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Doctor Who - Series 11 (Part 2)

Started by Mister Six, November 02, 2018, 01:50:06 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Mister Six

New thread, since the last one reached 100 pages.

Last thread ended with Thomas linking to this article about the new TARDIS design: http://www.vulture.com/2018/11/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-tardis.html

Thomas noted this quote:

Quote from: Vulture on November 02, 2018, 12:56:26 PM
Uninviting brown palettes? That's so Steven Moffat–era Who. "We wanted to make the universe feel a warm place, so it seemed perfect to give the TARDIS a warm color at its heart," Wyn Jones explained. "Then, as we played with the colors, we found that the teal blue seemed to work best in the infinity mirrors as a complement." Amber hues also naturally shine through, quite literally, when the door opens to expose exterior elements.

Also, from the last thread:

Quote from: gatchamandave on November 02, 2018, 12:18:54 PM
(Miles) felt Eccleston's Doctor was a realistic figure whereas Tennant's was artificial - perhaps it was the accent ? - and that resulted in a derangement in the production that grew until it became a problem by the end, and appointing Moffat as showrunner was, for Miles, the final confirmation. Your mileage may well differ.

Hm, curious. Burping bins and farting aliens are serious, while Midnight and Turn Left are deranged. I'd say RTD's run was fairly consistent in its tone and content, but then my mileage clearly does vary.

Jerzy Bondov

That TARDIS article is interesting in that all the thinking that's gone into it seems either very good or fair enough, but it's all come together to make (what appears to be) a really cramped set that's impossible to film in. It doesn't feel warm at all to me. You can't get a nice wide shot that gives you a proper sense of it, because it's full of enormous fucking lumps of stuff. Get rid of them big lumps.

Cloud

Quote from: Mister Six on November 02, 2018, 03:33:42 AM
I'm as cynical about the loping, misshapen homunculi that I begrudgingly acknowledge as the Great British public as anyone, but I do think this would have a negative effect on the show. Doctor Who as a spring/autumn and Christmas staple affixes it in the mind as a staple, a lovely bit of not-to-be-missed telly. Doctor Who as something that turns up now and again at unpredictable times feels less essential and less wanted. I do believe it was a major factor for the hit Capaldi took (among other things) and I don't think it will do Whittaker any favours. And I really, really want her to do well.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

The Christmas special is something I always look forward to!  What are we supposed to do now, talk to each other all day?  See who dies in Eastenders?  Bleh.

That combined with a gap year just to wait and see if the next season is less mediocre... DW is going to be on life support.

Mister Six

Thanks, but ugh - repetition of "staple". In my defense, I was drunk.

Mister Six

Also I'll put up Sheepy's guide to Doctor Who threads once I've finished walking the dog.

Mister Six

#5
EDIT: bollocks, Sheepy done it properly.


Ambient Sheep

#6
The moment had been prepared for...

Sheepy's guide to Doctor Who threads

Main threads about the new series, in chronological order of creation:
2004/03/04 - 2004/03/20:  Izzard as Dr Who ? (Rampant speculation)
2004/03/20 - 2005/02/21:  And the new Doctor Who is... (Eccleston's announcement to the start of Series 1 (27))
2005/02/27 - 2006/10/10:  New Doctor Who (Series 1 (27) & 2 (28))
2006/11/01 - 2007/05/21:  Newer Doctor Who  (Series 3 (29) part 1)
2007/05/24 - 2009/10/21:  The New Doctor Who thread (Series 3 (29) part 2, Series 4 (30), 2009 up to but not including The Waters Of Mars)
2009/10/21 - 2010/03/26:  The "New" Doctor Who Thread (2009 just before The Waters of Mars to just before Series 5 (31/Fnarg) aired)
2010/03/18 - 2010/07/27:  Doctor Who - Series 5 Discussion (No Spoilers) (Series 5 (31/Fnarg))
2010/06/13 - 2011/01/15:  So, Doctor Who. (started as Fry's questions thread, mutated halfway down page 12 into general post-Series-5-(31/Fnarg) discussion, including the 2010 Christmas special (A Christmas Carol))
2011/01/20 - 2012/01/05:  Doctor Who Series 6 (Series 6 (32))
2012/01/07 - 2012/12/29:  Doctor Who Series 7 and beyond (may contain spoilers) (S07(33)E01 (Asylum of the Daleks) - S07(33)E05 (The Angels Take Manhattan) plus Christmas Special (The Snowmen))
2012/12/29 - 2013/07/11:  Doctor Who, Series 7 (part two) (S07(33)E06 (The Bells of Saint John) - S07(33)E13 (The Name of the Doctor))
2013/01/07 - 2014/01/05:  Doctor Who - 50th anniversary year (overlaps with the previous thread)
2013/12/26 - 2014/08/11:  Doctor Who - Series 8 (101 pages before Series 8 (34) had even aired!)
2014/08/09 - 2014/10/21:  Doctor Who - Series 8 (Part 2) (S08(34)E01 (Deep Breath) - S08(34)E09 (Flatline))
2014/10/21 - 2015/01/14:  Doctor Who - Series 8 (Part 3) (S08(34)E09 (Flatline) - S08(34)E12 (Death in Heaven) plus Christmas Special (Last Christmas))
2015/01/05 - 2015/10/27:  Doctor Who - Series 9 (S09(35) speculation and E01 (The Magician's Apprentice) - E06 (The Woman Who Lived))
2015/10/26 - 2016/01/21:  Doctor Who - Series 9 (continued) (S09(35)E07 (The Zygon Invasion) - S09(35)E12 (Hell Bent) plus Christmas Special (The Husbands of River Song))
2016/01/22 - 2017/04/15:  Doctor Who - Series 10 (Pre-S10(36) speculation)
2017/04/15 - 2017/08/07:  Doctor Who - Series 10 (Part 2) (S10(36)E01 (The Pilot) - S10(36)E12 (The Doctor Falls))
2017/08/07 - 2018/01/07:  Doctor Who - Series 10 (Part 3) (Christmas Special (Twice Upon a Time) and general chatter about the impending Chibnall era)
2018/01/07 - 2018/11/02:  Doctor Who - Series 11 (Part 1) (62 pages of pre-S11(37) speculation, then S11(37)E01 (The Woman Who Fell to Earth) to S11(37)E04 (Arachnids in the UK))
2018/11/02 - 201?/??/??:  Doctor Who - Series 11 (Part 2) (S11(37)E05 (The Tsuranga Conundrum) onwards -- you're reading it now)


Threads about the old series, in chronological order of creation:
Old Doctor Who (Original thread, 2005/05/11 - 2010/06/08)
Old Doctor Who (Second thread, 2011/01/14 - 2016/10/21)
Old Doctor Who - Part 3 (Third thread, 2016/10/21 - 20??/??/??)


Threads about both, but for your ears only:
Doctor Who Audio Adventures (Big Finish etc.)


Other Doctor Who related broadcast threads, also in chronological order:
Torchwood Series 1
The Sarah Jane Adventures (just the pilot, not Series 1, there was no S1 thread)
Torchwood Series 2
Sarah Jane adventures- Series 2
Torchwood Series 3 (aka Children of Earth)
Sarah Jane Adventures Series 3
Doctor Who and the SPOILERS OF DEATH (aborted Series 5 (31/Fnarg) thread)
Junior Masterchef with Doctor Who
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Torchwood: The New World (one-page thread presaging Series 4 / Miracle Day)
Torchwood return date.... (three-post thread announcing Series 4 / Miracle Day)
Torchwood: Miracle Day (aka Series 4)
Torchwood: Miracle Day (US airings)
Class (Doctor Who spin-off) series 1

There wasn't a Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 thread, let alone a Series 5 one. :-(


Still more Doctor Who related threads, again in chronological order:
Fanzines (Comedy, Doctor Who and in general)
The Best And Worst Of Doctor Who... Ever
Doctor Who - where does everyone stand now ?
Mong Doctor Who series 5 (H.S. Art thread)
Recommend me some Old Doctor Who (a really good thread, IMHO)
Doctor Who Mongs (H.S. Art thread)
Beeb to show unseen interview with Dr Who theme creator (Delia Derbyshire)
Doctor Who film (November 2011 thread about film rumour)
Watching Doctor Who no 1. The Time Meddler (1965)
Why i don't like modern Doctor Who
Doctor Who leaked scripts thread (but still no spoilers) (July 2014)
Doctor Who: The Movie (April 2015 thread about another film rumour)
K9: Timequake (new movie coming 2017, allegedly... very allegedly, by now)
Doctor Who World (should it become an expanded franchise like Marvel?)
Dr Who Re Dooooo (would it be worth refilming some early stories?)
Doctor Who or Chips? (addressing the burning issue of the day)
Tom Baker is still alive (General Tom Baker appreciation thread)
Radiophonic Prom (featuring the music of Delia Derbyshire, among others)
Watching Doctor Who (2005) from the middle of the beginning (madhair60 sparks discussion about the RTD era -- includes a superb Sheepy-has-to-up-his-game-now list by Talulah, really! to every individual episode discussion of the first three series; many thanks for that!)


(See here for sources.  Further additions & corrections welcome.)

Ambient Sheep

#7
Not sure where that other version came from because I picked up mine (a couple of days ago; the moment really HAD been prepared for) from the same place as the mothman link [EDIT: no longer] above leads to, i.e. 2017/08/07. The one above is MUCH older (the two recent additions notwithstanding), before the Old Doctor Whos got their own category, for example.  Sorry for any offence or upset caused; I'm also a big fan of your writing -- your description of Series 10 Part 3 is better than mine, for example.

Mister Six

Sorry - don't know what happened there either. I got lost in all the tabs, I suppose. Have deleted mine to stop this thread being any more fiddly than it has to be. No offence or upset caused though!

Anyway, nohing to see here, move along!

Ambient Sheep

#9
That's all good then. :-)  Sorry that I wasn't obviously around so that this mess and waste of your time could have been avoided.

Have edited mine to include your superior words for S10P3 and the madhair60 thread.

Great meme-ness in your edit, btw.


EDIT(!): Also moved
The Best And Worst Of Doctor Who... Ever
Doctor Who - where does everyone stand now ?
to the bottom section; I'm struggling to think why they were in the SJA/Torchwood/etc. section in the first place.  Some historical reason, I suspect.

Amusingly the second of those links seems to contain the Genesis of the Sheepy's-List as its third post.  Just six entries in those days...

Replies From View

Quote from: Mister Six on November 02, 2018, 01:50:06 PM
New thread, since the last one reached 100 pages.

Last thread ended with Thomas linking to this article about the new TARDIS design: http://www.vulture.com/2018/11/doctor-who-jodie-whittaker-tardis.html

Yes.  I love how this...

QuoteUninviting brown palettes? That's so Steven Moffat–era Who. "We wanted to make the universe feel a warm place, so it seemed perfect to give the TARDIS a warm color at its heart," Wyn Jones explained. "Then, as we played with the colors, we found that the teal blue seemed to work best in the infinity mirrors as a complement." Amber hues also naturally shine through, quite literally, when the door opens to expose exterior elements.

...is implying that the orange and teal scheme just came into his genius brain one day from nowhere, and seemed right for this one unique context and isn't at all obviously cribbed from the "Bland Hollywood Templates" guidebook of 2012.

Kelvin

"We considered using a different colour palette in the Tardis than we did throughout every other location in the series, but ultimately we realised that the emotional resonance of the Tardis required exactly the same two colours as everywhere else. Which also saved on lived bulbs."

olliebean

Quote from: Replies From View on November 02, 2018, 04:10:49 PM
Yes.  I love how this...

...is implying that the orange and teal scheme just came into his genius brain one day from nowhere, and seemed right for this one unique context and isn't at all obviously cribbed from the "Bland Hollywood Templates" guidebook of 2012.

Yes, I'm not sure which possibility is worse - that the production designer cribbed the cliché and pretended that he came up with it all by himself, or that the production designer genuinely came up with it by himself and doesn't know enough about production design to be aware of how clichéd it is.

Mango Chimes

Reminds me - the Doc's moving speech about the legacy of Rosa Parks wasn't half undercut by the giant crystalline cock that was pumping up and down over her shoulder.

Replies From View

Quote from: Mango Chimes on November 02, 2018, 07:41:58 PM
Reminds me - the Doc's moving speech about the legacy of Rosa Parks wasn't half undercut by the giant crystalline cock that was pumping up and down over her shoulder.

You'd prefer a more naturalistic one?

Isnt Anything

Quote from: Mango Chimes on November 02, 2018, 07:41:58 PMReminds me - the Doc's moving speech about the legacy of Rosa Parks wasn't half undercut by the giant crystalline cock that was pumping up and down over her shoulder.

Yeah youre not kidding, that was immensely distracting. not least because i didnt realise what it was at first, i was just thinking 'why is one of the TARDIS roof supports pumping up and down like that, wtf is going on .... ohhhhhhhhhhh its the time rotor oh okaaaayyy well thats just stupid .... and massively phallic'.

olliebean

If it ain't a wobbly bit of cylindrical perspex, it ain't a time rotor...

Replies From View

Quote from: olliebean on November 02, 2018, 08:44:26 PM
If it ain't a wobbly bit of cylindrical perspex, it ain't a time rotor cock...

Cloud

Should've seen the looks I got when I whipped out my replica of Matt Smith's sonic.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

#19
For anyone who's interested, here are my non-spoilery thoughts on episode five, The Tsuranga Conundrum.

It's blandness personified and features some of Chibnall's clunkiest dialogue yet. Essentially his attempt at writing a base-under-siege adventure, it's fatally lacking in tension. The basic idea is pretty sound, if unoriginal, but Chibnall botches it with his journeyman plotting and characterisation.

We're expected to care about the supporting characters, but they're boring and one-dimensional. There's a supposedly shocking reveal within the first ten minutes that even a distracted child will have figured out beforehand. It attempts to hit some affecting character beats, but fails. In the hands of RTD or Moffat on a good day, those moments would've been genuinely quite touching, but they remind me of Tony Hancock's disparaging comments about Norman Wisdom's "and this is where I put the pathos in" approach. It's all so mechanical.

On a more positive note, Whittaker and Walsh are both very good, but that goes without saying at this point. They both get a few funny lines in - their delivery is better than the material, admittedly - and Whittaker nails her big scenes (I think it's her best performance so far this series). Also, the antagonist is quite striking.

Other than that, it's poor. 5/10.

holyzombiejesus

Aw, fer fucks sake. Another 5/10? I'm wondering how long we're (we as in me and my wife) are going to keep ploughing though this. Mild cheddar for the eyes.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

I hope the next series, whenever that goes out, has fewer episodes written by Chibnall. I actually like the ideas he's introduced as showrunner this year, he's done a good job in that regard, but he needs to back away from writing episodes. I wouldn't mind it if we had just one or two middling/slightly above average/fairly enjoyable Chibnall episodes per season, but let other, more talented, more interesting writers take care of everything else.

Bourgyste

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on November 02, 2018, 11:36:12 PM
For anyone who's interested, here are my non-spoilery thoughts on episode five, The Tsuranga Conundrum.

It's blandness personified and features some of Chibnall's clunkiest dialogue yet. Essentially his attempt at writing a base-under-siege adventure, it's fatally lacking in tension. The basic idea is pretty sound, if unoriginal, but Chibnall botches it with his journeyman plotting and characterisation.

We're expected to care about the supporting characters, but they're boring and one-dimensional. There's a supposedly shocking reveal within the first ten minutes that even a distracted child will have figured out beforehand. It attempts to hit some affecting character beats, but fails. In the hands of RTD or Moffat on a good day, those moments would've been genuinely quite touching, but they remind me of Tony Hancock's disparaging comments about Norman Wisdom's "and this is where I put the pathos in" approach. It's all so mechanical.

On a more positive note, Whittaker and Walsh are both very good, but that goes without saying at this point. They both get a few funny lines in - their delivery is better than the material, admittedly - and Whittaker nails her big scenes (I think it's her best performance so far this series). Also, the antagonist is quite striking.

Other than that, it's poor. 5/10.
Your reviews are too persuasive. I'll add that I think this episode treated 'death' rather casually which I am certain was not intentional.

Talulah, really!

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on November 03, 2018, 12:42:27 AM
I hope the next series, whenever that goes out, has fewer episodes written by Chibnall. I actually like the ideas he's introduced as showrunner this year, he's done a good job in that regard, but he needs to back away from writing episodes. I wouldn't mind it if we had just one or two middling/slightly above average/fairly enjoyable Chibnall episodes per season, but let other, more talented, more interesting writers take care of everything else.

The Chibnall Defence: The Davies-Moffat System

Surprised to see so many people here moaning about the number of episodes Chibnall is writing as though it is some sort of egotistical need that he has rather than the standard operating procedure for a new Doctor Who showrunner as established by Davies and Moffat.

Series 1 by Davies had 4 of the first 5 episodes written by Davies, the showrunner, the other which came in as the third episode slot was by Mark Gatiss.

Series 5 by Moffat had 4 of the first 5 episodes written by Davies, the showrunner, the other which came in as the third episode slot was by Mark Gatiss.

Series 11 by Chibnall has 4 of the first 5 episodes written by Davies, the showrunner, the other which came in as the third episode slot was co-written by Malorie Blackman (Mark Gatiss is currently appearing in The Madness of King George III at the Nottingham Playhouse).

So in essence Chibnall is doing exactly what Davies and Moffat did in their first runs and almost certainly for exactly the same reason.

The new showrunner has to have at hand a set of scripts that set the blueprint for their vision of Doctor Who for the other writers to come in and work off. It needs to establish the characteristics of this incarnation of the Doctor, the characters and backgrounds of the companion/s and other re-occuring characters, set the tone for this era, the issues it will tackle or not, the aesthetics and seed any story arc elements. It is practically inevitable that the early batch of stories will be written by the incoming show runner.

The more salient point to consider is where the show was at when the showrunners took over, off the air, a huge ratings and critical success, a show whose ratings were in steady decline and ponder what approach might follow from that.

Mango Chimes

Quote from: Talulah, really! on November 03, 2018, 08:03:08 AMThe new showrunner has to have at hand a set of scripts that set the blueprint for their vision of Doctor Who for the other writers to come in and work off. It needs to establish the characteristics of this incarnation of the Doctor, the characters and backgrounds of the companion/s and other re-occuring characters, set the tone for this era, the issues it will tackle or not, the aesthetics and seed any story arc elements. It is practically inevitable that the early batch of stories will be written by the incoming show runner.

Sure. I think that's all true and necessary. And on this series so far, I agree with Ballad that Chibnall has done a bunch of really good things in his concept for the series. I think Mister Six outlines a bunch of them in the last thread, and I could add plenty more. I also don't have any personal animosity to Chibnall, and I assume he's doing the job that's been asked of him.

However, I do agree with what seems to be the general sentiment here, that he doesn't appear to be as strong as a head writer or script editor as he appears to be an exec producer (and that may be crediting him with some of the successes of the other producers, and maybe discrediting him on other aspects; we obviously don't know the ins and outs of the pressure's he's specifically under).

Those jobs can be combined in a 'showrunner' model, and that's what Davies and Moffat were, and is presumably what Chibnall's been asked to be. But they don't have to be. And on the evidence of the series so far, it'd be improved if there were a better writer to script edit and polish the writing. It'd be great to have this different Doctor, the more down to earth style, the scientific detective procedural approach, varied companions, etc. etc. with just a more elegant shape to the storytelling. It's 90% there.

Replies From View

Yes, I don't think anybody is surprised that the showrunner is writing so many episodes, are they?  I don't get that impression, more a broad sense of frustration that this is him at his top of his game - presumably doing his very best to dazzle us all with his vision of the show as it'll be for the next few years - and it already feels like he's spreading himself thinly and running out of steam.

DWM 531 hints that there was a 'story room' in the writing process this year, on the page teasing episode 5: 

Quote"The alien was created and named by Tim Price, who was one of the writers who was with us early on and did some work with us in the story room," says Chris.  "He came up with a brilliant and unusual name for the alien and we all loved it.  Tim was ultimately too busy to work on the show, but the alien was his creation."
(page 26)

Cloud

My assessment of the showrunners' first block of episodes

Rose - good.  Fast paced and pretty cool, obviously there was the excitement of Doctor Who being back at the time but a decent rewatch
The end of the world - good.  A little bit of silliness with her from My Family playing a trampoline, but I liked it.
Aliens of London and WW3 - bit silly (farting aliens) but memorable
The Long Game - meh, but who can forget The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe, so at least it had something memorable in it
Downsides to RTD: if you forget it's playing to the kids a lot, his episodes can seem a bit silly.  Farting aliens, trampolines, Max and that fucking Anne Robinsonbot.

The Eleventh Hour - middling, but with good interaction between new Doctor and Amy and an instant sense of them 'clicking'
The Beast Below - excellent, a bit misanthropic but humanity does need a slap sometimes.  Not afraid to well and truly piss the Doctor off and very nearly sack his companion.
The Time of Angels and Flesh & Stone - excellent, angels were one of Moffat's strong points.  Some would say a one trick pony, but at least he played to his strength.  Plus, River.
Downsides to Moffat: Tendency to try and write long arcs, unanswered questions and cliffhangers but seemingly having no plan of how to resolve them beforehand, so wrote himself into corners constantly

The Woman Who Fell To Earth: above average, a good introduction to 13.
The Ghost Monument: aimless, meandering.  Sentient rags.  Below average.
Rosa: excellent (but half credited to Malorie Blackman)
Arachnids in the UK: Average.  I remember it had spiders in it and Trump.
The Tsuranga Conundrum: Doesn't sound great so far

Yeah I think it's not so much that he's writing the first handful as they all have, more that he's just... not as good.  Not shit, just not great, nothing particularly memorable, no hooks.. there's been nothing so far that's made me want to do the kind of "I'm excited by Doctor Who" things like rewatching Youtube clips, saying "moisturise me!", setting my wallpaper to an angel and have it automatically change every so often, or setting my wifi SSID to ┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐- it's all just fairly forgettable so far.

kittens

lads just watched spiders and thought it was good.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Yes, I just want to echo the point that there's nothing unusual about Chibnall writing most of the episodes in his first season, the problem is that he's not good enough to carry that weight. He is, at best, capable. He's fine.

Apart from Rosa and TWWFTE (which I felt was a strong, promising introduction to a brand new era), the first half of this season has, broadly speaking, operated at that slightly above average level.

When RTD and Moffat wrote episodes, I was always intrigued to see what they came up with. Sometimes they triumphed, sometimes their efforts fell short, but I never thought "Not him again" when their names flashed up on screen. When it comes to Chibnall-penned episodes, my instinctive response as the opening credits roll is "I hope this isn't shit."

I wish I didn't think that, but I do.



Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Incidentally, my comments on The Tsuranga Conundrum possibly come across as slightly harsher than intended. I mean, I didn't hate it, I just didn't particularly enjoy it. I found my attention wandering at times, which isn't a good sign when you're watching, well, anything really, but especially during a supposedly exciting space adventure.