#he would have liked chris eccelston though. sad

[kattitude130]

wait, the doctor who movie was released in 1996! axl could have seen it!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Heartless

I’ve seen some of the new Doctor Who and it’s kind of terrible. Once, when i was younger, I’d be on the edge of my seat whenever i tuned into this smart, snarky, surprisingly well executed indie-like show. I adored the first few series of the revival run. Eccelston was a decent Doctor but the show took off once David Tennant got the role. 10 is my favorite Doc of all time, no disrespect to Matt Smith or Tom Baker but, for me, it’s 10 all the way. He had the best stories, the best development, the best pathos. He was written brilliantly and i adored every second of it. And that’s the rub; 10 was WRITTEN beautifully. There was creativity and passion and love in his stories. All of that was driven by Russell T. Davies, a brilliant creator in his own right. This cat was the driving force behind shows like Queer As Folk and The Grand. He had a way to ground his storied in reality by focusing on the characters and their motivation. For Davies, the devil was in the detail and his almost auteur sense of showrunning made sure of that. I understand why Eccelston left after one series. Davies wasn’t budging on his vision and Eccelston, being the same way in front of the screen, woulld, invariably, do nothing but clash. It was sad to see him go but we got Tennant in tow, so it wasn’t all bad. I was born in the 80s so, until the revival started, my Doctor Who was Paul McGann. It’s a shame he didn’t get a fair shake. I think he could have been incredibly special in the role. Unfortunate. Eventually, Tennant left, like Eccelestson, but on different terms. Cats had to pry David off the set, he loved the character so much. In comes Matt Smith, all young and gang, instantly warming our hearts to his cool ass bow ties. Matt Smith brought Steven Moffat with him as showrunner and this is where things took a turn, I think.

Steven Moffat is a huge television person in Britain. He’s produced fantastic shows like the BBC Sherlock, Jekyll, and the current Netflix Dracula run. He is not Russell T. Davies. The difference in their writing is wildly apparent. I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s definitely less. Or so it was after Davies left. See, Davies had a cache of writers on his staff while he ran his portion of Who. Moffat was one of those cats. Davies says he never changed a single script submitted by Moffat, and I’m inclined to agree. When you have strict parents, you know to stay inline and put your best foot forward. When Davies bowed out and Moffat got the big chair? That’s when sh*t started to slide. Don’t get me wrong, the show was still entertaining. Moffat hit the jackpot with Smith and Karen Gillan. Their chemistry was amazing. I, personally, enjoyed the episodes with Rover Song as well, although, that seems to be a point of contention among the fandom. However, You can see cracks begin to form when Gillan left. Now, i absolutely adore Clara Oswin Oswald. The idea of her character was great. The execution, not so great. That becomes a theme in Moffat run. By the time Peter Capaldi got to throw on his sonic shades, Moffat was phoning sh*t in left and right, which is absurd because Capaldi is an excellent actor. How do yo outright waste such talent? There were a few sparks of amazing, a few brilliant episode, and f*cking Missy, ultimately though, Moffat went out with a fart instead of a bang. I think, toward the end there, Moffat was tired of the vehicle that made him a star. This brings my to current Who. The BBC installed one of the worse creatives in their social conscious to helm what could arguably be the biggest shift n Who since the first hiatus; A female Doctor.

Now, i was never one of these cats who cared if the Doctor had a Johnson or a Virginia, they’re immortal interdenominational aliens who regenerate their bodies after death. They can be whatever the f*ck they want to be at that point, except ginger, apparently. o be so butt-hurt that their precious Doctor now has boobies is ridiculous. Be upset about who they cast, bro. We’ve had excellent actors portraying the good Doctor for decades. Is this new one, female or not, going to carry that torch? Do they have the ability to do this legacy justice? That’s what should have been the focus, but it wasn’t, so the BBC was able to slide Chris Chibnall into the big chair. That is the problem with this show. A lot of Chibnall’s catalog seems to be crime serials. I’m intimately familiar with Broadchurch and i can make pretty accurate assumptions about Law and Order: UK. He was head writer fir Torchwood, but that ain’t Doctor Who. That’s a different show with a different feel. He’s actually written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who in the new run, itself. Who’s favorite episode is f*cking “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship?” And the BBC put THIS guy in charge? No wonder the ratings are in the sh*tter, dude can’t write outside of crime dramas! There is a distinct lack of imagination there and it shows in his filmography. Just because you have a tenuous connection to Doctor Who, doesn’t mean you should be in charge of the entire goddamn show! Which is a shame because Jodie Whittaker is an amazing actor!

Jodie is the saving grace of this terrible run and it’s hard to see that with how drab her scripts have been. This feels a lot like how McGann got burned in the 90s but in a different way. Whittaker’s pedigrees is unassailable. Ma can act. She was great in attack the Block and the best goddamn thing about Broadchurch so stepping into the role of the Doctor; a role historically chock full of freedom for the actor to craft any sort of personality for the character, should have been a dream come true. it wasn’t. Whittaker was almost immediately boxed in by the BBC and Chibnall, forcing this weird, focus grouped, visage all over her. She was immediately expected to impersonate a cross between Smith and Tennant, something that sound awesome on paper but is absolutely impossible to pull off once you have a deep understanding about those two characters. 10 was a Doctor who had to live with the knowledge that he committed genocide on his own people. While he was able to smile and interact with others on a personable level, he kept people at an arms length. He abandoned the woman he loved in another dimension because of this fact. Because he feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy. 11 is the opposite. He forgot the number. He stopped counting. He allows himself to love again, both platonic and romantic. He doesn’t care about the Time War and it’s casualties, not anymore. This juxtaposition is impossible to reconcile and it makes for a sh*tty character with no tone, no agency, and no heart. And that’s the problem with this run of Doctor Who so far; There’s no heart.

It seems Chibnall has a rather short leash with this run of the Doctor. Not that he minds it, dude comes across has kind of an executive bootlicker from what I’ve seen. He’s a creative who isn’t all that creative; a writer who has good ideas and not a lick of understanding about how to execute them properly. I could be wrong, I’m not British, but i am observant and it appears to me that Chibnall is at his best when he’s adapting some sh*t or has a framework to build upon. Crime serials have that.They have a structure to their narrative. It you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all that’s why they’re called “serials”. Even with Torchwood, there was a world to build upon and cats to edit his scripts. Being the showrunner for Doctor Who has none of that. There is no structure. There is no framework. There is just pure possibility, awash in the fantastic. You have to have imagination to be in charge of Who and, as far as i can tell, Chibnall is lacking that aspect. He’s lacking heart. Doctor Who feels like Broadchurch, in more ways than one, and that i absolutely a sin. Who should feel like Who. It would be whimsical and tragic and uplifting and heartfelt and genuine. What Chibnall has created in these two series so far, feels like a product. This sh*t was pressed out, manufactured, with not even an ounce of love and that sucks. How can he be so jaded and he just got the job?

[smokeybrand]

Heartless

I’ve seen some of the new Doctor Who and it’s kind of terrible. Once, when i was younger, I’d be on the edge of my seat whenever i tuned into this smart, snarky, surprisingly well executed indie-like show. I adored the first few series of the revival run. Eccelston was a decent Doctor but the show took off once David Tennant got the role. 10 is my favorite Doc of all time, no disrespect to Matt Smith or Tom Baker but, for me, it’s 10 all the way. He had the best stories, the best development, the best pathos. He was written brilliantly and i adored every second of it. And that’s the rub; 10 was WRITTEN beautifully. There was creativity and passion and love in his stories. All of that was driven by Russell T. Davies, a brilliant creator in his own right. This cat was the driving force behind shows like Queer As Folk and The Grand. He had a way to ground his storied in reality by focusing on the characters and their motivation. For Davies, the devil was in the detail and his almost auteur sense of showrunning made sure of that. I understand why Eccelston left after one series. Davies wasn’t budging on his vision and Eccelston, being the same way in front of the screen, woulld, invariably, do nothing but clash. It was sad to see him go but we got Tennant in tow, so it wasn’t all bad. I was born in the 80s so, until the revival started, my Doctor Who was Paul McGann. It’s a shame he didn’t get a fair shake. I think he could have been incredibly special in the role. Unfortunate. Eventually, Tennant left, like Eccelestson, but on different terms. Cats had to pry David off the set, he loved the character so much. In comes Matt Smith, all young and gang, instantly warming our hearts to his cool ass bow ties. Matt Smith brought Steven Moffat with him as showrunner and this is where things took a turn, I think.

Steven Moffat is a huge television person in Britain. He’s produced fantastic shows like the BBC Sherlock, Jekyll, and the current Netflix Dracula run. He is not Russell T. Davies. The difference in their writing is wildly apparent. I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s definitely less. Or so it was after Davies left. See, Davies had a cache of writers on his staff while he ran his portion of Who. Moffat was one of those cats. Davies says he never changed a single script submitted by Moffat, and I’m inclined to agree. When you have strict parents, you know to stay inline and put your best foot forward. When Davies bowed out and Moffat got the big chair? That’s when sh*t started to slide. Don’t get me wrong, the show was still entertaining. Moffat hit the jackpot with Smith and Karen Gillan. Their chemistry was amazing. I, personally, enjoyed the episodes with Rover Song as well, although, that seems to be a point of contention among the fandom. However, You can see cracks begin to form when Gillan left. Now, i absolutely adore Clara Oswin Oswald. The idea of her character was great. The execution, not so great. That becomes a theme in Moffat run. By the time Peter Capaldi got to throw on his sonic shades, Moffat was phoning sh*t in left and right, which is absurd because Capaldi is an excellent actor. How do yo outright waste such talent? There were a few sparks of amazing, a few brilliant episode, and f*cking Missy, ultimately though, Moffat went out with a fart instead of a bang. I think, toward the end there, Moffat was tired of the vehicle that made him a star. This brings my to current Who. The BBC installed one of the worse creatives in their social conscious to helm what could arguably be the biggest shift n Who since the first hiatus; A female Doctor.

Now, i was never one of these cats who cared if the Doctor had a Johnson or a Virginia, they’re immortal interdenominational aliens who regenerate their bodies after death. They can be whatever the f*ck they want to be at that point, except ginger, apparently. o be so butt-hurt that their precious Doctor now has boobies is ridiculous. Be upset about who they cast, bro. We’ve had excellent actors portraying the good Doctor for decades. Is this new one, female or not, going to carry that torch? Do they have the ability to do this legacy justice? That’s what should have been the focus, but it wasn’t, so the BBC was able to slide Chris Chibnall into the big chair. That is the problem with this show. A lot of Chibnall’s catalog seems to be crime serials. I’m intimately familiar with Broadchurch and i can make pretty accurate assumptions about Law and Order: UK. He was head writer fir Torchwood, but that ain’t Doctor Who. That’s a different show with a different feel. He’s actually written some of the worst episodes of Doctor Who in the new run, itself. Who’s favorite episode is f*cking “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship?” And the BBC put THIS guy in charge? No wonder the ratings are in the sh*tter, dude can’t write outside of crime dramas! There is a distinct lack of imagination there and it shows in his filmography. Just because you have a tenuous connection to Doctor Who, doesn’t mean you should be in charge of the entire goddamn show! Which is a shame because Jodie Whittaker is an amazing actor!

Jodie is the saving grace of this terrible run and it’s hard to see that with how drab her scripts have been. This feels a lot like how McGann got burned in the 90s but in a different way. Whittaker’s pedigrees is unassailable. Ma can act. She was great in attack the Block and the best goddamn thing about Broadchurch so stepping into the role of the Doctor; a role historically chock full of freedom for the actor to craft any sort of personality for the character, should have been a dream come true. it wasn’t. Whittaker was almost immediately boxed in by the BBC and Chibnall, forcing this weird, focus grouped, visage all over her. She was immediately expected to impersonate a cross between Smith and Tennant, something that sound awesome on paper but is absolutely impossible to pull off once you have a deep understanding about those two characters. 10 was a Doctor who had to live with the knowledge that he committed genocide on his own people. While he was able to smile and interact with others on a personable level, he kept people at an arms length. He abandoned the woman he loved in another dimension because of this fact. Because he feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy. 11 is the opposite. He forgot the number. He stopped counting. He allows himself to love again, both platonic and romantic. He doesn’t care about the Time War and it’s casualties, not anymore. This juxtaposition is impossible to reconcile and it makes for a sh*tty character with no tone, no agency, and no heart. And that’s the problem with this run of Doctor Who so far; There’s no heart.

It seems Chibnall has a rather short leash with this run of the Doctor. Not that he minds it, dude comes across has kind of an executive bootlicker from what I’ve seen. He’s a creative who isn’t all that creative; a writer who has good ideas and not a lick of understanding about how to execute them properly. I could be wrong, I’m not British, but i am observant and it appears to me that Chibnall is at his best when he’s adapting some sh*t or has a framework to build upon. Crime serials have that.They have a structure to their narrative. It you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all that’s why they’re called “serials”. Even with Torchwood, there was a world to build upon and cats to edit his scripts. Being the showrunner for Doctor Who has none of that. There is no structure. There is no framework. There is just pure possibility, awash in the fantastic. You have to have imagination to be in charge of Who and, as far as i can tell, Chibnall is lacking that aspect. He’s lacking heart. Doctor Who feels like Broadchurch, in more ways than one, and that i absolutely a sin. Who should feel like Who. It would be whimsical and tragic and uplifting and heartfelt and genuine. What Chibnall has created in these two series so far, feels like a product. This sh*t was pressed out, manufactured, with not even an ounce of love and that sucks. How can he be so jaded and he just got the job?