Who Cares? - Dr. Who Fans Talk TV Who Cares?

How does Boom measure up to past Moffat episodes? What’s confronted, and what’s evaded, in the story? What does the episode say about faith, AI, fatherhood, Doctor mystery, companion casting, and war profiteering? Do the aesthetics work with, or against, the story? What does it mean for an episode to be a 'sinister farce'?

(00:00:00) Return to the Moffat era
(00:03:27) Echoes of previous Moff characters
(00:06:07) 15's moon and the president's wife rhyme
(00:11:46) Smithesque season arc teases
(00:14:20) Moffat arcs vs RTD2's arc
(00:18:17) Messy third act
(00:24:31) Splice and the ensemble
(00:30:18) Inside Man and frustrated catharsis
(00:36:11) Dissipating tension
(00:41:59) Cleverly structured cold open
(00:47:07) Expensive visuals & cool costumes
(00:54:12) Moffat's role as exec producer
(00:56:40) Varada Sethu paratext
(01:00:47) Cheating your audience
(01:06:53) Proof and faith
(01:10:51) Hedging criticism and overlapping concepts
(01:19:52) 'Thoughts and prayers', 'we come in peace'
(01:23:27) Evasive approach to algorithms and politics
(01:30:59) Direction notes and challenges
(01:34:56) Tinelime confusion continues
(01:35:27) Stray thoughts & Skye Boat scene
(01:38:50) Music of the episode… Continue reading →

What's new and different about the RTD2 approach? What does a post-Giggle Doctor Who look like? When is a chord not a chord? What does a 'twist at the end' really mean? How is 15's first run taking shape as a season?

(00:00:00) Cartoon episode + Maestro + opening theme
(00:05:03) Direction + sustained sequences
(00:09:14) The lost chord
(00:12:34) Wonky premise + music battle
(00:22:14) Maestro villainy + 15 characterisation
(00:26:40) Susan (Foreman) + Time Lord genocide ellision
(00:31:24) Six month gap
(00:36:17) 'Saxon theme' + subtitles
(00:39:47) There's Always A Twist At The End
(00:53:43) The ending
(00:55:21) Carol of the Bells + secret song + Pantheon
(00:59:55) Tone of the episode + 1960s
(01:02:15) Maestro's music
(01:04:37) RTD comments on The Devil's Chord
(01:11:11) 'Media literacy'
(01:22:58) RTD2 season 1 arcs… Continue reading →

How is this era being differentiated from those prior? How is music telling the story? What’s new about this Doctor’s characterisation? What’s familiar, and what’s novel, about this new Disney Who?

(00:00:00) General impressions
(00:03:45) Self-conscious overexplaining
(00:08:13) Clever rejigging of the Timeless Child
(00:10:49) Lack of breathing room
(00:15:39) Doctor not needing a purpose
(00:18:06) Empty exposition
(00:20:46) The bizarre ending & Moff callbacks
(00:24:10) Snow attack
(00:26:07) Time to talk about the babies
(00:27:36) Baby lips vs. Rose's carnivorous bin
(00:31:02) NSA-quality idea
(00:34:55) Flashbacks within the same episode
(00:42:41) Secretly Kill The Moon?
(00:45:26) The "Disney scene" at the start
(00:50:28) The Ruby Road ending recap
(00:51:50) Millie elevating the material
(00:56:32) Ncuti's handling of bad lines
(01:03:11) Jocelyn/NAN-E and her filter
(01:06:38) RTD comments on season airing & structure
(01:17:09) RTD Space Babies + adoption comments
(01:22:56) Music from Space Babies (chromatic descent)
(01:25:31) Entering TARDIS (opening music, drums)
(01:28:14) Wondrous music + chromatic descent
(01:31:51) This is Gallifrey + Fifteen's theme
(01:35:18) Silly TARDIS music + Ruby's theme
(01:38:41) Fifteen's theme variation (TARDIS vworping)
(01:39:51) Baby unveiling music + other composers
(01:43:57) They Took The Baby
(01:47:37) Action music (monster dying)
(01:50:51) A Good Man (saving monster)… Continue reading →

How has RTD relaunched Doctor Who? How has he remixed and rejigged the previous eras of the show? How to sell the magic of Who? How do the aesthetics of this era compare to what’s come before? What’s present, and what’s missing? And what do the extras and the novelisation add?

(00:00:00) Thoughts vs. Specials 1-3
(00:06:48) Awkward 'Special 4' positioning
(00:10:59) Doctor dancing in club scene
(00:15:59) Remixing the foundling lore
(00:23:03) Attitudes to adoption & Ruby's family
(00:30:23) Dark Carla scene and its implications
(00:40:24) Goblin controversy
(00:44:45) The direction, editing and composition
(00:56:00) Visual storytelling issues in climactic scenes
(01:12:11) The Flood reveal & her identity
(01:19:06) Liminal checkpoints vs. jumping-on points
(01:29:15) Experiencing media the 'right way'
(01:32:51) How to sell the magic of Who
(01:38:16) Ruby's motive for entering the TARDIS
(01:41:58) Showrunners' interest in the TARDIS
(01:46:59) The "Disney scene"
(01:51:19) "I finally saw him as the Doctor"
(01:53:17) Music in the show's DNA
(01:58:35) The Goblin Song
(02:04:29) Cringe, insecurity & sincerity
(02:11:11) Goblin Song stylistic choices
(02:13:43) Darkness, diegesis, magical church & fake snow
(02:19:27) The missing Goblin King attack sequence
(02:24:54) Overcompensating CGI over practical effects
(02:31:31) Photos on the fridge
(02:33:40) Praise for Millie and Ncuti's performances
(02:41:21) Costume design & companion comparisons
(02:49:46) The mysterious musical motif
(03:01:41) More musical highlights and parallels
(03:13:42) Interview quotes about the new TARDIS
(03:18:53) The new sonic's design and usage
(03:30:17) Most and least exciting future episodes
(03:38:00) Millie Gibson interviews
(03:43:41) Millie rumours & the online outrage industry
(03:52:00) Influencer ideology
(03:57:43) Janis Goblin
(03:59:32) Novelisation: author backstory
(04:06:30) Novel: Opening
(04:10:25) Novel: Chapters 2-3, writing style
(04:13:42) Novel: Dance scene, chapters 5-6
(04:17:29) Novel: Action scenes & Ruby internal monologue
(04:21:48) Novel: The ship escape & room for authorial liberties
(04:27:29) Novel: Cut psychic paper and jargon
(04:31:47) Novel: "I've got no-one"; Drastic Transgression
(04:34:56) Novel: Ruby's family & 15's emotions
(04:40:24) Novel: Crack in time
(04:43:14) Novel: Spiking the ship & Doctor's motivations
(04:52:44) Novel: Ruby entering the TARDIS
(04:58:08) Novel: Overall thoughts… Continue reading →

Was the regeneration satisfying? What’s a Doctorverse? How is the show reorienting to fantasy? Why do people feel so differently about the bigeneration? How is the Toymaker’s legacy handled? What’s different in the novelisation? What does this finale say about the show’s past and future? We discuss The Giggle in depth, while also covering the novelisation and the bevy of extras.

(00:00:00) Journey to France
(00:06:34) ‘There’s no such thing’
(00:08:03) Impressions & attitudes
(00:16:29) Goals of the episode
(00:27:51) UNIT, lasers, journalists
(00:32:28) Unleashed racism
(00:49:08) Music + Toymaker origins
(00:58:23) Giggle thematics + giving fans tools
(01:14:12) Music, Moffat, montage
(01:35:54) Social commentary
(01:44:42) Mel
(01:52:20) The Ruminant
(02:02:07) Ball game
(02:09:21) We can be celestial
(02:13:49) Bigeneration: qualifiers & The End of Time
(02:25:00) Bigeneration: time loop & Tales of the TARDIS
(02:33:09) Bigeneration: opinions & Oliver
(02:45:51) Bigeneration: inquiries & Ingiga
(02:55:28) Bigeneration: Doctors as different people
(03:03:52) Bigeneration: guilt, continuity, baggage
(03:11:14) Bigeneration: emotions, finality, family
(03:21:40) Bigeneration: retirement, cheating, two TARDISes
(03:36:54) Bigeneration: I stay there, he flies off
(03:46:09) Bigeneration: affording a house in France
(03:52:07) Bigeneration: spectacle, toys
(04:00:07) Bigeneration: costume handover across regenerations
(04:07:41) Doctorverse
(04:42:52) Novelisation: appeal, politicians, UNIT
(04:48:58) Novelisation: Toymaker perspective, hashtag Donna reasons
(04:57:15) Novelisation: choose your own adventure + Flux
(05:03:22) Novelisation: musical sequence
(05:11:03) Novelisation: bigeneration + defeat
(05:15:10) Novelisation: third act expansion
(05:26:57) Novelisation: ending
(05:51:20) Books, brands, the future, pop
(05:57:51) Addendum: bigeneration — behind the scenes
(06:06:56) Ncuti’s casting + TARDIS talk
(06:10:09) 14’s house, parallels with Mel, actor expectations
(06:17:03) Script details + regeneration handovers
(06:23:26) Outro… Continue reading →

Doctor-Donna genesis, lyrical lovesickness, character regressions, vindictive villainy, musical escalation, Racnoss drowning, Christmas imagery & more are discussed in this review of The Runaway Bride, Doctor Who's 2006 Christmas special.

(00:00:00) Comparing RTD Christmas specials
(00:04:27) Stakes + establishing Doctor/Donna bond
(00:08:30) Lance representing insecurity
(00:14:54) Actors across time
(00:16:37) Empress of the Racnoss
(00:20:02) Handling of Rose's absence
(00:28:23) Love Don't Roam scene & lyrics
(00:34:00) RTD & Christmas imagery
(00:36:36) Orchestral & cinematic scale
(00:42:28) The real core of the Earth
(00:46:05) Spider web attack on London
(00:48:47) 10 drowning the Racnoss
(00:55:57) Introducing Gallifrey & wider universe
(01:00:05) Vindictive villainy
(01:03:31) 'You can stop now'
(01:05:17) Donna imitating Rose's swing moment
(01:09:55) Bookending Doctor/Donna relationship
(01:12:16) Episode archaeology
(01:15:37) How Lance became a companion
(01:17:13) The Snake in the grass
(01:23:36) The 1:50 AM Incident
(01:25:09) Fan judgement & children's acceptance
(01:30:16) Donna's wedding 'regeneration'
(01:33:22) Sympathy for the Racnoss
(01:40:35) Donna not joining the TARDIS
(01:43:39) Staging of the ending scene
(01:45:25) Cruelty & warmth in Donna's life
(01:49:44) Retrospective thoughts & looking forward… Continue reading →