Which Who Stories Have you seen lately?

And don't forget this bollocks:

Fucking hell- it’s saccharine, moronic and unintentionally parodic all at the same time! It doesn’t resemble Doctor Who at all!

Bernard Marx wrote:It’s one of the most incoherent scripts ever devised for the programme. Nothing about it makes any sense, especially the really poorly conceived last 20 minutes, where the Daleks are destroyed by a console on their own fucking spacecraft, and the pressing of a few buttons commits genocide. Add to that the sheer moronity of the metacrisis Doctor and everything else that occurs- it’s akin to nonsensical fan fiction.

This I can agree on. I thought that the Stolen Earth was a fantastic build-up, with the Daleks actually murdering children and being threatening, and I was invested in the stakes. But then Journey's End throws all of the greatness out of the window. So, Davros constructs a machine that wipes out all realities and alternate futures. First off, Davros would not logically do this, he would want to construct as many Daleks as possible and "purify" the universe by killing anything that isn't a Dalek. Secondly, if we take alternate universes into account, that means there is one alternative universe in which Davros does this and wins, and in that logic, this story and any future ones should not exist at all, but RTD was too lazy to think of that. I know RTD wanted to do Endgame, before Endgame was a thing, but he clearly took precedent over doing an event, before considering the logistics. Easily the weakest RTD finale, not counting End of Time.

There were so many things RTD forgot about whilst writing Journey’s End. I do sometimes differ on whether it’s better or worse than The End Of Time, though I tend to lean towards The End Of Time for how it completely misunderstands the philosophy of regeneration and the series as a whole, whilst also being appallingly written in every other department.

The Power Of The Daleks. While the animation for this is pretty variable, everything else about it excels considerably. The psychology of the Daleks and their skill at manipulation is never better explored than here, whilst each character is provided with some degree of ulterior motive akin to the Daleks themselves allowing for thought-provoking characterisation. Tristram Cary’s original Dalek score is brilliantly implemented to seriously unnerving effect, and Troughton’s sheer otherness and unpredictability make his performance here one of his most noteworthy of his tenure. An absolute classic.

Bernard Marx wrote:The Power Of The Daleks. While the animation for this is pretty variable, everything else about it excels considerably. The psychology of the Daleks and their skill at manipulation is never better explored than here, whilst each character is provided with some degree of ulterior motive akin to the Daleks themselves allowing for thought-provoking characterisation. Tristram Cary’s original Dalek score is brilliantly implemented to seriously unnerving effect, and Troughton’s sheer otherness and unpredictability make his performance here one of his most noteworthy of his tenure. An absolute classic.

My old granny had a job cleaning the toilets on the set of this particular serial and she ended up falling in love with one of the cameramen. He stole the tapes of Episode 3 and 6 from the BBC before the purge. Anneke Wills' trousers fall in down in Episode 3 and just for a second you can see her deliciously round booty just before she hastily pulls them up again. True story! I'd be more than happy to show you a clip of this particular scene but you'll have to pay me £2,000 plus a Mars bar in order to see it.

Roger K. Barrett wrote:

Bernard Marx wrote:The Power Of The Daleks. While the animation for this is pretty variable, everything else about it excels considerably. The psychology of the Daleks and their skill at manipulation is never better explored than here, whilst each character is provided with some degree of ulterior motive akin to the Daleks themselves allowing for thought-provoking characterisation. Tristram Cary’s original Dalek score is brilliantly implemented to seriously unnerving effect, and Troughton’s sheer otherness and unpredictability make his performance here one of his most noteworthy of his tenure. An absolute classic.

My old granny had a job cleaning the toilets on the set of this particular serial and she ended up falling in love with one of the cameramen. He stole the tapes of Episode 3 and 6 from the BBC before the purge. Anneke Wills' trousers fall in down in Episode 3 and just for a second you can see her deliciously round booty just before she hastily pulls them up again. True story! I'd be more than happy to show you a clip of this particular scene but you'll have to pay me £2,000 plus a Mars bar in order to see it.

Imagine actually seeing Polly's bum I'd use up so many Kleenex tissue boxes!

As much as I like this forum, I’m not one to indulge in discussions of this calibre.

Fapping to cute blondes is kind of my thing

Trust me, it wouldn't be the Hive if some idiot wasn't talking about what he does with his shlong

Oh- I know, and it’s funny as fuck. Just don’t expect to find me revelling in it as such.

Is there anybody in this place that's not a complete incel?

Probably not, though I’d say I’m not as much of an incel as most others here, hence my reaction.

Ronnie wrote:Is there anybody in this place that's not a complete incel?

Is it possible for people here to have a bit of fun without you reading something into it?

Let's face it, Who fandom is not exactly renowned for its sense of humour.

That's true enough.

Actually I was joking, but my humour appears to have touched a nerve.

No, your trolling touched a nerve.

No I was just joking around, even though you chose to pick up on it, and then label it as 'trolling'.
In hindsight though,  it could look like a personal attack on Commander Maxil Gate, so if my humour has offended him as much as it appears to have offended you, then I sincerely apologise to him, but I WAS joking.

Keep it down lads, I'm trying to have a wank.

The thread is yours.

The Two Doctors. It was good fun. Definitely one of the highlights of Baker's time.

Frontier in Space.
Jo's a bit annoying in it, but otherwise it has an impressive scope, makes a nice appetizer for Planet of the Daleks, and I think it was probably Delgado having his most fun in the role.

I'll probably watch Planet later.

The Husband's of River Song.

Its basically written and acted like a farce, constant joking all the way thru. Only unlike a farce very little of it is acually funny. But thats Moffat y'see - defying the audience's expectations, building situations up and up, increasing the tension for the audience and then - WHAM! He does something totally unexpected: Writes a shit episode.

Capaldi kept me watching. I like him. Even in this shit. There were a couple of bits of especially nice acting from him aswell. In particular when Capaldi and River get caught and she launches into her rubbishy, vomit inducing speach about her loving the Doctor but he does not love her because he is bigger than that etc..., I felt that what made that part bearable was Capaldi's / the Doctor's response. The way he looked at her and what he said and how he said it. Its a lovely moment but arguably not Doctor Who.

I did not like this. Even for a Christmas special it was poor. I guess Moffat was overworked what with doing all of season 9 and probably a series of Sherlock at the same time.

The Horns Of Nimon.
Upon a re-watch, I have quite a few things to say about this that follows on from the points I was making in my season 17 thread. I’ll admit to laughing my arse off rather frequently whilst watching this due to how overplayed and hilarious much of it is, but as a story, I’ve change my mind on a few things. Tanmann’s points about the story feeling a little repetitive and formulaic due to itself stretching the Williams/Adams formula extensively are certainly true- there are times where it feels patronisingly by the numbers by design. Likewise, the story isn’t especially well made or directed, with much of it looking rather pedestrian. And Ronnie’s point about season 17 providing the benchmark for New Who did honestly become apparent towards the end- there is a certain glibness it slowly acquires akin to a traditional New Who story that makes it come across as a little wearying by the end, and Tanmann is correct about the Doctor’s lack of direct involvement in much of the plot.

Having said that, I still enjoyed the hell out of most of the story. Crowden’s absurdly OTT performance never fails to amuse, and frequently had me laughing my arse off whilst also remaining invested in the story as a whole. Although most seem to object to Tom’s performance in this season, I think it’s great- though he often plays the fool during this era, there’s usually some trick or deception he conceals whilst doing so, making the character seem increasingly bohemian and entertaining. Likewise, Tom seems so at home in the role by this stage that his enthusiasm often livens up many stories of the period- the main difference between his performance and Tennant’s is that a degree of intellectual manouvering can be found in how he outwits his enemies, though this is generally reinforced by the fact that the era, in spite of being much more playful with its tone, still retains a sense of sincerity with its intellectual influences. In that respect, it’s similar to Monty Python, albeit not quite as overt with its parodic nature. In that sense, I think there’s another key flaw with the story- though it’s clearly very parodic and over the top, it often strays away from this in order to become a straightforward adventure, which creates something of a tonal disconnect. Essentially, I’d argue that a key flaw with it is that it doesn’t go far enough, hence the repetitive sameness that Tanmann refers to.

However, I was surprised to find that Lalla Ward was also strikingly good in this story- the fact that she plays the role of Romana completely straight whilst Baker and Crowden go completely over the top creates a rather amusing contrast, which thankfully never truly descends into crude bathos as with New Who. She has quite a few decent character moments here too.

I’d say that this is a story and era that is so distinctive with its tone compared to other eras of the original series that it often turns fans off, and there are times where it does push the limit with its parodic tone. That being said, I feel as if this story is undeservedly loathed, even if it is inherently ridiculous at its core. And I won’t pretend that the era is some sort of misunderstood holy grail of Who- it is certainly less consistent than most eras before it. I also wanted to acknowledge that a key reason for my admiration for Tom’s era isn’t just due to the Hinchcliffe era (in spite of its sustained brilliance), but due to how versatile the era is in terms of tone and scientific/literary influence. It’ll feature a story as bleak and oppressive as Genesis, but also feature a laugh-out-loud spoof like Nimon, and a surrealist piece of French-cinema inspired sci-fi like Warriors’ Gate. Though certain stories are more flawed than others, I’d say that a real testament to the era is how varied and experimental it often is, which increases its longevity for me and sets it apart from basically any other.

This is a long essay I’ve written on a deliberately ridiculous story, but I figured I’d clarify a few things I thought I left unclear in my Season 17 thread.