Jenny’s reactions on watching The Night of The Doctor
If you are a Whovian and have not watched The Night of The Doctor, go watch it right now, before clicking the link or proceeding with the rest of this post.
As I have explained before, the 8th Doctor is my Doctor. It seems impossible to express the joy and wonder I am feeling. Moffat has done some fucked up shit with the show. But I will always, always love him for giving us The Night of The Doctor. And I will continue to love Paul McGann, but with an even deeper appreciation now. He understands this fandom, and the love we have for his Doctor, enough to come back and give us this wonderful gift.
Now why the fuck didn’t he name Grace in his litany of companion names?! She may not have left Earth with him, but she did save his life and, oh yeah, THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. Give Grace some love, Doctor!
“The Brain of Morbius” is my favorite episode of all time. When I realized he was on Karn I was so so happy.
I’ve been worried that there’s not going to be “old series” in the 50th anniversary so as not to confuse the NuWhovians who’ve only seen the new stuff. Which would be depressing as heck. I’m not a fan of Matt Smith’s version.
Paul McGann nailed it so hard in just 8 minutes that now I’m kind of sad he doesn’t get to do it anymore.
I’m sorry, I read “Paul McGann nailed it so hard” and I blacked out a second. What were we talking about?
So, yeah, I’m starting to wonder about the other Doctors, who’ve said they haven’t been invited back, because Paul McGann was singing the same tune for a long time.
I was like “DAYUM he looks good!” because his TV appearance was like ages ago right? And then I looked it up and it was 1996 and I felt really old.
Also I didn’t realize until that moment that he was the boyfriend in “Luther”. I’m very easily distracted by Idris Elba.
I’m convinced that there’s something the BBC haven’t told us and we’re going to be blown away next Saturday. There’s that rumour about paintings…
I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen of the 50th anniversary so far; it’s been so much better than the 30th and 40th combined. To somehow get the other doctors involved would just blow the 50th out of the water!
They’re definitely up to something: https://twitter.com/dayoftheFishDr
Paul McGann continues to nail it exactly that hard to this very day. A company called Big Finish has the rights to produce audio dramas for the classic series and the TV movie. Eight was the current Doctor when they started, and he’s been featured quite heavily. The Charley and Lucie he mentions in the roll call of companions are Charlotte Pollard and Lucie Miller from the BF CD-only and BBC radio Eighth Doctor “seasons”, respectively.
Without going too in depth – because I could rant for hours on the Doctor Who topic – these are my thoughts:
Moffat should have just used Eight, Ten and Eleven as his main cast. Simple, yes, but it would have been so marvellous to watch and a very nice way to include lots of Doctors in a show that is meant to be a celebration of fifty years of Doctor Who. Instead, we’re going to get another mess of questions about impossibility, too many unresolved/useless plots (and one useless companion in the shape of Leaf-Girl) and zany explanations about how John Hurt is actually out of the Doctor numbering system because he’s the War Doctor or something equally bananas x_x
I also fear Moffat has forgotten that each episode doesn’t have to have more explosions than the last…
Basically, it doesn’t need to be the over complicated car crash of character assassinations that it’s going to be. For example, he’s going to make Ten – my very favourite doctor ever – act in ways contrary to the way RTD constructed him all because – and Moffat’s openly stated this – he doesn’t like Rose. He’s going to mess with canon because he personally doesn’t like a character and that’s just cruel and unnecessary.*
: (
I just… At the moment, I have so much rage over the destruction of a show I used to love that . I used to not be able to wait for the next instalment of the show but now I dread it so much it actually makes me feel ill. The last episode I remember liking was the ‘Impossible Astronaut’, just before all the insanity with silly River Song started “-_-
P.S To whoever mentioned paintings, they showed us a short clip on our charity fundraiser ‘Children in Need’ an hour or so ago and there were paintings in that, I think it’s been done for the 3D effect as it involves things going in and out.
*Going by comments made by an actress in the 50th special about her role with Ten. I hope so, so hard that it’s all a ruse or it’ll turn out to be a joke or something.
EDIT: a show that I used to love.
It’s less likely now that they showed John Hurt regenerating from Eight, but I’m clinging to the idea that he’s the Valeyard.
Maybe step back a mo. I loathe Pond(s). Have since the first appearance. Doesn’t mean I hate the whole show, or even every episode she’s in, she has a few good ones. A show with that many writers is going to be pretty variable no matter what, but losing out on enjoyment just because you dislike parts seems pointless. Why watch a show you ‘dread’?
For me, my grievances with Doctor Who have become so much more than a niggling character annoyance. I’m not just going ‘I hate Clara therefore I hate everything’. Like you, I’ve had issues with companions in the past – Martha for example – and have been able to continue to like the show; the series three episode ‘Gridlock’ is even one of my favourites. It’s definitely possible to enjoy something when you dislike one particular element. It’s much harder, however, to enjoy something when you dislike all but the echo of what it used to be. It feels like there’s nothing left to like anymore; every episode of the last series has either been on the lower end of mediocre or downright dire. The storytelling is poor, the acting is poor, the plot arcs are bordering on ridiculous. I WANT to like current Doctor Who because it used to be amazing and I have fond memories of loving the show in the past. ‘Cold War’ was the only one of last series that came close to telling a good story.
There are five writers between the fifteen episodes of series seven (including the Christmas special of 2011 and 2012). Moffat wrote six of the last series and is the show-runner which should give him final say in everyone else’s content. The number of writers shouldn’t really affect a series so small, they’re all professionals and Moffat should be able to catch any glaring errors before they start filming. And yet we end up with episodes like ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’, ‘Rings of Akhaten’ and ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’…
My friend and I have been re-watching the new series’ from the beginning (2005) and thus far it’s done nothing but reinforce our feeling that the quality has seriously dipped; series one and two are so solidly written and well performed. The dud episodes start in series three (still in the reign of RTD, I’m not lording him as the greatest writer of all time, he had his faults too) and we’ve just reached ‘Gridlock’ which picked things up a bit.
To further illustrate my point we found some excellent comparison episodes that highlight the drop in acting and writing standards between series one and series seven. Both tell a similar story – old baddies learning new abilities – and both feature the Doctor and his companion separated. If you want to watch them to see, they are:
‘Dalek’ (S1) and ‘Nightmare in Silver’ (S7)
I criticise Doctor Who because I love Doctor Who and I know it could be so much better than it is. I continue to watch Doctor Who because I’m waiting for the day when it finally recovers :/ What’s wrong with expecting the best from the show runner and writers? Moffat IS a good writer. He’s totally capable of producing kick ass television! I don’t want to settle for mediocre when I know it used to be great, and if we all sit back going ‘oh well, I guess it’s ok’ then it’ll continue to be just ok. I’m not pretending that voicing my opinions will make Moffat change his ways but at least I know I’m not sitting back and taking it; the emperor is naked and I intend to tell people about it! 😉
My friend and I have agreed to watch Twelve’s first episode to see how it is and make a decision whether or not to continue based on that.
Too bad replies don’t nest very far- on the off chance you’ll actually read this, I think this amy just be a case of differing tastes. I am a ‘Nuwhovian(?)’, and I loved Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, so I suppose I’d have to relate rather to a completely different series. Maybe my feelings about post Lithgow Dexter. Which are unprintable. 🙂 Hope you and your friend enjoy the new Doctor(s).
At the very end of that episode – WOW!!!! JohnHurtJohnHurtJohnHurt!!!
Dating myself, but my doctor is Four. I had a small problem buying into Peter Davison as Five. I’d watched him as Tristan on All Creatures Great and Small and my brain would not accept the regeneration. Same thing happened when Christopher Eccleston was introduced as Nine. I was so excited when the in 2005 the CBC announced Doctor Who was returning, and I watched the first episode with my brain going ‘nope nope nope – DCI Bilborough/David from Shallow Grave does not walk around grinning like an idiot!’. Looking back now, I realize I always kind of liked Six, though I couldn’t stand Peri. Ten was ok and Eleven really grew on me.
I have to say I love Paul McGann as the Doctor. I’d only ever heard him on the BBC radio series, and last night finally saw the 1996 ‘Doctor Who’. He blew me away and I really wish Eight had been around for a full tv series. I was even impressed by Eric Roberts, who I never considered to be a very good actor, and I totally bought him as The Master.
The best part about Doctor Who is that my now 25 year old son is a Whovian, and we’re spending our quality time together finding and watching past series.
After doing the math and having a small cry at the fact that I’ve watched this show, off and on, for almost 40 years I tend not to stress out over the RTD vs SM issues. For me it’s just really fun and, on occasion quite touching, television. That being said, I’m really excited for next weekend! I can’t wait to see Twelve.
I like five, but he wasn’t one my favorites. Six definitely was. I fell in love with him immediately. Four is actually my very least favorite Doctor. I really tried to like him and I watched his episodes, but Tom Baker just creeps me out.
XD This might give you a laugh. Look what has herpes: http://bibliophiliacs.com/2013/11/15/copies-of-fifty-shades-of-grey-positive-for-herpes/ I find it hysterical, given that they basically ARE herpes. They’re horrid, obnoxious shit that won’t go the hell away no matter what you do. They are herpes. …And now they have herpes too. D’oh!
Well, I’m glad that the Doctor Who movie is next up in my Netflix. At this rate, I might start watching the old series sometime this decade…
Can someone explain what the ‘fucked up shit with the show’ is? I’m not a Whovian, so I don’t know, but I’ve only ever heard positive things about the new series, and so to hear otherwise was a surprise.
I’m not really much of a Doctor Who fan these days, but the main problems I’ve seen cited about Moffat’s Who (amongst others, but these are the things that made me lose a lot of interest, despite Matt Smith being fabulous) are sexism and overcomplicated plots with twists whose aim is to surprise the audience at the expense of comprehension and sense. It seems to forget at times that a large portion of the audience are children, and gets too caught up in ‘look how clever we are!!’ There are tons of problems with Moffat’s female characters (and the attitude Eleven occasionally has towards them) and while DW has never been perfect on the gender front, the new series has never been worse for it than it has been under Moffat.
I’m a little surprised you’ve only seen positive things. The past couple of years of Doctor Who have been pretty heavily criticised online. Though, of course, there are masses of praise too 🙂
On the sexism front, I’ve always felt Moffat is sexist and can’t write women (and not just in ‘Who,’ but was watching ‘A Good Man Goes to War’ tonight and still can’t believe that the Doctor asks Rory for permission to hug Amy (I know this isn’t the only time this has happened) and that Amy doesn’t object. Gave me the rage. He’s a fantastic writer but needs to listen to criticism, realise his limitations and get in help when writing female characters in order to create some that are intelligent, autonomous and three-dimentional instead of just ‘fiesty’ (bleuuuggghh.)
And I agree, watching lots of his episodes back with a friend I am just inducting into the Whoniverse, many of the overarching plots make no sense at all once you have already watched the series before and know what is coming. I love the show and enjoy it despite it’s flaws, and ‘The Night of the Doctor’ had me soooooooo overexcited and bodes really, really well for Saturday, but Moffat should take heed of these concerns, because they are valid.
Thanks, Anon! I thought I was the only one who thought it was rather too complicated – but then again, I don’t pay much attention, and that that was just due to that. I like the quirkiness, but once the funny’s done, my interest pretty much ends there, so I’ve overlooked a lot of the flaws, it seems. I’ll keep an eye out next Saturday. Once again, thanks 🙂 .
With regards to the surprise you feel at my only seeing positive remarks: can only speculate, but it’s probably because I don’t talk to a lot of people online – or offline – about DW, and when I do it’s about as deep as a puddle on a summer afternoon:
‘Did you like the show?’
‘Yeah, it was good.’
‘Great … would you like a pineapple?’
P.S. And Louise, too. Thanks!
Doesn’t Moffat write Sherlock? In that show, I have noticed some degree of sexism, particularly with the mortician friend, I can’t recall her name. And the gay jokes – though, to be fair, that can be explained that away as John being an army man, and such a thing is common – at least among my army friends and own experience among military people. Although that’s not actually sexism, but mild homophobia.
Hi Jenny, I’m not sure where to put this. Is there a place where I can read your comments from watching Beetlejuice? I couldn’t find the Archives. Thanks. EdnaZ
I’m sure you saw the Dr Who Google doodle today. Are there any references to actual episodes in the game?
Jenny! I just saw this on pinterest and thought of you. Although, come to think of it, its probably all over tumblr and you may have already seen it:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/92464598573258353/
My guess is that he didn’t mention Grace because she isn’t technically owned by the BBC. She’s owned by Universal, as is Chang Lee. Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso were talking about this at Gallifrey One a couple of years ago. BBC works can’t use those characters unless they buy the rights to them. And as of 2012, they didn’t seem to want to pursue the rights.
It was nice to hear Charlie and Lucie and C’Rizz mentioned, though!
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There was no Grace because the copyright for her character lies entirely with Fox, and they could get into some serious trouble for saying anything less vague than: “I met a Doctor in San Francisco once. Bit slow on the uptake, but great kisser.”