Doctor Who

@KK Ho Ho Ho I'm curious of what you thought of The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances; it's a really highly regarded story and you're first serious viewing of future head writer Moffat.

Moffat is cowriting Jamie's episode? That's a surprise. You'd think Moffat would give Jamie space after his previous victories. Though you could guess that The Girl Who Died and the Woman Who Lived is a two parter, but one with two different writers, so Moffat having to do rewrites to link them together better would make sense.

So, that's already three two parters? With the hint that the final will also be a two parter? This is shaping up to be a really different beast of Doctor Who.

If Métal Hurlant: Origins proves Jamie can head write like the best, and The Girl who Died continues to confirm his talent he'll secure my desire for Moffat Succession. Even so that would probably mean he wouldn't be able to succeed Moffat until after season 10. But that might not be a bad thing.

Well, it was very good, I can tell you that. It was also rather creepy; probably the creepiest story the show's put out since the Hinchcliffe era in the 70's. It also had a strong focus on original ideas and characters; of all of the New Series episodes thus far, this has probably been the most high-concept. However, as I said earlier, there's less of a focus on Character Development and melodramatic elements than other episodes in the season, though it's still very character driven. And of course, it introduced Captain Jack; while I'm not a real fan of the character just yet, (maybe Torchwood will change my opinion of him,) he's alright. I'm actually interested to know if he was actually meant to be a companion, or was originally just some one-shot character, because he doesn't seem like the kind of companion the New Series normally has. (There's Rose, Adam, and Mickey, who becomes a companion in just a few episodes from now. All three are normal humans from the early 21st century. And there's Jack, a bisexual conman and man of action from the 51st century who, while human, is anything but normal. Something seems off, is all I'm saying.)

But yes, it was very good, and I'm looking forward to seeing more Moffat whenever I get to it. (Which will likely be in the next few days, what with 'The Girl in the Fireplace' and all.)

I suspect Moffat's cowriting credits will continue to be "leave some space for me to write scenes directly related to the arc".

So, I've mainly just been watching the New Series, but I've also been listening to the first BF audio, Sirens of Time, on the side; I finally finished it after 4 days, and... it's okay. Basically, Sirens was created less as just trying to be a good story first, and more as being a showpiece to reintroduce 5, 6, and 7; the first three episodes (each of which, by the way, are at least 10 minutes longer then the average Classic Series episode for whatever reason,) each have one of the Doctors begin to be embroiled in a traditional adventure only to be pulled out before it really gets going, with the bulk of the real story being contained to the last 40 minutes, (which may seem like a lot, except that it's 40 out of 126, so not so much,) when the Three Doctors (see what I did there,) finally get together. And when the real story is finally revealed, you find yourself having to rewind the audio a few times just to grasp it as it's somewhat convoluted, even by Doctor Who standards.

Still, it is nice to hear 5, 6 and 7 again, (especially 7,) and this audio's take on 6 actually managed to make me like him. He's a lot more mellow then he was on-screen, but still practical, and also still capable of slipping back into his old ways when properly provoked. That was probably the best thing about this story, and it actually makes me interested in checking out more of 6's audios. But when it comes down to it, this story was just more interested in showing off the actors than actually being, y'know, good. Here's hoping the next one does a better job.

So I've discovered something troubling. Through no deliberate intent of my own, I have just discovered that my current fashion sense has ended up almost the same as the Eleventh Doctor. Bowties and suspenders and tweed jackets and oxford shoes, oh my.

On another topic entirely, have you guys watched this?

Well, I have now.

At least you're not dressing like Six.

Well, his blue velvet coat from the audios is actually rather lovely; I wouldn't mind dressing in that. His original outfit, on the other hand...

{Promptly goes to barf in the TARDIS' lou.}

edited 31st Mar '15 3:09:04 PM by kkhohoho

I saw a necktie in that style once. I asked the shopkeeper if they were actually expecting to sell it. He said quite candidly "Some of our clients have no taste, but still have money..."

Then I saw it a second time. On The Thick Of It. These people... they can't dress, can they?

Six's outfit is a thing of beauty. You just have to learn to appreciate that someone only as odd as the Doctor could ever be that tasteless. Besides, his outfit isn't as awful as people say it is.

It still cracks me up that what Colin Baker wanted to wear as his costume as Six was what Christopher Eccleston as Nine ended up having as his outfit.

Poor Colin.

NINE IS AN UPSIDE DOWN SIX!

Is a conspiracy, probably.

Six is a multiple of three. Three times three is Nine. John Pertwee played the Third Doctor and his last name rhymes with "three."

Half-Life 3 confirmed.

edited 31st Mar '15 2:22:08 PM by Zarek

We're still going to be using that one in 20 years, aren't we?

It might well survive past the release of the game. But we'll still be waiting on it in 20 years, so...

I kinda like Six's coat.

I mean, it just says everything about him:

I'm so awesome, I can even make this look good!

That's just how Six rolls. If I ever meet Colin Baker (and watch some of his serials), I'll tell him the coat was great.

Portal 2: Episode 2: Because Valve can't count to three.

Funny you mention that, as there's going to be a con where I live in the next couple of months, (Minneapolis,) and guess who's going to be there? (See what I did there?) Actually, it was either that, or going to some other non-DW con which just happened to have Sylvester Mc Coy, but it was the DW con we found first. Almost makes me wish we waited just a bit longer before we committed...

So, I just watched The Christmas Invasion.

...

I don't like it.

I understand what it was trying to do; show how the world gets on when the Doctor isn't around. The problem is, the world isn't able to do jack-sh*t, and it's only when the Doctor finally comes into the picture, 40 minutes in, that anything actually gets done. And on top of that, there's that scene, right at the end. Yes, that scene. The one where we finally get a clear stance of Ten's character, and boy, is it a doozy.

Basically, Ten calls Harriet out for destroying the Siccorax ship, which is fine; nothing wrong with airing your grievances, and I'm sure some of the other Doctors would have done something similar. And then Harriot makes a perfectly good point; that while the fleet may have surrendered and flown off, they may just come again, and might even bring help or back-up, and that time, the Doctor might not be around to save them. And Harriot isn't just some lone defender of justice like the Doctor, but a prominent world leader; she has to do what it takes to see that her world is safe, and if that means blowing up a ship that had already nearly conquered the planet just minutes ago, then so be it. It may not have been what I would have done, but I still understand her actions and why she would do it, as well as that such actions may been the best course to take from an objective standpoint. And I'm sure that most Doctors would understand as well; some might seriously disagree with her, but in the end, they would at least acknowledge that she may have a point, and wouldn't go so far as to kick her out of office and change the course of history.

But Ten? Ten does exactly that. He doesn't even stop to consider that Earth may not be able to get along without him, and instead kicks out a world leader for doing her freaking job, and in so doing, likely changed the entire course of history just because he had a hissy fit. On top of that, he's a freaking hypocrite, or at least may be if you consider the actions of previous incarnations of the Doctor to still apply to the current incarnation. Seven had absolutely no problem with blowing up Skarro and Davros' Dalek fleet if it meant ensuring that they no longer plagued the rest of the universe, (not that it worked, but nice try,) and Ten himself actually killed the Sycorax leader personally; unless he's a loony tunes character, I'm pretty sure he couldn't survive that long a drop.

Basically, Ten, at least at this point, sees killing his enemies if it is deemed necessary to be fine when he does it, but not so much when others do it. This makes Ten a hypocritical, self-important douchebag. He's like a petulant teenager who only sees things his way, and gets nasty when others don't play by his rules. And the story seems to support him; the planet absolutely couldn't get along without him, and in the end, no-one calls Ten out on his BS.I'm hoping he gets better, and with three seasons to go, maybe he does, but somehow, I'm not counting on it.

edited 1st Apr '15 10:34:54 AM by kkhohoho

To Harriet's credit, she never "admits" Ten was right. She may die, therefore symbolically "proving" how wrong she was, but fuck it.

Did you have any preconceptions about Ten coming into this?

Well, I've heard that he had some issues with forcing his own self-appointed authority onto others, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, both Christmas Invasion and now New Earth have proven that what I heard about him was indeed true.

"We took it to Russel the Davies"
"Shit"

What now?

Higher authority