Doctor Who - Series 13

I don't know how it compares to previous series, but terms of relation to everything else on TV, it should be mid top ten when I post the chart later.
 
Increases to 5.785m after device viewing is included. I have to use the other figure in the chart I post though as I can't see the device viewing figures for every show, so couldn't compare like for like.
 
Caught up on the latest episode, it did a great job of keeping up the pace and continuing the story. I loved Mary Seacole, but Jackie Corkhill as Dan's mum stole the show for me :D
 
Overnight figure of 3.96 million for episode two, so about 0.5m down on last week (just under 4m on overnights is still good for the show currently, I think).
 
Good episode tonight, not quite up there with the first two for me but it felt like it was setting up quite a bit to be paid off in the second half of the series (can't believe we're already halfway through :shock:). Loved seeing Jo Martin as the Doctor again - hopefully she's back before the end. The Angels seem to be a bigger element than I'd expected, and that bit with the videogame was a nice twist on the whole appearing from an image thing they can do. A whole episode of them next week, it looks like :disco:
 
I love that I'm properly thinking and speculating about Doctor Who again, from week to week. The past two series really hadn't been giving me that (which is honestly part of the thrill for me and always has been).
 
Not for me this week. Messy, mangled and lots of Yaz which showcases what a poor actress she is. I had zero investment in that space guard's pregnant wife storyline.
 
The TARDIS set has been (or is currently being) dismantled:
This is interesting because I believe Chibnall has confirmed that Jodie's final scene will be set there, and for a regeneration scene they usually bring the new actor on to film their part of it (either on the same day or later). But the set is already gone, so either they'll use green-screen OR... they've already cast the next Doctor and managed to film a scene with them last month, without it leaking out. It's possible! :shock:
 
Ugh I'm already so excited about what RTD will do when he returns, as much as the current series has been a big step up in quality from the rest of Jodie's run. What a weird feeling! There's good stuff on now, and the specials next year, but I'm already looking forward to 2023 :D
 
Didn't they say recently that "the last scene JW filmed was her regeneration"? I think they may have already wrapped. And I have a feeling due to the big handover it'll be a "cliffhanger" regeneration where we don't know the identity of the new actor until later... that's unless "plot twist it's Jo Martin and the Doctor's own timeline is out of order from now on" or some nonsense like that but I think that's past even Chibnall's craziness. He'll probably just leave a clean slate for Bad Wolf / RTD.

At least it won't have taken long to dismantle this TARDIS. First one in the shows history where the dimensional thingumabob is broken and it's the same size on the inside as the outside...

As for the third episode... it kept me entertained but can't really deny it's a confusing mess. It's a very frustrating watch for casual viewers like my parents, they're not turbonerds who love dozens of threads in a random order to try and keep track of, they're getting on a bit for all that mental taxation, and it's a shame to see them kind of "shut out" by complex stuff like this (same with Discovery, it seems that complex time travel fuckery and multiverses etc are the "in" thing these days and it's not very accessible)
 
  • Like
Reactions: COB
At least it won't have taken long to dismantle this TARDIS. First one in the shows history where the dimensional thingumabob is broken and it's the same size on the inside as the outside...
Yes, I'm not the biggest fan of it. Those big crystal things were a cool idea, but as time's gone on it's clear they're actually a bit of an impediment to shooting - I can't help but notice they've not spent that much time actually inside the TARDIS this season, and when they have they've tended to be near the doors rather than around the console for the most part :D
 
Actually, how about a TARDIS set rate? Yes I'm aware this is for the benefit of me and me alone, don't worry :D

1. Eccleston/Tennant era
tumblr_ms3rr8fEEJ1sw4g05o1_1280.jpg

Quite simple compared to later ones, but I love how weather-beaten it looks and they were able to do a lot of cool stuff with it just by altering the colour of the lighting (the set was actually mostly white/grey I believe!). The coral look was very different for the show, and fit in nicely with the idea that the TARDIS is a living thing. At the time I remember being mildly annoyed that you couldn't see any doors to other rooms, but that's not a big problem really.

I rate it 8.5 out of 10.

2. Matt Smith era (first design)
tardis-console-series-5.jpg

Too busy, the console itself had too much twee bullshit all over it, but I do like how multi-leveled it was.

I rate it 7 out of 10.

3. Smith II/Capaldi era
Who-will-take-the-keys-to-the-TARDIS.jpg

STUNNING - my favourite TARDIS interior of them all. Beautiful layout, plenty of space, believable as a home, a vehicle and a laboratory.

I rate it 10 out of 10.

4. Jodie Whitaker era
gjzbo3lvltc71.jpg

A lot of visually interesting ELEMENTS, but it doesn't really work for me. Too much dark/light contrast, it feels oppressive and not lived-in, and the crystals are like an attempt to do the coral pillars from the RTD era but they're just obstructive.

I rate it 5.5 out of 10.
 
Did you enjoy that? It was quite messy with endless chase scenes that cut away to TWO other storylines stopping all momentum, and the Weeping Angels are quite limited in how they can be menacing in my opinion (when one appears it's always "don't blink, keep looking straight etc").
Like most of Chibnall's Who, it was a WATERED DOWN version of something the show had done well better before and he's unable to improve on it or offer an alternative take.
 
I thought it was the best Angels episode since Blink (which will never be topped just for the sheer originality of it). They did some interesting things with them, they'd never thought of before.

But Peekaboo is right about the weird pacing. Having a cliffhanger, then ten seconds later that scene with Vinder, just showed how they really wanted to keep that storyline going, but didn't know how to do it without interfering with the pace of the episode. Very odd placement there at the end.
 
Well that last bit in the credits is meant to be TIME EATING ITSELF or whatever bollocks it is they're trying to imply is happening :D So I didn't mind that one so much. It's more when the Doctor is being chased by Angels in the basement and they cut away to two other story threads at least twice. It's editing 101, light and shade, tension and release.

There was an interesting story to be told here about a town suspended in space in 1901 and a little girl trapped in her own past that was completely bulldozed over by AN ANGEL IN MY MIND!!1 and THE DIVISION BECKONS, DOCTOR.
 
I honestly didn't mind the episode cutting away to the Bel subplot, we already knew it was part of this six-part storyline so I was expecting it to happen. I was glad of a break from the tension, because the Angels were properly RELENTLESS this time :D
 
RTD's next project has been announced - a three-part Noele Gordon biopic for ITV, starring Helena Bonham Carter :o/:disco:

I expect that he wouldn't move onto doing anything related to his return to DW until this has been fully filmed and produced, possibly around next Easter or so? (Just a guess)

If we're expecting the next Doctor to be someone he's worked with recently, like his last two were... I don't think there'd be many objections to HBC in the role.
 
Oooh nonsensical speculation chatter :disco:

Two years ago I would have said she's TOO BIG for this gig and even though she is STILL TOO BIG for this gig today, she seems to prefer working in Britain and has done a lot of telly recently, she popped up as a guest star in that Greg Davies comedy-drama thinguie about cleaning up crime scenes and let's not forget she ADVERTISES SOFAS ON TV these days. She's one of the few POSH ACT-OHRS I genuinely like, mainly because she is KINDA BATSHIT, has ZERO FAKE MODESTY about who she is and dresses like an HAUTE-COUTURE WITCH :disco:

Another great choice if we were to open the BUDGET PURSE would be Emma Thompson.
 
  • Love
Reactions: COB
I mean, it's all PIE IN THE SKY if you actually look at the GRUELLING FILMING SCHEDULE this show has. It's got a bit better I believe but during the Capaldi era the actors were essentially LIVING IN CARDIFF for about 8 months a year and what ACADEMY-AWARD WINNER and HAMPSTEAD-LIVING actor wants THAT?
 
It was like that in RTD's time too, I think - I recently reread his book and he seems genuinely amazed that Catherine Tate was up for doing a full series, as it would mean relocating to Cardiff for most of the year (and thank goodness she did!)
 
Sorry COB but this is just badly written nonsense for me now. The amount of EXPOSITION DIALOGUE in this episode was through the roof. And this whole thing about the Doctor being some child left at some wormhole's feet in Gallifrey and not even a Timelord was FANFIC BOLLOCKS two years ago and is still a load of old shite today.

The most interesting thing about the episode was the UNIT subplot because at least it was FRESH and not marred by the FLUX thing.
 
No need to apologise, it's not working for you and that's fair enough :tongueout: I suppose that's the downside of doing a serialised story like this one - if you're not interested in the central premise, it's not going to do very much for you.
 
I really enjoyed the first two episodes. The set-up was good, it's just got more and more convoluted as episodes went on to the point of spending more time TALKING about what's going on than actually SHOWING what's going on.

It's such a shame that they've brought John Bishop on this series where his character development has been hampered by PLOT. He's the best thing in it and they did really good with his introduction and his scenes in Liverpool. In a normal series he would have had 12 episodes to develop these a bit further but with this pacing he's five episodes in just providing BRAWN to Yaz's brain (ahem...). His interactions with the Doctor were GREAT.
 
  • Like
Reactions: COB
That's definitely fair, I'm enjoying it but I appreciate that over the six episodes it's moved in a direction that's sort of the opposite of what Doctor Who has been whenever it's really captured the public imagination - it feels fannish, in the same way that the worst excesses of the Moffat era could. I'm expecting the RTD return to feel different from his first stint, but I think he'll definitely make things much more GROUNDED again, and dial back on all the lore stuff in favour of a focus on the characters.
 
I'm honestly enjoying Flux loads more than any of Chibnall's run so far... it's far from perfect, but feels like Chibnall and JW are finally finding their feet somewhat just in time to leave :D

I do dislike the Timeless Child stuff but I can probably forgive it IF (big IF) the Doctor decides she wants her previous memories to remain a mystery. She could say something like "it doesn't matter who I used to be, because I am the Doctor, that's who I chose to be 13 (or whatever) lifetimes ago" and just leave the watch where it is. It'd help re-legitimise Hartnell's Doctor and everything he went through in that "first" life to establish himself, and reintroduce some mystery into the Doctor that we may never know about. I have no idea where Ruth Doctor would fit into that but I'd really rather she was "Doctor 2.5" after all since this would clean up some oddities with the TARDIS and solidify the idea that she only chose to be the Doctor in this "set" of lifetimes. Then you could pretty much treat her "past self" as if she was reincarnated from someone OTHER than the Doctor.

Of course, this would be far too comfy - it's more likely that Chibnall will decide to use it to reveal the Doctor's real name or something as one last fuck-you to the air of mystery that surrounded the character, but we can hope at least.
 
The Adele special was on at the same time last week, wasn't it?
No, that started about half an hour after it finished. It didn't seem to have any strong competition last week. It will be interesting to see if the consolidated figures similarly increase.
 
The 28 day consolidated viewing figures for the first episode show it gained a further 0.7m viewers, but thats relatively low compared to other shows like Shetland (1.6m), The Long Call (2.3m), Showtrial (1.9m), The Outlaws (2.1m) and Angela Black (1.3m). But then I guess it has a far more hardcore fanbase who are more likely to watch it very quickly. It still performed considerably better than the soaps or entertainment shows in that period.
 
  • Like
Reactions: COB
WTF am I watching? So many random characters talking absolute SCI-FI BOLLOCKS at 60mph.
 
That episode seems to have been received terribly on first look on imdb, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it resolved all the character arcs well, which is what i'm really there for. Though I was sad Diane refused the date with Dan at the end :(

Jodie's best performance of all 3 seasons too in that episode - it really gave her EVERYTHING to do with the three-way split.
 
  • Like
Reactions: COB
In thought it was a complete mess to be honest which is a shame as I liked how it was going. But there was just so much to resolve in one hour and not a lot seemed to be. Did the "hoovering" of the Flux undo all the destruction it did or what?

The fob watch presumably got dropped off to Big Finish.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom