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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Feb 7, 2020 1:54:03 GMT
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Mar 5, 2020 14:14:03 GMT
Just finished watching 'The Timeless Children'. Quite a lot of people seem to be acting like this episode was the end of the world. I'm curious...what were your thoughts on it, Catman ? There seemed to be a LOT of stuff packed into this episode. I can't say I was that interested in the stuff going on with the companions and the other characters whose names I can't even remember (I did like Graham talk with Yaz, though). I was much more interested in what was going on with thew Doctor and the Master. I've really enjoyed Sacha Dhawan's portrayal of the Master and I think he might be my favourite version since the one episode appearance of Derek Jacobi in the role. He just seems like a good mix of John Simm's 'wackiness' and the 'dangerous/threatening' vibe Jacobi gave off in his all-too-brief portrayal. Having said that, I did feel as thought the Master kind of 'took over' the episode from the Doctor. It seriously felt to me like he had more screentime/dialogue than Jodie Whittaker did, which I wasn't so fond of. Thankfully, though, what they *did* give Jodie to play was well-done, I thought. It's been interesting watching the 'shift' in her portrayal of the Doctor this season. Last season she felt so 'refreshing' with the energy/enthusiasm she brought to the role. There was a real sense of wonder from her character in the way she spoke, the way she moved, her inventiveness/the way she liked to build and create things. This season, however, it seemed like her version of the character took a bit of a 'turn'. She had some deeply emotional stuff to play, she could get quite serious and even a bit 'dark' at times. She even lost patience with her 'Fam' on occasion. This episode had all of that. I know a lot of people like to dismiss Jodie's portrayal of the Doctor, but I think she's handled what she's been given to play onscreen admirably. She's not just the Doctor who makes 'funny facial expressions' like some claim, she's shown she's capable of a lot of heavy stuff. It was surprising to see the Doctor actually get physical with the Master (sure, it was 'just' a violent shove, but I can't recall seeing her brought to getting physical with an enemy too often previously). It made sense, though, given all the revelations she had to take in this episode. One can only imagine how it must've been for her to absorb all of that (she handled it better than a lot of the show's so-called 'fans', at least). Quite likely my favourite moment of the episode was the Doctor destroying/breaking free of the Matrix and seeing all the past Doctors (and other things) from the series. Though that^ was my only favourite moment from the show. I also thought Jodie and the actors playing the three companions did a good job when it looked like the Doctor was saying goodbye to them for good. They gave the moment the appropriate 'weight' it needed to make it seem like this may well have been the end for the 'Fam' and their time together. Another moment I really enjoyed was the Doctor informing the Master that what he thought had 'broken' her had in fact made her 'stronger'. So now the companions are back on Earth and the Doctor is imprisoned by the Judoon - a cliffhanger like only Doctor Who can do. I will admit there were some episodes this season I wasn't that fussed on (and I'll forever be annoyed that an actress I like, Laura Fraser, was wasted on the worst episode of the season - episode 3/'Orphan 55'), but I enjoyed the season's two-part opener, the Tesla episode and these last few episodes of the season. I'm very glad Jodie will be back for another season (I'd love it if she continued for another season after that too, but if Series/Season 13 ends up being her final one, it seems quite fitting since she's the 13th Doctor), and I look forward to the 'Revolution Of the Daleks' special we'll be getting at some point this year, I'm guessing. This season, along with last season, Jodie's portrayal of the Doctor, the companions and this incarnation of the show has gotten a lot of hate, but I for one have enjoyed it (for the most part) and appreciate the actors and the effort they've put into it. Thank you.
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Post by stargazer1682 on Mar 5, 2020 15:56:52 GMT
Just finished watching 'The Timeless Children'. Quite a lot of people seem to be acting like this episode was the end of the world. I'm curious...what were your thoughts on it, Catman ? There seemed to be a LOT of stuff packed into this episode. I can't say I was that interested in the stuff going on with the companions and the other characters whose names I can't even remember (I did like Graham talk with Yaz, though). I was much more interested in what was going on with thew Doctor and the Master. I've really enjoyed Sacha Dhawan's portrayal of the Master and I think he might be my favourite version since the one episode appearance of Derek Jacobi in the role. He just seems like a good mix of John Simm's 'wackiness' and the 'dangerous/threatening' vibe Jacobi gave off in his all-too-brief portrayal. Having said that, I did feel as thought the Master kind of 'took over' the episode from the Doctor. It seriously felt to me like he had more screentime/dialogue than Jodie Whittaker did, which I wasn't so fond of. Thankfully, though, what they *did* give Jodie to play was well-done, I thought. It's been interesting watching the 'shift' in her portrayal of the Doctor this season. Last season she felt so 'refreshing' with the energy/enthusiasm she brought to the role. There was a real sense of wonder from her character in the way she spoke, the way she moved, her inventiveness/the way she liked to build and create things. This season, however, it seemed like her version of the character took a bit of a 'turn'. She had some deeply emotional stuff to play, she could get quite serious and even a bit 'dark' at times. She even lost patience with her 'Fam' on occasion. This episode had all of that. I know a lot of people like to dismiss Jodie's portrayal of the Doctor, but I think she's handled what she's been given to play onscreen admirably. She's not just the Doctor who makes 'funny facial expressions' like some claim, she's shown she's capable of a lot of heavy stuff. It was surprising to see the Doctor actually get physical with the Master (sure, it was 'just' a violent shove, but I can't recall seeing her brought to getting physical with an enemy too often previously). It made sense, though, given all the revelations she had to take in this episode. One can only imagine how it must've been for her to absorb all of that (she handled it better than a lot of the show's so-called 'fans', at least). Quite likely my favourite moment of the episode was the Doctor destroying/breaking free of the Matrix and seeing all the past Doctors (and other things) from the series. Though that^ was my only favourite moment from the show. I also thought Jodie and the actors playing the three companions did a good job when it looked like the Doctor was saying goodbye to them for good. They gave the moment the appropriate 'weight' it needed to make it seem like this may well have been the end for the 'Fam' and their time together. Another moment I really enjoyed was the Doctor informing the Master that what he thought had 'broken' her had in fact made her 'stronger'. So now the companions are back on Earth and the Doctor is imprisoned by the Judoon - a cliffhanger like only Doctor Who can do. I will admit there were some episodes this season I wasn't that fussed on (and I'll forever be annoyed that an actress I like, Laura Fraser, was wasted on the worst episode of the season - episode 3/'Orphan 55'), but I enjoyed the season's two-part opener, the Tesla episode and these last few episodes of the season. I'm very glad Jodie will be back for another season (I'd love it if she continued for another season after that too, but if Series/Season 13 ends up being her final one, it seems quite fitting since she's the 13th Doctor), and I look forward to the 'Revolution Of the Daleks' special we'll be getting at some point this year, I'm guessing. This season, along with last season, Jodie's portrayal of the Doctor, the companions and this incarnation of the show has gotten a lot of hate, but I for one have enjoyed it (for the most part) and appreciate the actors and the effort they've put into it. Thank you. I like the initial run of episodes, especially the Tesla one. I'd seen the actor who played Tesla in the series Timeless; and I thought it was perfect casting him as Tesla. I'd love to see more of him in that role, either in Doctor Who, somehow; or just in a biopic or something. I was cautiously hopeful for the whole "timeless child" arc to play out in an impressive way, but I didn't think it did. The "revelation" itself was fairly underwhelming - like seriously, how was that supposed to be earth shattering, in contrast to what Gallifreyans had already believed? How was that a secret worth building a shadow institution on to keep secret for even a short period of time, let alone, what, thousands of years? Tens or hundreds of thousands? Millions of years? I was expecting that the "timeless child," what or whomever that was supposed to be, to be the myth Gallifreyans held onto; and whatever the Master had learned contradicted that. I mean, that was just a baseless assumption that I tried to keep an open mind about, but the way the Doctor first responded to the mention of the Timeless Child, made it seem like it was meant to be a sort of "Tahiti-esque" response; as if everyone from Gallifrey had this specific genetic memory of some anointed child and pillar of Time Lord society that was triggered at the mere mention of the phrase Timeless Child. Regardless of any preconceptions, the actual revelation was just ho-hum. Like, oh, the Doctor is already older than dirt, now he/she is even older; and, of course, is the "chosen one" of Gallifrey, she just didn't know it. Like, what-fucking-ever. Setting aside how her being made a bigger deal in a now dead society is supposed to make her an even bigger deal within the show where she's the central character; and the only one to be expected not go anywhere, even if she changes faces from time to time - what is this supposed to accomplish? Create a mystery about her "true" origins? Because there was nothing wrong with the origins the Doctor had; so why contradict that just to put your own, new stamp on the story? On top of it, this is what is supposed to have set the Master off? Not that he needed an excuse, but he did what an entire army of Daleks couldn't do; so he must have been pretty motivated.... because the creation myth he believed in turned out to be a lie and some small part of him originated from the Doctor? Come on. But the biggest thing in all of this I think, is that given the source of where all of this is coming from, they didn't supply any real, substantial proof that anything the Master said was even true. It's the fucking Master; he doesn't tell the truth! Oh, but he says, "this time I'm telling the truth" so it must be true. Someone on another site even pointed out that this wouldn't have been the first time he's gotten into the Matrix; having done so before in The Trial of a Time Lord. Given how keen the Master appeared to be about dying, yet unwilling to do it himself; the whole thing seems more like an elaborate plot to goad the Doctor into doing it for him. Which isn't necessarily to say that that's what was actually going on, but at the very least would be a better explanation of what happened. Then there's the whole thing with the Ruth-Doctor; which as it stands as a pre-Hartnell Doctor, completely with Police Call Box Tardis, goes beyond the pale of trying to be too clever for its own good. So they're saying the Doctor is really older by whatever factor than she previously thought; and lived untold iterations before the Hartnell incarnation, that she doesn't remember, but she also went by the Doctor at that time and had a Police Box Tardis... Yet this Doctor is like the Doctor we know if virtually every way, yet doesn't seem to act like the Doctor. Then at some point she/he was ambushed by Section 31.... I mean, the Division, his/her memories erased - thousands of years worth of memories - and was forced to regenerate into a small child; where he was placed with a family and grew up like any other Gallifreyan child, where he again chose the name the Doctor, stole a Tardis, which again got stuck in the shape of a Police Box.... talk about a fucking cluster-fuck. Like, I don't care if the Doctor had pre-Hartnell regenerations; I don't. So long as it's clear that obviously Hartnell's Doctor was the first of a new set of regenerations and was the first Doctor. Before that he should just be fucking Greg from Gallifrey; and he shouldn't be running in around in a fucking Police Call Box. There's no reason for that. The Doctor doesn't have to be this eternal demi-god. If anything, I'd argue it detracts from the character if you make him/her too all powerful or too...whatever, that's he's just always been there, always been the Doctor; and all of Gallifreyan society, and soon the universe, revolves around him. That's too much, it's unnecessary.
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