Saturday Waffling (February 1st, 2014)
Hello all. Just got back from taking the quite lovely wife out to a birthday dinner, and am rather exhausted, so going to keep this brief. And. Um. I suppose I should come up with a conversation topic.
No. Screw it. I’m tired. You tell me what we’re going to talk about. Then talk about it. Excellent. This is a fine plan.
Good night. Or morning. Bugger.
Gaius
February 1, 2014 @ 12:46 am
I can't remember when was the post where us readers could suggest material to be covered for the Matt Smith era, so I'm offering a suggestion now.
I think Justin Roiland's and Dan Harmon's (of Community fame) Rick and Morty has proven itself worthy with the six episodes that have been broadcast up until now. Harmon has even stated (in the linked article) that darker British children's television, naturally including Doctor Who, is a direct inspiration for the series and that he is also exploring different aspects of the Doctor/companion dynamic, even though superficially the series appears to be a take on Back to the Future:
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/11/dan-harmon-rick-and-morty-will-be-the-doctor-who-of-adult-swim-cartoons.html
This week's episode went further in screwing up Morty the teenage companion's psyche than ever before. Rick on the other hand solved the plot by cynically breaking a Doctor Who narrative rule. But Rick is no Doctor himself: he doesn't view the wonders of the universe with childlike eyes but instead just medicates himself with alcohol in mid-sentence, probably just to keep himself from entirely going off the rails. The series is constantly funny and absolutely twisted.
Considering that it started airing three weeks before the Matt Smith era wrapped up, it would be suitable for one of the final pops between realities. And Adult Swim even uploads every episode handily on YouTube.
Lewis Christian
February 1, 2014 @ 6:01 am
So, Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who costume, ey?
jane
February 1, 2014 @ 8:09 am
Perhaps "Community" should be on that list as well — at the very least as a show that's been influenced by Doctor Who, though not an influence on the show itself.
I also wonder about Girls, just in terms of how the critical (and uncritical) commentary around that show can be juxtaposed with the sort of reception that Moffat's Who has engendered.
Bennett
February 1, 2014 @ 9:06 am
My favourite part of the costume reveal has been all of the doctored images that have shown up since.
Thomas Lawrence
February 1, 2014 @ 11:10 am
Doc Martens!
I feel like there's a whole article just in shoe semiotics re: each Doctor.
Matthew Blanchette
February 1, 2014 @ 11:43 am
No, Phil. No matter how much of an Anglophilic, Queen-worshipper you may be, you are an American, with a soft Northeastern American accent; as such, you are not allowed to say "bugger".
…nor am I, then, for that matter. 😛
Lewis Christian
February 1, 2014 @ 12:10 pm
Love the tweet from the official BBC DW account which said "sorry, our experts got it wrong. They're not DMs." Yeah, so much for 'experts' eh? I also love all the photoshops. My fave is one of the costume done up in Colin Baker patterns/colour.
Anton B
February 1, 2014 @ 12:17 pm
Doctor Twelve's gone for the slightly addled Eighties electro-rock album producer look, crombie coat, Faux Doc Martins, throwing a shape, Blue Steel stare. There's a touch of the Pertwee flash and a hint of Hartnell irascibility oh and the buttoned-up-to-the-neck tieless white shirt is a classic Bowie look from The Man Who Fell to Earth (appropriately) through the Thin White Duke and onwards. Capaldi's definitely a Bowie Casualty.
Anton B
February 1, 2014 @ 12:35 pm
Sherlock's a given of course, Broadchurch is a must if only because of Darvill, Bradley, Tennant etc. I'd definitely suggest Utopia a stylish and completely post-modern bonkers thriller with comic book references (Moore and Morrison mostly), instagram style cinematography and a moody techno jungle triphop soundtrack and Charlie Brooker's kind of Tales of the Unexpected for the 21st century Black Mirror. I'd also love to see something on Derren Brown particularly as he's now been named as a cover story in both Day of the Doctor and Sherlock.
jane
February 1, 2014 @ 1:46 pm
You mean that wasn't an Ender's Game reference?
???
ianmcin
February 1, 2014 @ 10:43 pm
Venture Bros.
David Anderson
February 2, 2014 @ 10:27 am
When did Misfits start? I'd agree that Utopia may be worth covering. Downton Abbey and modern drama generally? (Ben Aaronovitch has opined that if not for the success of new Doctor Who drama would be a thing of the past in UK television.)
It might be tempting to connect Scandinavian crime drama with Sherlock, if only so as to have a tenuous reason to talk about The Bridge. Also as context for Broadchurch.
If the blog were to continue into the Capaldi era, there might be reason to look at The Musketeers if only to make jokes about the Abbot of Amboise.
David Anderson
February 2, 2014 @ 10:29 am
While I'm thinking about the blog continuing into the Capaldi era, will Season Three of Sherlock be covered?
Chicanery
February 2, 2014 @ 2:27 pm
Hannibal might be worth a look in, if only for the way it plays around with genre and moves away from campy predecessors.
Nick Smale
February 2, 2014 @ 9:28 pm
I was disappointed when the costume was revealed. I was hoping for something new, something we hadn't seen before – a Doctor in working-clothes maybe, or (non-Edwardian) period costume, or non-Western clothes – but what was revealed seems instead familiar, even generic.
However, having seen it in action now in the fan videos that have turned up from last week's filming, I'm coming round. The costume has an interesting quality – funereal, I think I'd call it – which feels distinctive.