Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Chat about stuff other than Transformers.
Post Reply
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Skyquake87 »

Thought I'd crank this up, as I've been keeping up with the Doctor. After the first series of Jodie Whittaker's series took a more earnest and budget-friendly tone with it's lack of monsters, this has tapped back into the more popcorn elements the show had over a decade ago.

The first two episodes which brought The Master back were pretty good (and I liked seeing The Master have a TARDIS of his own), Sacha Dhawan was properly ace as The Master, dialing down the pantomime antics of the character and being way more credible. I hope we see more of him, and he's not left in planet telephone cord for too long.

'Orphan 55' was pretty forgetable, but had Jay from the InBetweeners in a silly green wig, so had that going for it.

'Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror' I really enjoyed this, although did notice how Open University the Doctor gets when talking about famous historical figures. It's like having a wikipedia entry read at you.

'Fugitive of the Judoon' This was a funny one. It threw in a lot of curveballs and things to ponder on, but seemed to marry it's two plot strands together and just came to an end.

Throughout these episodes, as in the last series, the companions just don't have enough to do or contribute. This was made particularly clear in the latest episode where they spend most of an episode stuck in a hold pen ...and I didn't miss any of them. The actor's are doing what they can, but if they all died tomorrow, I don't think I'd be that bothered.

I do like how good the show looks these days too. The production on it is brilliant, and I do love the music and opening titles. Fantastic stuff.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by inflatable dalek »

I'm very much enjoying it so far, maybe not top tier Who, but perfectly nice and watchable.

Just feel a bit sad it's not...well, not doing badly when the final IPlayer viewers are taken into account (though the bump isn't as big as it used to be), but people are actively avoiding watching it on the day. A couple of million turn off when Countryfile ends and then turn back on for Call the Midwife. Who's highest ratings come during the end credits.
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Skyquake87 »

It is indeed. I really enjoyed the recent Shelley themed episode, although again there was some horrible clunky dialogue during a dance scene where all the historical figures explained who they were, their situation and the historical context to their gathering. Yuck.

I'd heard that Who's ratings had dropped for this series, which is a shame. I've stopped getting Doctor Who Magazine (the editorial tone was all over the shop, as the new team struggle to reconcile the new 'woke' agenda of the series with the scholarly features, which are invariably about a lot of old white men doing behind the scenes stuff).

I think part of the problems the show has had under Chibnal are best summed up by this:

https://youtu.be/9_nveuzZbxo

I quite like his approach, if I'm honest. I just wished the need to explain wasn't so on the nose and he could strike a better balance between the monsters and the more thoughtful approach of Whitaker's first season. I did enjoy seeing Captain Jack the other week. It's nice to see elements of the show haven't been forgotten about.
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Skyquake87 »

Watched the final episode of Series 12 'The Children Of Time' which I really enjoyed for fleshing out something I always thought was daft about Gallifrey - that the Timelords lived in a big fish bowl, separated from the rest of the planet, lording it over everyone else. And everyone else seemed to be like tenant farmers living in poverty. I very much that the revelations about the Doctor added a layer of 'otherness' about the character, but I'm also never very comfortable with revealing loads about the Doctor and Gallifrey. Part of the appeal is the mystery. The Master's plan was suitably spiteful and daft, which I enjoyed. Good stuff and solid series. Just a shame no-one seems to be watching anymore.
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by inflatable dalek »

I've really enjoyed most of this season, but boy did I find that finale bad.

Beyond feeling like they let John Barber write it (behold the secret meaning of words said once by Tom Baker 44 years ago!) and the fanwank retcon...

It's well established the Cybermen can be defeated by unlocking their sealed off emotions and memories. We were even reminded of it last week.

The Doctor spends most of the episode standing in well established Doctor Who McGuffin the Matrix, full of the memories of every single Time Lord, including the ones the Master has just turned into Cybermen.

How is *that* not how you solve the plot rather than randomly introducing a new McGuffin with no set up and having the bloke from Game of Thrones save the day?
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Skyquake87 »

I don't know, didn't The Master say that the Cyberlords were just bodies - no consciousness residing within, just the capability to regenerate?

Was it fan wank? I didn't think so, as the set up on Gallifrey never made much sense and for me, this helped. Much as I like Doctor Who, the minutiae passes me by sometimes, so if there's something about why the Timelords lived in a bubble protected from the rest of the planet, I've missed that. And I must confess, I can't remember what the Fourth Doctor said way back when. I just thought it neatly explained the faces that showed up in 'The Brain Of Morbius' and whatnot. And why the Timelords never got rid of The Doctor as they've always seemed to find him a bloody nuisance. I didn't like the...whatsit, the super-secret 'We don't exist' cobblers, though. That sort of sub-X-Files guff can jog on.
User avatar
Denyer
Posts: 33033
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Perfidious Albion
Contact:

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Denyer »

Skipped series 11 and three episodes into 12... been decent enough so far. And skipping ahead further and reading things that include Timeless Child info, I think I'm likely to be fine with it, being more of a fan of the extended universe books than a lot of the TV stuff. The list of "other" incarnations in https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Doctor for instance, including all of the Morbius, Merlin, etc references (I liked the Infinity Doctors too) and nature of the time/reality-bending scale fiction, is good times.

The monsters in Orphan 55 are basically the polymorph from Red Dwarf, up close, aren't they? Which I know was an Alien rip-off in part...
User avatar
Heinrad
Posts: 6281
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2001 5:00 am
Location: Riskin' it all on my Russian Roulette!

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Heinrad »

I've quite enjoyed both Series 11 and 12(well, except for Orphan 55. That one kind of hurt), and it seems like they're having a lot of fun.

Not sure why it's not grabbing more fans, though. That being said, I don't know what the cultural zeitgeist around what the BBC is doing. I mean, I've got a subscription to BritBox, but since it's all over the place in terms of content(running from stuff made recently to stuff from years ago) I'm not sure if the Beeb's actually pushing an agenda like I've seen a lot of articles saying, or they're just going with the cultural flow, as it were.
User avatar
Denyer
Posts: 33033
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Perfidious Albion
Contact:

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Denyer »

There's a clear line to try to include some female historical characters, the writing was as subtle in the Tesla one as the holiday resort one, but most of the dribble on Youtube seems to be butthurt incels.

I've only got one browser signed into Google, and "ruined forever!!1" clickbait was being promoted front page when I was just watching 40K lore videos (oddly less so having recently watched some classic Doctors retrospective) -- mind you, they're also promoting a full rip of Deadpool 2 which has been up for eleven days and watched by 215,350 people. Looks like an account hack, the rest of it's Fortnite streams with double-digit views.

TL;DR, YT only cares about views and there's a growing case for putting it out of everyone else's misery.
User avatar
Cyberstrike nTo
Protoform
Posts: 4186
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2002 5:48 pm
Location: In the Dead Universe known as Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Cyberstrike nTo »

I enjoyed series 11 and 12, quite a bit.
User avatar
Tetsuro
Protoform
Posts: 2520
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:26 pm
Custom Title: Poe Dameron did nothing wrong
Location: Suomi Finland Perkele

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Tetsuro »

I guess somebody had to.
User avatar
Hound
Posts: 9700
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Henshin!

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Hound »

I have enjoyed Whittaker's Doctor and am looking forward to more of it. I'm worried hearing that ratings are dropping. I'm not surprised to hear it though. Something that reached the popularity that the show got to usually has a steady drop off of viewers over time. Should we expect a cancellation soon? I don't know how the ratings of this show compare to other BBC programs.

My only nitpick with the story telling we're getting with Chibnall is that it's a little on the overly preachy side. I don't mind the messaging I'd just like to not be hit in the face by humanity's many collective mistakes every episode. It could be more subtle.

I really like Graham though. He's my favourite companion of this era and the other two are pretty good as well. Whittaker's Doctor is appropriately quirky and arrogant, I wouldn't mind her being Doctor for several more seasons, though I expect we'll get the standard 3 seasons from her and that's it.

This season's revelation that the Doctor is the origin of Timelords and is special and has unlimited regenerations was interesting. I've not consumed all there is of DW media but it seems to me that it doesn't take anything away from the lore and gives the show an excuse to never worry about how many times it has to recast the Doctor. Assuming the show continues to exist for much longer.
User avatar
Denyer
Posts: 33033
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Perfidious Albion
Contact:

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Denyer »

Enjoyed the rest of the season and will work backwards to season 11 at some point -- the newer filming style works with something like the concluding story arc. I am getting sick of Gallifrey having to be taken out of the equation, though, rather than writers being prepared to think around and include it.

It'd also be nice to have non-"event" arcs.
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Doctor Who Series 12 Thread

Post by Skyquake87 »

I could do without Gallifrey too. I liked that it was kept in the distance in the classic run. It is a bit disappointing to have it all smashed up again, but it's only the Timelord citadel that's been done in, not the entire planet (at least that how it looked to me), so there's scope to tell different stories of Gallifrey in the future - maybe from the perspective of those outside the dome/ other areas of the planet?

As for the shows ratings, I think whilst they will be of concern, 3 million is about average for most non-hospital/ cop show dramas in the UK, so it's not disastrous but not as good as you'd want for a show that isn't cheap to make. I think international viewership will help, along with overseas sales in general. And me buying the DVDs (picked up the complete series 11 and the special recently).
Post Reply