New Doctor Who

[ccrobinson]

Good news that even InTheLight might like. :smilewinkgrin:


In an interview with Peter Capaldi in The Sunday Times, he talked about the new Doctor's relationship with Clara and his costume:

There'll be no flirting, that's for sure. It's not what this Doctor is concerned with. It's quite a fun relationship but I did call and say, 'I want no Papa-Nicole moments.' There was a bit of tension with that at first, but I was absolutely adamant.

I think it's quite a hard look. I always wanted him to be in black - I always just saw The Doctor in dark colours. Not tweed. Matt's a really young cool guy - he can wear anything, but I wanted to strip it back and be very stark.

There's also a special signet ring designed to hide Capaldi's real wedding ring. As for the action, Capaldi says:

We still blow a lot of [stuff] up. That's very important, but it's going to be a bit different from what we've seen over recent years. A bit more gravity. Some situations are a bit more sombre and I think there are more rooted dramatic scenes.... we have another level of drama, another tone. And the scenes are longer.

BTW, in the last trailer when the Doctor talked about fixing his mistakes, is it too much to hope that he fixes Ursula and doesn't leave her as Pavement Girl for all eternity? How about getting River out of the library? How about fixing Laszlo's face so he doesn't go through life with the face of a pig? You can't tell me that the Doctor can't fix these if he wants to.

 

[ccrobinson]

If I didn't know better, I'd think Moffat was a member of this board and a regular reader of this thread and wanted to make InTheLight happy. :smilewinkgrin:


From the Entertainment Weekly feature about Doctor Who, Moffat's quoted.

Yes [there are over-arching plotlines], but at the same time 90 percent of every episode is a stand-alone adventure. ... We've got quite a lot of Earth stuff this time. But it's proper variety, and I think I'll not tell you what's going to be on the roller coaster in advance.

 

[InTheLight]

If I didn't know better, I'd think Moffat was a member of this board and a regular reader of this thread and wanted to make InTheLight happy.

They're coming to their senses. They realized they were getting away from their original format and mission and wanted to correct some things before they got out of hand. [Same comment applies to your previous post of July 28th.]

 

[Gina B]

I bought a packet of Jammie Dodgers for the new one, but they were demolished. Must get more so we can do this right! (and before the store quits selling them!)

 

[ccrobinson]

They realized they were getting away from their original format and mission and wanted to correct some things before they got out of hand.

Before the story arcs got out of hand? You mean more out of hand than they already were?

Season 1 was Bad Wolf and we saw the words in every episode.

Season 2 was a mix of story arc plus stand-alone stories. Season 2 was also the beginning of Saxon.

Season 3 was a couple of stand-alones, but mostly about Saxon and eventually, the Master.

Season 4 was a few stand-alones, but the story arc was the DoctorDonna and the disappearing planets.

Season 5 was all about the crack in the wall.

Season 6 was about River killing the Doctor.

Sounds like it was out of hand already.


I also don't know what you mean by "original mission". From everything I've read about RTD pitching the show to the BBC in 2003, what he did in those first 4 years was his original mission for the show. He brought it back and brought it back very successfully.

Even though it included Love & Monsters and Fear Her. The ending of Love & Monsters will always annoy me to no end.

 

[InTheLight]

I also don't know what you mean by "original mission".

The original series, not the 2005 reboot.

 

[InTheLight]

The new trailer looks promising...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p024n51n

Just looking at Peter Capaldi you get a sense of a Doctor with gravitas, no nonsense, something that was sorely lacking with Matt Smith, and even lacking a bit with Tennant.

 

[Don]

The new trailer looks promising...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p024n51n

Just looking at Peter Capaldi you get a sense of a Doctor with gravitas, no nonsense, something that was sorely lacking with Matt Smith, and even lacking a bit with Tennant.

Actually, the progression makes sense. You had the war doctor, who felt so guilty about his part that the next incarnation (Eccleston) was only a tad bit "lighter"; and the next two were even more "running away" from their persona as the war doctor.

This new one seems to be returning to more of an "even keel"; but let us not forget, the Doctor has always been the rebellious teen-ager, out to have adventure....

 

[InTheLight]

http://io9.com/top-10-most-ridiculously-overcomplicated-doctor-who-vil-1624290084

 

[InTheLight]

The season preimere was a huge disappointment. Peter Capaldi was OK, but the script by Moffat was ponderous and downright boring. Watch the Doctor sleep, watch Strax pour tea, watch the Doctor talk gibberish with a homeless man, watch Strax give Clara a physical exam, watch as Jenny poses for Vastra, watch as Vastra lectures Clara (well, lectures everyone), etc.

I waited months for this?!

 

[Don]

Disagree. The episode was about change, and accepting change. Probably one of the more philosophical and thoughtful episodes.

I thought it was a good way for Capaldi to tell everyone he wasn't Matt Smith.

 

[InTheLight]

Disagree. The episode was about change, and accepting change. Probably one of the more philosophical and thoughtful episodes.

Philosophical introspection is not what I want from Doctor Who. I want fantastical stories about alien worlds, different cultures, exploration, monsters, and tension.

The episode was fraught with padding. The pace was slow. This was a post regeneration story, not about the Doctor, but about Clara. The companion is not supposed to be the focus of the story.

Also, at its basic level this was a zombie story. I'm well and fed up with them, thank you Moffat. And if I have to hear one more time about the gay inter-species marriage between Jenny and Vastra, I'll puke. Please, please, no more stories in Victorian London.

I thought it was a good way for Capaldi to tell everyone he wasn't Matt Smith.

Pretty obvious. Yet they still had to get Matt Smith an appearance in the story.

 

[Gina B]

I had not realized before what the relationship is between Jenny and Vastra. I missed something and had been confused and wondered if she ended up taking her on as a daughter, but this made it clear.
Which kills the show for me. What a shame. We recorded it to watch, which meant commercials, and the commercials were featuring gay couples. Very obvious that it was the "theme" being pushed - acceptance.
So no. Can't watch it with a clear conscious and don't really want to anymore. It's not worth it. But I'm mad they ruined it! I don't know that I missed any shows - that was one of three shows I've ever bothered with in my life and the other two are long ended.

 

[InTheLight]

I had not realized before what the relationship is between Jenny and Vastra. I missed something and had been confused and wondered if she ended up taking her on as a daughter, but this made it clear.
Which kills the show for me. What a shame.

Their relationship had been explained on the show before, but only once, if I recall correctly. There were three references to it in this episode.

We recorded it to watch, which meant commercials, and the commercials were featuring gay couples.

Ummm...fast forward through the commercials?

Very obvious that it was the "theme" being pushed - acceptance. So no. Can't watch it with a clear conscious and don't really want to anymore. It's not worth it. But I'm mad they ruined it! I don't know that I missed any shows - that was one of three shows I've ever bothered with in my life and the other two are long ended.

The gay references on Dr. Who are fairly rare. Jenny/Vastra is the only one I can remember since Captain Jack Harkness was on the show in 2009. This aspect hasn't ruined the show for me. More blame goes to Matt Smith's annoying frenetic portrayal of the Doctor (which is thankfully over, <big sigh>) and to the plots, IMO.

 

[Don]

I was a little weirded out by "Into the Dalek." Obviously a play to get the Doctor to realize just how full of hatred he is; and the answer to the question about "am I a good man?"

But it seemed like there wasn't a whole lot of Doctor in this one -- like the pilot episode. The scenes where he's there are pretty decent; Capaldi's doing okay with this (thought I saw him channeling a little Matt Smith at one point); but it seems like only 50% of the episode actually had him in there....

Maybe it's just me. I thought the first episode was good; but if I'm seeing the same thing two episodes in, well, I'm concerned (not worried yet, just concerned).

 

[InTheLight]

I was a little weirded out by "Into the Dalek." Obviously a play to get the Doctor to realize just how full of hatred he is; and the answer to the question about "am I a good man?"

But it seemed like there wasn't a whole lot of Doctor in this one -- like the pilot episode. The scenes where he's there are pretty decent; Capaldi's doing okay with this (thought I saw him channeling a little Matt Smith at one point); but it seems like only 50% of the episode actually had him in there....

Maybe it's just me. I thought the first episode was good; but if I'm seeing the same thing two episodes in, well, I'm concerned (not worried yet, just concerned).

Thankfully, it was quick paced and wasn't padded. Funny, I saw some Tom Baker being channeled.

I did not like the reference to the Dalek seeing 'divinity' inside the Doctor when their minds were linked. (And talk about the same plot device used two episode in a row...)

I don't care for Missy collecting every entity in paradise that dies because of being around the Doctor. You know this is going to be a recurring event, probably culminating with some big reveal in the final episode. I just don't care for story arcs.

This idea of the Doctor being introspective and wondering about his hate, "am I a good man?", well, I thought that was completely dealt with in the Day of the Doctor with the "War Doctor" being pegged as the angry, hateful incarnation.

I just don't think the show needs to take on these heavy themes. At it's essence, it's a children's adventure show. I wish Moffat would stop dragging these themes into the narrative.

 

[Don]

...I don't care for Missy collecting every entity in paradise that dies because of being around the Doctor. You know this is going to be a recurring event, probably culminating with some big reveal in the final episode. I just don't care for story arcs.

I wonder...you think the Doctor will be confronted by an army of those that died around him, all motivated by "you killed me" or "you got me killed"?

This idea of the Doctor being introspective and wondering about his hate, "am I a good man?", well, I thought that was completely dealt with in the Day of the Doctor with the "War Doctor" being pegged as the angry, hateful incarnation.

I just don't think the show needs to take on these heavy themes. At it's essence, it's a children's adventure show. I wish Moffat would stop dragging these themes into the narrative.

If episode three continues this trend....

 

[InTheLight]

I wonder...you think the Doctor will be confronted by an army of those that died around him, all motivated by "you killed me" or "you got me killed"?

I'm afraid so. Although the soldier in "Into the Dalek" voluntarily stayed behind to buy time for the Doctor and Clara to escape the Dalek's anitbodies.

If episode three continues this trend....

It will be a mistake. The Doctor has almost always been a confident, sure-handed character with the best intentions. I sure hope Moffat doesn't turn him into a wishy-washy, hand wringing navel-gazer. I also noticed that Clara did most of the heavy lifting in the hero department (again.)

I'm glad that the Doctor didn't accept Journey Blue as a companion but was wondering about the Doctor's new found disdain for soldiers, considering the Brigadier (and Sgt. Benton) were his friends for years. And now here comes Danny Pink, an ex-soldier.

 

[JonC]

At it's essence, it's a children's adventure show.

:laugh: Mary Whitehouse (I remember her mostly from Pink Floyd’s lyrics) seemed to disagree. The good ole doctor was too frightening and gory for children.

Anyway, I just watched the pilot and was not impressed (mostly because of some overt themes but also it was not impressive). I think I'll like the doctor once I get used to the character...but I worry about where the theme of the story is going. I know the first one was basically an introduction to the new doctor. Unfortunately it seems to be creeping closer to Torchwood in ways.

 

[Don]

It will be a mistake. The Doctor has almost always been a confident, sure-handed character with the best intentions. I sure hope Moffat doesn't turn him into a wishy-washy, hand wringing navel-gazer. I also noticed that Clara did most of the heavy lifting in the hero department (again.)

Another website referred to the first three episodes--especially this last one--as "the Doctor's deconstruction of heroes."

I'm glad that the Doctor didn't accept Journey Blue as a companion but was wondering about the Doctor's new found disdain for soldiers, considering the Brigadier (and Sgt. Benton) were his friends for years. And now here comes Danny Pink, an ex-soldier.

Interesting observation. Not to mention his introduction to and interaction with the daughter of the Brigadier just last season, wasn't it?