Doctor Who fans to lose their shit again (season 14)
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CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
So incredibly fucking drawn out, every scene about three times as long as needed, mutliple scenes of the Doctor hugging someone or going "ha ha HA!" to waste more time, literally half of it just recapping what's happened this season. The "Time Window" scene could have been good but even that was dragged out so long it killed the tension. I'm not old or Tomtrek so I have no idea who the scary guy at the end was or why he's any better than any other scary guy. LEARN HOW TO MAKE PART ONES GOOD, RUSSELL.
Why would U.N.I.T. employ a child, seems pretty irresponsible!
Why would U.N.I.T. employ a child, seems pretty irresponsible!
The Tomtrek
Love Wookiee
I've been generally really liking this season so far, after a shaky start. I'm glad RTD is back on his bullshit but he's a better writer now and the production quality of the whole show has improved so much since he was last writing that it covers a lot of his sins.
Space Babies
I was kind of worried with this one being the first episode as it's... kind of shit. Ncuti and Millie are really good but the talking babies just don't work as an idea or in execution. A cheap way to describe it would be to say it's like an bad episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures but honestly The Sarah Jane Adventures would never stoop to such lows.
The Devil's Chord
A lot better and a lot of fun, although the ending is kind of weak. I don't mind the general idea of having a big dance number at the end - music was returning to the world after all - but it says something when the music used for it was worse than the earlier music that was deliberatry written to be bad. Jinkx Monsoon was great and it's weird how they didn't take the time to mention John Lennon beat his wife!!
Boom
Kind of like a Steven Moffat variety pack, but not really in a bad way. Far from one of it's best it's still extremly solid and I can't hate the fact that it revolves around the transformation of war as a capitalist enterprise. Varada Sethu is really good and I'm glad she's going to be a companion. I really like that The Doctor was straight up crying in certain scenes; Ncuit's Doctor is one that is much more in touch with his emotions and it's a really good way to make him stand out from the prevous ones while also playing to Ncuti's large amounts of charisma.
73 Yards
As I was watching this I was thinking "Is this the best script RTD has written?". Not quite. Millie Gibson steals the whole show, I love the creepy atmosphere of the whole thing, it just doesn't really come together at the end. I don't need everything explained but it being a time loop doesn't really work without at least a bit of explanation. Millie Gibson though.
Dot and Bubble
Okay this is the best script RTD has written. The misdirect where it seems like it's just a "technology is bad" Black Mirror-like, but is actually dealing with issues of racism and how fucking terrible rich people are is extremely good. Ncuti's acting in the final scene is heartbreaking, and I don't think it's quite a scene that any of the other Doctor's could have pulled off in the same way. Lindy Pepper-Bean is such a peice of shit.
Rogue
Solid, fun. I'm glad they got a Captain Jack like character without having to pay Barrowman. Shalka Doctor confirmed canon. Fugitive Doctor sighting. Good birds.
The Legend of Ruby Sunday
So I actually liked this one. It's the standard RTD throw everything at the script season finale (Is that Susan? The TARDIS is sick?? Who's Mrs Flood??? IT'S SUTEKH????) but I kind of don't mind it now. I don't know, I think this style just fits Ncuti's energy more than it did Tennant's. I was wondering how the Sutekh reveal would play for people who aren't sad nerds because they don't set him up or give any kind of context... But I am a sad nerd so it hit for me. They are apparently going to do a new episode of "Tales of the TARDIS" on Thursday, which is where they package classic stories with new intros and outros, and this one I guess is going to be Pyramids of Mars (where Sutekh is from) with new intros by The Doctor and Ruby. Pyramids of Mars is really good so it's worth checking out when it comes out.
You're half right! Sutekh was in The Pyramids of Mars where he was voiced by Gabriel Woolf, who has returned to voice him here. Woolf also voiced The Beast in The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit so I think they're going to connect up the two characters as the same person.
You're thinking of Scaroth from City of Death, who was played by Julian Glover (General Veers).
Space Babies
I was kind of worried with this one being the first episode as it's... kind of shit. Ncuti and Millie are really good but the talking babies just don't work as an idea or in execution. A cheap way to describe it would be to say it's like an bad episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures but honestly The Sarah Jane Adventures would never stoop to such lows.
The Devil's Chord
A lot better and a lot of fun, although the ending is kind of weak. I don't mind the general idea of having a big dance number at the end - music was returning to the world after all - but it says something when the music used for it was worse than the earlier music that was deliberatry written to be bad. Jinkx Monsoon was great and it's weird how they didn't take the time to mention John Lennon beat his wife!!
Boom
Kind of like a Steven Moffat variety pack, but not really in a bad way. Far from one of it's best it's still extremly solid and I can't hate the fact that it revolves around the transformation of war as a capitalist enterprise. Varada Sethu is really good and I'm glad she's going to be a companion. I really like that The Doctor was straight up crying in certain scenes; Ncuit's Doctor is one that is much more in touch with his emotions and it's a really good way to make him stand out from the prevous ones while also playing to Ncuti's large amounts of charisma.
73 Yards
As I was watching this I was thinking "Is this the best script RTD has written?". Not quite. Millie Gibson steals the whole show, I love the creepy atmosphere of the whole thing, it just doesn't really come together at the end. I don't need everything explained but it being a time loop doesn't really work without at least a bit of explanation. Millie Gibson though.
Dot and Bubble
Okay this is the best script RTD has written. The misdirect where it seems like it's just a "technology is bad" Black Mirror-like, but is actually dealing with issues of racism and how fucking terrible rich people are is extremely good. Ncuti's acting in the final scene is heartbreaking, and I don't think it's quite a scene that any of the other Doctor's could have pulled off in the same way. Lindy Pepper-Bean is such a peice of shit.
Rogue
Solid, fun. I'm glad they got a Captain Jack like character without having to pay Barrowman. Shalka Doctor confirmed canon. Fugitive Doctor sighting. Good birds.
The Legend of Ruby Sunday
So I actually liked this one. It's the standard RTD throw everything at the script season finale (Is that Susan? The TARDIS is sick?? Who's Mrs Flood??? IT'S SUTEKH????) but I kind of don't mind it now. I don't know, I think this style just fits Ncuti's energy more than it did Tennant's. I was wondering how the Sutekh reveal would play for people who aren't sad nerds because they don't set him up or give any kind of context... But I am a sad nerd so it hit for me. They are apparently going to do a new episode of "Tales of the TARDIS" on Thursday, which is where they package classic stories with new intros and outros, and this one I guess is going to be Pyramids of Mars (where Sutekh is from) with new intros by The Doctor and Ruby. Pyramids of Mars is really good so it's worth checking out when it comes out.
You're half right! Sutekh was in The Pyramids of Mars where he was voiced by Gabriel Woolf, who has returned to voice him here. Woolf also voiced The Beast in The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit so I think they're going to connect up the two characters as the same person.
You're thinking of Scaroth from City of Death, who was played by Julian Glover (General Veers).
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
Something I've observed before about classic Who--particularly the Tom Baker years: There are serials where antagonist is dangerous; deadly, but no match for The Doctor. "Robots of Death." "The Talons of Weng Chiang" in particular. There are other stories where The Doctor is in way over his head--Sutekh is infinitely more powerful than The Doctor; the last of the Great Vampires in "State of Decay." Maybe the Fendahl in "Image of the Fendahl." Then there are the stories where he's more or less on par with the villain. Davros is a cripple but he has an army of Daleks. The Cybermen aren't as smart and can't travel in time but there's a lot of them, they have guns, and they're very hard to kill. The Master, obviously. It's sort of fun, seeing how The Doctor acts, given the level of threat he's up against.
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
"Pyramids of Mars" is, for my money, the peak Dr. Who serial. It's a period piece so they don't have to do unconvincing rubber monsters and corny future tech props, they've solidified the classic Tom Baker costume, ditching the short jacket for a frock coat with the vest. The story's very well done and the acting is solid. Sadly the BBC seems to know this too and have never licensed the story to show on RetroTV. That's a golden era for Who--basically up until K9 shows up. After "Pyramids of Mars" would be "Talons of Weng Chiang," "Robots of Death," and "Curse of Fang Rock"--all Leela companion stories, interestingly. The year with the old control room was really a goldmine of excellent stories.