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2018-12-05, 07:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Ok, got caught up in the thread's discussion regarding "Kerblam" and I agree, the episode's anti-extremism message is considerably weakened by what seems like tacit acceptance of an oppressive corporate structure. The episode was ripe for one of the Doctor's classic put-downs (I'm reminded of Nine's speeches to Van Statten, or the Satellite Five crew), and yet all we got was a very, very mild remark of how good managers treat their workers nicely.
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2018-12-05, 11:39 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2006
Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Not "fire at". I never used the word "at"
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2018-12-07, 11:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2018
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- Arizona USA
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
You'd hope Yaz called Norwegian child services on the phone in the TARDIS after they left, but they probably didn't.
Any bets on who "that voice" is that the Doctor recognizes in the season finale?"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
Life's too short to be ashamed of how you were born.
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2018-12-07, 02:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- Carlisle, Englund
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
"Three blokes walk into a pub. One of them is a little bit stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
Androgeus' 3 step guide to Doctor Who speculation:
Spoiler- Pick a random character
- State that person is The Rani
- goto 1
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2018-12-07, 08:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
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2018-12-07, 10:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2018
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- Arizona USA
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Considering "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" is pretty much in the same league as "reverse the polarity" and "bigger on the inside" as a running joke in the Whoniverse, complaining about it would be akin to a Trekkie complaining about beaming up Scotty.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
Life's too short to be ashamed of how you were born.
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2018-12-07, 11:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- Malsheem, Nessus
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
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2018-12-09, 09:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2014
Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
The Witchfinders
SpoilerIt's unwelcome attention from a man accustomed to abusing his position of power. That's not cool, especially when the target is your friend, and I wouldn't expect someone like Jas to just let it slide. James incidentally seems to have got over Alfonso very quickly, but he did mention he is used to his loved ones dying violently.
No, I assume when he teleported back (to an expectant audience, most likely), he received prompt medical attention. Followed by some very embarrassing questions.
It Takes You Away
SpoilerI'll call this one The Doctor, The Widower and the Wardrobe.
I believe this is the Doctor's first visit to Norway since Dårlig Ulv-Stranden/Bad Wolf Bay in Journey's End? Grim Scandi drama is so fashionable on British TV these days, so it was only a matter of time before Doctor Who jumped on the bandwagon. Chibnall has wisely chosen the stark horror genre rather than the even starker crime noir.
The suspense builds very well, and the discovery of Hanne brings a weird twist. The weirdest part being Ryan's blockheaded suggestion that her father might have just wandered off. Yeah, I know you have Daddy issues, Ryan, but seriously? Four days alone in a cabin in the wilderness, hiding in a wardrobe? Pull the other one, it's got a bear trap on it.
And finally Jas is fleshed out a bit more. It turns out she's good with frightened children. It may be part of her training, but still, I'll take whatever I can get at this point.
Then we have the old faulty mirror gag, followed by the delightful Ribbons. Strictly small fry, but an excellent villain in his minor way. I particularly like his petty taunts. Coming from a monstrous humanoid dwelling in a Norwegian cave, they can be dismissed as mere trolling.
With Ryan and Hanne left together it is of course narratively essential that they reconcile and bond - and therefore all the more satisfying when they don't. MeanwhileGrahamGranddad is stuck in an extended metaphor for grief, which is rather redundant as it was already done in Arachnids.
And finally, a talking frog. In these days of animatronics and CGI it's a surprise to see such a poorly-realised creature. It looks about as real as the amphibian in this week's OOTS. The Doctor rather hypocritically claims to be the frog's friend and then abandons it. Still, at least she didn't kiss it.
One can only hope Erik finds a good therapist before the authorities rehouse Hanne with someone more responsible.
We're all speechless.
Originally Posted by Fyraltari
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2018-12-09, 10:51 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2008
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- Shangxi, China
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Episode 10 felt at once like a finale episode for 9 and 10 as much as it felt like a very solid wrap up for Whitaker's first season. There were elements that evoked memories of Satalite 5 as well as references to Boom Town and Journey's End. I really liked a lot of the elements of this episode. It also did feel like a follow up to It Takes You Away so none of the character work or growth was lost there.
Very little of the episode outright surprised me but it was very satisfying. I quite enjoyed it.
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2018-12-10, 07:41 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2017
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- France
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
The episode was decent enough. Nothing really surprising but nothing bad either.
SpoilerTim Shaw is such a cheat, he even steals other vilains' plans!
Forum Wisdom
Mage avatar by smutmulch & linklele.
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2018-12-10, 06:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2008
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Spoiler: Battle of Ranskoor Av KolosTim Shaw made a somewhat more impressive villain the second time around with his ranting about being a god and so on. I wonder if we'll ever meet the rest of the Stenza warrior race or if he will remain our only exposure to them. A connection was clearly confirmed between the Stenza and the planet in The Ghost Monument via the Sniperbots, though we don't know if it was Stenza in general or Tim Shaw and the Ux practicing. I rather thought that might have been touched on, as might the question of how he's stayed alive for 3407 years.
The Ux were an interesting idea which it might have been nice to hear a little more about, especially since the Doctor described their abilities specifically as dimensional engineering, which I believe has only otherwise been mentioned before in the context of TARDISes. Speaking of which, I did like the little Classic reference of Delph describing the TARDIS as dimensionally transcendental.
Once again the Doctor's anti-killing stance was put into very simple terms which one might certainly take issue with, but it's in keeping with the character of Jodie's Doctor specifically as she definitely seems to have a laser focus on trying to save absolutely everyone if at all possible. Also in mitigation she did mention to Ryan that her rules change all the time, which is a simple but effective means of reconciling the variation in the Doctor's attitudes over the years.
Ultimately it was just a good episode, with assorted interesting ideas in it, and rounded out with another instance of basically the same message of hope we've been getting for most of this series.
"Travel hopefully. The universe will surprise you. Constantly.""'But there's still such a lot to be done...'
YES. THERE ALWAYS IS."
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2018-12-10, 07:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2018
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- Arizona USA
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Spoiler: We All Knew......that the villain was Tim Shaw, right?
I will say this honestly: I thought that Graham was going to end up dead when he faced Tim Shaw. Glad I was wrong, but how they finally "captured" him was rather off.
Replace the stolen planets definitely sounds like a Whovian storyline. It could have been written better, but it was a decent story.
Now for the New Year's special (and Who Withdrawl until 2020???). The obvious answer to the question of "who's invading Earth?" is, of course, "The Daleks.""Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
Life's too short to be ashamed of how you were born.
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2018-12-11, 01:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Not "fire at". I never used the word "at"
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2018-12-12, 05:11 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2014
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2018-12-12, 07:26 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- Carlisle, Englund
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
"Three blokes walk into a pub. One of them is a little bit stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
Androgeus' 3 step guide to Doctor Who speculation:
Spoiler- Pick a random character
- State that person is The Rani
- goto 1
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2018-12-15, 12:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
And finally caught up with the last two episodes, too. Overall, I liked them both quite a bit, especially, "It Takes You Away". My main criticism about the season finale is that it didn't feel grand like a season finale should, even with all the planets being threatened. On the other hand, we also had no eleventh-hour, completely-insane Deus Ex Machinae like we often did in the RTD era,* so that's a step up.
* I mean, it was my favourite era of the show, but "Last of the Time Lords", in particular, was egregious with that.
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2018-12-15, 02:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- Carlisle, Englund
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Not series 11 related, but I just finished Big Finish's War Master Volume 2 and it was very good. Jacobi is brilliant as The Master and get more of him is awesome.
"Three blokes walk into a pub. One of them is a little bit stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability." - Bill Bailey
Androgeus' 3 step guide to Doctor Who speculation:
Spoiler- Pick a random character
- State that person is The Rani
- goto 1
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2018-12-17, 02:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
It Takes You Away was fantastic. Easily my favorite episode of the season, and cemented Jodie as The Doctor more thoroughly than anything that came before.
SpoilerThe way she lied to the blind girl without missing a beat in order to protect her (Rule 1), the way she sacrificed herself for our universe (and a grieving but duped father) without hesitation, the heartfelt scenes between her, Graham and Ryan...
But even now, it still feels like there's just not a lot for Yaz to do. Ranskoor was slightly better in that regard but still.Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
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2018-12-17, 07:49 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Indeed! I think Demons of Punjab was overall the better episode, but It Takes You Away had the Doctor's best showing this season.
I'm going to be in the minority, I think, but as long as the character interactions are enjoyable, is that necessarily a bad thing? Jack wasn't really that plot-relevant, but he was still a whole lot of fun to watch.Last edited by The Troubadour; 2018-12-17 at 07:52 AM.
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2018-12-18, 10:57 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2008
Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Finally got caught up on the last few episodes. Liked It Takes You Away and the series finale quite a bit; The Witchfinders was OK but not quite as good IMO. Like Rosa and Demons of the Punjab, The Witchfinders deals with actual historical event (yeah, the village in The Witchfinders is fictional, but witchhunts during the time aren't), but The Witchfinders was the only one where humans weren't the real villains, which is kind of a cop-out.
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2018-12-19, 11:09 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2018
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- Arizona USA
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
OK, here's my ranking of series 11:
10. Arachnids in the UK. The Trump-wannabe was a bit over-the-top, and the whole "how the spiders ended up back at the hotel" was a bit too much to swallow.
9. The Tsuranga Conundrum. It was actually a really good episode... until the Pting (aka "Stitch") showed up.
8. It Takes You Away. A great episode that had three bad moments: the parent just up and leaving his blind daughter; the whole sudden change-of-heart with Ryan towards Graham, and... the frog. The FROG.
7. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. I think practically everyone guessed who the villain was going to be about a third of the way through the episode. This didn't feel like it should have been a season finale, to be honest.
6. The Woman Who Fell to Earth. The big plus was that it was Jodie's debut as The Doctor. The minuses were that the characters seemed rather mopey on first glance, and the death of Grace just seemed so unnecessary.
5. The Witchfinders. This was one of those episodes that seemed to be targeted more toward the US crowd than the UK, as witch hunts are more "our" specialty. The pull-out that "it was aliens" was a bit... creepy, but it was something of a general tone for this whole series. It wasn't brash and brassy like 11, or old and brooding like 12, or silly and somewhat fun like 10. Oh, and a plus for finally dealing with the 800 lb. elephant in the room: "This was so much easier when I was a bloke."
4. The Ghost Monument. Okay, it was "part two" of the series opener, but it wasn't that bad. The Doctor was doing her usual "the ship's falling apart/Don't worry Yaz it'll be okay" thing, while promptly dealing with the issue of two competitors for a "survivor" prize on a planet designed to kill people. The planet's menace was a bit underwhelming (though Ryan going all "Leeeeeroooyyy Jenkinnnss!" on the sniperbots was hilarious). The best part of this one, of course, was seeing the interior of the new TARDIS.
3. Rosa. Oh, hello BBC America watchers! Here's your episode! Hey, whaddya know, racism still exists in the 25th century! Enough where someone takes a vortex manipulator and sets out to keep Rosa Parks from being arrested on the bus in Montgomery! Who'd have thought? My only complaint was that they avoided the obvious things - using the N word, for one. And what a gut punch for Graham there at the end. But this was probably the best episode of the early ones.
2. Demons of the Punjab. This is what we call "Yaz's Episode." It had layers, along with the whole MacGuffin of the wristwatch, the alien menace who weren't menaces, and "who's the real monster?" who The Doctor couldn't save. It also caused a bunch of Americans to look up the Indian-Pakistani Partition on Wikipedia. Who knew that drawing a line in the sand would be so problematic?
1. Kerblam! This just felt like a Doctor Who episode. The Fez, the secret cry for help, the companions all looking for answers, the bait-and-switches, the morality question, and the just... well silliness of an episode named "Kerblam!" Any one of the recent doctors could have done this episode, and nothing would have been questioned. (Okay, maybe Eccleston couldn't have done this one, but you get the point.)"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
Life's too short to be ashamed of how you were born.
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2018-12-19, 07:30 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Sort of. It wasn't the aliens who killed all those innocent women, after all.
Ninth sassed a bitchy trampoline and saved the Earth from farting aliens. Eccleston could have done Kerblam, no doubt about it.
Speaking of Eccleston, here's him and Whittaker showing how good actors they are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzPMov8Lor8Last edited by The Troubadour; 2018-12-19 at 07:34 PM.
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2018-12-20, 11:02 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
My ranking. Keep in mind the only one I thought was actually bad was Arachnids in the UK.
1. It Takes You Away - Cemented Jodie's Doctor in my eyes.
2. Rosa - A one episode primer for what sets Doctor Who apart from all other sci-fi.
3. Demons of the Punjab - Mature themes, great history, and Yaz actually doing things!
4. The Witchfinders - Can... can we get more Alan Comming [sic] in literally everything?
5. The Woman Who Fell to Earth - Automatic top 5 for the inaugural outing.
6. The Tsuranga Conundrum - The Pting is awesome, fight me.
7. Kerblam! - Fantastic setup, but did not stick the landing at all.
8. The Battle of Wherever - Stop trying to make the Stenza happen.
9. The Ghost Monument - Decent setup but ended up just being boring overall, especially compared to later episodes.
10. Arachnids in the UK - Just poorly thought out.
Yes, this. Easily.
I wonder if the Doctor's internal monologues get like this? Past incarnations getting all Shakespearean with each other
Great find!Last edited by Psyren; 2018-12-20 at 11:16 AM.
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
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2018-12-27, 02:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
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2018-12-27, 08:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2015
Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
I've yet to watch past the Rosa Parks episode in Series 11, but I was gifted with a set of DVDs of everything from Nine onward, this Christmas. I'm on Series 3 now, and I have to admit that Ten is damn good. Not as good as Nine, mind you, but he gets some excellent moments.
I do not think the way you think. If you try to apply your own mindset to the things I say, there will be miscommunications. If something I say seems odd to you or feels like it's missing steps, ask for clarification. I'm not some unreasonable, unknowable entity beyond your mortal comprehension, I'm just autistic and have memory problems.
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2018-12-27, 10:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
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2018-12-29, 08:18 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Tennant also had more time in the role, plus a wider variety of companions (Donna, for instance, is my favourite companion, even if Nine is my favourite Doctor, too).
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2018-12-30, 09:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2010
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- Lake Wobegon
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2018-12-30, 07:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- Rio de Janeiro, RJ
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
Hm, I suppose it isn't. But he had the advantage of getting those three years back when New!Who was starting, so he was basically the template for the new series' Doctor.
Hmmm... Would he still be the template, though, or has Matt Smith - or even Capaldi - managed to replace him?
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2018-12-31, 02:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2012
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- Britain
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Re: Would You Be My New Best Friends? (Doctor Who redux)
I think he's still the template Capaldi did try to go a different way but due to poor overall writing didn't quite manage to pull it off. (Although he does have some really good moments possibly the best in the series.)
14 so far is basically Tennent minus his no second chance stance. (Which was applied pretty haphazardly for him anyway.) Her accomplices are great though and I'd like to see the writing staff take that forward.