WHOCHURCH: The Chris Chibnall era

google image "young colin baker" - he's one of those suzanne vega types who never seems to have the same face twice

i don't remember him ever looking this young in doctor who, despite it being a DW promo picture. the fro' adds decades

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/ERX9PF/colin-baker-new-doctor-who-the-6th-with-actress-nicola-bryant-who-ERX9PF.jpg

this is what two years of john nathan-turner will do to a person

https://i.imgur.com/93fkaJu.png
https://gillatt.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/183932.jpg

So, I was thinking how I wish the next season wouldn't have one of those stories where the Doctor and companions get stuck on a space ship/space base/another isolated sci-fi setting, and they have to find a way to ward off an impending doom which threatens to kill everyone inside, because so far they've done of those at least one of those every season, and they're almost never among the best episodes... But then I remembered two out of the four eps Chibnall has written so far have had that plot, and the Silurian two-parter he did has shades of that too, so I guess we might get one of these again?

I dunno, it's gotten tiring how they repeat the same elements, plus the excuses they have to come up for why they can't just save everyone with the TARDIS get tiring, and TARDIS shenanigans are usually the best part of the show anyway, so I rarely enjoy the eps where they write hee out of the story altogether.

I dunno, it's gotten tiring how they repeat the same elements, plus the excuses they have to come up for why they can't just save everyone with the TARDIS get tiring, and TARDIS shenanigans are usually the best part of the show anyway, so I rarely enjoy the eps where they write hee out of the story altogether.

― Tuomas

i have some bad news for you re: the ending of the most recent episode

Any info about the ending of the most recent episode would be news, can’t remember it at all.

Forget it tuomas, its doctorwhotown

Oh yeah, forgot about the ending of the Christmas special... Well, presumably she will find her again by the end of the next episode. I don't mind it so much the introductory episodes for the new Doctor and/or companions are light on TARDIS, since they need to spend most of their runtime establishing the characters anyway.

Finding the TARDIS should've been the season-long plotline. Don't @ me.

Can I agree with you though

Also forgive me but I don’t really watch Doctor Who for the plot.

Every week the Doctor hunts down a classic villain to ask for information regarding the question. The question that must never be followed by silence. The first and last question ever asked. "Where the bloody hell's my motor?!"

Lol.

"Where the bloody hell's my motor?" is the plot of the series never broadcast where The Doctor and Martha run around 1960s London until Billy Shipton arrives from the future in Blink giving the Doctor a chance to get his motor back.

Quite good I thought.
THink I'm going to like her as The Doctor.
Not so sure about that costume though, but if she gets the Tardis back she has a massive wardrobe in there, don't she?
So wonder how long she'll keep the charity shop one.

Lack of Murray Gold the obvious highlight.

Craking Sunday night telly, that! Very slick, good scary monsters. Straightforwardness very refreshing after the Moffat years.

Good cliffhanger too.

Jodie Whitaker was alright but I thought that was pretty grim - too violent, lame script, stagey direction

And a lot of weird choices, esp the long list of who-gives-a-shit guest stars at the end.

The guy throwing his salad at the robot was good though

it was good. the approach reminded me a little bit of "rose". looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!

I couldn't tell whether I thought it was obvious that Grace was going to die because of plot clunkiness, or because I know that she's not one of the companions.

But yeah, that was really good - I like that it's very northern, and also that they've decided to thoroughly annoy anyone who might be annoyed by a female doctor.

the long list of who-gives-a-shit guest stars at the end.

Yep, this was quite funny - I recognised maybe 4/5.

Straightforwardness very refreshing after the Moffat years

I dunno, I thought it was tonally all over the place and really fucking dour to boot. Of course Capaldi's opener was a stinker too, so who knows

Enjoyed this! Dark but v exciting & fun as well

Tim Shaw (lol) — god that teethface makeup was outstanding and SO GROSS D:

Lots of people who have been in other Chibnall things, some people I've never heard of, Art Malik, and Mr Big from Sex & The City.

Quite enjoyed it tonight. Scene setters are always a bit clunky, and it did seem a bit more violent than usual, but thought it was fun and scary in good measures (salad-throwing guy was great) and the dynamics of the new companions seems promising.

Mask wearing ugly alien hunter sent to hunt on Earth as rite of passage. Mutilates itself to mark every trophy, Cheats.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/predator.jpg

Of course Capaldi's opener was a stinker too

Not of course. It was better than this and this was just OK. Good ending though, absurdly long list of forthcoming guest stars aside.

One of my sons (4yo) insisted on watching this with me. He was enraptured. I call that a success.

(I also thought it was great.)

Ditto, this is the first time mine’s watched a whole episode and she really seemed to like it.

i don’t get near this until tomorrow night due to ~commitments~ but people who had lost interest seem to be coming back, so… success?

*won’t

I already like all the new companions which is an immense plus.

yeah i like the conceit btw the kid & his step-grandad

*conflict

The companions rule and how they end up with the Doctor is so perfect

Not a Who fan, but found it quite enjoyable. Though there were things about it which didn't ring true such as the policewoman not calling in after they find a dead body or that there'd be guys working on a crane in the middle of the night. Though given that an alien is wandering around Sheffield with teeth embedded in his face maybe those are minor quibbles.

Though given that an alien is wandering around Sheffield with teeth embedded in his face maybe those are minor quibbles.

i dunno if it's that uncommon a sight in sheffield tbf

The guy throwing his salad at the robot was good though

― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 8 October 2018 7:46 AM (twelve hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The most Sheffield response to an alien invasion, ever.

That was pretty good all through. Music was a definite highlight, New end credits theme is pretty awesome.

Please count me amongst the Moffat-era hatas who has returned to the fold and thoroughly enjoyed this one. Dr Who always at its best when the violence feels a little bit too much for tea time.

We watched The Eleventh Hour on iPlayer straight after thiis, which didn’t do it any favours either. I hate being the lone grumblebum about this, and the leads were all fine, but the writing was just so, so bad, like bottom-end season 2 bad. Like Chris Carter’s last X-Files bad. I guess I’ll watch it again...

As someone who bailed halfway through Smith, this wasn't enough to bring me back (Whittaker's Horrocks-isms grated, amongst much that felt strained) - but nevertheless, a HUGE YAY for the dyspraxia meltdown; I get those too, but have never seen them represented in any drama before.

Well yeah the alien plot was kind of bollocksy and derivative (some nice ideas though), but I don't really care when everything else was so much fun. It's rip-roaring family entertainment, not hard SF. Honestly, it lifted me right out of the Sunday doldrums.

xpost

HUGE YAY for the dyspraxia meltdown; I get those too, but have never seen them represented in any drama before.

I related massively as I was 38 when I finally learnt to ride a bike!

I didn’t feel the family fun elements to the multiple deaths, the funeral, the cancer, the dour tone, the casual killing of the brother and sister (not sure why they needed to mention he had a broken jaw - that’s grim).

... less torture porn than perky sadism

I didn't find the tone dour at all is the thing. Who has never shied away from death n violence, it's supposed to be scary. Whether or not those things have a place in family entertainment is a whole other discussion, I think.

Yeah, the legacy of Pigbin Josh is a proud one!

Also some of the tell-not-show was stuff we needed telling - after watching that, I think I have a fair idea of how the three companions would react differently to stuff.

I don't mind violence in Who! I still have thrilling emotional scars from the kitchen waste disposal monster in Paradise Towers.

But last night just felt too morose and real. The brother avenging his sister and then being killed himself - and not just killed but mutilated - edged into misery porn for me. I was looking forward to a little light joie de vivre returning to the show - if anything, this felt grimmer than Moffat.