#i liked missy this season and was excited at the return of the master but idk about the end there

[oceanwithinsblog]

run fast, laugh hard, be kind ♡

[normiedoctorwho]

Venting about the 12th Doctor and nuwho experience so far

So I’ve been working my way through nuwho for about a year and a half now, and since it hit 12 it’s been extremely slowly. The reason it’s been so slow is while there are episodes I like, I cannot for the life of me get invested in these characters, the major exception after the s9 premiere being Missy.

I love her.

Dearly.

I’m just gonna pull off the bandaid now, I liked Clara more with 11. I know heaven sent is gonna be amazing and gives a great tragic goodbye for her, the fact is as of now, I wish she would’ve left either after kill the moon, or after the s8 finale.

And I’ll stress that I am extremely biased towards more classic who feels for episodes. That’s where I got into the series and if you know me, you’ll know I DESPISE new who’s constant raising of the stakes. As in then Modern day earth/the whole universe has to be on the line.

I’ve reached a boiling point with the 12th doctor because Moffatt’s inability to commit to his dramatic plot points.

I’m not expecting Missy to actually be dead. It was obvious she survived. And she was the best part of the s9 premiere, but like… more of a buffer guys.

Speaking of a buffer, once again we have a perfectly fine companion break up that’s undone by the Christmas special because god forbid new who has a good companion exit/commits to it outside of Martha’s.

(Opinion context: Rose’s first exit worked, then Journey’s end happened. Jack’s was straight up bad, just forgot about him for two seasons, Martha is good as stated, Donna’s was horribly contrived and fucking stupid actually happy that’s getting a do over, Amy and Rory had their good exit at the end of s6, which got ruined by the Christmas special, and now Clara with the same shit.)

Magician’s apprentice in particular annoyed me because it felt like it was spinning it’s wheels while also yet again making the stakes impossibly big when they did not need to be. At least at the start. “The Doctor is dying. Airplanes are frozen in mid air! The master is back! What do we doooo?” When the initial conceit of the Doctor being torn between helping a kiddo Davros or letting him die was way more interesting. And I won’t lie, not all of this criticism is fair. I’d heard this was the premise of the episode for months if not years in advance, and got excited and built my own picture of what it could’ve been. And when the episodes themselves seemed to be actively avoiding the interesting thing in favor of Davros and 12 sitting in a room reading their character analysis’ of each other while Missy and Clara run around a radiation filled planet with no side effects, I got bored fast.

Like Moffatt, I know you got the idea for this episode from 4’s speech in genesis. You don’t have to literally play the clip from the speech. It’s not necessary and just eats up time. Just role with the dramatic irony and have fans notice the reference.

I will say I liked that 12 didn’t fall for Davros’ obvious lies and that 12 had a real plan to kill all of the daleks on the rebuilt skaro. 10 seemingly backtracking to pre remembrance character development never sat right with me. And 11 never truly contemplating the gravity of the consequences of choosing to save the earth over destroying the daleks in victory of the daleks was also annoying. So to give 12 this chance to get rid of it all and have him actually go through with it was nice.

I fully expect Davros to return at some point, but at the very least, it won’t be because the Doctor showed him pity. They are well and truly past that now.

But then he almost falls for Missy’s bit to trick him into killing Clara? Ugh. More importantly though, this episode relies wayyyyy too much on the audience’s classic who knowledge of thecharacter dynamic and what happened to Skaro. As far as I can remember, nuwho does not ever explain the Doctor destroyed it.

Listen I like it when classic who comes up in nuwho, but nuwho needs to stand on its own. And if it’s gonna take cues from classic who, then for the love of god stop having 3 save modern day earth plots per season and let the timelords be actual forces in the narrative. Vs some tragic backstory you lean on b/c you’re convinced the doctor’s mysticism is why we like him so much.

I swear nuwho downplaying that the doctor is a renegade timelord b/c Galifrey is no longer a factor in the plot outside of “waaa I destroyed my home planet in the time war,” is just so annoying. The writers focus on the stole the tardis aspect and not “my people had time and space travel but they sat on their asses vs using it to explore and help people.

I’ll clarify that I do not hate all of new who. I like it overall. And I like older doctors too. Plz I don’t hate capaldi as an actor I think he does a good job with what he’s given. But god does where I’m at feel like the show is just running on fumes while also having it’s head up it’s own ass.

I bet Clara’s clear trauma at 12 nearly killing her and being unable to explain who she is will totally get addressed in the next story.

/s

[d0ctordisco]

I found this video rather interesting. It talks about the frustrating divide in the Doctor Who fandom right now.

As someone who likes the 13th Doctor and loves Jodie Whittaker, but is still critical of the writing, I am immediately placed in the "bigoted sexist misogynist" box automatically despite really liking 13. (I am female myself btw) I feel that the writing quality has been better in the past and the 13th Doctor and Jodie have been severely undercut by how well this new era could have been played. This is my opinion. This does not mean that my opinion is correct or even that my opinion should dictate what the show should be like.

It feels like lately you're only allowed to love the 13th Doctor or hate her. There is no room in the fandom right now to fall in the grey area in between. I feel that the intellectual discussions on writing, directing, acting, and producing have been disposed of in favor of left wing or right wing politics.

As someone who was first introduced to Doctor Who watching Series 9 with Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, I found it difficult to immediately like Season 11 as it was so different. I was very intrigued and excited by the prospect of a female doctor, and open to the possibilities though. I felt that it was time for a female doctor, not because it's the "leftist liberal politically correct thing to do" but because I felt that the hardships and exhaustion that the 12th Doctor endured, almost refusing to regenerate in a nearly suicidal "please just let me die" plea, that deciding to regenerate once more would present an opportunity for significant change and for someone very different to step into the role. I really like the 13th Doctor, I think she's funny and cute, and a fresh new take.

However, I felt that Season 11 took a very conservative writing approach without any major risks, leading to what I felt was a bland season. With a female doctor, I feel that the writers wanted to take the least amount of risks as possible to prevent from aggrivating an already divided fandom even more. Every adventure, while enjoyable, was self contained and provided nothing to the overarching story. Now though, I feel that Season 12 took the criticisms of Season 11 and has very much overcompensated to try to make this season exciting. In my personal opinion I thought the writing choices of this season were wreckless and only provided to shock value. Trying to cram so much lore that not everyone asked for into every second of this season made it feel like the decisions were not thought out in context of the show as a whole. I think each writer should have their freedom to take the show in the direction they wish, but I feel that they should respect the choices of their predecessors and not go out of their way to retrofit the continuity because they didn't like the way it was before. Yes. I am talking about The Timeless Children.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the return of the Master and it's the majority of the reason I like Season 12. I am very used to Season 8, 9, and 10 having a lot of Missy so Season 11 having the Master being completely absent was a bit of a let down for me personally.

I do not dislike The Timeless Children because it paints the Doctor as a victim of abuse or abandonment. I do not dislike The Timeless Children because it provides more background lore about the Doctor and Gallifrey. I dislike the Timeless Children because I believe that what makes the Doctor special is their actions and choices, not who they were born as. Having the Doctor be even more special and elite with more power than the already pompous Time Lords was a step in the wrong direction I feel. Having the 12th Doctor spend so much time in Season 10 trying to help Missy become good because it is the right thing to do and the whole mantra of being kind without witness or reward made the Doctor feel like they were special because they chose to be good. Having the Doctor now be almost a deity of unknown power makes them special by birthright, not because of their actions.

This is all still my opinion that I am both entitled to having, and simultaneously cannot force on to anyone else or have it dictate the show.

Doctor Who, if nothing else, is about change. I encourage people who dislike the 13th Doctor for whatever reason, to stick around and hold out. In a few years, there will be a new Doctor, new companions, and possibly a new writer. In the end, Doctor Who and all other shows, movies, and media, are works of art created by an artist in their artistic vision. I respect that while I have not enjoyed Chibnall's time as much as Moffat's, I cannot force anyone to make the show the way I want. Was Moffat problematic and sexist as a showrunner? Yes. Is it ethical to support someone who writes women so terribly? I'm not sure. Overall as a whole, Doctor Who has brought so much joy to so many people, that I feel it does much more good than harm. Yeah I think Moffat's female characters are shallow, particularly Amy and Clara. I will write a whole post some other day on why I think they are highly flawed characters despite liking them in general.

I wish people could get over the whole female doctor thing and get back to discussing the show in an educated manner.

I don't know what this essay of a post goes to prove but I felt that I wanted to say somethinf about the toxic divide over politics in the fandom that has completely overshadowed any intellectual conversation on the writing or directing choices. Thanks for listening to me ramble.

[thenerdintheattic]

Doctor Who Rewatch Season 10

10x00 The Return of Doctor Mysterio - 4/5 : this episode is a bit long towards the end but i like all the superhero tropes and yeah, i like nardole, so...

10x01 The Pilot - 4/5 : i like the concept of the pilot race (?) and the fact that heather keeps following bill is because she has crush : it's nice not to have something threatening the earth or the universe for a change. i like (love) bill and her questions and her relationship with twelve (especially the susan parallel), it's a nice, welcome change

10x02 Smile - 3.5/5 : this episode is cool, not really convinced by the ending though

10x03 Thin Ice - 4/5 : i love the atmosphere of this episode and yeah, twelve punching a racist

10x04 Knock Knock - 2/5 : it's ok, i kinda like the concept of the house eating people but i don't know the atmosphere was kinda wrong and i didn't like the resolution so ...

10x05 Oxygen - 4.5/5 : Space, the final frontier ... so this episode is creepy in sooo many ways, it's really well done and the twist of twelve being blind OMG

10x06 Extremis - 4.5/5 : so i really liked all the parallel between the actual plot and missy/river song's diary. the monks are gorgeous and yeah that VR thingy was quite clever

10x07 The Pyramid at the End of the World - 3.5/5 : i really liked the fact that the invasion happens because the companion wants to save the doctor because the doctor is an IDIOT. and the fact that the end of the world happens not because of a war but because of a human mistake is completely disturbing but i could have rolled with it. the thing is this episode is a bit long and kinda all over the place sometimes which is a shame

10x08 The Lie of the Land - 3.5/5 : when the previous episode felt a bit too long, this one was a bit rushed. but even if i wouldn't say i'm completely satisfied with the ways things turned out, i'm not as disapointed as other people seem to be and i actually liked the ending with bill's mum replacing the monks. also i really love bill/nardole sister/brother kinda relationship, it's something that was really missing in newWho

10x09 Empress of Mars - 4/5 : so i like the ice warriors, i wish we could see them again. so this episode is actually good

10x10 The Eaters of Light - 4/5 : another good episode

10x11 World Enough and Time - 5/5 : oh my god i love everything about this : black hole (did i mention i'm a slut for black holes?), missy, the master in disguise, mondasian cybermen, 'i waited for you'

10x12 The Doctor Falls - 4.5/5 : it had been a while since i hadn't been disappointed by a finale so that felt extra good. bill and nardole get a nice ending (that's a change), missy's redemption, twelve falling ALL GOOD

10x13 Twice Upon a Time - 3.5/5 : so let's start with the negatives : one's sexism. and i didn't really cared for rusty coming back but apart from that, that's a pretty decent episode. i like the testimony principle and the christmas truce. and yeah, i'm still crying over twelve's regeneration.

Overall opinion : Apart from Knock Knock, that season is pretty good, even the monks trilogy. the resolution could have been handled better but the episode is still quite decent. and the finale was actually great. i also love the new tardis team dynamic : two companions that don't know each other and develop a brother/sister relationship. i like bill, most of the mistakes that were made with clara were fixed so that's definitely good and i love this professor/student relationship she has with twelve. and speaking of twelve ... i'm gonna miss him. it’s weird because during this rewatch, even if i was sad to see a doctor regenerate, i was also kinda excited to have a new one after but with twelve, i don’t know if it’s because i’m very emotional at the moment, but it was kinda dreading watching tuat because i really didn’t want him to go. and it’s not because of thirteen because i love her, but i think twelve is really important for me. (also i’m gonna miss seeing his hair getting crazier with each season)

[rivertalesien]

Did you ever watch the last season of Doctor Who? You seemed excited for it but I haven't found any posts. Care to give some thoughts?

Sorry anon, I did watch, and I’d have to watch again to really discuss individual episodes, but I was so turned off by them bringing back the Master that I just sort of floated through it all. That was just a real deal breaker for me. I know some people loved it, but I felt it kind of spit on Missy’s resolution (which, for me, was the best ending for that character) and we just didn’t need a return to this loud, bombastic, sexist caricature, especially with the first female Doctor, and especially after what “Missy’s” emotional and psychological transformation. 

One the things about Missy that was so interesting to me was that she was, at first, the Master’s hateful commentary on women, on being in a “woman’s body.”  Even the change in name, “Missy” from the dominant “Master” is laced with misogyny. 

From the laid-on femininity and Mary Poppins’ drag to the overt flirtation, acting as they believe “women” do, as weaker, submissive, silly, always hiding this pain and self-disgust: the sarcasm of being “upgraded,” then the almost-begging to be understood and accepted. How this physical change unmade them and then, rebuilt them. Unlike other versions of the Master, “Missy” grew and her ending was...I think, perfect. 

By bringing back the “old style” Master, it just feels like the show isn’t at all confident about their new Doctor and that was depressing. The show basically got a reboot, like it had this great, great moment with reinventing the Daleks...then backed off and put them back in the can. It would have been so awesome if they were just left in their organic form, to slither in and out of other living beings to control them. But that confidence thing. It just feels like they don’t trust themselves sometimes. 

I was also really astonished by that finale and it just being taken as the truth, when the Master is so well-known to manipulate them. The Doctor just..believed it, didn’t question it. That felt dishonest to me. It felt like they were trying to Go Big and just jump right into territory that didn’t really need jumping into (or, at least, not all at once...the only hint we had was “the timeless child” and that means nothing when there is nothing that has happened prior). I love the idea of Jo Martin’s mysterious Doctor, but I don’t think we needed that huge convoluted reveal to explain her (though we now definitely need a full series with her and I hope this wasn’t just a stunt). 

I really feel the show needs to focus on the Doctor and maybe just one of the companions at this point, or a new one. That has been one of the most endearing things about the show: that particular relationship the Doctor can have with someone and how it drives the story. Now it all feels like plot after plot is driving the story and not the relationships. No one is going to care much about Time Lord Cybermen if the only person who is really affected is The Doctor and if that only lasts a couple of minutes before it is easily derailed...its just an aesthetic, not a real plot that goes somewhere with no real stakes for anyone else. 

There are little moments here and there, but it’s like last season, those little moments, for me, do not make up the whole and that one (retcon?) about Missy/The Master was just a major turn-off. Missy got to kill her old, misogynistic self...only for him to come back in triumph (and force 13 on her knees before him)? That alone just made it all kind of unwatchable. 

I love 13, I really want better for them. 

[gallifvrey]

this appearance of the master returning is interesting, at least in part by how it deviates from the previous master’s appearing on the show - both simm!master and gomez!master(missy) being season long arcs that cumulate in their big reveal. and in a weird way im ?? kinda really happy that it happened so quickly - of course it would have been great to see the master meddle with team TARDIS without them knowing who he was and even maybe tricking the Doctor for a little while longer but from an audience and plot twist perspective like...

by this point im practically wary of the any unexplained person in DW without a decent enough backstory, and especially the way the introduce the master as some sort of like, nefarious person whose plotting behind the doctor, i feel like even me with my inability to hardly ever pick up on foreshadowing would have noticed if they were building up for the same thing this season.

having him show up in the beginning of the season though? showing up out of the blue, with no other announcement, just that he was some friend of the doctor? was so good imo!!! i had no idea - i would have never guessed that was the master- i figured towards the end that maybe he was a bit evil, (and granted i am a bit of a fool, im sure many others expected some sort of twist with him far earlier) but the master?? i would have never guessed! mostly on the fact that the other master plots have always been season long arcs!! im so floored about this being done so early in the season and my mind is still boggling from that twist!! Im so, so so excited to see what this season has in store for us!!

[nellie-elizabeth]

Doctor Who: Spyfall, Part 1 (12x01)

We're back! Man, I missed these friends.

Cons:

This is only part one of the story, so I feel like some of the things I might have qualms about will be addressed. But I do want to say that last season, one of the most prevailing complaints about the show was how "safe" everything was. And here, we have some humanoid aliens that look like beams of light, we have the entire episode taking place on Earth, we have the familiar trappings of a spy movie, we have the return of a familiar villain... none of this was bad at all! But none of it felt particularly fresh or innovative, either.

Also, I know that Doctor Who is a show made nominally for children, but I still think the reveal that "O" is the Master was telegraphed a bit too much... I could have used a few more misdirects. I basically knew he was the bad guy from minute one.

Pros:

But this episode was, for the most part, quite fun! And I'm excited that it's a two-parter, because we got to exist in the mystery for a while, and really explore the different possibilities of what could be going on here. I like that we have MI6, and Stephen Fry, and a tech mogul with hidden allegiances, and fun spy gear, etc. etc. It was simply a fun story to hang out in for a while, and then of course it ends with a big twist that's going to catapult everything in a new direction for the second half.

I love having a Doctor with a whole group of companions, because we get to see them split up and try different relationship combinations. This episode includes a section where the Doctor and Graham are off in Australia meeting with "O", who turns out to be the Master in disguise. Graham doesn't have a ton to do here, acting more as an audience avatar and a sounding board as the Doctor solves mysteries and asks questions. But that's okay - I think it makes sense in a show with so many moving parts if certain characters take a backseat sometime. I'm sure Graham will get his due in other episodes.

While that's going on, Yaz and Ryan are off to spy on Daniel Barton, who turns out to be... part alien? In league with the spies invading Earth and apparently the whole Universe? Again, this is part one, and we don't get all of the answers we might want. But I like that we get to see this duo hanging out together. They banter about Yaz's sister fancying Ryan, they work together to gather information, and then shit goes wrong, and Yaz vanishes, leaving Ryan to run for it alone. Even with Yaz safe and returned, it's clear that her experience has frightened her. I loved that moment where Ryan promised to protect Yaz in future. It didn't feel condescending or paternalistic, honestly. It felt like Ryan understood that he had failed her in some way, even if it was out of his control. And he wants her to know that he's there for her, however he can be. I loved that, and hope we can explore it more in future.

Then there's the reveal of the Master. I honestly think it's awesome that as the Doctor changes and undergoes different character arcs, so does the Master. The last we saw Missy, there was something of a redemption arc going on. But it doesn't bother me that this version of the character isn't following up with that directly. Sure, it might be nice if there were slightly more cohesion across the years, between different show-runners, different Doctors, companions, etc. But really, you have to look at Doctor Who as a show that has periodic soft-reboots embedded into it. We haven't seen enough of this version of the Master to be able to make a judgment call, but I'm excited to see where this is going.

Just the inherent creepiness of the Master surreptitiously inserting himself into the Doctor's life and then lying low, waiting for the right moment... that's pretty twisted and fun. And this performance of a more ham-handed, manic Master reminds me of our earlier looks at the character, from the David Tennant days. And there was complexity there, that we got to explore and discover over time. Here's hoping that the same thing will happen here!

I could certainly go on, but I think I want to save the rest of my thoughts for after I've seen the second part of the story. I'm thrilled to have this show back on the air, though! It's been a while!

8/10

[raven-cat]

The master is back!!!

I’m so excited! I really like how the master is portrayed in this episode, but I did wish the master could stay a female. And maybe some doctor/master wlw

The master has changed so much the last time we’ve seen them, they were on the doctor’s side. They became more kind (kind of). I hope that hasn’t changed and the master is still secretly on the doctor’s side. Or maybe they are doing the same thing Missy did with the cybermen. The master did tell 13 that “everything you think you know is a lie” is that referring to what they are doing now with the mysterious aliens? Or all the partnership and good things that they did when they were still Missy? I really hope it’s the first one.

Anyways, I’m excited for this new season and how it’s going to turn out, hopefully returning to doctor who’s former glory😆

[aion-rsa]

Michelle Gomez: Meet Doom Patrol Season 3’s Madame Rouge

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Michelle Gomez is one of our generation’s best character actors. She’s been blessing genre fans with incredible performances like Missy in Doctor Who, Madame Satan in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and most recently as the dynamic and dangerous Miranda in The Flight Attendant. So the announcement that she’d be joining HBO Max’s groundbreaking superhero series Doom Patrol was a match made in heaven. Gomez will be playing Madame Rouge, a sometime ally, sometime antagonist of the motley crew. To celebrate her arrival, we spoke to Gomez about her new role, her penchant for playing complex women, and the grotesque hilarity fans can expect when Madame Rouge joins the show. 

Madame Rouge is a lesser known character, like most of the Doom Patrol team. How would you describe your take on her for viewers who are excited for her to join the team? 

She’s kind of complicated and a little eccentric. She arrives at the manor and she has this very specific mission, but she can’t really remember what it is. She’s fairly enigmatic. 

You’ve been on a roll with these complex, and in many cases, villainous roles with Missy, Madame Satan, Miranda, and now Madame Rouge, if she follows her role in the comics. What draws you to these kinds of women? 

I think it’s just my face. It’s hard to act out from under this particular set of features, so I’ve kind of leaned into that over the years. I have fun with it. In terms of screen and for casting, I guess these angles are my strengths. I’ve heard myself saying this many times in interviews before but it’s true, I have a face that was born to play witches and bitches really until the day I die. Listen, if there’s a casting director out there who wants to cast me as Fiona or Alison the girl next door, I’m ready to play a decent, loving human being!

What’s that like for you? You obviously embrace these roles, you’ve carved out this space for yourself, but how does that feel? Have you shaped it into something you enjoy? Or are you still like, where’s Alison, where’s the girl next door?

You know what? I always play the girl next door. You just have to look for her. And I hope I’m not being two dimensional and playing good or evil. I would hope it’s more complex than that. Certainly for me as an actor I try to make the baddy as well rounded and as lovable as possible. But then I guess that that’s always the danger as well, you can’t really afford to let your guard down and get too close. But along the way I’ve embraced it. I enjoy it because I get to be reliably bad in a good way. Unpredictable in that unpredictability. You can sort of unsettle the audience and there’s fun to be had there.

With Sabrina and now Doom Patrol you’re carving out a space as a go-to performer in these cult comic book shows. Would you call yourself a comic book fan, or have you become one through playing and researching these roles? 

I certainly have fallen in love with that genre. Then to transpose that and turn it into a show where we get to kind of bust out of the page is such a delight. I’m still pinching myself that I was in Doctor Who playing the Master. And now I’m trundling into my second “Madame” role. I’m thoroughly enjoying it, and I’m so flattered and privileged really to be part of it and to be part of that world, where I think we all need a little bit of fantasy at the moment.

You’ve had some intriguing powers, from timelord-ing to impeccable knife skills, but Madame Rouge has some unusual superpowers of her own. How much fun was it to dive into a truly weird full-on superhero world like Doom Patrol? 

I felt like I had come home. I really felt like with all the shows that have gone before, it was all kind of leading to Doom Patrol. I really felt immediately comfortable in this world because it was bringing to bear everything that I’d done before. The thing about Doom Patrol is that it’s a show for adults that enjoy the sort of anarchic world that we’re all actually living in on a day to day basis. But it takes that stuff, a crazy world where people are really struggling with who they are and are kind of running in the opposite direction of whatever their powers may be. It’s like an illustration of where we’re at as human beings. 

It’s about the great questions that we’re constantly plagued with. Who are we? Why are we here? What are we doing here? It’s that sort of massive existential crisis that you pick up as you’re becoming an adult, like ‘Oh shit, this stuff is real, I don’t get to be a kid anymore. I need to work out how I fit in the world.’ Doom Patrol is kind of like that. How do these people or these creations, how do they fit in the world? And how do they exist and survive?

Then, of course, you have the struggle and the drama and the comedy. I mean, it’s funny but it’s not funny for no reason, it’s funny because we relate to it. Then it’s just bonkers, right? There’s an episode where she shows her powers; she’s a shapeshifter, she can basically turn into anything she desires or just kind of thinks about. And when I turn into something which I’m not going to reveal… you cannot believe what I’m about to turn into, there is no way. In fact, I would love to set you the challenge to try and imagine what it is you think I’m going to turn into in Doom Patrol because none of you will get it.

You touched on this earlier but Doom Patrol can be a really funny show And while The Flight Attendant and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina both have a dark comedy to them, Doom Patrol definitely leans closer to the comedy of your early days like Bad Education and Green Wing. What was it like to return to that?

It’s so strange. I’m asked about this a lot and the thing is it’s always a surprise to me that I’m funny or that I’ve been employed again. So I never come to it trying to be funny, right, it’s the situations that are funny. And a lot of the situations in Doom Patrol are kind of tragic, and you can’t play the tragedy without the comedy. That’s just basic flip of the coin, mathematics, you can’t just be doing one thing without the other.  

I have to say that because you mentioned Green Wing and you mentioned Bad Education. Those were kind of my early years. There’s a lot that has happened between Green Wing and Doom Patrol. And it’s been a journey for me. What I have picked up along the way, what I have learned, has been useful. With each job you learn a new trick, or you learn what doesn’t work, or you want to explore something more. So with Doom Patrol, as I said, I really felt like I had come home, I really felt like everything was there. Green Wing was there, Bad Education was there, me being in Taming of the Shrew was there. All of those experiences were allowed to blossom, they were allowed to live. I felt very comfortable, and for good reason because all of that made sense, right when I walked on that first day. Walking on a set with others that had been there before, and the whole team, the whole crew, the whole cast were so welcoming, it felt very effortless actually just to kind of bleed into that world.

One of Doom Patrol’s biggest strengths is its in-depth emotionally-driven character explorations that hide behind the odd powers and eclectic heroes. Could you tease that journey for Madame Rouge? 

I think she’s like the other characters in that she has a journey through discovery. She’s finding out things about herself that may or may not be things she can live with. I can’t really say more than that, but it’s similar to the other regulars in the show, and where they’re having to live with themselves. And how do you do that, when some of it is pretty dark and at times unacceptable? And how do you decide to move forward? And so that’s in there for her, too. And it’s a pretty crazy ride that she goes on, not just for herself but with the others as well. 

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Doom Patrol Season 3 hits HBO Max on Sept. 23.

The post Michelle Gomez: Meet Doom Patrol Season 3’s Madame Rouge appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[laresearchette]

Thursday, April 15, 2021 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: YOUNGER (Paramount +) THE BANISHING (Shudder) WAHL STREET (Crave) 6:00pm- 9:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT INFINITY TRAIN (TBD - Teletoon) NEW TO AMAZON PRIME/CRAVE/NETFLIX CANADA/CBC GEM:

NETFLIX CANADA RIDE OR DIE

MLB BASEBALL (SN1) 1:00pm: Red Sox vs. Twins (SN) 8:00pm: Jays vs. Royals

HUMPTY’S CHAMPIONSHIP CUP CURLING (SN) 2:00pm: Round Robin (SN1) 6:00pm: Round Robin (SN1/SN360) 10:00pm

NHL HOCKEY (SN360) 7:00pm: Islanders vs. Bruins (TSN2/TSN3) 7:00pm: Jets vs. Leafs NBA BASKETBALL (TSN5) 7:30pm: Bucks vs. Hawks (SNNOW+) 8:00pm: Warriors vs. Cavaliers (TSN5) 10:00pm: Celtics vs. Lakers

DRIVE (CBC) 8:00pm: Like the invention of the television, the smartphone, and even the internet, autonomous cars look to change everything by making the world safer, greener and less stressful; asking what will be lost from the human experience in a driverless world.

MOOSEMEAT & MARMALADE (APTN) 8:00pm: Montreal is world-renown for its diverse food culture; Art and Dan explore the growing trend of muscovy duck by visiting the Canard du Village farm and sample syrup at the Sucrerie de la Montagne, a traditional sugar.

BITCHIN' BOOT CAMP (Discovery Canada) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): After a nationwide search to find the best metal fabrication prospects around, Dave Kindig and KevDogg have invited 12 people to the shop to compete for one job at Kindig-It Design.

BIG CAT TALES (Animal Planet Canada) 8:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): A dispersed Marsh Pride faces weakened protection from the six male warrior lions; a cheetah works tirelessly to raise her three new cubs.

UNDERNEATH THE EMPIRE (Out TV) 8:30pm:  Drag Superstar Scarlett Bobo, gives a behind the curtain look at what went into creating a more diverse, inclusive and accepting environment, where all types of drag artists are welcome and given a platform, in a community that is often stigmatized.

MLS SOCCER (TSN) 9:00pm: Columbus vs. Seattle

BIG BROTHER CANADA (Global) 9:00pm

RUST VALLEY RESTORERS (History Canada) 9:00pm: Mike and Avery embark on a cross-country road trip, which is interrupted by an unexpected call from home; JF borrows shop space from Mike to restore a 1955 GMC truck and his relationship with his brother.

BACKYARD BUILDS (HGTV Canada) 9:00pm/9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Contractor Brian McCourt and designer Sarah Keenleyside deliver customized backyard spaces to homeowners.

CHEF BOOT CAMP (Food Network Canada) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Three struggling chefs embark on a three-day boot camp with Cliff Crooks who will assess their skills in the kitchen and their areas for improvement; he gets a firsthand look and taste of one of their signature dishes.

CROSSWORD MYSTERIES (CTV Drama) 9:00pm: When Tess prepares for a crossword challenge against a supercomputer, the engineer behind it gets murdered, spurring her and Logan to seek answers before they become the next victims.

THE ALASKA THUNDERF*** EXTRA SPECIAL COMEDY SPECIAL (Out TV)  9:00pm: Featuring some of Alaska's greatest musical hits, exciting special guests, and a series of comedic jokes.

CANADIAN FILM FEST: THE CORRUPTION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE (Super Channel Fuse) 9:00pm:  When a sixteen year old Stigmatic Metis girl is kidnapped from a small town, three different religious factions vie for control over her upon her eventual return.

WIPEOUT (CTV Comedy) 10:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE):  Fire performers, a rock 'n' roll father-daughter duo and bubbleologists have a chance to traverse three of the most challenging courses in "Wipeout" history to win $25,000.

ROCK SOLID BUILDS (HGTV Canada) 10:00pm: Kitchen Party

FIRE MASTERS (Food Network Canada) 11:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Nice to “Meat” You

CANADIAN REFLECTIONS (CBC) 11:30pm: Boundless Love/Missy

[silvermarmoset]

i'd love to know more about your thoughts on Missy's costumes this in particular (silvermarmoset*tumblr*com/post/158396006074/doctorwhogeneration-missy-season-10-official#notes). I didn't even know there were patterns(?) to the shirt until I saw this brightened version, & what was it about Missy's s8&9 that bothered you? Did Missy dress deliberately in contrast to 12? (btw, if you've seen a few bts of 13, what did you think the unexpected addition to her look?).

i can’t do a full or good analysis of missy’s costume without really studying it first! (so come back and request it later on.) But I can justify my earlier opinion: I thought the whole ‘Mary Poppins’ scheme in the costumes didn’t make sense for the Missy we were seeing at the time. I’m sure fans will come after me with their own analyses and textual metas on this, but for me, I was distracted by the costume’s connotations of traipsing-nanny—Missy’s arc doesn’t seem to connect to Mary Poppins very well; the nanny visual more easily relates to other characters of the horrifying-caretaker type (i.e., Madame Kovarian: a true nightmare of a mother figure). Besides those issues of connotation, the visual language of the costume didn’t connect Missy to our long history with the Master—who notably, despite numerous regenerations, did tend to keep an unchanging fashion sense. This detail was one I enjoyed, as it made an obvious contrast to the ever-changing Doctor: while good can and does change, evil remains stagnant. A powerful idea!

But the nanny thing diminishes that, and diminishes the raw power Missy could have. She’s a returning archnemesis! She’s a scary sonofabitch! She’s simmering and campy and blessed with Gomez’s incredible fluid physicality—but then we’re dumped into a purple dress she can barely move in, with nanny/edwardian/mary poppins connotations that go nowhere, and it all vaguely feels to me more like a “what if the doctor was female?” sort of badly-done sketch than an attuned-to-character, richly developed costume for the Top Villain Of The Season™.

You can argue what the nanny costume is actually doing, but for me, departing from the history of the character so completely in favor of a weird visual was a mistake that downplayed her completely. And that’s before mentioning that it made the lovely Michelle Gomez look hideous.

It’s not an analysis, but it is an angry nerd opinion.

To end the rant on a good note: I do love her Series 10 costumes. They play MUCH more firmly into who Missy actually is, and show a deeper connection to her than some weird nanny-gimmick. I’d love to do a more thorough analysis of her sometime (and would probably recognize in the process the mistakes & misreadings all over this post), but that’s the short of it, to answer your Q.

(P.S. don’t spoil me on 13!!! she’s going to hit my screen in an explosion of weird newness and i’m excited to keep the lid on her until she does.)

[ghostofmoriarty]

Fictional Favorites Tag Game

I was tagged by @yourgoodfriendraichel so here goes  I am going to follow in Raichel’s footsteps and put this under a break, because oooh boy did it get long  1. What is your MBTI? It changes every time I take the test, but  INTP /INTJ are my most common results 

2. What is your Hogwarts House? Ravenclaw. I’m quite the academic these days.

3. Are you a book person or a TV person? I love books on principle, but I love tv so much and it’s so much more CONVENIENT.  (this is @yourgoodfriendraichel‘s answer, but it’s so 100% accurate, I’m keeping it) 

4. What is your favorite book series? Harry Potter will always have a special place in my heart, as will Percy Jackson and Cirque du Freak. I love Dirk Gently (Douglas Adams was an amazing writer through and through) and Sherlock Holmes because I am garbage for a good detective story.  ASOIAF and the entire Tolkienverse (LotR et al) are some of my favorites. Oh! And The Sparrow, there was a sequel so it counts as a series. I haven’t read the sequel yet, but The Sparrow was legitimately one of the greatest books I have ever read and I am super excited to check out the sequel when I have a few days off of work that isn’t dedicated to mowing the lawn (it's been raining sooo much here)

5. What is your favorite TV series? I love so many tv series. Aquabats! Super Show! will always be in my top 10. I am garbage for TURN: Washington’s Spies even though I think it’s kind of terrible, oooh and Dirk Genty’s Holistic Detective Agency, can’t believe I forgot about that one, I was literally just talking about the books. And no matter how angry I get at Doctor Who, I will always return to watch the new season (this last season was really good, thank god) but I think Classic Doctor Who is a thousand times better than the reboot

6. Which fantasy universe would you most like to live in?  I don’t know, because in any universe I won’t be the hero (I’m not even the hero/protagonist in THIS universe, so why would it be any different in a fictional one?) so I would need one that I could live happily and not be incinerated by dragons or forced to fight some nobleman’s war. Yeah, I’ve managed to talk myself out of every fantasy universe I could think of. How about Harry Potter? Yeah, sure Hogwarts has a scarily high student fatality rate for a high school and there’s a massive war every couple of decades that wipes out half the generation, but magic would be fun. I think I would take a short life with magic over a long life without it (assuming that I don’t end up a muggle or a squib, of course)

7. Favorite character ever? Finn from Star Wars, Sansa Stark from ASOIAF (note: ASOIAF and NOT GoT), Prince Charles Edward Stewart from Outlander…. That’s a really weird one, but Outlander was one of the most horrible (and uncomfortable) shows I have sat through but I really loved Bonnie Prince Charlie?? He was just an idealistic ray of sunshine in this bland, bleak wasteland of a tv show. He wouldn’t make the list if my hatred for the show was any lessened, but because I hate the show so much, my love for him is exemplified immensely. Anyway, Theodore “TBag” Bagwell from Prison Break, the entire cast of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Pietro Maximoff (and 99% of all XMen), Sauron, etc. So many.

8. Character you would like to personally slap in the face: Abe Woodhull from TURN: Washington’s Spies. He’s terrible, through and through.

9. Character you would like to personally murder: CHLOE FROM LIFE IS STRANGE. I WOULD HAVE MURDERED HER SO HARD IF MY GAME DIDN’T GLITCH ON THE LAST LEVEL.  *she’s a terrible human whose manipulative and abusive. WLW deserve better options in both general representation and romanceable wlw characters in video games

10. Character you would gladly intern under:  Any of the Xmen (can I be a plucky assistant who has a really lame super power but still tries to help, please???)  OOOOOH and Larten Crepsley from Cirque du Freak (I LOVE HIM, YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW also he is in my top 5 favorite characters of all time, so I can’t believe I left him out in the fave character section)

11. Character you would totally have tea with: I don’t drink tea, but I’d probably go on a late-night coffee run with the entire Star Wars cast or Aquaman. Aquaman probably hates coffee though, so The Riddler? Edward Nygma seems like an “up all night anxiously drinking coffee while finishing up some project (probably a criminal scheme)” kinda guy.

12. Character that you feel really needs a hug: The entire freaking cast of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (note: the tv show, not the books)

13. Character you love that you would probably hate irl: Most of them, to be honest. I am drawn to horrible people in fiction. Simcoe, TURN: Washington’s Spies (note: tv show version, not real-life verson); T-Bag, Prison Break; Cesare Borgia, The Borgias;

14. Character you would realistically be friends with irl: Ken, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency 

5. First character you had a crush on (if any): Jack Sparrow………

16. Favorite ships: ooooOOOh boy where to begin…. DISCLAIMER: when I say I ship things, I just mean I find the dynamic between the 2+ characters interesting and compelling. I don’t necessarily feel that they should be a canonical end-game romance (or even a romance at all), nor do I stan the relationship as healthy for either of the characters, nor do I feel that these relationships (platonic, romantic, or otherwise) should be heralded as a beacon of #goals to aspire to. I literally mean “hey those two have a cool dynamic, I wanna see more of that” -Master/Missy (I’ve been calling it “MASTERbator but I don’t know what the official ship name) (Doctor Who) -Anna Strong/Hewlett (TURN) -Foggy Nelsen /Matt Murdock (Daredevil) -Abe Woodhull/ Robert Townsend (TURN; note: Rob is too good for Abe but Rob’s reactions to Abe are too perfect to not ship) -Sansan (ASOIAF; I ship this 100% platonically) -Jaime and Brienne (ASOIAF; this is 100% not a platonic ship) -Finn/Poe -Han/Lando (we have NEVER heard the details of that card game, is all I’m sayin’) -Edward Nygma/ Oswald Cobblepot (Gotham/ DC; this is legit the ONLY reason I continue to watch Gotham. Everything else is garbage, but these two’s relationship, man. It’s so compelling, they’re so in love and so unwilling to put their differences and murderous tendencies aside to make their relationship work. I have so many feelings about this ship, okay)

-Joker/Batman (LEGO Batman; it was so beautiful, guys)

I have so many more, I don’t even know

17. Series (TV/book) that you feel ended terribly:  Harry Potter’s ending is literally a meme now, so I won’t do overboard explaining that one. BUT, The Hunger Games. Okay, so this fucking series has a female character who is constantly talking and thinking about how she doesn’t want any children, and how she doesn’t feel like she should be a mother, which is pretty progressive right??? Also, 2 and a half fucking books are building up to an end all war/ revolution and It’s gonna be the biggest damn thing ever, right??? WELL how does this book series end??? Katniss, the FUCKING  NARRATOR, gets hit in her head and blacks out, so she (AS WELL AS THE READER) misses the majority of the final battle, and THEN this series reveals that Gail (the less useless of the two potential love interests) may have caused the death of Katniss’ sister, so he leaves and Katniss chooses Peeta for no other reason than “well, I’m 17 so I should settle down with SOMEONE and you’re within proximity, so I guess you’ll do” and they get banished to District 12 where Katniss mothers a bunch of children because what else are you gonna do but fuck, and basically the entire ending is one piece of bullshit after the other (ALSO THE MOVIES FRAME THE ENDING AS “KATNISS IS NOW A MOTHER THEREFOR SHE’S REACHED HER POTENTIAL AS A WOMAN, ISN’T THIS A HAPPY ENDING” and fuck this entire series)

18. Series (TV/book) that had so much potential but was actually an epic disaster: Literally everything I watch. Dr Who, TURN: Washington’s Spies, Gotham, Sherlock, Game of Thrones; But hey, that’s what fanfiction is for

19. Worst book/movie/TV show you’ve ever read/seen: Ooooh I’ve read and watched some TERRIBLE things in my day.  Outlander. Outlander was pitched to me as having 18th Century Scotland and TIME TRAVEL. Some of my favorite things, aaaand it ended up being one of the worst things I have ever seen. 90% of it is just boring, but the other 10% involves, in my opinion, really poorly handled sexual assault. I won’t go into details here, but it was bad.  

Also, Borgias was fascinating, but bad. And TURN: Washington’s Spies. Honestly, I watch a lot of period pieces because I think the clothes are pretty or I am interested in the time period and/or historical events in which its set around, but then 99% of them are all really poorly-written soap opera-y dramas with nice sets and costumes.   20. Favorite book from your childhood: Harry Potter

21. 3 Favorite Tropes: Complex Family Dynamics (I think that’s more of a category of tropes than a trope itself, but I love me some fam drama), Happy endings for gays (that’s not really a trope, but it fills me with love and happiness every time it happens –which is rare), oooh I don’t know. I can’t think of any right now, but I do love a lot of tropes, I promise.

22. 3 Most Hated Tropes: Bury your Gays (killing off gay characters for no reason), Rape as empowerment (ie: when the narration treats a sexual assault as a motivator for women that “makes them stronger”); Man Pain (when a woman is assaulted/ threatened by the antagonist, and the main male-protag uses it as “motivation” to fight the antagonist. The story doesn’t allow the female character who experienced the trauma to be the focus of the story/arc, her traumatizing experience is not about her, it is ONLY there to develop the male character she is close to; the story essentially treats the male as the real victim)

23. Scariest thing you’ve ever watched/read: James and the Giant Peach

24. Anything you’d like to recommend? Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (please send me a message if you want to know what it’s about, it’s SO GOOD. It’s fun, quirky, unlike anything else, and it has a diverse cast including characters who are poc (and woc), characters who have disabilities, women who are badass, none of the women are ever sexualized at all, it has corgis, and mysteries, and scifi, and it’s just a big adventure. (I also recommend the books, and the 2011 tv series Dirk Gently)

25. Would you like any recommendations? I’m game for anything. I love period pieces, fantasy, science fiction, TIME TRAVEL, quirky detectives, gory things, child-friendly things, honestly as long as it has interesting characters I am game. I don’t even need a good story, just characters.

  Heeey I am terrible at tagging people. If you want to do the thing, please do! And tag me so I can read it :) Also, if you actually read this whole thing, then you deserve all the gold stars, thank you!

[youremyonlyhope]

The Doctor Falls

I am REALLY glad I took a week off from checking my dashboard because I was not aware that last week was the season finale of Doctor Who. I was like "I missed episode 12, there’s 13 episodes in each season, so I guess this season finale’s a 3-parter again and it ends next week! So I can catch up before the finale!”

But NOPE. IT WAS THE FINALE. THIS SEASON ONLY HAD 12 EPISODES. I MISSED THE DOCTOR WHO FINALE. WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT. I AM SO GLAD I DECIDED TO MAKE SURE TO AVOID SPOILERS THIS WEEK. OH MY GOD.

Though I did get spoiled for something a few days ago, but I can’t remember what it was right now. Which is good. It’s basically almost like I wasn’t spoiled at all.

On that note. Guys. Just putting “Spoilers!” in the title or in the text of your post isn’t enough, please tag things as “Doctor Who Spoilers” or “DW Spoilers”. Or at least put the spoilers under Read More.

Ok. Time for the Doctor Who finale. Which obviously, since I didn’t know it was the finale until just now before starting this episode, I am not at all ready for it. I thought I had another week to mentally prepare for this but nope. I mean, since I’m watching it a week later I guess I had an extra week, but I mean an extra week where I’d KNOW I’d be watching the finale in a week.

Let’s see if my wifi will work with me for the hour and a half it will take to watch this episode. Super bad quality, took forever to buffer, so far it’s only kinda working. Ugh. UMM. UMMMM. UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. THE CYBERMEN ARE ON THOSE THINGS THAT HOLD UP SCARECROWS. THIS IS FAMILY OF BLOOD ALL OVER AGAIN. UMMMMMMMM THE SKY ISN’T REALLY SKY.... UMMM THE NICE MOTHERLY LADY HAS A GUN NOW. OH HELL NAH THAT’S TERRIFYING THEY’RE LIMPING TOWARDS THEM. “IT’S THE SCARECROWS. NEW ONES.” UMMMMMMM NAH. AND THEY JUST HANG UP THE BODIES? WHAT THE HELL. This music is very Old Who based on the few Old Who episodes I’ve seen. That makes me kind of happy. OK. HAPPINESS FROM THE MUSIC IS GONE BECAUSE BILL IS CARRYING THE DOCTOR’S LIMP BODY. While the opening credits are playing I just need to say, Capaldi, I am going to miss you so much. So so so much. I adored Capaldi’s Doctor. He was amazing. I love him so much. I miss him so much already. Missy, girl, I had so much hope for you. I’m enjoying this Master Missy banter though. “Ten years, you spent up there, chatting. You missed her by 2 hours.” THAT’S HORRIBLE. Prepare for a lot of capslock in this post. I hear the music again. From last episode. “This is Gallifrey” I think? “You two, you should know by now, when you’re winning, and I’m in the room, you’re missing something.” THAT IS AN AMAZING QUOTE TO DESCRIBE THE DOCTOR. YES. “Knock yourself out.” *Missy knocks out the Master* MISSY YES GIRL. BILL YES GIRL. Ok but what I can’t get my brain around is like... going from floor to floor is technically time travel... which is amazing... but they’re REALLY stuck... because of time...  UMM. BILL. GIRL. WHY ARE YOU NORMAL SUDDENLY?! Oh. She’s imagining herself as normal. Great. JELLY BABY. SO MUCH OLD WHO. DO ALL CYBERMEN SEE THEMSELVES AS THEIR OLD SELVES AT FIRST? She’s crying real tears! Fuck you, Master. I usually don’t hate you. But oh my god. I mean. At least the monotone voice hides emotion... Gotta take a moment to say the Pearl is literally tearing my heart out of my chest and shredding it so, good for you girl. DOCTOR. DOCTOR. YOU’RE PUSHING OFF YOUR REGENERATION. AGAIN. THAT’S NOT GOOD.

Master: “Do as she says.” Is the future going to be all girl? Me: Hopefully. Doctor: We can only hope. Me: YES!

ALSO COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE FORESHADOWING A WOMAN PLAYING THE DOCTOR IN THE FUTURE!? Also all this “Why don’t you remember this?” stuff better not be foreshadowing that Missy isn’t really the Master or something. Because I know lots of (sexist) Missy haters theorize that she’s not. I don’t want them to be right. I’m not even a Missy lover but I’ll be really angry if they reveal like “oh lol haha we lied she’s not really the Master lol gotcha.” OK WAIT. HOW HAVE I NEVER NOTICED HER SONIC IS HER UMBRELLA? HAVE I REALLY NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO HER? OH NO THE CYBERMEN HAVE ADVANCED A LOT SINCE WE LEFT THEM. I do like the contrast of Bill’s old school Cyberman vs the new one though. SO WE’RE TRULY TARDIS-LESS IN THIS EPISODE. MORE TARDIS-LESS THAN EVER BEFORE REALLY. SINCE THE... YOU KNOW WHAT? I CAN’T EVEN ARTICULATE THIS. I WAS GONNA SAY “SINCE THE TARDIS IS IN THE PAST” BUT IT’S NOT. IT’S JUST MOVING SLOWER THAN THEM AND THEY’RE MOVING SLOWER THAN THE CYBERMEN. IT’S HARD TO ARTICULATE WHAT’S HAPPENING. THAT’S HOW TARDIS-LESS WE ARE RIGHT NOW. GREAT. OH. OH. OH THAT’S JUST GREAT. THEY’RE JUST GONNA FLY UP AND THROUGH THE LEVELS. COOL. GREAT. FANTASTIC. THIS IS FUN.

Pausing to let it buffer a bit because my wifi hates me again. But oh my god the stakes are high with no TARDIS and a billion cybermen essentially manually time traveling to get to them.

WAIT. THE PEOPLE SEE A GIANT NUMBER IN THE SKY. AND DON’T KNOW THAT THIS IS A SPACE SHIP!? IT REALLY HAS BEEN A LONG TIME. PEOPLE. PASS DOWN YOUR FAMILY HISTORIES. PLEASE. THEY COME IN HANDY. LIKE IF FOR INSTANCE YOU LIVE ON A SPACE SHIP AND IT’S IMPORTANT FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS TO KNOW ABOUT IT. AND IF THEY DON’T KNOW THIS IS A SPACE SHIP, WHAT DO THEY THINK ABOUT THE CYBERMEN WHO MAKE IT UP THERE AND LIMP THROUGH? WHAT DO THEY THINK ABOUT THEM? AND WHAT MADE THEM START MAKING THEM INTO SCARECROWS? WHAT?! I mean the Master knows he gets out of this somehow since his future self is talking to him about it and doesn’t really remember it at all. MISSY YOU GENIUS. PARADOXES ARE GREAT. “I’ll try anything once.” Girl. Don’t. No.  They should really give Bill a scarf or something to differentiate her from the others... Though now all of them are newer so it’s easier, but still. Oh poor Bill. See. She’s upset. GOD POOR BILL THIS IS BREAKING MY HEART. That speech. Capaldi. I’m gonna miss you SO SO SO MUCH. God. I would not want to be the actor who has to follow Capaldi. He has some big shoes to fill. See, you know it’s gotten bad when something the Master said (”this is a face that didn’t listen to a word you just said”) that would normally be funny in any other episode, isn’t funny at all, not in the slightest, not at all, nope. It’s just disappointing. Not even like “oh haha” way, it’s just like... sad. ...Did she slip him the missing piece of the Master’s TARDIS...  Why are they in a pointy formation instead of a rectangular one? OK WAIT. OK. WAIT. WHY IS THIS GIVING ME MAJOR DEJA VU. ALIT HOLDING THE APPLE IN FRONT OF THE CYBERMEN. IT’S REMINDING ME OF SOMETHING. I’VE SEEN THIS BEFORE. OR SOMETHING SIMILAR. I THINK. IT’S JUST REALLY GIVING ME DEJA VU RIGHT NOW.

Doctor: I won’t do that until I’ve left. Me: Ok Doctor don’t lie Nardole: Liar, it can’t be done remotely. Me: See there we go.

Bill’s gonna volunteer to watch over the humans isn’t she? Oh no she’s gonna explode with the Doctor instead. Why. I would have preferred her watching over them forever, and all the humans loving her despite her being a Cyberman, and me crying tears of happiness that she’s accepted and sadness that we won’t see Bill again. OH NARDOLE. OH I’M GETTING EMOTIONAL ALREADY. So... I literally can’t tell if this cause of death would be considered a suicide or not... that’s like.. only half a joke... Ok... why do I feel like Bill’s “Glad you knew that” meant something else... or was it just to trick the audience into thinking “oh no another companion developed a crush on the Doctor”? So... double suicide...? Ummm... tell me Missy isn’t dead for good... right? There’s only 15 minutes left... so what’s gonna happen... Did he say Canary Wharf? The captions miss random words sometimes. Yep he’s reciting everything the Cyberman failed at. Also, I had forgotten about the time there were Cybermen on the moon. HEY DOCTOR. I FORBID YOU TO REGENERATE RIGHT NOW. OK NOW THERE’S 10 MINUTES LEFT AND EVERYTHING’S BLOWN UP WHAT’S LEFT TO HAPPEN!???!?! “Pity, no stars. I’d hoped there’d be stars.” WHY IS THIS MAKING ME SO SAD. NARDOLE’S STUCK HERE FOREVER NOW. I’M REALLY EMOTIONAL. See. I assumed it was snow last episode when we saw the Doctor start to regenerate. But nope. I guess it’s ash. Oh Bill. IS SHE GONNA DO IT? IS SHE GONNA FLY HIM UP TO THE TARDIS OR SOMETHING? WAIT. WHAT. WHAT THE HELL. IT’S THE GIRL. WHAT. IT’S WHAT’S HER FACE. HEATHER RIGHT? OH MY GOD. SHE REALLY FOLLOWED HER EVERYWHERE IN SPACE AND TIME. WHAT. OH MY GOD. I JUST GASPED. “LEFT YOU MY TEARS, REMEMBER?” I LEGIT LET OUT A GASP. I don’t know how I feel bout Heather coming out of nowhere like this but like... I can’t complain. THANK GOD FOR HEATHER AND HER CRAZY TIME TRAVELING LOCATION JUMPING WATER. I HOPE I SEE YOU AGAIN TOO BILL. So that’s 2 companions of the Doctor who are now traveling through time and space with an immortal girl(friend). MARTHA. THAT WAS MY MARTHA. “I DON’T WANT TO GO” AND WHAT WAS THAT SONTARAN QUOTE? ANOTHER LAST LINE A DOCTOR? “WHEN THE DOCTOR” WAS ME!?!?!?!?!? IS HE GONNA SAY WAS ME????? “WHEN THE DOCTOR WAS ME.” DJSAKFJDFJSAKFDLSAFDSAJFDJSA No? You can just say... No? And you don’t regenerate? Is it Earth? BELLS??? OH SO IT WAS SNOW, NOT ASH. UMM. WHAT. WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHO IS THAT. OOOOOOOOH IT’S HIM. IT’S HIM. DID I HEAR ABOUT DAVID BRADLEY BEING IN AN EPISODE THIS SEASON? I FEEL LIKE I DID. OH MY GOD. “THE ORIGINAL. YOU MIGHT SAY.” “THE DOCTORS WILL RETURN AT CHRISTMAS.”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I WANT TO CRY.

Ok I gotta get up and walk away for a minute just...

Me: *Says I’m gonna go calm down for a minute.* Me: *Instead freaks out even more over everything.*

I just went and fangirled to my dad about David Bradley for like 5 straight minutes because he’s the only person awake and I needed to get these feels out verbally. And then just about the episode in general for another 5 minutes. Oh my god. This is too much for 2am.

I just can’t put into words how excited I am. Because David Bradley blew me completely away in An Adventure in Space and Time and we get to see him as the First Doctor and just... oh my god. Oh my god.

Heather coming back for Bill seems almost deus ex machina like but she did leave her her tears and Bill the cyberman cried tears so like whatever, I get it. But believe me, Heather was the LAST person I expected to see. If we had had puddles hidden everywhere throughout the season, that would have been better since there would have been constant hints. Unless... there were puddles everywhere... and no one noticed... or at least I didn’t notice... because puddles are so subtle and common... Am I going to have to rewatch this entire season and look for puddles now?

I’m rereading my post about The Pilot just to see what my thoughts were the first time and I had apparently noticed that there was a picture of Susan on his desk next to River’s, so WERE THEY FORESHADOWING THE FIRST DOCTOR RETURNING FROM THE VERY BEGINNING!? OH MY GOD.

Ok basically. I wish Bill wasn’t leaving. I adored Bill. She needs to come back. At some point. I liked Heather, so once I got over the initial “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING” aspect of her return I was happy. And I’m glad that Bill doesn’t have to suffer as a Cyberman for the rest of her life, she gets to go off and travel the universe as an immortal puddle with her immortal puddle girlfriend. Yeah. My only complaint really is that she shouldn’t have been able to fly the TARDIS; “I’m the pilot” doesn’t feel like enough of an explanation.

As for the Doctor. Oh Doctor. I wanted to cry. But then the First Doctor came out of nowhere and I need to go see if I can rewatch that scene on YouTube or something because now it’s all a blur of me just freaking out and silently screaming.

Oh wow. The clip is only a minute and 20 seconds long. It felt like a lifetime. Time honestly slowed down when I watched this the first time.

AHHHH I DIDN’T NOTICE HIM GRABBING THE LAPELS OF HIS COAT. YES. YES DAVID BRADLEY. YES. GOD. THEY LITERALLY COULD NOT HAVE PICKED ANYONE BETTER TO PLAY HIM. OH MY GOD.

CHRISTMAS. YOU’RE MAKING ME WAIT UNTIL CHRISTMAS. That was actually my first thought when I had closed this post in order to “calm down” for a minute. I literally pressed save draft, and then looked into space, and whisper/screamed “...Christmas?!?!?!?!” HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO WAIT UNTIL CHRISTMAS?! THAT’S IN ALMOST 6 MONTHS. COME ON. But this means Capaldi gets to stay the Doctor for 6 more months and that’s fantastic.

On that note. Honestly, you guys should all congratulate me on how well I avoided spoilers. I didn’t even know this was the finale, so I’m REALLY glad I picked this episode of all episodes to be like “Nope. Not going on my dashboard because I follow people who like to post spoilers without tagging them. I’ll just avoid my dashboard until I have time to watch the episode” and that was almost a week later. Wow.

Also I never remembered what it was about this episode that I was spoiled for earlier this week, so my brain blocked something out correctly for once.

IN ALL THAT CRAZINESS, I LITERALLY HAD FORGOTTEN THAT MISSY DIED. UM. THAT CAN’T BE THE END OF THE MASTER’S REGENERATIONS RIGHT?

[raywritesthings]

What are your thoughts on season 10 of Doctor Who?

Overall, loved it. Series 10 has been the first of Twelve’s run that I watched all the way through, tbh. With series 8, I just wasn’t a fan of him acting like such an ass to Clara (Clara’s not even my favorite, but jesus, she saved your life how many times? at least be polite??) and then they sucked all the fun out of Danny once he met the Doctor and went all jealous-male-posturing in “The Caretaker”. Series 9 started out promising, but I just wasn’t much a fan of Ashildir. She bored me. My favorite episodes were the ones she wasn’t in (the first four and then the Zygon two-parter) and I’ve just never bothered watching the end because I didn’t really feel like seeing her again. Just my personal opinions.

The two Christmas Specials that came between series 9 and 10 were thoroughly enjoyable. I’ve always loved River and was also pleasantly surprised with how Doctor Who tackled a superhero story. The only sour note for me was Nardole. I’ve just never been a fan of Matt Lucas’ squeal-acting, ever since the Alice and Wonderland Burton film he was in. He’s more tolerable when they allow him to talk like a regular person, like he did for a majority of the finale, but by then the damage was kinda done for me. They didn’t really give Nardole much proper introduction; who he was, why River was able to program him to just follow the Doctor around or whatever, what his skillset was, what his limitations were, why he was taught to fly the TARDIS if the Doctor can barely stand him most times, etc. So that just endlessly frustrated me. Oh, and he refused to make Bill tea that one time. Ass.

But I was excited for Bill. She looked like a fun breath of fresh air. I think her and the Doctor’s friendship was a real throwback to Classic Who, and therefore precisely what Peter Capaldi had been looking to play ever since taking the gig (which is sad since he’s leaving now, but oh well. Shame he and David Tennant’s best series were also their last).

The amount of Missy was also a pleasant surprise. I liked that she was a character throughout rather than just being a Big Event villain like the Master has been ever since New Who started (or technically since the 1996 movie, I suppose). I liked the direction they took her character, and I am of the opinion that her ending was quite a good one, very tragically poetic. I’ve no doubt the Master will be back with a new face somewhere down the line, and I hope their development this last series will be taken into account whenever that happens. As someone who wasn’t much a fan of Simm!Master previously (like at all, tbh), he was also quite good in this. Also the goatee!! At last!

Bill’s ending was also perfect. It’s a beautiful ending if Chibnall doesn’t ask Pearl Mackie to stay on, but left enough room for her to return if he does. I just couldn’t believe how unabashedly happy it was, how she and Heather now have all of time and space to explore along with their relationship. I’m thrilled that tease of “maybe we’ll see her again” wasn’t just some unresolved thread from the premiere.

Again, as I’ve said I’m not so much a fan of Twelve’s whole ‘refusing-to-change-his-face’ thing, and am just holding out hope One kind of gives him a nudge in the right direction there, but that’s all left to be seen.

There were some episodes I thought weaker than the others, but that happens every series. Overall I thought this was an excellent run of episodes for Moffat and Capaldi to close out on, and I’ll be eagerly anticipating any news of what we can expect from the new writer and Doctor!

[5hineesback]

Bill Potts!!! And Captain Jack!!! Doctor Who is so fuckinng good!!!

i’m loving the new season!!! tbh it totally lost me from seasons 6-9 lmao, season 5 was okay i guess, the first half at least lol. seasons 1-4 own my entire heart and i adore them. but the new season so far is very good and i’m so excited, it has loads of potential and lets be real 70% of that is down to bill she’s a m a z i n g. i miss jack a lot i would love it if he came back for an episode or two. also i’m losing my shit over john simm returning, i kinda like missy but having john simm’s master back for a while is gonna be incredible

[brokeneisenglas]

John Simm’s THE MASTER IS RETURNING!

To anyone who didn’t know, John Simm’s Master is returning in this new Season of Doctor Who... And I am SO FUCKING EXCITED!

And, scared.

I have had this hope for a Master/Ten reunion for so long, in some way, that I fear that, whatever plan Moffat has for the return of this beloved version of characterization, what we will get will be so utterly not what either the Doctor or the Master deserve.

What I would like is so far out of reach that I could never dream for it to happen (especially with how well Moftiss and the fans handled Sherlock S4).

What I dream for: 

Prompt: Missy and Simm’s Master stand before this Doctor, ready to bring an end to his suffering (for, what else could it be?) and guide him into his next “life.” The Master- having returned from a Gallifrey he had long since betrayed, the drums no longer haunting his every breath- would look into those ancient eyes before him. The old familiar feeling of hate would rise-up in his chest...

Missy, as she had called herself, stands beside him as they look upon this current regeneration of an age-old enemy. Cold brown eyes gaze at the fallen figure, the man strewn upon the ground before them. They could do this, bring an end to his suffering- for what else could it be- and guide him into his next “life.” He had returned from the Gallifrey that betrayed him; whom he had betrayed. The drums no longer haunt his every breath, every beat of his hearts. Laser driver in hand, he feels the old familiar feeling of hate rise-up in his chest-- 

But, an invisible hand on his shoulder would ease him down.

“You could be so much more,” the whisper of a voice long gone says.

He looks to his left. As if time has slowed, he watches her raise her weapon- the laser primed- with a self-satisfied, wicked grin on her face. He feels his own driver in his hands, a heavy weight pulling him down to the surface of this forsaken planet.

How could he ever have chosen this world over their own?

“You could be so much more.”

The ghostly breath of a soul long gone caresses his cheek.

In this slowing of time, he remembers: auburn fields of grass, the suns shining down, the city on the horizon, running through the forests. He remembers: staring into time, the drums from afar, the madness taking hold. He remembers: being abandoned. Betrayal. Loss. Anger. Fear.

Hope.

This new Doctor- not so new, per se- will die. But, it will not be by his own hands.

He feels the gentle stroke of long fingers across his bicep, a hand trailing down his arm to grasp his wrist and lower the driver. He does not fight. He does not resist. Not here. Not right now.

She turns her head, stares in confusion; the fleeting look of rage does nothing to dissuade him.

He drops the laser.

The ghost of heartbeats rest against his back, and the nonexistent breath of a smile tickles his hair.

“What are you doing!?” She screams! “Help me!”

“I can help you... Let me help you.”

“Fine!” The swing of her arm pushes the particles around her away in a flourish of movement. He sees every one of them. Hears their motion. Tastes them as they pass him by. “I’ll do it myself.”

The madness had long since been lost.

But, rage remains.

He had only learned to control the energy coursing through his veins. A miracle, the physicians on an the entrapped Gallifrey had said. An impossibility, the soothsayer crowed. Improbable, the ghost whispered, but not impossible.

This Doctor would die, yes. But, not by his hands.

No matter which regeneration he would be.

The lightening burst forth from enflamed palms, and eyes azure blazed. How dare this reincarnation claim what was not rightfully her own? How dare she tempt insanity? How dare she arrest that which she herself had sacrificed herself to protect?!

How dare he throw his life away for the life of another worthless, elderly human!?

Distantly, he sees her fall to her knees; the skirt she wears fanning below her body, like the blood pulsing through her veins.

...

From his place across the room, he sees them in a paradoxical war. One he once new, and one with whom he has become well acquainted, in a battle of wills, challenge for the chance to end his life.

How had it come to this?

But, something changes.

The one he had thought long lost to this universe, to the life, stops. His hand drops, and the laser falls to the floor. Beside him, her fury radiates.

Inside, he can feel the process begin.

He is dying.

The two Masters face-off, and he wonders what changed. He wonders why? Then, suddenly, the electricity fills the air, and Missy is brought to her knees.

A thought, drawn from somewhere deep inside, rises.

He cannot let her die.

She could be so much more.

...

(tbc...? maybe... I’m quite terrible at these quick drabbles. But, I want to see a resolution.)