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.
― balls, Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:22 (ten years ago) link
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.
― Deafening silence (DL), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:38 (ten years ago) link
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.
― The last of the famous international Greyjoys (Nicole), Sunday, 5 May 2013 23:28 (ten years ago) link
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.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, 6 May 2013 01:38 (ten years ago) link
the Lesbo lizard and killer potato show
amazing
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 02:28 (ten years ago) link
"Lesbo"?
I miss Rory personally.
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 6 May 2013 03:06 (ten years ago) link
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
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 03:17 (ten years ago) link
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.
― stefon taylor swiftboat (s.clover), Monday, 6 May 2013 03:39 (ten years ago) link
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)
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 05:31 (ten years ago) link
p sure ed was being facetious but k
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 05:35 (ten years ago) link
Ed was whistleblowerblog? tight doxxing bro
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 05:58 (ten years ago) link
Whistleblower blog must've been reading Private Eye, because that's where I saw the bit about SM's 'Ugandan discussions'.
― karl lagerlout (suzy), Monday, 6 May 2013 08:57 (ten years ago) link
still amazed that everyone just accepts the comedy sontaran
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 11:09 (ten years ago) link
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)
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 11:12 (ten years ago) link
'blzztk did you bring the key to lady phyllis pompington-smythe's country mansion'
'NO I LEFT IT ON THE SIDEBOARD SORRY'
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 11:13 (ten years ago) link
i guess the comedy Sontaran kind of falls under "doctor who is after all a show for children" for me
― snapchats and tattoos (c sharp major), Monday, 6 May 2013 11:37 (ten years ago) link
like, some things happen in the show and are hugely irritating but one thinks, well, this is a marker by the showrunners to remind us that technically this show is for children.
(this is also how i resigned myself to the hackiness of the last scene: it is so some kids can take part in an adventure, this is after all a show for kids, i can accept this)
― snapchats and tattoos (c sharp major), Monday, 6 May 2013 11:40 (ten years ago) link
i mean, it's not just a marker to remind adults that the show is for children, it's also something they put in because they genuinely thought children would find it funny/scary/exciting/sympathetic/etc -- but to me it has the function of reminding me that the target audience is not only me and my concerns.
― snapchats and tattoos (c sharp major), Monday, 6 May 2013 11:42 (ten years ago) link
fair point
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:03 (ten years ago) link
i suppose sontarans need to be interesting somehow, at all, ever
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:04 (ten years ago) link
c# otm plus
i'll admit that i don't care enough about silurians to comment on thing face but warrior potatoes are pretty strictly warrior potatoes
a) the Sontarans were created by the second-funniest writer in old Who, and first appeared in a story chock-full of gagsb) kind of the main point of the character, since his first scene in AGMGTW, is that he is not a very good Sontaran
(i can't imagine blzztk the lovable dalek having chummy adventures with idk a sensorite called simon)
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110610023139/tardis/images/c/c3/DWGN5.jpg
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:26 (ten years ago) link
I think the comedy Sontaran is quite funny.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:27 (ten years ago) link
"Horse! You have failed in your mission!"
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:32 (ten years ago) link
I like the Sontaran too. The fact all of his plans involve weapon overkill and suicudal tactics reflect very much Bob Holmes' writing in that there were always more clones available so just throwing bodies at a conflict during their interminable war with the Rutans was probably enough to win the battle.
― Troughton-masked Replicant (aldo), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:40 (ten years ago) link
ah fair enough
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:44 (ten years ago) link
I really liked the kids blackmailing Clara into a TARDIS trip. As far as I know there haven't been actual kids on the TARDIS aside from the Cushing movies so I'm interested to see how that plays out.
Total aside but in reading the AV Club comments bitching about this episode I encountered a devoted fan of The Idiot's Lantern, which kind of blew my mind and made me doubt everything I thought I knew about life, so maybe I didn't actually enjoy this and I'm actually a 28 year old white woman.
― far too much asshole flesh (DJP), Monday, 6 May 2013 12:54 (ten years ago) link
As far as I know there haven't been actual kids on the TARDIS aside from the Cushing movies
Adric, John & Gillian, Gareth Jenkins
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 13:31 (ten years ago) link
ugh I guess I got used to doctor who being a more adult-skewed family show because all the more typical kids show stuff this season makes me cringe constantly. I don't outright hate it but it sure does make me miss the Donna days a lot.
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Monday, 6 May 2013 13:37 (ten years ago) link
also, Clara is so far pretty freakin boring for someone who's supposed to be such an unkillable mystery
― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Monday, 6 May 2013 13:41 (ten years ago) link
Yeah I quite liked her at first but she's grating on me a bit now.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Monday, 6 May 2013 13:52 (ten years ago) link
How young were Adric and Nyssa supposed to be? They always read to me as older than teenagers.
― far too much asshole flesh (DJP), Monday, 6 May 2013 13:57 (ten years ago) link
there was a post on tumblr today that said something like "i just realised that before on doctor who we saw the doctor through the eyes of the companion and now we're seeing the companion through the eyes of the doctor" and i feel like that's... not too far off? but in effect all that happens is that the character of Clara is super slight and you have no sense that she has an internal life. even the ~mystery~ about her is completely external. (also, i feel like one doesn't watch doctor who through the eyes of the doctor because that would kind of ruin the show)
― snapchats and tattoos (c sharp major), Monday, 6 May 2013 13:59 (ten years ago) link
yes! and therefore we're watching the doctor through the eyes of an everyperson who isn't present, which is probably another reason he's really grating on me atm
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:04 (ten years ago) link
he works because there's always an alice around to react to him, but this year there's clara
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:06 (ten years ago) link
Adric was 14 or 15 - Nyssa in her late teens iirc, but mature in behaviour due to her courtly upbringing
(John & Gillian I think are both under 10, and Gareth Jenkins was 8, before being erased from history before our eyes, by a crack in the BBC)
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:11 (ten years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b5/A_Fix_with_Sontarans.jpg
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:12 (ten years ago) link
Clara's best outing to date has been the Ice Warrior story; that's the one that made her most feel like a distinct person from the other nu-Who companions
― far too much asshole flesh (DJP), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:13 (ten years ago) link
I like that, so far, the show has been diegetically telling the Doctor that he is wrong about Clara being mysterious and amazing -- as if it's scolding him / Moffatt for going so quickly, so repetitively, to the same well without actually earning it.
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:16 (ten years ago) link
"Note: Clara died on her way back to her home planet"
Dan: There is a sizable number of fans who love The Idiot's Lantern but they all seem to be wacko Ten/Rose shippers.
― The last of the famous international Greyjoys (Nicole), Monday, 6 May 2013 14:22 (ten years ago) link
I like comedy Sontaran, he's probably the thing I enjoyed most out of that episode. Also I am 5 years old.
I dunno, I just feel like of all the seasons so far this one is the most rudderless in terms of story. I mean, there's a handwavey nod to the 'conundrum of Clara' every now and then but it's like, every week new adventure without much of a thread running through anything at all really.
And I'm getting really bothered by how flirty the Doctor and Clara are now. Like it was a bit that way with Pond, but now it's just AGGGH would you STOP
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 6 May 2013 15:39 (ten years ago) link
it's like, every week new adventure without much of a thread running through anything at all really.
I don't have a problem with this. I wish the adventures were better though.
― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Monday, 6 May 2013 16:05 (ten years ago) link
ordinarily it wouldn't bother me, I think I just am liking Clara and the doctor less and less as a pair so I'm almost to the point of not caring where they'll go next
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 6 May 2013 16:37 (ten years ago) link
there's no chemistry between those two, mainly because they're not really doing anything together but i suspect the actors are not really cliquing
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 21:44 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, this otm -- that's why I'm missing Rory (rather than Amy) this season. Smith is still great but he needs a Xander/Arthur Dent/underwhelmist companion more than a perky-zinger type
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 6 May 2013 21:51 (ten years ago) link
Also yes Clara barely gets any dialogue with Smith anyway, so no time to register besides her guilt-trapping "I'd rather be on BBC2" actor face
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 6 May 2013 21:55 (ten years ago) link
but it's like, every week new adventure without much of a thread running through anything at all really.
This was announced in advance as a plan, hence the distinct tone & genre exercise swings, and the terrible CGI "movie posters" every week. Unfortunately they're being hobbled by the actual continuing threads of, first, the badly-fumbled Pond departure, and now the audienceDGAF mystery of Clara
― charli.xlsx (sic), Monday, 6 May 2013 22:00 (ten years ago) link
otm
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 22:17 (ten years ago) link
also the lack of ~cleverness~ arcs means the episodes need to be a bit more various in tone than they are
― great wallogina (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 6 May 2013 22:20 (ten years ago) link
That was awful
― cardamon, Saturday, 11 May 2013 19:27 (ten years ago) link
I think because if you were summing up 'Doctor Who', you might use the following adjectives:
*Weird *Eccentric *Dark *Child-like
And if you were summing up 'Neil Gaiman', you might use:
But you'd mean something very, very different, despite using exactly the same words. And rather like how you could call both P.G. Wodehouse and Max Beerbohm 'witty', but really, there's a gulf between them, whatever the charms of the weaker one, well, it's like that with Dr Who and Neil Gaiman, probably, I don't know
― cardamon, Saturday, 11 May 2013 19:32 (ten years ago) link