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Doctor Who - Series 12, Chibnall's Revenge

Started by Deanjam, June 13, 2019, 04:35:22 PM

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olliebean

Quote from: Replies From View on September 14, 2019, 04:11:58 PM
He's bound to return at some point in Chibnall's tenure - I'd wager series 13.  RTD was bringing in The Master in his third series after bringing back the Daleks and Cybermen for his first and second; Chibnall will be following the pattern with Daleks, Cybermen and Barrowman I reckon.

The character is meant to be unaging though, right?

Misread that last line at first; my reply was going to be, "No, I don't think he's meant to be unengaging."

Ambient Sheep

BBC News - Christopher Eccleston: 'I'm a lifelong body-hater'

Excerpt; note second paragraph in particular:

QuoteChristopher Eccleston has revealed he's battled with anorexia for decades and at one point considered suicide.

Writing in his new book, I Love the Bones of You, the actor described himself as a "lifelong body-hater", saying he was "very ill" with the condition while filming Doctor Who.

The 55-year-old played the ninth Doctor during the show's revival in 2005.

He said he's never revealed his struggle before because it's not what working class northern males do.

"Many times I've wanted to reveal that I'm a lifelong anorexic and dysmorphic," he wrote.

"I never have. I always thought of it as a filthy secret, because I'm northern, because I'm male and because I'm working class."

From the age of six he was concerned he had a "pot belly" and "knobbly knees".

The father-of-two was diagnosed with clinical depression after splitting from his wife Mischka in 2015 and says it was then that he considered taking his own life.

"I was in a state of extreme anxiety, convinced I was either going to die or I was going to kill myself," wrote the actor, who was working on the BBC drama The A Word at the time.

He added: "In my despair I reached for my phone and looked up a psychiatric hospital, I rang ahead, grabbed my bag and ran."

Eccleston was prescribed antidepressants which he admits he could be on "for the rest of my days", though he would like to "reduce the dose" as he's worried the drugs could "deaden my creative side".


Replies From View

Speaking of Big Finish, Mark Gatiss has only somehow wangled it so that he is now an incarnation of the Master.

Bad Ambassador


daf

#244
In short : Gatiss plays an "Unbound Universe" incarnation of The Master.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In long : Years ago, Big Finish had a short series of 'what if' dramas - which they termed 'Unbound' - stuff like what if the Doctor never left Gallifrey? . . . or what if the Doctor had never got made as a TV show at all? . . . or What if the Doctor had not been UNIT's scientific advisor?

That last one had an alternative 'Unbound Doctor' played by David Warner . . . that's right, THE David Warner!!

Anyway, a few years later, after re-booting Bernice Summerfield into Box sets - (her first two "New Adventures" were with the 7th Doctor and Ace) - for the third box she crossed over into an alternate Universe - specifically the universe where the Doctor was the "Unbound Doctor" as played by David Warner (yes, that's still right - THE David Warner!!!) in series 3, 4 and 5 - the latest one out this month.

So, as we had an "Unbound Doctor", it was only a matter of time before an "Unbound Master" showed up - which is where Mark Gatiss comes in, or rather "Sam Kisgart" as he's credited on series 3 and 4.

     


Thomas

Quote from: Ambient Sheep on September 16, 2019, 07:52:18 PM
BBC News - Christopher Eccleston: 'I'm a lifelong body-hater'

Excerpt; note second paragraph in particular:

A sad revelation. Elsewhere, though, he's shed some light on his decisions around the fiftieth anniversary:

Quote"They approached me to be in ['The Day of the Doctor'], but the BBC had still not apologised to me. I liked Steven Moffat a lot. I considered it. But it had an enormous emotional impact on me, what happened with Doctor Who.

"As the series was going out, as the series was being celebrated I was being vilified in the press in the UK because of the statement that the BBC issued.

"And it caused quite a depression in me that year. While everybody was going 'Doctor Who's great – he's great and he's gone'. Because they [the BBC] kind of smeared me and told lies about me."

And he says some positive things about the creative use of the Ninth Doctor's absence:

QuoteAnd with hindsight, Eccleston thinks his decision to decline was positive for the series as a whole.

"The virtue of that is that we then get the War Doctor. Because if I'd have come back you wouldn't have got the War Doctor – the War Doctor was there precisely because the Ninth Doctor wasn't," Eccleston explained.

"And John Hurt's a far better actor than me, and that opened up a whole new dimension. So it was a positive thing really.


"I would have loved to have acted with him, loved to," he added.

"I did meet him, and he walked past me and he said 'Oh, Chris, we're kind of mingled aren't we? We're mingled, you and I!'"

It's interesting to me that Eccleston expresses familiarity with the continuity of the show - or at least with 'The Day of the Doctor'. I wonder how much he's watched since his departure. Perhaps only that episode. I suppose it's only prudent to do your homework if you're going to start doing panels and conventions.

lipsink

I can imagine him watching Chibnall's series. "Fuckin' hell".

mothman

It's sad that he's suffered, and that his own attempts to put it all behind him while behaving honourably allowed rumour and bad spin to swirl around his departure. But I love TDotD and Hurt's participation, so I'm happy the way it turned out. It's just a shame it happened that way because of (as he tells it anyway) the BBC's  cuntishness.

Replies From View

Nothing to do with new Doctor Who, but this seems like the most appropriate thread for this question.  Does everyone remember the Doctor Who Confidential episode where Matt Smith was announced as the new Doctor?  This one:
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Eleventh_Doctor_(CON_episode)

Well it's not available commercially and I was wondering whether anyone knows if it can be found online anywhere for download.  I've done some googling but it's not turned anything up so far.


While we're at it, I'd also like to see this episode again; the very first one which looks back on the history of the show before 'Rose' was broadcast, and also has never appeared on a commercial release:  https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Who:_A_New_Dimension_(CON_episode)

The Giggling Bean

I met Christopher Eccleston at this years London Film and Comic Con. I was quite surprised as he's taller and lot more stocky than I expected, he looked like he's been working out a lot. As I was having my picture taken with him I only had the chance to shake his hand and say "Thank you" but he was friendly and pleasant. As I was leaving to pick up my picture I overheard him scoffingly discussing the recent announcement of Boris Johnston promising x amount of Police. I did want to turn round and join in and stick the boot into Johnson, verbally speaking, but thought better of it as Chris probably knew more about it than me.

Alberon

Quote from: Replies From View on September 21, 2019, 11:39:13 PM
Nothing to do with new Doctor Who, but this seems like the most appropriate thread for this question.  Does everyone remember the Doctor Who Confidential episode where Matt Smith was announced as the new Doctor?  This one:
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Eleventh_Doctor_(CON_episode)

Well it's not available commercially and I was wondering whether anyone knows if it can be found online anywhere for download.  I've done some googling but it's not turned anything up so far.


While we're at it, I'd also like to see this episode again; the very first one which looks back on the history of the show before 'Rose' was broadcast, and also has never appeared on a commercial release:  https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Who:_A_New_Dimension_(CON_episode)

I'm 99% certain I've got them on DVD somewhere. If they're not up on Youtube already they'll probably be taken straight back down if I try to upload them. I'll have a look later when I can.

Replies From View

Quote from: Alberon on September 22, 2019, 02:10:21 PM
I'm 99% certain I've got them on DVD somewhere. If they're not up on Youtube already they'll probably be taken straight back down if I try to upload them. I'll have a look later when I can.

Don't worry I have received a mega link with the files I am after.  They aren't on any commercially released DVD if that's what you mean; the series sets only contained the cut-down Confidentials, and the two episodes above weren't included at all.

The Roofdog

Has the series ever felt more invisible than it does currently?The only Who chatter is around the Blu-ray boxes. No publicity, no merchandise, no little S12 leaks to get excited about. How has Chibnall managed to kill this so stone fucking dead?

Replies From View

Quote from: The Roofdog on October 19, 2019, 08:10:09 AM
Has the series ever felt more invisible than it does currently?The only Who chatter is around the Blu-ray boxes. No publicity, no merchandise, no little S12 leaks to get excited about. How has Chibnall managed to kill this so stone fucking dead?

I feel the same way.  During the later years of Moffat's run there were people here saying they were feeling no buzz around upcoming series and didn't care anymore, but I was still engaged and there were interviews in magazines and things like the Doctor Who Fan Show on YouTube. 

There's nothing happening now to keep afloat the sense of Doctor Who as a living show, and I'm speaking as someone who actively seeks this kind of stuff out.  For people who are less committed it must be just nothing.

If you're going to produce only one series every 18 months you need to build up enthusiasm in the long gap or people will just detach.  That's basic.

The Roofdog

It's the kids I worry about, how many kids of primary school age can still be talking about the show at this point?

Another problem is that S11 set up naff all to talk about, would a Tennant-style what what what cliffhanger have killed him? (answer: apparently, yes)

olliebean

Quote from: The Roofdog on October 19, 2019, 08:10:09 AM
Has the series ever felt more invisible than it does currently?The only Who chatter is around the Blu-ray boxes. No publicity, no merchandise, no little S12 leaks to get excited about. How has Chibnall managed to kill this so stone fucking dead?

There's the 44-minute "highlights" reel I posted about in the series 11 thread. Not wasting 44 minutes of my life on that, though, in spite of a morbid fascination as to exactly which 44 minutes of a largely humdrum series are considered "highlights." (Perhaps just the closing credits and the first 3 minutes of whatever programme followed it each week.)

Weren't we supposed to be getting a Christmas Special this year?

Replies From View

Quote from: The Roofdog on October 19, 2019, 08:27:49 AM
It's the kids I worry about, how many kids of primary school age can still be talking about the show at this point?

None, in my experience.

The last child I worked with who was into Doctor Who was in his final year of primary school two years ago (so is in his second year of secondary school now).  His fascination with Doctor Who was rooted in his autistic spectrum condition and his obsession with specific kinds of information and details about the show; nobody else in his year or the year above had an interest in Doctor Who whatsoever, and this was two years ago.

The period of 2005-2019 is an incredibly long time for a primary school child.  The boy above was born in 2007, so would have been 6 years old during the 50th anniversary stuff.  Think about the massive gap before series 7, and the fact we were already then moving into the Capaldi era, it's amazing to imagine anyone of his age taking an interest in Doctor Who, really.

I think things like the Lego Dimensions Doctor Who game (with all 12 incarnations of the Doctor at that point) and any 50th anniversary stuff would have helped get a child with his kind of encyclopaedic mind get into Doctor Who and its world.  There's nothing like that going on now, though.

Replies From View

Quote from: olliebean on October 19, 2019, 09:37:59 AM
Weren't we supposed to be getting a Christmas Special this year?

Or a New Year one at the start of 2020.  Don't know if they've stated officially which it'll be.

VelourSpirit

Quote from: The Roofdog on October 19, 2019, 08:10:09 AM
Has the series ever felt more invisible than it does currently?The only Who chatter is around the Blu-ray boxes. No publicity, no merchandise, no little S12 leaks to get excited about. How has Chibnall managed to kill this so stone fucking dead?

I genuinely forget it's even been filming for most of the year. It's like he doesn't think people should be interested in Doctor Who outside of 10 Sunday evenings every one and a half years. God it's just been absolute shit it's really felt like the show's been cancelled for the last 2 years

pigamus

To be fair, there was always going to be the same-old-same-old problem at some point. Telly just doesn't change and reinvent itself the way it used to - everything's just that bit more standardised and regularised and blanded out. Even with another very talented showrunner I think people would still be a bit sick of Doctor Who by this point.

Mister Six

At least people who are sick of it feel something. This is more like blank ambivalence.

Cloud

Quote from: The Roofdog on October 19, 2019, 08:10:09 AM
Has the series ever felt more invisible than it does currently?The only Who chatter is around the Blu-ray boxes. No publicity, no merchandise, no little S12 leaks to get excited about. How has Chibnall managed to kill this so stone fucking dead?

Seems that way.  The annoying thing is how all the usual twats will say it's because of the gender change, PC Gone Mad etc rather than because he's an utterly shit writer and showrunner.

Of course, people always said the same about Moffat, but in my mind he was generally fine, just terrible for writing cliffhangers with no apparent plan to actually resolve them in a good way.  At least it still had some feeling to it.  It does genuinely seem to be such soulless shit now.

To be fair, I seem to recall liking it towards the end of the series.  But I can't even think what happened now, so maybe I was just being optimistic.  I'll still watch the next series out of the usual unwavering hope it'll improve...

Replies From View

Has anyone tried rewatching any episodes of series 11 since the first broadcast?

Spoon of Ploff

Quote from: Replies From View on October 19, 2019, 10:40:05 PM
Has anyone tried rewatching any episodes of series 11 since the first broadcast?


Time to give frog on a chair a second chance?

Cloud


Ballad of Ballard Berkley


pigamus

Quote from: Cloud on October 19, 2019, 10:34:54 PM
Seems that way.  The annoying thing is how all the usual twats will say it's because of the gender change, PC Gone Mad etc rather than because he's an utterly shit writer and showrunner.

This is why I don't even want to say it's shit even though it is, just because it gives those awful wankers the opportunity to say I told you so.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

"What did you make of the last series?"

"Pretty shit all told, I didn't really enjoy it."

"Yeah, it was never going to work with a woman."

"No, that's not what I mean, I think she's good, it's just that..."

"Yeah, it's shit now."

I hope, unlike me, you've never had to endure this conversation in your actual life.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Jodie turns up in a Children in Need thing alongside David Tennant next week. By my reckoning, it's the first time since the New Year's Day special that Doctor Who has had any kind of profile on the BBC in 2019.

As you lot have said, it just seems to have vanished from view.

olliebean

Is the Children In Need thing actually a Doctor Who thing, or is it just her singing that bloody song?