#and if people bring up the timeless child in regards to my two doctors point I’m going to kill

[merrygejelh]

My favorite dr who fandom hypocrisy to do in my own life is to block people for being mean about Chibnall who while also blocking people who are nice about the sixth doctor’s seasons. In my defense it drives me up the fucking wall when those are the Same People. “Chibnall who is the most conservative dr who has ever been” the sixth doctor is a eugenicist. On screen in canon. In like half of his stories. 13 is annoyingly neoliberal at worst. If you’re going to say one of these is unwatchable due to its politics you’ve made um. A weird choice if you think a few clumsy attempts at progressivism are Worse than a story in which the Luddite riots were caused by the workers being made supernaturally stupid and violent by a mad scientist and therefore weren’t listening to the nice sensible factory owner. Or a story in which the doctor gets his (inherently superior) time lord genes stolen and is turned into a subhuman cannibal. Like hello

[wheres-the-pool-ladder]

My Theory Regarding Brendan

Spoilers for Ascension of the Cybermen below

So, people are already latching onto the idea that Brendan is the Timeless Child. And this does kinda go along with that, but this is kinda more explaining what Brendan—and by extent, the Timeless Child—is, as well as a few other things. Now, I’ll admit, my theory is rather flimsy in some areas, and it’s constantly evolving due to new information or random suggestions, but I still think it’s pretty interesting, and I can’t get it out of my head.

I think that the scenes with Brendan and his family weren’t of 20th century Earth like we were initially led to believe, but rather of early Gallifeyan society. When Brendan turns out to be perfectly fine after getting shot and then falling off of a cliff, it makes it seem like he’s a humanoid alien amongst humans, possibly a Time Lord. But then everyone around him stay the same age while he gets old. Granted, he could have regenerated at some point. But then they wipe his memory, specifically stating “Too bad you won’t remember any of it”, using something that looked suspiciously like a Chameleon Arch. So his friends and family clearly can’t be from early 20th century Earth, because they wouldn’t have mind wipe technology, even if it isn’t necessarily a Chameleon Arch.

But let’s assume that it is a Chameleon Arch. I think that Brendan could’ve been the first Gallifreyan to regenerate. This would explain how he ended up so much older than everyone else; he didn’t age faster than them, he just regenerated before they had the chance to look old. Then, for whatever reason, they use the Chameleon Arch on him, something that didn’t seem to surprise him, turning him human. 

I’ve head that Old!Brendan and Ko Sharmus share an actor, and while I did think that they looked very similar, I haven’t found any confirmation from cast listings (or perhaps the fact that I can’t find the actor for Old!Brendan in cast listings is confirmation). But whatever, let’s go with it. Likely Ko Sharmus is who Brendan became after using the Chameleon Arch. So then he starts guarding the portal leading to Gallifrey. This could go one of two ways. The first is that send the other settlers through the portal was simply part of the false set of memories the Chameleon Arch implanted. The Doctor, Ryan, and Ethan are the only people he’s met since becoming Ko Sharmus, and thus the only ones he’s told about the portal reacting to proximity, when the portal probably only reacts when in proximity to a Time Lord.

My second route with this theory, which I think is much more interesting, is that he really did get sent back during the Cyber Wars, and really did bring a bunch of humans with him when he discovered the portal. So a bunch of humans end up on Gallifrey and settle there, and over time develop a society and end up evolving into Time Lords due to millennia of exposure to the Untempered Schism.

When discussing my theory with my mom, she suggested, most likely jokingly, that instead of Time Lords evolving from humans, perhaps humans “devolved” from Time Lords. And it really got me thinking, especially once I realized that the memory wipe device looked like a Chameleon Arch. Perhaps forced Chameleon Arch could be more common than we think. I mean, the Time Lord Council has canonically forced Time Lords to regenerate. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch that they might sometimes for a Time Lord to become human. As I mentioned before, Brendan didn’t seem surprised when it was revealed that were going to use it on him, so it might have already been known that that was a thing that happens. And perhaps that’s how humanity started: a bunch of Time Lords forced to become human with the Chameleon Arch as punishment and then sent to the early days of humanity.

Then this whole thing would be one big ontological paradox. Ko Sharmus accidentally sends a bunch of humans to Gallifrey, they settle there and eventually evolve into Gallifreyans (and eventually become Time Lords), they start developing some of the technology associated with Time Lords, such as Chameleon Arches and time travel, Brendan becomes the first Gallifreyan to develop the ability to regenerate, humanity develops from Time Lords who used Chameleon Arches and were sent back in time, one of them being Brendan who instead becomes Ko Sharmus.

Or perhaps he really was a Time Lord living amongst 20th century humans, but so were his dad and the police officer because the Time Lords knew about him and sent the two of them to spy on him. That’s why they had the Chameleon Arch, and why Brendan wasn’t surprised that they were going to use it on him: he knew he’d been found out. And he could be unique amongst Time Lords, given that he didn’t regenerate when he was shot and then fell off a cliff. Who knows?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[sprnklersplashes]

I have some less-than-flattering thoughts about series 11 that have been brewing for a while under the cut...

First off, let me state that when Jodie was cast, I flipped my shit with happiness. I squealed when Peter regenerated into Jodie. I was so ready for a female doctor. But I feel like the writing has been a let down a lot of the time.

First off, my issue with 13 is that she feels too bouncy and light and happy. Which I have no problem with but there’s no darkness to contrast. Part of what makes the Doctor so amazing is that they have darkness beneath their smile. I don’t really think 13 is all that dark. I hope that in season 12 she gets her dark side out. I saw someone say that she’s “too perfect” and I agree; I think the only time she’s messed up was in the Tsangunda Conundrum. The Doctor isn’t perfect; they’re meant to be dark, flawed, complicated. Part of me wonders if Chris felt under pressure to write a likeable female Doctor (a big challenge, I admit) that he shot himself in the foot a bit.

None of the companions feel developed, except a bit for Ryan and Graham, and even then their development is quite shallow. I don’t feel like we know anything about them. My friend who hasn’t watched yet asked me to describe Yaz and my other friend and I couldn’t. Even watching the NY episode, it felt like you could have taken them out of the episode altogether and little would have changed. They don’t really seem to do anything, other than react to what the Doctor does. Companions aren’t just there for the sake of it, they play parts in helping save the day (Clara saving Akhaten, Martha protecting John Smith, Bill regaining Twelve’s sight).

I’ve spoken before about how “Team TARDIS” doesn’t feel like a team, but “Yaz and the Doctor” and “Ryan and Graham”. I’m pretty sure Thirteen said one thing to Ryan the entire NYD special. Would it kill them to mix it up a little? Have Graham and 13 pair off, or Graham and Yaz, who have had one proper conversation this entire season, and let Ryan and the Doctor have some proper moments together, because it’s starting to feel like Ryan, and less so Graham, are just spare parts. I feel like there is a lot of telling rather than showing, for example the repeated uses of the word “fam” which would be great if they you know, interacted with each other like a family does.

On that point, the relationships between the companions and the Doctor feel very on the surface. Why do they like her? What kind of dynamic do they have? I don’t know!

Regarding Ryan and Graham specifically, despite being my favourite relationship this series, I feel like they weren’t given enough attention or development. As much as I loved hearing him say “grandad” I feel like it came out of nowhere in a way. Like Chris just thought “okay it’s near the end of the season, he needs to love him now, he can call him grandad, let’s check that off the list” without any major shift or development in their relationship happening prior.

I feel like Chris is erasing parts of DW lore, especially with UNIT. Yes I got a chuckle out of the Brexit jab (once I got it but I’m very slow, so) but I don’t see what erasing UNIT will add (I admit I may be getting ahead of myself here and will happily eat my words if I am proven wrong). And the Time War? Gallifrey? Where are those? In a way, this season sort of feels detached from the last 50+ years of the show. Again, I will happily eat my words if I am proven wrong.

A problem I have noticed in many episodes this season is that they drag things out as long as possible then resolve everything in the last 15 minutes. It happened in Resolution, Demons, Kerblam! and It Takes You Away (which I have other issues with). I’m not a fan of the pacing of this season.

I really feel like you can watch episodes 3-9 in any order and it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. I don’t feel like there is any overarching arc or cohesiveness this season, which really annoys me. I know Chibnall didn’t want a big plot thread a la Bad Wolf or Silence Will Fall, which is fine, but it also feels like it’s all a bunch of filler episodes.

Also, speaking of plot threads, the Timeless Child? Where did it go? What happened to it? It was just brought up and disappeared again. I’m sorry, but that’s bad writing. If you don’t want a big overarching plot in your show, fine by me, but putting one in and then never bringing it up again just feels weird. Did Chris not proofread it before filming? I repeat, if I am proven wrong, I will be happy.

A big problem I know many people have is the LGBT representation this season. Really I feel the only solid rep is the woman from episode 2 whose name I cannot remember and kind of King James (though I sort of feel like he was being played for laughs and made a bit stereotypical, though at the same time, big points for historical accuracy). Then there’s the two people who mentioned their same-sex partners then died. I don’t feel like any further comment is needed.

I am not complaining for the sake of it; I want to love 13 and Team TARDIS so so badly. I want 13/Jodie to become The Doctor in all her messy, dark, complicated glory. I want these four to have a heart warming found family dynamic. And I hope that next season, the writing matches the actors’ potential.

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 11 Review Part 2/10: The Ghost Monument

Air date: 14 October 2018

The second episode of Doctor Who Series 11 is here and I have to say, I’m liking the Thirteenth Doctor already. Most of the negative pre-series thoughts I have on her are out of the way for now, but I’ll keep a look out for anything strange in that regard.

I am aiming to get each review out during the middle of the week, preferably on Wednesdays, but since I am usually pre-occupied (or distracted) with other things, this isn’t a guarantee.

This week’s spoiler-free thought is not really that spoiler-free, but whether you’ve watched this episode or not, you’ll probably get this reference if you’ve watched a certain tokusatsu series - “This is all Tim Shaw’s fault!”

Regardless, this review will contain spoilers if you keep on reading.

New titles

There were no opening titles in last week’s season opener, but the new titles made their debut in this week’s episode.

The new titles for this series aren’t as dynamic compared to those of previous series. They just feel like they’re over and done quickly. There’s an obvious mirroring effect this time around, which is similar to some Classic Series openers, specifically those of the First and Second Doctors. Like the theme, it’s pretty obvious that the inspiration for the titles has been taken from the Classic Series. They’re not bad, in my opinion.

Where we left off and some background to this episode

We last left off in the last scene of the previous episode, where the Doctor accidentally teleports herself, Graham, Ryan and Yaz into space. They are then picked up by two ships, piloted by Angstrom (Susan Lynch) and Epzo (Shaun Dooley), who are heading to a planet that is apparently named “Desolation” - the closest to a name that anyone knows.

While Angstrom lands on the planet with Graham and Ryan, Yaz finds herself witness to the Doctor bickering with Epzo (like an old married couple, as they say, but not quite) as his ship crashes onto the same planet.

This planet is the final stage for the final Rally of the Twelve Galaxies, a race that the Doctor compares to the Paris-Dakar Rally, hosted by Ilin. With Angstrom and Epzo being the Rally’s finalists, their target is to get to something called the “Ghost Monument”, which has been appearing in the same place every thousand solar rotations. This “monument” is revealed to be the TARDIS, which was originally at the location where the Doctor and her friends were found; the planet had fell out of its original orbit.

“This is all Decade’s fault...”

I’ve found Epzo’s character in this episode to be similar to the main character of Kamen Rider Decade, Tsukasa Kadoya. From my observation, Epzo seems to be a more cynical version of Tsukasa, considering his cocky and apathetic attitude in this episode.

Where Tsukasa was teaching aesops to the AR World Riders in Decade, Epzo has become the one who learns these lessons himself. He gradually becomes a bit nicer towards the end of the episode, but I don’t know if he’ll take the lessons he learnt to heart considering that he suddenly disappears at the end of the episode. However, if it’s any consolation, Angstrom and Epzo learn a bit about sharing, given that it was Epzo’s cigar that saved them from the Remnants.

Ilin’s character also reflects Tsukasa, but more during his time as the Great Leader of Dai-Shocker. The way in how he treats the participants of the Rally comes towards Tsukasa’s unforgiving nature. Eventually, the two characters are “put in their place”, though in Ilin’s case, it was a case of Angstrom and Epzo wanting him to recognise the two as equal winners of the Rally, while in Tsukasa’s case, he was betrayed by the true enemy of the All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker movie.

“...or is it Tim Shaw’s fault?”

Given Epzo’s bickering with Angstrom, you would have thought that either they or their races, the Muxterans and Albarians, were in a feud, but it turns out to be even deeper than that, because we learn in this episode that half of Angstrom’s family were killed by the Stenza in a systematic cleansing, including her wife (did I mention that she’s also lesbian? At least she doesn’t repeat that fact throughout the episode), with the rest of her family driven into hiding on the planet Albar. This parallels Kamen Rider Ryuki’s Ren Akiyama in that their characters are fighting for their loved ones, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make here.

In fact, what I really wanted to say was this: “Curse you, Tim Shaw! This world was destroyed because of you and your people!”

I get the feeling that the Stenza are part of this series’ story arc - that gives me more excuses to ironically blame Tim Shaw whenever they’ve done something bad to some people. This is going to be the running gag of this review series now and the even funnier thing is that I’m doing this while Kamen Rider Zi-O is airing in Japan - a series that has been lauded by fans as “Decade 2.0″. No, I’m not sorry for bringing Japanese tokusatsu into this and I don’t regret it.

In addition to this, the planet Desolation was also conquered by the Stenza, who used others to create and test many weapons, including the Remnants and SniperBots that are seen in this episode.

During the scene where the Doctor and the others are confronting the Remnants, we hear a mention of “the Timeless Child” when one of the Remnants extracted it from the Doctor’s memories. If this is going to be another thing like “the Hybrid” in Series 9, then I’m probably going to be disappointed. Regardless, the story arcs in this episode were introduced subtly; until this week, you wouldn’t have thought that the Stenza would have something else to do in this episode.

Anyway, I’m honestly hoping that Tim Shaw will become the leader of the Stenza by the finale, provided that the DNA bombs haven’t destroyed him by that point; although a few contrivances may have to be made in that regard. If that happens, then my running gag for this review series will have reached its peak - Decade 2.5, anyone?

With regards to Ryan and the theme of family

Ryan’s character development has been demoted to having a minor part in this episode. This time, we additionally focus on his relationship with his step-grandfather, Graham, who he still doesn’t seem to recognise as a proper family member. Ryan’s grandmother, Grace, is also mentioned in this episode as they reflect on her death towards the end of the previous episode. The funny thing is that according to the Doctor Who Wiki (TARDIS Data Core), Grace’s actor, Sharon D Clarke, has been listed as a recurring character for Series 11, which means that there is a chance that we will be seeing her again in this series, whether it be in flashbacks or something much more serious.

Ryan’s dyspraxia is also briefly repeated in this episode in the form of a slight dread of ladders. It’s great to see the Doctor encouraging Ryan to overcome his condition (by having him remember facts about acetylene) and I hope that we can see some improvement in this situation by the end of this series.

Imagine unironically thinking that every video game skill works in life-or-death situations. When the Doctor and the others are confronted by the SniperBots, Ryan takes a gun from a fallen SniperBot and uses his “skills” in Call of Duty to shoot down the robots, only for them to get back up right after. His shouting during this scene is reminiscent of raging kids in the voice chat of FPS games, while the scene overall is a good premise for the Doctor to teach the others about her “no guns” policy.

The theme of family is an underlying theme in this episode, just as it was (albeit more subtly) in the last. Aside from the relationship between Ryan and Graham, we hear about Epzo’s “tough love” relationship with his mother, Angstrom’s motivations for joining the Rally (which I explained earlier) and a bit about Yaz’s family, to which Angstrom tells her that she should never take them for granted.

The new TARDIS

Like with everything else, I’ve steered away from any leaked materials, so this is the first time that I’m seeing the new TARDIS for myself.

The new console room’s lighting resembles that shown in Series 1 and 2, albeit orange. The “round things” are now hexagonal things in honeycomb formations while the beams are reminiscent of the old coral console room used during the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ runs. The time rotor in the centre column does not go up to the ceiling and is no longer transparent, so no moving parts can be seen inside it. Also, there is a food dispenser now - a custard cream dispenser, in fact, if the Doctor Who Wiki is to be believed. The sign on the door of the TARDIS is now white text on black, the St John Ambulance badge is gone and there are slight shade modifications on the exterior.

I think the new TARDIS is alright; once again, it’s a significant deviation from previous TARDISes. Not the best in my opinion, but not the worst either (I don’t really have a place for “worst TARDIS console room” in my head).

Other general thoughts

You know the Venusian aikido the Doctor does in this episode? Yeah, to me, that’s more like an intergalactic Wuxi Finger Hold (though not really). I honestly doubted that it was a real technique until I did a quick search and found this clip from the Third Doctor’s era. Until now, I thought Venusian aikido was more like this; I guess I was mistaken.

The way Ilin mentioned not to touch the water, I thought something like the Flood from The Waters of Mars was in it. In actuality, there were flesh-eating microbes in it, so it’s similar to the Flood, but not the same.

Some things I missed in the last episode

After looking at a few things, I realised that there were a few things I had to address. However, I don’t want to edit the previous post because either then I would need to post the link to my pages again or you would miss out on what I had left out. Therefore, if there is anything I’ve missed in one episode, it will be briefly covered in the review for the next.

So I’ve learnt that this series has been filmed in a 2:1 (18:9) aspect ratio, also known as Univisium, using anamorphic lenses. The inventors, namely Vittorio and Fabrizio Storaro, created it in 1998 to unify all future TV and cinema movies into the one aspect ratio. In the linked Wikipedia link, you can see what movies and TV dramas have been filmed in this format.

There was also “Salad Guy” throwing bits of his salad at Tim Shaw, as some people have pointed out, so that’s a thing.

With the “no guns” scene in this episode, I should have also pointed out this line from the Doctor: “Only idiots carry knives”. This episode and the last reinforced the Doctor’s values so that the audience is reminded of them as she gradually tells her new companions/friends about them.

Summary and verdict

We are likely heading into a story arc involving the Stenza and “the Timeless Child”. This will probably be something to look forward to, whether they are resolved in this series or the next.

I think there were other things I wanted to write about, whether they were from this episode or the last, but I might have forgotten about them since I took too much time to write this. Oh well, no need to worry.

This is another good episode overall, which introduces what the first episode left out. The red flag situation is the same as last week - they’re most likely throwaway lines.

Rating: 7/10

We’ll be heading into history next week as I review the third episode, Rosa. Stay tuned!