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I like this as an intro episode for Ncuti Gatwa. Energetic, charming guy, who is super empathetic, that whole scene when Ruby disappears from the timeline and the mother while a bit heavy handed also shows that this doctor feels for the people who is trying to help and the helpers.
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Dec 26, 2023 16:15
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SiKboy posted:I watched the Xmas special last night, I have some thoughts. If Rusty wanted to dial back the power of the sonic he shouldn't have made it capable of being a full ar hud computer interface and force field creator just a few episodes ago Agreed on the parking.
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Dec 26, 2023 17:41
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I thought that was was perfectly Fine. Probably the least of the four specials, but it had the most to do. New Sonic kind of looks like an extremely impressive gadget made by Sony in 1997.
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Dec 26, 2023 17:51
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It looks like a 90s kid toy, press the buttons and it plays a recorded sound effect. I liked the screws line, basically just an extension of it not working on wood. It doesn't literally need screws. I also don't think the sonic forcefield walls would've held up nearly as long if the aliens had been trying to kill them.
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Dec 26, 2023 18:03
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I didn’t interpret the screwdriver line as being literal. “It’s a The whole boat is superstition, wood, and rope. Of course the gadget has nothing to work with.
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Dec 26, 2023 18:16
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https://twitter.com/DimensionsInJen/status/1739618834300932227
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Dec 26, 2023 18:24
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I don't like this whole "passage of time" thing
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Dec 26, 2023 18:57
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I don't mind it but I have Benjamin buttons disease.
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Dec 26, 2023 18:59
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We are perilously close to having a nuWho companion who was born after nuWho started airing.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:00
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I did the same thing last night - Rose travels back to before she was born, it's the eighties, this is fine. The doctor travels back to before Ruby was born, it's the 2000s, Girls Aloud exists, I crumble to dust.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:06
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Fil5000 posted:I did the same thing last night - Rose travels back to before she was born, it's the eighties, this is fine. The doctor travels back to before Ruby was born, it's the 2000s, Girls Aloud exists, I crumble to dust. Wow, when something becomes top of mind, you start seeing it everywhere. *Just* became aware of Girls Aloud thanks to Spotify thinking I'd like to listen to their cover of Jump (I was on a Pointer Sisters kick). ...Spotify was correct, it was a pretty fun cover.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:18
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There were a lot of things I liked about this episode, but I also felt a lot of forboding about the future of the show in general. The scene with the Doctor dancing in the club seemed out of nowhere and out of place, and then never addressed (someone like Donna would have at least made fun of him for it). The goblins really gave me strong Star Wars Cantina singing mouth alien vibes, which I didn't like at all. Expensive CGI for the sake of CGI itself rather than adding to the narrative in any way. I felt like most of the goblins motivations and mechanics were not explained. Why and how to they "feed" on coincidence and accident? It can't just be stealing babies every 3 days and deleting timelines for eternity, The Doctor would have probably stumbled upon them, or at least heard of them already, if that was the case. Unless they're building to the Doctor letting in all kinds of new baddies from the edge of the universe ala Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle, culminating in tying into the timeless child whatnot. Also, since when does The Doctor kill a creature he's never seen before after going off on how beautiful and unique they are. His MO has always been to find a way to foil/banish/teach lessons without killing. I get it baby Ruby was in danger but there's no reason he couldn't have just gone up there and grabbed her again like last time. I'm sorry this is rambly I'm just afraid Disney is going to Disney all over this franchise and it will never be the same as it was. All that being said I really like Gatwa, and him and Ruby have good chemistry together. Ruby has all the makings of a great companion. I'm just hoping they tone down some of the over the top manic action once the series starts proper.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:26
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McSpankWich posted:There were a lot of things I liked about this episode, but I also felt a lot of forboding about the future of the show in general. The scene with the Doctor dancing in the club seemed out of nowhere and out of place, and then never addressed (someone like Donna would have at least made fun of him for it). The gloves were down to low battery, as established. There's also extensive dialogue establishing the conceptual novelty of the goblins from the Doctor's POV. The weird CG goblins aren't very different from the Moxx of Balhoun.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:27
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RTD says in the behind the scenes that the goblins are part of the fantastical stuff the Toymaker's introduced into the universe, hence them being new to the Doctor (and yeah relying on behind the scenes is a bit weak for writing but the Toymaker did mention his armies were coming at the end of The Giggle). He also says he expects most people watching the show aren't going to question unexplained stuff like the flying ship because it's Doctor Who, but that there is a fundamental reason it's happening
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Dec 26, 2023 19:39
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McGann posted:Wow, when something becomes top of mind, you start seeing it everywhere. *Just* became aware of Girls Aloud thanks to Spotify thinking I'd like to listen to their cover of Jump (I was on a Pointer Sisters kick). It's a pretty good cover, marred by being in loving Love Actually. For my money their best work is either Biology or Love Machine, but I have a soft spot for the live performance of Revolution in the Head. The tour stuff is all on YouTube and they put on a hell of a show.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:40
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I was shocked when the goblin king was straight up impaled, just was expecting the ship to crash less physically I suppose, kind of like how it did after the Goblin King died. And as for the dancing, that just made me happy to see a Doctor just enjoying himself and life. Course he's technically on an adventure all along, but I look forward to this doctor who embraces life without embarrassment or the hangups. You're right, Donna would make fun of him, but it would be projecting her own unwillingness to let loose the same way.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:43
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armpit_enjoyer posted:Another thing I really appreciate: when Ruby is erased from the timeline, the Doctor clearly remembers her, even though everyone else doesn't. Her mum tries after he tries making her remember, just like Amy did when Rory got himself ate by a crack in time. Like others here, I suspect the "mavity" thing is going to set us up for a later character saying "gravity" in a context where we might otherwise ignore it and therefore signaling that they're a time-traveler. Either that, or the Doctor notices when it changes back because some time-traveling villain got pissed off at the change. McSpankWich posted:I'm sorry this is rambly I'm just afraid Disney is going to Disney all over this franchise and it will never be the same as it was. Yes, I'm sure Disney intervened to make sure the episode had someone of ambiguous gender singing near the beginning, as well as making certain that instead of just stealing back a baby again, the Doctor instead impaled a grotesque Goblin King on the steeple of a church right before Christmas Eve became Christmas. All in the best Disney tradition. RTD is a very experienced producer and I'm confident he's capable of playing the "putting in something really outrageous you're willing to drop to preserve all the other poo poo" that the best showrunners do when they're being interfered with. If Doctor Who survived Ian Levine, it can survive Disney.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:45
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The Doctor was clubbing because literally everyone wants to see Ncuti Gatwa grooving in a vest and kilt
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Dec 26, 2023 19:47
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Narsham posted:If Doctor Who survived Ian Levine, it can survive Disney. But can it survive RTD being RTD?
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Dec 26, 2023 19:49
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SiKboy posted:
*I said the same thing about the sonic line. *Honestly, the accent's pretty clear all the way, just with a touch of presumably Rwandan on some sounds and a bit of the sanding off of edges that is probably 50% him having lived and worked in England for a while and 50% him being careful to be understood by the sassenachs. *Apparently that line in Muppet Christmas Carol is one of the one's that's right out of the book. Supposedly Dickens' editors/proofreaders got really invested in Tiny Tim and complained when he wrote the ending and didn't make it clear that the child survived, so he literally wrote it in in ALL CAPS to be clear.
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Dec 26, 2023 19:51
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supposedly the stuff with the cop and the snowman head was put in because of Disney complaining about the doctor not showing up quickly enough in the original but if so it worked out ok
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Dec 26, 2023 19:52
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Tornhelm posted:But can it survive RTD being RTD? I mean, it managed 6 years of him the first time, so yes?
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Dec 26, 2023 19:52
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Zohar posted:supposedly the stuff with the cop and the snowman head was put in because of Disney complaining about the doctor not showing up quickly enough in the original but if so it worked out ok Disney ran test screenings, the audiences reported they didn't get to meet Doctor Who soon enough, Davies decided he agreed.
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Dec 26, 2023 20:00
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Rarity posted:The Doctor was clubbing because literally everyone wants to see Ncuti Gatwa grooving in a vest and kilt I think the clubbing is no different from Capaldi hanging out on a tank with an electric guitar and sonic sunglasses. Narsham posted:If Doctor Who survived Ian Levine, it can survive Disney. I think a pretty convincing argument can be made that it didn't survive Levine.
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Dec 26, 2023 20:11
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Random Stranger posted:I think the clubbing is no different from Capaldi hanging out on a tank with an electric guitar and sonic sunglasses. I think the fact that Disney wanted in is a pretty convincing argument that it did, in fact, survive him. Eventually.
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Dec 26, 2023 20:19
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New theory: RTS is canonising "Dimensions in Time" and Mrs Flood recognises a Tardis because she's Angie Watts after faking her own death and moving back to Britain. 
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Dec 26, 2023 20:29
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Ncuti can be the Doctor as long as he wants. Holy poo poo was he great.
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Dec 26, 2023 20:36
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Rarity posted:The Doctor was clubbing because literally everyone wants to see Ncuti Gatwa grooving in a vest and kilt 
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Dec 26, 2023 20:36
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DoctorWhat posted:Disney ran test screenings, the audiences reported they didn't get to meet Doctor Who soon enough, Davies decided he agreed. Yeah I mean if I had been asked to guess which bit of the episode had involved Disney it wouldn't have been that lol
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Dec 26, 2023 20:40
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Random Stranger posted:I think the clubbing is no different from Capaldi hanging out on a tank with an electric guitar and sonic sunglasses.
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Dec 26, 2023 21:23
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I don't particularly dislike the snowman head bit, and his interaction with the cop was cute, but I do like the suspense when the Doctor doesn't turn up for a while. My fav is probably A Good Man Goes To War, where it's something like 20 minutes before you see more than a silhouette
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Dec 26, 2023 22:04
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I do think people shouldn't work about Disney ruining the show. They don't really seem to have enough influence to really manage that - if Rusty is going to gently caress it, he'll do it without their help. Also, Gatwa has a lovely accent. I think he's from Dundee and I don't know enough about the Dundee accent to know how representative it is, but it's a very gentle burr that's very easy to listen to. Which is good, as the Doctor, because as in this episode you're sometimes on narration duty.
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Dec 26, 2023 22:09
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Finally watched it - that was properly silly and about on par with the other Christmas specials, which have never been fantastic aside from A Christmas Carol. Felt like a return to the spinning Christmas tree of death from Tennant’s first story. Both Gatwa and Millie are great. I really enjoy Ruby’s “idk what’s happening but gently caress it” attitude.
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Dec 26, 2023 22:14
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Praying that Disney don't force RTD to write something stupid like a nerd's girlfriend being turned into a paving slab 
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Dec 26, 2023 22:19
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You can add me to the crowd that loved the special and I especially love Ncuti. Just incredible presence and charisma, I wanted to pay attention every time he was on screen. Love it, he's perfect. One thought I had - and I may be alone in feeling this - is that there is a confidence and swagger not just with the Doctor but with the show itself that was missing during the Chibnall era. And I don't think I realized how absent that was until this latest batch of episodes, which - for all their flaws - at least feel very assured and confident in what their doing in a way that I don't think we ever got during Chibnall's time.
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Dec 26, 2023 23:20
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Zohar posted:supposedly the stuff with the cop and the snowman head was put in because of Disney complaining about the doctor not showing up quickly enough in the original but if so it worked out ok "she's gonna say yes!  "
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Dec 27, 2023 00:25
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Stunt Rock posted:One thought I had - and I may be alone in feeling this - is that there is a confidence and swagger not just with the Doctor but with the show itself that was missing during the Chibnall era. And I don't think I realized how absent that was until this latest batch of episodes, which - for all their flaws - at least feel very assured and confident in what their doing in a way that I don't think we ever got during Chibnall's time. yeah this is an important element because it really needs a certain speed and swagger to blow past all the silly plot contrivances that are necessary pretty much regardless of who is writing it
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Dec 27, 2023 01:07
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It really feels like while this may not always be the case, the days of the ubiquitous "do there really need to be twelve apostles? Can Judas be a rapping grandma with a cute dog" network notes are over and now in a lot of cases the network gives good notes. Kevin Smith talked about it a lot in the leadup to his Masters of the Universe series, and in commentaries and such, the resentment about them seems to have lessened considerably.
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Dec 27, 2023 01:11
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It was a nice character moment that gave us a taste of who this doctor was that the rest of the special didn't address. I think the special was better for that scene.
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Dec 27, 2023 02:02
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The original script RTD submitted was just 60 pages of “AAAAAA”. Disney provided helpful suggestions such as including a plot and characters.
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Dec 27, 2023 02:11
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