d-d-d-dAz Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Loki said: I nearly said “and even earlier” but I was a kid when I watched it and it all seemed fucking terrifying so for me, it was horror. I think tbf British sci-fi ends up feeling quite camp because our budgets are tiny in comparison to the US and we can’t really do po-faced like they can. Weirdly, Peter Capaldi - who was supposed to be the shows biggest supporter - said this when he left. He said the show had a problem because the execs wanted it to be the worlds biggest sci-fi drama that appealed to everyone - but had pennies for a budget. He was quite critical of it. His argument was they just need to abandon their ambitions and just be content being a show for children exclusively. I think he’d been sold on a dream that the Americans were going to plough money into it and he was going to take it to the next level. Instead, he just got really dark material amidst a backdrop of the same tinfoil and gaffer tape monsters. Edited May 8, 2022 by d-d-d-dAz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 At least it’s not Olly Alexander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 29 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said: At least it’s not Olly Alexander What would've been wrong with that? He's fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 Capaldi's first interactions with children after getting the role was always really interesting. He seemed to go out of his way to explain to children that he was still their Doctor and that it was still a show for them. Moffat, meanwhile, has always felt like he's one of those fans that doesn't want to admit that the thing he likes is really designed for kids and needs it to be more serious and grown up. But the worse thing for Capaldi was getting stuck with Clara. For most of his run he has a finished plot for a companion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted May 8, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 8, 2022 3 hours ago, SuperBacon said: What would've been wrong with that? He's fantastic. I'll second this. He was incredible in It's A Sin. I knew of his music career, but had no idea he had this level of acting in his locker too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) 6 hours ago, Vamp said: Capaldi's first interactions with children after getting the role was always really interesting. He seemed to go out of his way to explain to children that he was still their Doctor and that it was still a show for them. Moffat, meanwhile, has always felt like he's one of those fans that doesn't want to admit that the thing he likes is really designed for kids and needs it to be more serious and grown up. But the worse thing for Capaldi was getting stuck with Clara. For most of his run he has a finished plot for a companion. I think you’re right to a point, but I also think that’s exactly why they went and got Moffat. Once BBC America got involved, there was always this desire to make Doctor Who more serious. They started featuring the show on their ‘British Drama’ sizzle reels they’d make, alongside Luther and Line of Duty. They started submitting it as a drama at awards seasons etc etc It was a pretty confusing part in the shows history. As an adult, it was great - some of my favourite episodes were from that period. But I think it robbed the show of its purpose, a little bit. It’s also never going to compete with the big American dramas or movie franchises, which appeared to be the big aim. They haven’t got the budget for that. The Chibnall era was supposed to reset it, but rather than just making it more fun and family friendly he dove headlong into the educational angle. It was pretty terrible at times. I still don’t think they fully know what they want to do with the show, even now. ‘Flux’ was a wild deviation from the usual Whitaker/Chibnall fayre - it was proper high concept sci-fi, they just had no idea how to land it properly. I guess that’s the good thing about RTD coming back - even if I’m more a Moffat fan - I think he’s shown he can play to the shows strengths, navigate it’s budget, and place it in the UK cultural mainstream before. He’s also clearly a huge fan and has a strong vision for what the show should be and won’t be as influenced by execs etc. if you go and beg someone to come back to a job they left, they hold all the cards. Edited May 9, 2022 by d-d-d-dAz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 9, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 9, 2022 the beauty of Doctor Who is that it can be either of those approaches - the episode someone mentioned about Capaldi's Doctor being trapped in some kind of time loop prison, where he's died millions of times while chipping his way through a wall made of diamond I thought was a really well made episode, and as good a sci-fi exploration of grief as you'll find anywhere, but the show would be awful if they tried to do that every episode, just as it would be if every episode was a pseudo-educational historical romp. It's the beauty of having a character as established as the Doctor, but in an environment where - because of the time and space travel gimmick - you can literally just slot them into whatever situation and whatever genre you want them in, and it never feels out of place. The amount of "lore" a writer chooses to rely on is entirely up to them, the mood, the tone, everything is up to them, it should be the easiest writing gig in the world. The only way to get it wrong is to overthink it, and that sums up most of Chibnall's run and a lot of Moffat's, and it probably wasn't helped by the switch towards doing the odd episode here and there some years rather than a proper series - when every episode is a "special", the temptation is to overegg it. I'm not a fan of RTD, but I wouldn't be surprised if he brings it back to the Buffy-influenced format of having a monster of the week plus a big bad that's teased throughout the series, and that way the more high concept stuff is framed around self-contained stories and well spaced out, rather than being all over every episode. Here's hoping, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 The show is absolutely capable of delivering on both levels. It's a tricky one and it means some episodes don't appeal to everyone but that's okay. That Capaldi one was one of my favourite Who episodes ever, but I also enjoy the jovial monster of the week type ones and everything in between really. The deeper, more meaningful episodes hit home more because they're not all the time. And they don't always work. There has to be good writing behind it because, as we've seen a number of times, it's not always enough to just have a great person in front of the camera. A lot of Jodie's stuff had 'messages' that could and should have worked but they weren't nearly subtle enough with them unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted May 9, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 9, 2022 I wonder whether Sony buying up Bad Wolf will mean they have a little more budget to work with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 A lovely endorsement by Sylvester McCoy, although why he’s decided to do it while being a helicopter is anyones guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 What's really annoying about the sort of people that wouldn't have liked this casting to begin with, is their absolute refusal to even consider this guy might be good. I feel like we're in a new phase of discrimination where opportunities are there for women, or people of colour, or LGBTQ+ people, but when they take those opportunities a whole section of society rush to tell them they only got it because of tokenism. It's utterly maddening. RTD is saying this guy is absolutely incredible and is going to hit homeruns every Saturday night. Moffat was sent the tape and said he was absolutely astounded. Why on earth would dickheads be so arrogant to still assume they know better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 It's also stupid to assume that the BBC would be okay to throw away one of their biggest worldwide hits on token casting. Is it a bonus if they can cover some of the diversity stuff as well? Absolutely, but the core reason for casting someone will always have to be whether they're any good or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 11, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 11, 2022 If it was a white bloke cast in the role, all those pricks wouldn't ever question whether his was the best audition. Funny, that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB6937 Posted May 11, 2022 Share Posted May 11, 2022 They're definitely not racist though but.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted May 11, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted May 11, 2022 4 hours ago, DavidB6937 said: They're definitely not racist though but.. Some of their friends are (insert racial slur). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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