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Messages - Taryn Tailz

#1
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 09:49:50 PM
Well, 'The Doctor Falls' was actually resolved by the Doctor blowing the Cybermen up, which isn't exactly saving the universe through the power of love. That was, of course, a legitimate gripe with the previous era (I don't deny that), but if we start debating that issue then we end up in what-about-ism territory, which ultimately never leads anywhere.
#2
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 08:30:01 PM
If I complain hard enough about the writing then there's every chance I'll be the showrunner in thirty years time. It worked for Chibnall after all.  :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irIqTPQqgvQ
#3
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 08:25:03 PM
Quote from: Leigh S on 10 December, 2018, 08:22:53 PM
What was Moffatt's series finale?  If we are talking about the one where he shat on the First Doctor from a great height, then I'm reckoning the Chibnall Era a resounding success in comparison.

That wasn't the series finale; that was the Christmas special which followed on from the end of the series finale. The series finale was 'The Doctor Falls'.
#4
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 07:51:49 PM
Apologies for the double post. That was meant to be a modification of the original post.
#5
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 07:50:47 PM
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 10 December, 2018, 07:47:51 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2018, 07:37:02 PM
There's been plenty of bland, pish Doctor Who, both new and old, before now. So I can't see it as suddenly being reduced to this level.

There's been plenty of poor Doctor Who in the past, but there was at least a sense that they were trying to do something good. The reduction in quality has been sudden. Compare this years series finale to last years finale and the gulf in quality is enormous. While there have been huge dips in quality between stories before - for example, Caves of Androzani being followed by The Twin Dilemma - they still existed in series where something new and exciting was just around the corner. Unfortunately, with Chris Chibnall in charge of the show, there is no sense that anything even passably good is just around the corner. 'It Takes You Away' feels like it was a success in-spite of its producer, rather than because of him. Ultimately, the problem with the show now is Chris Chibnall, and that's why there's genuine concern about the show so long as he's in charge.

Yes, Season 24 was pretty poor (aside from Paradise Towers), but in both Delta and the Bannerman and Dragonfire I could at least see that they were trying to do something worthawhile. Bear in mind that Season 24 was a season rushed to production so that the new script editor, Andrew Cartmel, didn't have enough time to turn the show around so that it reflected his future vision for the programme. He was, however, able to sow a few seeds which would later blossom into the, ultimately curtailed, Cartmel masterplan. So while Season 24 was pretty bad, there was light at the end of that tunnel, a sense that the show was in a transitionary phase; although I will grant you that the show was cancelled not long after. As of now, there is no light at end of the tunnel. All we have is Chibnall and his surface level scripts and basic ideas.

I'm quite sure I'm not alone in not wanting to bash either the show or production team to this degree. But, ultimately, it's because I care, and it matters to me that Doctor Who should be quite this vapid.
#6
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 07:47:51 PM
Quote from: Tiplodocus on 10 December, 2018, 07:37:02 PM
There's been plenty of bland, pish Doctor Who, both new and old, before now. So I can't see it as suddenly being reduced to this level.

There's been plenty of poor Doctor Who in the past, but there was at least a sense that they were trying to do something good. The reduction in quality has been sudden. Compare this years series finale to last years finale and the gulf in quality is enormous. While there have been huge dips in quality between stories before - for example, Caves of Androzani being followed by The Twin Dilemma - they still existed in series where something new and exciting was just around the corner. Unfortunately, with Chris Chibnall in charge of the show, there is no sense that anything even passably good is just around the corner. 'It Takes You Away' feels like it was a success in-spite of its producer, rather than because of him. Ultimately, the problem with the show now is Chris Chibnall, and that's why there's genuine concern about the show so long as he's in charge.

Yes, Season 24 was pretty poor (aside from Paradise Towers), but in both Delta and the Bannerman and Dragonfire I could at least see that they were trying to do something worthawhile. Bear in mind that Season 24 was a season rushed to production so that the new script editor, Andrew Cartmel, didn't have enough time to turn the show around so that it reflected his future vision for the programme. He was, however, able to sow a few seeds which would later blossom into the, ultimately curtailed, Cartmel masterplan. So while Season 24 was pretty bad, there was light at the end of that tunnel, a sense that the show was in a transitionary phase. As of now, there is no light at end of the tunnel. We have Chibnall and his surface level scripts and basic ideas.

I'm quite sure I'm not alone in not wanting to bash either the show or production team to this degree. But, ultimately, it's because I care, and it matters to me that Doctor Who should be quite this vapid.
#7
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 07:14:46 PM
Quote from: TordelBack on 10 December, 2018, 06:16:58 PM
Heh, that was a great piece!  Cheers Taryn. It does make me realise the source of our contrasting reactions: I really don't care enough, which is probably a big failing for the series as a whole. For me,  sitting down with the kids after an early tea, the episode moved along,  Graham had some good dramatic moments, the Doctor was fine, it was fun. But on the terms discussed in that Eruditorum review, it was a disaster.

And based on that I can see why you enjoyed it. We've experienced the same story from two very different perspectives. Certainly, there was nothing there which would have negatively affected a family viewing of the show.
The big issue clearly is caring, and like you said the fact that you didn't care enough is almost certainly a failure on the shows part. It may very well have been an acceptable forty-five minutes of Sunday night television, but when the show in question is one which has the capacity to produce  infinite magic and limitless storytelling possibilities, when it is one which has imprinted itself indelibly upon your heart - as it has with myself and many other people over the past 55 years  -, it becomes genuinely heart-breaking and, yes, upsetting, to see it being reduced to the utterly vacuous non-entity of an offering which we were presented with last night.
#8
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
10 December, 2018, 05:48:31 PM
The always brilliant TARDIS Eruditorum blog has effectively articulated the many seriously worrying problems which underlay yesterday's episode.
http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-battle-of-ranskoor-av-kolos-review/
#9
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
09 December, 2018, 11:12:56 PM
Fair enough. I probably would have liked the captured miniaturised planets as well, had they not been lifted wholesale from Douglas Adams' Doctor Who.
#10
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
09 December, 2018, 10:55:14 PM
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 09 December, 2018, 10:49:35 PM
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 09 December, 2018, 10:34:16 PM
In fact, having given it a bit more thought, I'm genuinely considering that episode as a new entry in my top (or bottom) ten all-time worst episodes of Doctor Who. I loathed everything about it.

I'm not sure I'd be that harsh on it, but I'd agree it was terrible — it made literally no sense whatsoever. I'd be happy to keep Whitaker, but Chibnall will kill this show within three years.

This is new territory for me, as I'm usually the show's biggest cheerleader. Perhaps that's why this one has rubbed me up the wrong way, because it genuinely hurts to see a show I care so much about reduced to this. (And it's entirely the fault of the writing. Jodie Whittaker was as delightful as ever throughout the episode.)
#11
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
09 December, 2018, 10:34:16 PM
Tordelback, I'm genuinely curious as to what you found fun about that episode. I'm by no means attempting to say you're wrong or criticize you for enjoying something I didn't (the nerve of it  :lol: ), but I couldn't find a single thing about that episode which rose above 'boring', let alone anything I would call fun.

In fact, having given it a bit more thought, I'm genuinely considering that episode as a new entry in my top (or bottom) ten all-time worst episodes of Doctor Who. I loathed everything about it.
#12
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
09 December, 2018, 09:47:43 PM
Quote from: Steve Green on 09 December, 2018, 09:30:08 PM
No series next year either, just the New Year's episode...

I think that's still just a rumour doing the rounds at this stage. I'm certainly not aware of any official confirmation of that.
#13
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
09 December, 2018, 07:34:56 PM
(sigh)...Well, that was a Chibnall series finale, wasn't it?

I'd say I was underwhelmed, but my expectations were low to begin with. As it turned out, well...that was simply DREADFUL. Utterly lacking in imagination, completely insipid, almost entirely without emotion, and thoroughly uninvolving. That was almost like watching an episode of Doctor Who written by algorithim. I kept waiting for a plot twist to hit, or an interesting concept to rear it's head. Alas, I'm still waiting.

The main problem with bringing back the Stenza is that he wasn't remotely interesting the first time around. He's a generic killer with zero character. He's not the Weeping Angels, nor he is the Silence. He isn't even the Monks. My heart sank the second he was revealed as the bad guy.

The Stenza's plan involving the five planets was exactly the same...EXACTLY THE SAME...as the one employed by the villains of the Fourth Doctor story 'The Pirate Planet'. The big difference, however, is that 'The Pirate Planet' was written by Douglas Adams, whereas 'The Battle of Racoon Coal (or whatever)' was written by Chris Chibnall.

That episode had absolutely nothing to say. Doctor Who should never, ever, be boring. To be boring is the cardinal sin of Doctor Who. Sadly, we appear to be stuck with a showrunner who can only hit 'boring' at the height of his powers.
#14
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
02 December, 2018, 07:43:46 PM
And the 13th Doctor has her first genuine classic episode!

After weeks of dispiritingly surface level stories, in which everything has been exactly what it appeared to be and plot twists have been almost entirely absent, we finally...finally...have an episode with depth. At almost every turn 'It Takes You Away' subverted its own expectations, jumping from apparent base-under-siege, to alien world, to parallel universe, and finally on to something altogether different. In the case of 'The Tsuranga Conundrum' I had both major plot points worked out a full half hour before the story ended. This time, I didn't have a clue what was going to happen next, and that was so refreshing after the comparative banality of the rest of this series.

Not only that but there was actual thematic depth to the story as well; the conscious universe cast out from the rest of existence, the blind girl taken away from her friends in the city and apparently abandoned by her father, the grieving husbands drifting from their former lives following the loss of their partners, all of which serve almost as mirrors to the character of the Doctor herself.

It's just a bit concerning that we're back to a Chibnall episode next week (though an extra point for the 'Slayer' reference).
#15
Film & TV / Re: Doctor Who Series 11 Discussion
25 November, 2018, 08:15:52 PM
Quote from: M.I.K. on 25 November, 2018, 08:12:38 PM
Quote from: Taryn Tailz on 25 November, 2018, 07:49:57 PM
That's likely the first time Berwick has ever been mentioned in a televised episode of Doctor Who, so...score one for the home team.  :D (I live ten minutes from Berwick, so this was as exciting as seeing Sheffield was to some of you.)

Sorry to potentially burst your Berwicky bubble, but I think it needs pointed out that King James VI/I was likely referring to North Berwick, and not Berwick-Upon-Tweed.

Ah, that would make more sense, but let's not let a little thing like the facts get in the way. It is 2018, after all.  :lol: