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Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion

Started by Andy Lambert, 07 October, 2018, 08:13:12 PM

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TordelBack

Yeah,  I felt the same way about the McGann movie: the Tardis interior was the best thing about it, even the establishing shots of McCoy reading.  As a kid I was always fascinated by the idea that there were maybe infinite unseen rooms,  but deeply frustrated that we got to see so little. Even the costume room was a thrill. Otherwise it was "bigger on the inside - but not much bigger".

IndigoPrime

I remember watching that movie on Netflix fairly recently, with the thinking: surely, it can't be as bad as I remembered it being? Turns out, it can be. The regeneration is handled amusingly (Americans nearly killing The Doctor), and McGann himself was pretty good, as was some of the production design. Otherwise: urgh.

I'd definitely be up for another McGan appearance somehow, though, if they want to do a multiple Doctors thing again. It was great when he showed up in Night of the Doctor.

Andy Lambert

QuoteWas this not simply a by-product of the way many studio scenes were shot...?

Rather than multiple takes for wide, close-up and reaction, they would simply stick three or more cameras on set and shoot once, with one camera taking in the wide, another for Doctor close-ups, a third for Companion #1, and so on. Of necessity, this meant the lighting had to be as flat and bland as possible to work with multiple cameras shooting simultaneously from different angles.

That could well be the case, but it's a criticism often aimed at Doctor Who of the time, and the previous decades seem to manage more effective lighting allowing for greater depth and atmosphere. I don't know how well you know your Doctor Who, but if you compare the jungle set of 1975's "Planet Of Evil" to say, 1982's "Kinda", the difference is very noticable. "Kinda" looks exactly what it is - a studio set dressed up to look like a jungle.

QuoteDoes anyone remember the Baker episode when they were being chased around the endless passageways of the TARDIS? I loved that storyline, and always feel the true hugeness of the TARDIS interior has never really had a script befitting it.

That would be "The Invasion Of Time" from 1978. The production team ran out of money on that one and couldn't afford to build new sets so filmed the TARDIS interiors in a disused hospital.

JamesC

Didn't Peter Davidson unravel Baker's long scarf as a way of finding his way around the Tardis? I think that's the first time I realised there was more to it than just the control room.

Andy Lambert

Quote from: JamesC on 18 October, 2018, 02:26:05 PM
Didn't Peter Davidson unravel Baker's long scarf as a way of finding his way around the Tardis? I think that's the first time I realised there was more to it than just the control room.

He did indeed.

Taryn Tailz

The TARDIS interior and Paul McGann were pretty much the only good things about the TV Movie. I do still kind of consider the TV Movie interior to be my favourite of them all.

von Boom

Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 18 October, 2018, 06:47:12 PM
The TARDIS interior and Paul McGann were pretty much the only good things about the TV Movie. I do still kind of consider the TV Movie interior to be my favourite of them all.
The TV movie was wretched, but I could quite happily live in that TARDIS interior. And with Paul McGann.

Steve Green

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 18 October, 2018, 01:09:23 PM
Quote from: Andy Lambert on 18 October, 2018, 12:27:25 PM
I think he had a point, given how overlit the studios were at the time.

Was this not simply a by-product of the way many studio scenes were shot...?

Rather than multiple takes for wide, close-up and reaction, they would simply stick three or more cameras on set and shoot once, with one camera taking in the wide, another for Doctor close-ups, a third for Companion #1, and so on. Of necessity, this meant the lighting had to be as flat and bland as possible to work with multiple cameras shooting simultaneously from different angles.

From what I recall, pretty much like that.

From what I've read Caves of Androzani was shot much more like a regular film was, and is well-regarded but was an exception.

Funt Solo

++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Rackle

Quote from: von Boom on 18 October, 2018, 06:58:29 PM
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 18 October, 2018, 06:47:12 PM
The TARDIS interior and Paul McGann were pretty much the only good things about the TV Movie. I do still kind of consider the TV Movie interior to be my favourite of them all.
The TV movie was wretched, but I could quite happily live in that TARDIS interior. And with Paul McGann.
I could quite happily live with Paul McGann  ;)  . . . erm . . . I mean I liked his version of the Doctor - including the short webisode when Paul McGann returned and regenerated into the War Doctor. 

Similar to the concept of kind of wishing that Peter Capaldi's Doctor was Malcolm Tucker, I would have liked McGann to be Doctor with Richard E Grant - as Withnail -  to be his assistant. Probably would only work as a spoof for Comic Relief but I would have watched the hell out of it.

Colin YNWA

Really enjoyed that one, really good. Okay so there were some gaps in it to get the story and themes covered in the time available  but good powerful stuff.

All the more entertaining as even with the stakes high it was all more subtle and it felt more like 'Back to the Future' than a typical Doctor Who and for that it was such fun while being tension and exciting.

Spiders in Sheffield next week - saw this one being filmed from my office window, can't wait.

Taryn Tailz

So, tonight's Doctor Who (No spoilers here):

That actually felt like a return to the original remit of the show back in '63, to present historical situations as a means of education. Granted, there was a sci-fi element, but that felt almost Hartnell-esque in it's presentation.

The racism was visceral enough to make the perpetrators seem every bit as - perhaps even more - loathsome than the Daleks, so that was successful. I'm willing to bet that those were the parts of the script not written by Chibnall.

Somehow, they managed to make 1950's America seem like the worst place the TARDIS has ever landed, something which would not have worked with a smaller TARDIS team. Everybody had their part to play in this one.

Please don't play a different piece of music over the end credits again though.

TordelBack

#177
Well now!  If that's the tone this series is taking, sign me up.

Yes, quite heavy-handed and simplistic, and probably far too much Dr Exposition, but  damn cool all the same - and exciting!  I love the team aspect,  the working-stuff-out on paper,  the absence of psychic paper nonsense and the even the way the sonic tricorder is used (scanning,  opening locks and, errr, white-board eraser). Some nice continuity with [spoiler]River's Stormcage[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Capt Jack's[/spoiler] time gadget too.

The racism was genuinely affecting,  the characters' frustration, disgust and anger really powerfully delivered.  Robinson was excellent as Rosa,  and Ryan and particularly Grandpa Graham got chances to shine, Yaz less so (again). I think Bradley Walsh is a bit of a treasure. Whittaker has good comic timing too,  loved the [spoiler]Banksy[/spoiler] gags.

Episode looked amazing,  BTW - cannot have been cheap to make. And my Rosa-Parks-obsessed daughter loved it. Very promising stuff.

Obligatory but Minor Nitpicking: Not sure why [spoiler]Rosa wasn't freaked to learn Yaz was a cop,  given her earlier worries about Ryan, and not sure why Crasca (?) couldn't have zapped Rosa with his displacer (not hurting her after all, and he was able to shoot at the gang). And there was no way that fishing reel Ryan used was from 1955[/spoiler].

JamesC

I thought that was excellent. Really powerful and quite uncomfortable in places - surprisingly so.
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a BAFTA nomination.

Andy Lambert

Well, after a poignant episode I thought I'd read some online reviews which were mostly very positive... and then I saw some of the comments, and was reminded how we've still got such a long way to go.