Doctor Who (2023-)

BBC One? True fanz watch it on BBC iPlayer first thing on a Saturday morning

I am loving the retro delight of watching brand new sci-fi at that time of the weekend
 
Fuck me sideways! That was very good, in the main. Left me feeling very uneasy for a good half hour afterwards, which.. I just doff my cap to that. Proper psychological creepiness.

I'll have to warn my friend when we get this far in our viewing as due to some mental health stuff the similar psychological reality shifting horror kind of story of Turn Left when we watched the Tennant/Tate era not long ago left him very shaken. Considering this one made even me uneasy he might have to sit this one out.

Pacing at the start was a bit off. Okay he's vanished we get it. Yes we get it he's vanished. Yep, totally vanished we get it. Yes Dave he's gone Dave yes the Doctor's gone, yes the Doctor is. gone. Dave. (10 minutes later.....)

Other complaint is just how it left too many mysteries unresolved. What could any entity possibly say that would make even her loving mum completely believe it and suddenly be full of such fear and loathing? I guess maybe this will all be explained in the finale. And that her old self is telling them to look at her in disgust and flee no matter how much it hurts her younger self, for... reasons. How that works with the PM I have no idea. What reason could ever be written that makes sense I have no idea. I think in the end it'll either be an amazing "OH SHIT!" twist at the end (ugh) or just some half arsed crap pulled out of his arse as I'd have expected from the Moffat-Smith era. But I live in hope that this episode will be part of a bigger story and make sense later.

As such it's one of those.... very good, pending a future episode proving that the writing is.

Also I do share my dad's frustration that so much modern storytelling on TV is "leave you with a fuckton of mysteries and solve them all in the finale". Modern Trek does it a lot too and it's frustrating as you're going along. You have to put a lot of faith in the "long game" style being well written and delivering well enough at the end to be worth all the patience and faith.
 
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Cloud said:
Other complaint is just how it left too many mysteries unresolved. What could any entity possibly say that would make even her loving mum completely believe it and suddenly be full of such fear and loathing? I guess maybe this will all be explained in the finale. And that her old self is telling them to look at her in disgust and flee no matter how much it hurts her younger self, for... reasons. How that works with the PM I have no idea. What reason could ever be written that makes sense I have no idea. I think in the end it'll either be an amazing "OH SHIT!" twist at the end (ugh) or just some half arsed crap pulled out of his arse as I'd have expected from the Moffat-Smith era. But I live in hope that this episode will be part of a bigger story and make sense later.

As such it's one of those.... very good, pending a future episode proving that the writing is.

Also I do share my dad's frustration that so much modern storytelling on TV is "leave you with a fuckton of mysteries and solve them all in the finale". Modern Trek does it a lot too and it's frustrating as you're going along. You have to put a lot of faith in the "long game" style being well written and delivering well enough at the end to be worth all the patience and faith.
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I fully expect none of those mysteries to be mentioned/revisited ever again, at least in any meaningful gives-you-answers way
 
Finn said:
Enjoying that realisation that the exact same actress - a lady called SUSAN TWIST - has appeared in the last 5 episodes as an entirely different character each time.

Can't work out if it means anything, or if RTD just saw a name like SUSAN TWIST and thought he'd be mischievous knowing that the fans would think it meant Susan was coming back

mashable.com

'Doctor Who's Susan Twist mystery: Breaking down the clues and fan theories

From "Wild Blue Yonder" to "Dot and Bubble," we're on her trail!
mashable.com mashable.com

hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1715980931.jpg
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There is no way that this will just be ignored!! I don't think it necessarily means Susan is coming back but when Ruby even said to her this week 'haven't I seen you before?' it's clearly a key to something.

Personally, I am wondering if the reactions in 73 Yards are an indicator that Ruby is actually an enemy rather than a companion - which would explain why she is still in the next season but not as the main companion.
 
I thought the premise was ridiculous but that actually ended up being a really good episode.

Just sad that not all the rich racists got eaten :(
 
It was great but it really felt like a Doctor lite episode again! They really need to give Ncuti a bit more screentime (he was excellent in the final scene, but it just seems so weird they are sidelining him so much)
 
Big fan of this week's episode too!

The production design didn't completely work for me (and not just when they left the studio sets and tried/failed to seamlessly integrate with a CARDIFF NEW-BUILD ESTATE), but I enjoyed RTD's old-man-shouts-at-cloud critique of social media, and I was quite :o at both Penny KILLING RICKY SEPTEMBER and then the WHITE SUPREMACY BIG REVEAL
 
cwej said:
It was great but it really felt like a Doctor lite episode again! They really need to give Ncuti a bit more screentime (he was excellent in the final scene, but it just seems so weird they are sidelining him so much)
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From watching Unleashed - it's not intentional, but was a necessity if they were to deliver the series in time for there to have been a 2023 Christmas special and series this year, and allow for Ncuti to be the Doctor.

Because his schedule for the (underwhelming) final season of Sex Ed meant he was filming that when both this episode and 73 Yards (the first two episodes of the whole run) had to start filming.

It appears he got time off to film the bigeneration and end of the final special in Summer 2022, and then couldn't film new Who until early 2023 when he did his scenes for these two episodes.
 
I haven't really followed these, but just saw that episode – what a disgusting character/lot at the end. :gross:

They should do less of the 'songs', but absolutely need to feature more of The Doctor, Ncuti! 🌟
 
Ah I didn’t realise that this was Doctor life because of Sex education too. It seems so weird to have not just waited til he was free to shoot the season… he’s the fucking lead!! For him to not really be available for 2 of the 8 episodes to film, is a bit odd.

However, this episode has really stuck with me. I think it might be almost as good as 73 Yards. From the preview it looked like it was going to be throwaway but I really do think it’s excellent.
 
2.12m in the overnights. That doesn't include people watching on iPlayer before broadcast, either.

On overnights only

Space Babies 2.6m
The Devil's Chord 2.4m
Boom 2.04m
73 Yards 2.62m
Dot and Bubble 2.12m
 
Should have been an episode of Black Mirror and the ending was just as fucking grim. IMO if you want to make Black Mirror, go and make Black Mirror.

Enjoyed it regardless, much like Black Mirror, it's just that it wasn't Doctor Who. It was Black Mirror.

I feel bad for Ken, RIP, but Barbie can go and get shat out of a slug :evil:
 
lolly said:
2.12m in the overnights. That doesn't include people watching on iPlayer before broadcast, either.

On overnights only

Space Babies 2.6m
The Devil's Chord 2.4m
Boom 2.04m
73 Yards 2.62m
Dot and Bubble 2.12m
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Any idea why 73 Yards was the highest? Feels weird to see it so much higher than it's preceding and following episodes.
 
Also do we know how it's doing on Disney+? Do they release any figures at all?
 
cwej said:
Any idea why 73 Yards was the highest? Feels weird to see it so much higher than it's preceding and following episodes.
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No idea, but I don't think it's that significant for the overnights figure, particularly. I imagine that things like the weather and what the competition was at the time of broadcast has quite the impact - it will be more interesting to see how it levels out compared to the others after 7 days, by which time of course word of mouth amd critical reaction can also play a part.
 
cwej said:
Also do we know how it's doing on Disney+? Do they release any figures at all?
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I've only seem them release info for UK broadcasts, when they report to BARB.
 
Definitely my least favourite ep since Space Babies. Jonathan Groff was bad cheese, the bird aliens were giving Sarah Jane Adventures, the hottest man present didn't make it past the pre-credits, and did they really have to make it so much about Bridgerton? All the references felt a bit desperate, and it's not like the Regency period isn't interesting enough in its own right.

The cosplay thing felt under developed and like something Doctor Who should have made more of, too.

Excited for Susan Twist's TIME TO SHINE next week :disco:
 
To more epsodes don 😳😂🤔😁 tell chrimbo
Bak next year nuver 8 in old days make 20 plus’s epsodes 8 everrr


I needs more Hiphop CDs
 
Great ending, though the first half hour was pretty slow. Too many 'allies' standing around saying about 3 lines the whole episode. Mel gets to come back again and be as underused as she ever was in the original series...!
 
I've just watched the Pyramids of Mars.

Good lord no one could act in the seventies could they?

Mascless Sutekh could get it though
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I love how they did a big dramatic reveal as if expecting reactions of "OH MY GODDDD" to some random ass villain no one who isn't a Classic Who nerd has heard of or can remember. Not exactly "Dalek" is it.

Episode: "It's... guess what... SUTEHK!!!! DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!"
All 3 of us watching: "... uh, who? Who does he play for?"

Also they said the thing. I've decided I'm getting a beer whenever a character says "Doctor Who?"
 
The finale was... so annoying.

When they killed off EVERY main character in the first 5 minutes it was irritating as hell because it was so obvious everyone would be back again. I like the stakes to be high - but they went TOO high to the point where you knew it would all be reversed. Kill off one character... maybe two... then you get my attention (see: Harriet Jones in S04E12). Kill them all and I think 'I don't care'.

It was nice to see them give Bonnie something to do finally - though it mostly involved her being possessed.


Then the resolution of the Ruby storyline was AWFUL. Worst thing they could have done.

I still want to know if mavity is relevant or just a joke. And Mrs Flood still adds some intrigue - can't work out if she's friend or foe. But other than that I'm pissed off with the ending.

(Also... I like Ncuti, but they have had him cry in basically EVERY episode. It's quite annoying now)
 
My flatmates and I took ages to find a time where we were all free to watch this.

I can’t believe that after all that Ruby’s mum was someone who looks like she probably says ‘holibobs’ unironically.

Also - canonically only a year older than me :(
 
I liked Ruby's mum being a normal hun. It sort of felt like the biggest, least obvious twist possible at this point? And pulled things things back from timey-wimey, convolutedness - which is definitely where it felt like that strand was going. Some good/interesting points about it here:

www.denofgeek.com

Doctor Who’s Ruby Sunday Twist Rights a Star Wars Wrong

They’re not going to retcon this one, are they?
www.denofgeek.com www.denofgeek.com

It wasn't particularly clever mind you, and obvs it would have made the finale more satisfying if it had tied into the plot more.

Alhough these final two episodes didn't exactly slap, they had their moments and were fun to watch, and I think the 60th anniversary specials + first Ncuti series has been a really great run of Doctor Who.
 
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