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"It feels different this time..." - The new Doctor Who Thread
- Thread starter Kazin
- Start date
Hell yeah! Mel isn't my favorite companion by a long shot, but neither do I dislike her, and I'm happy to see just about anyone return from the classic series. She left right as the series started getting good again so I'm pleased she'll get to be in some well-written stories this time.
So I decided to boot up The Lonely Assassins, which I'd heard was an actual, honest to god good Doctor Who game, and... it was! I mean, it's not too much of a game, really - it's more of a text adventure with videos and puzzles with an interface much less cumbersome to use than an old text adventure, anyway - but it's written pretty well and is a fun way to burn an hour or two with what amounts to a sequel to Blink.
Stu reviewed it for Nintendo Life when it came out, if you want to read a review that doesn't have any spoilers in it (outside some vague hints about how much certain characters are in it).
Anyway, I highly recommend it, it's far better than the twenty minutes I played of the Eternity Clock like a decade ago lol. It's pretty short though, like I said, I beat it in a little over an hour, in my first sitting. Enjoyed it, though.
Stu reviewed it for Nintendo Life when it came out, if you want to read a review that doesn't have any spoilers in it (outside some vague hints about how much certain characters are in it).
Anyway, I highly recommend it, it's far better than the twenty minutes I played of the Eternity Clock like a decade ago lol. It's pretty short though, like I said, I beat it in a little over an hour, in my first sitting. Enjoyed it, though.
Anybody want to buy the entire series of Doctor Who from 1963 to 2020 (I thought I had Flux but apparently not), with several bonus interview discs and outliers/non official stuff like Downtime?
I know the answer is probably "fuck off, Kazin, are you taking the piss" but I broke a shelf over the weekend trying to move it and it has caused me to finally consider selling all these, since they're all ripped to my HDD, bonus features included. Mixture of R1 and R2 DVDs, mostly R2, but my laptop was able to rip the R2 discs just fine using Handbrake. Next on the list is to take decent pictures of them and figure out how much it's all worth and list them on eBay. Decided to keep the Bluray sets I have for now, since they take up FAR less space.
Look at that Tom Baker pile. Sheesh.
I know the answer is probably "fuck off, Kazin, are you taking the piss" but I broke a shelf over the weekend trying to move it and it has caused me to finally consider selling all these, since they're all ripped to my HDD, bonus features included. Mixture of R1 and R2 DVDs, mostly R2, but my laptop was able to rip the R2 discs just fine using Handbrake. Next on the list is to take decent pictures of them and figure out how much it's all worth and list them on eBay. Decided to keep the Bluray sets I have for now, since they take up FAR less space.
Look at that Tom Baker pile. Sheesh.
I'm solely focused on acquiring the blu-ray sets at the moment and am also selling off my corresponding DVDs as I go, so it's gonna be a no thanks from me regarding most of the series. The one part I'm kind of interested in is the "outliers/non-official stuff," if any of them happen to be R1, which I doubt.
Sorry to hear about your shelf! That sucks.
Sorry to hear about your shelf! That sucks.
Eh, the shelf was cheap that was the sole survivor from the move from New Mexico back to Michigan, and it's my own fault, I tried to move it myself and the bottom half buckled lol (I'd already removed everything from it, so no book or DVD was damaged, thankfully lol).
Anyhoo, this is the "weird" pile - everything pictured is either R1 or universal (i.e. it will play on any region DVD player). I also have Downtime and disc 3 of Torchwood Children of Earth (bought it at a library and didn't notice that was all that was there until I got home lol) but those are R2 and not pictured.
The bottom five "The Doctors" discs are probably the best thing here imo - they're all interviews done in, as near as I can tell, the 90s with surviving cast members and Doctors. "The Dalek Collection" is the two Peter Cushing movies with some bonus features. The Airzone Solution is one of those 90s fan made things, starring former Doctors, that is vaguely Doctor Who adjacent (and also features a scene with Colin Baker kissing Nicola Bryant, which is unpleasant for everyone involved, viewer included). "Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor" - seen here, pictured with who should've been elected as Prime Minister in 2019:
Yes, that is a real picture. Anyway, it's probably the most professional spin off I've seen (though I haven't seen them all), but it's still pretty crap and boring to be honest. Class season one is self explanatory, "The Infinite Quest" is the weird Tennant animated thing with Freema Aygeman in it, and "The Cybermen" is just a bunch of random Cybermen episodes of both classic and NuWho with a bonus feature that I bought it for that is pretty unmemorable.
Make me an offer if you're actually interested lol. I mainly posted the pictures above to complain about how unwieldy this process is going to be, I didn't think anyone here would actually want any of this lol
Anyhoo, this is the "weird" pile - everything pictured is either R1 or universal (i.e. it will play on any region DVD player). I also have Downtime and disc 3 of Torchwood Children of Earth (bought it at a library and didn't notice that was all that was there until I got home lol) but those are R2 and not pictured.
The bottom five "The Doctors" discs are probably the best thing here imo - they're all interviews done in, as near as I can tell, the 90s with surviving cast members and Doctors. "The Dalek Collection" is the two Peter Cushing movies with some bonus features. The Airzone Solution is one of those 90s fan made things, starring former Doctors, that is vaguely Doctor Who adjacent (and also features a scene with Colin Baker kissing Nicola Bryant, which is unpleasant for everyone involved, viewer included). "Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor" - seen here, pictured with who should've been elected as Prime Minister in 2019:
Yes, that is a real picture. Anyway, it's probably the most professional spin off I've seen (though I haven't seen them all), but it's still pretty crap and boring to be honest. Class season one is self explanatory, "The Infinite Quest" is the weird Tennant animated thing with Freema Aygeman in it, and "The Cybermen" is just a bunch of random Cybermen episodes of both classic and NuWho with a bonus feature that I bought it for that is pretty unmemorable.
Make me an offer if you're actually interested lol. I mainly posted the pictures above to complain about how unwieldy this process is going to be, I didn't think anyone here would actually want any of this lol
Radio Times: Peter Davison reveals scrapped plans for Five(ish) Doctors Reboot follow-up
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot is probably my favorite part of the 50th anniversary celebration, but given Davison's slightly worrying suggestions that his sense of humor is out of touch with modern society, maybe this is for the best.
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot is probably my favorite part of the 50th anniversary celebration, but given Davison's slightly worrying suggestions that his sense of humor is out of touch with modern society, maybe this is for the best.
They have been listed: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285376544418
Dreading packing these up and shipping them, that is going to suck.
Dreading packing these up and shipping them, that is going to suck.
oh my GOD Vaeran
I adored that. Cheered me right up, that trailer - season 20 is my favorite Davison series, and the Mara the best villain of his era (and Tegan my favorite companion of his era, I don't care what anyone says). It's fucking weird that I'm nostalgic for a season of television that aired before I was born and I didn't see until the mid-2010s, right? I can't wait to get that and watch all those special features, and Snakedance in the best possible quality. They even got Martin Clunes back for a bonus feature, who is a goddamn delight in Snakedance!
Watch Snakedance, everyone.
I adored that. Cheered me right up, that trailer - season 20 is my favorite Davison series, and the Mara the best villain of his era (and Tegan my favorite companion of his era, I don't care what anyone says). It's fucking weird that I'm nostalgic for a season of television that aired before I was born and I didn't see until the mid-2010s, right? I can't wait to get that and watch all those special features, and Snakedance in the best possible quality. They even got Martin Clunes back for a bonus feature, who is a goddamn delight in Snakedance!
Watch Snakedance, everyone.
I knew you'd like it. 
Gonna be honest, the feature I'm most looking forward to is Davison, Fielding and Sutton going on a road trip together and bickering cutely with each other the whole way. "For God's sake, I'm fed up with this! I want my lunch."
I haven't seen either of the Mara stories, so I've gotta get on that.
Gonna be honest, the feature I'm most looking forward to is Davison, Fielding and Sutton going on a road trip together and bickering cutely with each other the whole way. "For God's sake, I'm fed up with this! I want my lunch."
I haven't seen either of the Mara stories, so I've gotta get on that.
Next time you feel like some 5th Doctor, I say watch Kinda and Snakedance. In my opinion, they're some of the best DW of all time, not just of the Davison era or of the 80s. They're pretty atypical for the time - they feel like experimental 60s serials, although both are better paced than 60s serials tend to be.
To be honest, I quite like how that trailer ends. I think it actually fits with Kinda/Snakedance much better than any of the other trailers McTighe wrote, so credit to him on that one.
BBC Shop has an exclusive (limited to 6000 copies) blu-ray set of the entire modern series up for preorder, shipping November 14.
(I don't really care about the little figures, but why are their coats all black...?)
It's listed at $175, but you can use discount code SDCC23 to get 20% off, knocking it down to $140. That's actually a crazy good deal for 13 seasons plus specials! I went ahead and got it, since the only modern series blu-ray I own is the UK limited edition 50th anniversary specials box; everything else is on DVD, and I don't own any of Whittaker's run. I'm looking forward to this.
(I don't really care about the little figures, but why are their coats all black...?)
It's listed at $175, but you can use discount code SDCC23 to get 20% off, knocking it down to $140. That's actually a crazy good deal for 13 seasons plus specials! I went ahead and got it, since the only modern series blu-ray I own is the UK limited edition 50th anniversary specials box; everything else is on DVD, and I don't own any of Whittaker's run. I'm looking forward to this.
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New trailer for the November 2023 specials:
Cannot. Fucking. Wait.
Also, confirmation that Neil Patrick Harris is in fact, playing the Toymaker, last seen in 1966s racist epic The Celestial Toymaker.
Cannot. Fucking. Wait.
Also, confirmation that Neil Patrick Harris is in fact, playing the Toymaker, last seen in 1966s racist epic The Celestial Toymaker.
I'm watching my Tom Baker blu rays and am onto The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death, et al (i.e. Leela's first stories), and boy wouldn't it be wonderful if interviewers could think of a single thing to ask Louise Jameson about other than how revealing her costume was? She handles it all very good-naturedly, but jesus christ already. Like they've never seen a woman's legs before.
Oh, it's a treat. The visual design is so weird and specific, from the robots themselves to the oddball outfits. (I guess it's never explicitly stated in the story why everyone's flouncing around on a mining ship looking like they're going to a costume ball, but I always imagined their civilization having undergone some economic cataclysm that forced aristocrats into working laborious jobs, but they still can't bear to part with their comforts and finery, no matter how impractical.) I love any DW story that gives me a colorful and memorable guest cast, and Robots has that in spades.
Heck yes to all that. Can't wait!
Could The Talons of Weng-Chiang be any more racist? Never mind the yellowface, the "Oriental" mysticism, and all the "Chinaman" this and "Chinaman" that in the script; this one really hurt:
PROF. LITEFOOT: Things are coming to a pretty pass when ruffians will attack a man in his own home.
DOCTOR: Well, they were Chinese ruffians.
Come on, man! I expect this kind of shit from the Victorians, but surely the Doctor would be more enlightened. (I suppose he can only be as enlightened as the person writing the script...) It's such a shame, too, as it's a story absolutely dripping with atmosphere. I love slinking around in foggy London alleyways at night. I'm doing my best to remember that it's a product of the times and enjoy what I can, but geez.
PROF. LITEFOOT: Things are coming to a pretty pass when ruffians will attack a man in his own home.
DOCTOR: Well, they were Chinese ruffians.
Come on, man! I expect this kind of shit from the Victorians, but surely the Doctor would be more enlightened. (I suppose he can only be as enlightened as the person writing the script...) It's such a shame, too, as it's a story absolutely dripping with atmosphere. I love slinking around in foggy London alleyways at night. I'm doing my best to remember that it's a product of the times and enjoy what I can, but geez.
As always, I recommend Elizabeth Sandifer's essay on Talons. People argued with her for years on Twitter (and probably still do) that it wasn't necessarily super racist at the time, but it fucking was. Even Leela says some racist shit about Chinese people, and she's got zero experience or knowledge of them or the times she and the Doctor were in. It's casual racism from a writer who, while talented, could not be bothered to not include a bunch of racist shit in his story. I find it difficult to watch, regardless of the quality it does have.