Doctor Who IV - Everything Whovian - Would you like a jelly baby?

[Cyke]

Regarding Pertwee and Tom Baker's earlier TARDIS consoles, they were usually somewhat inconsistent (probably due to the console room not being used that much during the Pertwee era.) Although I think Graham Williams sort of kept the same general look for the room (With the red rotor), and this was pretty much used for Peter Davison's first two seasons. They were definetly some weird versions. When it first shows up it isn't two different from the black and white version (with the cardboard roundels for instance) but then there's the weird Time monster bowl version, the Three Doctors "transporter room" look, and the cabinets from Planet of the Daleks etc.

After the Five Doctors of course the console got the redesign with the fancy Time rotor, although by the time of McCoy's era it seems the set was having some issues (perhaps due to the set problems at the BBC at the time and also they were pretty much taking the set apart anyway).

Uh. Cool story, bro.

Just saw this on twitter:

~Colin Baker(2018)

She's not my favorite yet, it's much too soon but it's fun seeing a former Doctor gush about the show.

A while back there was a clip summarizing the past Doctors' (and companions) thoughts on having a female Doctor, going as far back as asking Troughton about the idea. Out of all of them, Colin Baker seemed to be the most enthusiastic about the idea, and so among the Doctors most likely to be the first to watch Whittaker. Like many other fans, his Doctor was my least favorite, but his boundless energy and cheer for the franchise make me a fan of his as an actor and former Doctor.

[ChrisIII]

There was some speculation around the time of Tom Baker's departure as well.

[Indian Ink]

Just seen the Rosa episode and thought it and the acting was much better. Whether that was the actors setting into their rolls better or them getting more takes and shoots for this episode* than the last one. *And of course I don't know in which order they were shot. The Rosa one might have been first for all I know.

I few minor points; Ryan got clocked a bit too quickly by the man in the street. It seemed as though the guy turned and swung his hand in almost one action. There didn't seem to be enough time for, "Hey a black man's touching my wife!"

I take it that the evil time traveler is trying to prevent interspecies human/alien breeding around Jack Harknesses time rather than black, white racial relations in 50's American. He said something about "this is where it starts."

Not one of the 1950's locals noted Yasmin being a girl in a 'greaser' biker get up, but that's a standard Dr Who trope, don't mention the out of place clothing too much.

Not keen about the modern pop song over playing at the end, but I guess it was a harmless fade out device.

Ryan sending the time traveler back further in time might be a future problem.

Over all, much much better; if a little less fun of course.

[Somecrazyaussie]

There was some speculation around the time of Tom Baker's departure as well.

That was never really considered an option. JNT was a great salesman and was always exploiting things in order to bring attention to the show. He often did this by "stunt casting" various actors in the show and by threatening to change certain aspects of the series i.e. casting a female as the Doctor (between 4th to 5th) and changing the TARDIS exterior from a police box (the big hook for Colin's first full series.)

[Somecrazyaussie]

Quite clearly they don't want to overload the show with references. We do get subtle ones for the fans but for the casual viewer the thing they are trying to avoid is the feeling that you need to catch up with over 50 years of continuity. Yes for many of us older viewers we think of the Meddling Monk, but he is one of the most obscure and irrelevant characters ever. That is why he gets referenced by fans, as a badge of honour.

We had this era, RTD did this constantly, referencing old continuity even when there was no reason to do it. It was fun for a while, but the idea that everything we will ever meet in the infinite possibilities of the format, will be a variation on what we have already seen, is a little dull and undermining of the promise and premise of Doctor Who.

I listen to a lot of podcast reviews which are varied and fascinating. A common theme that comes up is how much this show is actually referencing older continuity despite the claims, but they are things the casual viewers will be oblivious to, like the Tomb of the Cybermen callback in episode 1. That seems to be a good balance to me.

Another common question is 'how come The Doctor has never heard of the Stenza'. Surely it is clear that if we have got to the point where fans expect The Doctor to know about every civilisation, in the whole of mutable time and space, we have drifted too far from the wonderful thing about the show.

Don't get me wrong, I've liked what they've done so far. The Stenza definitely has potential and I love the concept of them (big Predator fan.) But it just seems superfluous to create villains that have similar modus operandi to preexisting ones. Especially when some of those characters are ripe for reinvention. It's like someone writing Batman and introducing a clown themed villain when they can just use the Joker. It isn't really a big issue in the long run. Just a minor peeve of mine.

RTD was continuity king? His era was pretty much devoid of continuity references. There were indeed nods here or there. For the most part, however, he kept it to a minimum. Moffat, on the other hand, was so reliant on continuity that the show became inaccessible to everyone BUT fans.

[JKtheMac]

RTD was continuity king? His era was pretty much devoid of continuity references.

RTD couldn’t help himself. The Doctor often makes direct references to continuity and his very first story was a call-back. In many ways he directly set up this expectation for old villains being reinterpreted. Look at each of his arcs, and their villain reveals.

[Jim Kelly]

I've decided to put off watching the new DOCTOR WHO episodes right away, so I can watch them on the following Saturday when I watch old episodes, as is my tradition. Can't say I thought "Rosa" was all that much and it brought up some uncomfortable feelings about time travel shows trying to do right by historical events.

It's a funny thing how DW actors will have these fake American accents--even when they're American actors, or in this case a Canadian playing James Blake. But I guess you could say that's part of the style of DW and it would be almost sad if they changed and did things in an authentic way. I started to think that maybe everyone in Montgomery is a time traveller/alien and none of them are in fact Americans of the period. That would explain a lot--like there's one scene in the restaurant where the extras are all staring, but in the way they would if they were an audience of observers. Maybe this week in Montgomery is one of the top tourist destinations in the space-time vortex.

Another small quibble--as someone who grew up in the 1960s--MLK was always called Martin Luther King Junior in those days. It was always that. So he would have been introduced as such (as a sign of respect to his father, if nothing else). It's odd because, there's another character that they make the point of addressing as Elias Griffin Junior.

The music was annoying at times. But not as annoying as BROADCHURCH. Watching the first season of BROADCHURCH was difficult for me because of the music track--I would often turn down the sound just to avoid it. The music here wasn't as bad, but it certainly wasn't subtle.

[Miles To Go]

We may have our first character confirmed for the Christmas special

spoilers:

Ryan's father?

end of spoilers

https://twitter.com/Ruther2/status/1055887178537099264

[Forseti]

Was that Graham making shadow animals on a monitor in the spider lab? By the time I noticed it was too late to catch a glimpse of who was doing it. Seems like a thing Bradley would do and I can't imagine it was in the script.

[Derek Metaltron]

I noticed that too, I was greatly amused.

A really great modern episode, I enjoyed it much more than the first one, especially since it's finally set up plenty of Jackie and Mickey style baggage for Yaz and Shaun.

spoilers:

I am sad we didn't get some secret connection to Planet of the Spiders in this episode where one of them sneaks off to Metabelis 3 in the future, but the CGI for them was brilliant. I can imagine arachnophobia sufferers would steer well clear of this one. I kind of wish they didn't have to make a Trump rip off but I grew to like him. I feel like the series is secretly spicing up elements for the future - the Stenza, Krasko and now future President Robertson? Also like the reasons each of them for staying with the Doctor, makes them each more distinctive as companions.

end of spoilers

[Miles To Go]

I sort of liked it, Ryan's strategy saved it for me. Didn't like the environmental message much...a bit too Captain Planet. I wonder if the TARDIS will pop 'round to 2020?

[ChrisIII]

Haven't seen it yet but from what I've read it seems to draw some inspiration from The Green Death, perhaps.

[Kirby101]

First Chris Noth is Trump.
Second, I hate the way the TARDIS has the Police Box as a small entry way alcove. It should be right inside the door, bigger on the inside right away. Now it's almost like a conduit into the TARDIS.

[Derek Metaltron]

Haven't seen it yet but from what I've read it seems to draw some inspiration from The Green Death, perhaps.

I hadn't thought of that until now, good spot! The reason for the Spiders is fairly different if similarish though.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

The episode probably made me afraid of spider but it was a great episode.

The Trump analogue was fun but i'm worried about it being sustainable.