Spoilers The War Between the Land and the Sea discussion thread

[Mitty]

Is this Doctor Who's "Section 31"? I didn't watch that either because of all the absolutely bad reviews it got. I'll probably give this a go but reserve the right to fall asleep during it (which tends to happen more often than not these days anyway). The only show that keeps me riveted currently is Pluribus.

 

[Neb Lleb]

Is this Doctor Who's "Section 31"? I didn't watch that either because of all the absolutely bad reviews it got. I'll probably give this a go but reserve the right to fall asleep during it (which tends to happen more often than not these days anyway). The only show that keeps me riveted currently is Pluribus.

Yeah, thing about the Doctor Whoniverse is that nowadays, there are quite a few good genre shows to keep you entertained, so you can always find something else to get into if you've been alienated.

 

[Starkers]

Is this Doctor Who's "Section 31"? I didn't watch that either because of all the absolutely bad reviews it got. I'll probably give this a go but reserve the right to fall asleep during it (which tends to happen more often than not these days anyway). The only show that keeps me riveted currently is Pluribus.

S31 was truly terrible (though oddly I had more fun watching it than I really should have) This on the other hand is just fairly average. It's not offensively bad but it's far from must see telly either.

 

[jaime]

I don’t know if it’s a reflection on my relative liking for Who over Trek (which… I think they jostle for top spot I’m different times of my life tbh) or how much the existing concept of S31 combined with Modern Era Trek alienates me, or the warning label… sorry, I mean trailer, put me off but…
I haven’t watched S31.
Whereas I have watched this.

In strict terms, I think S31 is Treks Torchwood series one.

 

[The Wormhole]

Section 31, while not a good movie is not the disaster everyone makes it seem, IMO. It's dumb fun, with emphasis on dumb.

 

[Starkers]

Section 31, while not a good movie is not the disaster everyone makes it seem, IMO. It's dumb fun, with emphasis on dumb.

Whilst it was awful, I do remember at the end thinking that I'd like to see the characters again

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I can't remember anything about the Section 31 film beyond broadstrokes of backstabbing and my eyes rolling frequently.

This miniseries has some positives (almost entirely due to the performances of Tovey, Mbatha-Raw, Redgrave, and Madeley) but I expect it will be just as forgettable as the Section 31 film, albeit with somewhat less eye rolling.

 

[Steve Roby]

I don't want to be negative about this, but four episodes in, it's hard to believe that it's going to come to a conclusion that (a) makes up for the show's problems and (b) will fit comfortably in Doctor Who continuity.

There's a lot of stupidity, much of it the usual Doctor Who simplistic approach to how governments work (why would the UK PM even be having meetings with senior French and American military figures and no British military or ministerial personnel?), some of it things already mentioned (oh, he's bringing a gift, nothing suspicious about the guy we don't know anything about bringing along a dumb gift). The dialogue... ugh. A lot of the cast are giving it their all but they don't have much to work with.

And the powers the aquakind have demonstrated only make me wonder why, if they've been awake and aware all this time (unlike their Silurian cousins), they let things get so bad. If they could magically dump all of the plastic in the sea back on the land, what were they waiting for?

I thought we might be getting another Children of Earth, but at the two thirds mark, it feels to me like we're a lot closer to Miracle Day.

If you found someone who knew nothing about UK TV in general and Doctor Who in particular and gave them Years and Years, It's a Sin, and The War Between the Land and the Sea, would they be able to believe the same guy who wrote the intense and powerful first two stories also wrote this?

 

[Neb Lleb]

I thought we might be getting another Children of Earth, but at the two thirds mark, it feels to me like we're a lot closer to Miracle Day.

Yeah, I probably won't watch it, but War Between seems like it wants to be Torchwood: Children of Earth so badly that it forgets how to plan out ahead of time, and instead plays out more like the other, less warmly received Torchwood serial.

How else could you explain the "MANKIND BAD" chest thumping and "Homo Aqua" renaming?

 

[The Wormhole]

War Between seems like it wants to be Torchwood: Children of Earth so badly that it forgets how to plan out ahead of time, and instead plays out more like the other, less warmly received Torchwood serial.

Honestly, I think the success of Children of Earth genuinely caught RTD off guard and he genuinely doesn't know how to recapture that success other than by aping CoE as much as possible, resulting in inferior results.

 

[Starkers]

It feels like Class, an idea that wasn't originally Who that's been reworked to place it in the Whoniverse.

BTW I have a hunch Severance isn't about killing Sea Devils but

Spoiler

instead turning them human

.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Avoiding this thread for the rest of the day until I get home from work.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Ellie from trekculture on youtube, had a theory that she did not want to say out loud for fear of recrimination and backlash...

"This miniseries is doing twice as well as regular Dr Who because casual viewers have no idea that this is Dr Who."

...

Whatever concessions man makes to the Sea Devils, what happens when the Silurians and the Avians wake up?

 

[Neb Lleb]

Ellie from trekculture on youtube, had a theory that she did not want to say out loud for fear of recrimination and backlash...

"This miniseries is doing twice as well as regular Dr Who because casual viewers have no idea that this is Dr Who."

Then... Why do they mention UNIT throughout the show?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Then... Why do they mention UNIT throughout the show?

John Glover had been on set filming in a "Kansas" cornfield for 2 days before he said to himself "Holy shit! This is Superman!"

 

[Neb Lleb]

John Glover had been on set filming in a "Kansas" cornfield for 2 days before he said to himself "Holy shit! This is Superman."

Oh, okay. Casual audiences and actors take time to realise what they're in for when it comes to pre-existing properties given new spins.

 

[Starkers]

Thing is you don't need to know Doctor Who to watch the show. UNIT could just as easily be the CIA or MI6 or some other acronym


Well, you know that last episode wasn't half bad, probably the best of the bunch (lowish bar I know)

Jemma Redgrave again gets the meatiest stuff and gives the best performance.

I kinda get what RTD meant about her final scene. For me though the standout was the therapy session at the start. Cold, Kate, ice cold!

I did kind of expect some sort of twist at the end along the lines of... "yes humans you have defeated us in the water, have you met our cousins?" before scenes of Silurians charging out of caves!

I might up my score from 6 to 7, if only for Kate being so awesome.

It will be weird if this somehow kicks Who into gear again given it's been fairly average.

 

[Steve Roby]

Well, I liked the final episode more than I expected. Then I looked at Wikipedia. RTD is credited with writing the first and last episodes, Pete McTighe the three middle episodes. I'd really like to know if Davies rewrote McTighe to any significant extent, because the middle episodes are the weakest, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not sure they were entirely on the same page because one episode seemed to suggest that the aquatic species had been watching humanity for some time, but this one went back to the usual Sea Devils/Silurians routine about them having recently awakened.

Still a mess overall, mind.

 

[The Wormhole]

Out of curiosity, those in this thread from North America who have apparently watched this, how? Is it actually available on Disney+ now, or are y'all watching it through alternative methods that can't be spoken of?

 

[Steve Roby]

The latter. However, all Doctor Who material ends up coming out on DVD or blu ray, and I'll buy this series when it's available, as I've done with all classic Who, modern Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, K-9, the Cushing movies....