Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol and 2011 Season(s?) Thread.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:48 pm

Hotdog Divebomb wrote:Well your point sort of stands, though not in the way you intended.

I'm just ahead of my time.

My own attempt at wacky guess work: The "Good Man" River kills is Rory. With all his faux deaths the poor bugger seems to have it coming and most people would probably count their dad as at least one of the best people they ever met.

That does leave the whole having no idea who he is back in Pandorica thing, but considering she's never shown much reaction to hanging round with her own mother and shows here she's keen for her own past to play out properly suggests she's a good poker player. Or they're making it up as they go along (indeed, before the real non-Auton Rory is brought back she shouldn't be in the episode as she'd have never been born without him).

Oddly I already knew about the Hitler being in the next episode thing from the Collings and Herrin podcast, the actor playing Adolph had some pictures done by the same bloke who did the promo pics for Hitler Moustache (leading to jokes about him having a real narrow work remit of only photographing performers dressed up as genocidal maniacs).

Tetsuro · Post by **Tetsuro** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:42 am

I called "Headless Monks", a lame, gimmicky monster. A bit tall call considering all Doctor Who monsters are gimmicky in some way - but they were still lame.

I mean, the episode touted them up into being this really scary enemy and...then they were all dead. What the hell. And having their necks tied into a knot where the head used to be was just way over the top.

Actually the whole episode was really silly, to the point of being almost RTD'ish in it's use of past character cameos that didn't really contribute to the story in any way, probably the additions of the pirate captain and Dannyboy being the worst offenders.

The Sontaran in particular was brilliant tho and I liked seeing the Doctor flip off his lid and totally own that crazy zealot army.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:39 am

So the BBC have confirmed that, after much speculation caused by THIS Private Eye article that they'll be less episodes of Who in 2012. Now this is less than a week after they announced the commisioning of 14 new episodes, so God knows what's happening there. Unless they're spreading them out over the two years.

They spliting this years lot in two because huge behind the scenes problems have basically made it impossible for them to get 13 done for a Summer transmission sounds worryingly plausible. Though hopefully the suggestion that the second is looking unlikely to be finished even by Christmas is wide of of the mark.

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:30 pm

I like the spreading out, personally, if it means the half-series are paced like this.

Cameos by spitfires and pirates... yeah, a little annoying, but brief.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:16 pm

I was reading this on the train just now, oddly enough...

I hope these problems get worked out soon. It sounds like the show has regressed to the state it was in when work began on reviving the series in 2004, when RTD and his execs (by their own admittance) were struggling with the demands of making a sci-fi show - which probably explains Christopher Eccleston's reportedly unhappy time making Doctor Who - IIRC he was unhappy at how the cast and , in particular, the crew were treated during production.

It's always difficult when new managers come into any environment, as it frequently leads to frustration and differences of opinion when changes are rung, but it seems sad that Moffat's two execs have got shot of the two people who were key in getting the show made.

More worrying is the knock on effect this is having if BBC Wales are now looking at scaling the show back so drastically. Have things gone so badly wrong already?

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:22 am

It might depend on exactly how badly Piers and Beth(as the Private Eye article seems to indicate) have drokked things up behind the scenes. If they're the big problem, the best thing, logically, would be to bounce them out on their ears(Piers seems to be leaving already), but that might not happen.

For example, late last year at the plant I work at, the owner of the place was probably about ready to shoot a couple of his management staff because they'd done a wonderful job of making things look good on paper and getting the company hit with a major fine as a result. But they're still there.

It might also depend on what the problems are. If they're shooting everything in HD(which I think the Beeb'd wanted them to switch to around 08/09), it could be cost overruns caused by HD. Top Gear's a good example. Their seasons seem to have gone from 13-14 episodes to 6 or 7.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:11 am

Bloody HD. RTD said at one point that he'd never want to shoot Who in HD as it means putting extra detail into background stuff that wouldn't normally get picked up (signs on shops, etc). It was introduced for the Specials during 2009, but I guess on that pace of working its much easier to titivate what you're working on for HD if you've only four episodes to make.

I'd scrap HD if that's what's causing the problems - I think most of us could live without seeing the pores on an actor's skin anyway.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:30 am

The problem is they didn't really have a choice on that score anymore, virtually all British TV, and certainly all dramas, is made in HD now. I'm sure the Troughton team would have rather not gone onto 625 line pictures as that caused a similar need for massively increased detail as well. Who did hold out for a fairly long time though, considering Torchwood had been doing HD for two years before Planet of the Dead.

I thought last years lot looked pretty good on Blu Ray, and the ropey bits like the end of the Vampire episode looked as bad when I was watching on my bog standard normal Freeview box.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:45 am

Hmm. Makes you wonder how that first Smith series got made given what we've heard recently...if you've got the additional pressures of filming in HD, the last thing you need is squabbles amongst the higher echelons of your production team.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 6:31 am

Interesting how the Beeb have decided to report these problems...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13784334

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:03 am

Further rumblings on the comings and goings in the world of Doctor Who from Private Eye...

"Within hours of the last...Eye being published, a panicked BBC press officer...begged to have our story about [behind the scenes problems] read down the phone to him. There then followed a fumbling attempt at spin.

At 5.25 that evening BBC1's head of communications announced on Twitter "Doctor Who is returning. Fourteen new episodes have been commissoned with Matt Smith as the Doctor." What the BBC didn't say was how many of those episodes are scheduled for next year.

As angry Who fans bombarded the Eye...showrunner Steven Moffat went on the offensive...which bits of the story he considered inaccurate he would not say.

But BBC1 controller Danny Cohen was quite happy to confirm what was accurate..."There will be some episodes, but there won't be a full series. We won't have a 13 part run." He blamed Moffat's workload, specifically that he is also executive producer of Sherlock.

Two days later, the BBC News website [published] a story with copious quotes from Cohen, putting the full blame on Moffat for the fact that there will not be a full series of Doctor Who next year.

[A] furious Moffat [struck] back on Twitter "The scheduling of Doctor Who has NOTHING to do with Sherlock." [Fellow writer] Neil Gaiman [asked] whether he was "being shafted", Moffat replied publicly: "Its not your imagination. Unbelievable. Unacceptable." While the Beeb amended its story to include Moffat's denial, Cohen has declined to issue any ... clarification.

Doesn't sound like there are any problems at all, does it? [In the meantime] BBC Worldwide has already [scaled back] its plans for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary in 2013 because its worried that demand for merchandise will have dropped due to the shortage of episodes between now and then - especially if the BBC goes with one plan now being mooted for the handful of 2012 episodes, that of broadcasting them stripped across a single week."

Fun times...

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:17 am

It's all a bit head scratching isn't it. And in great danger of overshadowing the next six episodes.

On slightly more cheerful (if that's the right word) news, the DWM tribute to Nick Courtney issue is absolutely gorgeous.

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:01 pm

So the thing to do is to have this Danny Cohen lobotomized by a runaway arc-welder and replace him with somebody competent, who will make sure that Doctor Who has the funding for 52 episodes over the next 2 seasons.

Yes, I like the idea of a 26 episode season.......

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 3:32 pm

Back at 7.10 tonight with Lets Kill Hitler. My mother, upon reading the write up in our TV listings, has just proclaimed "I'd have thought the Daleks would be the greatest war criminals in the Universe, not Hitler". That's the BBC told.

Rack 'n Ruin · Post by **Rack 'n Ruin** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 4:26 pm

Daleks? Hitler? Daleks?? Hitler?? Ther's only one way to settle this... FIGHT!!!

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 7:54 pm

Let's Kill Hitler

Once my brain stops fizzing I might be able to figure it out....... Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but there's one problem I'm having, namely:

SPOILER! (select to read)
How did Melody/Mels stay a little girl long enough to hook up with Pond and Rory as children? She was stuck in the Nixon era when last we saw her....kind of...... my head hurts....... Never mind growing at the same rate they did.

ΩΩΩ · Post by **ΩΩΩ** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 8:30 pm

"Last time I did this I ended up as a toddler."

And we don't know how many times she's done it since Day of the Moon. It's very straightforward.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 9:28 pm

i liked that mr moffat has got around all those niggly how many regenerations the doctor should have

really enjoyed this episode. completely bonkers, with the numbskulls, hitler in a cupboard, mel (i would have liked more mel she was ace) and judas trees and shooting and...and...and...!

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:07 pm

Ah. Missed that line. Thanks, Triple-O.

Is it next Saturday yet? Next one looks like fun.

Post by **Denyer** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 10:12 pm

Skyquake87 wrote:i liked that mr moffat has got around all those niggly how many regenerations the doctor should have

He has?

Considering the earlier line about temporal grace, I don't think any explanation's likely to be proffered by the time it becomes a theoretical issue except for a throwaway comment.