Doctor Who Christmas Special

Its that time of year again with the Doctor Who Christmas Special. I really liked last year's special (although apparently I'm in the minority). Still, more Matt Smith is never a bad thing.

I never liked Matt Smith as a Doctor, personaly i believe he tries too hard with the quirkeyness that just doesn't work. I do hope it will be better than last christmas, it does sound promising though so far;

The Christmas Day special - titled The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe - sees the Time Lord go on an adventure with Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) and her two children, Lily and Cyril, when they are evacuated from London to Dorset during World War II.

Alright! Dr. Who thread!

I had just gotten cable in time to see the final Christmas special from the final David Tenant season. Like a lot of people I was suddenly a Dr. Who fan again. I could watch David Tenant talk about painting fences and find it entertaining. It was great to want to watch Dr. Who again.

Then Matt Smith. I have yet to watch a complete episode. I don't think it is Matt's fault, though. How do you follow David Tenant? I would bet that if Matt had not had to follow Tenant that we might have like him just as much, Too bad. I didn't even stick around to see if the writing was any good. Was it?

this season was really good. i like matt smith...but it also helps that karen gillen is on the show too. Amy Pond is wicked hot. and steven moffat's writing was really good too. i like when there is an underlying, unifying theme throughout the season.

Aaaaaaannnd...david tenant is the greatest doctor ever, hands down.

the more amy pond the better ...we need a drooling smilee but if its anything like the current stuff it should be a rip roarer

Personaly i prefer Christopher Eccleson as the Doctor, he seemed to get it right on the head with the balance of quirkeyness and seriousness. Tennant was undoubtibly brilliant. The writing in the new ones are pritty much the same as the old, some great episodes, some awful, and a few so-so.

But anything the Morffet writes tends to be gold.

Originally posted by Frater210
I didn't even stick around to see if the writing was any good. Was it?

edit on 19-12-2011 by Frater210 because:

I personally think the writing is currently the best it has ever been, but I don't think too many are in agreement with me. I enjoy Moffat's writing 1000% more than Davies'. The writing is more solid and serious, and the monsters more terrifying! I also like Smith just as equally as I liked Tennant, which again isn't a popular sentiment!

I was never a big fan of Tennant. He just never came across as threatening when he needed to be. I think the series is the best its been since the glory days of Tom Baker and Matt Smith is easily the best Doctor of Nu-Who. Along with Peter Davision he is probably the best pure actor to play the part.

reply to post by MrAndy


Doctor Who's biggest strength (and weakness) is its ability to reinvent itself every few years. The transition between Davies and Moffat was particularly jarring in tone and subject matter. There hasn't been such a wholesale change since Hindcliffe was unceremoniously canned and John Nathan Turner was brought in as showrunner half way through Tom Baker's run.

I'd might as well chuck this one up here from my notebook, it spans the last few years:

Things Wrong with the new Doctor Who series...
Here are my personal Problems, in no special order or priority...
(And as usual I'm probably the only one alive With these complaints but being an American non-conformist to begin with, that's to be expected).

The New Who is Documented as a reboot (at least Where I Live On The Other Side Of The Pond--I must Emphasize this!) when it's actually a Continuation. That is, starting with the 9th Doctor it's logged as Season 1 when it should logically be Season 27 (assuming we take the 8th Doctor as a non-season, since it was a one-shot TV movie). If this wasn't bad enough, a whole Chunk of episodes completing the 10th Doctor's era aren't technically a part of that season and are nebulously labelled "Specials" of all things! (Again, I'm in America and That is how they are Marketed!).

Bogus Cybermen. Why bring the Cybermen back when they're Not a part of the Original series' continuity? These metal monsters were created on an Alternate Earth, with an entirely different historical origin, not on Mondas and certainly having no connection to those that emigrated to Telos.

Just as bad are the new Silurians. If not worse! Real Silurians don't wear Human outfits, have 12' tongues, and only two eyes. It's as though the re-created Silurians for "The Hungry Earth" were designed without so much as watching the original Pertwee classic, nor even the 5th Doctor's encounter with them in "Warriors of the Deep." Their technology and culture is Completely at odds with the original Silurians, and I think all we got was a lame line about these guys belonging to a different race! One more step like this and they should call it a "reboot."

Steven Moffat has the potential of being an excellent writer--provided that he Quits copying Spielberg, Abrams and other American a-hole "writers" aiming at the masses and the lowest common denominator. This past season was a ripoff of the Doc Brown plot in the first "Back to the Future" mvoie. The story-arcs are reminicent of Abrams' "Lost" TV series (not that I bother watching that crap, I only know it by reputation!). Apparently Moffat wants to remake DW into a big screen special FX feast with action first and plot/character development a secondary consideration. We don't need long, drawn-out story arcs to capture viewers; culminating with a "season finale" runaround episode piling on monster cameos and FX to explain all the mysterious clues dropped throughout the season. I don't want to see New Who look like New Galactica or the Transformers movies!

Doctor Who episodes these days are becoming more and more Frantic. They are catering more to the hyperactive, attention deficit crowd who can't sit back and take in character development and atmosphere. No real tension is being built (beyond the season-long story arc gimmick) and most of the intermediate episodes not locked into the story arc are substandard stories with throwaway/disposable characters. It is as though every new season the Doctor speaks and acts faster than before.

I hope Doctor Who ceases relying on old monsters and introduces new ones. Current seasons are becoming almost predictable, with each having at least one Cyber story and one Dalek story. You overuse these guys and they become boring and mundane, if not predictable.

Killing companions--or seemingly killing them--over and over again is Not the product of good writing! It's cheap storytelling.

The Doctor's sonic screwdriver Must Go! Decades ago it was a simple repair tool. Today, it's a magic wand which can do Anything (remote control, tricorder, medical scanner, data link etc.). I think the only things we Haven't seen the Doctor do with it is use it as a sexual vibrator and toothbrush! I understand that K-9 was written out because he was too much of a convenient gimmick to get the Doctor out of trouble with that laser nose blaster. The Doctor's new sonic screwdriver is just as bad, if not worse! I want to see the Doctor use his Mind and Think his way out of situations.

River Song worked as a companion (or part-time companion) because she was unique and interesting. I'd like to see the Doctor get an Original companion beyond some modern-day girl. It's getting rather old and hardly "traditional" as some fans would call it.

A truly minor gripe but one worth noting: Throughout the original Doctor Who series whenever Teleportation came up the equipment in use was called a Transmat. It was an original distinction which set Doctor Who apart from other SF universes. In New Who, it's always referred to as a Teleporter. I know it's just one word...

There are fewer and shorter episodes per season than there were half a century ago. At this rate the Doctor's going to run out of regenerations before 2020. Allow the Doctor actor to continue and grow and Force him to stay with the series longer than a couple seasons!

Originally posted by FSBlueApocalypse
reply to post by MrAndy

 

Doctor Who's biggest strength (and weakness) is its ability to reinvent itself every few years. The transition between Davies and Moffat was particularly jarring in tone and subject matter. There hasn't been such a wholesale change since Hindcliffe was unceremoniously canned and John Nathan Turner was brought in as showrunner half way through Tom Baker's run.

Well, I'd wish someone would explain to me the entire Sylvester McCoy era.
(Here's another one torn out of my notebook, which nobody can answer and whenever I Do ask it it doesn't get posted because it's labeled a flame or trolling or whatever):

OK, first off I've been a DW fan in the U.S. since the 1970s. I've watched the series grow and I've been taping the episodes off the air since my first VCR.
Loved the series up through the 5th Doctor. Loved the 9th Doctor through the 11th.
This post is not meant to knock the series only to dig up some facts, so you'll please forgive me for being a bit harsh around the edges...

To cut to the point, What the hell happened to the series in the late 1980s, specifically during the Sylvester McCoy era? Nobody talks about it much around here, and I can't get any straight answers as to who or what is to blame. All I know is what was pumped into my brain...

- Absolutely idiotic runaround stories, with lots of pyrotechnics going off to distract from sub-sub-par scripts.

- Stupid, silly monsters skulking around. Can anyone say Kandyman? Barney the Dinosaur could've made a cameo and nobody would've noticed! It was like the very worst of Lost in Space at times.

- No acting, bad acting, or over-acting (usually the latter for a "guest" star, like a comedian, who probably thinks of it as a kiddie show and thereby doesn't have to Bother taking the role seriously).

- Set and costume designs which look as though they were built/designed by complete amateurs. I'm somehow thinking along the lines of Ed Wood Jr.'s grandchildren. During previous eras, the Doctor would visit an alien world and the tech would look suitably different (usually!) and not rehashes of dark corridors posing as spaceship interiors for the entire season. The sets of "Pirate Planet" look absolutely brilliant and impressive compared to anything McCoy's had to romp through.

- Speaking of children. Babies or kids running around or featured in almost every episode. (i.e. Delta's baby, the skipping blonde in "Remembrance," the one hiding under a table in "Dragonfire," Red Kangs! Blue Kangs! Red Kangs are best! etc.) For the new viewers to identify with?

- I probably shouldn't mention Mel. Every time she screamed--and, let's face it, that's ALL she ever did so far as being a companion--it would rip through my ears, into my skull, and I'd wish the monster would take a bite outta her! Billie Piper was a companion, Bonnie Langford was more wooden than K-9.

Listen, a decade Earlier DW was pumping out classics like "Genesis of the Daleks" and "The Deadly Assassin." They were superbly written, well-acted, and seemingly overcame their limited budgets with absolute ease. During the 5th Doctor's reign, the stories were still generally decent as was the acting and the entire production crew obviously cared. Colin Baker's time showed an obvious slump ("The Twin Dilemma" was a disaster) but other episodes made up for it ("Attack of the Cybermen" at least had continuity on its side).

The McCoy Era, on the other hand, was a total degeneration of the series from start to finish. It was no longer SF--it was a lame kiddie series! The Intelligence had been Drained and DW was now some sort of 5-year old's playground.

As to the How and the Why and the Who, the only answer I can come up with for this disaster is to pin it on JNT since he was the producer. Yet he was the producer during the entire run of the 5th Doctor and the series was still respectable. Did JNT have a stroke or mental breakdown circa 1987? Did he become a drug-addict and turn the series over to totally inept pinheads? I suppose we can blame that new wave of fantasy writers for the scripts, but that hardly accounts for All the silliness and "childrens' programme" label catching right back up with the series...

It was like a complete failure on All Levels.

WHAT HAPPENED?