UKH

Woman drivers!

In reply to kevin stephens:

Hoping that Chris Chibnal can get Dr Who back on track. The last series was dire. Capaldi didn’t have a chance.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Knew somebody would have to say that

In reply to kevin stephens:
Catching up with it today. I expect this to be where I bow out of watching. Capaldi was the only thing I enjoyed about the last series so irrespective of whether the new Doc is good, unless they improve everything else I'm sticking to re-viewing old series.

In reply to nathan79:

There’s a new writer Chris Chibnall. Torchwood, Life on Mars and Broadchurch. He’s not been impressed with the direction Dr Who has taken so I’m expecting good things.

In reply to DancingOnRock:

Amen to that. The writing has been *so* disappointing since Stephen Moffat took over from RTD. (Especially since he can do so much better - the scripts he wrote during RTD's time were unfailingly brilliant.)
Capaldi could have done so much more given a decent story or two. (Michelle Gomez too.)

This last episode was no different, it just felt like a Friday afternoon script from a very talented but lazy writer who just couldn't be arsed to put any effort in. One last script, just churn it out and knock off early.

In reply to deepsoup:

Apparently CC wrote the last scene, but I wasn’t really paying attention as it felt a very similar style to what had gone before.

In reply to DancingOnRock:


Nice nod to the 1070s Pertwee era by rescuing what was presumably the Brigadier's father in the Christmas truce.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Having slept on it here are my thoughts. Pros: over all story not bad with the big villain not a villain twist, good chemistry between the Doctors, and Mark Gatiss had some nice lines about dying etc. cons: awkward sexist lines for the first Doctor which seemed shoehorned in and out of character (incidentally they did this before in the 5 Doctors), couldn't figure out why the Daleks would have the largest data base rather than say Gallifrey and why Rusty would hate the Doctor? Capaldi's final speech went on a bit for my liking. Watching this with other family members, who couldn't work out what was happening, made me realise that this was an episode purely for the fans and came across very much as a swan song for the Doctor perhaps as a sop to leaving fans? That made me think that perhaps it has become too insular and self referential? Jodi's short appearance was a hark back to classic Who, when you got a brief glimpse of the incoming Doctor then that was it. Nice. I look forward to the new series with interest, mostly for a new writer with some proper science fiction ideas rather than some of the pseudo mystical claptrap we have been dished up recently.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:


Understatement of the century!

In reply to Dave Garnett:


Blimey, I know it's been on and off the screen for a few years now, but that's a time travel journey too far! Lethbridge-Stewart was always one of my favourite characters in the series.

In reply to kevin stephens:

A messy, low budget but necessary bridge between old and new Doctors and writers, tempered by homage to those of us who watched Dr Who from the very start, nothing much for the occasional viewer 'though. At least it leaves a clean slate for the new series.

In reply to DancingOnRock:


You're joking right?

I'd say that the sewary doctor has been one of the better doctors, even with his occasional Tom Baker impersonations. He was funny, sinister and dark all rolled into one.

However I'm in two minds about this episode. it seems that almost every Christmas Special has death in it somewhere with a doctor dying every few years.

In reply to kevin stephens:
I just felt that I was being preached at from the word go till the moment it ended, over and over again, insistence that the W.O. men++ had to be discarded, to die so the Woman could replace them, the message more or less that the future is bright, the near future is female, the far future is female. Ditch all that the Doctor was, let it all die and be forgotten so the new bright thing can be rolled out.

Very happy to see him get a decent shot at having a real Adventure in Time and Space after playing Wm Hartnell. I was there on the settee for that first regeneration. I thought his performance of the first doctor oddly like the men from Mondas though


++ White Old

In reply to Duncan Bourne:


I think Doctor Who could learn a thing or two from the new Star Wars in that pleasing the fans first does not make for a better show. Doctor Who has become far too fan-led and it shows.

In reply to kevin stephens:

to be fair I thought they did a nice job of recreating the first Tardis and there is something quite appealing about its clinical minimalist and clean design, and its hint of unknown power in that light humming that pervades all the scenes inside. White heat of Gallifreyan technology.

In reply to planetmarshall:

In all fairness I quickly looked back over the series with Capaldi and a lot of episodes were a lot better than I remembered

In reply to wercat:

That first design was nice wasn't it.

It will have been relatively cheap, as they could re-use the set that was built a few years ago for "An Adventure in Space and Time" (David Bradley played William Hartnell in that too): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01kqt9x

In reply to DancingOnRock:

Oh dear, that doesn't bode so well then. It's more than just similar style, CC pretty much stands for 'carbon copy' there:
youtube.com/watch?v=sVEY5AL5zzk&

In reply to deepsoup:

My cousin directed that.

Nothing else to say so I'll shut up now.

In reply to Mooncat:

"An Adventure in Time and Space"?

Was wonderful viewing if so.

In reply to wercat:

Ta, a gem in the oceans of dross he's done, there are a few decent things to be fair.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0568192/

In reply to wercat:

I thought so too, really enjoyed it.