Spoilers Revolution of the Daleks grade and discussion thread

I have to say I'm not sure Chibnall is quite as progressive as he thinks he is...

 

A lot of rumor ran lately but I'd like a very new Doctor (further to a new regeneration), not the one seen during s12. I don't care if it is a man or a woman and his/her skin color as long as he or she matches the criterias (funny, athletic and who has repartee with the Doctor's companions). And please, stop the PC. It destroyed the show, these last seasons, despite the lovely Jody Whittaker, who is a great Doctor!

 

It's a stupid line, but it is a line, not a speech...and I only remember hearing it once or twice.

 

I don't think the show is half as PC or progressive as people either laud it for being, or moan about it being. It's PC'ness isn't the problem

 

It is a bit ‘remember kids, the Thundercats say wear a seatbelt’ isn’t it. Except in Who these days, the entire episode would revolve around how one character saved the day by leaping out of a moving vehicle, while another died when a a seatbelt strangled them. Or, in a twist, didn’t feature a single car, possibly taking place on a world without them. I can’t think of a single allegorical moment that has managed to land right in any of the Chibnall episodes. (He even cocked it up in the episodes before he was in charge. He probably thinks it’s subverting expectations or something.)

Even the small ones... in this episode ‘don’t get too close to the amazing Doctor, he/she leaves you in the end’ stuff with jack and yaz, (aside from making them seem less like mates who fell out of touch, and instead into borderline stalkers.) is then completely undercut when the other two up and leave, Graham basically going for ‘take it or leave it, I’m gonna stay with my grandson’ and Ryan going with ‘nah, it’s alright.’ Which totally under it’s the dilemma. It just makes Yaz look unhinged by providing the contrast. ‘The Doctor as dangerous addiction’ was done with Clara in particular, so it’s being handled hamfistedly here. Odds are, Yaz is gonna die rather than leave.

 

Meanwhile, Revolution of the Daleks. My marathon has officially ended, bar the Big Finish audio The End of the Beginning which I hear will be out in a week or so (here's hoping!) as I've reached the newest, unseen for me episode. First thoughts watching in:

* Its always good to see Captain Jack, so its good that his cameo in Fugitive of the Judoon was not a fluke. It was pointless, however, in how his warning was ultimately unnecessary. That said, her banter with the Doctor was great. I missed this kind of repartee in the TARDIS.
* The Jack-Yaz scene is the best companions interaction ever in the Chibnall era. I'm kinda wishing Jack would've returned for good, because Chibnall seems to write better for him (understandably) than any of the "fam", and they're his creations!
* Actually liked the new design of the Daleks. Don't know what the fuss was all about, but after a certain episode I can under the skepticism.
* Speaking of which, the Ryan-Doctor is the better Doctor-companion interaction since Peter Capaldi regenerated in 2017, even if its marred by, er, the Timeless Child implication, which I'm not crazy about. But its a reasonably well-written scene.
* Ryan's exit made sense to me, and the episode did a good job hinting at it.
* Graham's exit didn't make a lot of sense to me. The way I understood it, going away with the TARDIS was a way to cope with life after Grace's death, and surely not having Ryan around is safer for Ryan and more liberating for him? Arguably a better decision for him would've been if he'd stayed for at least a few travels before returning for good after missing Ryan. As is, Graham's exit felt forced, but I was glad for it. Walsh was the MVP in their first series, but seemed to be aloof in the second series, in fact I kinda forgot he was around a lot of the time.
* Before the reveal of the new companion coming in next series, the Doctor and Yaz traveling together seemed like an irresistible idea to me. An all-girl TARDIS is the most unique idea Chibnall never had, and despite his apparent wokeness, he's far from it. He has continuously played the show in the safest possible mode, and this is another proof of it.
* The Mr. Big (I can never remember his name and I don't mean this as either a good or a bad thing, he's just there) plotline of him betraying the Daleks to the Doctor but doesn't, didn't go anywhere and only ate time. Instead of doing that, what if Chibnall had spent that same amount of time letting the Doctor and Captain Jack part ways on-screen?
* I mean, yeah, the off-screen exit for Captain Jack is just bad. Why? It also seems badly ADR-ed, like there was not time to shoot the actual scene or it was cut and had to cover it up with VO work. In any case, it stands out and is surprisingly irritating. Also, I get the Doctor saw Gwen once on a screen in Journey's End but is that enough for the Doctor to send his love? Odd.
* I never said this, I think, but Grace should have travelled with the Doctor instead of Graham. That said, her ghostly figure in the end was... embarrassing. Didn't mind Ryan still learning how to ride a bike, though, but I would've written in a bit of progress to signify the Doctor and her travel's influence on his dispraxia.

Well. That's it then. Off with series 13, of which I feel I already saw its opening episode. Isn't this the least festive of all the Christmas/New Year's episodes they've done in NuWho? Even Resolution refered to the New Year's, well, resolution. But anyway.

***1/2 out of *****

 

I would have liked Captain Jack to be a companion for one whole series and ditch the fam.

 

Would have been a nie touch if there had been some classic series monsters in the space prison. I was hoping the Dalek leader would be a new livery as well

 

Here's something interesting and/or a bullet dodged.

In the script for "Revolution Of The Daleks" that's on the BBC Writers Room site there was an extra moment at the end of the episode that looks like it would have led into the original version of Series 13.

 

I get the impression inner monologues spill out a lot in these scripts. Also, that it wasn’t the inner monologue people were worried about spilling out of Jack.

 

"snickers"

 

IIRC, wasn't it reported at the time that Barrowman was offered to stay for the new season, but he turned it down at the last minute and as a resulted we got that phone message from Jack talking about Gwen Cooper fighting the Daleks instead?

 

As someone who thinks Barrowman did deserve a limited exile from the show but not a total ban, I think its sad that we never saw Barrowman as part of that team. Him and Jodie could have worked beautifully (instead we were saddled with goofy, one-note Dan). I still hope BF will at least get to release his last audio with Tennant on Torchwood.