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Doctor Who - Series 8

Started by Replies From View, December 26, 2013, 03:40:36 PM

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HappyTree

I don't think one (we) (you, actually, yes YOU) can draw any particular conclusion about this board's consensus on DW. Cos there isn't one!

Example being that I liked most of RTD's era and only really began to dislike certain elements when Moffat started introducing superficially complicated stuff and sassy cartoon character women. So how does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy?

But that's not so bad, I still like the show in general. Maybe because I just like the idea of the show. But the baby-stealing Kovarian phase just left me watching out of pure habit.

Spoiler alert
Re: companion Tom. So, another wet one. Floppy haired sub. Yay! Break those preconceptions. Maybe it's time to imagine some different types of character, Moffie me old mucker? Sassy and sidekick sissy have gone stale.
[close]

Mister Six

Although I was disappointed by how much Moffat felt he had to cram into 'The Night of The Doctor'[nb]Not 'Silent Night'? Really?[/nb] it does give me some hope that Capaldi's first season can in some ways mimic Smith's: a satisfying, almost entirely self-contained story the builds to - and earns - a proper emotional and dramatic climax, introducing new characters and varied plots along the way. And when the new season starts after THAT, it's a whole new story again, with no build-up of loose threads and plot detritus that needs to be dealt with further down the line.

The experimentation with split seasons and minimal arc plots have confirmed what many already knew by the end of season five: that the RTD structure coupled with Moffat's more complex ideas and a broader range of story types is the most satisfying way to run the show, at least with these writers and at this time.

I also hope that with Sherlock wrapped up (this is the final season, right?) Moffat will have the time and energy to give Capaldi a couple of really solid seasons before a new showrunner arrives.

Finally, on a more aesthetic note, while I do like the current TARDIS control room, I do think brighter lights and a warmer colour scheme might be a good idea. All those cold, dim blues looked great on Matt's[nb]Over-familiar, I know, but fuck it.[/nb] rather more chiselled face, but they make Capaldi's rather more lined and pallid fizzog look rather ghoulish. Which might work for the character, but I worry about anything too harsh putting people off. Silly, probably, but still...

Ein Sof

Quote from: Mister Six on December 28, 2013, 09:25:53 AM
Although I was disappointed by how much Moffat felt he had to cram into 'The Night of The Doctor'[nb]Not 'Silent Night'? Really?[/nb] it does give me some hope that Capaldi's first season can in some ways mimic Smith's: a satisfying, almost entirely self-contained story the builds to - and earns - a proper emotional and dramatic climax, introducing new characters and varied plots along the way. And when the new season starts after THAT, it's a whole new story again, with no build-up of loose threads and plot detritus that needs to be dealt with further down the line.

The experimentation with split seasons and minimal arc plots have confirmed what many already knew by the end of season five: that the RTD structure coupled with Moffat's more complex ideas and a broader range of story types is the most satisfying way to run the show, at least with these writers and at this time.

I also hope that with Sherlock wrapped up (this is the final season, right?) Moffat will have the time and energy to give Capaldi a couple of really solid seasons before a new showrunner arrives.

Finally, on a more aesthetic note, while I do like the current TARDIS control room, I do think brighter lights and a warmer colour scheme might be a good idea. All those cold, dim blues looked great on Matt's[nb]Over-familiar, I know, but fuck it.[/nb] rather more chiselled face, but they make Capaldi's rather more lined and pallid fizzog look rather ghoulish. Which might work for the character, but I worry about anything too harsh putting people off. Silly, probably, but still...

Possibly not.

Benedict Cumberbatch confirms Sherlock series 4

Replies From View


biggytitbo

Quote from: Ambient Sheep on December 28, 2013, 05:01:16 AM
Actually, while I concede that you may know more about this than I do, from reading that recent DWM two-part article about how the show was brought back, it seems to me that the real person to thank is Jane Tranter, who actually pushed both the BBC and Rusty into doing it.


Yes that's my understanding too. RTD was pushing to make it before that, but it was
Transfers persistence and determination that finally led it to be recommissioned.

Replies From View

The generation of people who had been massive fans of Doctor Who as kids and teenagers were by the mid 2000s old enough to be writing and producing television.  If Tranter and Davies hadn't brought it back then somebody else would.

biggytitbo

Bit churlish to try and downgrade Tranters achievement.

mycroft

Davies was easily the best man for the job, though - some people would have tried to make it an ultra-adult post-watershed thing that nobody would have watched, others a continuity-fest complete with Colin Baker references that nobody would have watched, and Gatiss would have played every character in a series of remakes of Jon Pertwee stories that nobody would have watched.

biggytitbo

They've released a picture of  Capaldi in costume. Fucking perfect -


http://i44.tinypic.com/2ibhuo9.jpg

Replies From View

It's only just hit me that we've not even had a miniscule teaser for series 8 since the Christmas Special.

biggytitbo

Quote from: Replies From View on December 28, 2013, 10:32:24 AM
It's only just hit me that we've not even had a miniscule teaser for series 8 since the Christmas Special.


I think there'll be a little flurry in early January, a costume pic, some details about the episodes, maybe a little interview with Capaldi. Probably won't get any actual trailers until the spring.

The Roofdog

I hope they do a proper photoshoot for the new costume like they did with Tennant, and not just release some pictures of the Doctor eating a bacon sandwich in the catering van. Eccleston was even weirder: I think the first we saw of his costume was when he was interviewed on BBC Breakfast wearing it but didn't say it was his costume and everyone just assumed they were his own clothes.

Mister Six

Quote from: mycroft on December 28, 2013, 10:13:58 AM
Davies was easily the best man for the job, though - some people would have tried to make it an ultra-adult post-watershed thing that nobody would have watched, others a continuity-fest complete with Colin Baker references that nobody would have watched, and Gatiss would have played every character in a series of remakes of Jon Pertwee stories that nobody would have watched.

Aye, I think it's a weird thing to deny someone's achievement on the basis that some hypothetical party would have done the same thing eventually. But regardless of that, I think that Davies did a wonderful job of re-creating Doctor Who in a form that was not only palatable to a modern audience, but also sustainable indefinitely. With hindsight, you can see how carefully he constructed that first season to be approachable and accessible to absolute newcomers (all the focus on Rose, stripping out all original series elements aside from the Daleks) then slowly-slowly drip-fed it all back in there, so that by the end almost everything about the series was restored: alien planets, historicals, Cybermen, The Master, the Time Lords (albeit in a pocket dimension), Sarah Jane and K-9, even the bloody Macra!

Smith and Moffat (and the production crew as a whole) have done very well indeed to push the appeal of the show abroad, but they could only do that because of the rock-solid foundations that RTD built (from parts bequeathed to him by the many, many other Doctor Who showrunners before him).

Mister Six

Quote from: Ein Sof on December 28, 2013, 09:35:44 AM
Possibly not.

Benedict Cumberbatch confirms Sherlock series 4

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Especially grim if Gatiss does indeed take over as some have suggested, and Sherlock continues to bugger up Doctor Who's flow.

No. No. I have to believe that Capaldi's arrival signals the beginning of a new era of unbroken Who seasons. Hopefully the new production team has put things in place to ensure that it won't happen again...

Natnar

Quote from: Mister Six on December 28, 2013, 09:25:53 AM
Although I was disappointed by how much Moffat felt he had to cram into 'The Night of The Doctor'[nb]Not 'Silent Night'? Really?[/nb] it does give me some hope that Capaldi's first season can in some ways mimic Smith's: a satisfying, almost entirely self-contained story the builds to - and earns - a proper emotional and dramatic climax, introducing new characters and varied plots along the way. And when the new season starts after THAT, it's a whole new story again, with no build-up of loose threads and plot detritus that needs to be dealt with further down the line.


I sort of hope that series 8 is Moffat's last or he gets someone to co-run the show with him.

Deanjam

January 5th is Twelfth Night. Would seem an appropriate time for a little preview of some sort.

Replies From View

Quote from: Deanjam on December 28, 2013, 02:31:14 PM
January 5th is Twelfth Night. Would seem an appropriate time for a little preview of some sort.

The Americans will probably get something.

Deanjam


mycroft

Quote from: Replies From View on December 28, 2013, 03:09:29 PM
The Americans will probably get something.

Preceeded by a message from Moffat saying the programme will never be broadcast in their country again if they show it to anyone else.

Mister Six

While we're waiting, and because I'm bored, here're a few Moffat tropes I've noticed. He's always had a habit of repeating himself, but it's become a bit more noticeable since he took over the show...

Party at The Doctor's
Bloody loads of species all converging on some kind of message being sent to, or about, The Doctor.
Featured in: The Pandorica Opens, The Wedding of River Song, The Time of The Doctor

But if X is gone, how come Y?
A spooky thing is happening in the background, and one character notices it, then points it out while the music goes all creepy, then everyone panics.
Featured in: The Empty Child (typewriter typing by itself), The Girl in The Fireplace (clockwork noises from a broken clock), Silence in the Library (someone has an extra shadow; later, there are more people in suits than there are survivors of the monster), Flesh and Stone (the statues only have one head each), The Day of The Doctor ('statues' still standing when they should all be dust)


Haunted lamp!
It's a thing - BUT SPOOKY!
Featured in: The Empty Child (spooky kids), Blink (spooky statues), Silence in the Library (spooky darkness), The Snowmen (spooky snowmen), The Bells of Saint John (spooky Wifi).

Any more for any more?

The Duck Man

I have no recollection of the Tom character in Day of the Doctor. At what point was he in it?

biggytitbo

Not Baker? The teacher guy right at the beginning who tells Clara of the message for her is the Tom some people are saying will be a new companion.

biggytitbo

This sounds encouraging - http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headlines/8658-doctor-who-exec-promises-raw-different-direction-in-series-8#.Ur7JVwRE7rw.twitter

Also sounds like he's acknowledging the flaws in S7.

QuoteHe added: "I just felt watching last time around [Series 7] that 'oh, it's time we fixed that and changed that and moved that up a bit and changed that tone'."

Matt Smith departed the show on Christmas Day in 'The Time of the Doctor', which wrapped up the majority of the Moffat era's plotlines so far.

Moffat explained: "It changes all the time, and it's keeping ahead of the audience in a way. All shows age and they all age sort of in the same way. You learn how to do it, you get really slick at it, and then you think you're really, really slick at it and everyone's started to yawn. And you think 'oh God, we're really slick at this but everyone knows what we're going to do'."

He teased: "So now we've got to actually get a bit raw at it and do it in a different direction. It happens on every show – you get good at it and 'good at it' is the enemy in the end."



mycroft

Actually, it's just come to me who should play Moffat. Born on the west of Scotland, curly hair, seen as a bit of a bully by colleagues...


"You're fookin' ERASED, Syd!"

Replies From View

I see Moffat's point about "good at it" being the enemy of any raw art, but I'd kind of like Doctor Who to settle a bit before kicking the dust about once more.

The Duck Man

Quote from: Mister Six on December 28, 2013, 03:32:23 PM
While we're waiting, and because I'm bored, here're a few Moffat tropes I've noticed.
Isn't another one leaving the Doctor somewhere for year upon year? Smith's Doctor stays on Trenzalore for ages, there's a bit in The Impossible Astronaut where he's been captured for a while isn't there? People with better memories will be able to  say whether I'm right or wrong.

Thanks for that Tom info, Biggy. I'm afraid I don't remember that scene at all!

Replies From View

#56
Quote from: The Duck Man on December 28, 2013, 05:47:53 PM
Isn't another one leaving the Doctor somewhere for year upon year? Smith's Doctor stays on Trenzalore for ages, there's a bit in The Impossible Astronaut where he's been captured for a while isn't there?

Possibly deliberately creating a few gaps for people (eg. Big Finish and future anniversary events) to fill in later with future stories.  And definitely breaking the pattern of having the Doctor age in real time, so we don't have a repeat of Tennant only living six years or whatever it was.

I do reckon 900 years on Trenzalore was a bit unnecessary though.

biggytitbo

My theory about his 200 year wanderings in the impossible astronaut is he's simply exaggerating and it was actually a few years tops.


The Doctor has long since forgotten how old he is and exaggerates all the time.

Replies From View

Quote from: biggytitbo on December 28, 2013, 05:57:19 PM
My theory about his 200 year wanderings in the impossible astronaut is he's simply exaggerating and it was actually a few years tops.


The Doctor has long since forgotten how old he is and exaggerates all the time.

It'll be interesting how old Capaldi's Doctor claims to be.

Serge

Quote from: biggytitbo on December 28, 2013, 05:57:19 PMMy theory about his 200 year wanderings in the impossible astronaut is he's simply exaggerating and it was actually a few years tops.

Although there is the 400 years mentioned in 'The Day Of The Doctor' as how long it would take a sonic screwdriver to be able to get through wood, which backs up his count. I like to think it's accurate, I like the idea of him going off and having 200 years of adventures we never see.

Quote from: The Duck Man on December 28, 2013, 05:47:53 PMIsn't another one leaving the Doctor somewhere for year upon year? Smith's Doctor stays on Trenzalore for ages, there's a bit in The Impossible Astronaut where he's been captured for a while isn't there? People with better memories will be able to  say whether I'm right or wrong.

There's also the time he spends living above Victorian London in 'The Snowmen', which I assumed was quite a while.