Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion

[BPP]

I don’t think anyone can fault the messsage in that and some of the acting was great but structurally it was pretty stodgid stuff - after 15 minutes there was no threat. The observers were a nice idea but maybe there could have been an actual enemy rather than ‘oh fate, it all has to play out Make India Great Again.’

Part of the problem again is too many side kicks not opening up the room for the ancillary characters needed for tension and action.  Can only imagine kids were bored silly (cue twitter parents claiming how their kids loved it).

10 for intention
5 for execution.

[TordelBack]

Heh, quick poll reveals my kids did love it! Well, one love and one like. Daughter really loved the poignant doomed wedding, son enjoyed learning about partition and the historical resonsnce with the creation of Israel, which we'd been discussing at length on a hike earlier today.

You're right though, the sidekicks are becoming a problem - the guest characters in this one, and last week's too, were really strong, but fighting for space with the companions who are largely just hanging around. It's better than everything being about one sexy companion, her family problems and her unrequited love for the Doctor, but still... While I really like the idea of a large gang,  I don't think they're being used well.

[Andy Lambert]

I'm not the deep analysis type of reviewer as some others may be on here, but all I wanted to say was - that was superb! An excellent episode and a welcome upturn in quality after last week's clunker. I even got a little teary towards the end, and there better be a series 11 soundtrack by Segun Akinola available at some point!

[Taryn Tailz]

That was probably the best episode of the series thus far. For the first time this year we had an alien species that was actually interesting. It's such a lovely idea to have a species who travel the stars lamenting the unmourned dead, and such an ideal fit for today's events in the real world. Not sure if that was deliberately timed, but it worked beautifully regardless.

It was another Hartnell-esque historical for much of the run time. The Sci-Fi elements were fairly light, the plot favouring the drama of the situation more than the alien visitors. Once again, as in 'Rosa', I learned a fair amount about a historical period I previously knew very little about, so, yes, very Hartnell-esque again.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the best episode of the series so far also happens to be the first one not to be written by Chris Chibnall. That remains something of a worry.

[IndigoPrime]

I thought it was great. Not a dry eye in this house. That ending packed a wallop. And, yes, the two best episodes so far have had other writers. I hope CC gets better, although he only has one more episode in this run anyway.

[M.I.K.]

Some very minor niggles, such as wondering why Yaz was back in Sheffield so soon after the Spider episode (we've already established time isn't passing at a consistent rate back home, so no rush for Nana's birthday)

It was a flashback.

[TordelBack]

Some very minor niggles, such as wondering why Yaz was back in Sheffield so soon after the Spider episode (we've already established time isn't passing at a consistent rate back home, so no rush for Nana's birthday)

It was a flashback.

In one of the scenes, okay. In the opening scene she received the watch as a present, then in the end scene she knew its history - so she visited Sheffield at least once during the timeframe of the episode.

[M.I.K.]

I can't discount the possibility that I may have merely assumed it was a flashback so that it made a bit more sense within the narrative.

[Tiplodocus]

Loved that.

Mournful Aliens should think more about their brand image though.

Yes, in any given episode, one of the companions seems doomed to be a spate wheel but Graham preparing Prem for the ceremony bought a tear to my glass eye.

And, how many Doctor Who fans are going to have the Doctor's speech as their wedding vows?

Cue outdated jokes about them all being geeks who can't get married due to being socially awkward.

[TordelBack]

...but Graham preparing Prem for the ceremony bought a tear to my glass eye.

That was powerful stuff alright, Bradley is MVP for me this series. I confess I was hoping the Doc would pull an "everybody lives! " and whisk Prem away with some timey-wimey sleight of hand, I think he could have made a fun companion.

[IndigoPrime]

The end was a proper gut punch. Rare and pretty brave stuff.

As for the series as a whole, it's also rather handy for weeding out fuckwits. Loads of OH MY GOD SJW WHO online right now, and people bleating that it shouldn't be a history lesson. It's almost as if they haven't watched any Doctor Who before, and only have a vague understanding what the show's about. (The nadir was perhaps some "we love the 1980s account" on Twitter bellyaching that Baker was his favourite Doctor and he never did this kind of thing. THE. DALEKS. ARE. NAZIS. This isn't hard!)

[Jim_Campbell]

Loads of OH MY GOD SJW WHO online right now, and people bleating that it shouldn't be a history lesson.

Somebody on twitter rather sharply noted the lack of previous outrage at Victorian England episodes, the Shakespeare episode, the Pompeii episode… just the Rosa Parks and Indian Partition episodes. Funny, that.

[TordelBack]

I've been trying to work out what the SJW dimension of the partition of India, and this episode, actually is (Rosa Parks I totally get). It uses a simplified but reasonably solid snapshot of a historical catastrophe as a background for a fairly standard star-crossed-lovers why-can't-we-all-just-get-along tragedy, with added aliens: like many Dr Who stories before it.

I can't see any direct reference to the usual topics that so upset the definitely-not-snowflakes brigade. It doesn't really even wag the finger too severely at Britain (for example, wartime hunger is alluded to, but no reference to the horrific engineered famine on the far side of the country only 5 years earlier), beyond observing the inescapable facts.

Is it really 'another SJW nightmare' for them just because because most of the participants are non-white Muslims and Hindus, and they appear to be ordinary people? I think it's exactly that.

[CalHab]

There was criticism of the handling of the partition by Mountbatten et al. That hardly seems controversial, unless you're some sort of Niall Ferguson-type revisionist.

[IndigoPrime]

Is it really 'another SJW nightmare' for them just because because most of the participants are non-white Muslims and Hindus, and they appear to be ordinary people?

Or that they are there at all. Also: women. There are quite a few of them. The show multiple times per episode passes the Bechdel Test. Clearly, that is not on either. Or something.