Doctor Who - Spoilers!

[bcm77]

For me it's "Amy's Choice" by a huge margin as best story of the new regime so far and the rest is just a mish mash of dross with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan being pretty much the only characters worth watching.

I think Steven Moffat is doing quite a few things right including,

-Making sure the Doctor is written more like the Classic incarnations instead of RTD's "humanised" action heroes

-Reducing the role of the companion

-Toning down all the soap opera stuff

-Rebooting the Daleks. With luck the Cybermen and eventually the Master will get similar treatment.

But the general feel of the show is still largely the same as the RTD years and as much as I've enjoyed the current leads I still have the same "why did I bother?" feeling after an episode is done whereas the Classic stories always leave me satisfied that it was worth the time spent watching it.

"Amy's Choice" was a rare example when the modern show ticked all the right boxes and it was the best story in 5 years as far as I'm concerned so I hope more stories like that surface and soon because the novelty of the new regime is starting to wear off.

 

[pixletwin]

Its funny, because as I was watching The Sensorites last night I realised that (for me) last nights episode came the closest for to feeling like classic Who. Only thing that would have made it feel more classic would be 1) instead of having the Doctor just walk into the mining operation he would need to be captured by the mining security while he was poking around and thus brought into the mining operations and 2) longer shots of people walking from end of the room to another.

 

[bcm77]

Its funny, because as I was watching The Sensorites last night I realised that (for me) last nights episode came the closest for to feeling like classic Who. Only thing that would have made it feel more classic would be 1) instead of having the Doctor just walk into the mining operation he would need to be captured by the mining security while he was poking around and thus brought into the mining operations and 2) longer shots of people walking from end of the room to another.

The setting reminded me of "The Green Death", the drilling was nabbed from "Inferno" and the Doctor's brief exchange with the kid had a warmth to it that was pure Pertwee, but the comparisons with the Classic era ended there.

 

[paulcarson]

Yeah I give the new Silurians a definite C-. boo

Nice pics Paul. Got anymore?

Thanks pix ! Sure have !

 

[N2k-swb]

hmmm i have to admit i almost hated this new episode, this season is quite inconsitent writing wise for example VoV had humor i laughed out loud at, Amys choice had both humor such as the baby moment but also decent pace and story telling, Beast Below had an awful story and off pace but still managed to make me care about the characters of the doctor and amy, its been a toss up between 100 mph story telling + plot or Humor and character building. Hungry Earth i felt myself not caring what was going on or who anyone was more focused on checking the time so i could light the BBQ ( awesome weather). So far in this series i havnt felt like any who enemy has given the doctor a serious threat, i just want some real peril i can get behind that the doc will come out on top without the last minute flick of a switch. Its a toss up between VoD, Beast Below and Hungary earth for worst episode this season.

 

[bcm77]

So far in this series i havnt felt like any who enemy has given the doctor a serious threat

With the exception of 2 or 3 stories I think that can be said of the whole revival.

The way the stories are played out with every major detail being spoon fed to the audience doesn't allow us to use our own imaginations and the resulting predictability makes it impossible for me to suspend my disbelief and think that the Doctor is ever in any real danger.

This series has been better from the POV that the Doctor has for the first time since the show returned been written as a fallible being who's not always got everything under control but his adversaries have still been pretty limp though the Daleks did at least show signs that when they next return they'll once again be a force to be reckoned with instead of pointless comedy villains.

 

[pixletwin]

The team is still trying to find their legs. On the whole though I have this season has been great.

 

[Kabukiman]

The Hungry Earth gets a "meh" from me. It wasn't bad, but it was a letdown after the steady run of awesomeness we've been treated to week after week.

It was okay, but certain moments failed to deliver their intended emotional response. We know Amy is gonna be fine, heck even Rory seemed to know. "Where's Amy?" "They took her but we'll get her back." "Okay."

The human features of the Silurians didn't bother me much but my son was *pissed*. His theory is that she wasn't lying when she said she was the last of her species and we've yet to meet the real Silurians.

Lastly, the cliffhanger was predictable and lacked any suspense.

So, all in all, I'd say the episode was okay, but I'm looking forward to 2 weeks from now much more than then next week.

 

[N2k-swb]

I have liked pretty much all episodes so far with the exception of hungry earth, while a few i have merely like there are a few i have throughly enjoyed and thought were brilliant. I'm pretty excited to get to the finale of the series and see what the pay off is, Maybe learn a little more of River Song regardless of how annoying she is i think i'd still like to know a bit more of how she fits in.

 

[hicks]

i have thought this series has been a good series, from watching the weekends episode i now feel Matt Smith is a top doctor, Karen Gillan is still ok but bit annoying and i think it will now be summed up when when the series Finale happens,

 

[pixletwin]

Here is an interesting article about Neil Gaiman's writing of his episode set for Series 6. For those who don't know him, he is the author of Coraline and the excellent book Good Omens.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10146657.stm

 

[bcm77]

Here is an interesting article about Neil Gaiman's writing of his episode set for Series 6. For those who don't know him, he is the author of Coraline and the excellent book Good Omens.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10146657.stm

No doubt the "divine power" he felt evaporated when all the best bits of character development and dialogue were cut from his script because it didn't fit the 1000mph format of Nu-Who.

 

[pixletwin]

Not the least bit of presumption...

 

[bcm77]

Not the least bit of presumption...

Why?, Nu-Who has had minimal character development since the start so I hardly expect next year to be any different.

 

[pixletwin]

lol

OKie doke then.

 

[Memnoch]

Why?, Nu-Who has had minimal character development since the start so I hardly expect next year to be any different.

How much character development can you get out of a 1 or 2 hour story though? And the development we do get on the companion tends to be feast or famine because you have different writers doing different episodes. If it was a concerted effort between a team of writers or just a 5 episode mini series then I could see, but that's not how its done.

 

[pixletwin]

I am done watching Season 1 of Classic Who.

My Grade B+.

Best story: Marco Polo (shame it was lost... reconstruction was still wonderful)

Worst story: Reign of Terror

 

[Kabukiman]

he is the author of Coraline and the excellent book Good Omens.

He's the co-author of Good Omens. Terry Pratchet wrote it with him.

 

[pixletwin]

True. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[bcm77]

How much character development can you get out of a 1 or 2 hour story though? And the development we do get on the companion tends to be feast or famine because you have different writers doing different episodes. If it was a concerted effort between a team of writers or just a 5 episode mini series then I could see, but that's not how its done.

Many of the Classic 4-parters managed it well enough and they were approx 2 hours long.