Doctor.... Who? Spoilers! Really, don't read if ur not up to date.

[LizzieMaine]

Mixed feelings again. I like spiders, I am a friend to spiders, and it pains me to see them used as monsters, even though it could have been worse. But if you're going to have a Short-Fingered Vulgarian as your human antagonist, and you establish that he has a cringing fear of spiders, and you have giant human-eating spiders rampant, and you don't have the Short-Fingered Vulgarian actually eaten by a spider, it feels like a cheat.

 

[Edward]

I didn't dislike this latest episode -- although I'm still waiting for Thirteen to emerge as a distinct entity all her own. I laughed out loud at the "or *am I* Banksy" bit -- but it's also something that could have come straight out of Twelve's mouth.

Some aspects of "Rosa" were quite good -- the portrayal of Mrs. Parks herself wasn't as watered down as I feared it would be, although they could have done more to show what a two-fisted, long-standing activist she had been prior to 1955. The myth of the "tired seamstress" needs to die once and for all, and while the episode tried to do that, it could have been more emphatic in actually showing who she really was. But that said, there is a certain discomfort for me in postulating that a key moment in the Civil RIghts movement, which had been carefully planned for months by a dedicated group of African-American activists, actually depended for its ultimate success on the chance intervention of a group of bumbling time-travelers, half of whom were white. I don't know if this would have occured to British writers and producers, but to this American, it's a bit squicky.

Also, if there really are going to be dirtbag asshole WNs in the 79th Century, one can only pray for the complete immoliation of all human life well before that era.

The villain in this one seemed quite two-dimensional until I realised that as the point: the real villain as the racism, and in not fleshing the guy out in this story, it robbed him of any situational excuse - i.e. there is no excuse for racism. I think they managed to find enough of an excuse for the doctor and pals to be on the bus that they were simply ensuring history was not altered by robbing Parks of the chance to make her stand rather than her only being able to do it because of them. It certainly did well, imo, in the portrayal of Parks as an activist; the impression most folks in the UK have is that she was an old lady who got tired one day and sat down, that it was a spontaneous, accidental thing.

I've yet to see all of last night's episode, but the spiders seem fun so far. Harkens back to the Tom Baker era in my mind. The Doctor increasingly seems to be Herself to me - by this point, I've really sort of forgotten the gender controversy. I'd love to see this Doctor face off against Missy, but as Michelle Gomez is in the new take on Sabrina (Netflix), I doubt we'll see her in the role again. My gut instinct is that Chibnall will go down the road of RTD - stnadalone episodes, but little references buried here and there which will pull together in the finale.

 

[Seb Lucas]

As I thought earlier – this Dr Who is back to being a kid’s show. The Rosa Parks ep was a conspicuously awkward and gauche history lesson, brimming with cloying sentimentality and hampered by an overly didactic, clunky script.

It might be argued that this patently unsophisticated storytelling about a significant figure and era might appeal to 13 year-olds. If that's what they're going for then, job done.

I found it far too mawkish to be enjoyable and frequently wanted to hide behind the couch. There was a more adult, nuanced show in that noble material waiting to be produced but they chose a different path.

Jodie Whittaker has yet to make any real impact in the role.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've been holding out hope that this series was going to turn itself around, and that Thirteen would reveal an interesting, unexpected inner depth -- but after this latest episode, which I just got around to watching, all I can say is Chibnall Must Go.

The Doctor has been many things in the past -- a disruptor, a provocateur, an unwilling tool of the system. But the Doctor has never, ever until now, been a Weak-Willed Defender Of The System For The Sake of Getting Along. Thirteen has, whether by inertia or by design, become exactly the kind of fatuous bourgeois figure that Two or Seven would have tricked into destroying herself, that Three would have sneered down his nose at, and that Six would have pushed into an acid vat without a second thought. "The system isn't the problem, it's the people using the system who are the problem" is not a line which would have passed the lips of any incarnation of the Doctor -- until now. It may be the single most "un-Doctorly" line ever spoken in the entire run of the show.

I don't know what they're trying to do here -- unless it's some kind of long-range/long-game character arc meant to underline the Banality of Civility, but I don't think I've ever been more disappointed by any season of television in my life. With just three episodes left, there is little chance that it's going to turn around, and that's a real kick in the face to everyone who's been rooting for Whittaker's doctor to really be something other than "The Female Doctor."

 

[Edward]

I'm finding it a bit of fluff. More consistently entertaining than the Moffat era, if not at its peak. The next series will in many ways be more interesting as to how they handle it, though I do tend to the view that while it is better executed than Moffat's forty minutes of "me so clever" + 5 minutes of lazy deus ex machina, one of the major limitations is still the one-story-per-episode limit. There's also a distinct feel that Chibnall is returning it to a children's show (which Moffat tried, and it didn't work).

I also feel they're playing it quite safe, almost as if they've got a couple of PoC, a lady doctor, so they can't take any other risks. I'm enjoying the smaller scale, though - the Entire Universe In Peril stuff gets exhausting after a while.

 

[Edward]

Some wild rumours floating around....

http://sciencefiction.com/2018/11/19/jodie-whittaker-chris-chibnall-leave-doctor-series-12/

https://www.nme.com/news/tv/doctor-...hris-chibnall-reportedly-leaving-2019-2411329

 

[LizzieMaine]

I hereby volunteer to play the Fourteenth Doctor. It's about time we had a sour-tempered middle-aged American in the role.

But seriously, it wouldn't surprise me at all, given the bungling of this season.

 

[Edward]

I don't have quite the same issues with it, but I suspect that they might have been better taking a break for a year or two after Moffat. Then maybe the Been didn't fan y the danger of losing all momentum after how badly Moffat screwed it up.

Kinda glad they're not doing a Christmas special this year - they're always rubbish anyhow, too dumbed-down for the CD non-fan audience - but it does feel to me like they're being very timid with the whole thing because, as I said, Woman Doctor and PoC companions.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I've been holding out hope that this series was going to turn itself around, and that Thirteen would reveal an interesting, unexpected inner depth -- but after this latest episode, which I just got around to watching, all I can say is Chibnall Must Go.

The Doctor has been many things in the past -- a disruptor, a provocateur, an unwilling tool of the system. But the Doctor has never, ever until now, been a Weak-Willed Defender Of The System For The Sake of Getting Along. Thirteen has, whether by inertia or by design, become exactly the kind of fatuous bourgeois figure that Two or Seven would have tricked into destroying herself, that Three would have sneered down his nose at, and that Six would have pushed into an acid vat without a second thought. "The system isn't the problem, it's the people using the system who are the problem" is not a line which would have passed the lips of any incarnation of the Doctor -- until now. It may be the single most "un-Doctorly" line ever spoken in the entire run of the show.

I don't know what they're trying to do here -- unless it's some kind of long-range/long-game character arc meant to underline the Banality of Civility, but I don't think I've ever been more disappointed by any season of television in my life. With just three episodes left, there is little chance that it's going to turn around, and that's a real kick in the face to everyone who's been rooting for Whittaker's doctor to really be something other than "The Female Doctor."

Well said. I stopped watching a couple of eps ago and so did my Dr Who fan friends. Chibnall makes Moffat look like a genius. I think it's safe to say that Chibnall was handed a seriously wounded creature and has gone and finished off the job using lethal banality as his chief weapon.

 

[galopede]

Quite enjoyed last night's episode, The Witchfinders. Best of the current series I thought

Gareth

 

[Edward]

Indeed. Easily stands alongside the best of Classic Who, vastly superior to the Moffat era.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Definitely the best of the season. I was waiting for it to devolve into some kind of strained justification for witch-hunting, and was very pleased that it didn't.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I hereby volunteer to play the Fourteenth Doctor. It's about time we had a sour-tempered middle-aged American in the role..

Middle aged ???

 

[Edward]

Another solid episode tonight, though Alan Cumming's camp James VI coming on to Ryan remains the series highlight. I'm seeing a lot of Tennant's Doctor in Whittaker, which I like.

 

[Stand By]

As a life-long fan of the show (I saw my first episode in 1970 when I was 3 years and 9 months old and can recall the horror of it!) and learnt my command of English via the entire range of Target books, learnt my chess on the Danbury Mint chess set that arrived one piece at a time for 2.5 years and I've just completed my 3rd Sevans model kit (infamous in the modelling world for being horrendous and they'll test the mettle of any fan! That said, with enough patience and reference material, they'll make the best kits in a collection) and my Cyberman is now complete after 2.5 years! Suffice to say, I'm a fan ...
And I watched the season opener with an open mind - and in utter disdain. Horrendous acting from Whittaker, implausible plot from beginning to end, a ridiculous villain and topped with a sneering political correctness that was ladled over the audience did it for me. Only Graham shone. I could go on, but it was all so weak.
And I gave up on Ep. 2 after 20 mins as it was so awful. I left it for a few weeks thinking I was done ... and returned to it, thinking that perhaps I'd been too rash somehow. I got 10 mins further in and ended up fast forwarding to the end just to see the new TARDIS. It's not even blue but blue/green on the outside! Nothing is sacrosanct with Chibnall and Whittaker.They've ruined it and they don't give a jot about about that or the fans.
The show's done.

 

[Vera Godfrey]

I did watch the entire season, with mixed feelings. I kept hoping Thirteen would come into her roll, but in my opinion, she just didn't. I found most of the episodes to be boring, the villains sub par, and the TARDIS horrible. The companions were so-so...and honestly they were the best of the whole series.

On a side note, next week in Richmond VA is Galaxycon, and Peter Capaldi and John Barrowman are going to be there and I can't go!!!

 

[galopede]

They were filming for the next series here in Gloucester today, at the cathedral again (Harry Potter Central!)

 

[Seb Lucas]

They were filming for the next series here in Gloucester today, at the cathedral again (Harry Potter Central!)

And you didn't stop them?!

 

[galopede]

And you didn't stop them?!

Too many of them and I didn't want to argue with those Judoon, the rhino type intergalactic cops that Tennant had disagreements with!