Doctor Who Thread

[RacingeR]

Groups did work earlier in the series, all the way from the brief Jack and Rose to the much longer Rory and Amy. Really, it all comes down to the much lower quality scripts, a bad case of ping-ponging Clara's personality all over the place, Bill being incredibly bland by any standard, and just and overall issue with the directing (god those fucking quick-shot conversations got into my nerves after a while), incoherent tone, and strong issues with seasonal arcs.

It'll all depend on how the new writer does, I'm hoping that the fact we're starting with a fresh Doctor will help to pull the tone away from the inconsistent grimness that was so pervasive on Capaldi's run. I'd content myself with anything near the quality of the first few Eleven seasons, even.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

Those were groups of three; the former only for five episodes (and they were only acting as a unit for two and a half of those) and the latter had two full seasons and a little more to work with, with focus starting on Amy and the Doctor and then gradually shifting to include Rory (or River whenever she was present). I agree it all depends on the writing quality. Series 5 is by far my favorite, so I'm not against the idea of multiple companions, I'm just concerned by the unprecedented quantity of companions and the abilities of the showrunner and writing staff. At this point I can only speculate and be pessimistic or cautiously optimistic, and I'm trying to be the latter.

[Skull]

With us being so close to the release, this will probably be the final trailer for the new season.



It looks... okay, I guess?

[SpoonyViking]

Just finished watching the season 1 serial "The Daleks". It's... Well, I'm very grateful for its contributions to the mythos, and I'm trying to accomodate for its age, but I didn't like it very much.

ETA: Susan is adorable, though.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I got through the first and half episodes before having to do something else and completely forgot to get back to it... for about five months, now. I'm really not gonna be able to watch the classics in order (missing episodes aside).

[SpoonyViking]

Just watched "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". It's better, but still not to my tastes. That said, I like Hartnell's portrayal of the Doctor!
Now, let's skip ahead to "Genesis of the Daleks".

[SpoonyViking]

Watched both "Genesis of the Daleks" and "Destiny of the Daleks". Overall, I quite like the Fourth Doctor's portrayal; I can see where a lot of nuWho's characterisation of the Doctor comes from. The stories themselves, though... I mean, "Genesis" had a very good story (although it approached the ethical issues in much too shallow a manner), but it's still not to my tastes, and "Destiny" was just plain "meh". It had some funny moments, but that's it. Romana, in particular, was quite a letdown from what I expected.

[SpoonyViking]

Heh. Ok, Romana's regeneration scene and "Oh, look! Rocks!" were really funny. Still, I'd rather the Daleks were played more seriously and menacingly.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

Check out Remembrance of the Daleks, I think that's a nice balance between classic small-scale Dalek stories and the more menacing modern interpretation.

[SpoonyViking]

Check out Remembrance of the Daleks, I think that's a nice balance between classic small-scale Dalek stories and the more menacing modern interpretation.

But the Daleks were quite menacing in Invasion of the Earth and Genesis of the Daleks, and even in The Daleks they weren't comic fodder.
But yeah, that's the next serial in line, and then I'll be done with my visit to classic!Who, I think.

[Toa of Gallifrey]

But the Daleks were quite menacing in Invasion of the Earth and Genesis of the Daleks, and even in The Daleks they weren't comic fodder.
But yeah, that's the next serial in line, and then I'll be done with my visit to classic!Who, I think.

My bad, I should've used a different word. The Daleks have always been menacing, but the modern series usually builds them up as nigh unbeatable final boss-level threats. The classic series just put them on the upper echelon of monsters, but didn't really reserve them for big climactic episodes after Master Plan.

[SpoonyViking]

Oh, I see! Hm, that's interesting.

[SpoonyViking]

Loved "Remembrance of the Daleks"! This is the first classic serial I've seen which I feel can stand up to the new series. The seventh Doctor was great (I know Baker is like the Holy Grail for Who fandom, but I much preferred McCoy's take on the character), Ace was a great companion, and the writing and acting both felt very tight. That 80's synth track, though... It wasn't bad, far from it, but it felt really out of place.

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"Unlimited rice pudding!" Seriously, why aren't more Whovians talking about Seven?

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I think 7's era from Remembrance onwards is low key the best of the classics. He has a pretty cool arc, generally good episodes (the finale was underwhelming though, at least in my opinion) and a killer companion in the form of Ace.

[SpoonyViking]

Finally watched the new episode, and you know what? I quite liked it! The companions all seem like interesting characters while still having a lot to explore, and I think Whittaker nailed the Doctor. [Spoiler]'s death was predictable, but I don't think it detracted from the episode. The only weak part was the villain, in my opinion; he was physically menacing, but never felt very threatening.

[Skull]

I suppose I might as well dump my unpopular opinion here as well.

Chris Chibnal continues to struggle to write individual episodes as this one was another mediocre misfire. I won't rag on Jodie yet as the tired "regeneration trauma" schtick means we didn't get a good look at her character yet. The Doctor should think about becoming the next Superman as surviving a drop from near orbit into a steel train without a scratch made me burst out laughing. Anyways, we see the first half of our villain of the week - a blob of electrical wires...very terrifying. I suppose I should talk about the companions, though there's not really much to say since having all three share their introductions in the same episode left them all as very shallow. I will say that Graham's ignorance about aliens irked me. The main antagonist Tim Shaw was extremely underwhelming. An alien who uses Earth as a hunting ground sounds amazing on paper but the episode completely wastes it by having him just walk around killing random people like a drunk and an old dude. Also why could he speak English fluently? What's her face dying was predictable but at the same time felt completely unnecessary which is a shame as she was the best character.

I had more to say but I forgot what it was, which is fitting for an episode that was so extremely forgettable. Also I had to sit through this episode a second time as I and my companions all fell asleep about 70% into this episode.

Not a great start to the season.

[Aozaki-desu]

pilot for new season wasnt utter shit (like an offensive utter shit) but it definitely was the most inoffensive utter shit
0 memorable moments
cheap drama which doesnt fucking work
only remotely interesting character is old man because old men are the best (introducing 3 companions at once in a single episode while trying to introduce doctor was a mistake)
new doctor impression? SHE DIDNT LEAVE ANY (how the fuck thats even possible)
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that being said i liked the alien, he was p cool
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like its the bottom barrel episode and i will only remember it as the worst pilot

[Toa of Gallifrey]

I wanted to say I liked it better than Deep Breath, but Capaldi carried Deep Breath so hard that it became watchable which wasn't the case here. Whittaker was alright, just a discount Tennant for this episode, but I imagine (or at least hope) she'll grow into her own Doctor over time. The two young companions are completely uninteresting so far. I liked Graham, I wish he'd travel with the Doctor alone. His schtick of wanting to be something extraordinary is simplistic, but it's something very integral to Who and I'm all for it, but the other two will hog screentime away from him and the Doctor herself.

It didn't help to have recently rewatched The Eleventh Hour, which is so much better a pilot. I wouldn't say this was worse than The Twin Dilemma or Time and the Rani (though at least Time and the Rani was entertainingly bad), but it was really underwhelming. The Christmas Invasion was generally an alright episode and, though I rag on it for not featuring the Doctor until the final act, it at least delivered nicely on that front. Power of the Daleks was a little boring, but the scenes with the Doctor were good. I don't remember near anything about Robot and I never finished Castrovalva, so I won't comment on those.

The only remotely memorable scene in this episode for me was the Sonic construction bit, which was a pretty fun sequence. The ending gave me the feeling that they might try out an Ark in Space-style story arc where they're traveling without a Tardis. The Ark arc had Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan, two companions that had already been well established, so the episodes were set up to focus on the Doctor, which is part of what made at least Genesis of the Daleks work. Seeing as how there's no old baddies returning this season (did the old at-least-one-Dalek-per-series stipulation run out, or was that all a hoax after all?), they'll have to get really creative.

I'm okay with the monster we had this episode in the sense that I'm sure future episodes will better utilize this culture, because this episode sure didn't. What the fuck was up with the guy throwing away veggies? The episode was long enough as is, don't pad it out even more with bullshit like that. God I fucking miss RTD showrunning and Moffat scriptwriting, I'd rather have bullshit finales than whole bullshit series.

[SpoonyViking]

I wanted to say I liked it better than Deep Breath, but Capaldi carried Deep Breath so hard that it became watchable which wasn't the case here.

Really? I mean, don't get me wrong, Capaldi carried a lot of boring episodes, but I found Deep Breath beyond even his abilities.

[Skull]

Outside of the regeneration trauma nonsense in the first half (always a teeth pulling moment), Deep Breath was an okay episode.

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I'd rate it slightly higher than last week's episode anyways.