WHOCHURCH: The Chris Chibnall era

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So acting

Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 00:01 (three years ago) link

Does... he not read back over his own scripts?

― chap, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 7:33 PM (yesterday)

one might have thought this guy was being rudely hyperbolic two years ago but

There are times where it seems Chibnall has set himself a rule where all of these have to be written in order, and he can’t go back and change anything ... once he’s written it.

“Are we eligible too?”
“No, you’re irrelevant.”

It’s like he’s written himself a note, but forgotten to do anything about it on a second draft.

Elon's musk (sic), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 02:38 (three years ago) link

(so pioneering)

karmic blowback for dissing pip and jane baker (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 02:45 (three years ago) link

at least this was just the new setup finding its feet and didn't remain a constant trait of the era

The dialogue is generally completely empty, the sort of thing that you might put in as a placeholder when blocking the plot, and then come back to fill in with character beats or jokes or subtle foreshadowing or ironic counterpoints. Chibnall does give the occasional line with spark to Jodie, such as “Taking it as a chance to surprise myself,” or “It’s very all that!” suggesting he is aware of the need to make her stand out to the audience. But equally, it suggests he doesn’t see the need for anyone else to do so. Why have a rammed-full TARDIS team of four if three of them are just there to ask “What’s that, Doctor?!” Even more so if her answer every time is “I don’t know, let’s all figure it out at the same time on the next page of the script when someone tells us.”

Elon's musk (sic), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 04:04 (three years ago) link

Keep thinking about the "iconic trio" thing. Has a phrase ever been less apt?

Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 23:57 (three years ago) link

Related to DJP’s point above, they’re kind of iconic to me in the sense that I’ve never pulled so hard for a cast to somehow rise above the incredibly bad material and convince me there are actually stories worth caring about hidden somewhere in all the layers of dumb.

I’ve never had particularly high expectations for doctor who, so it’s difficult for me to be disappointed in it sometimes, but this season was certainly a nadir.

Those scripts are horrible. Imagine really wanting to put work into that pap and try to make something fun out of it, or to try and convince anyone there’s any stakes.

El Tomboto, Thursday, 14 May 2020 05:24 (three years ago) link

This thread looks at things that went awry between Ed Hime's script and the produced episode of Orphan 55.

Honestly, this kinda confirms what I thought about O55 - the script is genuinely quite good, super fun to read, pops off the page, but it's so let down by the visuals. Like, this scene reads so tense and aesthetically interesting, and it comes out ... just kinda there. pic.twitter.com/JbURzdKVNP

— Sam Maleski (@LookingForTelos) May 11, 2020

(And has a hint that Chibnall took at least a light pass at this, one of three scripts that he didn't add his name to this year:

Sidenote/nitpick: god those scripts use "ICONIC" so fucking much as a descriptor.

)

Bleeqwot (sic), Thursday, 14 May 2020 19:28 (three years ago) link

Script action/parentheticals being semi-literate and cliched is more common than you might think.

wasdnous (abanana), Thursday, 14 May 2020 21:52 (three years ago) link

(...for tv scripts in general. i haven't looked at many Who scripts.)

wasdnous (abanana), Thursday, 14 May 2020 21:53 (three years ago) link

This is from the joint script for Fugitive of the Judoon with Vinay Patel. If only Chibnall had some sort of writerly tell, so you could guess which lines were his

https://i.imgur.com/dcquKuN.jpg

Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 14 May 2020 22:23 (three years ago) link

the (Beat) as well

Bleeqwot (sic), Thursday, 14 May 2020 22:36 (three years ago) link

So buttons!

Osedax Church (Leee), Thursday, 14 May 2020 22:53 (three years ago) link

had a look through Spyfall for "iconic"s and "so"s, while listening to long-ass Underworld songs for their artist poll. caught a couple of beats along the way:

PASSENGER
Yes, sorry. I'm so clumsy. My sister is always having a go at me for this. Thanks.

OLDER PASSENGER
No problem at all. Enjoy your flight.

The conversation is ever so slightly stilted.

TIBO
And that detached retina --that sounds painful. You've been so unlucky.

RYAN SINCLAIR
So unlucky --

TIBO
So what, we don't see you and now you're off travelling?

ICONIC: moving over Lambeth Bridge to reveal: Thames House

RYAN SINCLAIR
So what, MI6 is trying to kill us?

RYAN SINCLAIR
So one's hidden inside the other.

We're on the face of O --warm, fierce, likeable, so sharp, and a bit ramshackle --watching the TARDIS materialise,

BROWNING
This place. It's open and flat and empty, the whole way round.
(Beat)
So why does it feel like there are things moving out there?

THE DOCTOR
(so quiet)
I don't know.
(Beat)
Let's take a look outside.

SEESAY
From what I understand, we were sent here because you're one of the few people who can stop the attacks on our colleagues. So please, go inside, figure it out, and let us do the job we came for.

Stand-off. Beat.

AND NOW IT'S THE SILHOUETTE THAT LIGHTS UP! A threatening humanoid silhouette now entirely made of light. Glowing! So bright!

And they're moving so fast, like they're feasting on them, with terrible crackles of energy --like they're feral --

Graham checks the screens --so many white glows, moving, bleeding out the camera

The DOCTOR
So you can communicate then. Beyond where?

It's clear it's a threat. The Silhouette so close to him now --his face lit by its glow.

Slowly we pull out to reveal it's part of a thick-tree-trunk like pattern. One of many, amidst darkness. So much darkness.

YAZ KHAN
(so quiet; so mature; to herself)
OK PC Khan. Nothing to worry about.

YAZ KHAN
Don't know.
(Beat)
It was like... nothingness. Nowhere. I was totally alone.
(Beat)
I was so scared.
(Beat)
Ryan, I thought I was dead.

RYAN SINCLAIR
Nah, I'm never gonna let that happen to you.

good luck with that, mate

RYAN SINCLAIR
So do we think Barton was behind assassinating C? And attacking of also the car? And he's in league with these aliens.

THE DOCTOR
What did he say to the creatures in his office?

Yaz KHAN
That they should've been discreet.

THE DOCTOR
So it was like he was in control of them?

The Doctor so still and so quiet as it all connects --

The Doctor steps up --big iconic shot as she announces --

THE DOCTOR (CONT'D)The name's Doctor. The Doctor.
(Beat)
We're on the list.

Barton so still, so coiled as he watches.

JUMP CUT: YAZ blows on the dice and throws them -- ICONIC SHOT: the dice tumble down in slo-mo as O and YAZ and a crowd watch --

THE DOCTOR
I'm the Doctor. I’m a plus one.
(Beat)
So -- did you assassinate the head of MI6 yourself? Or just order it?

ICONIC DRONE SHOT: the three bikes zooming down three separate vine alleys --It's bumpy! Close on Graham and Ryan --both yelling as they bump up and down!

The DOCTOR(staring at O; so uneasy)

O
That's my name. And that's why I chose it!
(grins to the others)
So satisfying.

THE MASTER
One last thing. Something you should know. In the seconds before you die.
(so serious)
Everything that you think you know --is a lie.

Close in on the Doctor --oh and she's so scared --

part 2:

The Silhouette next to Ada now --she's so calm --

DANIEL BARTON
So you know. I don't appreciate last minute changes of plan, as I'm about to take off.

O looks at Barton -- so cold. So still. A death stare. Beat.

Close in on O -- so furious. So dark.

YAZ KHAN
So let's get moving.

THE DOCTOR
So this must be --

CHARLES BABBAGE
My Difference Engine.

ICONIC: Ada and the Doctor run out, as the grenade goes off behind them! Boom!

The Doctor and Ada look up --against the night, framed iconically, heroically --

And Graham stamps his feet so fast and so insistent --stamp stamp stamp stamp --no musicality at all --

Laser bolts firing out of the shoe again and again and again! Hitting other things in the street, (lamp-posts, front doors, bushes!) which either spark as they explode or fizzle away --

--But also hitting Silhouettes, which stagger back, their heads slamming backwards and upwards in pain -- screeching --turning magenta --

And now Graham is turning --like some mad bullfighter stamping and doing a solo El Paso --hands over his head --stamp bolt stamp bolt stamp bolt --so fast, so fast!!

Beat. The woman stares at him with cold contempt.

WOMAN
Well done.

It's so empty, that sentence. Like ashes in the air.

A handful of German SOLDIERS. And a SENIOR OFFICER. He gets down from the vehicle. Looks round. We are behind him centre frame, iconic -- but don't see his face.

And he stamps his foot twice! Two more laser bolts fire out! ICONIC: Push in on heroic bad-ass Graham O'Brien, in his tux. Hard as nails.

THE DOCTOR
So what --you brought the Kasaavin to Earth?

DMP: reveal the iconic building, with a huge V and "DEUTSCHLAND SIEGT AUF ALLEN FRONTEN" banner on it.

GRAHAM O'BRIEN
So what are you, part alien?

DANIEL BARTON
You really don't understand who I am. I build things. I test them.
So I let them test a tiny part of me.
(Beat)
And now it's time for the global rollout. I’m proof of concept.

And O looks at her. So sad.

THE DOCTOR
I bet it wasn't. So arrogant he didn't even change the appearance.

On Ada: OK. Deep breaths from both of them: an iconic pairing.

BARTON (CONT'D)
Funny, right?
(so steely; so still)

Except. Not a joke. We are way past Peak Human. We've created systems that are smarter and can run more efficiently than we do.
(Beat)

So what's our purpose? We must be useful for something.

Close in on Barton. So still. Just watching. Satisfied.

BARTON on stage, sees the energy disappear from his arm and watch, too --and he crawls offstage, so undignified --

THE DOCTOR
Two can play at embedding things in history.
(Beat)

I knew the Silver Lady was important, that you'd built it for a reason. But I couldn't work out why.
(Beat)

So I traced its movements through history. When I saw Barton now owned it, we stopped off in his office. Middle of last year. Using your Tardis.
(Beat)

I built in a failsafe to that machine. Planted a virus, if it ever detected the massing of a Kasaavin army in its systems.
Total shutdown.

THE DOCTOR (CONT'D)
(in French; so quiet)
Bon chance.

THE DOCTOR
(so gentle)
I'm ever so sorry, Ada --

ADA LOVELACE
But I want that knowledge --
(so tearful)

Don't take it away
...

-- And Ada slumps --the Doctor lowers her into a chair. So gentle.

THE MASTER
(so regretful)
I had to make them pay, Doctor. For what I discovered.

The Silhouette next to Ada now --she's so calm --

Bleeqwot (sic), Tuesday, 19 May 2020 20:08 (three years ago) link

(so serious)

audible lol at this one

DJP, Tuesday, 19 May 2020 20:13 (three years ago) link

so steely so still

terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 19 May 2020 21:04 (three years ago) link

The worst thing here perhaps is putting in

(Beat)

Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 19 May 2020 21:14 (three years ago) link

Tom's putting it in

(Beat)

now.

Bleeqwot (sic), Tuesday, 19 May 2020 21:17 (three years ago) link

lol

terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 19 May 2020 21:25 (three years ago) link

The conversation is ever so slightly stilted.

Only ever so slightly?

chap, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 07:51 (three years ago) link

On Ada: OK. Deep breaths from both of them: an iconic pairing.

This shit is ridiculous

(so serious) (DJP), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 13:19 (three years ago) link

it's worse than i ever thought possible

Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 14:14 (three years ago) link

Is it at all likely that these were published in an effort to expose chinballs (not that it wasn't already obvious) for the completely inept and unfit showrunner that he is?

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 14:55 (three years ago) link

I really want to see the Broadchurch scripts now because I really liked that first season and everyone on it was amazing

(so serious) (DJP), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 15:53 (three years ago) link

The one thing I've read about the writing of Broadchurch is that Chibnall didn't put any clues about the murder into it so that if people guessed he would be able to change the ending during the broadcast run, and didn't tell the bloke who played the murderer that he'd been the murderer all along until he got the final script.

Bleeqwot (sic), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 20:22 (three years ago) link

ha

(so serious) (DJP), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 21:36 (three years ago) link

how 2 whodunnit

Bleeqwot (sic), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 21:39 (three years ago) link

I remember thinking it was quite easy to guess the murderer in the first season, just pick the least obvious character, QED

Christie is way too clever for that trick

Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 23:32 (three years ago) link

The second season of Broadchurch is the definition of a tension-less mystery and even gets a poor performance out of Howard Stark’s lovely butler

Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 20 May 2020 23:34 (three years ago) link

shoes that fire deadly laser beams in all directions with no control

Aside from the below reading as though a child dictated it while hallucinating from a fever, I suppose it's mildly satisfying to have confirmation that Chibnall literally doesn't even consider how Graham avoids slaughtering all his best friends with his stampy laser shoes.

And Graham stamps his feet so fast and so insistent --stamp stamp stamp stamp --no musicality at all --

Laser bolts firing out of the shoe again and again and again! Hitting other things in the street, (lamp-posts, front doors, bushes!) which either spark as they explode or fizzle away --

--But also hitting Silhouettes, which stagger back, their heads slamming backwards and upwards in pain -- screeching --turning magenta --

And now Graham is turning --like some mad bullfighter stamping and doing a solo El Paso --hands over his head --stamp bolt stamp bolt stamp bolt --so fast, so fast!!

Bleeqwot (sic), Thursday, 21 May 2020 20:21 (three years ago) link

so excruciating

umsworth (emsworth), Thursday, 21 May 2020 20:28 (three years ago) link

four months pass...

Okay, so Caitlin Blackwood who played Amelia Pond is now the same age that adult Amy Pond was in The Eleventh Hour.

(Look, old Doctor Who fans *always* feel old. It's about time young Doctor Who fans starting suffering too.) pic.twitter.com/1i9vYDgV8z

— Scott Gray (@Scott1Gray) October 9, 2020

nashwan, Friday, 9 October 2020 14:06 (three years ago) link

Ah Jesus, there's no call for that.

Andrew Farrell, Friday, 9 October 2020 14:37 (three years ago) link

especially not if one thinks at first it means she's returning in the Chris Chibnall era 😬

Covidiots from UHF (sic), Friday, 9 October 2020 15:37 (three years ago) link

Could do a Captain Jack style cameo.

Haven't even thought about what a post-pandemic Who will be like tbh.

nashwan, Friday, 9 October 2020 16:16 (three years ago) link

it's gonna be all in the style of Captain Jack cameos, with no guest actors appearing in the same shot as the regulars

Covidiots from UHF (sic), Friday, 9 October 2020 16:31 (three years ago) link

one month passes...

I regret to inform you that they are continuing to make this television show

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-11-11/doctor-who-chris-chibnall-cuts-news/

the least famous person you were surprised to discover (emsworth), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:01 (three years ago) link

I watched through Torchwood this year and I noticed that Chibz recycled some ideas into the latest season of Who.

The second-last episode of Torchwood season 2 featured short flashbacks of the characters, leading you to think that some might die, just like Who S12 gave the companions some pointless flashbacks in its second last episode. It actually worked better in Torchwood because the characters were in life peril, while in Who it I didn't know why they were doing flashbacks all of a sudden.

Torchwood also has a scene where a hero looks for something in a lighthouse and finds nothing, but then sees something important out of the window -- a scene so unmemorable and unimportant that most synopses of the episode don't even mention it. In Torchwood they see a person walking away; in Who it's a gravestone that could easily have been seen anywhere on the ground.

wasdnous (abanana), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:26 (three years ago) link

8 episodes rather than 12 is a blessing, partic if this is chibber's last series

Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 21:39 (three years ago) link

(so final)

DJP, Thursday, 12 November 2020 01:55 (three years ago) link

irl lol

It’s going to be as fun filled and action packed as ever – with plenty of surprises.”

citation needed

I watched through Torchwood this year and I noticed that Chibz recycled some ideas into the latest season of Who.

I rewatched Oxygen this week. Was dumbfounded at how this program could go from a tight, clever horror story that is explicitly about capitalism hollowing out workers' lives & literally valuing their existence below that of equipment one year, to Kerblam!'s "if Amazon accidentally kill your coworker on the job, then halving your pay is a good compensation bcz you still have a job" as a positive message the next year under Chibnall.

Mathieson also briefly does the same joke as Chibnall's "Tim Shaw" here, except that the point is that Bill is being unthinkingly xenophobic by hearing a foreign name as English, not repeatedly celebrating her for pwning a forrin.

@oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Thursday, 12 November 2020 03:28 (three years ago) link

I remember when I used to look forward to seeing what this show did next. The end of the previous series was so awful I still get sporadically angry about it.

Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Thursday, 12 November 2020 05:33 (three years ago) link

anyway Tracer OTM re 8 eps, but there's no way - given his two-year delays between seasons - that Chibnall won't be planning on staying on, to ensure that the show is in a "safe pair of hands" for the 60th anniversary episodes.

@oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Thursday, 12 November 2020 06:04 (three years ago) link

bring on more classic blu-ray sets!

thousand-yard spiral stairs (f. hazel), Thursday, 12 November 2020 06:09 (three years ago) link

actually belay that blessing - Chibs was credited on writing seven episodes last year, so the reduction probably just means a greater density of chinballs overall

also lol at me using the same scarequotes again

@oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Thursday, 12 November 2020 06:42 (three years ago) link

i still haven't seen most of the last season - gave up on spyfall halfway through, watched the jo martin one, and the last three. am i missing anything?

the only time i've liked whitaker was her homemade covid vid. more of that next season

Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 12 November 2020 12:08 (three years ago) link

You didn't miss anything. The only bits I liked were the parts of Judoon written by Vinay Patel.

wasdnous (abanana), Thursday, 12 November 2020 16:39 (three years ago) link

Which is the Jo Martin one

Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 12 November 2020 16:58 (three years ago) link

the judoon one

Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 12 November 2020 17:08 (three years ago) link

I still regularly think about how bad the Ian McElhinney / Master showdown was

Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 12 November 2020 17:13 (three years ago) link

I know this sucks to most people, but my son loves it and we've had a blast watching it with him.

soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 12 November 2020 17:13 (three years ago) link


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