Sea Devils And Die: GeroniMoffat's Doctor Who In The 2010s

I have a hell of a lot of affection for that story, particularly as it came on telly when I was nine. The cleaner robots really shat me up at the time (think we've been through this before).

I watched it again a few years ago, and while it's not in the least bit scary anymore it's good campy fun.

It's probably been a good 10 years (or more!) since I last saw it but I remember being amazed that there was a good story there fighting to break through a terrible, terrible production

I feel like their enjoyable creepiness probably owes more to their poor production values than any kind of artistic choice (see also: all Carry On movies), but still, you take what you can.

the only part of PT that doesn't really make any sense no matter how you spin it is Mel's "I don't care if this whole place is a series of deathtraps, my ass is going swimming" determination

Mel is a complete moron, I don't expect her character to make any sense.

It's probably been a good 10 years (or more!) since I last saw it but I remember being amazed that there was a good story there fighting to break through a terrible, terrible production

this is the case of every Cartmel story* bar Remembrance, which still has to deal with all-video and Keff McCulloch

so with that said, Happiness Patrol is amazing and kid-me was a fool to hate the Kandyman


*nb: Time And The Rani and Silver Nemesis were JNT commissions

ha ha, the comments at Wife In Space are full of people who also hated it as kids loving it on rewatch 26 years later

Would've been a very average episode in the Tennant era, but now its straightforwardness was rather refreshing. I liked the sepia sequence.

Diana Rigg was great. The death of Mr Sweet reminded me of Eraserhead.

Really enjoyed that quite a lot. Diana Rigg's character reminded me go Harrison Chase, for reasons unclear.

that whistleblower blog has been taken down fwiw

against my judgement we're sort of perfunctorily watching this, probably because we feel compelled to stick with television even when it loses us

so far the following tropes that we're sick of have occurred:

- people doing something obviously alienish that makes it clear they're aliens even though we're supposed to be intrigued (this week the salt down the blouse thing)
- aliens talking to other aliens
- the doctor bursting in in full bumbling clown mode (which his only mode)

when the doctor emerges bright red and like dying or whatever, we're supposed to be concerned/worried/saddened/whatever (and we would be if it were ecclestone or tennant), but because this doctor has only one mode (bumbling clown) we both just fully expected him to do a lol stumble down the hall or something

also, fuck strax

Harsh AA. That was an enjoyable episode.

* eccleston

also, before sic comes in and schools me about the history of doctor who, the specific problem i have with aliens talking to other aliens is that it's a reduced experience for the viewer watching two beings with inflexible prosthetic heads (strax and that lizard woman thing who i don't care what she is because i'm just annoyed now) share a scene when basically everything they can deliver has to happen through speech or smiles alone (and tbh this is a further example of my criticism of this year's scripts being so *verbal*), and so you're left with basically deep space nine type scenes

xp we're now two thirds through and we're both bored out of our minds

i mean there are clearly some great ideas in this episode, but it's all executed with the usual lack of light/shade in the production and scripts full of *words* and one-dimensional doctor (now 100% predictably) anger-bumbling his way to saving the universe

and of course the score telling us exactly what to feel at any given moment

see, right now the doctor's 7/8 theme is going so obv he has won

i also hate daft punk and comedy

old woman falls to her death, doctor pulls comedy face, says 'ouch'

i just

next week: base under siege again

fucking hell

we're supposed to care about who clara ~is~ but she's been in the show for like five minutes and doesn't even do anything half the time (and there's not even any doctor/companion chemistry to help that along)

if clara fell down a mine and died forever i would probably pull a comedy doctor comedy face and say 'ouch'

The lizard woman is a Silurian and therefore a native of Earth, not an alien, and directly tied to the history of the show going back to 1970.

okay, the prosthetic is where i was going

let's say 'not human', if that works

deep space nine is awesome fyi

the phantom menace would have been a better analogy except they manage to convey bugger-all emotion without prosthetic interference

The lizard woman is a Silurian and therefore a native of Earth, not an alien, and directly tied to the history of the show going back to 1970.

None of this actually makes a difference really.

lol of course it doesn't, don't you recognize sad old fan flexing when you see it?

I liked this one, for once. Nice to not have the doctor in it for the first bit.

and scripts full of *words*

lol

This was good for a laugh, I thought. I'm not usually keen on the 'funny' eps - and I'm not one who thinks the Victorian detective team deserve their own spin-off series - but this was breezy enough and had one or two great lines, and Diana Rigg was wonderful (good to see Rachel Stirling too). I liked the brutal ways the villains were killed off, as well as the fact that they were straightforwardly villainous - and not 'misunderstood' or lovelorn or whatever else. And for all of its knockabout frivolity - or, perhaps, because of it - it felt strangely like a Tom Baker era episode.

my fave episode this season (though i liked the tardis one and the ghost one), even though you knew it was coming the leech reveal was fantastic, laffed hard at 'she's a lizard', rigg was wonderful. less doctor would've been nice (would've been nice to see victorian interspecies lesbian detectives kicking ass instead of just popping up 'looking for this' and holding up giant bottle of v8) but still happy it wasn't a nearly doctorless episode like 'blink' or something.

the music emotion cues remain an abomination though and the way they've halfassed establishing clara and her relationship w/ the doctor (even though it's ostensibly the arc for this season or whatever) really prevents an episode like this from being what it could be.

Would replace Clara with Jenny Flint in a heartbeat. Won't happen but it would be nice to have a companion who wasn't from Earth in the present day.

Would replace Clara with Jenny Flint in a heartbeat. Won't happen but it would be nice to have a companion who wasn't from Earth in the present day.

I even would replace Clara with Ada, who was way more interesting and had more rapport with Doctor in one episode than Clara has had in all of her episodes up until now.

I'm pretty forgiving of Dr Who but that was ome of the stupidest TV I've seen in a long time. If the Lesbo lizard and killer potato show was Moffat's idea for a spinoff then the BBC still has some sense.

the Lesbo lizard and killer potato show

amazing

"Lesbo"?

I miss Rory personally.

If the Lesbo lizard and killer potato show was Moffat's idea for a spinoff then the BBC still has some sense.

Moffatt only brought them back at all due to audience reaction and has no interest in (or time to make!) a spin-off

rumor blog was saying that moffatt was mad b/c he wanted a spinoff (after all, RTD got to do it!) and network wouldn't give him one.

that is idiotic. dude is already flat-out running Who in the face of enormous scrutiny and perilous budget cuts, PLUS managing the production and writing of three feature-film-length Sherlocks a year-ish around the Who schedule and the availability of its two big movie stars, when he actually co-owns nu-Sherlock. even if he had the time, what benefit would he get from "creating" a show based on properties owned by other ppl? (Sontarans created by Holmes, estate was controlling them in the 90s; Silurians by Hulke, died '79 so who knows)

p sure ed was being facetious but k

Ed was whistleblowerblog? tight doxxing bro

Whistleblower blog must've been reading Private Eye, because that's where I saw the bit about SM's 'Ugandan discussions'.

still amazed that everyone just accepts the comedy sontaran

i'll admit that i don't care enough about silurians to comment on thing face but warrior potatoes are pretty strictly warrior potatoes (i can't imagine blzztk the lovable dalek having chummy adventures with idk a sensorite called simon)

'blzztk did you bring the key to lady phyllis pompington-smythe's country mansion'

'NO I LEFT IT ON THE SIDEBOARD SORRY'