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So who wrote "listen" on the chalkboard?
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Sep 13, 2014 20:28
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PriorMarcus posted:Well, they edited out the most offensively stupid part at least. Please tell.
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Sep 13, 2014 20:32
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Also Clara was just telepathically communicating with the TARDIS. I have no issues believing the TARDIS would choose to go there based on the information Clara gave it.
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Sep 13, 2014 20:40
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I heard "Orson" but I'm not surprised people heard "awesome" because subconsciously you were probably thinking "this is awesome, this is awesome", over and over again.
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Sep 14, 2014 17:05
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Astroman posted:"You're a beautiful woman. Probably." I just finished it myself! Well, a few days ago, but it takes me a while to get my thoughts together sometimes. I agree with a lot of what you've said, though expanded War Doctor stuff is obviously really hard. Here is my "review" though!: Engines of War by George Mann  The War Doctor first jumped on to our screens at the end of The Name of the Doctor, indeed at the end of series 7 itself. The Name of the Doctor, from Chakoteya transcripts posted:(The Doctor looks forward to where a man is standing with his back to them.) The Doctor’s secret, the War Doctor, was the incarnation that the Doctor didn’t talk about because of how he acted in the Time War, and how (he thought) he ended it. Naturally the introduction text of “introducing John Hurt as the Doctor” over the War Doctor’s face then a cut to credits had the opposite effect on the fans: people were talking about him all the way up until his appearance in the much anticipated 50th special, The Day of the Doctor.  Whether poor internal politics at the BBC destroyed our chances to see Christopher Ecclestone in a similar role in the special, or bad choices denied Paul McGann of his swansong return (which he arguably go anyway in The Night of the Doctor “minisode”) is hardly the point. John Hurt was fantastic as the War Doctor in Day. He played it as an old and weary Doctor who had enough of the time war (his catchphrase seeming to be “no more” before adopting 9’s “fantastic”), who somehow came across as younger than either Tennant or Smith. The chemistry of all three was marvellous, the Tower of London scene in particular really selling Tennant and Smith as old men who have tried to bury the atrocity the committed as the War Doctor. He also serves as a lovely conduit for “Classic Doctor Who” to poke fun at “New Doctor Who”, such as in the way the War Doctor reacts to 10 and 11’s use of the sonic screwdriver. In the end, all three reject the notion that they “did [what they did] without choice”. They make a choice to find another solution, a better way, and the War Doctor realises he had a right to be called the Doctor all along (though obviously he won’t because we can’t mess up our numbering). The War Doctor was ultimately fantastic, but his appearance was over all too soon, even with the special clocking in at roughly 1h15m. Though he did just make a reappearance in flashback-form in series 8’s Listen. If only we could have more of the War Doctor, right? Right? quote:He was an older man, with a craggy, careworn face and startling green-brown eyes. His hair was silvery grey and brushed up into a tuft at the front, and he wore a bushy white beard and moustache. He frowned at her, looking perplexed. He appeared to be wearing a battered leather coat and a herringbone patterned scarf. Engines of War, written by George Mann, seems to follow the tradition of the other larger-size hardback Doctor Who releases by BBC Books The Wheel of Ice (by Stephen Baxter) and Harvest of Time (Alistair Reynolds). Both of those books featured the second and third Doctors respectively. I don’t think there’s been any confirmation of these books being “part of a series”, but they have had similar releases and all feature past Doctors. The plot takes place before Day of the Doctor, during a conflict between the Time Lords and Daleks in a particular region of space. The Doctor is forced to land on a planet in the region, Moldox, which has been ravaged by Daleks. There he meets a plucky young Dalek hunter named Cinder, who becomes his companion. She’s pretty cool. The Doctor wants to find out what plans the Daleks are concocting, etc., etc. quote:“Doc-tor,” said the Dalek. “Dalek killer. The Great Scourge. The Living Death. The Executioner.” Structurally Engines of War is actually quite pleasing. The larger page sizes, and the roughly 350 page count make a book that’s not a chore to get through, but is pleasingly weightier than the quite short New Series Adventures range, which is still running. The book is split into three parts of roughly equal length. While the book is linear, each part has its own little “act” to wrap up, and in those ways it mirrors the structure of a classic Doctor Who serial, albeit more along the lines of The Two Doctors with its 3x45 minute structure. This isn’t the only part of classic Doctor Who that the book mirrors. It’s packed with references to the classic run. From The Five Doctors, to the obligatory references to Genesis of the Daleks, and a lot of bits in between. But it does so in a story that feels very modern, filled with broad audacity and even spaceship battles. If RTD had to write this as some sort of finale, it would seem to make sense. In this sense Engines of War really does manage to pull off a marriage between the old and new, the classic and modern, when it comes to representing the broad spectrum of what Doctor Who is. The problems for me come when looking deeper at this “marriage” of elements. For the most part this is all Engines of War is. There is hardly any in between. The Doctor, despite his claims to the contrary throughout the early part of the book, still acts and feels like the Doctor. He is even referred to as the Doctor by numerous people. The ruse quickly falls apart for the reader, and it quickly becomes apparent the Doctor is only fooling himself. But heck, maybe he was. He’s definitely more hard-line than other Doctors, but it’s hard to imagine them not being so when put in similar situations. There’s only one exception towards the end, and it’s pretty good, but I would have liked to have seen more of that sort of thing – to be made to feel uncomfortable about this man who doesn’t deserve the Doctor, doing things the Doctor would never conceivably do. But it doesn’t really happen.  The book's tagline posted:War changes everyone. Even the Doctor. There are also a noticeable amount of typos in this book. There also some bits of heavy exposition that are a bit grating. It really feels like the BBC didn’t really care too much about this book. It could have been edited a bit more, and the focus of the book is just a bit lacking. Mann seems like a good writer, and a lot of this novel feels really nice. But at times I can’t help but feel Mann is doing in his best without being given much, if any, direction as to how things should play out, what the War Doctor was like, what Time War conflicts were like, and is doing the best he can with that. And with that, he does a great job. Engines of War is a fine book. It’s a great read, in fact. If you want more of the War Doctor, then, well, here he is. He’s grumpy with a sparkle in his eye, flying about in his badass TARDIS that has a ceiling that shows space around him. Mann captures the essence of Hurt really, really well in fact, and it’s one of the high points of this novel for me. But that’s all it really is. It’s just more of the War Doctor. It’s easy to guess what the conclusion will be early on, and when it does come it’s very solid and satisfying. But it doesn’t really add much to anything. Don’t get me wrong, it adds a bit, and it’s nice that it does. But overall, it’s just more of the War Doctor. But you know what? That’s not a bad thing at all. That’s fantastic.  --- For my moaning about typos, please excuse mine. It's quite late! PoshAlligator fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Sep 15, 2014 |
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Sep 15, 2014 02:19
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Tons of Time Lord politics and poo poo here, and it was great for fans of Deadly Assassin, Arc of Infinity, and The Five Doctors. I had no idea they'd Go There based on the back jacket description but boy did they!
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SirSamVimes posted:Speaking of the War Doctor and John Hurt's incredible performance, I decided to re-watch the 50th. One of the best episodes ever made, I still think. Does anybody know of a wallpaper version of all the Doctors looking up at Gallifrey? Honestly doing a whole watch through Name, Night, Day, and Time, is just wonderful. After the lukewarm series 7a and the bubbly majority of 7b it was so great.
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Sep 15, 2014 02:59
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Astroman posted:I do disagree with you there. I think it precisely because the War Doctor is very much still The Doctor that he shines. It really is the Doctor fooling himself and I'm glad we didn't see a harder edged Doctor. It just worked better for me personally that way. I also think the descriptions of the Time War across the ages, the Battle TARDISes, the Skaro Degradations, and Rassilon himself were exactly what I imagined the Time War to be. In that sense it fills in a nice gap. I don't disagree with you there, it is nice to get the sense of a good Doctor in a bad situation, but the way the War Doctor is talked about in the show made it seem as if there was more than just the Moment to be ashamed of. Things like still refusing to outfit the TARDIS with weaponry despite being in a massive war are a little too on the noise Doctor-y. It's not that I don't like that, but it seems a bit safe. I try to avoid too many specifics in my reviews themselves, but I did especially like the descriptions of TARDISes destroyed in battle, "blooming" (is this original to the novel?), and the Doctor using the TARDIS to ram people.
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Sep 15, 2014 12:53
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Big Mean Jerk posted:So I've decided to dive headlong into Eighth Doctor stuff, but I have a problem; I'm not overly fond of Big Finish style radio plays. I've tried listening to them during my commute but I start to zone out and miss things. I'd much rather read Eighth Doc novels, especially since I can focus on them more. Problem is, I never see much discussion of what's good and what's poo poo in this thread. Suggestions? What's good and bad is a pretty easy one. Big Finish is good, and the EDAs are bad. In all seriousness it does feel like missing out if you don't go with McGann's take on the character. I've only read one, Reckless Engineering. It was a short while ago and I might dig it up to write too many words about. It was a bit hit and miss. I live in the city where it's set (though it's an alternate universe thing which seems to be a whole arc of the EDAs), so most of my enjoyment could admittedly have sprung from that. I too would like to hear some recommendations. Earthworld got a 50th Anniversary reprint so that could be a safe bet.
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Sep 15, 2014 18:46
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Has anyone read Philip Sandifer's article "Steven Moffat is a Feminist and You Are Wrong if You Disagree"? http://www.philipsandifer.com/2014/09/steven-moffat-is-feminist-and-you-are.html I thought it raised some interesting points.
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Sep 15, 2014 23:27
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DoctorWhat posted:It's another example of Sandifer giving in to his teleological predispositions and primal need to defend Moffat at all costs, and talking over actual women (and other minority perspectives) in the process.. Oh yeah, I think I saw some of the last thing on Tumblr and it was pretty weird. I've enjoyed bits and pieces of his blog I've stumbled across, though. I agree with some of his points. Mainly that I think Moffat does have the capacity and desire to want to improve, and I don't think "savage" critiques that don't actually explain themselves helps. I identify with his position partly too, as I was recently surprised to find my mother is a big fan of River Song, and realised I was stupid for disliking her character without considering what her character could mean to other people. But it is a bit overly defensive. However, I might still "un-wishlist" TARDIS Erudotirium. I've been enjoying About Time Vol. 7 so far, so I guess I'll just stick with that series for Doctor Who critique and trivia. e: Moffat discussion spin-off thread
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Sep 16, 2014 00:45
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Astroman posted:Well like I said, it worked for me, but of course different people might want to see something different from the War Doctor. Though we could also see some harder edged moments from him in future stories. This may just have been a "good day" for him. Yes, maybe. On one hand it would be good to have more War Doctor, but on the other I fear it's quite limited and difficult. Unless high ups at the BBC (like Moffat) are willing to help elaborate on his presumed adventures I worry they'd stagnate and just be Engines over and over, a good novel, but the only novel it feels like it could have ever been. Where can you go with something like that without someone making big decisions? I'd love to somehow hear some Big Finish, but John Hurt is probably too high profile. It feels like the first scene of the War Doctor in Day could immediately follow the last scene in Engines. I'm being too negative. I'd love to see a resurgence of Past Doctor Adventures or whatever the ones that ran along the EDAs were called. I wonder how Doctor Who books are doing financially at the moment, and how the past Doctor ones compare to the NSAs. I still haven't read any NAs, though I now have a stack of a handful I picked up on the cheap and I'd like to try them out. Do you know the name of the blooming one? Though I'll probably dip into one of the just released 12th NSAs first. Books are rad. I have a bunch of digital Doctor Who comic books from Humble Bundle and Comixology sales I've not read. Which are the best volumes to start with? I think these are only 10 & 11 stuff. PoshAlligator fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Sep 16, 2014 |
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Sep 16, 2014 01:54
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jivjov posted:I can get behind this. Its a little fluffy throwaway moment, but it really encapsulates his attitude. Most of The Time of the Doctor is wonderfully representative of 11.
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Sep 19, 2014 00:20
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Two days left on Nevermore on iPlayer, the third story in the fourth series of Big Finish's Eighth Doctor Adventures range. quote:A bizarre manifestation in the Control Room forces the TARDIS onto the Plutonian shores of the irradiated world Nevermore, whose sole inhabitant is the war criminal Morella Wendigo – a prisoner of this devastated planet. But the Doctor and his new companion aren’t Morella’s only visitors. Senior Prosecutor Uglosi fears the arrival of an assassin, after the blood of his prize prisoner. An assassin with claws… I found this one okay, but it was a bit hard to follow and I zoned out a little bit in places. I quite like the different dynamic Tamsin has with Eight than Lucie, and I'm surprised to like her as much as I do. The way this ties in to Poe is interesting, but I can't help but feel there are more interesting and lucrative ways to tie Doctor Who into Edgar Allan Poe's work, and I'm sure in the future there will be. Up next is The Book of Kells, at 6pm tomorrow, which will be on iPlayer at some point after that. quote:'Anyone who's prepared to kill for a book interests me.'
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Sep 20, 2014 02:41
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I agree that a lot of those female characters have a lot of similarities but the idea of actually getting them mixed up is just bizarre to me. I'd even say it borders on being offensive to the actors. But I suppose when I watch things I'm often thinking about the context of it, like the specifics of the writing, the actors' performances, rather than just being purely in the fiction itself. I know people who just do that and I suppose it would be easier to mix people up then.
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Sep 25, 2014 02:42
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DoctorWhat posted:These are the other threads then, hmm? A dandy and a clown? Just flagging up I made this joke a few threads back (episode 1?) about the other threads. Next time it rolls around let's make another note of it.
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Sep 27, 2014 00:25
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MrL_JaKiri posted:I think you'll find the first person to make a Three Doctors joke about the threads was me, Jakiri I can't wait until there are five threads.
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Sep 27, 2014 11:02
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Sober posted:Afterlife as a hilarious bureaucracy is always fun to watch, dunno if they can pull it off though. Afterlife as a bureaucracy is incredibly cliché and now thus always boring.
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Sep 28, 2014 01:16
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Sober posted:I didn't even know it was big enough of a thing to be cliche. Slam me for linking to TVTropes but here's a TVTropes link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CelestialBureaucracy It'd be enough of a twist for me if it's not really the afterlife though.
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Sep 28, 2014 10:38
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I liked this episode because the Doctor, Clara, and Danny don't come off too well at various points in the episode but they all seemed believable and understandable.
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Sep 28, 2014 14:57
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The TARDIS' natural Artron high.
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Sep 30, 2014 14:19
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Astroman posted:I wasn't as much a fan of The Other as I was Looms in the Cartmel Masterplan. Not for the "Doctor is a chaste permavirgin" stuff, but for the ideal that the Time Lords were so stultified that they had to resort to test tube babies to survive. And it was an ossification of their own doing, out of Rassilon's hubris. It explained a lot of why the Time Lords were the way they were onscreen. That just makes me think of Man of Steel. To be fair the initial sequence on Krypton in that movie was the only bit of it I really liked.
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Oct 10, 2014 13:00
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