Doctor Who Series 13: Goodbye, Mr. Chibs

[canted_angle_again]

Doesn't the fact that we are talking about a joke made in the very first episode of the Chibnall from a position of having two seasons under our belt prove that it really was Chibnall straining to hit his comedy out of the park and hit hit the ground running with...'Tim Shaw'?

I mean I can't think of any other joke in the two series that I can recall let alone one that could have almost been good.

[daf]

Not exactly a joke, but I liked the custard cream dispenser on the console

Could have had an episode trying to track down the mystery of who was eating them all * - with possibly a trail of crumbs leading to different rooms so we get to explore the Tardis interior a bit.

*

Spoiler alert

It was ALL of them!!!

[close]

[Alberon]

Talking about comedy the only times Tosin Cole seemed to be awake was a couple of bits of physical comedy he did. One of them in Orphan 55.

He was very good at that. I keep meaning to dig up his other acting roles to see what he's like there. Isn't he doing some American series now?

[Replies From View]

Not exactly a joke, but I liked the the custard cream dispenser on the console

Hated that.  Horribly strained - again - attempt to cover the same ground as Tom Baker's jelly babies and Smith's jammy dodger thing.  And of course Chibnall's brain says "the magic is in the fact that it is confectionary; nothing more is needed".


If the TARDIS console had gone all-out Wallace and Gromit domestic gadgetry I'd probably have liked what it was trying to achieve - it would have given this TARDIS a connecting theme and a unique identity.  But unfortunately it would have also placed the first woman Doctor into a more overtly domestic setting, which would have been inadvisable.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Talking about comedy the only times Tosin Cole seemed to be awake was a couple of bits of physical comedy he did. One of them in Orphan 55.

He was very good at that. I keep meaning to dig up his other acting roles to see what he's like there. Isn't he doing some American series now?

I agree, his little bit of physical comedy in the otherwise execrable Orphan 55 was funny. That was the only time he ever showed even the slightest bit of flair or interest in what he was doing.

The only other deliberately amusing bits during Chibnall's tenure so far have all been courtesy of Bradley Walsh, who's a decent comic actor. But again, that was very much a case of a talented performer rising above the material they were given.

[Mister Six]

If you want to gaslight me then don't joke around it and make it passive - tell me you think I'm deranged and be properly aggressive with it.

Why would I do that? I used the tone that expressed my feeling of mild bemusement.

[Mister Six]

The only other deliberately amusing bits during Chibnall's tenure so far have all been courtesy of Bradley Walsh, who's a decent comic actor. But again, that was very much a case of a talented performer rising above the material they were given.

I also chortled a bit at Alan Cummings' turn in The Witchfinders, although I can't remember any specific lines of dialogue so might just have been thrilled to see a role played with any relish whatsoever rather than being pitched at the emotive level of a bland, cancelled-after-one-series ITV workplace drama.

[Replies From View]

Why would I do that? I used the tone that expressed my feeling of mild bemusement.

Nah, it's gaslighting to say somebody is behaving in a deranged way when you're disagreeing with them; that fact makes you uncomfortable on some level and you've smothered it in light-hearted bantz to let yourself off the hook.


It's fine - something we can all do in the moment, but watch out for it and keep it in check if you don't like it.

[Norton Canes]

He seems to think Not–Trump is a great, funny character, but I can't recall a single thing he did during his second appearance on the show

His second appearance??

[Mister Six]

Nah, it's gaslighting to say somebody is behaving in a deranged way when you're disagreeing with them; that fact makes you uncomfortable on some level and you've smothered it in light-hearted bantz to let yourself off the hook.


It's fine - something we can all do in the moment, but watch out for it and keep it in check if you don't like it.

I'm not even sure what gaslighting is supposed to mean any more. How's about: I think your response to people disagreeing with you about whether a small joke in a Chris Chibnall Doctor Who episode was funny had become excessively elaborate and aggressive - particularly given that funniness is a subjective quality - in a way that seemed bizarre and baffling to me.

I used "deranged" as a bit of comic hyperbole in tandem with the suggestion that you might be an alien called Tim Shaw, not suspecting that you would interpret that as an unironic claim about your mental health rather than a joke, although in retrospect we're arguing because we disagree on what jokes are and how they work, so that was probably a mistake.

I don't think you're deranged, I just think you were, in that moment (because, as mentioned, I generally agree with you on Who matters), being really, really weird.

[Mister Six]

His second appearance??

He came back in last year's New Year's Day special, apparently. His first appearance was in Arachnids in the UK, an episode from Chibnall's first series.

[Replies From View]

I don't think you're deranged, I just think you were, in that moment (because, as mentioned, I generally agree with you on Who matters), being really, really weird.

This again is a strategy of trying to shame me for disagreeing with you, which is a form of gaslighting.  Knowing this is why I don't give a shit.

[Norton Canes]

Are you shaw?

[Mister Six]

This again is a strategy of trying to shame me for disagreeing with you, which is a form of gaslighting.  Knowing this is why I don't give a shit.

No, it's not a strategy and I'm not trying to shame you, so now you're the one gaslighting me, I guess.

[JamesTC]

People, this is Chibnall Who. It is not worth having an argument over. It isn't even worth a little tiff.

[pigamus]

"Dave... Ross?"

[JamesTC]

"Dave... Ross?"

[The Roofdog]

"Dave... Ross?"

Do it Chibnall I double dare you

[canted_angle_again]

Oh I have no doubt he will. And it'll probably be Grahem who says it in a final after coming back and choosing to sacrifice himself because the cancer came back. 'That's your lot Dave Ross....*BOOM*'.

I mean I know it won't happen but I would really love it if in Chibnall's he somehow manages to flip every single shit bit of his tenure into something that could be read as intentional, from the capitalist sympathiser dock in Kablam to the absolute bitch Doc in regards to Graham opening up about his cancer. It won't happen because Chibnall. I'd just love him to do something that retroactively makes the shallowness of his tenure actually mean something other than just a be a huge tanoy of his own ineptitude.

[mothman]

Is that even possible?

[canted_angle_again]

I'm trying to think of examples but coming up blank. I remember when Moffat took over the Doctor 'saved the day', much less than in the RTD era and I thought that something was going to come of that, like Smiths regeneration was flawed in some way. Nothing ever came of that though and upon reflection Tennant and Eccleston's Doctors were the odd ones out. Most Doctors leave quite a few bodies in their wake. 

[BritishHobo]

The official Doctor Who Twitter account has tweeted that Whittaker and Mandip Gill have

Spoiler alert

completed their last day of filming.

[close]

Probably shot it outside my fucking house while I was at work I SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED

[Cloud]

In the words of a Capaldi character, "fuckity bye"

[Poison To The Mind]

Alternatively it is just about bordering on racist to tease an alien for having an alien-sounding name.

(I don't think it is super racist or anything but I find the joke slightly uncomfortable.)

Reminder that the exact same joke was done just seven episodes before Chibnall's version, except a) not terribly and b) that the point was that it is in fact kinda unthinkingly racist to make fun of foreign people's names for sounding a bit like names in your language, but it's okay if you realise it and move on.

BILL: Sorry, is your name Darren?
DAHH-REN: Dahh-Ren.
BILL: Ahh. Makes more sense.

[The Roofdog]

Reminder that the exact same joke was done just seven episodes before Chibnall's version,

THANKYOU. I knew it was an absolutely identical rip-off of something but couldn't remember what, kept thinking it was Hitchhikers but all those jokes are more of the J'onn J'onzz variety. Seven episodes. Fucking hell Chibnall.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

I know the whole Chibnall era is a bit of a lost cause by this point, but even so that "extended" trailer really is a bit nothingy considering how close it is to broadcast. There was more shown in the teaser released back in June, e.g. it had some actual footage in it.

The amount of information that's trickled out about this series is nearly next to none also, not teasing any guest star appearances, no writers announced...nowt. I have a horrible feeling it's going to be Chibnall on almost every episode, which is a bit depressing. There was a time when the anticipation would've been tangible by this point, but...no-one's really arsed, are they?

Called it - five of the six episodes written solo by Chibnall and one co-write with Maxine Alderton. Oh god.

[Alberon]

It makes me glad this is going to be broadcast virtually unnoticed with everyone waiting to see what RTD does.

[JamesTC]

This will be the next Trial of a Time Lord. Not in terms of quality because Chibnall couldn't dream of achieving anything near the quality of Trial. But in terms of ratings. Trunctated series delayed long past the previous series.

Worst of all is launching a six parter on a night less kids will be watching. I don't imagine Chibnall had any hand in that TX date though so we can let him off for that.

[mjwilson]

New Sontaran costumes, redesigned to be more like the classic era ones.

[JamesTC]

Fair play, the redesign looks good.