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Posted: |
Jan 20, 2020 - 4:16 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Companions still having to share lines, which is a tad frustrating. Also, why are Yaz, Ryan and Graham in period costume but not the Doctor?
I think the question is: why are there so many of them?
Sadly, the answer seems to be: to try to appeal to as many people as possible. They don't seem to realise that you can still relate to a character that isn't like you. And to prove my point, I'd like it a lot better if they got rid of Ryan and Graham and just stuck with Yaz. Or if that's too daring, just get rid of Ryan, the most pointless companion ever.
Unfortunately they forgot to make it entertaining. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood yesterday, but after 20 minutes I went and did the washing up, because it seemed less boring.
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I did think it was one of the better ones in this low point period. Plot was ok, the guest (historical) characters were good, and the actors who played them. The guy who played Edison was Salateen in the Classic Series all time great The Caves of Androzani.
The production values generally were great, including the sfx for the monsters which I thought were terrific. There was also excellent scary support from the zombies with the red eyes.
However the lead alien, who they chose to make almost humanoid, no doubt for better facial expression was excruciatingly bad. Not only did the actor overplay it to panto level, she had at least an inch around her eyes and mouth free of makeup giving her an Al Jolson look, something these days they would be desperate NOT to have. It was of course the lead teen girl from the kids hour spin-off Sarah Jane Adventures. She was a poser in that but has done some high profile stuff since then and done very well, but here she slummed it terribly. The face/head was also a bad rip-off of the Racnoss (giant spider woman) from the David Tennant/Catherine Tate Christmas Special The Runaway Bride. It wasn't good then either but this was ten times worse.
On the subject of two many companions. There was a time in the distant 1960s, when a story could be anywhere up to six or seven episodes long (not counting one-offs at 12 and 10), with one per week. Often the crew were split up early on and part of the tension was would they see each other again? Whatever, there was room for three companions + Doctor+ guest cast. But when you're trying to cram an epic into 45 mins it simply will not work.
And as usual the lead actor was rubbish. The ratings (4.04 overnight figures) are supporting the lack of interest in the first female Doctor, but will the BBC ever admit defeat? Like hell they will. She was just a little bit less scatty this week, but still a pale David Tennant impression. That's what happens when you flatly refuse to do any research and your only experience of Doctor Who is post 2005.
Contrast her approach to that of Matt Smith. He went away and watched Tomb of the Cybermen starring the great Patrick Troughton, where he apparently got the bow tie from. Result? Possibly the closest to a proper Doctor we've had since the remount began.
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Posted: |
Jan 20, 2020 - 12:22 PM
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By: |
Jehannum
(Member)
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They don't seem to realise that you can still relate to a character that isn't like you.
This is so true I want it written on the Moon in large, neon letters. I want it laser-etched into the retinas of every would-be writer born after 1990.
It's something that even George Orwell (as much as I love him) couldn't understand. He bemoaned the fact that the most popular children's comic characters amongst working class children were public schoolboys such as Billy Bunter (or in my era, Winker Watson). From his essay, Boys' Weeklies:
"1910 - or 1940, but it is all the same... there is a cosy fire in the study... The King is on his throne... Everything will be the same forever."
And, during my own childhood, Enid Blyton's books became much maligned by middle class literary critics. My thoughts then as now are: fuck you. I'm just a lower working class scrote. Why can't you understand that childhood fantasy is all about imagining yourself into a wonderful, created, imagined situation? When you read about it you don't need a character that you can identify with on every conceivable level. Your hero does not have to be the same race, gender, class, intelligence level or cultural background as you.
One thing that some people don't understand is that there really are "safe spaces". One example is the impregnability of the TARDIS. Under Chibnall's reign this no longer exists. In my childhood only the Keeper of Traken ever broached that stronghold.
And to prove my point, I'd like it a lot better if they got rid of Ryan and Graham and just stuck with Yaz. Or if that's too daring, just get rid of Ryan, the most pointless companion ever.
Seems reasonable.
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Michelle Gomez should have been the Rani, and Romana should have been given her own show (or even the lead in Doctor Who whilst spending time looking for a missing Doctor) when they wanted a female Doctor TYPE. Everyone happy. Instead they've divided their audience by being pig headed.
American comics and tv lead the way here. Need a female VERSION of Superman? Yay... Supergirl. And all manner of Batwomen/Girls, Girl From UNCLE, Bionic Woman etc., etc... Again, everyone happy.
Even with things like the new Battlestar Galactica, it's a remake. So no real problem.
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FANTASTIC episode. Really enjoyed this, and last weeks Tesla ep too. (Conversely, Orphan 55 was one of my least favourite episodes of anything ever. Total misfire that blunted an extremely important message.)
But yep, this was terrific, and exciting, and hopefully the rest of the series will maintain the pace these two eps have set.
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There were indeed positives to last night's episode. Full of incident, nice space fx (sadly some lesser ones too), plenty of reveals so it wasn't boring. Even the lead actor was less scatty. Not a story in itself, more a part one. Companions weren't as wasted considering where they went at first.
Of course it's all part of the great retcon. Heard about the controversial side of this one, and naturally for an older fan hate it. Will reserve total judgement until the end of series to see how it pans out. But it was becoming like the Doctor Who version of the female Ghostbusters and we all know what happened there.
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