Doctor Who - Warning, Spoilers!
- Thread starter Edcculus
- Start date
Ok, that is funny right there. I tried to get this by quoting you, but it didn't appear.
Vincent and the Doctor- as a fan of the Impressionist era I say “bravo”.
That is one of the finest episodes the show has ever done.
There are not many episodes that bring me to tears, but that one does every time. Brilliant performances by everyone (except Nighy, a great actor who is extremely wooden here).
That episode brings a few tears everytime.
Great episode.
I was thinking yesterday about great episodes that encapsulate the sort of story, the sort of approach to the show, that I really enjoy and want to see more of.
Midnight.
The Doctor and the passengers on the shuttle are under attack from a mysterious "thing" that gradually becomes obviously dangerous to them ... and there's no "explanation" of what it is, there's not "I'll zap it with my sonic screwdriver and save the day", there's no anything apart from a perilous mystery to solve & defeat before it's too late.
It's good for the universe ... being infinitely large ... to remain at least in large part mysterious and inexplicable.
I loved Midnight. It reminded me a bit of Twelve Angry Men. Except for the opening and closing scene, the entire drama takes place a small area, with a lot of debating on whether or not to kill somebody (jury decision in the movie, airlock in the show), with only one voice of reason.
I didn't quite get there, but the closing scene where Vincent learns that people recognize his genius was moving.
The scene toward the end where Vincent stands in the middle of the gallery seeing all of his work, and all of the people devoted to it, with Nighy's character's commentary about where he stands among people who have ever lived.....
It gets me every time. Every. Time. I don't get inured to it. They might as well have filmed it with me standing in Vincent's place because I KNOW I'm feeling exactly what he felt. Yeah, that was on Moffat's watch.
But written by Richard Curtis.
Yup, but in a Moffat universe.
Moffatt seems to be a highly polarising figure in Dr Who. I think a far more appropriate approach would be to see both the good and the bad: that he has done some great stuff both as a writer for RTD, and as "showrunner" and writer under his own run. He has also, mostly as showrunner, given us some clunkers.
I suspect he's the kind of character who needs someone watching over his shoulder, to reign him in when he gets a bit carried away and to tell him that some ideas are dumb ideas.
Oh, and having a "mystery box" is NOT a way to build suspense.
This is totally fair. It seems like when a show runner gets longer in the tooth in that role, the more we, the fanbase, become discontented with what they do. Moffat certainly had some clunkers (and I am on record that virtually the entire first season of Capaldi underperformed due to his really, really poor choice of the Clara-Pink storyline). He also had some really engaging, brilliant storylines, Vincent and the Doctor being just one. I still watched all of the episodes.
This seems very similar to the case with John Nathan-Turner, last show runner of Classic Who. He handled the end of the Tom Baker era, and oversaw Davison, C. Baker and McCoy's Doctors. Some of Classic Who's finest work was done in the Davison era (Caves of Androzani, anyone?), but let's face it, it disappeared for 16 years as a regular series due in no small part to the C. Baker decision and JNT's showrunning. With Britbox I'm going to rewatch the Colin Baker series to give it another chance. It was such a jarring change from Tom and Davison, my teenage self didn't give it much of a chance.
Getting ready to start season six. I don’t want any spoilers, but do we ever get the story on River?
Now I hate Wikipedia. I went to see if there was a Christmas special between 5 and 6. Then I see one little blurb between season 5 and 6 episode listings “The series centres on River Song killing the Doctor”. Thanks bunches, Wikipedia. I had figured it was heading that way, but they had to spoil it.
It's not as much of a spoiler as you think you got. Once you finish season 6 you will know what I mean. Don't worry! There are way more spoilery things going on in season 6. You will also be surprised by the story of river. Stay off Wikipedia!
How did you like the finale for season 5?
I just went to the episode link posted here. I may need someone else look for me from now on
I found out my co-worker watches it, and is fully up to speed, so I will consult him from now on. Man, season 5 seemed to fly by. That surprises me, because as I mentioned early I thought that Smith's slouch was going to be a distraction for me. It hasn't been- I really like his version of the Doctor, and have from the get go.I just went to the episode link posted here. I may need someone else look for me from now on
His Stonehenge speach is fantastic. By the end of the season I also ended up liking Rory, whom I was lukewarm towards at first.
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