So Many Stories, So Little Time (and Space)...

I like watching Doctor Who, and I enjoy speaking about Doctor Who, and I spend way too much time reading and thinking about Doctor Who. 1963 through 2017, I love it all. Yes, even that one. My favourite Dr. Who is, of course, all of them. At once. Sitting atop each other's shoulders. While wearing a ridiculously large, oversized, multi-coloured coat. A Colin Baker's dozen, if you will. No? Yeah, fair enough. 24. He/him. Australia. And totally incapable of using just one word when I could use at least forty-two.

[galihfrey]

[throughwho]

“You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing groaning? That sound brings hope wherever it goes.”

[fictionparadox]

[throughwho]

i love that yoss refers to avocado pear as an ancient earth historical figure and ryan and graham’s response is, first, to correct him (as if they’re not, like, 8,600-odd years in the future), and to argue over whether avocado is a fruit or vegetable. like, that’s the same amount of time that’s passed between now and the late stone age. just assuming his use of the phrase “ancient” is the equivalent of ours in terms of how long ago it was (rather than using our same categorisation, which seems unlikely) that could mean anything between 5,000 and 1,500 years in his past, so a solid 3,600 to 7,100 years in ryan and graham’s future.

like, you’ve just encountered a tiny alien with poisonous skin and an invulnerability to basically everything which somehow zooms around space without any known form of propulsion without requiring any form of breathing in order to eat any non-organic matter it encounters regardless of size and consume the energy it generates, and it’s someone being named avocado pear is what’s straining belief??? i’d be shocked if there aren’t already avocados and pears running around right now.

[madfanboyinablueblog-deactivate]

And yet another Dr flashback…

[throughwho]

“nineteen year-old working-class woman who’s unhappy with where her life’s at both professionally and personally brings overly-expressive, northern-accented time-traveller--who she’d previously encountered whilst at work during an alien-related incident--back to her flat during what she believes to be downtime from any similar kind of threat only for her pink-clad, tracksuit-favouring relative to awkwardly flirt with him”

it’s more common than you’d think

[throughwho]

i’m really curious to see how much graham’s cancer and his remission status will play into the rest of the series. it’s not something the show has ever really tackled before, a central character with a real, entirely mundane, potentially-fatal illness.

it opens up a whole avenue of questions about who the doctor is and what the limits of time travel are, what with her visiting contemporary earth and not helping all the sick and dying despite having access to a future filled with advanced medicines and treatments for things that are currently difficult or impossible to cure. it’s an idea that russell t davies toyed with while writing the script for the long game (adam was originally going to be stealing all the future tech in order to help his very sick father), but i can’t think of any time it’s come up otherwise.

it’s something i’ve thought about a lot ever since the doctor cured one of the gangers of an inoperable blood clot in their brain with little effort or fanfare in the almost people, so whether or not this series actually delves into the ethics of the doctor selectively helping people or not it’s something i’m glad might potentially be explored.

actually, speaking of graham and his cancer (just a rambly thought/theory)...

i’d be willing to bet there will be an episode about him wanting to use time travel to save grace now that he knows it exists, especially because of his “it should have been me” speech, but because the woman who fell to earth established he and grace met while he was in treatment i keep imagining him going back to stop himself from deciding to get chemo so he never meets her to save her life, which would be super dark, but probably entirely in character. and given the focus on graham’s relationship with ryan that’s prime drama to force ryan into stepping up and convincing graham he’s important and he needed to be part of ryan and grace’s life. oh, the angst.

or maybe i’m just a downer and the show won’t go anywhere near any of this, things will be all sunshine and rainbows and his cancer will only ever be mentioned that one time, but what’s the point in watching doctor who if not to make wild totally unsupported guesses about where things are going?

[throughwho]

considering everything that’s been said about series eleven cutting down on the mythology and call-backs to make the show accessible to new audiences again, à la rose--which squares with what we’ve seen so far, what with the doctor only having referring to herself as an alien rather than a time lord, the creation of a new sonic screwdriver on-screen so she can re-establish what it does, and the gradual reintroduction of the tardis complete with not mentioning it travels in time until the last two minutes of the ghost monument--i think it’s incredibly unlikely “the timeless child” is referring to someone from the show’s past unless its about the doctor herself, especially not someone who hasn’t been on the show in 35 years (or only ever showed up in one episode 10 years ago).

i mean, i could be wrong, the woman who fell to earth did bring up the doctor’s family being lost “a long time ago” and both episodes so far are incredibly hung-up on the concept of family, especially missing or absent family members (i actually started to list how many references there were and it just went on for too long, and it’s only episode two of ten), but i feel like the chances of susan or jenny popping up is... slim.

[thepetrichorgirl]

[tillthenexttimedoctor]

“Can you hear that noise?”

[throughwho]

The new TARDIS set is... hmm. It looks cramped and insular, which is the exact opposite of what a magically huge interior of a tiny police box really should feel like, and I kept hoping more lights were going to come on as it was revealed but it never happened. That said, different directors will bring different points of view to the set so maybe it’ll grow on me in different contexts, but as a whole it’s a downer. On the positive side, the exterior is really beautiful, I liked the actual console (the hourglass and the return of the food machine/possibly a purely custard cream dispenser made me grin), and I quite like the concept of the entrance of the TARDIS being like the inside of a police box.

Actually, on an entirely selfish note, I was a little annoyed when I saw that for the first time in one of the promo shots a month or two back (it showed just the Doctor standing in the entrance) because that’s something I’ve always imagined for my dream TARDIS interior, but now I’ve seen it in context I dig it even more. Still, it will forever be at the back of my mind as a “what could have been”.

I mean, I always thought that the very best “reveal the new TARDIS look” moment would be the Doctor swinging open the doors excitedly, looking at their new friend(s) expectantly for their reaction, only to be met with confusion rather than wonder. The Doctor turning to look inside, trepidatious themselves wondering what their ship now looks like on the inside for it to get that sort of a response, only to see the inside of a completely normal police box.

Oh god, what a let down. Had they accidentally gone to the wrong box? Could they be that stupid? No, this was definitely right. They could feel it. See it. Taste it in the air. Hell, even that familiar humming was there, reverberating from the TARDIS’ very soul. So the Doctor stepped forward, hands in front of them as they come to the back of the police box only for the back wall to swing wide open itself, revealing a massive, expansive, magical interior beyond. All bright lights and tinkering oddities, tiered levels up winding ramps filled with plush seats and memorabilia from past adventures, and hopefully a toy panda on top of a chair somewhere amongst it all.

And with that reveal the gasps they’d been craving that entire time came from behind them, and the Doctor grinned to themselves as they took in their new-look home, spinning on the spot as they crane their neck to see down the corridors leading to who knows what. They barely hear their companions expressing their disbelief as they bound forwards, coming to a stop with their hands rested on their console, gleaming like new but already rusting, fingerprints and alien detritus strewn about the place betraying its age underneath the makeover. Fresh and stylish, but lived in and oh so familiar. Yep, that’s what they wanted all along.

[throughwho]

Those opening titles are really, truly beautiful. It feels just right, and that mix of the theme tune is pitch perfect. Alien and off-putting yet completely welcoming and enchanting. The exact sort of thing you want someone to hear coming from the other room and drop everything to run through and watch, and of course the episode that follows. As much as I’ve loved having the opening titles as the stinger off the back of the teaser for, hell, it must be ten years now (the last time we didn’t have a teaser was before series four, right?) , launching in with the opening then getting into the adventure sets the tone perfectly. Now I wish even more than ever that they’d kicked off last week with it.

[throughwho]

The Ghost Monument was pretty great. I gave me a real The Keys of Marinus vibe, something I’ve seen a few other people compare it to, along with a heavy dose of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, at least in the beginning. Everything feels very pared back, something I noted about last week’s episode, and that continues here with a very straight-forward plot, pretty standard dialogue, streamlined cast of characters, etc. but with it being an alien world that just let things breathe a bit more, I think. I liked the three guest characters, and the living beach towels were pretty effective, if under-developed (but hell, I felt the same about the Stenza last week, and apparently we’ll be hearing from them again, so I won’t speak so soon).

It also looked really gorgeous. I know many people said that about last week’s episode but it felt drab in all the worst ways for me, like any other British crime drama on TV, all dark streets and dank warehouses. This looked amazing, and they clearly took full advantage of their time in South Africa. Considering how much of Sheffield was actually shot in Sheffield and how much of this was clearly shot outside the UK I’m actually curious what the split on location to studio is this series compared to previous ones. Maybe they’ve front-loaded the series with this stuff, of course, but it’s interesting.

[throughwho]

so, has anyone asked chris chibnall if graham and grace’s surname is a shout-out to maureen o’brien yet?

[throughwho]

okay, the woman who fell to earth thoughts:

jodie whittaker’s great! she’s the doctor! post-regeneration episodes are never ideal for working out who this new face really is or will be going forward, but she’s good fun and genuine and open and seemingly full of childish energy and glee wrapped up in a ball of fury, which is wonderful. “can we have the lights and siren on?” “i would have.” spoons!!! “it should be fine.” “tim shaw!” “i carry them with me.” truly wonderful.

i liked the entire cast, really, but grace clicked with me the most, even though i kept reminding myself she wasn’t going to be a full-time cast member. her being the only real gung-ho, get-shit-done, isn’t-this-kinda-fun? person on top of that made her fate feel pretty obvious and, well, cheap. or disappointing. so much so i was convinced we were going to get a fake-out after graham ran to her side, an emotional farewell that turned out to be unnecessary, but sadly not. if we get an episode where graham’s guilt over living when she died collides with the realisation he has access to time travel so he attempts to “fix” things (i mean, there has to be one, right?) it’s going to take some work for me not to agree with him, tbh.

beyond that, i’m keeping an open mind. there’s a whole lot yet still to learn about ryan, graham, and yaz, but they’re all interesting so far. lots of potential places to take their dynamics. i loved the exploration of ryan’s dyspraxia, it felt like such a natural fit for the show, and riding a bike is such a grounded representation of struggling with something that people of all ages will be able to relate to regardless of their exposure to similar conditions. it called to mind both the young boy’s dyslexia in the hungry earth/cold blood , so clearly something chris chibnall is passionate about (he’s mentioned in interviews his nephew has dyspraxia and wanted to show anyone can be a hero), and ram struggling with his football skills after getting a prosthetic leg in class.

actually, tonally the episode felt a lot like class meets torchwood, with the mixture of youthful characters banding together to deal with an out-of-this-world issue while struggling with their own personal problems and the city-based nighttime chaos of an alien on the prowl being dealt with using police procedural elements. which isn’t a bad thing, but i kept waiting for it to kick into gear but it never really did for me (on first watch, at least, maybe knowing what to expect will change that).

it feels silly, but i think the lack of opening titles really threw things for me as well. i know the show has to reestablish itself as its own new thing, set up new rules and expectations, create its own format as it becomes the norm (i love that aspect of the show!), but it felt like that one bit of familiarity would have anchored things that little bit. but maybe that’s what the production team wanted, to leave you feeling off-kilter just like the doctor, stumbling into this adventure half-cocked and unsure of where you stand with this new face to contend with. or maybe they just wanted to avoid having opening titles which clearly missed out sharon d. clarke's name, haha.

that said, i really loved the return of a proper cliffhanger as they go flying off into space and the complete unknown without the tardis as back up. it felt very season 12, which my sister and i just passed in our watch through of classic who, oddly enough. a slightly stodgy start is far from the worst way a new doctor’s tenure has begun (stodgy pacing- wise, not character- or plot-wise), but honestly, hopefully the shorter runtime of the rest of the episodes will mean some tighter editing. while obviously slowing things down is a stylistic choice that’s entirely valid, and in contrast to steven moffat’s plotting it’s an obvious direction to head in if you want to make a distinct line in the sand between the past and present, but it was a bit sad so many punchlines in the dialogue felt undercut by how things were, well, cut.

the last thing i want to be is the guy comparing the show to what it has been constantly because that’s dull--i like change and new things, and i have a whole series to adjust to this rhythm and paradigm shift just as i have to whenever i go back to watch any era of the show’s past, whether from four years ago or forty. but both previous head writers were masters of dialogue that flew and zapped and fizzled with energy and i’d be lying if i said it wasn’t missed in this episode. i’ve seen some people refer to it as more grounded, but it felt pedestrian and stilted to me more often than not, which i wouldn’t ascribe to any of my favourite writing on doctor who.

jodie’s delivery definitely has the same feeling and enthusiasm of previous doctors, and i think the cast did great with what they had, i just hope that the writers (especially on scripts finished when footage of their performances was available) will be able to match it.

and speaking of performances, it was nice to see amit shah, however briefly his appearance was as the guy who stole the pod thing in his search for his missing sister. he’s really wonderful as an insecure gay guy in the hilarious crashing--the series from phoebe waller-bridge of fleabag and killing eve fame, not the hbo show about stand-up. and as oddly placed as the list of upcoming guest stars was at the end of the episode, there’s some exciting names there.

vinette robinson, for one, which marks the first confirmation of a returning doctor who cast member to the show as a new character under chris chibnall, carrying on the tradition! plus her first go was in 42, the first episode he wrote, which is sweet. and interesting to note a few past co-stars of jodie whittaker’s amongst the list: lois chimimba (trust me), brett goldstein (adult life skills), and julie hesmondhalgh and shaun dooley (broadchurch, although obviously that's a connection to chris chibnall, too). bring us gemma arterton and john boyega in some juicy roles, next. come on!

then a huge swathe of the others have previously appeared in shows with casting by andy pryor, unsurprisingly. i’m also excited to see shobna gulati (i adore dinnerladies), lee mack (if his sombre look is reflective of him actually playing things straight i’m genuinely intrigued), and especially alan cumming who is always amazing in everything he does. although obviously he’s someone we already knew about because of his own loose lips, but nice to see in costume all the same.

but if chris noth also making an appearance along with alan is a hint of some fandom for the good wife going on behind the scenes (the shot of him legit just looks like its taken from an episode, it took me a few rewatches of that trailer to realise it wasn’t a joke), i so hope we’ll see an archie panjabi appearance in the future. or maybe matthew goode, or even the return of cush jumbo after going off and skyrocketing in her career post-children of earth. hell, give us christine baranski. as an amazing alien queen with no time for anyone! why not? i’d usually limit any suggestions for casting to british actors just based on the potential they’d actually come out to cardiff film, but fucking chris noth is going to be in doctor who for some reason, anything feels possible right now. and she actually spends a lot of time in the uk, i believe. yeah, now that’s all i want.

give me christine “big dick energy” baranski in doctor who or give me death!!!

[throughwho]

I feel kind of out of the loop on Doctor Who news because I’ve been focused on other life things lately--although I was excited by the series eleven trailers and the few interviews and things I caught despite never actually engaging with any of it on here--but I’m curious if there are any murmurs or rumblings about an actual airdate yet?

The BBC has been pretty consistent with only announcing a specific date a few weeks out so you’d usually expect it any time now for an early September start, but with the episode count being down to ten I suppose they have much more leeway with when to do the launch if they want things to wrap up by Christmas, which seeing as a special was announced and shot they presumably want to do.

What are the odds the BBC and BBC Worldwide have intentionally coordinated things to fit within the the US TV season, with a big push on the new face/new beginnings angle to try lure a new audience State-side? I mean, after the response to Jodie Whitaker’s casting drew a significant amount of attention and commentary outside of the usual circles even in America there’s never going to be more buzz and eyes on the series, this is definitely the time to capitalise on things. And over there Autumn shows are all starting to return from 24th September, so if Doctor Who were to start on the following Saturday it would be premiering 29th September.

And after typing all of that I thought to google and saw the BBC have actually recently confirmed it will be back on air “by October”, which feels like as much of a confirmation of the 29th as they’d give pre-final trailer launch, tbh. Or 30th September, if they finally bite the bullet and move the show to Sunday now that Saturdays have become the home of big, brash live entertainment shows that are hard to compete with. There’s actually something equal parts sad and fitting about a Saturday night family appointment-viewing telly landscape that was basically single-handedly reinvigorated by the return of Doctor Who in 2005 that is no longer a welcoming home for the series.

Dr. Who, she really is always the outsider.

Either way, that would mean the final would fall on either 1st or 2nd December, which still gives enough breathing room to build buzz for the Christmas special without stifling whatever reaction the final episode’s ending causes amongst viewers. Which they are presumably hoping to be big, loud, and positive enough to trigger any hold-outs waiting to see how this whole new Doctor/new gender/new production team thing played out before committing to watching would catch up in time to further boost the Christmas ratings.

What I’m trying to say is, “Yay, new Doctor Who!!!”

[throughwho]

My favourite TV companion teams/dynamics by Doctor because it’s vital information you all really wanted to know, clearly:

First Doctor, Barbara, Ian, and Vicki

Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe

Third Doctor, Brigadier, Benton, Jo, and Mike

Fourth Doctor, Leela, and K-9

Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, and Turlough

Sixth Doctor and Peri

Seventh Doctor and Ace

Eighth Doctor and Shoes

War Doctor and Regret

Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack

Tenth Doctor, Martha, and Donna

Eleventh Doctor, Amy, and Rory

Twelfth Doctor and Clara

[throughwho]

I’m visiting London at the moment and I’ve been unwell which has messed with my plans a bit--which is a bummer and a half, obviously--but the place I’m staying is basically right in the shadow of BT Tower (the Post Office Tower) so the good thing is I can blame anything that’s gone wrong on WOTAN plotting some new nefarious scheme.