new-nu-Who: RTD2 (Doctor Who on telly 2023-?)

Last Christmas was absolutely the best Christmas one and also actually good. I generally enjoyed Moffat’s except for the superhero one which I found unwatchable.

Agree with those who said this was lacking something, but watchable enough. Eleventh Hour still the masterclass for new-era Doctor intros but unencumbered by need to be Seasonal I guess.

Still trying to work out their strategy for new viewers but thinking maybe there isn’t one? I figured this might be the jumping-on point but it didn’t really feel like it - partly the Xmasness and partly the fact that it was billed as “Doctor Who Special 4”. Although I read somewhere (perhaps here?) that the actual new season will be referred to as “Season 1” so perhaps now everyone is introduced the can get on with having some good solid adventures.

As a Doctor Intro this lacked something imo,

pfft, what more could a viewer want to wrap up an intro episode where Ncuti Gatwa has said "I am the Doctor" five to twelve times already, than him replying to a final question "explain your premise quickly to new viewers please?" with "...I ...am The Doctor!!!!!"

Moffxmas: A Christmas Carol, Last Christmas and Husbands Of River Song are all megabangers, superhero one and Woman/Wardrobe are disasters, The Snowmen is a really fun way of threading the casuals/n00bs/fans needle in multiple directions and leaning into the hegemonic Christmas imagery via time travel...
and for all their respective awkwardnesses:
Time Of The Doctor does an astounding job of cramming an entire planned Season 8 narrative arc into one hard time limit of 60 minutes*, letting Smith play an entire emotional arc largely solo, and turning The Doctor into a sun god at the pagan holiday;
Twice Upon A Time falls back on comedy runarounds and normie-fanservice in a way that Moffat usually tried harder than -- but he had to rush this one out as his THIRD return to the series since resigning less than 18 months earlier, so making it two old men feeling exhausted with Dr Who and preparing to FINALLY give it up, really has resonance.


* when Chibnall was given 50-65 mins for his regular series episodes, and up to EIGHTY-SEVEN for his specials in which nothing happens, imagine how much more of a year's plot Moffat could have worked in at that length.

This was not very good and I’m extremely annoyed

Nobody posted this! Felt a small number of genuine human emotions, probably due to the music as much as anything - but it looks kinda fun?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoyV65HoRFA

He's back! and it's.. season 1.

I give that until mid-April

now that Ned’s gone should we re-poll whether to include spoilers in these threads

(checks watch) okay it’s been a decade and there’s probably only nine of us still reading / watching so it probably wouldn’t be conclusive

I haven't seen it mentioned here but they've announced that Moffat has written an episode for the new series
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/doctor-who-steven-moffat-julie-anne-robinson-new-season/

now that Ned’s gone should we re-poll whether to include spoilers in these threads

...just use the 'hide' tags as per?

Nice to see no classic adversaries in the trailer although you know they will, plus a fucking Ood will show up by the end of the year

Also Ned last posted, like, seven hours ago?

Hmmm

i mean, this is the devil’s bargain you make when you get RTD back

but that Captain Poppy babby was super cute w the Doctor

Well it can improve. So hope it does.
2nd episode had some sartorial excellence. But is increased budget going to mean more dance numbers. Didn't find the music there memorable or particularly early 60s.

Just hoping it isn't overly conscious of very young audience. Though elements of 2nd episode were pretty creepy. But that has been true throughout the show's history.

Yeah it does feel like a pivot to young-uns again - burping bin and rubber arm territory - which is ok ofc! I will be interested to see if it lands a co-viewing audience in the streaming space… also interested to see what Moffat does next week

Spaceship powered by nappies and bogeyman made of bogeys was awful. The second one was also hokey as fuck but redeemed by an excellent villain.

I'd be hating on all this fourth wall breaking had I not only recently watched a few T Baker stories where he does it a bunch.

Space Babies got better as it went on but The Devil's Chord started strong then kinda lost it at the end.

i set the video for the making-of bits but neglected to set the video for the actual show... it's repeated tonight on bbc3 though.

i guess anybody who doesn't like it has the whole history at their fingertips now so they can go whistle.

I'm trying to resist the temptation to over analyse this, cos tbh you'll either enjoy the gonzo space fantasy energy of it all, or you won't. (I don't think there's a critical read on this that goes "this would have worked better if x, y z..."). I was charmed by the manic energy of it all, but I can fully believe that tons of people, fans esp, will hate it. Second episode obviously significantly better than the first. I absolutely salute the refusal to be "respectable sci-fi".

One thing I think's interesting is that RTD clearly believes that the format/formula of Doctor Who takes care of itself. Moffat was (is? we'll see next week) far more concerned with the untapped narrative potential of the show's time travel macguffin, and Chibnall clearly has incredibly fixed/conservative/by the numbers views of what a Doctor Who story *is*. Whereas Davies sees it as a method to inject madness into other televisual settings - Hollyoaks/Strictly/Ant&Dec in 2005, Marvel-inflected space fantasy in 2024.

Only real downer for me is the excessive faith in what Murray Gold brings to the table. The choreography in the Ep 2 dance number was delightful, but the song just sounded like a library track tagged with the keywords "brassy showstopper". In a story about the restorative power of music, that's a real flaw. I'm relaxed enough in my fandom to have no issue with song and dance numbers, I just don't want Gold to be writing the songs.

I find the music extremely intrusive and distracting. Every conversation has a background of syrupy Muzak behind it.

I very much enjoyed how loony both episodes were

I would've had a scene with Ringo where he reveals he thinks music sound better now.

was 1st episode a deeply unsubtle pro-choice comment?
won't turn allow baby farm to be turned off but won't do anything for the babies born.

yep, totally fine with it

Likewise the blatant 'homages' to Alien Resurrection's perhaps most horrific scene (except here no doubt to the newfound delight of the space babbies the bogeyman just grew its lower torso back no problem) and It respectively.

“Space Babies” had almost no subtext, it was great

i watched space babies. episode was fine, but aimed at a younger viewer than i. did they ever explain why the babies remained babies? every other plot point got repeated around 4 times. how many times does the doctor need to say he was scared of the monster?

Space Babies was fun for what it was but i would probably never want to watch it again. the doctor intentionally making all the babies cry seemed out of character but also... lol

The Devil's Chord would've been fine without the musical number which was really truly awful ugh

i quite enjoyed Devil’s Chord! jinx a great villain - agree that the finale song was naff. wish they’d somehow given jinx a closing number instead.

Space Babies was pretty annoying, but at least annoying in a far more imaginative way than someone like Chris Chibnall could ever conceive of.

And yes, what blackmail material does Murray Gold have on RTD?

Reddit absolutely loves Murray Gold from what I’ve seen; it’s baffling

I don't know ilx poster Left watches Doctor Who, but I hope they appreciated the universe being saved by shipping John and Paul

I think the showmakers got their 60s styles a couple of years early at least.
But do love that Recency suit. Just think it would have had at least one pleat at back or sides. & now the Doctor invented the Afro.

i was genuinely confused for a while if the song at the end was supposed to signify that music had returned to earth or not because it didn't seem any better than the beatles' or cilla's dismal efforts earlier

I was confused by the bit where Ruby turned into a different species (even tho it was in the trailer) and babbled about something that sounded integral to her arc. Good confusion I guess, but it's probably the only bit of the episode I want to rewatch.

I only watched the first 15 mins or so of the babies one but I was struck by how GOOD everything looked - everyone’s skin, the colours… every pixel was poppin

i was genuinely confused for a while if the song at the end was supposed to signify that music had returned to earth or not because it didn't seem any better than the beatles' or cilla's dismal efforts earlier

Music has returned and it’s still shitty!

i was genuinely confused for a while if the song at the end was supposed to signify that music had returned to earth or not because it didn't seem any better than the beatles' or cilla's dismal efforts earlier

...and why is the new Sonic screwdriver not remotely screwdriver-shaped?

Just make the Doctor permanently Scottish and be done with it.

...and why is the new Sonic screwdriver not remotely screwdriver-shaped?

I think I saw something about how RTD had seen kids in playgrounds pointing toy sonics at each other as if they were weapons and he didn't like it?

Another odd thing was the reappearance of the schoolboy from the opening scene during the musical number at the end.

I thought harbinger pretty much meant Herald. So the kid was totally subordinate to the maestro. So is there a different meaning to that I'm missing. Or did they just want to be inclusive.

anyone else find it distracting how gatwa does the american R sound in his british accent? taRRRRdis

his sometimes-scottish/sometimes-not accent is v charming

anyone else find it distracting how gatwa does the american R sound in his british accent? taRRRRdis

yes! v confusing

the rs don't sound scottish to me really though i realise i am maybe not best placed to be the judge of this

That's not American, it's Scottish.

Also what is a "British accent"?