Doctor Who: Countdown to Metacrisis

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What do you think of the new international distribution deal? This poll is closed.
Hate it	12	16.90%
REALLY hate it	16	22.54%
Hello, my name is Bob Chapek	43	60.56%
Total:	71 votes

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Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

I really enjoy A Christmas Carol, but Last Christmas is definitely my favorite of the Christmas Specials. That ending where the Doctor and Clara race excitedly down to the TARDIS like kids on Christmas Day is :kiss:

I had hoped Shona would be the follow-up companion to Clara, but we got Bill, and Faye Marsay's career seems to have worked out pretty loving well, so it all worked out

# ? Dec 20, 2022 03:10

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 10:40

Dabir: Nov 10, 2012

Carey Mulligan's doing well for herself too, come to think of it. Couldn't escape bus-side ads for her latest film if you tried.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 03:55

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Jerusalem posted:

I really enjoy A Christmas Carol, but Last Christmas is definitely my favorite of the Christmas Specials. That ending where the Doctor and Clara race excitedly down to the TARDIS like kids on Christmas Day is

Well now I'm just going to have to rewatch every single nuWho Christmas Special

Are you happy? Are you happy now?

# ? Dec 20, 2022 04:09

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

Infinitum posted:

Well now I'm just going to have to rewatch every single nuWho Christmas Special

Are you happy? Are you happy now?

# ? Dec 20, 2022 04:11

Random Stranger: Nov 27, 2009

Infinitum posted:

Well now I'm just going to have to rewatch every single nuWho Christmas Special

Are you happy? Are you happy now?

Enjoy Voyage of the Damned!

# ? Dec 20, 2022 04:17

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Random Stranger posted:

Enjoy Voyage of the Damned!

Are you trying to say something about pop sensation Kylie Minogue? Cause maaaaaaaaaaaaaaate

# ? Dec 20, 2022 04:19

Open Source Idiom: Jan 4, 2013

I've really been craving Voyage of the Damned lately. One of the single best viewing experiences I've ever had was watching that with friends at about 2am. I went in hating the thing, they loved it, and I completely changed my opinion by the end of the night. Just a lot of fun.

If we're talking bad Christmas specials, Wardrobe is trying way too hard and is just boring besides.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 04:44

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

The only Moffat specials I remember liking were parts of Christmas Carol and Smith�s last episode.

The concept of Doctor Who Christmas specials is pretty solid since the show already leans into whimsical situations (especially the Moffat era) and usually aims for that tonal sweet spot between White Christmas and A Muppet Christmas Carol when it does them, but� they also haven�t really been that good imo.

Funnily enough, other than Smith�s finale my favorite holiday special is actually 13�s Dalek New Year�s Eve.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 07:14

Edward Mass: Sep 14, 2011; 𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen𝅘𝅥𝅮

Big Mean Jerk posted:

The only Moffat specials I remember liking were parts of Christmas Carol and Smith�s last episode.

The concept of Doctor Who Christmas specials is pretty solid since the show already leans into whimsical situations (especially the Moffat era) and usually aims for that tonal sweet spot between White Christmas and A Muppet Christmas Carol when it does them, but� they also haven�t really been that good imo.

Funnily enough, other than Smith�s finale my favorite holiday special is actually 13�s Dalek New Year�s Eve.

Eve of the Daleks is pretty strong. Except for that weird guy who sees the building explode in the distance. What's up with that guy?

# ? Dec 20, 2022 07:28

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

Edward Mass posted:

Eve of the Daleks is pretty strong. Except for that weird guy who sees the building explode in the distance. What's up with that guy?

Yeah I was confused by that too, was it supposed to be somebody we knew? Maybe if they didn't have 947 years between episodes I'd have remembered!

But Eve was good enough I had high hopes that Chibnall had FINALLY figured out how to write good Who stories, then the Sea Devils followed up on it and was TERRIBLE. Luckily Power of the Doctor ended up being enormous fun even if it had a bunch of nonsense in it (maybe BECAUSE it had a bunch of nonsense in it!).

# ? Dec 20, 2022 07:55

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Man you know what, this is a pretty fun set of eps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_Christmas_and_New_Year%27s_specials

# ? Dec 20, 2022 14:05

Open Source Idiom: Jan 4, 2013

Edward Mass posted:

Eve of the Daleks is pretty strong. Except for that weird guy who sees the building explode in the distance. What's up with that guy?

He's from The Woman Who Fell To Earth.

Don't ask me why they brought him back though.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 14:24

Clouseau: Aug 3, 2003; My theories appall you, my heresies outrage you, I never answer letters, and you don't like my tie.

I loved Christmas Carol, Last Christmas, and Twice Upon A Time. I enjoy when Moffat goes for the holiday melancholy, his zanier (or just straight up bad - The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe) ones were a miss for me. But the River Song one had a couple great moments, as linked above.

I think probably my favorite RTD is The Runaway Bride. Tennant and Tate just have chemistry immediately and are a lot of fun together.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 18:11

Lord Ludikrous: Jun 7, 2008; Enjoy your tea...

My reading has slowed to a crawl over the last couple of weeks due to moving home but I have at least managed to resume and finishing reading The Invasion. Much like The Dalek Invasion of Earth it�s a almost a 1:1 adaption of the story, although the former is better than the latter in this stance and still does take some advantages the book medium offers. I should also point out that the author does a great job carrying over Kevin Stoney�s marvellous performance as Tobias Vaughn, and the character is as much a delight to read as he is to watch in the tv serial.

Outside of the usual minor differences there are a few noticeable changes from the serial.

The book is much more violent than what we see on screen. We get a vivid description of the brains of the driver at the start being splattered all over the cab of his lorry. Those killed by cyberweaponry die agonising deaths as their flesh is almost melted off their bones. As a result Packer and Vaughn�s demise is quite horrendous compared to the TV serial.
Packer�s more sadistic tendencies are amplified in the book, but Gregory has a very unsympathetic portrayal. In the TV serial he is something of a nervous browbeaten man who�s position isn�t much better than that of Professor Watkins. Indeed at one point he tries to protect the professor and is knocked to the floor and threatened by Vaughn for his trouble. Book Gregory is a greasy, seedy nasty little man who makes no such effort to defend the professor.
While Packer meets the same fate as in the serial, Gregory is shot and killed by UNIT as they rescue Professor Watkins, as opposed to being executed by the Cybermen on the orders of Packer.
Another significant deviation is the fate of General Rutlidge. After being summoned to Vaughn�s office he just sort of vanishes from the story in the TV serial. In the book he attempts to shoot Vaughn after witnessing the Cyber-Planner, but Vaughn exerts his mind control over the general and forces him to shoot himself instead.
The Cybermen are shown in much greater numbers than on the show. There is a vast warehouse of activated Cybermen and Packer is ordering squadrons made up of dozens down into the sewers as opposed to the two we see on screen.

Overall I enjoyed the book, although it didn�t reach the heights of Doctor Who and the Cybermen, but I suspect that book is going to be dethroned in the near future.

I�ve acquired some more in the meantime that I�m looking toward to reading.

I also acquired a very special book.

It turns out there is a hardback and paperback version of this story, and while the author is the same the stories are not. The paperback is based off the tv serial and like most adaptions doesn�t differ massively. The hardback is based off the original scripts written by Douglas Adams and deviates enormously from the tv serial. It has rave reviews and I�m very much looking forward to it, once I�m done with Garth Marenghi�s Terrortome.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 21:17

Sydney Bottocks: Oct 15, 2004

Lord Ludikrous posted:

My reading has slowed to a crawl over the last couple of weeks due to moving home but I have at least managed to resume and finishing reading The Invasion. Much like The Dalek Invasion of Earth it’s a almost a 1:1 adaption of the story, although the former is better than the latter in this stance and still does take some advantages the book medium offers. I should also point out that the author does a great job carrying over Kevin Stoney’s marvellous performance as Tobias Vaughn, and the character is as much a delight to read as he is to watch in the tv serial.

Outside of the usual minor differences there are a few noticeable changes from the serial.

The book is much more violent than what we see on screen. We get a vivid description of the brains of the driver at the start being splattered all over the cab of his lorry. Those killed by cyberweaponry die agonising deaths as their flesh is almost melted off their bones. As a result Packer and Vaughn’s demise is quite horrendous compared to the TV serial.

Packer’s more sadistic tendencies are amplified in the book, but Gregory has a very unsympathetic portrayal. In the TV serial he is something of a nervous browbeaten man who’s position isn’t much better than that of Professor Watkins. Indeed at one point he tries to protect the professor and is knocked to the floor and threatened by Vaughn for his trouble. Book Gregory is a greasy, seedy nasty little man who makes no such effort to defend the professor.

While Packer meets the same fate as in the serial, Gregory is shot and killed by UNIT as they rescue Professor Watkins, as opposed to being executed by the Cybermen on the orders of Packer.

Another significant deviation is the fate of General Rutlidge. After being summoned to Vaughn’s office he just sort of vanishes from the story in the TV serial. In the book he attempts to shoot Vaughn after witnessing the Cyber-Planner, but Vaughn exerts his mind control over the general and forces him to shoot himself instead.

The Cybermen are shown in much greater numbers than on the show. There is a vast warehouse of activated Cybermen and Packer is ordering squadrons made up of dozens down into the sewers as opposed to the two we see on screen.

Overall I enjoyed the book, although it didn’t reach the heights of Doctor Who and the Cybermen, but I suspect that book is going to be dethroned in the near future.

I don't have the link handy, but I recently read that in one of the DW fanzines that were published in the years following the show's hiatus, Nigel Robinson (who I believe was one of the editors of the Target range of DW novelizations, as well as an occasional contributor) mentioned in an interview that Ian Marter (aka Harry Sullivan, and author of various DW Target novelizations, including The Invasion) was always pushing the envelope in regards to what he could get away with...in particular, mentioning how Marter's novelization of The Rescue had some severe editing done as he'd decided to open the book with an enthusiastic and none-too-subtle description of the act of fellatio.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 21:32

Lord Ludikrous: Jun 7, 2008; Enjoy your tea...

Sydney Bottocks posted:

I don't have the link handy, but I recently read that in one of the DW fanzines that were published in the years following the show's hiatus, Nigel Robinson (who I believe was one of the editors of the Target range of DW novelizations, as well as an occasional contributor) mentioned in an interview that Ian Marter (aka Harry Sullivan, and author of various DW Target novelizations, including The Invasion) was always pushing the envelope in regards to what he could get away with...in particular, mentioning how Marter's novelization of The Rescue had some severe editing done as he'd decided to open the book with an enthusiastic and none-too-subtle description of the act of fellatio.

I can absolutely believe this. Prior to The Invasion the most violent of the books I�ve read was The Tenth Planet and it�s spine shattering karate chops of doom, and that in itself was a surprise.

It�s rather ironic really as the show typically depicts death at the hands of the Daleks as being one of the more painful ways to go, but compared to novelised Cybermen they�re practically humane.

# ? Dec 20, 2022 22:19

OldMemes: Sep 5, 2011; I have to go now. My planet needs me.

Eve was pretty good, but playing the creepy, unlikable stalker off as lovable comic relief was a misstep, especially that cringeworthy 'rasta' line.

Oh, and the Doctor being confused why the Daleks have sent a hit squad on her, when she's the ARCHENEMY OF THE DALEKS, but that was a minor quibble.

# ? Dec 21, 2022 16:22

Vinylshadow: Mar 20, 2017

OldMemes posted:

Eve was pretty good, but playing the creepy, unlikable stalker off as lovable comic relief was a misstep, especially that cringeworthy 'rasta' line.

Oh, and the Doctor being confused why the Daleks have sent a hit squad on her, when she's the ARCHENEMY OF THE DALEKS, but that was a minor quibble.

Isn't it usually "The Doctor stumbles into a Dalek plot" rather than "The Daleks actively seek out the Doctor"?

Although the latter has been happening a lot recently, even if it's usually a trap or they want the Doctor to defeat an enemy they cannot

# ? Dec 21, 2022 16:48

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Yeah, I�d prefer the Daleks having their own agency as villains, and not having all their plans revolve around the Doctor.

# ? Dec 21, 2022 16:55

Lord Ludikrous: Jun 7, 2008; Enjoy your tea...

OldMemes posted:

Eve was pretty good, but playing the creepy, unlikable stalker off as lovable comic relief was a misstep, especially that cringeworthy 'rasta' line.

Oh, and the Doctor being confused why the Daleks have sent a hit squad on her, when she's the ARCHENEMY OF THE DALEKS, but that was a minor quibble.

The Daleks were really there to stop the one called Nick, as he�s a real wrong�un.

https://youtu.be/OB1xjb_e4Y0

# ? Dec 21, 2022 20:02

Sydney Bottocks: Oct 15, 2004

Vinylshadow posted:

Isn't it usually "The Doctor stumbles into a Dalek plot" rather than "The Daleks actively seek out the Doctor"?

Although the latter has been happening a lot recently, even if it's usually a trap or they want the Doctor to defeat an enemy they cannot

It happened as far back as The Daleks' Master Plan during the Hartnell era, IIRC. So it's not all that recent a thing, really. :v:

# ? Dec 22, 2022 00:26

OldMemes: Sep 5, 2011; I have to go now. My planet needs me.

Sydney Bottocks posted:

It happened as far back as The Daleks' Master Plan during the Hartnell era, IIRC. So it's not all that recent a thing, really.

In the expanded universe stuff, pre-Time War, Daleks had multiple wars of expansion with humanity over territory, most of which the Doctor had little to no involvement in. In-universe, the Daleks only had fairly primitive time travel abilities compared to the Time Lords for most of the classic series.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 01:10

Astroman: Apr 8, 2001

Sydney Bottocks posted:

...in particular, mentioning how Marter's novelization of The Rescue had some severe editing done as he'd decided to open the book with an enthusiastic and none-too-subtle description of the act of fellatio.

# ? Dec 22, 2022 04:39

Sydney Bottocks: Oct 15, 2004

Astroman posted:

I found the quote from the interview, specifically it was from the Broadsword fanzine, issue 5 I believe (I actually saw a scanned copy of it as well, but couldn't find the link to it):

Nigel Robinson posted:

Probably the manuscripts which needed the least editing were Ian Marter's. The Rescue, for instance, was left "unfinished" at the time of his death. But apart from my adding a couple of scenes here and there, and tidying up a few lines, there was very little work for me to do on his books. He did have a tendency to see how much he could get away with however: I cut an entire scene from the first chapter of The Rescue where he was more or less discussing the delights of fellatio, and I often had to tone down the blood and guts in some of his other novels (I also insisted he change the end of Harry Sullivan's War [originally called War of Nerves] to ensure that our hero survived).

# ? Dec 22, 2022 15:40

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Starting my Christmas Specials rewatch

Forgot how much of a hornbag Jackie is
"Anything else he's got 2 of?"

# ? Dec 23, 2022 08:42

TinTower: Apr 21, 2010; You don't have to 8e a good person to 8e a hero.

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7154413503300832518

Everyone when you say you liked Flux.

# ? Dec 24, 2022 15:02

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

Honestly flux just committed the same sin as most of modern who, but harder. A build up promising to go somewhere then an ending that dodges every question raised.

# ? Dec 24, 2022 17:52

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

At least with nuWho anything major is generally self contained.
Journey's End + Big Bang both deal with similar things with "the universe ending", but at least resets things by the end of the episodes

Flux ends with half the universe DEAD and the Doctor seemingly couldn't give less of a poo poo about it

# ? Dec 24, 2022 18:02

Vinylshadow: Mar 20, 2017

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1606711311395459072

# ? Dec 24, 2022 19:20

Khanstant: Apr 5, 2007

Whoa Graham is in this show called Chaser or something, but he's suddenly young.

# ? Dec 24, 2022 19:23

CommonShore: Jun 6, 2014; A true renaissance man

Wait what is tomorrow

# ? Dec 24, 2022 19:39

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Vinylshadow posted:

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1606711311395459072

Is RTD just gonna release the trailer, or be a mad lab and drop the first ep?

# ? Dec 24, 2022 19:39

Dabir: Nov 10, 2012

CommonShore posted:

Wait what is tomorrow

why, it's Christmas Day of course!

# ? Dec 24, 2022 19:46

Infinitum: Jul 30, 2004

Dabir posted:

why, it's Christmas Day of course!

https://twitter.com/CoolFather2556/status/1606715901583269891

# ? Dec 24, 2022 19:56

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

I need more information, Rusty! :supaburn:

# ? Dec 24, 2022 22:07

Cleretic: Feb 3, 2010; Ignore my posts!
I'm aggressively wrong about everything!

TinTower posted:

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7154413503300832518

Everyone when you say you liked Flux.

I say that a lot of Flux just commits the sin of being forgettable despite the material, but I feel like that can't be right because this clip reminded me that there was an entire Wild West-centered episode with Eleven that I actually did forget.

# ? Dec 24, 2022 22:49

Small Strange Bird: Sep 22, 2006; Merci, chaton!

Cleretic posted:

I say that a lot of Flux just commits the sin of being forgettable despite the material, but I feel like that can't be right because this clip reminded me that there was an entire Wild West-centered episode with Eleven that I actually did forget.

I visited the place where that was filmed (Texas Hollywood, in Almeria, Spain) in 2016, and wondered why there was one building that looked very much out of place. It wasn't until much later that I made the connection. So they went to all the time and expense and trouble of travelling to Spain to shoot an episode that was forgotten five minutes after it aired.

It also showed how infrequently westerns are shot in Almeria now, since four years later it still wasn't worth their while to strip the steampunk stuff from the standing set.

# ? Dec 25, 2022 00:35