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey… Who’d a thunk it, eh?! 😉
8 December 2023 at 22:20 #74855Utterly charming and utterly neurotic, and far too many drinks in one day.
haha, it is that, and another time (and place) altogether. Thanks for sharing
5 December 2023 at 01:58 #748055 December 2023 at 01:51 #74804Haha, what else? 😉
Now what about this week…? How about this for an episode about doubles and detecting life signs:
(And also interesting thumbnail which seems to be AI image gone a bit wrong 😉 )
5 December 2023 at 01:36 #74803And finally:
Explain the brilliance of this episode in five words or less:
”my arms are too long”.
Just that – totally brilliant.
5 December 2023 at 01:33 #74802Sorry – that was a bit long!
As to the “Why” which has been brought up. In reality I suspect the Beeb offered 3 episodes for the 60th, Disney came up with the extra budget and Tennant and Tate and RTD had got off on the idea of bringing them back for another shot (and the chance to re-set Donna’s mind-wipe). Maybe to being back old 10 fans before the whole new era with Ncuti. I also think it’s about showing multiple facets of what Dr Who can be – big and spectacular, threatening worlds or just plain weird and where the peril is much more contained (I know the universe was threatened if the not-people escaped with the TARDIS, but the imminent threat was to the Dr and Donna, and Donna in particular). Personally I don’t mind not having multi-doctor episodes, I think the 60th can be celebrated by showing what the show does well, with great stories and production.
I really liked going into this with minimal advance info/spoilers – more of that please! (Tho it may have backfired by raising the ARSE* reaction in the nether regions of t’internet).
OTOH – The Toymaker – as well as dodgy makup(!), he was known for having the power of being the ultimate trickster/manipulator and able to create fake worlds – the 1st Doctor only just spotted his final trick at the last moment.
I’ll be disappointed if “mavity” doesn’t reappear and like many above I suspect that the salt superstition may also come back to haunt the Doctor. Actions have consequences. And I suspect there will be some through-lines to the next episode. But first we needed to spend time with Dr and Donna to get to know them as they are now, and understand how they’ve changed since we last met them.
*ARSE – A Righteous Sense of Entitlement (that because you want/expect the show to be one thing that you have a right to complain id the writer comes up with something different 😉 )
5 December 2023 at 01:06 #74801Ah, sorry so late to the discussion, had to be out of town on Sat, Sun and just caught up. Lots of interesting discussion above which I’ll get back to (and great to see everyone including @whohar @thane16 @miapatrick @phaseshift again)
The episode – WOW! I really loved it. But then I’ve loved weird Who since way back to Edge of Destruction! Not sure this was quite doing something Dr Who has never done before, even in AG Who there was Midnight (as others have pointed out) but I really connected with Wild Blue Yonder, and was very nearly behind the sofa for a lot of it.
What struck me with the line “my arms are too long” was the connection with AI image generating programmes like Midjourney which are notoriously terrible with hands. They’re approximately 80% there at the moment but learning fast… much like these doppelgangers. This episode seemed to me to be riffing on the idea of deep fakes and how in a few years, or probably sooner, it will be near impossible to tell what’s real and what’s been faked. The kinds of “mistakes” the not-people make are remarkably similar to AI errors. Funny and terrifying simultaneously.
Not-Donna at the end wasn’t spotted by the Doctor, it was the TARDIS that clocked it (although maybe the Doctor asked it to check) – see this little clip (01:25-01:27 – close up on the screen). And given that the TARDIS had scooted off at the first sniff of danger that seems fair! HADS – really flawed idea if you ask me! Almost as stupid as a sophisticated creation like the TARDIS being susceptible to a mug of coffee being spilt on it – and providing a coffee machine at the console!
I thought the performances by both Tennant and Tate were awesome! They really sold the idea of the doppelgangers being “off”. And I loved the idea that Tennant-Doc worked out that in order to slow down the copying he would have to stop thinking… Yeah! Like that would ever happen. Tate’s portrayal of Donna when she thinks she’s going to burnt up in about 3 seconds really sold it – not panic, not screaming, just a deep sadness that this is it – the realisation that she’s not going to see her family again.
Other passing thing that amused – the Doctor when he looks into the rebooting TARDIS – now a blank slate – and says “but it was so new!” 🙂
26 November 2023 at 19:06 #74658Really great to read Pat Mills’ comments and his review of The Star Beast. He goes out of his way to stress how well he and John Wagner were treated by the DW production team in terms of respect (and presumably remuneration 😉 ) as the original character creators.
26 November 2023 at 18:57 #74655@blenkinsopthebrave Seconded! Huge thanks to our mighty emperor @craig, and Time Lords/Troll Bashers @jimthefish and @phaseshift (and every member who helps keep this a civilised space. Here’s to lots more congenial discussion and bonkerising.
(T’other place is still running (with lovely Martin Belam having taken over the reins from the late Dan Martin). But they close off the discussion thread before the trolls wake up)
26 November 2023 at 16:51 #74651And the new TARDIS design is awesome! I really wasn’t keen on 13’s, it felt too cluttered. I liked the more organic feel of the other AG ones, but this contains such amazing callbacks to the original Hartnell TARDIS that I fell in love with. Although you’d think it wouldn’t be so vulnerable to coffee spills, haha.
So… do we think this design will be continued through 15’s tenure?
26 November 2023 at 16:46 #74650I really enjoyed that!
It does bode well going forward, especially with the (clearly on screen) bigger budgets.
I particularly liked that Rose’s trans identity was a plot point, not just a random thing. “Binary” was the word that Donna’s mind glitched on originally when 10 realised he had to mind wipe her. So its resonance in The Star Beast (playing on non binary states) was especially effective. And Donna and Rose had agency in their mutual decision to “let it go”.
@juniperfish‘s last post – mind blown!! 😉
@jimthefish – RTD2 – love it!!
Yes there was some necessary exposition at the beginning (and yes, a wee bit clunky) for new viewers, but mostly it was “show don’t tell” with Donna’s family sketched in very effectively in just a few scenes. I also liked the many hints about Rose’s link to the Doctor (from her choice of name, to the reveal of the shed/TARDIS, plushies) that I admit to not picking up on first watch – so busy watching Donna that I missed concentrating on Rose. 1st episode for ages that I felt the need to do an immediate rewatch.
“The Boss” – intriguing!
25 November 2023 at 18:08 #7463324 November 2023 at 01:21 #74590@jimthefish – a forum would be good. I missed that they’d done a colourisation/new edit. Sounds like it’s worth watching (and that from an old dyed in the wool b/w fan!)
24 November 2023 at 01:18 #74589You are so right.
I’ve been digging into some of the old episodes (via the charming Tardis Tales series) – it’s like time travelling back to my younger self and different times (good to be able to fast forward again tho!)
How are you my friend?
23 November 2023 at 22:44 #74586@blenkinsopthebrave @jimthefish
Great to see you’re both still frequenting this place 🙂 (I have been sadly AWOL for ages, stuck in a bubble of RL (which was fine, but I do miss having the time to hang on the sofa here)).
Thanks for the link Mr B – I agree, they sound intriguing – especially the black hole of information surrounding the middle one – there’s been loads of stuff dribbled out about The Star Beast and The Giggle. RTD misdirection…?
Do we know the running time of them? Are they an hour?
I’m as excited as I used to be in the 60s for the next episode! (And really looking forward to see what comes with 15)
23 November 2023 at 22:34 #74585Happy Anniversary fellow Whovians.
Have a great day… and weekend.. and many more days overindulging in tales of our favorite Timelord.
My 7 year old self who fell in love with an eccentric, curmudgeonly, white haired old man (who wan’t quite what he seemed), his companions and a strange blue box exactly 60 years ago today would have been bowled over to think it’s still around now, and that the magic’s still there! Not to mention that it’s still bigger on the inside!
PS I’ve been AWOL from this forum so long I’ve forgotten how to embed pics 🙁
1 January 2022 at 18:46 #72731Happy New Year everyone. Hope 2022 brings you health and happiness… and the Dr Who that you want!
(Apologies for my absence recently – had a wee bout of Covid, so been delayed in catching up, and behind with comments. 0/10 for the yeti 😛 🙁 )
Will be on catch up for tonight as well – tho with its time-loopy theme, will anyone know?
Hoping for a good one!
See y’all on t’other side.
1 January 2022 at 18:40 #72730@blenkinsopthebrave I think we’ve been a bit spoiled (haha, spoilers thread! 😉 ) by RTD’s and Moff’s incredibly in depth knowledge of Dr Who. Even when they changed things, it was with a knowledgeable and loving wink/nod to what had gone before.
@jimthefish IMDB are notorious for not having complete listings, and for picking up false info (or misinfo fed to them by Dr Who on previous occasions). Not sure that the Chibs team is that PR aware though. I know, I’m just hanging on to a very thin thread, hoping for a Missy return.
1 December 2021 at 09:41 #72598@miapatrick – River was only vortexed. In this hypothesis the Doctor (to be) is fluxed – anything could happen! Her whole biology could be rewritten, including 2 hearts. She’s born, perhaps in dramatic fluxy circumstances, dies but immediately regenerates to the lost foundling Tecteun then finds. Waiting for her parents who she eventually finds many many regenerations later!
Maybe she’s always been trying to get back there
Emotional resolution with slightly dodgy plotting – that sounds like Chibnall. (I think Dr Ruth will be back – even if it’s as a memory which has the solution to defeating Swarm).
I found an interesting comment on the Graun thread (before they snapped it shut around 10pm on Sunday! Shame!) about someone who found out later in life that they had been adopted and about the stress that late discovery caused, and the resonations they found in the Doctor’s story.
It makes the Doctor “special” but not in the usual “hero’s journey” way. I can live with that. And with a human parent (ha! never thought I’d ever say that)
1 December 2021 at 09:27 #725961 December 2021 at 04:55 #72592Last thoughts – why on earth is Divison HQ so deserted? If they’re everywhere/every species/every time surely they’d be retreating to the safe haven while our universe is fluxed? All we’ve got is a mad scientist and an Ood! (And why has that Ood still got its translator orb – that’s slavery is it not?)
Can’t wait to see where Williamson’s tunnels fit in/lead. I love that they’re real, and still mysterious in our universe.
Fob watch – maybe the clue to defeating Swarm and Azure is in the Dr’s past memories.
Chibs has been seeding in the Timeless Child since his second episode 🙂
1 December 2021 at 04:48 #72591Great posts, everyone… and YAY! to bonkers theorising being back.
@juniperfish (big furry wave to you) – totally agree with your take on Tecteun (interesting to get her side of it which pretty much corroborates what the Master described to the Doctor, only “justified”), and like @mudlark I wondered about her adopted child seeming to have so many deaths – that’s a lot of misadventures for 1 child.
So is Chibs heading straight into a Moffat loop here (which is not a bad thing IMHO, if he can pull it off)? Presuming he’s looking at a complete reboot (in terms of convoluted canon) and also presuming he doesn’t want to lumber the Doctor with a whole new case of PTSD after the long time it took to shake off the Time War survivor trauma… I have a theory forming.
1. We have a Chekhov’s baby (to pinch one of @bluesqueakpip‘s trademarks). Bel’s baby can’t be a coincidence. I am strongly coming to the opinion that the baby will be the Doctor (in a very timey wimey way). Now, we don’t know for sure that either Bel or Vinder is human (as in earth origin eg we don’t know about their biology – either or both of them could have 2 hearts for example). Bel in particular is one hell of a badass, and seems to have been kicking around for a while, being familiar with daleks, cybermen etc and not in the least phased by them. Vinder isn’t afraid to stand on his principles. I wouldn’t be upset for these 2 to be the Doctor’s ulltimate parents, even if she gets to spend very little time with them.
Also – we know from River that gestation in the time vortex plays havoc with biology, and gave River the ability to regenerate. Surely bouncing about in flux-distorted universe-disintegrating times is going to have some potentially drastic effects on a growing foetus. So – in a very timey wimey wibbly wobbly way, Awsok/Tecteun, in creating the flux, is responsible for creating her own adopted child. And the Time Lords. That gets rid of the problem of the Doctor being related to a megalomanic, psychopathic race like the Time Lords (but doesn’t negate that Hartnell thro to Whittaker THINK they are). TLs have always been a bit problematic, apart from having cool taste in big collars (as @Phasehift eloquently pointed out a while back (thanks for the reminder @miapatrick)).
2. We also have Chekhov’s fob watch… is it a chameleon arch, or just the container for all the Doctor’s previous (as in before she became Hartnell) lives. Does it also include memories of her life before she got picked up and messed up by Tecteun? Maybe – if she doesn’t get zapped by Swarm in the next episode – she’ll revisit some of those lives in the specials? But probably it needs to be opened in the finale. Or lost! Sadly I don’t think there’s going to be a happy family with the baby-Doc and her parents, I think they’re doomed, but possibly by saving their baby and the person she grows into. Or maybe 13 will save herself as a baby by rescuing her parents before Bel gives birth to her. But some sort of (tragically brief but cathartic) resolution.
Or mabe that’s all a pile of late night, overworked brain-addled bobbins! 😉
Some loose ends – is that the ruins of Gallifrey where Vinder is cornered by Swarm and zapped into a Passenger? Where’s @wolfweed when you need him to do a screen grab?! 😉
Not sure where the Serpent fits in (but like the ouroboros analogy (or the serpent in the garden??)) but I did enjoy the reference to UNIT, Kate going undercover and OSGOOD (real or zygon?) and @jimthefish‘s
On another note, does this mean that UNIT had Thirteen’s functioning TARDIS all the time Three was exiled to Earth? The Brig must have been killing himself laughing every time the Doc’s back was turned.
Mwuhuhuh 🙂
Sorry, loooong post. It’s been a while!
28 November 2021 at 13:48 #72558Ah… clutter! I have a Tardis-full… and I don’t have a Tardis!! (Interesting posts about what does the Doctor do with their clutter 😉 )
28 November 2021 at 13:46 #72557@miapatrick @blenkinsopthebrave
Ruth Doctor as immediately pre Hartnell – I like this too. Fits in with @mudlark‘s theorising too. I think there’s strong suggestions that she is. Listen suggests that Hartnell Doc started as a baby or at least a pre-schooler – maybe that was the “deal” (voluntary or otherwise) for leaving Division – mind wipe and start again as a child, with a whole new TL mythos implanted. (So no need for extra explanation re Susan – she turned up naturally as part of the Doctor’s new life). See the Brendan story parallel.
There’s scope here for a complete re-set of the canon, which could be divisive 😉
28 November 2021 at 13:37 #72556@miapatrick So sorry about your loss. That’s a tough one at any time but that sounds particularly hard. Take it easy, and all the best with your dissertation. Big ups to your partner.
28 November 2021 at 01:39 #72545I actually really liked this episode. I found it relatively straightforward to follow, albeit in a bonkers sort of way. But I do like my Who on the weird side. I can still remember watching The Edge of Destruction (Hartnell, 1st season) waaaay back when I was about 6, and loving it despite being completely confused!
Seeing the header pic to this thread reminds me – why has everything gone all orangey since Chibs took over?! Colour schemes in TV series isn’t something I’m usually conscious of, but the orange bugs me. LOL!
28 November 2021 at 01:30 #72544Thanks @jimthefish for remembering me back into existance!
RL has been having a massive impact on my online DW life; ironically for life in a pandemic with lockdown etc I got really busy, and mostly been having to watch on catch up (sometimes several at a time). Also, with less scope for bonkers theorising in the last 2 seasons maybe some of the urgency has dissipated. Time passes. So it goes (as K. Vonnegut may have said). I do prefer my Dr Who on the bonkers weird side.
But it’s LOVELY to be back, and seeing some old familiar avatars. Waves at @juniperfish @miapatrick @blenkinsopthebrave @cathannabel @whisht @mudlark . Hope you’re all well in these decidedly weird times. (Been great to have a wander about – I see the pub’s had another makeover… I like it! 😛 ).
@craig – humungous thanks for all your hard work in setting up, and maintaining, this space, which is just as lovely (and just as big on the inside) as I remember it. 8 years is a remarkably long time for any online forum. It’s been fascinating being part of its evolution.
As @dentarthurdent says: “thank you for this site… if it closed tomorrow, it will have been a great experience, but I really do hope it continues for a long time yet. Allons-y!”
28 November 2021 at 01:06 #72543I agree with the concensus here that that was a great episode. And like @jimthefish I would tend to put a lot of the credit Maxine Alderton’s way. Proper behind the sofa stuff.
Thanks to @mudlark for the excellent research into the Division. They definitely seem to be about the ends justifying the means. They don’t seem to be a good thing, but then, neither are Swarm and Azure. Did someone/thing help Swarm escape?
@miapatrick I felt that too, about Claire – my immediate thought about her remark (in ep 1) about taking “the long way round” was to link it to Ten’s similar comment in Blink (when he came back from – was that the 60s again? – taking the slow road). Which set me off on a “Claire’s a Timelord” theory, but given that 13’s just had a mind meld with her that would seem to have been blown out the water. Unless she’s nurturing a pocket watch somewhere!
I like Bel (and Vinder)… I came up with a middle of the night theory that they are somehow the Doctor’s parents (and then found out this is already a “thing”). Not my favourite theory tho. I think I should probably stop watching DW late at night, ‘specially Weeping Angels episodes, haha.
Really not at all sure where this is all going, but I’m enjoying the ride so far. I agree that I would very much like it not to be heading in a Harry Potter direction, but maybe all the Division stuff is also a “planted story” that the Doctor has been dreaming, and she’s still locked up in Judoon prison!
The other thing that’s intriguing me is Williamson’s tunnels, which I discovered are actually a thing, and a mysterious thing at that! Excavated over a period of 30 years (1810 – 1840) for no apparent reason. It’s a massive complex. Maybe they are the reason that the Earth has to be specially protected from the Flux. Info on Wikipedia.
18 February 2019 at 00:52 #67375@blenkinsopthebrave *waves back*
Talalay post – I agree (and apologies for it posting with the full length preview* (I just begin to think I’ve got the hang of this posting thing, then that happens!)). I love her direction (like Camfield, it’s got a flair, expertise and depth, that adds to the storytelling).
Must go and check out the Crusade again, you’ve stirred a lot of memories in me old brain. There’s a lot to be learned from Dr Who, old ones and new. Enjoy the pub, old friend. I’m off to bed (after midnight here in the northern territory of the “old country”). Cheers.
*Any mods about who want to fix that, please feel free 🙂
18 February 2019 at 00:14 #67372Just popped in as I came across this tonight. Director Rachel Talaley in session at Gallifrey One, talking about making Heaven Sent. She posted this – a breakdown of her first impressions of, and notes about, the first scene. For those of us who like the technical behind the scenes (and sofa) insider view, it’s fascinating. So complicated!
18 February 2019 at 00:08 #67371Thanks for that summary @blenkinsopthebrave
I remember The Crusade making an impact on me at the time as a little un (and you’re right about Douglas Camfield. His direction work turns up in a lot of 60s/early series, and it’s always notable)
6 January 2019 at 03:43 #67105@thane16 – Happy to offer any cooking tips I can, Puro and Thane, tho it may not go further than – make sure you take the giblets out! As @idiotsavon (hi back) says – melted plastic is not a recommended seasoning! (Been there, done that too, I try to stick to garlic now 😉 )
@janetteb Sorry about the cinema disaster, but sounds like you made the best of it as usual. Not a lot of sympathies from us northerners when you can resolve turkey challenges via a BBQ (tho I’m guessing that’s not so much fun at 30+ ). 12 days of Christmas though, that’s cool.
@winston – your turkey on a sled tale made me ROFL!
I take exception to @pedant‘s mums food group list – cheese, bacon, green stuff and booze. And pancakes. Well, it’s OK as far as it goes… but where’s the chocolate?! (especially the dark stuff (and you can get low sugar versions as well, so good for everyone))
@blenkinsopthebrave Good to hear from you too, old friend. Have you caught up with us further-round-the-globe people yet? (I like this internet thing – I was celebrating NYD for nearly 2 days, with good friends in Australia and all the way round to California… that may explain the blurred vision and headache on Thursday, haha).
Now… where’s the biscuits… I’m sure I left some jaffa cakes behind the sofa a while back. @juniperfish, @fatmaninabox – I’m looking at you! (Come to think of it – that TARDIS custard cream dispenser is criminally underused. Teased us with it in Ep 2, then it’s been ignored ever since!)
6 January 2019 at 03:22 #67104Have to say, I like the move to New Year’s Day. There’s only so many Christmas themed stories you can do without it becoming stale, and it’s good to jump before it does. NYD feels fresher, and I like the multi-layered possibilities in the word “Resolution”
6 January 2019 at 03:14 #67103@arbutus Happy New Year to you too. Wholeheartedly second that emotion (and glad to hear things are good with you and yours)
6 January 2019 at 03:12 #67102Oooh… the pub’s still open, yippee! 😛
I see I’ve been missing some fun tonight! (My main computer’s very sick (but out of intensive care and hopefully on the mend now). I think my overexcitement at trying to download ALL the AG series on iplayer may have finally done for the poor wee thing!)
@pedant Thanks so much for the MERL twitter thread. So so funny 😀 (Hope you don’t mind, I stole it and shared it elsewhere). Thanks also for your youtube posts, loving them too. Glad to hear you’re keeping the b*gger in check (DESMOND, LOL). And hopefully it will persuade youtube that I’m REALLY not interested in the rash of extremely trollsome Dr Who videos it keeps trying to serve me up. Algorithms, eh?!
Anyway… CHEERS everyone, happy new year to you all.
2 January 2019 at 20:43 #67036@mudlark – Giblets – been there, and definitely not pleasant! (No one told me about that the first time I cooked a chicken. Bleurgh 😛 )
2 January 2019 at 20:41 #67035 -
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