Couldn't have said any of this better, myself. My thoughts exactly.
I'm just worried we're gonna a split regeneration next week. Would rather that other spoiler tagged rumor be the real incoming "surprise" instead.
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I'm just worried we're gonna a split regeneration next week. Would rather that other spoiler tagged rumor be the real incoming "surprise" instead.
Good points, especially "TENnant".
The 60th anniversary would arguably spend more time on six decades of the whole show/franchise. Not spend a disproportionate amount of time on any single incarnation, much less contrive a way to bring back an old one with a claim that it's a new one that - surprise, surprise - acts largely like the old one. That's Tennant as the tenth Doctor, not fourteenth. Whether actual dialogue needs to be stated or if this is part of the Toymaker's interfering in causality, along with Donna being a pawn and not just a klutz - we'll know next week.
I assumed CiN specials were not officially canonical entries. But maybe they are now. The dialogue itself from it about canon rupturing and being more directly reacting to his regeneration than Star Beast was are pretty significant... and those bits seem to tie in with the three "official" stories so far... plus and even better, "Dimensions in Time" becomes directly canonical as a result. And that one's a lot easier to watch at times as it's doing much with precious little to be an actual anniversary piece...
I too liked how RTD continued on with FLUX. This leads to two things:
1. Considering "Logopolis" had seen a chunk of the universe destroyed and nothing was made mention of since -- I can handle Nyssa not being human and not spending 27 stories sobbing about her dad being murdered by the Master, but the universe is something like a big place... so seeing a somewhat similar trope being used in FLUX and getting some deserved continuation... especially as it felt like the story was clobbered by cough cough cooties to begin with.
2. On other forums, some have claimed RTD and Chibnall and Moffat are all friends and have advised one another. If true, how far back does all of this go? But that's rumor mill stuff and just as plausible that it's coincidental; one writer liking what a previous one did and using it to move a story forward or to use a different story.
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According to the behind the scenes segment
That scene with Wilfred at the end is the only one they got to shoot
My point was some people were adamant he would just ignore it, not reference it at all.
At the very least RTD gave some consequence to that series. Chibnall literally left without explaining what happened at all.
The actor is Half-Indian.
Seconded. But the pandemic did clobber the story's production and that should be factored in. Whether or not it really was... I'm not sure, but the story definitely felt rushed and choppy at times and the pandemic was a significant reason for that.
Still, if the whole show was really going to be rested, why would they continue returning to any of it - especially so quickly?
He could have mentioned it in passing in Jodie's last story, if he wasn't invested in making a ham-fisted story about the Master dancing to Rasputin and having two old Doctors materialize in projection for apparently no good fucking reason. But that was always the problem with CHibnall - the show was always beneath him, which is not the case for RTD who reveres, flaws and all.
As much as I love the Rasputin song, that finale was one heck of a mess at times. Especially with Chibnall's general track record with pseudohistoricals, missing out on putting in detail for the Master taking over as Rasputin would have been phenomenal if he stayed devoted to that, instead of going all over town in Jodie's finale.
If Chibnall felt the show was beneath him, why did he do it at all? I'd argue he reveres it just as much as RTD, as he was also trying to fix what Robert Holmes imposed with the regeneration count limit. On that note, there's nothing that suggested Robert Holmes hated the show either, even though putting in an imposition would create a possible mindset suggesting otherwise. (Apparently, the Hinchcliffe plan was to slowly reveal that Tom's Doctor was the final incarnation, as the eight figures in "The Brain of Morbius" were helping to allude to, and the fourth Doctor made a lame joke about being on his ninetieth life or whatever anyway... add in Romana going through a bunch without explanation, hinted at in "The Mark of the Rani" by the Rani (who's also a neurochemist), then indirectly given a proper reason in "The Christmas Invasion" (residual for x period of time allows most to re-grow parts or change form if desired.))
In which case it would be a bottle show. A filler episode is supposed to be when it isn't dealing with the main story.
The King's Demons was never designed or intended to be lesser then other stories, it just happens to be two episodes long.
An alright episode. Took awhile to get going, but fortunately the interplay between Tennant and Tate salvages what could have been a rather forgettable story into something worthwhile.
The Wilf scene alone is worth the price of admission though. It seems this is his farewell scene and you know what, I couldn't ask for a better good-bye. I had a smile on my face the entire time, which is exactly the case whenever I think back on Wilf scenes. Obviously not intended to be the last time we see the character (as I gather there were planned scenes in the third special which couldn't be filmed) but with this being the last, it's the perfect send-off to a great character played by an even greater man.
The Wilf scene alone is worth the price of admission though. It seems this is his farewell scene and you know what, I couldn't ask for a better good-bye. I had a smile on my face the entire time, which is exactly the case whenever I think back on Wilf scenes. Obviously not intended to be the last time we see the character (as I gather there were planned scenes in the third special which couldn't be filmed) but with this being the last, it's the perfect send-off to a great character played by an even greater man.
Potato, Patata, in this case.
Kings Demons had The Master in a planned season of ‘returning villains for the anniversary’ at least, and did introduce Kamelion who… went nowhere in the end.
This episode in a more usual series, would be fine (aside from the elements of nihilism and whatnot that don’t jive with my personal tastes) or even good — in a tight three story ‘anniversary’ in a show where arcs are now a thing, as it stands it adds very little. It’s glossy, but it lacks a certain something, and when you have these two back for three episodes, then you should do something with that.
Having the two creatures take on the faces of say Smith and Capaldi, and then *question* the Doctor, as a way to better understand him and the new-to-them universe would have fulfilled the brief much better and had the benefit of a story that could have been resolved without boom bang
Nope. Two different things. And the returning villains was not planned according to JNT.
I've ignored the rest of your pointless word salad.
At the moment I honestly don't know how I feel about this episode.
I think as others have said, if this had been episode 6 of a 13 episode run I would probably have said it was brilliant. As episode 2 of a three episode run bringing back Tennant and Tate and celebrating the 60th anniversary of the show it feels a little underwhelming. Context is everything.
It was fantastic to see Cribbins, so lovely. I thought Tennant and Tate were fab and Donna's gravity joke genuinely made me laugh. Beyond this the CGI somehow managed to look both incredibly expensive and stunning and a tad cheap and rubbish at the same time, I'm not sure how that works! And there really wasn't enough plot for an hour, which is presumably why we got the Newton scenes.
I don't think I ever bought into the Smith/Capaldi/Whittaker rumours but I was still disappointed when it didn't happen, and given how much shit Moffat got for reusing his plot ideas, I hope people are going to slag off RTD for recycling Midnight.
I'm making it sound like I hated it and I really didn't, it was genuinely a lot of fun, but as I say, context is everything.
I think as others have said, if this had been episode 6 of a 13 episode run I would probably have said it was brilliant. As episode 2 of a three episode run bringing back Tennant and Tate and celebrating the 60th anniversary of the show it feels a little underwhelming. Context is everything.
It was fantastic to see Cribbins, so lovely. I thought Tennant and Tate were fab and Donna's gravity joke genuinely made me laugh. Beyond this the CGI somehow managed to look both incredibly expensive and stunning and a tad cheap and rubbish at the same time, I'm not sure how that works! And there really wasn't enough plot for an hour, which is presumably why we got the Newton scenes.
I don't think I ever bought into the Smith/Capaldi/Whittaker rumours but I was still disappointed when it didn't happen, and given how much shit Moffat got for reusing his plot ideas, I hope people are going to slag off RTD for recycling Midnight.
I'm making it sound like I hated it and I really didn't, it was genuinely a lot of fun, but as I say, context is everything.
Once I realized we were dealing with an alien lifeform mimicking the Doctor and Donna I did think back to those rumors and wonder if maybe we'd see the Doctor impostor take on their forms as it tried to decipher the Doctor's memories of being other people.
This episode was bad because it was slow, confusing, and generic, not because it wasn't a 'sufficient celebration' of Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary
Another thing I had noticed is the Doctor very specifically refers to the TARDIS as "it" which is an interesting pronoun given all the adventures. Was all the "sexy" stuff and all that after RTD's tenure?
I thoroughly enjoyed that! Gave it an A!
The mystery really made the episode along with RTD's usual character moments. It all gelled for me.
I even appreciated the callback to the Flux. 14 seems more concerned about half the universe being destroyed than 13 did herself. After Flux, a number of us wondered whether losing a good chunk of the universe actually happened as appeared and whether that would be dealt with by Whittaker's Doctor. As far as I can recall, it wasn't. While it was late in coming, it worked for me.
Fantastic to see Wilf at the end. I hope he plays at least a small role in the third special.
So, it is mavity from here on out or does the Doctor fix that?!
The mystery really made the episode along with RTD's usual character moments. It all gelled for me.
I even appreciated the callback to the Flux. 14 seems more concerned about half the universe being destroyed than 13 did herself. After Flux, a number of us wondered whether losing a good chunk of the universe actually happened as appeared and whether that would be dealt with by Whittaker's Doctor. As far as I can recall, it wasn't. While it was late in coming, it worked for me.
Fantastic to see Wilf at the end. I hope he plays at least a small role in the third special.
So, it is mavity from here on out or does the Doctor fix that?!
