Not that I'm defending the episode but as RTD says, every Doctor is someone's first Doctor and this certainly feels like a refresher course and introduction for new viewers.
I hear people say this (and full disclosure I didn't care for the episode) but I'm not really feeling this. Is this shorthand for the kiddie appeal because it doesn't feel particularly "Disney" to me, if anything maybe more Universal/Dreamworks kind of thing. What makes it feel like Disney in particular?
Maybe a little bit of the kiddie appeal. The sets and CGI are more in their style, which is to say better than the Beeb is capable of. There's a "grander" feel to everything. I guess bottom line, the things a bigger budget will bring, but in a style that's reminiscent of Disney shows (to me at least).
Ah gotcha, I had generally heard the Disney influence negatively when people have mentioned it. As far as the budget, I may need to rewatch some older episodes and the newer and compare, it didn't seem too different from before at first blush. I was surprised a number of times the CG seemed rather iffy to me actually but I watched on my PC monitor which I usually don't so maybe being only a foot or two away from the screen was throwing me.
Nah, this one was just bad. Really bad. I actually hadn't seen an episode of any series this bad in quite some time (although I don't watch much TV so my sample size is small). DW and RTD have had silliness. But this wasn't good silliness. I can watch most of RTD's first era and really enjoy it overall.
I kinda hated that the doctor was like "baby's, space baby's" EVERY. FIVE. SECONDS! God, talk about annoying
Mixed bag, honestly. Loved Ncuti & Millie, loved seeing Who with such relentless energy again, drew a little emotion out of me at times, but like others felt the plot wasn't much, and I've never been a fan of that kind of humour. Fun while it lasted, but feel no impulse to ever watch it again. As an aside, being "for kids" isn't a one-to-one with "must have simplistic toilet humour". Kind of an insult to kids to think that's all they want, or all they can handle. There's a balance to be struck, but as others have noted it's really hard, and I'm not sure any of the modern Who showrunners have fully managed it yet. They either veered too far one way or the other, rarely if ever hit the sweet spot.
I think that’s something of a false equivalence. I remember those moments you mentioned and I cringed heavily back then, too. There were moments I’d be embarrassed to even be watching. The problem is, for all his lapses in taste and judgement, Davies still managed to churn out some extremely good material and there were so many strong episodes it counterbalanced the clunkers. I’m not seeing that now. From almost the moment he returned I sensed a steep drop in the quality of writing I’d have expected. It’s like he’s just there for the money now, content to fire out poorly realised first drafts that barely seem to be thought through. There’s a sloppiness about the writing and so many of the concepts just…don’t hang together from me. The bi-regeneration was misconceived from the start, and makes absolutely no sense when you think about it. The Christmas special barely had a plot, and neither did Space Babies. Sure, it’s light and zesty but it’s also incredibly poorly realised and the writing standard is almost insultingly bad. I’m being polite, too. Space Babies made Spock’s Brain look like a Hugo-worthy masterpiece. im also far more of a Moffat fan. I think the Capaldi era is probably NuWho’s creative peak. I didn’t have high high hopes for Davies’ return, but I did not expect it to be this…shit. Which I’m sorry to say it is. I’m happy to accept this show just isn’t for me anymore. I’ve been watching old Pat Troughton episodes and, dating and production limitations aside, the difference in quality between that and this dreck is like night and day.
Yeah, no. If RTD were "just in it for the money" than he would have stayed back in 2009 when BBC offered a dump truck full of cash in an attempt to get him to stay. And RTD has had no shortage of work in the years between leaving Doctor Who and coming back, so there's no financial incentive for him to come back. Besides, nothing in the Tennant specials or Gatwa's episodes so far is particularly different for RTD. Indeed, his premieres often have been rather silly premises in the past. RTD's previous premieres have included the aforementioned burping wheelie bin, cat nuns breeding zombies, an alien who drinks peoples blood by sticking a straw to their necks, and alien babies made from human fat. Space Babies is perfect in line both in story content and tone with Rose, New Earth, Smith and Jones, Partners in Crime. Space Babies might not be the best of Doctor Who, it wasn't even the best episode of Doctor Who to air last week. But it's by no means so bad that it's comparable to what has a reputation of being the worst of that particular TV show. That's interesting, since by Moffat's own admission the Capaldi run was when he was creatively spent, and he even tried leaving after Capaldi's second season because of that.
What's funny about the Moffat is how well it stands on its own after years and years away from its release. The anticipation and the expecations going for his era are not there and the episodes can be enjoyed for what they are more now than they used to. And personally speaking, while the feeling of a spent Moffat is felt in series 10's middle (that three-parter is just rushed in certain ways and we all know it) its still a remarkably well paced run. Heck, he managed to write a fantastic two-parter-plus finale for Twelve, and I remember most didn't expect it to be this good.
As I said in my previous post, The problem is, for all his lapses in taste and judgement, Davies still managed to churn out some extremely good material and there were so many strong episodes it counterbalanced the clunkers. The specials were a huge missed opportunity for me and I’m scratching my head as to how the output has been this consistently poor. Spock’s Brain is terrible but nobody pretends otherwise. I actually have no problem rewatching it because at least it’s entertaining in a so-bad-it’s-good kind of way. That may be true, and many writers are highly self critical. The proof is in the pudding though. Many consider Capaldi’s final season his best and certainly, for me, I consider “World Enough and Time”/“The Doctor Falls” a contender for the finest hours of Who ever created.
Capaldi's final season was the best of Capaldi's run, but that had more to do with the cast, particularly the interplay between Capaldi himself, Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas. The writing of that season was all over the place. While there were some good episodes that year, the stinkers were really bad. Like the Monk trilogy.
Opinions differ, sir. I enjoyed it more than most of RTD's run and certainly more than what I saw of Chibnall's, which I bailed on. For me personally, that's where NuWho ended. And I think I'm fine with that.
I'll agree that the first two episodes of the season were awful. Space Babies in particular is one of the worst ever. However, I don't think he's doing it for the money and I'd like to give him a chance to counterbalance these two. After all, we're just at the beginning of his second term. Need to give it some time to see if he writes some good stuff. I did think his Christmas special was pretty good and the first two 60th Anniversary episodes also pretty good. The Giggle, not so much. So, I'm willing to wait and see if he can produce some more good stuff!
Meant to toss this in here earlier, in light of the Star Trek reference in the dialogue... the time some of the Coronation Street characters threw a Star Trek-themed birthday party for one of the kids.