Dr. Who

[BetterFuckChuck]

Doctor Who is getting a new behind-the-scenes series (akin to the old Confidential series of RTD and Moffat's era) called Doctor Who: Unleashed. It'll air on BBC3 starting with Tennant and Tate's special and continue alongside Ncuti Gatwa's run on the main show.

(Source: http://www.david-tennant.co.uk/2022/07/doctor-who-to-get-new-behind-scenes.html)

You couldnt be more leashed

 

[Oilspill Battery]

The damage going on is too much for another 16 year hiatus and reboot to fix, someone would have to go scorched earth and go all the way back to the Doctor Falls and start again from there. Even Season 10 had its bullshit moments but at least it didn't massacare the lore this badly.

If they ever want to bring back doctor who they are going to have to scorch earth everything after doctor falls (if not parts of season 10 too, but that's probably too much effort and too optimistic).

Its just an attrocity all around, yeah doctor who has had its ups and downs, but the 13th is an especially uniquely awful blemish never seen before.

Even the most diehard defenders of jodie are forced to admit that both her seasons are bottom of the barrel compared to the rest.

You cannot point to any other season of the renewed series in good faith and go "That's worse than jodie's seasons."

 

[IDanceonTrannyGraves]

I'd rather watch Adric than Jodie Whitaker

 

[Kerr Avon]

I was really hyped for the last upcoming Benny boxset from Big Finish , due to it being David Warner's last work for them. They managed to sour me on it, though.

Weimar as the locus was strike one , Cabaret was strike two , and the third and final strike is the villain of the piece

The cabaret compere is some sympathetic nonbinary fag that sells out everybody to the Cybermen eg. (To the Cybermen gender , creed, ethnicity , etc are irrelevant)

And of course the only pictures of the creature they cast for this part are in garish drag makeup.

 

[starborn427614]

The next season starts filming in November.

 

[Raoul_Duke]

The next season starts filming in November.


View attachment 3592130

I will say this: Doctor Who died in 1987.

And if I wanted British Science-Fiction, I'd go with The Prisoner, not anything after 2000.

 

[Anime Goddess]

If they ever want to bring back doctor who they are going to have to scorch earth everything after doctor falls (if not parts of season 10 too, but that's probably too much effort and too optimistic).

Its just an attrocity all around, yeah doctor who has had its ups and downs, but the 13th is an especially uniquely awful blemish never seen before.

Even the most diehard defenders of jodie are forced to admit that both her seasons are bottom of the barrel compared to the rest.

You cannot point to any other season of the renewed series in good faith and go "That's worse than jodie's seasons."

I agree.

We all know it’s shit. You know it. I know it. The BBC knows it, but here’s the issue.

Fixing this mess would require getting rid of “the first female doctor ”, the “first black female “doctor” , also the “first black male doctor .” and all other firsts Chibnall shoehorned in that montage,

Chibnall is a terrible writer, and literally, without any hyperbole, the worst thing that has ever happened to Doctor Who, but he is also devious. And he made dam sure to shield his Shit behind diversity, and the message So nobody could retcon it without committing carrer suicide.

You can’t just retcon this shit without the stigma of “hating diversity” , or “being a racist”not to mention having twitter and all modern journalists going after you.

The only one with the slightest hope of fixing this is Russell T Davis because he is a part of a protected class. In fact that’s likely why they brought him back. He could, in theory, fix this mess with few repercussions.

But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Guy has always been obsessed with parading his sexuality, and now he doesn’t even have to worry about early 2000‘s standards, that made his version of the show watchable (Like how he couldn’t go too far with his obvious fetishes)

If anything all signs points out he will just double down on Chibnall’s shit.

 

[Oilspill Battery]

Fixing this mess would require getting rid of “the first female doctor ”, the “first black female “doctor” , also the “first black male doctor:tm:.” and other firsts Chubnall shoehorned in that montage,

Presumably this fix is going to happen years from now, after the current run gets cancelled and then re-revied and after the anglosphere's fetish for blacks, and alphabets dies down.

The only one with the slightest hope of fixing this is Russell T Fabus because he is a part of a protected class.

In fact that’s likely why they brought him back. But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Guy has always been obsessed with parading his sexuality, and now he doesn’t even have to worry about early 2000‘s standards that Made this show watchable,

If anything all signs points out he will just double down on Chibnall’s shit.

lmao, russel cast a black faggot (I'm not even sure if he's actually gay, but he's definitely a faggot) with no acting experience other than playing the clown, and a black tranny with 0 acting experience as the companion, he's not planning on fixing shit.

 

[Anime Goddess]

he's not planning on fixing shit.

Agreed.

That’s why my closing statement was “all signs point he is just going to double down on Chibnall’s shit”.

Right now this mess is just unfixable.The political climate just won’t allow it.

The BBC won’t hire anyone that would be willing to change it. And even people that would be willing can’t do it becuase it would be career suicide,

Chibnall did the ultimate spite move to the fandom that even Rian Johnson would be jealous of.

These people are literally cultists, and complaining won’t change their minds. Not even losing money and viewers can change their minds. They only care about preaching the gospel of wokeness. Honestly, the sad truth is that we will just have to move on. Best case scenario is a another revival will fix this mess.

Until then, as painful it is to say this, there are other shows more worthy of your time.

 

[Maurice Caine]

I will say this: Doctor Who died in 1987.

And if I wanted British Science-Fiction, I'd go with The Prisoner, not anything after 2000.

I dunno, think some serials like Remembrance of the Daleks were great. 7th doctor should have continued on 1990.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

And if I wanted British Science-Fiction, I'd go with The Prisoner, not anything after 2000.

You might add Space 1999, Space Precint and UFO to the list.

I dunno, think some serials like Remembrance of the Daleks were great. 7th doctor should have continued on 1990.

Yeah and the 30th anniversary of Dr. Who "Dimensions in Time" might have been better.

 

[Piggy Higuera]

I will say this: Doctor Who died in 1987.

And if I wanted British Science-Fiction, I'd go with The Prisoner, not anything after 2000.

I finally got around to watching Blakes 7 a few years ago and now it's my autistic go-to comfort show. It's like depressing Doctor Who, but not in the way current Who is depressing. The Dudley Simpson music is moody and bombastic, it has some great Who writers like Robert Holmes, and it's pretty much a different show seasons 1 & 2 vs. 3 & 4 so it has Who's variation. The first episode is really well directed, it drew me in and did an amazing job worldbuilding.

 

[Dixieland Buckaroo]

: laughs in K-9:

Fucking poser!

I bet you don't even know who Graham Williams is.

Sorry to rez-
Only reason I know the name is I've recently been reading about the history of the show. As a non-Britbong, Who didn't ship overseas to me until months/years later, so I saw the bulk of 4 new (to my country at least). But I was just a fan of the show, not autistically buying magazines or merch at the time.

 

[feral cat #6385]

Sorry to rez-
Only reason I know the name is I've recently been reading about the history of the show. As a non-Britbong, Who didn't ship overseas to me until months/years later, so I saw the bulk of 4 new (to my country at least). But I was just a fan of the show, not autistically buying magazines or merch at the time.

Grant Williams was one of the weaker Doctor Who producers during the peak of the Classic Series when Tom Baker was Doctor. His final series as producer was particularly clunker laden. But even he produced much better seasons than Chinballz. Even JNT at his worst is better than Chinballz. It's really quite astounding how this untalented soyboy hack managed to destroy a 50+ year old show. In 50+ years no one else was even close to his level of incompetence.

 

[Kerr Avon]

I finally got around to watching Blakes 7 a few years ago and now it's my autistic go-to comfort show. It's like depressing Doctor Who, but not in the way current Who is depressing. The Dudley Simpson music is moody and bombastic, it has some great Who writers like Robert Holmes, and it's pretty much a different show seasons 1 & 2 vs. 3 & 4 so it has Who's variation. The first episode is really well directed, it drew me in and did an amazing job worldbuilding.

The other wonderful thing about it is it's dead, at least as far as the twitterati are concerned

If you're hungry for new content the two Classic Adventures sets from Big Finish are probably your best bet other than that it's kinda spotty.

 

[Overly Serious]

I agree.

We all know it’s shit. You know it. I know it. The BBC knows it, but here’s the issue.

Fixing this mess would require getting rid of “the first female doctor ”, the “first black female “doctor” , also the “first black male doctor .” and all other firsts Chibnall shoehorned in that montage,

Chibnall is a terrible writer, and literally, without any hyperbole, the worst thing that has ever happened to Doctor Who, but he is also devious. And he made dam sure to shield his Shit behind diversity, and the message So nobody could retcon it without committing carrer suicide.

You can’t just retcon this shit without the stigma of “hating diversity” , or “being a racist”not to mention having twitter and all modern journalists going after you.

The only one with the slightest hope of fixing this is Russell T Davis because he is a part of a protected class. In fact that’s likely why they brought him back. He could, in theory, fix this mess with few repercussions.

But I wouldn’t hold my breath. Guy has always been obsessed with parading his sexuality, and now he doesn’t even have to worry about early 2000‘s standards, that made his version of the show watchable (Like how he couldn’t go too far with his obvious fetishes)

If anything all signs points out he will just double down on Chibnall’s shit.

You know at some point someone is going to have to walk up to these empty children and say loudly and firmly: "Go to your room". And realise that our own fear is the weapon they use against us. Do it -write something the Woke don't like. Twitter will ree a thousand rees but ratings will go up. Even if they don't, better to go out in quality.

Anyway, what I really wanted to comment on was this minor tangent about classic Bong sci-fi:

You might add Space 1999, Space Precint and UFO to the list.

Yeah and the 30th anniversary of Dr. Who "Dimensions in Time" might have been better.

Given my avatar is from UFO you'd think I'd be really recommending it. It is worth watching but you need to be able to set aside a modern mindset somewhat and watch it for what it is. I'm not specifically talking special effects of men in green facepaint and firecracker explosions. They're actually endearing and sometimes good in their way. I'm talking first of all about the pacing. UFO comes from an era where TV was more like a radio serial. People gather around to watch it not because they are bored and on an endless quest for the latest distraction but where they're interested in an unknown story, TV itself is still sort of a special thing. And the show relies on that.

Anyway, if anyone wants a Classic Bong Sci-Fi recommendation, I'm going to call out Saphire and Steel.




"Transuranic heavy elements may not be used, where there is life..."

What the Hell is going on in this show? Beats me but I adore it.

And if I'm sperging I might as well bend definitions and throw in a couple of non-serial one shots that fit the era:

The Stone Tapes is a weird fusion of Ramsey Cambell / Lord Dunsany / TV drama and the entire thing is online.

And Hammer is more usually associated with Dracula, et al. but Quatermass and the Pitt (1967) is a good semi-Lovecraftian Sci-Fi horror in the mold of British TV serials (it's actually a film re-do of an early black and white British TV serial).



From an era where women were sometimes expected to make tea, but men were also expected to leap in front of sci-fi horrors to protect them (so an arguable trade).

I finally got around to watching Blakes 7 a few years ago and now it's my autistic go-to comfort show. It's like depressing Doctor Who, but not in the way current Who is depressing. The Dudley Simpson music is moody and bombastic, it has some great Who writers like Robert Holmes, and it's pretty much a different show seasons 1 & 2 vs. 3 & 4 so it has Who's variation. The first episode is really well directed, it drew me in and did an amazing job worldbuilding.

I would heartily have added this to my list but you beat me to it. Blake's Seven had some very shaky budgets and more than a few clunkers but had an extremely solid foundation in its concept, characterisation and overall arc.

It also had Kerr Avon's unsurpassed put downs:

Villa: "I've got this terrible pounding behind my eyes."
Avon: "Have you considered amputation."

And...

Avon: "This is Callie. I'll introduce her properly when she comes round. This is Villa. I really should introduce him now, he's at his best when he's unconscious."

The ongoing tension between Avon and Blake is a big thematic driver of the show. Avon is a cynic. Blake a defiant idealist. Avon loves to demonstrate his intellect. Blake is also very smart but much more understated about it. (Big spoilers if you haven't watched the show). Ultimately the irony is that Avon desperately wants to believe in Blake and at the very end when Blake returns, Avon believes that Blake has betrayed them and effectively dies by his own hand when he's forced to accept his own cynicism as justified. He doesn't literally put the gun to his head but he's the only one still standing at the end and the soldiers don't shoot him, he could be captured. Probably could bargain his way into a deal with the federation. But instead he raises his own gun knowing full well he has no chance of winning. Another detail I liked was that at the end where everyone is shooting back or trying to flee, Avon just stands there. He is a master calculator. He knows rationally they cannot win and the part of himself that believed they could (Blake) he has just killed.

Blake really embodied Avon's optimism. Which is probably why Avon was always giving Blake so much grief - he was lashing out at himself as much as Blake.

Also, I'm 90% sure that Avon and Callie were dating.

 

[UnKillFill]

It's been a while...
But hey, since I'm here now, how about a (dr)UnKillShredDur review of "Rise of the Cybermen"? (That was the next episode right?)

Spoiler: LONG

We start with some rando saying, "The prototype has passed every test sir, it's working."
Then we get the gross close up of the mouth of a guy, who we will find out is called Lumic saying, "I hardly think 'working' is the correct word. That would apply only to machines."

Me: Uh no... I have to work all the time, and last time I checked, I'm not a machine.
Other dude: "Sorry, I should say, It's alive."
Me: Ok episode, I get it... You want to be Frankenstein, while reinventing a decades old monster for a new generation, but you're also lazy AF. Right on.

Mouth Dr. Frankenstein envies his creation, and then orders it to murder his other subordinate because that guy has a conscience.

We finally cut to our 'heroes', in mid-conversation:

DOCTOR: And that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes? Do you remember? the way she looked at you! And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out!
ROSE: I thought I was going to get frazzled!
DOCTOR: Yeah. One minute she's standing there, and the next minute roar!
MICKEY: Yeah. where was that, then? What happened?

That story sounds boring as shit, no wonder it wasn't good enough to be an actual episode... But wow, what a dick move retelling it and laughing about it in front of Mickey, who clearly wasn't there to experience it first hand. Also while they were re-telling that story, 10 was apparently making Mickey hold a random TARDIS part for no reason. Guess we aren't going to leave this (alleged) sex pest with anything even remotely resembling dignity. (Good thing he's a black, and RTD is kind of a racist... Maybe he'll still end up with his own Nubian princess right at the end when 10 has to regenerate, no matter how little sense it makes, and how little he's never actually met Marfa on screen.) Anyway, something bad happens and the TARDIS ends up in a spot of bother...

ROSE: Well, we've landed. We've got to be somewhere.
DOCTOR: We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension.
(Mickey opens the door.)
MICKEY: Otherwise known as London.
(Spoiler: they're actually in a parallel London, but that still made me laugh.)

There are Zeppelins floating around here, which are cool, and Rose's dad is still alive in adverts, which is neat I guess.

Rose's mom in this universe is still just a slightly older Rose, and thus still nearly identical to her... only she actually managed to bag a wealthy man. She's still every bit the piece of chav trash that both Jackie Prime and Rose Prime are though, only *her* Rose is just a tiny dog. I don't even know what to say to that.

Ok, this Jackie is a little bit worse than Jackie Prime. She complains that her 40th birthday is being celebrated and not her 39th, even though she is in fact turning 40. I'll say it again, this is just a slightly older Rose.

This Pete is actually pretty cool... He's just super cucked by his wife.

The creepy guy from the beginning of the episode copies stuff from this Jackie's mind. These are just supposed to be wireless headphones right? Why would anybody buy them if they had a "steal your memories" function? I know that's the point, but much more so than in 2006, wireless headphones are actually a thing now, and not just in a parallel universe. He steals a lot of info from fake Jackie with these.

Offscreen, and with admittedly some prompting, but also a lot of warnings, Rose runs off into this new universe, and 10 is pissed at Mickey for some reason.

DOCTOR: I told you to keep an eye on her.
MICKEY: She's all right.
DOCTOR: She goes wandering off. Parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house. All those temptations calling out.
MICKEY: Oh, so it's just Rose, then? Nothing out there to tempt me?

Mickey actually has a point here, even if the payoff is stupid. Why the fuck is this Mickey's fault? Rose is her own woman, right? If 10 cares, why wasn't he paying attention?

Also, Rose is fucking stupid.

A bunch of clean and well-dressed (and surprisingly well-groomed) hobos get rounded up by some men in trucks. I wonder what's going to happen to them.

The TARDIS isn't dead, it's only *mostly* dead. Right on.

Rose gets pissy that she doesn't exist in this parallel universe that has literally nothing to do with her. Why?
I'd almost understand her desire to meet a man who is pretty clearly *not* her father, even though he looks and acts a lot like him, if she hadn't just almost literally destroyed her own universe trying to do the exact same thing to her actual father only a few episodes ago.

Her pissiness spreads to Mickey, and 10 can't follow both of them when they both decide to split up. I wonder who he will choose to follow. Yeah he goes with Rose.

Rose's *not* dad seems to be a con man, selling "pop" (do British people really call it "pop"? I know some stupid Americans do, I didn't realize you britbongs did too) and pretending like it's a health drink. Ok.

There's apparently a curfew, but it only applies to poor people. I wish that wasn't as topical as it is after fucking covid, but they didn't stop Mickey for it so whatever.

Mickey's grandmother apparently used to slap him, and Rose thinks that's absolutely hilarious. I'm not surprised by any part of that last sentence.

These ear pod things are stupid on a fundamental level, particularly if everybody who wears them is forced to freeze in place as the new update is beamed into their brains. What if they're doing something that really couldn't be stopped, like flying a plane... or open heart surgery...? It's bad enough that now 16 years later now my *computer* will pull this shit because Windows is trash, but I digress.

Oh hey, it's Mickey's gran, who Rose told us died in the prime universe a few moments ago. I wonder how this is going to end. (Stay tuned for part 2)

Lol his name is literally Ricky in this universe. I remembered that, but it's still funny to hear somebody call him that. And hey he just got kidnapped by his "friends". Lol.

The pre-Obama *black* "president" of alternate universe Great Britain is telling Lumic that he doesn't have permission to use his tech on himself to preserve his own life. Such a shame that the alternate universe britbongs of 16ish years ago didn't have Trump as president. He'd have given Lumic the 'Right to try' and probably prevented the majority of what's about to happen.

Oh hey, it's the surprisingly clean and well-dressed (and well-groomed) hobos. Now they all follow orders and walk into spinning metal death machine as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" plays. Symbolism? (probably not.)

Mickey and the people who kidnapped him somehow stumble upon the *real* Ricky, and I suddenly realize the folly of calling Mickey "Ricky" any time he acted like a bitch, because the real Ricky is clearly way more badass than Mickey actually is. They immediately point their guns at Mickey because Ricky calls him a fake, even though they had previously spent hours with him.

10 and Rose decide to crash Jackie's 40th 39th birthday party this makes *total* sense, but alt-Pete uses his catchphrase "It's her 39'th birthday, trust me on this," and everybody, myself included, laughed. Right on.

It's amazing how even parallel universe and rich, Jackie Tyler still comes off as a burnt out chav.

We have Cybermen now... I guess... I don't like it, especially because these are the default Cybermen on this show for at least the next few years, but they'll fix it eventually so whatever.

I don't get why Ricky's posse immediately believe that Mickey is the imposter (as opposed to even slightly wondering if the real Ricky was the fake), but it's funny that they do... and they definitely gave Mickey the full once over. He probably got touched by them worse than Noel Clarke did to all of those women. Allegedly.

I do like that Ricky is actually something of a badass. If he didn't spend his life from childhood (we saw it in Fathers Day) simping for Rose, maybe Mickey could have been a badass too.

The scene between Rose and alt-Pete where he admits that he and alt-Jackie are pretty much broken up is almost sweet... but they ruined it by having him pull the "why am I telling you all of this?" bullshit again.
alt-Pete, you're telling her all of that because your wife is a terrible person and you hate her. She hates you too, and you're having a hard time dealing with it. You do *not* instinctively on some level know that this girl is your alternate universe daughter or something like that. That would just be retarded. (To be fair, they haven't pulled that shit again *yet* but give it time.)

These new Cybermen are terrible, but I like how they're filming them. So far, we've only seen their feet and it's a pretty striking visual.

Rose talking to her alt-mom really just makes me hate them both more. Rose basically tries to say "yeah maybe you don't love him, but at least he's rich," and alt-Jackie says "Who the hell do you think you are? You're just the help, and you're fired." and I mean... alt- Jackie isn't wrong. Rose has no fucking clue what she's even talking about. For all she knows, alt-Pete is a serial philanderer, and alt-Jackie has every reason to be divorcing him. There's nothing in this episode that even disproves that. There's nothing that proves it either, but that's my point.
This isn't Rose's world, she doesn't know nearly enough to be sticking her nose into this. Yet she still does. Fuck you Rose Tyler.

Looks like Lumic didn't want the right to try after all? He hasn't become a Cybus Cyberman yet.

The (pre-Obama black) president of the alternate universe UK literally just said "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" (for what's been done to you) and 10 was there to see it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think 10 has said that yet, so I'm gonna say this is where one of his most famous catch phrases originated from. I didn't realize that until I rewatched this episode just now.

Rose gives Ricky some affection for pretty much the first time ever, and it's the wrong one so he has no fucking clue who she is. I love it. Then Mickey pops out and he's like "that's not me" lmfao.

Uh oh, everybody just got captured by the Cybermen, and they're chanting "DELETE". I wonder what's going to happen next...

Tune in next time to find out?

 

[Oats12345]

You might add Space 1999, Space Precint and UFO to the list.

Yeah and the 30th anniversary of Dr. Who "Dimensions in Time" might have been better.

Space 1999. I'm so happy I'm not the only one here who has seen that classic. One of my first sci fy shows alongside Stargate Sg1, Battlestar Galacta and Star Trek. My father really knew what to raise me on.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

Space 1999. I'm so happy I'm not the only one here who has seen that classic. One of my first sci fy shows alongside Stargate Sg1, Battlestar Galacta and Star Trek. My father really knew what to raise me on.

Yeah, too bad then season 2 wasn't as good as the first season and some blamed Fred Freiberger for ruining Space 1999 just like he ruined Star Trek.

 

[Oats12345]

Yeah, too bad then season 2 wasn't as good as the first season and some blamed Fred Freiberger for ruining Space 1999 just like he ruined Star Trek.

True season 2 did kind of suck a little. I was sad when Victor was gone