Doctor Who Watch: Thirteen, Spyfall
Nov. 6th, 2023 11:56 pmYeah, I know I'm seriously skipping around now and I've gone from rewatch to actual first time watch. Oh, well, sorry, not sorry. Like the Doctor I have trouble being linear.
Spyfall Parts 1 & 2
So I do enjoy Thirteen. She's random, and rambly and unhinged and in general very Doctor-y.
Part 1
I appreciated the cheesy James bond references. Maybe if you were a James bond fan you might find them fun/annoying. I'm very much not a fan so I liked the send up.
Despite the fact that a lot happens in the first ep, it feels like it moves very leisurely through the story telling. So in a way, It feels very old skool Who with a slower story that takes it's time and leaves you with a cliffhanger.
The Master reveal was good. He's back to full tilt bonkers and I enjoyed that. Whereas Missy was almost (almost) stable, this Master is completely, gloriously unhinged.
Part 2
Now this ep is a ride. The time jumping, the call back to Sim Master with the companions being forced into hiding, the unexpectedly villainous human accomplice.
And they even managed to squeeze in a "notable women in history" tour. Lol
And the Morse Code heartbeats was just good.
The Stats:
Companion trauma: zapped to another universe and chucked to Australia
Spyfall Parts 1 & 2
So I do enjoy Thirteen. She's random, and rambly and unhinged and in general very Doctor-y.
Part 1
I appreciated the cheesy James bond references. Maybe if you were a James bond fan you might find them fun/annoying. I'm very much not a fan so I liked the send up.
Despite the fact that a lot happens in the first ep, it feels like it moves very leisurely through the story telling. So in a way, It feels very old skool Who with a slower story that takes it's time and leaves you with a cliffhanger.
The Master reveal was good. He's back to full tilt bonkers and I enjoyed that. Whereas Missy was almost (almost) stable, this Master is completely, gloriously unhinged.
Part 2
Now this ep is a ride. The time jumping, the call back to Sim Master with the companions being forced into hiding, the unexpectedly villainous human accomplice.
And they even managed to squeeze in a "notable women in history" tour. Lol
And the Morse Code heartbeats was just good.
The Stats:
Companion trauma: zapped to another universe and chucked to Australia
Doctor Who Rewatch: Twelve: Listen
Nov. 5th, 2023 11:11 pmhave incredibly mixed feelings about this episode.
It's, well it's a hot mess really. Peak Moff. So much unauthorized timeline crossing, weird Tardis shenanigans, and all the general, huh?
Also on side note: I don't know why Clara and Pink ever date. They are pretty toxic together. Maybe if they had focused on -what I guess is supposed to be the A plot - it might have been a standout story, and it might have made Clara/Pink less of a trainwreck? Who knows.
Not gonna lie Twelve having dad skilz was kinda cute.
And now the B plot. I have FEELINGS about Clara meeting baby doctor. Though not as many as the fan boys who went basaltic over it. It was infinitely skip-able though. Just more of Moff's creepy obsession with people influencing their friends and loved ones by messing with their childhoods. EW.
Although - I just sorta think it's funny that we sat through SEASONs of the Moff's fanfic. Like he literally wrote about a bunch of his "particularly stupid theories" on the forums in the 90s * - and then he like Made Them Real. That's a special kind of .... yeah. If you ever wondered what would happen if you let a dudebro fanficcer write show for reals, wonder no more.
* ETA don't believe me: here's the original link https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.drwho/c/fNc0-Zpirpg And OMG he managed he log back in and DELETE his post years after everyone had already seen it. LOL! what a poser
ETA ETA: But not before the Wayback machine grabbed it. Enjoy!
https://web.archive.org/web/20220818003245/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.drwho/c/fNc0-Zpirpg
It's, well it's a hot mess really. Peak Moff. So much unauthorized timeline crossing, weird Tardis shenanigans, and all the general, huh?
Also on side note: I don't know why Clara and Pink ever date. They are pretty toxic together. Maybe if they had focused on -what I guess is supposed to be the A plot - it might have been a standout story, and it might have made Clara/Pink less of a trainwreck? Who knows.
Not gonna lie Twelve having dad skilz was kinda cute.
And now the B plot. I have FEELINGS about Clara meeting baby doctor. Though not as many as the fan boys who went basaltic over it. It was infinitely skip-able though. Just more of Moff's creepy obsession with people influencing their friends and loved ones by messing with their childhoods. EW.
Although - I just sorta think it's funny that we sat through SEASONs of the Moff's fanfic. Like he literally wrote about a bunch of his "particularly stupid theories" on the forums in the 90s * - and then he like Made Them Real. That's a special kind of .... yeah. If you ever wondered what would happen if you let a dudebro fanficcer write show for reals, wonder no more.
* ETA don't believe me: here's the original link https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.drwho/c/fNc0-Zpirpg And OMG he managed he log back in and DELETE his post years after everyone had already seen it. LOL! what a poser
ETA ETA: But not before the Wayback machine grabbed it. Enjoy!
https://web.archive.org/web/20220818003245/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.drwho/c/fNc0-Zpirpg
Technically a post
Nov. 3rd, 2023 11:56 pmWell - I meant to post, but today was a DAY (it's Fall after all, and Fall is cursed in my world)
So it's pushing midnight, and I have STUFF TO DO allweekend week month IDEK. Ask me next week.
But in my overtired derangement I plan to rant smugly about how all us crazies writing about the Fourteenth Doctor in our made up Fourteen-verse* have now been weirdly vindicated and - what's the opposite of Jossed? - IDK but whatever it is THAT.
**wanders off cackling manically**
*
one_more_run
So it's pushing midnight, and I have STUFF TO DO all
But in my overtired derangement I plan to rant smugly about how all us crazies writing about the Fourteenth Doctor in our made up Fourteen-verse* have now been weirdly vindicated and - what's the opposite of Jossed? - IDK but whatever it is THAT.
**wanders off cackling manically**
*
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Who Fic: Night
Nov. 2nd, 2023 08:42 pmTitle: Night
Character/Pairing: Unspecified Doctor
Rating: All ages
Summary: You expected that nights would the hardest.
Disclaimer: Based on characters owned and created by BBC, used without permission.
Notes: Post Time War
Starter word: Night
X- posted A03
Character/Pairing: Unspecified Doctor
Rating: All ages
Summary: You expected that nights would the hardest.
Disclaimer: Based on characters owned and created by BBC, used without permission.
Notes: Post Time War
Starter word: Night
X- posted A03
You expected that nights would the hardest. But, it turns out, that is the best time of the day. The dark side of moons are even better, tidally locked, sunlight kept at bay. You slide out of the TARDIS doors, into the bubble of protection to be one with the endless night.
If you travel far enough, reach back enough, point yourself in the right direction, you can still see it. The light of home, shining in the sky. Peaceful, implacable as if it would always exist. An echo in time. Transitory eternity. For that moment, you are not alone.
Annoyingly I had too much to do today to do any fangirling. (I mean I did watch AFV while waiting for workmen to arrive, but only because no thinking is required for home vids).
I can rec a Doctor Who podcast, by Stephen Willis of Doctor Who Fan Orchestra fame. It's basically a rewatch of New Who, (for him) with a first time viewer of the show. So might be fun for fans. It called About Time and the first ep is up. Give it a try. I found it entertaining.
I can rec a Doctor Who podcast, by Stephen Willis of Doctor Who Fan Orchestra fame. It's basically a rewatch of New Who, (for him) with a first time viewer of the show. So might be fun for fans. It called About Time and the first ep is up. Give it a try. I found it entertaining.
Rewatches Status
Nov. 22nd, 2022 12:46 amDoctor Who: So I watched the Key to Time series and took basically no notes. And it's been long enough I can't just write about them well. So I guess I have to rewatch the rewatch. (Again, bad at rewatching.) I just... don't enjoy Key to Time. Maybe I could skip and come back to it. It's not like I've been doing this rewatch in another other than chaotic. I'll give it some thought.
Romcoms: I half joked about doing a romcom watch and posting my quibbles and rants and trope stats. Well. The universe seems to have spoken? This morning I got an email from HBO Max telling me all about all the romcoms they have to watch. (Well, like 5 of them. And only I had heard of. Frankly, I think they were pushing the definition of "romcom" to the breaking point.) So I might just have to do it. Just because it might be funny.
Romcoms: I half joked about doing a romcom watch and posting my quibbles and rants and trope stats. Well. The universe seems to have spoken? This morning I got an email from HBO Max telling me all about all the romcoms they have to watch. (Well, like 5 of them. And only I had heard of. Frankly, I think they were pushing the definition of "romcom" to the breaking point.) So I might just have to do it. Just because it might be funny.
Can't escape Doctor Who
Nov. 13th, 2022 09:15 pmSo, I found a post on Tumblr about a Ao3 fic randomizer someone made. Because of deleted fics, the most common result is a 404. And I got several 404's before I got an actual fic hit.
And that fic? A Thirteenth Doctor fic of course.
And that fic? A Thirteenth Doctor fic of course.
Classic Who Rewatch- End of the Leela era
Nov. 11th, 2022 11:36 pmAgain I ignored my stats. I honestly think the Leela era was low on unconscious!Doctor. And Leela doesn't get traumatized; she does the traumatizing.
The Underground
Slow, boring, terrible green screen effects while walking through a cave for some reason. No enough K9 to make this episode fun. Just another crazed, megalomaniacal computer story.
The Invasion of Time
So - I pretty much love this episode. It's chaos, the story is all over the place, it's full on TARDIS tour time - in short everything I want from a Doctor who story. The following is just a list of everything I'm squeeing about. Sorrynotsorry
1) A Gallifrey story. So the Doctor is acting very odd and alien here.
2) K9 to TARDIS: "Where is the Doctor? Speak!"
TARDIS: ** Lights and beeps**
K9: "You are a very stupid machine" ETA Clip on reddit
3) TARDIS swimming pool in Part 1
4) Part 6 All on TARDIS.
a) store rooms aka warehouse
b) White brick corridors with pipe overhead
c)Excellent pool/ "bathroom"
d) Workshop
e)Industrial staircase with wire grid walls
f) "Sorry the lifts are broken"
g) Sick bay
h)Garden
i) Art gallery concealing the antcillary power station
5) I'm Sorry Borusa being Borusa is peak comedy:
a) " I wish you'd stabilize your pedestrian infrastructure, President"
b) chilling in a lounge chair reading the daily mirror and drinking blue cocktails with a crazy straw.
6) Andred fighting Sontarons by chucking said lounge chairs at them
7) I wonder if this was a goof. Sontaron goes skipping over corner of pool, hops onto another lounge chair which promptly collapses under him. If it hadn't collapsed he totally would have done a header into a stand of potted plants.
8) The Let's all go through a bunch of different doors and end up in the same place gag.
9) The huge sick bay chase. I know let's all hide behind a bunch of curtains
10) Romance Classic Who Style- Andred gets a tiny shoulder wound from Sontaron gun and Leela takes him elsewhere to hide out for a while. By the next scene she's leading him around by the hand.
11) Danger plants. Sontaron gets snagged by giant grabby plant
12) Running gag- storeroom (warehouse) inception. They keep ending up in the same storeroom and corridors leading up to it. Four keeps denying it is the same one.
So yes, I really like this story. A nice goodbye for Leela and K9 Mark I.
The Underground
Slow, boring, terrible green screen effects while walking through a cave for some reason. No enough K9 to make this episode fun. Just another crazed, megalomaniacal computer story.
The Invasion of Time
So - I pretty much love this episode. It's chaos, the story is all over the place, it's full on TARDIS tour time - in short everything I want from a Doctor who story. The following is just a list of everything I'm squeeing about. Sorrynotsorry
1) A Gallifrey story. So the Doctor is acting very odd and alien here.
2) K9 to TARDIS: "Where is the Doctor? Speak!"
TARDIS: ** Lights and beeps**
K9: "You are a very stupid machine" ETA Clip on reddit
3) TARDIS swimming pool in Part 1
4) Part 6 All on TARDIS.
a) store rooms aka warehouse
b) White brick corridors with pipe overhead
c)Excellent pool/ "bathroom"
d) Workshop
e)Industrial staircase with wire grid walls
f) "Sorry the lifts are broken"
g) Sick bay
h)Garden
i) Art gallery concealing the antcillary power station
5) I'm Sorry Borusa being Borusa is peak comedy:
a) " I wish you'd stabilize your pedestrian infrastructure, President"
b) chilling in a lounge chair reading the daily mirror and drinking blue cocktails with a crazy straw.
6) Andred fighting Sontarons by chucking said lounge chairs at them
7) I wonder if this was a goof. Sontaron goes skipping over corner of pool, hops onto another lounge chair which promptly collapses under him. If it hadn't collapsed he totally would have done a header into a stand of potted plants.
8) The Let's all go through a bunch of different doors and end up in the same place gag.
9) The huge sick bay chase. I know let's all hide behind a bunch of curtains
10) Romance Classic Who Style- Andred gets a tiny shoulder wound from Sontaron gun and Leela takes him elsewhere to hide out for a while. By the next scene she's leading him around by the hand.
11) Danger plants. Sontaron gets snagged by giant grabby plant
12) Running gag- storeroom (warehouse) inception. They keep ending up in the same storeroom and corridors leading up to it. Four keeps denying it is the same one.
So yes, I really like this story. A nice goodbye for Leela and K9 Mark I.
Classic Who Rewatch - Four & Leela
Nov. 10th, 2022 11:55 pmNote: I utterly failed at keeping up my stats here, either there was no Doctor unconsciousness or companion trauma or I just didn't note it. One of these days I'll have to do a quick review to verify.
The Image of Fendahl
I really liked this one. It was clear they had blown the effects budget as it was all double exposures and one sad monster recycled into many. Even K9 was exiled on the TARDIS in pieces, voiceless. But I really liked this one. Four was in a better mood (well sometimes) but he apologized for the couple of tantrums he threw. The humorous debate about K9's gender made a nice bookend to the story.
The Sunmakers.
K9 is hilarious in the ep. So full marks regardless.
1) Just like a dog, Four had to spell walk to keep K9 from losing his little puppy mind.
2) But, just like my actual dog, he figured it out what the word was any way.
3) But true to K9 he then proceeds to beg for a walk with big fancy words.
4) The Doctor plays chess with K9 and cheats making K9 growl at him.
In short, K9 makes everything better.
Not as bad story. Kind of formulaic but Four spent much of the time being sneaky and doing Time Lord tricks, so I approve.
The Image of Fendahl
I really liked this one. It was clear they had blown the effects budget as it was all double exposures and one sad monster recycled into many. Even K9 was exiled on the TARDIS in pieces, voiceless. But I really liked this one. Four was in a better mood (well sometimes) but he apologized for the couple of tantrums he threw. The humorous debate about K9's gender made a nice bookend to the story.
The Sunmakers.
K9 is hilarious in the ep. So full marks regardless.
1) Just like a dog, Four had to spell walk to keep K9 from losing his little puppy mind.
2) But, just like my actual dog, he figured it out what the word was any way.
3) But true to K9 he then proceeds to beg for a walk with big fancy words.
4) The Doctor plays chess with K9 and cheats making K9 growl at him.
In short, K9 makes everything better.
Not as bad story. Kind of formulaic but Four spent much of the time being sneaky and doing Time Lord tricks, so I approve.
Classic Who Rewatch
Nov. 7th, 2022 03:53 pmMigraines suck, ya'll. Continuing with my rewatch notes:
Four and Leela
The Horror of Fang Rock
Considered one of the must sees, and yes it's pretty well done. Good story, decent suspense, pretty much what you want from a Doctor Who ep. Four and Leela are almost pals in this one. And wow is the body count high here.
One side note/complaint- how did I not remember that the Rutans are glowing green goo jelly fish things? Ummm. Just bonkers. Even though they still talk about the Sontaran/Rutan war it's no wonder why only the Sontarans are seen these days.
The stats:
Did I mention the crazy high body count?
Four and Leela are the only ones without trauma in this story. (Unless you count finding all those dead people).
The Invisible Enemy
There is a definite Space 1999 vibe about these guys' space ship.
Lots of models used in the one, cute.
Leela using Four's scarf like a cuddle toy. Cute
Evil attack clouds. Not cute but A+ big bad.
Part 2
Four goes in to trance/coma to fight possession. Argues with the voice in his head. Leela flies TARDIS to take Four to hospital.
K9! I did not know that was coming. Built by a doctor at the house because he wanted a dog, makes sense.
The possession is catching. Not looking good for this Hospital.
Part 3
And now we are channeling Fantastic Voyage, and that one Gamera movie, and foreshadowing (or is that inspiring) Into the Dalek.
Leela's starting to bring out the Time Lord in Four. He's very rude and pompous.
Part 4
And I have no idea what's going on in this part. I think they just made a giant virus. Lol.
Best line -- "I only hope [K9]'s TARDIS trained."
The Stats
The Doctor:
1) Four zapped by evil cloud, knocked out possessed.
Companion Trauma:
None noted. I guess Leela's too armed and dangerous.
Four and Leela
The Horror of Fang Rock
Considered one of the must sees, and yes it's pretty well done. Good story, decent suspense, pretty much what you want from a Doctor Who ep. Four and Leela are almost pals in this one. And wow is the body count high here.
One side note/complaint- how did I not remember that the Rutans are glowing green goo jelly fish things? Ummm. Just bonkers. Even though they still talk about the Sontaran/Rutan war it's no wonder why only the Sontarans are seen these days.
The stats:
Did I mention the crazy high body count?
Four and Leela are the only ones without trauma in this story. (Unless you count finding all those dead people).
The Invisible Enemy
There is a definite Space 1999 vibe about these guys' space ship.
Lots of models used in the one, cute.
Leela using Four's scarf like a cuddle toy. Cute
Evil attack clouds. Not cute but A+ big bad.
Part 2
Four goes in to trance/coma to fight possession. Argues with the voice in his head. Leela flies TARDIS to take Four to hospital.
K9! I did not know that was coming. Built by a doctor at the house because he wanted a dog, makes sense.
The possession is catching. Not looking good for this Hospital.
Part 3
And now we are channeling Fantastic Voyage, and that one Gamera movie, and foreshadowing (or is that inspiring) Into the Dalek.
Leela's starting to bring out the Time Lord in Four. He's very rude and pompous.
Part 4
And I have no idea what's going on in this part. I think they just made a giant virus. Lol.
Best line -- "I only hope [K9]'s TARDIS trained."
The Stats
The Doctor:
1) Four zapped by evil cloud, knocked out possessed.
Companion Trauma:
None noted. I guess Leela's too armed and dangerous.
Nov 6 - Classic Who Rewatch
Nov. 7th, 2022 03:43 pmYesterday's fandom post was delayed by a migraine so I'm posting some of my Classic Who rewatch notes. I was never a big fan of Four-Leela pairing. I've heard the actors weren't fond of each other and even I a kid I picked up on that I think. So I was not very enthused to rewatch.
Now we move on to Four and Leela:
The Face of Evil
So-so. Not terrible for a Leela ep. But nothing to write home about
The Stats
1. Doctor Unconscious once via telepathic whammy
Companion Trauma:
(None I guess? I didn't write any down)
The Robot of Death
Ugh ugh and more ugh. Everything I dislike about this Doctor companion combo. They are clearly not friends and are barely acquaintances. The story is a series of over-acted death scenes. And defeated the big bad was defeated by.... helium. Wow. Zzzzzzzzz
The Stats:
They only one unconscious here was me.
The Talons of Wang Chung.
Skipping, I own it, I've seen it, I don't like it, and it's very problematic.
Now we move on to Four and Leela:
The Face of Evil
So-so. Not terrible for a Leela ep. But nothing to write home about
The Stats
1. Doctor Unconscious once via telepathic whammy
Companion Trauma:
(None I guess? I didn't write any down)
The Robot of Death
Ugh ugh and more ugh. Everything I dislike about this Doctor companion combo. They are clearly not friends and are barely acquaintances. The story is a series of over-acted death scenes. And defeated the big bad was defeated by.... helium. Wow. Zzzzzzzzz
The Stats:
They only one unconscious here was me.
The Talons of Wang Chung.
Skipping, I own it, I've seen it, I don't like it, and it's very problematic.
Warning: Fandom Meltdown Ahead
Nov. 3rd, 2022 12:17 amOKAY OKAY.
WAIT I -
AM I TO UNDERSTAND THAT
FOURTEEN
IS
CANON*?
[Channels Tennant] WHAT? WHAT?! W.H.A.T.?.
Holy crap WTF? Is RTD reading our Fanfic?
What is even happening here LOL?
***hysterical laughter***
All I do know is that I need to read through our Fourteen-verse masterlist start to finish.
***dies***
ETA: So now I've predicted the Master's Drums= Hearts thing years before it happened and while I didn't INVENT our Fourteen-verse Fourteen per se, I certainly helped
MAKE HIM A THING @
one_more_run
So how many internets do I win?
A LOT. Y/Y?
_________________
*sort of
WAIT I -
AM I TO UNDERSTAND THAT
FOURTEEN
IS
CANON*?
[Channels Tennant] WHAT? WHAT?! W.H.A.T.?.
Holy crap WTF? Is RTD reading our Fanfic?
What is even happening here LOL?
***hysterical laughter***
All I do know is that I need to read through our Fourteen-verse masterlist start to finish.
***dies***
ETA: So now I've predicted the Master's Drums= Hearts thing years before it happened and while I didn't INVENT our Fourteen-verse Fourteen per se, I certainly helped
MAKE HIM A THING @
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
So how many internets do I win?
A LOT. Y/Y?
_________________
*sort of
How did I miss this?
Nov. 2nd, 2022 10:24 pmIt seems the fandom gods have spoken. (Or Tumblr. It was probably Tumblr.)
I'd never even heard about this and it's a crime because it's awesome.
Pigs in Space + Tenth Doctor? I didn't know I needed that.
I never heard of any live shows happening but it looked amazing.
I'd never even heard about this and it's a crime because it's awesome.
Pigs in Space + Tenth Doctor? I didn't know I needed that.
I never heard of any live shows happening but it looked amazing.
DW Rewatch: New Who Edition, Eleven
Jul. 17th, 2022 03:05 pmSo DH had never seen any Twelve stories (Somehow) although I did drag him to theater to see Twelve regenerate because that Was Not A Missable Thing. So Junior conned him into watching, but FIRST we had to do a five (FIVE) episode run-up to the regeneration ep, Junior's Rules(TM). (Because DH never saw most of Eleven's eps either. What can I say - he never got over Four. Yeeeah.)
So here are Eleven's last five eps.
Hide
Co-written by Moff and yeah, it shows. I'd forgotten how painful Moff eps could be. Junior and I meta about this a lot but basically Tennant and Capaldi can make even a Moffat ep look good, but Matt Smith just... can't. No issues with Matt Smith, give him a good script and he'll act the hell out of it. But he can't make crap into gold.
Anyway.
I was so bored for 90% of this ep. Not creepy not engaging. Only picked up when Eleven jumped through the rift and played tag with the monster. The ending was a little bit cute, not gonna lie (aside from the Doctor getting all 12 year old school boy when he realized he was talking about a "love story" with his arm around Clara. *facepalm*.)
And I so disagree we needed to watch this for Twelve.
Verdict: Watch the last 10 minutes or skip it entirely.
Stats:
The only Doctor -Companion trauma is boredom
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
Moffat ep. Sigh.
Okay, TARDIS eps get an automatic pass from me. Sorry, not sorry.
And this ep is not.... great. EXCEPT for the TARDIS parts. Eleven *almost* goes OOC (though I guess for Eleven OOC is IC? I dunno.) Clara is Very Annoying. Side characters are douchbags. TARDIS is flawless. So Yay?
There isn't even really much story to speak of. TARDIS gets broked, timey whimy happens because TARDIS so nevermind. But exploring TARDIS is the point so forget the rest. Done.
Verdict: TARDIS Ep. Auto watch, I don't care how bad it is.
The Stats
Doctor: none
Companion Trauma: Becomes a lava monster. Sorta. But not really. yeah.
The Crimson Horror
Okay- Third Moff ep in a row (I don't care if Mark Gatiss did co-write, it still has Moff prints all over it)
I was beginning to check out. The only, ONLY reason I paid any attention was the Paternoster Gang. They are second only to the TARDIS in my "gets a pass" eps. The story was meh, the villains were so meh, it was all just MEH. But the Paternoster banter made it almost worth it so there you go.
Verdict: Watch it for the Paternosters, tune out the rest.
Stats:
Doctor: knocked out, unknown cause
Companion Trauma: "preserved" zombified? put in a trance? IDK
Nightmare in Silver
Drop everything and watch, Neil Gaiman co-wrote it.
That said, despite being Neil Gaiman and Cyberman it's not high on my cyberman ep scale (and some of those include Big Finish). It was a good ep but there are better Cyberman eps out there. But I have to say - see good script rule above- Matt Smith acted the hell out of this one. That's half the reason the ep was worth watching. Clara was a bit annoying. And Serious child-minding fail. Who left her in charge of kids again?
Verdict: Gaiman and Cybers. WATCH IT.
The Name of the Doctor
The Moff at his most problematic.
AKA - if three times is a pattern does that make five times a fetish?
Where Clara gets the full Magical Girl/Magical Companion treatment. I have feelings about Clara that run from meh to *facepalm* - and I think that very much has to do with who is writing the script. (I think we can guess what writer I mean). This ep was much ado about nothing. (Though I hate using my fav Shakes play as a dis ;) ). It was very much Moff shouting through Eleven and Clara "LOOK HOW CLEVER I AM!" while delivering a not-very clever duex-ex-machina just to get himself out of the corner he painted himself into.
(Do I get a prize for most cliches in one paragraph?)
Verdict: Kinda have to watch if you want to know what The Impossible Girl thing is. Just don't expect much
Doctor: Gets his timeline broke or something, whatever
Companion Trauma: gets split into a dozen versions of duex-ex-machina, because Moff doesn't understand how meta works
The Day of the Doctor AKA The 50 Anniversary Special
So much Moff.
GAH, I have such mixed feelings about this one. Junior has so many rants about this ep and especially the one following. It centers about Moffats attempts at season-long arcs and worse - regeneration-long arcs. And this ep and the one following he does bend over backward to cram every throwaway line, reference and dangling plot thread into the story. Aaand, it's not great.
BUT- we can't argue with Ten being back, a random appearance by Four- who's not Four somehow but like Doctor Thirty Eight or something, lol. I'm not going to go into the War Doctor. I'm less mad about that than I used to be, but still not my favorite idea.
Especially when Paul McGann was RIGHT THERE and in fact DID come back for the 50th. I'd always HC'd that it WAS Eight who fought the Time War and regenerated into Nine immediately afterward, since he so clearly was "new" in Rose. I love Eight from Big Finish So on some level, I'll always be salty we got cheated out of a Full Eight Ep in the regular, actual show and not a half-assed webisode.
Back to the positives it kinda nice (kinda) Moff tries to walk back some of the darkness of Doctor as destroyer of his own people. But he arguably makes it darker first? And it's an odd choice from someone who blithely had Eleven makes humans commit genocide on the Silence. The Moment is one of better parts of the ep - but again, I almost wish Moff had the balls to make it full on Bad Wolf.
So tl;dr so many mixed feelings, lol
Verdict: Must See (PLUS the Webisode because Eight OMG) - but GAH- this ep is a mess.
Stats:
Doctor(s): Having to put up with himself
Companion Trauma: Having to put up with multiple Doctors
The Time of the Doctor
100% Moffat ep. And it was..... 100% Moffat. All his dumb Fanboy on Usenet ideas coming out to play. There's a reason we don't let rando fanboys run things. It was an... ep. Stuff happened. New regeneration cycle acquired a la the master in Five's run. Leave it to Moff to pick up the loophole the Classic Who writers set up early on and run all the way home with it. Whee.
Moff gets slight points for making the Doctor chill out and settle down (sorta) for one regen. But I have to re-deduct points for it being done in the messiest way possible.
Verdict: Regen ep. Have to watch. I guess.
Stats:
Trauma for the audience
ETA: review for The Name of Doctor The Day of the Doctor and correct review for The Time of the Doctor.
So here are Eleven's last five eps.
Hide
Co-written by Moff and yeah, it shows. I'd forgotten how painful Moff eps could be. Junior and I meta about this a lot but basically Tennant and Capaldi can make even a Moffat ep look good, but Matt Smith just... can't. No issues with Matt Smith, give him a good script and he'll act the hell out of it. But he can't make crap into gold.
Anyway.
I was so bored for 90% of this ep. Not creepy not engaging. Only picked up when Eleven jumped through the rift and played tag with the monster. The ending was a little bit cute, not gonna lie (aside from the Doctor getting all 12 year old school boy when he realized he was talking about a "love story" with his arm around Clara. *facepalm*.)
And I so disagree we needed to watch this for Twelve.
Verdict: Watch the last 10 minutes or skip it entirely.
Stats:
The only Doctor -Companion trauma is boredom
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
Moffat ep. Sigh.
Okay, TARDIS eps get an automatic pass from me. Sorry, not sorry.
And this ep is not.... great. EXCEPT for the TARDIS parts. Eleven *almost* goes OOC (though I guess for Eleven OOC is IC? I dunno.) Clara is Very Annoying. Side characters are douchbags. TARDIS is flawless. So Yay?
There isn't even really much story to speak of. TARDIS gets broked, timey whimy happens because TARDIS so nevermind. But exploring TARDIS is the point so forget the rest. Done.
Verdict: TARDIS Ep. Auto watch, I don't care how bad it is.
The Stats
Doctor: none
Companion Trauma: Becomes a lava monster. Sorta. But not really. yeah.
The Crimson Horror
Okay- Third Moff ep in a row (I don't care if Mark Gatiss did co-write, it still has Moff prints all over it)
I was beginning to check out. The only, ONLY reason I paid any attention was the Paternoster Gang. They are second only to the TARDIS in my "gets a pass" eps. The story was meh, the villains were so meh, it was all just MEH. But the Paternoster banter made it almost worth it so there you go.
Verdict: Watch it for the Paternosters, tune out the rest.
Stats:
Doctor: knocked out, unknown cause
Companion Trauma: "preserved" zombified? put in a trance? IDK
Nightmare in Silver
Drop everything and watch, Neil Gaiman co-wrote it.
That said, despite being Neil Gaiman and Cyberman it's not high on my cyberman ep scale (and some of those include Big Finish). It was a good ep but there are better Cyberman eps out there. But I have to say - see good script rule above- Matt Smith acted the hell out of this one. That's half the reason the ep was worth watching. Clara was a bit annoying. And Serious child-minding fail. Who left her in charge of kids again?
Verdict: Gaiman and Cybers. WATCH IT.
The Name of the Doctor
The Moff at his most problematic.
AKA - if three times is a pattern does that make five times a fetish?
Where Clara gets the full Magical Girl/Magical Companion treatment. I have feelings about Clara that run from meh to *facepalm* - and I think that very much has to do with who is writing the script. (I think we can guess what writer I mean). This ep was much ado about nothing. (Though I hate using my fav Shakes play as a dis ;) ). It was very much Moff shouting through Eleven and Clara "LOOK HOW CLEVER I AM!" while delivering a not-very clever duex-ex-machina just to get himself out of the corner he painted himself into.
(Do I get a prize for most cliches in one paragraph?)
Verdict: Kinda have to watch if you want to know what The Impossible Girl thing is. Just don't expect much
Doctor: Gets his timeline broke or something, whatever
Companion Trauma: gets split into a dozen versions of duex-ex-machina, because Moff doesn't understand how meta works
The Day of the Doctor AKA The 50 Anniversary Special
So much Moff.
GAH, I have such mixed feelings about this one. Junior has so many rants about this ep and especially the one following. It centers about Moffats attempts at season-long arcs and worse - regeneration-long arcs. And this ep and the one following he does bend over backward to cram every throwaway line, reference and dangling plot thread into the story. Aaand, it's not great.
BUT- we can't argue with Ten being back, a random appearance by Four- who's not Four somehow but like Doctor Thirty Eight or something, lol. I'm not going to go into the War Doctor. I'm less mad about that than I used to be, but still not my favorite idea.
Especially when Paul McGann was RIGHT THERE and in fact DID come back for the 50th. I'd always HC'd that it WAS Eight who fought the Time War and regenerated into Nine immediately afterward, since he so clearly was "new" in Rose. I love Eight from Big Finish So on some level, I'll always be salty we got cheated out of a Full Eight Ep in the regular, actual show and not a half-assed webisode.
Back to the positives it kinda nice (kinda) Moff tries to walk back some of the darkness of Doctor as destroyer of his own people. But he arguably makes it darker first? And it's an odd choice from someone who blithely had Eleven makes humans commit genocide on the Silence. The Moment is one of better parts of the ep - but again, I almost wish Moff had the balls to make it full on Bad Wolf.
So tl;dr so many mixed feelings, lol
Verdict: Must See (PLUS the Webisode because Eight OMG) - but GAH- this ep is a mess.
Stats:
Doctor(s): Having to put up with himself
Companion Trauma: Having to put up with multiple Doctors
The Time of the Doctor
100% Moffat ep. And it was..... 100% Moffat. All his dumb Fanboy on Usenet ideas coming out to play. There's a reason we don't let rando fanboys run things. It was an... ep. Stuff happened. New regeneration cycle acquired a la the master in Five's run. Leave it to Moff to pick up the loophole the Classic Who writers set up early on and run all the way home with it. Whee.
Moff gets slight points for making the Doctor chill out and settle down (sorta) for one regen. But I have to re-deduct points for it being done in the messiest way possible.
Verdict: Regen ep. Have to watch. I guess.
Stats:
Trauma for the audience
ETA: review for The Name of Doctor The Day of the Doctor and correct review for The Time of the Doctor.
Doctor Who ReWatch: The Hand of Fear
May. 1st, 2022 08:52 pmThe Hand of Fear
So - the infamous Sarah is Kicked to the Curb Ep. I did not recall which on that was when I started it so I was sad at the end. I enjoyed the Sarah - Four era 500% more than I did as a child. I most definitely didn't "get" Four back then. I recall the Four- Leela eps much more and I didn't like how they related as a kid. It made me see Four as cold and borderline mean. As I recall the actors did not get along at all. Clearly I vibed that as a kid.
I do not remember seeing this one as a kid. It's quite a roller coaster.
I don't think they are at all clear on how radiation works. Four is adorably worried about Sarah throughout.
The end is a little disconcerting. Sarah starts complaining about TARDIS life for out of nowhere. Threatens to pack and leave while Four is messing with the console and doesn't hear. She actually packs and then he gets the call to Gallifrey. So he drops her off in the wrong place natch.
Was very much how they did send offs in Classic Who. BTW I'm out of here. TTFN.
Liveblog:
( cut for longness )
The Stats:
Four unconscious: n/a
1) does swoon once after being mind scanned repeatedly
Companion Trauma:
1) Buried by rocks in a quarry explosion.
2) Mind controlled
3) knocked out by Four (because mind controlled)
4) kicked to the curb, *sniff*
So - the infamous Sarah is Kicked to the Curb Ep. I did not recall which on that was when I started it so I was sad at the end. I enjoyed the Sarah - Four era 500% more than I did as a child. I most definitely didn't "get" Four back then. I recall the Four- Leela eps much more and I didn't like how they related as a kid. It made me see Four as cold and borderline mean. As I recall the actors did not get along at all. Clearly I vibed that as a kid.
I do not remember seeing this one as a kid. It's quite a roller coaster.
I don't think they are at all clear on how radiation works. Four is adorably worried about Sarah throughout.
The end is a little disconcerting. Sarah starts complaining about TARDIS life for out of nowhere. Threatens to pack and leave while Four is messing with the console and doesn't hear. She actually packs and then he gets the call to Gallifrey. So he drops her off in the wrong place natch.
Was very much how they did send offs in Classic Who. BTW I'm out of here. TTFN.
Liveblog:
( cut for longness )
The Stats:
Four unconscious: n/a
1) does swoon once after being mind scanned repeatedly
Companion Trauma:
1) Buried by rocks in a quarry explosion.
2) Mind controlled
3) knocked out by Four (because mind controlled)
4) kicked to the curb, *sniff*
Doctor Who ReWatch
May. 1st, 2022 12:54 pmSo yeah, I ended up doing this today. Kinda had a crap morning so... yeah.
We have now reached Season 14.
So.. Um... I had rewatch this rewatch because I'm bad at rewatching.
Also I got waaay carried away with the Liveblogging.
The Masque of Mandragora
So the theme of this ep is I Was Too Busy Doing X To Notice The Dangerous Thing.
A little slow and silly, but it has its moments- especially if you are feeling snarky.
Basically Red Glowy thing hitches a ride on the TARDIS to 15C Italy. Hijinks ensue.
This story is exactly the type chaotic randomness you watch Old Skool Who for. (And yes, I totally ship Juliano and Marco. *snicker*)
Liveblog:
( reaaally got carried away )
The Stats
Four unconscious X2
1) knocked out by Cult Monks with a rock (uncalled for)
2) tackled off a horse and knocked out
Companion Trauma
1) knocked out by Cult Monks
2) Kidnapped X2
3) drugged X2
4) programmed to be assassin
We have now reached Season 14.
So.. Um... I had rewatch this rewatch because I'm bad at rewatching.
Also I got waaay carried away with the Liveblogging.
The Masque of Mandragora
So the theme of this ep is I Was Too Busy Doing X To Notice The Dangerous Thing.
A little slow and silly, but it has its moments- especially if you are feeling snarky.
Basically Red Glowy thing hitches a ride on the TARDIS to 15C Italy. Hijinks ensue.
This story is exactly the type chaotic randomness you watch Old Skool Who for. (And yes, I totally ship Juliano and Marco. *snicker*)
Liveblog:
( reaaally got carried away )
The Stats
Four unconscious X2
1) knocked out by Cult Monks with a rock (uncalled for)
2) tackled off a horse and knocked out
Companion Trauma
1) knocked out by Cult Monks
2) Kidnapped X2
3) drugged X2
4) programmed to be assassin
Things I'll get to one of these days
1) get back to my classic Who rewatch. (Especially since my Britbox account needs to be used for more than rewatching Jane Eyre facepalm.gif)
2) Watch Thirteen's first season blu-ray that has been sitting unopened on my shelf since LAST Christmas. I mean....
Things I did instead...
1) Faceplant in The Old Guard fandom. (SorryNotsorry)
2)Plan fic and not write it
3) Studiously ignore my original fic
4) Buy two Torchwood Big Finish audios (even though I have So. Much. Baggage. with Torchwood) solely for the Jack/Ianto content. Help.
1) get back to my classic Who rewatch. (Especially since my Britbox account needs to be used for more than rewatching Jane Eyre facepalm.gif)
2) Watch Thirteen's first season blu-ray that has been sitting unopened on my shelf since LAST Christmas. I mean....
Things I did instead...
1) Faceplant in The Old Guard fandom. (SorryNotsorry)
2)Plan fic and not write it
3) Studiously ignore my original fic
4) Buy two Torchwood Big Finish audios (even though I have So. Much. Baggage. with Torchwood) solely for the Jack/Ianto content. Help.