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Doctor Who

I liked the episode, thought NPH was fantastic but agree it felt really rushed. Could have done with more time.

I had heard rumour about the bi-generation thing and really didn’t like the idea but it was done quite well. I just do wonder if we could maybe just let Tennants doctor go now though, I get he’s popular but sometimes you just have to let go.
 
Great episode all in all. Outlandish, funny, unnerving, mad, everything you could ask for! Fantastically shot, you can really see where the budget increase has gone. One thing I would say though is through these three specials, it was clear they were trying to show the Soctor looking emotionally worn out and tired, however this was overdone in my opinion. Toward the end of the 10th doctor's tenure, there was a similar amount of baggage, yet the character had gravitas and always seemed to "fill the room". By comparison, 14 seems to be smaller in every way, with little authority about him, which I think any doctor needs.

The bi-generation was sure a fantastic twist, but seriously, how many versions of Tennant is RTD planning on creating? :tearsofjoy: Ncuti instantly stole the show as 15, with eccentricity galore. I love the energy! I do hope though that it's dialled down as the series progresses. Camp is fun and all (heck that musical number with the Toy Maker in U.N.I.T was really fun!) however if overdone it can get in the way of the show's plot, and risks playing into a stereotype that I'm not sure a progressive show should really be doing. Ten (and even Nine!) were very ambiguous, but it was never as "on the nose" as we've had in these specials, which sometimes sounds like the writer talking to the audience, rather than The Doctor to other characters. If a show can be inclusive without getting in the way of the story and remain in-character, it's ticking all the right boxes.

For example, the scene in "The Star Beast" with Sylvia and Donna talking about Rose. Sylvia gets the pronouns wrong, and Donna steps in and says "Don't worry, I do it sometimes" whilst clearly showing an intent on both sides to learn and accept the change. This feels natural and relatable to most people, and shows that you're not a bad person for slipping up sometimes, as long as you're willing to learn. In comparison, the scene where Rose says to The Meep "You're assuming He as a pronoun?" just feels out of place, and added nothing to the episode. The ending to that episode was also strange, with Donna saying about letting go of power "Something a male representing timelord would never understand". Not only completely out of character for Donna, but demeaning to trans men, and men in general. Shouldn't we be moving on from these stereotypes and social constructs rather than re-enforcing the idea that they will "never understand"?

Dubious social commentary aside, all three episodes were great quality, and hopefully a sign of good things to come! There's a new, energetic Doctor with a new companion, 14 is happily retired (no doubt audiobooks or something will come of that) and the writing has much improved from the Chibnall era. There's a Christmas special on the way which looks to be scary enough for 8 year olds, and entertaining/engaging enough for adults, which is exactly where the show should be at. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out!
 
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I've been to Cardiff Bay twice in the last two weeks to watch some theatre shows at the Wales Millennium Centre. For any Torchwood fans out there, the Ianto shrine is still going strong, with some Easter-themed bunting added last week.

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James said:
I've been to Cardiff Bay twice in the last two weeks to watch some theatre shows at the Wales Millennium Centre. For any Torchwood fans out there, the Ianto shrine is still going strong, with some Easter-themed bunting added last week.

IMG_2489.JPEG
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I went to Cardiff some years back to visit the Doctor Who Experience just before it closed down. That was an absolutely fantastic attraction, such a pity that it doesn’t have a permanent home here in the UK. It really did make you think how great a Doctor Who area could be at a theme park.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
I went to Cardiff some years back to visit the Doctor Who Experience just before it closed down. That was an absolutely fantastic attraction, such a pity that it doesn’t have a permanent home here in the UK. It really did make you think how great a Doctor Who area could be at a theme park.
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It was built as a permanent attraction and the BBC lost a LOT of money running it, they just couldn't get people through the doors. This, according to Russell The Davies at least:

Russell T Davies on reviving the Doctor Who Experience: "Once bitten, twice shy" | Radio Times

The beloved exhibition closed its doors in 2017, after five years in Cardiff.
www.radiotimes.com
 
There are only so many geeks out there.
Needs to be part of a larger attraction that attracts geeks aplenty...hmm.
Send it back to the corner of the prom by the Central Pier...where it belongs.
plenty of passing trade for another merlin midway attraction.
 
The Doctor Who Experiance attraction was at Lands End at one point, think it was 2008 I visited, it was very much based on the Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper era with Bad Wolf references.
 
It’s not surprising it ran at a loss, to be honest. It was a huge custom-made building and probably cost a lot to run with the show/actors. I only did it once, but it was very well made/themed.

I think it could potentially work again as a midway in London where there’s a high amount of tourists compared to Cardiff or other city centres.

Ideally, it would be good to see a theme park ride/area based around the Doctor Who theme. I’m surprised Merlin hasn't jumped at it by now.
 
James said:
It’s not surprising it ran at a loss, to be honest. It was a huge custom-made building and probably cost a lot to run with the show/actors. I only did it once, but it was very well made/themed.

I think it could potentially work again as a midway in London where there’s a high amount of tourists compared to Cardiff or other city centres.

Ideally, it would be good to see a theme park ride/area based around the Doctor Who theme. I’m surprised Merlin hasn't jumped at it by now.
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I'm surprised too, I can imagine it'll be a very top tier attraction/dark ride at one of the UK parks although it may need to be a screen based attraction so Doctors can change as of when needed if involving the current doctor of the time of riding.

I was wishfully thinking that could be Project Horizon 🤔
 
Slugjc said:
Would Disney's involvement in who now be issue?
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I believe the question that was asked, about a themed land, was in direct reference to Disney's involvement. He has said though that Disney's involvement in Doctor Who ensures its longevity, even if the BBC were to collapse, which rather suggests that he's encouraging even more sale of the Beeb's crown jewels.
Russell T Davies explains that there is a good reason for the fantasy drama being co-produced with Disney: it means that its survival doesn’t require the continued existence of the BBC.

“You’ve got to look in the long term at the end of the BBC, which is undoubtedly on its way in some shape or form,” says Davies.
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Source: - https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...ies-says-end-of-bbc-is-undoubtedly-on-its-way
James said:
I think it could potentially work again as a midway in London where there’s a high amount of tourists compared to Cardiff or other city centres.
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An attempt was made for a London Midway attraction, with Time Fracture, which was incredibly well received by tickets, but again they couldn't get people through the door. Granted, wasn't the best idea to open during a pandemic and during a potential change of Doctors, but I think the BBC have been scarred a bit too often. - https://www.immersivedoctorwho.com/

They seem happy enough to licence out the Doctor Who brand for escape rooms though. - https://escapehunt.com/uk/london-oxford-street/games/doctor-who-a-dalek-awakens-escape-room/
 
That's the first two out there. Really enjoyed both. Not over complicated. Good pace and the new doctor and companion have a good dynamic growing already.

Had a slight wobble with the first episode over the whole phone incident. For a few seconds I thought we were going back to early Rose. Good job it went elsewhere.
 
45 year old me enjoyed them enough, my 5 year old daughter absolutely loved them. I guess that's what they need for longevity and viewing numbers, and it's great to have a program that really is for the whole family which is quite a raririty.

I thought neither stories were particularly strong overall, but much preferred the Maistro episode. Big silly fun.
 
Genuinely thought Space Babies was awful. Had a glimmer of hope in the middle when they met Nanny, but other than that it was trash, very disappointed.

Maestro, however... that was excellent. If we ignore the random musical number at the end.
 
I enjoyed both episodes. Space Babies was weird, even by Doctor Who standards. Devil's Chord was a good episode. Maestro was great, very camp and well done. This episode was hyped up a lot as a 'musical episode' even though it only had one musical number at the end (that also made no sense/did not fit in narratively), which I found odd. That said, I enjoyed the musical number performance.
 
Erm...

I really, really wanted to like these episodes (and this new series) but in all honesty it's been the most cringe-worth camp-fest I've ever seen. There's nothing wrong with that in moderation, heck I loved the "Spice up your life" scene in The Giggle, it was a fun! RTD has gone far too overboard on this front though from the Christmas special to The Devil's Chord. I get that he's frustrated at the push-back from people who don't agree with his political and social stances (many of which I agree with) but it seems this is now what's driving the writing, rather than the story itself.

He's gone on record saying he changed the sonic as the old one "looked like a gun" and worried about the effect that might have on kids. Sorryrussel, but how on earth does a screwdriver (that looks more like a pen) even remotely resemble a gun? It's as if he's actively looking for *anything* to make an issue out of. Why does it need to be mentioned by Maestro that ruby wrote a song about "lesbian lovers" or that whole thing where "I'm them" etc etc. It's making a big deal out of something that really doesn't need to be one, and every time something like that is injected into the story, it takes you out of it completely and breaks what could be riveting scenes.

Anecdotally I also found Maestro more irritating than even remotely frightening. It was like watching a spoilt child with main character syndrome have a tantrum for an entire episode. The musical number at the end? The fourth wall breaks? Just so unbelievably cringey and again, completely breaks any sense of immersion or suspension of disbelief. It's as if RTD is parodying his own show for some reason, as if he's become a bitter old man who just wants to stir up unnecessary controversy. I'd say he's akin to Rishi Sunak in that way. Alienate people, push them away rather than attempt to bring them on board, then divide and conquer.

As someone who is a firm ally of the LGBTQ+ community, I find the way its being handles here incredibly distasteful, and only fuels the so called "culture wars" by giving fuel and ammunition to those who aught to be gently "brought onboard" by shoving stereotypes like drag queens, over-the-top camp-ness, rainbows and musical numbers at them, whilst prioritising all that above story. If social/political commentary is important or adds to the story in any way, by all means put it in there, but drive the show's writing so completely? Not my bag.

There was a real chance to utilise the charisma of Ncuti and the inflated budget to bring new life to the show, and as much as I'm very sad to say it, Ncuti's talents are wasted with this writing, as are Gibson's and the shows budget. If RTD wants to focus solely on messaging start a podcast, radio show or something, and limit injections into DW to places where they make sense and crucially *bring people on-board* rather than alienate them.

Overall what this has resulted in is an incredibly boring show that's actually painful to watch, stereotyping minorities, neglecting story-telling and pushing away new or existing fans focusing on a very niche demographic. I can't even see it bing all that appealing to kids (the main demographic). If this were on tv when I was 8-10 years old there no way it'd have interested me. It's a drag, quite literally!

Do better Russell. Ditch the stereotypes, ditch the message-driven storeys. Focus on writing compelling science function drama that appeals to a wide audience. Don't be Chibnall. Don't do that.
 
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