Can't disagree with that.
Spoilers Spyfall, Part One grade and discussion thread
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Can't disagree with that.
I gave it a conservative 7, as I think it will improve. I loved seeing the show back, and I quite liked Oh turing out to be the Master. The James Bind humour was fine, thoughh I've never been a massive fan.
I feel like this is building to someone more interesting, as as a tantalising glimpse of thing to come, it did it's job.
Everything is not what it seems, you say? Curiouser and couriser.
Also after rewatching Gavin and Stacey ready for the Christmas special, Oh will always be said in the style of Nessa.
I feel like this is building to someone more interesting, as as a tantalising glimpse of thing to come, it did it's job.
Everything is not what it seems, you say? Curiouser and couriser.
Also after rewatching Gavin and Stacey ready for the Christmas special, Oh will always be said in the style of Nessa.
Yeah, just to be clear, my problem with the Master showing up isn't with the implausibility of Missy somehow managing to regenerate, because cheating death and burning through regenerations like it's going out of fashion has pretty been their thing from the get-go. I don't even care if they bother to explain it or not.
My problem is two-fold: 1) It's kinda too soon. The master is best used sparingly and though it's been several years in reality; in story terms their last appearance was fairly recent. 2) The character seems to have reverted back to the hyper-active moustache twirling nutter from times past, which is a shame.
Sure they could be going somewhere interesting with it, that's not something that's supported by the show's track record thus far.
I will admit that part of my ambivalence is because I haven't quite yet bought into Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor. She gets close a few times, but I'm still waiting for that moment of "ah, now there's The Doctor!" Just to be clear though, it took about a season and change for me to get there with Capaldi too.
Indeed a lot of this feels similar to Capaldi's early days as that also had a good cast doing their best with not very strong writing and a kind of listless, meandering feel to the show as a whole.
My problem is two-fold: 1) It's kinda too soon. The master is best used sparingly and though it's been several years in reality; in story terms their last appearance was fairly recent. 2) The character seems to have reverted back to the hyper-active moustache twirling nutter from times past, which is a shame.
Sure they could be going somewhere interesting with it, that's not something that's supported by the show's track record thus far.
I will admit that part of my ambivalence is because I haven't quite yet bought into Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor. She gets close a few times, but I'm still waiting for that moment of "ah, now there's The Doctor!" Just to be clear though, it took about a season and change for me to get there with Capaldi too.
Indeed a lot of this feels similar to Capaldi's early days as that also had a good cast doing their best with not very strong writing and a kind of listless, meandering feel to the show as a whole.
More of the same, and in this case, not that good. The scripts simply aren't strong and again, the show is still suffering from a) being Doctor Woke and b) not actually having enough of the Doctor.
If it doesn't improve soon, I may drop it until they get a new Doctor and writing team. I'll see how the season goes.
I can understand bringing in the Master. They desperately need a gimmick to get fans back. Let's see how this version is.
If it doesn't improve soon, I may drop it until they get a new Doctor and writing team. I'll see how the season goes.
I can understand bringing in the Master. They desperately need a gimmick to get fans back. Let's see how this version is.
8. This episode was a definite improvement over most of last season. Seems like Chibnall and Co. have listened to the criticism and made changes.
Lack of strong antagonist. Check. Bring on DW's classic and most personal antagonist, the Master!
The Doctor observes more than participates. Check. The Doctor is in the thick of the action in a spy oriented episode.
It wasn't perfect. For a supposed James Bond homage, the action was a bit stilted and the episode talky at points. But, again, an overall improvement. I'm intrigued by the aliens that are working with the Master. Shades of the Autons possibly where he brings in aliens from afar but will they turn on him? We'll see. But, the idea of an alien race from outside the universe who wants invade and of which the Doctor has no knowledge and can't even scan them is interesting. Takes away her usual advantages.
Looking forward to see how the new Master develops and the same with the new aliens! Overall it was an entertaining episode. Hope the rest of the season follows suit!
Lack of strong antagonist. Check. Bring on DW's classic and most personal antagonist, the Master!
The Doctor observes more than participates. Check. The Doctor is in the thick of the action in a spy oriented episode.
It wasn't perfect. For a supposed James Bond homage, the action was a bit stilted and the episode talky at points. But, again, an overall improvement. I'm intrigued by the aliens that are working with the Master. Shades of the Autons possibly where he brings in aliens from afar but will they turn on him? We'll see. But, the idea of an alien race from outside the universe who wants invade and of which the Doctor has no knowledge and can't even scan them is interesting. Takes away her usual advantages.
Looking forward to see how the new Master develops and the same with the new aliens! Overall it was an entertaining episode. Hope the rest of the season follows suit!
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Series 11 had an average 7.96m viewers - more than any series in Nuwho apart from season 4 (Tennant/Donna) which got 8.05m.
^ And the figures pretty much dropped week on week, Skyfall Pt1 got 4.88 million viewers last night, down even on Resolution last New Year http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/doctor-who-series-11-2018-uk-ratings-accumulator-88397.htm
It's 2020. Overnight ratings are so irrelevant* that the US networks are stopping reporting them completely. Wake me up when the 28 day consolidated figure is released and it's up to nearly eight million.
*And even if they weren't it was still the second most watched programme for the day.
I don't know the source, but I saw going around on Twitter that there was word that a big twist/revelation would be that the First Doctor was actually the first of their second regeneration cycle, and there were thirteen previously-unknown proto-Doctors who were all women. With more than a half-century of show built up, I stridently disagree with this Morbius/Lungbarrow idea that where the Doctor came from should be much more interesting than what they're doing now (if it's so damn fascinating, why not make the show about the Doctor's secret period instead of making it a tease about how what we actually watch is inferior by comparison?), and declaring gender-balance by fiat, while probably intended to give the finger to sexists, feels more likely to be received as a lame excuse assuming the audience can't tell the difference between the lore of the show and the actual show being made.
^ Hopefully that rumor is not true. Fortunately, I didn't see anything in the episode that points that direction specifically. I do hope that the "everything is a lie" line doesn't lead to some major change in the series' lore (e.g., the First Doctor should still be the first, he stole a TARDIS, etc.)
Any "spoiler" that begins with I read it on Twitter (or Facebook) isn't even worth hiding. I can't tell you where it came from but I could do a pretty good job of telling you the nature of the person who made it up and what their reasons for doing it were.
Must admit, that seems a very unlikely twist. Where would you even go with that? What narrative purpose would it serve?
Also, I belatedly recall having no idea what was in the sphere in Army of Ghosts until it opened, so my earlier comment wasn't entirely accurate. Still, that just reinforces the point, for me: it's far better not to know. Imagine how much more effective the return of Simm would have been, for example, if it hadn't been trumpeted beforehand.
Also, I belatedly recall having no idea what was in the sphere in Army of Ghosts until it opened, so my earlier comment wasn't entirely accurate. Still, that just reinforces the point, for me: it's far better not to know. Imagine how much more effective the return of Simm would have been, for example, if it hadn't been trumpeted beforehand.
None at all.
It was written to rile up the ever-dwindling group of people who confidently predicted that no one would accept a female Doctor and the series would be quickly cancelled.
I also saw a rumor on Twitter a week or two back that Master was in the premiere, so, you know, people talk, and since I don't see out spoilers, I'm going to learn them on the street. As a rule, I disregard them all, which is why I was unhappy that a tease in the cliffhanger was consistent with one. Even if it's not this specific one, my first reason for disliking that direction still stands. Going big with the Doctor's history is a mistake; it's just more baggage, and you get just as much reaction showing the Baby Doctor slept in a barn because adults and other children bullied him as you would showing he was the clone of Rassilon's tennis instructor or whatever damn thing.
Honestly, it fits with the times (as my unflattering comparison to TRoS indicated), and it seems, so far, that this series is going to be more superficially revanchist than the last one (like TRoS) to address the least-meaningful complaints about season 11 (more classic monsters! More mythology!) without touching on the problems that actually got to people (overly-passive heroes! Muddled thematic and moral arcs! Flashy, gestural plotting that glosses over elements vital for understanding the plot!).
To be fair, Chibnall never said he wasn't ever going to do old monsters, only that he wanted to start off with no old monsters. And it makes sense because it allowed him to establish his voice and his team first and then bring back the classics with the firm foundation.
Oh, gods, that's so dumb. No way that's happening.
Consolidated numbers
Green = Smith
Red/Orange = Capaldi
Blue = Whitaker
Darker = later in their stint
Only seasons included, not specials
Millions watching -- Whitaker holding her own with Smith, Trouncing Capaldi - and that's after 7 years of nominally declining TV viewing
But look at the first seasons (with the diamonds) -- I'll just show these, forgive starting the axis at 5
That's not bad, generally above Tennant (aside from s2e05 - Rise of Cybermen), and similar to Smith - again above Capaldi
Now the shares
Well above Capaldi, reversing that trend, but certainly has work to do. I'm surprised the figured for Capaldi and Whittaker are worse under share than raw millions - perhaps my assumption that people are watching less TV is incorrect. Perhaps share calculations have changed over the last 15 years.
Share for just season 1
Better than Capaldi, but Who is not keeping the conversation as it did with Eccleston, Tennant and Smith.
All figures from https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&type=date
Green = Smith
Red/Orange = Capaldi
Blue = Whitaker
Darker = later in their stint
Only seasons included, not specials
Millions watching -- Whitaker holding her own with Smith, Trouncing Capaldi - and that's after 7 years of nominally declining TV viewing
But look at the first seasons (with the diamonds) -- I'll just show these, forgive starting the axis at 5
That's not bad, generally above Tennant (aside from s2e05 - Rise of Cybermen), and similar to Smith - again above Capaldi
Now the shares
Well above Capaldi, reversing that trend, but certainly has work to do. I'm surprised the figured for Capaldi and Whittaker are worse under share than raw millions - perhaps my assumption that people are watching less TV is incorrect. Perhaps share calculations have changed over the last 15 years.
Share for just season 1
Better than Capaldi, but Who is not keeping the conversation as it did with Eccleston, Tennant and Smith.
All figures from https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&type=date
Fair points, but I'm willing to bet it won't be anywhere remotely close to 8 million given that would take one of the biggest increases from overnight to consolidated that we've ever seen wouldn't it? Resolution got 5.15 and ended up on 7.13. Far more likely that it ends up somewhere just below the 7 million mark if you ask me (which is still not remotely a disaster)
We'll see. Could be there'll be better ratings on Sundays than NYD. However, opening with a two parter could mess that up if part one got lesser ratings. But... it could be that people are planning to watch part one on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, as a lead in to part two, which would mean a much better 7 day figure.
I keep forgetting, but while we're dancing around the subject of being Extremely Online in all possible respects, I have to say that naming the all-consuming tech giant we willingly feed ourselves to our of a corrupted need for human connection "vore" is both terribly on-the-nose and the most off-color joke on Doctor Who since the Tenth Doctor called Lucy Saxon the Master's new beard.
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