Doctor Who - Season 13 - (**Spoilers**)

Agent Coulson

Teaser dropped this evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNb51OwYO6M&ab_channel=DoctorWho

pixelburp

The panel at comic con confirmed that this season would be only 8 episodes... but will be one continuous serialised story. That's a first.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117660277#Comment_117660277

Not sure I like this idea for Doctor Who

I love the two partners or long arc where it comes together. But I'm a massive fan of the weekly hour adventure.

But the serialised format did make a couple of good seasons on Torchwood.

aaronjennings

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117660277#Comment_117660277

Allow me to introduce you to the Classic series 😂

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117661236#Comment_117661236

For the 2005+ format it's new, and even the old series had many (multi episode) adventures per season - so wasn't ever that a single run in a year was one runaround. The closest was arguably the much reviled Trial of a Timelord, and even then was more a bookend than single story. This reads like it'll be a proper serialised season, chasing some maguffin about.

CastorTroy

Well good to see they narrowed it down to "later this year". Though does that mean the season will air or the season will start with episode 1 airing around Christmas or something?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117665705#Comment_117665705

Last season started on New Year's day, so I'm guess it'll be similar and start around Christmas time?

EoinMcLovin

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1420746545616408580?s=19

Just announced

pixelburp

The rumours are confirmed: not just Whittaker though; both her and Chris Chibnall will leave the show in 2022, after three Special episodes. Not too many tears shed for Chibnall but this unofficial "three years" policy for Doctor actors is a bit meh. Feels like the perfect time to give the show a pause, give it some time to recharge.

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=jodie-whittaker-chris-chibnall-leave-doctor-who

ixoy

Between this and the Sweet Tooth renewal, it's been a great day for TV news!

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117679381#Comment_117679381

Salty! But yes, Chibnall hasn't been a great producer and it's a shame Whittaker's Doc never coalesced properly for her to act around. I can't see who'd be a good fit though; prior to this, there were a few standout / "star" writers like Moffat or Chibnall himself who got promoted to the top chair. Not sure who might be in line next.

Agent Coulson

If I could pick anyone Cillian Murphy would be a great Doctor and would add huge star power to the role however I doubt he would take after spending the last 8 years in Peaky Blinders which is just finishing.

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117679432#Comment_117679432

They should have known going down that story route they would have to get it perfect but it was just a mess. I don't think Whittaker would have been a bad Doctor if the story was well written just lay off some of the preachy stuff. As whoever is Doctor it will all wrong

Agent Coulson

Starts October 31st.

It will be 6 episodes and the season will be titled Flux.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrGBqKqb3gg&feature=emb_title

FunLover18

https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/1449131719743787011?t=5qNJvyqlAHQq6ijsV-d_Wg&s=19

They're going big by the looks of it.

pixelburp

YouTube embed for those who hate Twitter video (and that weird subtitling)

https://youtu.be/xUUjYzYcMx4

pixelburp

FYI, the first episode of this airs tonight

CastorTroy

Saw a comment on tvline about an extended encore in the States. Wonder if that just means the episode airing the same time as here will be edited over there but we still get the full version

flazio

Right, first thing that Rusty needs to get rid is that TARDIS set.

ebbsy

Load of different bits whacked together.

Bishop was not too bad.

Im not sure where this is heading.

fritzelly

Wasn't a terrible first episode, but I'll reserve final judgement til the end and see if it all comes together

CastorTroy

I liked it and seems a good set up for the season.

Just need to know where the 1820 story fits in.

FunLover18

I think Chibnall might be one of the worst TV writers I've ever experienced. His dialogue is absolutely woeful and some of the direction made this episode feel like a school production at times. Yaz randomly declaring "Halloween! Trick or treat!" when she hears the date and I can only imagine how proud Chibnall must have been when he came up with that "forebears" gag.

ixoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105181#Comment_118105181

I winced a number of times at some of the lines. There was some bizarre piece about cheese in the fridge? And the dialogue between the Sontarans was dreadful.

One good thing about RTD returning is that he's a much better writer at dialogue. It wasn't always evident in 'Doctor Who' itself but I know he's capable based on 'Years and Years' and 'It's a Sin'.

Well let's wait, the idea of the flux is good. It was a very disjointed episode though.

pixelburp

Very hard episode to judge, given it was clearly setting up about a half dozen threads we'll see expanded on over the next few episodes. Of course I tried not to think too hard about the barmy nonsense of the dog aliens' pairing with humanity (where have they been all this time?), or the Flux itself being the literal "end of the universe"; funny that the one legacy RTD left was this shows predilection for an OTT scale of things. It has got a little bit much.

Yeah the dialogue wasn't much to listen to. No question, Whitaker has had shít to work with all throughout her time.

pixelburp

Actually, I woke up this morning and realised I hated it. The stupid humour; Whittaker's Doctor's total absence of personality; the inane plot. And makes me a little wary of Davies returning to the show; even if he's a little better with all that forced wackiness and insane scale. I really do find myself missing the Moffat era: I know the puzzle box storytelling got a little much, but he knew how to balance the nonsense with the drama. While all this "wahey, we're so crazy! 7 billion ships on their way to earth!!" is wearing my patience, and not sure I could endure more of it from the guy who started it all.

Maybe not, here's hoping. Creatives tend to mature alongside their output so perhaps Davies is done with that kind of camp, OTT approach. I doubt it though. It's entirely possible having been a solid, dependable viewer for 13 seasons (jaysus), my appetite might finally have been blown out by all this sugar.

ebbsy

All good posts above.

Do you know what kind of episodes I miss ? The likes of "Family of Blood" and "Dalek" and "Fathers Day".

Then again, you do need the writers and actors/actresses to pull these things off.

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118121848#Comment_118121848

Nothing wrong with thinking that.

"Total absence of personality" - you are 100% right, it is confused.

FunLover18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118123026#Comment_118123026

I think the shows current state is primarily down to writing and directing, the like of Jodi and even John Bishop have proven themselves to be good actors (he was very good in Accused on BBC), I just think the material is very poor. The three examples you mentioned were all fairly camp and OTT in their own way but it came naturally whereas this feels like someone trying to mimic that RTD style and just failing miserably. It feels like Doctor Who fanfic.

loyatemu

when you start out with the entire universe disintegrating, where do you go from there?

(a general problem with recent Who - there's no real sense of peril, the character has become too much like a omnipotent god).

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118123520#Comment_118123520

I think Orphan 55 was the apotheosis of what you're saying: for me that was the more brazen attempt to tap the kind of camp wackiness of the RTD era. The mixture of the outlandish with the ordinary, but it was (for me anyway) one of the worst Who episodes in years. It came off like a mockery of modern Who.

But then I also wonder how much of this are mandates from the BBC; the show feels very locked into a certain "type" and one wonders if the BBC simply not wanting the kind of wheeling tone you used to get with the show in the 70s (where even in the space of a single Doctor you went from Gothic Horror to Douglas Adams farce). Dr. Who is a brand, and you don't dick around with brands.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118123026#Comment_118123026

I think Whitaker is the right actor, she has just been singularly failed by the writing department. And to be fair I don't get the impression that criticism has focused on her personally - or indeed her gender. In fact, it was probably a bit embarrassing that there seemed to be more buzz around Jo Martin's mystery Doctor than the ostensible "current" version. She had a presence about her Whitaker lacked.

Maybe Whitaker's just too much the kinda actor who needs a script to define her role; while historically, it's understood the actor brings the persona and energy, which is then retrofitted into the scripts.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118123585#Comment_118123585

I'd say it'd be weird watching season 1 all over again; all the danger and peril was immediate and localised, even if the threat had potential to endanger the whole earth. Stuff like Father's Day or Dalek practically bottle episodes. But it was Davies himself who kept upping the stakes, establishing the show as this ludicrously sized show cos he would try to one-up each season - his last imperiling the whole of creation IIRC.

CastorTroy

I really dislike distorted voices when explaining things. Like when Yaz was asking about the temple, I could only make out the odd word from the floating robot thingy.

So Dan gets kidnapped by a dog and rescued before being brought to the war and suddenly he's an expert in taking on aliens?

Trying to remember but did it show in the first episode where that big guy came from?

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118134133#Comment_118134133

Do you mean the black fella? He was on a space station getting destroyed

As for the audio - yeah terrible throughout, all the background sound was drowning out the voices in multiple places

CastorTroy

I mean the big guy with the 2 Skeletor looking villains whose names I don't remember.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118134497#Comment_118134497

They must have picked him up on the way - don't apply logic to the show

B.A._Baracus

Yeah he showed up out of no where alright. It did feel like they were trying to cram so much in to the first episode that they chose to introduce him from no where in the second.

CastorTroy

No idea though how they got rid of the Sontatrans in Liverpool. Definitely a solution where we need to just accept what they did and assume all is good.

ebbsy

It is like they are throwing loads of things against a wall and hope something sticks.

But would you expect anything else from Chibnall anyway.

TheValeyard

Finally caught up on first two.

I like the look of Mr & Mrs Skeletor. Decent acting from them.

Flux thing is interesting. But completely disjointed.

Sontarans are silly as ever.

Agree about the sound, I'm having trouble hearing the words.

Story is definitely fast paced.

When did Victorian lad arrive on the temple place?

Who is the Skeletor bodyguard. The Women who the weeping angels sent back?

fritzelly

I fear this is starting up to be some disjointed mess til the end and then suddenly everything gets solved in 5 minutes

There's 2 specials to come? Wish Chibnall would just hand over the reins now - the show has been terrible since he took over, say what you want about RTD but he knew how to weave a story, Chibnall seems to make the story up as he goes

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118149113#Comment_118149113

Correct.

Why didnt they just do the specials a la Tennant and be done with it.

Wasting all that money as well.

pixelburp

I enjoyed episode 2 way more than the first, must be honest; good pacing, sense of escalating threat etc. Good use of the historical setting. The story held together much better and an effective use of the Sontarans as a distraction for the main threat. The two big bads look like some kind of disco nightmare via Día de los Muertos, but they're being played well; nice mix of camp and legitimate threat. Good episode.

Dr. who has always had a problem with resolving its stories though, predating Chibnall so can't blame him entirely. Blathered techobabble followed by a pat, hasty resolution (sometimes as a literal reset button). So this episode's own didn't particularly offend TBH; rare an episode has a good ending.

As to the disparate threads feeling a bit random; well I think a "wait and see" attitude is probably best. Yes it's a little shotgun blasted, but TBH we've never had a season of Who this brazenly serialised. If it all comes together then cool. On the basis of a punchier follow up, I'm back onboard this dawdle.

ixoy

I also thought the second episode was an improvement. It seemed much more focused - be it a combination of the script, directing or both. The villains, as pixelburp said, are acted with just the right amount of arch and menace (something Chib's also did well with the Master last year). Bishop's doing well so far as a good common man.

The fate-of-everything-ever is a tired trope at this point but maybe it'll be able to limp with a bit of grace in the final few episodes.

B.A._Baracus

Am I alone in thinking this is this a mess? No idea whats going on half the time.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118153053#Comment_118153053

Never had a season of DW this serialised? This is how Doctor Who started out with Hartnell. The Dalek Masterplan was played out over 12 episodes and a prequel.

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118165940#Comment_118165940

Correct,

It is getting like the Walking Dead, where I am just watching it at this point to see what happens at the end.

TheIrishGrover

Oh thank God. Thought it was me being the old man. Thought the dialog was a bit easier to hear this time but the last couple, yeah, the music and noise just drowned out the dialogue. TBH, I haven't watched much of Dr. Who the last couple of years. I enjoy Jodie Whittaker but I found that from about the last Matt Smith season on, they cranked up the music/background so much that it drowned out the dialogue. It seemed to improve a bit for a while with Capaldi but then revered to form. I get it, people want bombast but not all the time at 100%. You start at 100% then where do you go? Up to 11?

I REALLY like Bishop as just a decent bloke caught up in it. Mind you, I liked Bradley Walsh too.

fritzelly

Chibnall must have been on drugs with this episode

Meandering mess, I know it's a kids show but has a large adult audience and the show has become more like a comic book than a Sci fi show

TheValeyard

I enjoyed it somewhat.

I'd consider myself a somewhat intelligent fellow,

But, I'm finding myself getting awfully confused in these episodes. A lot of jumping around the place.

I also dont get how the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans are taking advantage of the Flux, surely it would gobble them all up too.

Weeping Angels playing with time or using the break in time makes sense, since zapping people back in time is kinda their food source.

But didnt we already cover this break in time stuff with the crack in the all thinge (11th Doctor)?

Edit: just after reading that I realise I do miss those seasons with Amy & The Doctor.