Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

This hasn't been confirmed, so is possibly just baseless speculation, but it's a story that's picking up a bit of traction at the moment. Rumour has it that Chris Chibnall is unhappy with the job of being showrunner on Doctor Who, and that both he and Jodie Whittaker have decided to bow out after a 7 episode run in 2019, including a Christmas special.

I really hope it isn't true. It would suck to lose Jodie from the show after just over a year in the role.

 

That is... unexpected. Why would Jodie leave if CC is unhappy?

 

Most of the bad comments I've seen have been about the scripts, not about her.

 

Presumably for the same reason David Tennant left at the same time as RTD, she just doesn't want to work with a new creative team.

Obviously this is just rumour right now, and things could always change even if it's true. But I'll be very upset if her era ends so quickly, because she's delightful as the Doctor.

Name me a showrunner where fans weren't complaining about the scripts! The complaints that I've heard about this series have been pretty much par for the course.

 

Don't believe it for a second.

 

Next week's episode is on from 6:30-7:20 PM in the UK. Title is:

Spoiler

The Witchfinders

 

I enjoyed that one , and it felt like DW , which a number this year haven't .

 

Best of the series by a long chalk. And completely agreed that it felt like Who.

 

Third here agreeing best episode so far...

 

Just saw "Kerblam!"

Spoiler

I thought it was OK, though it might've been better with an extra twenty minutes or so to flesh out the plot and characters. I was genuinely surprised regarding the actual villain, and the story worked OK, in general. However, when we were introduced to Kira and Dan, I knew they wouldn't survive the story.
Oh, and I just kept flashing back to this, throughout the story:

 

Demons of the Punjab is one of my favorite episodes in years. Seriously everything I want from the show. Time travel to interesting periods other than future hallways and Victorian Britain, character development for a companion who feels real and relatable, fantastic design on the aliens... this is the kind of thing that makes me want the serial structure back, so we can get solid three-episode arcs with investment in sets and worldbuilding.
Kerblam! on the other hand...

Spoiler

...had some potential and an interesting premise, but the climax was hot neoliberal garbage. Watching the doctor explain to a straw luddite that 'the system works, it's just individuals that are the problem!' is something I never want to experience again. There were a couple of moments I enjoyed, (particularly between Yaz and Ryan), but otherwise it just seemed to be running down a checklist of cliches that have already been used this season, and descended into an incoherent mess.

 

I really liked Kerblam! Best episode so far. Loved the conveyor belt scene. Did the robots remind anyone else of the Johnny Cab in Total Recall?

 

It wasn't my favorite episode this season either. Rosa and Demons of the Punjab hold that distinction.

Spoiler

Kerblam! was, for me, the final note needed to be certain this season's central preoccupation is historical, political and social commentary.

The presence of both is nothing new in Doctor Who. Remember how in the very first minutes of the first episode the scriptwriter took the time to portray the UK's then official system of measurements as outdated, and the adoption of the metric system common sense? (it actually happened 2 years after the show's debut, during the back half of William Hartnell's run). And that's just the first of a great many instances; I'd be there for a while pointing out the entirety of such instances in the show's first season alone.

The difference is, this time, and since the second episode, historical, social and political commentary have taken residence at the heart of the plots, to the point three of the seven episodes which have aired so far, Arachnids in the UK, The Tsuranga Conundrum and this week's Kerblam! don't exist at all without them (Rosa and Demons of the Punjab, for their part, center around actual historical events which give them a lot more substance).

The entire commentary so far also revolves around an easily recognizable 21st-century ideological system, complete with its accepted antagonist figures and a portrayal of what is morally tolerable from those who veer away from the system and do wrong. True, an episode like this Sunday's fits the template of quite a few former Doctor Who serials and episodes, but the whole plot revolves, as Abadacus pointed out, around a straw luddite - who decides to fight against a modernized Amazon.com and more generally against the type of labor market robotization may yet engender during our lifetimes. And the robots who entirely make human labor obsolete, and watch over what little organic workforce is tolerated like Big Brother at the behest of supervision (like, say, already happens at Amazon?) - a system which is explicitly described as the cause for galaxy-wide misery in the episode - are ultimately the good guys.

And said supervision is handed the task of making sure the system becomes more humane, why the nice but misguided kid dies because... he can't stand the harm he already caused? his girlfriend is collateral damage? Nevermind, people of the galaxy, upper-management will take back charge and make sure Jeffbezosopia becomes a better place for all! We'll scan you, put you where you fit best, and you will all have the chance to become citizens with a purpose in the galaxy of the structurally unemployed.

I did enjoy the episode as an adventure, but yeah, I loathe its social commentary with a passion

 

It sounds incredibly unlikely. I'd guess it's a rumour started by someone who doesn't like the current Doctor or producer. You get tis sort of thing all the time in Who. Anyone remember that poster here who claimed that Eccleston had stepped down soon after filming and that Paul McGann would be coming back in the starring role? Some people like to fantasise via message board.

 

Kerblam was a much better episode. Old school feel with a simple plot and creepy robots.

Reminded me of RTD era episodes.

A bit anti-technology for my liking, but certainly more entertaining compared to some of the other episodes.

 

On this date in 1963, this was broadcast over BBC 1...

...and on this date in 2013, this was broadcast over BBC 1:

 

Today's trip!

 

And here as well

 

That top tree looks like it should have been in the Robin Hood episode.

 

Bit more recent than that

 

Bottom one, nope. Top one, a bit more recent than that!

 

The garden rest area from Kerblam!

Is the indoor the one the dance hall from Human Nature?

 

All the points to darkspine!!