Doctor Who - Series 14, part 2: RTD's time has come (again)

[Pranet]

Just like 2008 all over again for me, which means I though it was reasonably entertaining.

[BritishHobo]

Got the in-vision commentary on. Doctor Who evening!

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I loved it. Yeah, the Meep storyline was thin, but so what? It was clearly designed as a big Fuck Off "Woohoo! Do you remember Doctor Who?!" Saturday night blast of entertainment.

It won't always be like that. It was like that tonight for a reason.

[Midas]

i just didn't get the ending

was it just magic

[DrumsAndWires]

only decent thing about the episode was the soundtrack & visuals. they were compensating pretty hard.

[Kelvin]

A mixed bag that benefits from following straight after Chibnall's tenure. Despite my doubts about revisiting Tenant's Doctor, seeing him on screen was like slipping into a pair of comfy old slippers. Although sadly I experienced less nostalgia for RTD's writing, which was as patchy and inconsistent as ever; heart-felt, moving and funny at its best, but regularly slipping into hackneyed tropes ("a storm's coming") and lazy plot mechanics (all the cracks resealing?) at its worst.

I also thought the Rose subplot started really well, but became very clumsy towards the end. It didn't feel set up properly at all, and the revelations (like the shed/TARDIS and binary/non-binary) fell completely flat as a result. Shouldn't Rose have been a bigger focus, or spent more time with the Doctor, if her experiences were going to matter so much later on?

I dunno. I enjoyed the first half, seeing Ten so perfectly recaptured by Tenant. But overall the episode didn't instil any confidence in me that RTD has grown as a writer of Doctor Who. All the same strengths, all the same failings, just wrapped up in a more current visual style.

Let's just hope some of that Disney money goes on better monster costumes. The Meep looked pretty great, but those bugs were absolutely terrible.

3 out of 5 

[thr0b]

It was weird seeing a great big Disney logo at the end of the credits, wunnit?

[Kelvin]

The business with the judge's wig was especially lame.

It was more evidence that the modern 'Crime Drama' visual style they adopted under Chibnall is anathema to the broader comedy/performances associated with Doctor Who.

[Pranet]

It was weird seeing a great big Disney logo at the end of the credits, wunnit?

Yeah. That bought me up short a bit. Another thing privatised.

Another thing- I had problems hearing the dialogue. Which might be down to my tv and me being a bit deaf but normally I don't have this problem.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

It was more evidence that the modern 'Crime Drama' visual style they adopted under Chibnall is anathema to the broader comedy/performances associated with Doctor Who.

It was just a bit of admittedly rather forced wackiness.

[Psybro]

Yeah. That bought me up short a bit. Another thing privatised.

Another thing- I had problems hearing the dialogue. Which might be down to my tv and me being a bit deaf but normally I don't have this problem.

Yeah I only have the TV's internal speakers which apparently is the issue with this but I've been watching new stuff from Disney+ and Netflix with no issue.

[Pranet]

Yeah I only have the TV's internal speakers which apparently is the issue with this but I've been watching new stuff from Disney+ and Netflix with no issue.

Right, I also only have the internal tv speakers as well. Fucks sake. I might watch the rest of these on my fucking laptop.

[Spiteface]

Casting my memory back to 2005, after "Rose" had aired, and we saw Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, I said on here something along the lines of coming away from it "thoroughly entertained" for the 45 minutes it was on.

That's how I felt at the end of this one. That's a win for me, as I hadn't felt that way for a long time about Doctor Who.

[gotmilk]

It was more evidence that the modern 'Crime Drama' visual style they adopted under Chibnall is anathema to the broader comedy/performances associated with Doctor Who.

Interesting point. I had hoped that bringing back Rachel Talalay would bean a return to the style of her Capaldi episodes, but visually this was still reminiscent of the Chibnall era. Probably closest to the look of The Woman Who Fell to Earth, so definitely the Chibnall era at its best, but not what I'd have liked.

[Kelvin]

It was just a bit of admittedly rather forced wackiness.

That's not what I was getting at. I'm saying that broader material like that doesn't work as well using the grittier visual language the show adopted under Chibnall. You don't shoot something like that with lots of wide shots in a big, gloomy car park. You shoot it close up, with quick cuts, so that the focus is on Tenant's performance, and the energy is kept high. The comedy of Doctor Who has suffered since the visuals took on a style more commonly associated with gritty prestige dramas.

Oh - and fuck knows why they set that scene in an empty car park (Answer: because it was cheap), rather than a makeshift court room, or some other location where Tenant could preside over the arguments more comically.

[thr0b]

Right, I also only have the internal tv speakers as well. Fucks sake. I might watch the rest of these on my fucking laptop.

Sounded fine to me, but I'm listening via my old hifi. (Optical-out to phono converter box to aux input. Was simpler on the previous telly as I just used the headphone out with a 3.5mm to phono jack. Tsk.)

Watch with Bluetooth headphones otherwise.

[Gulftastic]

It was OK I suppose. I've never been as big a fan of Donna Noble as everyone else seems to be but it kept me watching.

[Pranet]

Sounded fine to me, but I'm listening via my old hifi. (Optical-out to phono converter box to aux input. Was simpler on the previous telly as I just used the headphone out with a 3.5mm to phono jack. Tsk.)

Watch with Bluetooth headphones otherwise.

How stupid of me to think I could watch just watch tv without plugging in extra gear.

As I find myself repeatedly saying, it is stupid that watching tv has become so complicated.

[madhair60]

thought that was properly brilliant fun.

[BritishHobo]

I think it's a great throwback to old New Who to not be able to hear the dialogue over the ridiculous soundtrack. Murray Gold is back with a vengeance, whack the subbies on and lower the volume to 2!

[Ambient Sheep]

Ooooh, I just jumped onto iPlayer to check some dialogue, and the episode's filed under a new heading:

Doctor Who (2023–)

so now we have three, with:

Doctor Who (1963-1996)

and just

Doctor Who (for the previous New Who episodes)


Possibly due to it now being a Disney co-production, which has worldwide distribution rights outside the UK (although since iPlayer is officially UK only, that shouldn't really matter)... to me that's a real declaration of intent!

Maybe the spin-offs will be grouped under it as well?

[BritishHobo]

I quite liked the way the episode teased us with Cribbins. First in making us think they had laid Wilf to rest, and then - with the UNIT stuff - offering the very tantalising possibility that there will still be a beautiful, beautiful reunion to come...

[Midas]

murray gold literally wanking over the credits

[Jerzy Bondov]

Everything I disliked about the first RTD era was in that episode. But I enjoyed it anyway.

How much of the Disney money was spent on Murray Gold's cocaine

[Spiteface]

Ooooh, I just jumped onto iPlayer to check some dialogue, and the episode's filed under a new heading:

Doctor Who (2023–)

so now we have three, with:

Doctor Who (1963-1996)

and just

Doctor Who (for the previous New Who episodes)


Possibly due to it now being a Disney co-production, which has worldwide distribution rights outside the UK (although since iPlayer is officially UK only, that shouldn't really matter)... to me that's a real declaration of intent!

Maybe the spin-offs will be grouped under it as well?

I like to use the same terminology that I use with Kamen Rider, which is according to Japanese imperial reigns.

Showa
Heisei
Reiwa

Joking aside, this lines up almost the same with Doctor Who as it does with Kamen Rider.

[Pranet]

I think it's a great throwback to old New Who to not be able to hear the dialogue over the ridiculous soundtrack. Murray Gold is back with a vengeance, whack the subbies on and lower the volume at 2!

Seriously, I think I have had this problem with Doctor Who before.

Wish the cunts would sort it out.

[thr0b]

How stupid of me to think I could watch just watch tv without plugging in extra gear.

As I find myself repeatedly saying, it is stupid that watching tv has become so complicated.

Problem is, there's no room in TV's these days for decent speakers. Everyone wants their telly thinner than the last one. So you need to have external speakers to get decent sound.

[Psybro]

Watch with Bluetooth headphones otherwise.

The BBC have succeeded in bringing back event TV the whole family can gather round with their matching headphones

[Endicott]

I started that episode wondering how I was going to put up with Tennant's gurning face and ridiculous quiff, and then some story took over and I forgot all about them. I really enjoyed it.

Definitely RTD in tone, nowhere near his worst but also not his best, but up there. I completely agree with a previous poster who compared their feelings about this to Rose, RTD's first episode, in that it got me invigorated with the series again. And after Chibs that's saying something.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

That's not what I was getting at. I'm saying that broader material like that doesn't work as well using the grittier visual language the show adopted under Chibnall. You don't shoot something like that with lots of wide shots in a big, gloomy car park. You shoot it close up, with quick cuts, so that the focus is on Tenant's performance, and the energy is kept high. The comedy of Doctor Who has suffered since the visuals took on a style more commonly associated with gritty prestige dramas.

Oh - and fuck knows why they set that scene in an empty car park (Answer: because it was cheap), rather than a makeshift court room, or some other location where Tenant could preside over the arguments more comically.

Having trudged through God knows how many prestige BBC dramas, I disagree. Tonight's episode didn't subscribe to that grammar, it looked quite like Moffat era Doctor Who. Which isn't a step backwards, as I happen to think Doctor Who's cinematography and direction was at its richest in those days.