Doctor Who

[Mongrel]

Spiders do rule tho

[mharr]

Seemed like something of a filler episode concerned only with setting up the series roster. Nothing was actually resolved and it would all have ended about the same with or without our heroes. Bit weird pointing out that giant arthropods wouldn't be able to breathe after having them scampering about the place for half an hour too.

Nice animation though. Graffix 8/10.

[Thad]

Where Moffat was often criticized for focusing on intricate plots to the detriment of characterization, Chibnall is shaping up so far to be the opposite. His plots are not great. But I'm quite liking his characters. And of course following up the "Doctor goes to America to fight white supremacists" episode with one where the villain is pretty explicitly Donald Trump sure feels like a statement of purpose.

There's also been a long-running criticism that, since the show restarted in '05, every companion has had a family and most of them have sucked. (I actually liked Jackie Tyler, though it seemed like the more interesting she got, the less interesting Rose got.)

I'm not sold on Yaz's family yet, but I'm really enjoying Ryan and Graham. Something about grandfathers on this show.

Bit weird pointing out that giant arthropods wouldn't be able to breathe after having them scampering about the place for half an hour too.

But hey, a Doctor Who episode finally acknowledged the Square-Cube Law. Sharkey should be happy.

[WingSounds]

I picked the perfect time to start watching, but let me say it loud - so all can hear!..

SPIDERS
ARE
FRIENDS!

That being said, seemed a bit like a mid-run anime/x-files EP. Plenty fun, and I second Thad that the cast is just great, and -
I'm not one to really mind.

[Mongrel]

SPIDERS
ARE
FRIENDS!

:3

The cute thread is that way <3

[WingSounds]

Oh, dangit, I should've posted that in the thread instead of the sea slug...
Next time, then!..

[Mothra]

Thad: I know you've posted this elsewhere multiple times, buttt... do you have that list of the audio stories you thought were good kicking around? I heard a snippet of The Chimes of Midnight and it got me interested.

Also: Regarding the new show: I generally like it so far. I like all the actors, I like the new doctor and Tardis, and the companions are great. Little underwhelmed by the usual monster of the week stuff, but I guess that's just Doctor Who.

I adore this new intro/outro:

[WingSounds]

My persimmons love the drop, and that's without any speakers or anything like that. Which probably tells you how good it is?!
I actually have an obscure cover from an obscure band I can't find anywhere on the net, so, maybe I'll upload that in a bit! For comparison!..

[Thad]

Thad: I know you've posted this elsewhere multiple times, buttt... do you have that list of the audio stories you thought were good kicking around? I heard a snippet of The Chimes of Midnight and it got me interested.

Chimes of Midnight is widely regarded as the all-time best Big Finish play. It helps if you listen to Storm Warning first (because that introduces the companion, Charley).

Anyhow, it looks like most of my previous posts on the Big Finish audio dramas are right here in this thread:

2014-07-08: This is probably the list you're talking about.

2014-12-23: Neverland is good, though you'll probably want to listen to some other Eighth Doctor/Charley serials first, and at least be roughly aware that Romana is the President of Gallifrey now. Also it ends on a cliffhanger but consensus is that the followup, Zagreus, is not good.

2015-01-07: The Nightmare Fair (Sixth Doctor) is good.

2015-01-09: Mission to Magnus (Sixth Doctor) is good.

2015-01-19: Leviathan (Sixth Doctor) is good.

Another 2015-01-19: The Hollows of Time (Sixth Doctor) is more of an interesting failure.

2015-03-11: Paradise Five and Point of Entry (Sixth Doctor) aren't great.

2015-03-28: Song of Megaptera (Sixth Doctor) is okay.

2015-11-15 and another 2015-11-15: Dark Eyes (Eighth Doctor) is good. (So is Dark Eyes 2. I hear 3 and 4 aren't great and I've never listened to them.)

2016-08-20 and 2016-08-25: A Death in the Family (Seventh Doctor) is fantastic, but you might want to listen to some of the previous (Sixth Doctor) serials with Evelyn Smythe first, or at least read up on her on Wikipedia or something.

These are pretty much just what I found by paging through this thread and searching for "radio" and "Big Finish".

[Mothra]

Thanks Thad, much appreciated.

[Thad]

Also I could swear I'd mentioned Doom Coalition, the followup to Dark Eyes, but I don't see it here. Anyway, I've listened to the first set and it's good; the overall arc concerns a new villain, the Eleven, whose deal is that he's a Time Lord whose eleven different incarnations are all arguing with each other inside his head. I particularly liked the second episode, The Red Lady, which (IIRC) does not involve the Eleven but is a spooky story about a haunted painting.

I think I've also got the second Doom Coalition series but haven't listened to it yet; I've also got a number of episodes I got in a bundle that I mostly haven't gotten around to. (The Horror of Glam Rock gets points for its title and its soundtrack; it's not a bad episode, either.)

[Thad]

I was poking around the Big Finish site to see what they've been up to lately, and I found out that, among their various spinoffs, last year they started the War Master series starring Derek Jacobi.

I've got plenty of Who I haven't listened to yet, so I haven't bought it, but that sure sounds like a good idea. Of all the corners of the Time War that never really got explored, I really wanted more of Derek Jacobi as the Master. It was a great casting choice, but the TV show only gave us a brief taste; he was in one episode, spent most of it not remembering who he really was, and then only briefly revealed himself as the Master right before regenerating into John Simm.

I haven't listened to any of the Time War stuff yet, but I think I'm more interested in Jacobi's part of it than McGann's or Hurt's.

[Bal]

Was this latest season any good? I have it DVR'd, but I have heard from a variety of sources that it's Meh at best.

[beatbandito]

"better than capaldi" is how I've heard it described. I haven't seen more than an episode in a vacuum since Smith though.

[Mothra]

It's okay. I stopped after a few episodes.

The cast is great this time around, there just isn't any real story or character stuff that grabbed me. This season's very episodic and monster-of-the-weekey, which, while I know that's kinda Doctor Who's MO... I don't think that's what I like about Doctor Who. I'm more into the ones with bizarre or outlandish sci-fi concepts/gimmicks. There aren't many eps this time around that are high-concept.

[Thad]

I haven't quite finished it, but I mostly liked it, particularly for the sociopolitical undercurrents. (The Amazon Warehouse episode notwithstanding; it was a deeply regressive misfire in a season that's otherwise very much concerned with social progress.)

What we've got is a cast that's very clearly modeled on the original lineup (two men, two women, and one of the men is an old white guy who's another character's grandfather) but with a modern twist; aside from the Doctor being a woman, we've got one companion who's of Pakistani descent, another who's black, and a white man who's grandfather by marriage to the black man. So right off the bat you're looking at different social dynamics when they travel to the past, and that's before forcing the issue with stories like Rosa Parks and the partitioning of India and Pakistan.

The plots themselves don't make a whole lot of sense. In a lot of ways Chibnall feels like a 180 from Moffat, who was often criticized for prioritizing complex plots over characterization. I'll disagree with Mothra and say that I really like the character work (at least, Graham and Ryan's relationship). I agree that the stories are lacking, but the current direction of the show as overtly socially progressive is exactly what we need right now.

And the cast is good. Max compared Whittaker to Tennant upthread; I think that's fair.

[Mothra]

I must've mis-spoke, I agree in that I think Graham and Ryan's relationship is the highlight of the season. I adored watching those two characters interact.

Kinda sucks to say that the old straight white guy is the best character of the season, but, he is. I love him.

Ryan is good, but never really great. I love Jodie a lot, I just wish she was given some more character aspects to work with.

[Thad]

Big Finish has a Cybermen sale on. I've gotten recommendations for The Harvest (McCoy), The Silver Turk (McGann), and Human Resources (McGann) but haven't listened to any of them. Spare Parts (Davison) is apparently a popular one too.

[Mongrel]

[Büge]

I never get tired of that gif.