The Bill Pots run is carried by Matt Lucas playing Nardole as the extra companion and then towards the end you get to add in Missy. I really wish we got more of Capaldi+Nardole and Missy rather than going into the mess we have now.
Since the show proper is utter shit right now, (and doesn't look like that's going to be changing any time soon), I decided to return to something Who-related I actually like love- In this case, the Jago and Litefoot Big Finish series.
I've sperged on a bit about Jago and Litefoot before, but I really can't recommend it highly enough to any other disillusioned Doctor Whovians (especially fans of the classic series). There are 13 box sets of 4 episodes each, as well as 14th set which comes with one epilogue story made after Trevor Baxter (Litefoot) sadly passed away, and 2 other (previously released) stories where Jago and Litefoot have run-ins with the 11th and 10th Doctors respectively. (The format of those stories is such that they're narrated by Jago and Litefoot so Smith and Tennant don't actually appear, but they're still really good.) They've also made a handful of appearances in various other BF pieces, including the 4th doctor's series, and the special 6th Doctor regeneration story they made for him (which you should also check out if you get the chance).
The first episode of the first box set is actually free at the moment on BF... (You do need a BF account, but that's also free to make.)
Award-winning, full-cast original audio dramas from the worlds of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Blake's 7, Class, Dark Shadows, The Avengers, Survivors, The Omega Factor, Star Cops, Sherlock Holmes, Dorian Gray, Pathfinder Legends, The Prisoner, Adam Adamant Lives, Space 1999, Timeslip and Terrahawks
www.bigfinish.com
And while it isn't actually their first Big Finish story (There was a companion chronicles, which gets referenced majorly later in that first set which served as something of a backdoor pilot, and I *highly* recommend checking that out too,) it's still a pretty decent launching point.
A side note, the "bonus features" of literally every set I've heard (Which are mostly cast and crew interviews, with insights about the writing and acting in the series) Are particular favorites of mine of the Jago and Litefoot range, (and I don't even usually care about Big Finish bonus features tbh.) so much so that I got the release Big Finish made which was pretty much exclusively "Jago and Litefoot: The Bonus Features"- https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/benjamin-baxter-906
My two biggest takeaways from that were "Wow, Trevor Baxter was gay?" and... "How didn't I realize before that Trevor Baxter was gay, considering how kind of gay the rest of Jago and Litefoot is?" (I'm immature AF, but it's still a really good interview for 8 bucks.)
Series 1: is an intro to what the rest of the series is going to be. It isn't my favorite, but first seasons rarely are the best. It's still good.
Series 2: is basically Jago and Litefoot vs. Dracula. Some things that happen here have repercussions later on in the rest of the series, and it is also great...
Series 3: is Jago and Litefoot meet Leela (again), and I love the series so much that even though Leela shows up, and is written completely in character (acting just as cunty as she ever is) doesn't make me like the series any less...
Series 4: This series keeps Leela, and brings in an actual Doctor to boot.
BF didn't have Tom Baker at the time, so they used his 'brother' (lol) Colin, and it's great because Jago and Litefoot don't recognize him at first, and they kind of hate him until they figure out who he is at end of the series
There are two episodes that take place between series 4 and series 5, and they are important because they set up the premise of series 5....
After the end of Series 4, Jago and Litefoot travel with Sixie for two (really good) episodes, and the end result is Jago and Litefoot accidentally get dumped off into the 1960's (They usually live in the late 1800's)- and them trying to find a way back home is the premise of Series 5... Speaking of which...
Series 5: This was actually my favorite J&L series for a time when I first heard it, and I still think it's (mostly) great, even though one of the 4 episodes is kind of bad... Jago and Litefoot, two gentlemen from the Victorian era, get stuck in the 1960's, and they live there for a time, which is pure gold from a story telling sense, and they do a good job with it... There are even some fun callbacks to "Talons of Weng-Chiang" The *only* thing that pissed me off, is that Jago and Litefoot randomly lose their memories of living in the future after they get back to their present, and there is literally no reason for that... It's forgivable though.
If anyone cares, I'll elaborate on the rest of the series' just let me know... Do check out that free episode if you can though.
I loved Eccleston, mostly loved Tennant (realizing the new incarnation reached its zenith with him), liked Matt Smith (less as time went on) and liked Capaldi (realizing he was a great choice betrayed by terrible writing).
Whittaker should have an asterisk. She shouldn't even be the fucking Doctor because the Doctor is a FUCKING DUDE. That's why they created Romana and could have brought her back. In fact, if done the right way, she probably could have been very well received. But when are you folks going to realize that there is no intention to make good entertainment with Chibs and Whittaker. These woke things they shit out are simply supposed to "exist". "We did this and you can't undo it!".
Normally I'm not for screaming YouTubers, but Bowelstrek really is the only one who does this current iteration justice.
... As to Bill, my first introduction to her was a hyper-woke girlfriend of a friend telling me: "Oh, the new companion's great. She's a queer person of colour and she keeps calling the Doctor out on his bullshit". Not a great start. I mean, I would have liked it if the person had described something about who she was rather than a check box list of things they approved.
Oh man, first SJW rodeo? Who they are is EXACTLY those superficial checkboxes. Why do you think the NPC meme cut them so deep? Because it's true. The people writing these characters are barely human.
Yeah insta destroying Galifrey right after it was brought back and already bringing back the master after he/she died their final death at their own hand is really headscratching I always felt like the master is better popping up when the current doctor is better built up.
Her "I rather like Fred" remains one of my favourite Doctor Who lines. I'm pretty sure it's an ad lib because you can see Tom Baker giving her the evils when she says it. (Good naturedly, I think).
So ... basically the 50th anniversary was for nothing. I will give Chibnall the benefit of doubt considering its still early second season, but it feels to be done too early and a cheap way to create drama.
I stopped at Capaldi, but to theorize, the only thing that would make sense to me to make The Master react this emo would be that he had found out the timelords were just ordinary and unimportant.
The master is evil and we know the high council, and people like Rassilion didn't mind doing evil things like literally attempting to genociding the whole universe, so that isn't a surprise at all. The Master, in character, wouldn't care if the timelords had done something evil to found their society, if anything, he would approve.
The only thing, that I could think, that could bother him this much in character would be IMHO something that would bruise his ego.
So yeah, Current Doctor Who is still awful... But I still recommend the Big Finish Jago and Litefoot Adventures line... I stopped halfway describing them last time, but the entire 13+ series' of it are still spectacular.... And the first episode is still free if you make an account on the Big Finish site (https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/jago-litefoot-the-bloodless-soldier-1850)
But I'm actually listening to much later episodes in the series at the moment...
After Jago and Litefoot travel in the TARDIS with the 6th doctor (technically not part of that line) https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-voyage-to-venus-793, and https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-voyage-to-the-new-world-794 , they get randomly stuck in the 1960's for a series I like quite a bit [Series 5]... Also, at some point, several series' after that the Geoffrey Beevers Master shows up in Jago and Litefoot... But that's not until Series 11.. That isn't meant to diminish any of the other series of Jago and Litefoot, I like them all... But some series' have gimmicks and some don't.
Cyberman is pretty good, if a bit on the edgy side of things (the same can be said about the Sarah Jane Smith audios). UNIT (the one with Nicholas Courtney) is also pretty good if you want something slightly more grounded. Tales From New Earth isn't too bad either (it's like the Companion Chronicles or the Early Adventures in that parts of it are narrated), it's got drama, cats, and homogays.
EDIT: The monthly range story Davros works great as a companion to I, Davros (being that it inspired the miniseries but that's neither here nor there).
You know, now that the 13th doctor killed my interest in Doctor Who, I started to get more into horror to fill that gap. I even lurked the SCP foundation thread here and got introduced to its mythology. Specifically, the infinite IKEA one felt like a lost episode of Doctor Who.
Then a realization came to me. Doctor Who, or at last New Who, is basically a horror show+ hope. I know it's obvious, but I really never thought of the show that way. And I think it's one big part of what makes it different from other Sci-fi like Trek and it's aliens that are more like foreign cultures than actual monsters.
"But doctor who isn't scary at all!"
True, and that's my second point.
The reason Doctor Who isn't truly scary, even if some of their monsters are fantastic, is due to the Doctor. Remove the doctor and many of the best episodes would just be creepypastas and horror movies. Their expanded universe has literal creatures out of Lovecraft lore, heck the GI is literally Yog-Sothoth.
But, instead of people just becoming insane or getting killed, you got this guy called the doctor using his mind to bring sense to what would be unexplainable, and love and compassion to fix what would otherwise be a nightmare.
And I think that's a huge reason why Doctor Who is so cool for me.
Oh FFS! How did that happen? And more importantly why did they do it? Is it trying to force the Doctor back to his Tennant-era "lonely god" thing? Or is there some meta reason? Were too many of the Time Lords male or something?
EDIT: The monthly range story Davros works great as a companion to I, Davros (being that it inspired the miniseries but that's neither here nor there).
Which is the one that opens with that pre-credits monologue by Davros after he's been crippled and is expected to kill himself. Because that introduction was amazing!
You know, now that the 13th doctor killed my interest in Doctor Who, I started to get more into horror to fill that gap. I even lurked the SCP foundation thread here and got introduced to its mythology. Specifically, the infinite IKEA one felt like a lost episode of Doctor Who.
There is "infinite IKEA" in the Big Finish series. It's not an actual IKEA but in one series, I think it's The One Doctor, one of the challenges faced is assembling the Shelves of Infinity. The store robots became self-aware and just endlessly expanded everything and kill people who can't assemble the products. The shelves are 4-dimensional and the instructions are not very good. One of my favourite things in the Big Finish productions is how well the Sixth Doctor comes across, also Mel. Both with some serious issues for some people on screen. They even lampshade this at one time where an older Sixth Doctor meets himself shortly after regeneration. "I could be a little... temperamental" he remarks of his younger self. Or something like that.
Oh FFS! How did that happen? And more importantly why did they do it? Is it trying to force the Doctor back to his Tennant-era "lonely god" thing? Or is there some meta reason? Were too many of the Time Lords male or something?
Remove the doctor and many of the best episodes would just be creepypastas and horror movies. Their expanded universe has literal creatures out of Lovecraft lore, heck the GI is literally Yog-Sothoth.
Like the Torchwood spin-off mini-series, Children of Earth. Think how that episode would have gone with the Doctor on Earth at the time. It would be over in fifteen minutes. But without him the simplest things like humanity not having easy ability to get people into orbit and maneouvre around up there makes the threat almost insurmountable. I never really watched Torchwood but Children of Earth was great. The politicians and their actions were very plausible.
EDIT: @UnKillFill That makes no sense to me whatsoever. Is the Master now nothing more than the Doctor's psychotic stalker? And have the Time Lords now no actual defensive capability or foresight whatsoever? Used to be that they would imprison or compel the Doctor and the Master when they needed and these rogue Time Lords were tolerated mainly because they were sometimes useful. Yes, the Time Lords were overly-academic and too sure of themselves once upon a time but the Time War is supposed to have changed all that.
EDIT: @UnKillFill That makes no sense to me whatsoever. Is the Master now nothing more than the Doctor's psychotic stalker? And have the Time Lords now no actual defensive capability or foresight whatsoever? Used to be that they would imprison or compel the Doctor and the Master when they needed and these rogue Time Lords were tolerated mainly because they were sometimes useful. Yes, the Time Lords were overly-academic and too sure of themselves once upon a time but the Time War is supposed to have changed all that.
They were practically portrayed as gods in their first appearance at the end of War Games. Unfortunately it seems like they got weaker and weaker every time they showed up after that.
Which is the one that opens with that pre-credits monologue by Davros after he's been crippled and is expected to kill himself. Because that introduction was amazing!
Davros (Part 1) from the Doctor Who monthly range. A nice Sixth Doctor story and works well as a prequel to I, Davros, if you're interested in checking either out.
They were practically portrayed as gods in their first appearance at the end of War Games. Unfortunately it seems like they got weaker and weaker every time they showed up after that.
That came with learning more and more about them; in The War Games we only knew their name and all of jack shit else about them. After a certain point the spinoff stories that featured individual Time Lords gave the impression they were all powerful like their earlier appearances did.
So yeah the new series is more shit. I can't get over how badly thought out it is. 4 guys with guns are cowed by one guy with a pair of shoes he clearly can't even aim properly. They all just stand there and wait for him to deliver a short speech before they surrender. Then there was the whole "I've convinced your mates you're a traitor and disabled your disguise" bit. Wouldn't these two cancel each other out? Like they'd have come to catch the traitor and found some other guy. Usually I'm a sucker for time travel fuckery but when it's done badly (e.g. on the plane) it's just a get out of jail free card to any problem and then they resolved the whole plot with some curse of fatal death tier shit.
Bringing back the Master so soon was a mistake. Missy's corpse is barely cold and it just undoes all of that character development. Even if that development was kinda shit, shitting on it isn't going to help. Then there was the whole Gallifrey is gone again bit. It's the justification for it that gets me most. It's clear they're trying to set up an arcing plot and we'll discover the secret in the last episode of the series but it's implied they're planning to retcon a bunch of stuff about the time lords and you just know they're gonna replace it with dumb shit that makes no sense.
