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Doctor Who - Series 11 (Part 2)

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

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Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Watching Chibnall desperately trying, and failing, to create tension is quite dispiriting. He's created a situation which should be gripping and suspenseful, but the execution is so uninspired. As Replies says, you can practically hear Chibnall's brain whirring through the motions of piecing this plot together.

pigamus

Worst part is, it's not even shit. It's just nothing.

Replies From View

Exactly.  I'd take 'Fear Her' over this, I'm afraid.

Replies From View

Have the Lord's Prayer and then just stop; that's fine.

jobotic

I did say "why don;t they just boot it?".

A man is going have a baby out of his pinger - that's bigger than this Tasmanian Devil thing.

Mango Chimes

Fucking hell that was boring. I don't think I've ever decided to fuck off and dual-screen one of these just to get through it. Leaden.

The dialogue's a first draft where all the exposition and shit is in place, but nobody's done a character pass. And everyone's acting so earnest, with the drama drama tension music throughout. Whether this is dictated from above or the director's choice, this dreary lot of old bollocks would have been enlivened a huge amount if some of these line readings had a bit of flippancy or attitude to them and a bit of a pause in the beat here and there.

Norton Canes

OK. Here's what I have to say about this episode. Here it is. I am going to say it. What I think. Right now.

I. Really. Liked. It.

I really liked it! I really liked it!

There!!

Norton Canes


Replies From View


Malcy

Really enjoyed that. The Pting was a bit Cbeebies though. First time Jodie has felt like the Doctor for me.

As good as the new music is, I was hoping they would cut down on it a bit. There is ALWAYS background music. Does my tits in. So unnecessary.

The Roofdog

There's 50 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Wretched.

Cloud

Casualty in space!
It was alright  (again), nothing amazing, nothing bad, maybe slightly above average so a 5.5/10

The little monster was the best part

But odd having a massive ship with about a dozen people rattling around it. 

As had already been mentioned, you're forced to try and care about these people in such a short amount of time, but I suppose anyone watching Casualty is probably used to that.  It was just a bit odd.  A sprinkling of people with various things Going On In Their Lives like some kind of weak filler to try and add some interest to the episode.

I'm a bit worried about there being too many companions - a few scenes in this one with Yaz and Ryan just sort of standing around.

Looking forward to next week, that one looks good and is written by someone other than chinballs :)

Mango Chimes

Not sure which was the most moving moment. Was it when Merchant Navy said an emotional farewell to the co-worker we'd not seen him speak to? Or was it when Doc Brown revealed he was the brother of a woman he was tepidly hanging around with all episode like it meant anything at all?

sillymisslily

Alright,  felt a bit like RTD what with your pregnant man and everything.
The PTing would make an excellent cuddly toy.
As others have said, Jodie does really feel like the Doctor her. What happened to her pain? Please don't tell me she's on her period.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Cloud on November 04, 2018, 08:01:20 PM
As had already been mentioned, you're forced to try and care about these people in such a short amount of time, but I suppose anyone watching Casualty is probably used to that.

I don't know about Casualty, I haven't watched it in years, but I found it quite ironic that Chibnall referenced Call the Midwife in this episode, as that show is very good at eking earned emotion from storylines involving characters you've never met before. Chibnall probably thought he was writing something in that vein, but he's just not good enough to carry it off.

Replies From View

"Ecto-spleen".

That is now an organ the Doctor has.

Alberon

Bland as fuck episode. Like a middling Stargate Atlantis episode on half the budget. Impossible to care about any of the cardboard cutouts pretending to be the guest cast. Monster was well animated and had more character than anyone bar Graham and the Doctor.

Speaking of the regular cast we're halfway in and Yaz had the least to do of any episode so far. At least she remembered she was a policewoman though. Her big scene with Ryan was all about him. Maybe when she runs into her nan next week she accidentally wipes herself out of existence. It would be a great twist, but it will never happen.

Bourgyste

Catching it later but these comments are discouraging.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: sillymisslily on November 04, 2018, 08:08:33 PM
As others have said, Jodie does really feel like the Doctor her. What happened to her pain? Please don't tell me she's on her period.

What was the point of the Doctor clutching her side throughout this episode? Another botched attempt at creating tension? "Oh no! The Doctor's not feeling in great shape, how will she save the day?!" It didn't work, it went nowhere. The episode as a whole went nowhere.

I hate being so down on Doctor Who, I really do, especially as I've enjoyed this series so far (faults and all), but that was just a boring piece of bland filler. We shouldn't have to sit through something so inconsequential in a series consisting of just ten episodes.

I guess the only good thing about reaching the midway point with such a nothingy episode, is that we can now look forward to episodes written by some other writers.


Ballad of Ballard Berkley

It has also become apparent that the extra five minutes allotted to each episode in Season 11 are to allow Ryan some time to mope about his estranged father.

Quote from: Alberon on November 04, 2018, 08:18:23 PM
Speaking of the regular cast we're halfway in and Yaz had the least to do of any episode so far. At least she remembered she was a policewoman though. Her big scene with Ryan was all about him. Maybe when she runs into her nan next week she accidentally wipes herself out of existence. It would be a great twist, but it will never happen.

It's just so weird, isn't it? What do we know about Yaz so far? She's a policewoman who is apparently driven to distraction by her family, even though they all seem quite nice. That's it.

At least we've actually got a handle on who Graham and Ryan are, and the emotional dynamic between them, but what's the point of Yaz being there? I have nothing against the actress, she's doing what she can with a superfluous role, but it's strange watching a big mainstream drama in which one of the regular characters has practically no significant involvement each week.


That really was the most boring episode of Doctor Who that I remember. They could have wrapped Putin in that blanket from the start and shoved him out the airlock.

I can't believe Chibnall can get away with this. I mean it's almost like he's never seen the show before, or he's watched it through the eyes of a learning impaired child and tried to copy that vision.

Kelvin

I thought it started okay, but it had lost my interest by about the halfway point. It just never really ramped up the stakes, I kept expecting there to be a reveal or twist that would kick things up a gear or add a bit of mystery, but it really was just Lilo and Stitch meets Alien. Too many character threads, too much soapy bollocks with the siblings, when they should probably have focused on Ryan's connection to the pregnant bloke - which itself needed spicing up with some funnier dialogue, or a more entertaining, or alien, birth. It's all just so safe and unimaginative.

"I thought I'd give being a dad a try. I'm going to make mistakes, aren't I? But I'll just keep going."

END SCENE.

Burst out laughing at that moment of profundity.

Cheaply directed, too, despite the expensive cameras. Far too much space around the characters, revealing how empty the rooms were. Looked particularly bad when that poor actress was having to pilot the ship dressed like an Apple Store.   

A few positives: that was Whittaker's best episode, in terms of her actually feeling a bit more assertive and actually having a few distinct personality traits; selfishness and a real passion for science. I still don't think it's a very captivating or assured performance, though, and the dialogue she's given was still mostly tepid and forgettable. Having her so out of her depth every week if both an interesting change of direction for the character, but also quite jarring after years of The Doctor always being so ahead of the game.

What else? The alien was pretty cute. I quite liked seeing an episode set in space. The dialogue was boring, but not actively bad in the way that it has been almost every previous week. The way the male leads handled the pregnant bloke felt fairly progressive. I'm reaching here.   

Replies From View

Quote from: canted_angle_again on November 04, 2018, 08:32:38 PM
That really was the most boring episode of Doctor Who that I remember. They could have wrapped Putin in that blanket from the start and shoved him out the airlock.

I can't believe Chibnall can get away with this. I mean it's almost like he's never seen the show before, or he's watched it through the eyes of a learning impaired child and tried to copy that vision.

And this is before Chibnall has started scraping the bottom of his own barrel.  This is him at the very height of his powers, writing his first series of Doctor Who after being a fan all his life.  To put it very mildly it just doesn't inspire confidence.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: sillymisslily on November 04, 2018, 08:08:33 PM
The PTing would make an excellent cuddly toy.

I did like the creature, it was nicely realised. Was it brought to life with a combination of CGI and stop-motion? It looked quite solid for a CG monster.

Replies From View

Quote from: Kelvin on November 04, 2018, 08:35:12 PM
Cheaply directed, too, despite the expensive cameras. Far too much space around the characters, revealing how empty the rooms were.

Not so empty; there were black patterns scribbled on the walls of some of them, and random screensavers in the background of some of the others.

Norton Canes

Quote from: Replies From View on November 04, 2018, 07:58:06 PM
Do you know why?

Without going into too much depth right now (though I might tomorrow - I know, I'm such a tease), it reminded me a whole lot of one of the excellent fourth Doctor comic strips that used to appear in Doctor Who Monthly.

I suppose yes, I am thinking specifically of the Meep.

Norton Canes

So hang on, the male medic, Brett Goldstein, was he in Denis? That's a shame. I only know him from his excellent turn in the film Adult Life Skills, in which he co-starred with Jodie Whittaker (and which anyone should watch who wants to see just how amazing Jodie could be as the Doctor).

Norton Canes


Kelvin

Quote from: Replies From View on November 04, 2018, 08:40:10 PM
Not so empty; there were black patterns scribbled on the walls of some of them, and random screensavers in the background of some of the others.

Heh. I just mean in terms of empty space. That stuff with the sister piloting the ship was filmed in the most prosaic, inept way possible. You were constantly aware that is was just a woman dressed up ridiculously and stood in a big empty room. It just looked so unbelievably cheap and naff to show her in wide shots wobbling around like that.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Kelvin on November 04, 2018, 08:35:12 PM
I thought it started okay, but it had lost my interest by about the halfway point. It just never really ramped up the stakes, I kept expecting there to be a reveal or twist that would kick things up a gear or add a bit of mystery, but it really was just Lilo and Stitch meets Alien. Too many character threads, too much soapy bollocks with the siblings, when they should probably have focused on Ryan's connection to the pregnant bloke - which itself needed spicing up with some funnier dialogue, or a more entertaining, or alien, birth. It's all just so safe and unimaginative.

"I thought I'd give being a dad a try. I'm going to make mistakes, aren't I? But I'll just keep going."

END SCENE.

Burst out laughing at that moment of profundity.

Cheaply directed, too, despite the expensive cameras. Far too much space around the characters, revealing how empty the rooms were. Looked particularly bad when that poor actress was having to pilot the ship dressed like an Apple Store.   

A few positives: that was Whittaker's best episode, in terms of her actually feeling a bit more assertive and actually having a few distinct personality traits; selfishness and a real passion for science. I still don't think it's a very captivating or assured performance, though, and the dialogue she's given was still mostly tepid and forgettable. Having her so out of her depth every week if both an interesting change of direction for the character, but also quite jarring after years of The Doctor always being so ahead of the game.

What else? The alien was pretty cute. I quite liked seeing an episode set in space. The dialogue was boring, but not actively bad in the way that it has been almost every previous week. The way the male leads handled the pregnant bloke felt fairly progressive. I'm reaching here.

I agree with all of this, apart from your assessment of Whittaker's performance. That was indeed her best episode so far in terms of characterisation, but I also felt that she inhabited the role with ease and authority tonight. I particularly liked her sternly petulant delivery of "I don't like being told what to do."