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I know I listened to No Man's Land a couple of months ago, but I'm hard-pressed to remember a single thing about it. It went straight out of my mind.
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Mar 18, 2015 00:49
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drat it, stop getting streets ahead of me! I'm so far behind only hearing an audio a week... Just started Live 34. It's like listening to a Fox News broadcast in the mid 00's.
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Mar 18, 2015 01:06
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To be honest, I do worry I'm kind of cluttering up the thread with these reviews, but I figured it's the quiet part of the year for Doctor Who news anyway. Still, I'd be more than happy to see any other aspect of the show (classic, revival etc) be brought up, I just hope I'm not scaring people off with all this talk about a different aspect of the show.
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Mar 18, 2015 02:12
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Jerusalem posted:To be honest, I do worry I'm kind of cluttering up the thread with these reviews, but I figured it's the quiet part of the year for Doctor Who news anyway. Still, I'd be more than happy to see any other aspect of the show (classic, revival etc) be brought up, I just hope I'm not scaring people off with all this talk about a different aspect of the show. I'll bite. I love your reviews, Jerusalem, but I've been meaning to start a conversation about the BBC for a while. Can we talk about how the funding for Doctor Who and the BBC works? I'm an American, so the fact that Doctor Who can't use its profits from merchandising for the actual show's production confuses me. I understand that the BBC is government owned and controlled, but I'm not sure how exactly that works, either. Does Doctor Who get renewed for a new series by the BBC execs or by government officers? or are BBC execs government officers? I just want an outline of how Doctor Who gets approved, financed, and renewed by the BBC. Examples from actual Doctor Who production would really help. I worry this sounds like I'm trying to get this forum to do my homework for me, but I'm honestly just an American nerd that doesn't understand your UK Parliament and state run media.
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Mar 18, 2015 02:39
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The Action Man posted:
The BBC is run by the goofy hat Time Lords of Classic Who.
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Mar 18, 2015 03:23
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The Action Man posted:I'll bite. I love your reviews, Jerusalem, but I've been meaning to start a conversation about the BBC for a while. The BBC isn't government owned or controlled - its independence from government is in its Royal Charter. It's a corporation (BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation) with a Trust who act as oversight. The Royal Charter defines the BBC as existing to serve the public interest by informing, educating, and entertaining the people. They have a list of "public purposes" they aim to meet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/publicpurposes It's funded largely through fees collected from citizens when they renew their licenses to own a TV. Our current government is variously cool or outright hostile to it, as Doctor Who's renewal has nothing to do with government. Like any programming, it's down to the BBC's own internal hierarchy - the Head of Drama for BBC Wales (Doctor Who since the revival has been made by the Welsh branch of the corporation), the Controller for BBC 1 (the channel it's made for) and ultimately the Director of TV.
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Mar 18, 2015 03:49
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Bicyclops posted:The BBC is run by the goofy hat Time Lords of Classic Who. This explains so much about Series 3 of Sherlock. Dave Brookshaw posted:The BBC isn't government owned or controlled - its independence from government is in its Royal Charter. It's a corporation (BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation) with a Trust who act as oversight. The Royal Charter defines the BBC as existing to serve the public interest by informing, educating, and entertaining the people. They have a list of "public purposes" they aim to meet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/publicpurposes Could Parliament change the BBC's charter or perhaps remove it's funding via these fees? Is it possible for the BBC to restructure so that Doctor Who's production was funded from merchandising profits?
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Mar 18, 2015 03:58
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The Action Man posted:so the fact that Doctor Who can't use its profits from merchandising for the actual show's production confuses me. IIRC, it just goes back into the general BBC purse, from which they then allocate money to be spent in the various departments (news, drama, sport, etc), who in turn allocate budgets of their respective programmes. So Doctor Who is allocated a budget from whatever % of funds, set aside for Drama. At least, that's if IIRC.  Jerusalem posted:To be honest, I do worry I'm kind of cluttering up the thread with these reviews, but I figured it's the quiet part of the year for Doctor Who news anyway. Still, I'd be more than happy to see any other aspect of the show (classic, revival etc) be brought up, I just hope I'm not scaring people off with all this talk about a different aspect of the show. Nah, yours and Cobi's reviews are pretty great! Reminds me I've got to start listening to more 7th Doctor stuff, though. Yeah, it'll pick up when they start releasing stuff about the upcoming series. [e]: From the last page: Gordon Shumway posted:I'm not sure if you're counting them, since they're not Big Finish, but Jon Pertwee did three audio plays before he died. Yeah, I'm planning to do a seperate thing for non-Big Finish Doctor audios (I'll have to see how hard it is to get hold of them, Pesky Splinter fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 04:02
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The Action Man posted:Could Parliament change the BBC's charter or perhaps remove it's funding via these fees? Is it possible for the BBC to restructure so that Doctor Who's production was funded from merchandising profits? Keep in mind that Doctor Who's revival was pretty much only possible because money from other successful shows was filtered back into the BBC, which meant they had the ability to set aside cash for reviving a show that had died ignominiously almost two decades earlier, and that they were willing to do this purely because a talented, highly in-demand writer/producer gambled his credibility and reputation for quality work on it simply to get his favorite show back on the air. While it seems unfair for Doctor Who not to see the lion's share of its profits go back to it, it does go towards all kinds of other shows, and the BBC isn't likely to do much to mess with the giant cash cow it unexpectedly turned out to be (again!), especially now that the guy who replaced the original showrunner has managed to produce a second highly lauded and popular series in Sherlock.
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Mar 18, 2015 04:08
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I do like the idea that the Doctor generally just tunes himself out of the translator because he speaks most of the major languages anyway.
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Mar 18, 2015 05:14
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In my Audio listen through, I'm up to Zagreus, about halfway through right now. It's making a lot more sense after listening to previous audios than when I was jumping around randomly when I started listening to Big Finish.
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Mar 18, 2015 07:38
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I can't even imagine listening to Zagreus without context, even with context it feels overly long and convoluted.
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Mar 18, 2015 07:59
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Apropos of the Sherlock talk, I've just discovered that the 2015 Sherlock special will actually be a Victorian-set adventure, separate from the main continuity. I am quietly excited for Sherlock Unbound. Moffat/Gatiss, please don't include the Paternoster gang. 
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Mar 18, 2015 09:17
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The Action Man posted:Could Parliament change the BBC's charter or perhaps remove it's funding via these fees? Is it possible for the BBC to restructure so that Doctor Who's production was funded from merchandising profits? I believe one of the committees recently reported that the licence fee could be phased out, but it's been a bit lost in the shuffle of all the other events and there hasn't really been any public debate.
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Mar 18, 2015 10:29
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The Action Man posted:Could Parliament change the BBC's charter or perhaps remove it's funding via these fees? Is it possible for the BBC to restructure so that Doctor Who's production was funded from merchandising profits? Yes, they could be this stupid and terrible
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Mar 18, 2015 10:43
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Yeah, the last thing I want is Parliament loving around with the BBC.
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Mar 18, 2015 10:59
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The_Doctor posted:Apropos of the Sherlock talk, I've just discovered that the 2015 Sherlock special will actually be a Victorian-set adventure, separate from the main continuity. I am quietly excited for Sherlock Unbound. Moffat has said they aren't even in the new season, he's taking a break from them, thank god.
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Mar 18, 2015 11:06
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PriorMarcus posted:Moffat has said they aren't even in the new season, he's taking a break from them, thank god. This is probably for the best, and I say that as someone who loves them. I honestly think they would work best as a Who-free spinoff, ideally run by Mark Gatiss.
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Mar 18, 2015 12:06
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docbeard posted:This is probably for the best, and I say that as someone who loves them. I honestly think they would work best as a Who-free spinoff, ideally run by Mark Gatiss. You mean Nicholas Briggs.
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Mar 18, 2015 13:30
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Wait! I can add to this topic, because it involves something from a British television show I've actually seen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqG4ysu2ksU Is having a television without paying the licence fee a big thing in Britain? I guess it would be like pirating cable/satellite here in the United States? And how does one pay the licence fee each year? Is it an automatic deduction from a paycheck or something you'd have to send a check/pay online?
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Mar 18, 2015 13:41
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CobiWann posted:Wait! I can add to this topic, because it involves something from a British television show I've actually seen! You have to actively apply for one, then you can pay it all in one go or pay it by monthly direct debit installments. It's technically worse than pirating cable as it is currently a criminal offense to watch TV without a license, rather than it being a civil matter.
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Mar 18, 2015 13:49
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Fil5000 posted:You have to actively apply for one, then you can pay it all in one go or pay it by monthly direct debit installments. It's technically worse than pirating cable as it is currently a criminal offense to watch TV without a license, rather than it being a civil matter. A criminal offense? Dang... ...well, maybe it's fair. You guys get Question Time, which I would KILL to have with our Congress and President...
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Mar 18, 2015 14:10
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CobiWann posted:A criminal offense? Dang... We also get Prime Minister's question time as part of our governmental process, which is like a debate except both parties are allowed to constantly throw out insulting non-sequiturs while their parties jeer and boo like frenzied apes.
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Mar 18, 2015 14:32
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Fil5000 posted:We also get Prime Minister's question time as part of our governmental process, which is like a debate except both parties are allowed to constantly throw out insulting non-sequiturs while their parties jeer and boo like frenzied apes. They sometimes show this on C-SPAN here (or at least they did a few years ago; I don't know for sure if they still do), and even as an American who knows nothing about your politics I've enjoyed it greatly.
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Mar 18, 2015 14:51
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It's only enjoyable if you know nothing about our politics
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Mar 18, 2015 20:35
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Pesky Splinter posted:Yeah, I'm planning to do a seperate thing for non-Big Finish Doctor audios (I'll have to see how hard it is to get hold of them, I started on The Ghosts of N-Space and stopped midway through, but not because of the audio, I just got super busy and never got round to resuming it. But the first part felt very much like a Big Finish audio, and it was good to hear Nick Courtney, Lis Sladen, and Jon Pertwee together again. And I'm mistaken, there's only two of them, Paradise of Death and Ghosts of N-Space. Pertwee unfortunately died before they could finish the third one.
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Mar 19, 2015 01:43
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Jerusalem posted:I can't even imagine listening to Zagreus without context, even with context it feels overly long and convoluted. Zagreus is an anniversary special. Yep, that's what it is. With all that entails.
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Mar 19, 2015 01:48
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Astroman posted:Zagreus is an anniversary special. Yep, that's what it is. With all that entails. Well, there are good ways to do anniversary specials, like The Three Doctors or The Day of the Doctor. Then there are slightly flabby, slightly too self-indulgent, but still fun ways to do anniversary specials, like The Five Doctors. And then there's Zagreus. I might have had the worse go of anybody with Zagreus. I started listening to the Eighth Doctor audios maybe six months or so after I got into Who, mostly because I had a job where I had headphones in all the time and ran out of podcasts pretty quickly. I had never seen an episode of the classic series, all I knew about it (and what got me into the show) was a compilation of the opening credits on Youtube. So Zagreus made, basically, negative sense to me.
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Mar 19, 2015 01:54
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Jerusalem posted:To be honest, I do worry I'm kind of cluttering up the thread with these reviews, but I figured it's the quiet part of the year for Doctor Who news anyway. Still, I'd be more than happy to see any other aspect of the show (classic, revival etc) be brought up, I just hope I'm not scaring people off with all this talk about a different aspect of the show. No worries. Any Who talk is good talk. (Even Twin Dilemma talk.) docbeard posted:This is probably for the best, and I say that as someone who loves them. I honestly think they would work best as a Who-free spinoff, ideally run by Mark Gatiss. Who-free? You mean, like rare-visits like SJA had, or "none" (once every 4 years or so) at all? Would more visits mean The Doctor would out-shine the Gang if he visited often? Just wondering why people would like Who-free spinoffs. I think more visits would be better to shake things up more dramatically, and would be a great excuse to get other Doctors to visit! (MORE EIGHT PLEASE.) RunAndGun fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Mar 19, 2015 |
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Mar 19, 2015 02:06
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Rochallor posted:So Zagreus made, basically, negative sense to me. ...ok, we now need a definition for 'negative sense' because that is too awesome a phrase to go undefined.
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Mar 19, 2015 02:07
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docbeard posted:This is probably for the best, and I say that as someone who loves them. I honestly think they would work best as a Who-free spinoff, ideally run by Mark Gatiss. Well, there are rumors . . . BF said that Kate Stewart isn't the only new series character they've licensed. Also, Dan Starkey is writing a Sontaran audio for 7 and Mel.
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Mar 19, 2015 09:53
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Davros1 posted:Also, Dan Starkey is writing a Sontaran audio for 7 and Mel. By now, Dan Starkey is to Sontarans what David Banks was to Cybermen, isn't he?
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Mar 19, 2015 10:21
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I wish we could get Christopher Ryan back as a Sontaran, he had a much more 'officer' level voice.
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Mar 19, 2015 10:51
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Does anyone know if any plans have been mooted to give Web of Fear and Enemy of the World fuller DVD releases than they currently have now, with all the usual commentaries, documentaries, etc?
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Mar 19, 2015 11:47
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The_Doctor posted:I wish we could get Christopher Ryan back as a Sontaran, he had a much more 'officer' level voice. I would love that a lot, he was so drat good in that season 4 2-parter (of which I am a big fan in general, unlike many others it seems) so I am kind of hoping they eventually do another Sontaran story where characters like Clara are initially,"Awww it's those cute and kinda goofy potato-men like my good buddy Strax!  " until they realize these are the wrong kind of Sontarans - the rear end in a top hat kind of Sontarans.
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Mar 19, 2015 11:50
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Jerusalem posted:I would love that a lot, he was so drat good in that season 4 2-parter (of which I am a big fan in general, unlike many others it seems)  quote:so I am kind of hoping they eventually do another Sontaran story where characters like Clara are initially,"Awww it's those cute and kinda goofy potato-men like my good buddy Strax! Sontarans aren't assholes! They're just...organized! But yeah, an episode where Clara meets real Sontarans who see humans as nothing more than target practice and the Doctor getting dropped into the middle of a Sontarn war zone, especially with modern special effects, would have the potential to be utterly fantastic. Personally, I'd love to see something down the line where Gallifrey comes back, the Time Lords and Daleks are about to go at it again...but the Sontarans show up all "gently caress both of you, you jerks started the Time War and WE'RE going to finish it."
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Mar 19, 2015 13:32
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CobiWann posted:Personally, I'd love to see something down the line where Gallifrey comes back, the Time Lords and Daleks are about to go at it again...but the Sontarans show up all "gently caress both of you, you jerks started the Time War and WE'RE going to finish it."
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Mar 19, 2015 13:42
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I don't know, I just have too much trouble taking the Sontarans seriously anymore, and I did before Strax showed up. Their weakness is a vent in the back of their suits that they have there because of some honor code. The way they talk reminds me of the Thraddash. I think the Paternoster Gang are a juuuuust a bit over-used in the show (and a Big Finish spin-off feels just about right), but one of Stephen Moffat's really great ideas was deciding to play a Sontaran entirely for comedy.
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Mar 19, 2015 14:25
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Sontarans as comedy are indeed a good idea, I'm also brought to mind of that audio with 5/Nyssa/Turlough/Tegan which was really good. On the other hand, it's a good idea every now and again to take a concept back to basics to remind people of why the lampshading works. And what would be better than a modern, visualized, CGI spectacular Sontaran/Rutan war on some alien planet? 
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Mar 19, 2015 15:00
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Astroman posted:Sontarans as comedy are indeed a good idea, I'm also brought to mind of that audio with 5/Nyssa/Turlough/Tegan which was really good. On the other hand, it's a good idea every now and again to take a concept back to basics to remind people of why the lampshading works. And what would be better than a modern, visualized, CGI spectacular Sontaran/Rutan war on some alien planet? I still stand by the idea of introducing the Sontarans into a story about a more primitive war. As far as the Doctor's enemies go, sure, the Sontarans aren't threatening, but they're trigger-happy and advanced enough to intrude on someone else's war and utterly curbstomp both sides without actually caring about the outcome. Give them a historical set in the American Civil War or something of that general era, you've got a good story going.
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Mar 19, 2015 15:11
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