Heads up! Dr Who starts Saturday....

[bobb]

I'm not usually a fan of the "Stuck on a space ship" storylines - it's been done a zillion times across all sci-fi genres, but that was actaully pretty good IMO. Enjoyed it 

[citoyen]

I'm not usually a fan of the "Stuck on a space ship" storylines - it's been done a zillion times across all sci-fi genres, but that was actaully pretty good IMO. Enjoyed it 

+1

It did remind me somewhat of the classic ‘gremlins’ episode of the Twilight Zone.

[Cunobelin]

Two thoughts about this series...

1. I love some of the lines.....  are brilliantly  inserted and this weeks references to previously being a man were also inspired

2. It is becoming VERY political. The US Politician and future President with the pro-gin stance, the white supremacists trying to prevent Rosa Parks, and the references to racism in the US, then this week's moral tale about the formation of Pakistan

[mattc]

I'm glad you put a small p in political! I can't see any harm in the story lines we've had so far; they're more like history lessons with a moral than pushing some current Political agenda. Possibly the perfect BBC kid-oriented material??

[although I've compeltely forgotten the pro-gin POTUS ??    ]

I'll be a bit miffed if there is a story about a horrible post-Brexit world

The pattern so far is:
history = good
"proper" SF = mediocre

Is there any sign of a "story arc" yet? I haven't noticed. That was something Dr Who never needed - leave it to the American shows. 

[bobb]

I didn't really like the latest episode. I'm well aware of what happened after the partition, so I don't need a tv show to explain it to me. I can read.

I want creepy arse alien fucks, not a history lesson...

[hulver]

Is there any sign of a "story arc" yet? I haven't noticed. That was something Dr Who never needed - leave it to the American shows. 

The Doctor has a few times seemed to have forgotten that she was the Doctor, and should be helping everybody not just her companions. I was wondering if that was a very understated story arc, but there was nothing like that in this weeks show, so maybe not.

[TimO]

I didn't really like the latest episode. I'm well aware of what happened after the partition, so I don't need a tv show to explain it to me. I can read.

I want creepy arse alien fucks, not a history lesson...

This.  I watch things like Dr Who for the escapism, when you start using it to make statements about fairly recent history, it's less science fiction, and more traditional drama.  'Rosa' and 'Demons of the Punjab' are my least favourite episodes of this series.  Overall I like Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, but less some of the storylines of this series.

It also seems like three (or more) companions spreads things a little too thin regarding how they and the Doctor interact.  With one or two companions, we learn about them, with this many we seem to get to grips with their stories far more slowly and in less depth.

[mattc]

Since the early days of SF there has been just as much social commentary and satire as there has been pure escapism.

Time Travel fiction is more often bsed on trips into our past than our futures. The main USP of  Dr Who  (over other SF) is time-travel - hence "Time Lord"!

Anyway, it's all down to what floats YOUR patricluar boat

[Kim]

Anyway, the original remit of Dr Oho was to be semi-educational, hence the time-travelling to historical events.

[woollypigs]

That was pretty good, but what a brilliant link back to Doc #11, that made me laugh out loud

[mattc]

At least 8/10  Some very clever little touches; I have high hopes for the new writer...
<googles> ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_McTighe

Well I didn't expect this:
"

In 2012, it was announced McTighe would be writing a reimagining of Prisoner Cell Block H called Wentworth.[8]

" 

But I did like this:

The BBC press release quoted him as saying, "My entire television career has quite literally been an elaborate plan to get to write Doctor Who – and no one is more shocked than me that it paid off. I've been having the time of my life working with Chris, and writing for Jodie and the new team, and can't wait for everyone to see what we've been up to

If I was going to be uber-picky, I'd point out that both Electric Dreams AND the X-files did the amazon spoof idea first. Clearly it's fertile ground!

[citoyen]

Anyway, the original remit of Dr Oho was to be semi-educational, hence the time-travelling to historical events.

Working genuine historical events into storylines is certainly nothing new in Doctor Who, though they mostly seem to be incidental rather than fundamental plot elements - eg the Doctor accidentally starting the Great Fire of London, and the Cybermen causing the 'meteor' strike that wipes out the dinosaurs (and Adric).

More recently we've had the 2012 Olympic torch relay intruding on a storyline, though I don't know if that really counts as 'historical'.

I enjoyed both the Rosa Parks and Indian partition episodes. They didn't feel like pointless history lessons to me, more like historical events providing background context for the human drama of the episode's main storyline in each case. And given that the target audience is kids, a bit of edumacationalism is perfectly acceptable in my book anyway.

In fact, I reckon the whole series has been really good so far - a considerable improvement on the last few series.

Bradley Walsh's agent is certainly earning his 10% at the moment - while Doctor Who was on BBC1 yesterday, he was also presenting The Chase over on ITV at the same time.

[Kim]

More recently we've had the 2012 Olympic torch relay intruding on a storyline, though I don't know if that really counts as 'historical'.

I reckon that one should be reasonably disqualified on the basis that the episode was broadcast in 2006.

[citoyen]

More recently we've had the 2012 Olympic torch relay intruding on a storyline, though I don't know if that really counts as 'historical'.

I reckon that one should be reasonably disqualified on the basis that the episode was broadcast in 2006.

It's historical in a timey-wimey kind of way.


(Tbh, I'd completely forgotten that it went out before the event.)

[Kim]

More recently we've had the 2012 Olympic torch relay intruding on a storyline, though I don't know if that really counts as 'historical'.

I reckon that one should be reasonably disqualified on the basis that the episode was broadcast in 2006.

It's historical in a timey-wimey kind of way.


(Tbh, I'd completely forgotten that it went out before the event.)

I remember the opening scene of them watching the relay coverage on a laptop.  While video was normal on news websites at that time, this was the year before iPlayer launched, so I reckon it qualifies as quite a decent prediction of the future.

[woollypigs]

Pendle Hill !!! How cool is that, Peli was a bit beside herself when we saw Pendle Hill.

[Kim]

we saw Pendle Hill.

So it was about to rain?

[ElyDave]

Anyway, the original remit of Dr Oho was to be semi-educational, hence the time-travelling to historical events.

Working genuine historical events into storylines is certainly nothing new in Doctor Who, though they mostly seem to be incidental rather than fundamental plot elements - eg the Doctor accidentally starting the Great Fire of London, and the Cybermen causing the 'meteor' strike that wipes out the dinosaurs (and Adric).

More recently we've had the 2012 Olympic torch relay intruding on a storyline, though I don't know if that really counts as 'historical'.

I enjoyed both the Rosa Parks and Indian partition episodes. They didn't feel like pointless history lessons to me, more like historical events providing background context for the human drama of the episode's main storyline in each case. And given that the target audience is kids, a bit of edumacationalism is perfectly acceptable in my book anyway.

In fact, I reckon the whole series has been really good so far - a considerable improvement on the last few series.

Bradley Walsh's agent is certainly earning his 10% at the moment - while Doctor Who was on BBC1 yesterday, he was also presenting The Chase over on ITV at the same time.

Only problem with using historical events as backdrop to drama is the potential to bias the storyline, whatever the intention.  Education and drama are quite hard to merge successfully.

I'm a bit mixed on the latest series, not enough mortal peril for me so far, about as dangerous as a windy Essex audax

[Butterfly]

I'm really enjoying this series. I haven't seen any of the last 11 years worth on account of not having a tv so I can't compare them. There is enough suspense without overdoing it and there is enough comedy for balance.

I finally caught up with the previous 2 weeks episodes. I was very confused that there was a character in the Kerblam! episode that I thought was Bradley Walsh again and I couldn't understand why no one commented on it. Apparently, it was actually played by Lee Mack, and they weren't supposed to look like the same person. That's not helpful.

[mattc]

WHY IS NOONE POSTING ABOUT THE NORWAY EPISODE??

It's December - I don't believe you were all out on your bikes!

It was bloody brilliant. If there has been a better episode in the New Era* I very much look forward to being reminded of it.


* (that didn't involve statues or gas-masks)

[woollypigs]

yes it was nice and spooky and a brilliant in-joke too

[citoyen]

a brilliant in-joke too

You mean 'reverse the polarity'? Yes, that made me smile.

[woollypigs]

And here I was trying not to do spoilers

[cygnet]

At least 8/10  Some very clever little touches; I have high hopes for the new writer...
<googles> ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_McTighe

Well I didn't expect this:
"

In 2012, it was announced McTighe would be writing a reimagining of Prisoner Cell Block H called Wentworth.[8]

" 

But I did like this:

The BBC press release quoted him as saying, "My entire television career has quite literally been an elaborate plan to get to write Doctor Who – and no one is more shocked than me that it paid off. I've been having the time of my life working with Chris, and writing for Jodie and the new team, and can't wait for everyone to see what we've been up to

If I was going to be uber-picky, I'd point out that both Electric Dreams AND the X-files did the amazon spoof idea first. Clearly it's fertile ground!

Slow to pick up on this but the bold section reminded me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HdmNVXAiLc

[citoyen]

And here I was trying not to do spoilers

I didn’t think that was a spoiler, since it’s incidental to the plot, but sorry if anyone’s enjoyment is ruined by my indiscretion.