Doctor Who (1963 - present)

Moore wrote:

Ugh...I do feel in modern Who the Doctor is a little too "powerful" and god like. He knows pretty much every species, location, etc. I would like to see him go to a place and have no clue as to what species he is fighting or where he is....he has no idea what they are capable or what they might do.

I like to see him in a bit of a struggle to save the day. I like to see him facing crazy odds.  But what they did in Last of the Time Lords was just way too much.

I would discuss the issue of continuity but I've tried to erase every moment of that story from my mind.

Yes indeed, sadly I think the Doctors omniscience arises as much as a device to appease lazy teen viewers who cba with discovery and just want exposition to bring them up to speed. Given the vastness of both space AND time even a 100000 year old time lord would only have scratched the surface, a return to the real mystery and unknown of the earlier serials would be awesome. Hopefully the reappearance of the Timelords can at least revert to the Doctor to being 'one of a race'. I'd personally love him to lose the ability to absolutely control the TARDIS, occasionally find his journeys are directed - hearing him bemoan again "don't you think I know the difference between an internal fault and external influence!" or even just be saddled with an incomplete understanding of the machine he is operating etc. But much like Bond the current mood actually makes too many demands on heroes, they have to be flawed yet perfect in an oddly contradictory way and the universes they exist in have to literally rotate around that one solitary figure. The biggest difference between the show of today and that of the classic series is that the Doctor used to be a citizen of the universe, but now is now all but the entirety of the universe itself, the programme needs to regain some humility and perspective I feel - Moffat I think knows that whereas RTD was completely clueless..

Rumours persist of more episode finds, the wonderful 'Marco Polo' in this case

Telegraph article

This article suggest that the find comes from a fan who filmed the episodes live on 16mm....though I find it difficult to believe..

Blastr article

The suggestion all episodes have been rediscovered has also been muted again, though I have to question if they would release Web of Fear an episode short if that were the case (when another story may have been possible as a stop gap) or indeed have selected 'Enemy of the World' so early (even if it has proven itself something of a lesser known gem imho).

In any event I think something good is still out here, just a case of trying not to hope for too much etc.

Have a pile of classic Who to get caught up on as I'm about to finish up my collection...

Just finished up The Deadly Assassin and I really think it is one of the finer outings for the Baker era. Very experimental. They really went outside of the box with this one. From the opening narration scenes/text crawl.... to the mystery aspect of the story....to the violent third episode which sees the Doctor go through hell and concludes with a vicious fight (well for Doctor Who standards).... it is always a treat watching something from the Hinchcliffe era.

Moore wrote:

Have a pile of classic Who to get caught up on as I'm about to finish up my collection...

Just finished up The Deadly Assassin and I really think it is one of the finer outings for the Baker era. Very experimental. They really went outside of the box with this one. From the opening narration scenes/text crawl.... to the mystery aspect of the story....to the violent third episode which sees the Doctor go through hell and concludes with a vicious fight (well for Doctor Who standards).... it is always a treat watching something from the Hinchcliffe era.

It is one of the standout stories in a standout era, my particular favourites of Hinchcliffe's era are numerous - Ark in Space, Terror of the Zygons, Pyramids of Mars, Seeds of Doom, Deadly Assassin, Robots of Death, Talons of Weng Chiang and the Williams produced but very clear Hinchcliffe inspired Horror of Fang Rock.

Bought Terror Of The Zygons today :) . Really must get my hands on Talons Of Weng Chiang, it looks great. Couldn't agree more about the brilliance of The Seeds Of Doom (absolutely LOVE the Doctor's 'drop through the skylight' rescue of Sarah-Jane, it wouldn't have shamed Bond) and The Deadly Assassin (the political machinations, the 'I reject this reality ... it is a computational matrix!' YEARS before virtual reality, the internet and The Matrix existed ... oh, and the delightful wood-panelled secondary control room in the Tardis).

Had a rewatch of The Day Of The Doctor last night ... granted there are some minor flaws, but overall the thing just hangs together really well for me. Moffat balances light and dark very well, the references to old and new Who are studded throughout with skill, and all 13 Doctors flying in to save Gallifrey is as triumphal and thrilling as the 'Clara asks me if I dream ... ' ending is nostalgically moving yet also forward-looking.

It definitely is a wonderful era of Who. It gets kind of sad when you start watching the stuff as soon as JNT took over. I don't blame him completely, there were a ton of factors involved...but so many of the stories seemed as though they are dumbed down for the audience. It makes you really miss the feel and tone of a lot of the Pertwee and Baker stories. Although, of course, there are certainly some moments of excellence post 1980.


And I really loved the wood-panelled TARDIS control room. It's still one of my favorite designs, it just works really well. Don't think the TARDIS ever looked that good again for the rest of the classic series. The 80s TARDIS design was pretty dreadful.

For me, the main Tardis control room never REALLY fulfilled its 'bigger on the inside' potential until the McGann movie. It's amusing to see the likes of camera-wheel 'scuffs' on the control room floor from that era when it was a BBC TV Centre studio set.

I haven't watched an episode since Amy 'died' after being touched by the weeping angel.

Can anyone fill me in on a good episode to see? Preference for any dalek/cybermen.

The Snowmen, last year's Christmas special.

The eight episodes from earlier this year - The Bells Of St John, The Rings Of Akhaten, Cold War, Hide, Journey To The Centre Of The Tardis, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare In Silver (Cybermen episode) and The Name Of The Doctor.

And The Day Of The Doctor, the 50th anniversary special (featuring Daleks).

Thanks, can download all of them... 

Promo image for the Christmas special (and Matt Smith's last hurrah) 'The Time Of The Doctor'.

Can you spot Peter Capaldi?

Currently reading SHADA and really enjoying it.

next up":
Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By - Dan Abnett
Doctor Who: The Wheel of Ice - Stephen Baxter

Something to tie me over untill the last Smith/First Capaldi arrives.

I AM GOING TO MISS MATT SMITH.   

Can someone name this popular instrumental theme which runs throughout modern episodes?

The instrumental theme is called "I Am The Doctor"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D-QPDGhCtM

Also...have to say...I'm pretty excited to see Capaldi in action.

There's a rumor floating around on the web that they might try to put out an Easter special with Capaldi. The person claiming this is also the person who broke the McGann rumour about 5 months before it happened. So you know never...

Basically, full series starts in August but even including the Christmas special it was planned by the BBC to run an episode shorter than usual. So to make up for this and bridge the wait for Capaldi's Doctor rumor has it Moffat might try to get a 60 min special out for Easter.

Easter falls April 20th-ish this year I think. Filming is slated to being in January. It would be cutting it close, but possible...

I wouldn't mind, I'd love to see Capaldi in action without having to wait until August...I know it is quite doubtful, but one hopes...

Going to need at least one more viewing of the Christmas special to make sense of it all, am almost wishing someone bought Moffat 'The Big Book Of Linear Plotting' for Christmas   .

I'm going to miss Matt Smith. I thought David Tennant was ready to go. Maybe hung on a bit to long with ask the annoying Rose nonsense. But Smith still felt new and fresh, and I'm already missing him so much :(

Having said that, I am looking forward to seeing Capaldi in action. I wish he'd kept the Scottish accent though.

Moore wrote:

The instrumental theme is called "I Am The Doctor"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D-QPDGhCtM

Thanks, got it!

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Going to need at least one more viewing of the Christmas special to make sense of it all, am almost wishing someone bought Moffat 'The Big Book Of Linear Plotting' for Christmas .

Just one? I sometimes need 2-3 as well as numerous 5-10 minute rewinds to get it.

My daughter tells me, "try to keep up."

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Going to need at least one more viewing of the Christmas special to make sense of it all, am almost wishing someone bought Moffat 'The Big Book Of Linear Plotting' for Christmas   .

Had a rewatch this morning, far easier to 'get' without senses dulled under the weight of a hefty Christmas lunch and wine. Hehehe.

I thought Capaldi WAS keeping the accent?

Ravenstone wrote:

I'm going to miss Matt Smith.  I thought David Tennant was ready to go.  Maybe hung on a bit to long with ask the annoying Rose nonsense.  But Smith still felt new and fresh.....

Have to agree here, Smith still had much to offer I think whereas Tennant was squeezed dry half way through season 3. While I prefer this regeneration story to 10's errr.... 11's errr.... the preceding one.... it was still a massive come down after the coherent triumph that was 'Day of the Doctor'. A shame because although I continue to have serious issues with new-who Smith always impresses and seemed a bit lost in the clutter here.

Moffat has confirmed that the show has officially been commissioned for a ninth series which will air with no interruptions.

In other news, filming started on Series 8 a few days ago. First pic of Capaldi on set (still in Matt Smith costume):




I suspect we will be seeing a picture of Capaldi's official outfit within the next week or so. As soon as they start filming out in public we'll be getting our first look at it.

'And if you look over there, Clara, you will see a horde of shallow fangirls stampeding away in the opposite direction because I'm not 'hot' anymore. They'll REALLY not be missed. Now, my dear ... all of space and time. Where shall we go, hmmm?'.

Capaldi's official Doctor costume -



Definite touch of Pertwee's get-up with the red-lined jacket.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Capaldi's official Doctor costume -



Definite touch of Pertwee's get-up with the red-lined jacket.

Where do they get all these nice single breasted frock coats....anyways good look for him, albeit I actually think he wears Matt Smiths outfit better than his predecessor.