January 12th, 2020
70 comments
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What Did You Think of Orphan 55?
Now that the third episode of series 12 has aired what did you think? Was it everything you had hoped for or not what you expected.
The Doctor and her friends discover that the luxury resort where they are holidaying is hiding a number of deadly secrets. What are the ferocious monsters attacking Tranquillity Spa?
Please note there is no reply facility, single constructive comments related to the news article in question only, Attempts at Followups may be removed.
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TARDIS TEAM
January 26th, 2020 - 12:22pmWell said The Moffatt Paradox, I agree 100%
The Moffat Paradox
January 17th, 2020 - 10:18pmDoctor Stu.Even if you don’t like my particular idea the real point is if there is continuing evidence that the series on a consolidated viewing basis both here and internationally doesn’t cut it anymore (and getting worse) when the Chibnall/Whittaker era was supposed to reenergise it some kind of creative Deus ex Machina if not just regeneration might be required if the alternative is outright cancellation again.
(It doesn’t even get TV awards anymore.)
An emergency reboot from what was billed as the reboot.
It’s also if Chibnall is potentially attempting to mess up things in the storylines and Who universe again in a way that outdoes Steven Moffat.
As for respect well quite frankly the only one I have real respect here for is Bradley. Everybody likes Bradley. Pity his “Doc” wasn’t better foil for his Graham.
Tim M
January 17th, 2020 - 7:34pmWhenever Jodie leaves the show, and many would say sooner rather than later, I think she will always be the 13th Doctor whether we like it or not. The best thing to do as soon as the 14th Doctor comes along is for the Doctor to draw no attention to their previous incarnation, no mention, no flashbacks, no acknowledgement. The only thing the 14th Doctor could say with any nod to their immediate past could be “well, at least I’m no more unlucky 13”. And leave it at that.
Jordan9364
January 17th, 2020 - 6:15pmAs unlikely as that would be would honestly be great. I love Who from 1963 – 2017 but I just can’t enjoy the new ones no matter how hard I try. Considering its supposed to be entertainment I shouldn’t have to be ‘trying’ to like it lol
Pats86
January 17th, 2020 - 5:42pmThe Moffat Paradox, that is an excellent idea.
Doctor Stu
January 17th, 2020 - 1:38pmThat’s never ever going to happen. Not only is is ridiculous ludicrous it’s also completely disrespectful to Jodie, Tosin, Mandip and Bradley, regardless of what I think about their acting ability, performance etc.
The Moffat Paradox
January 16th, 2020 - 11:09pmFollowing on from Tim M’s latest comment and the replies about ratings if, even on a consolidated basis, ratings continue to decline and overall reaction to series 12 is at best only a mild improvement on series 11 then maybe there’s a way to undo all of this as Hollywood seems to now be trying to do as in the case of the lesson learned from the female centric Ghostbusters 2016 box office flop and upcoming new Ghostbusters movie more along the lines of what people wanted all along.
Erase the whole Whittaker time line if needs be and any plot inconsistencies with the Eccleston to Capaldi eras by a plot device such as a “Dallasesque” it was all a dream. Like with the psychic pollen the 11th Doctor, Amy and Rory were exposed to in “Amy’s Choice “which created in the Doctors head the “Dream Lord”.
Then the real 14th (or 13th) Doctor wakes up whoever he or (sigh) she is for as long as the new actor is an improvement on the existing one and the showrunner is someone that casual and hard core viewers can unite around.
Exterminator
January 16th, 2020 - 11:19amAt first I thought the monsters were the return of the Weevils from Torchwood as they look pretty similar with the way the teeth stick out and same shaped head.
It would’ve been good to see the Weevils again.
I agree, the “oh no it’s was Earth all along!” thing has been done to death, all that was missing was for them to find the Statue of Liberty half buried.
Stanley Gleed
January 16th, 2020 - 5:46amFor me it had way too fast of a pace. It never slowed down and I hardly got a chance to know any of the characters and some of the characters were kind of annoying and childish.
The editing is also bad. There was no time to breath and almost every time and character said something, another character would immediately start talking. I mean look at the scene near the end when everyone is in the safe room thing worrying about dying.
There are subplots after subplots which came out of no where and we’re handled badly. I mean the mother reveal literally came out of no where.
Also there was so much exposition. The Doctor explains what an Orphan planet and Graham immediately asks what an Orphan planet is and she explains again.
Yes, Doctor Who has always had political messages in their stories and yes, sometimes it isn’t subtle about it’s political message like the Daleks and the Silurians but this stories political message was extremely on the nose and felt extremely forced in your face with no subtlety whatsoever and while it is an important thing to talk about (now more then ever with what is going on in Australia) it felt more like a lecture then a message and I felt felt really tacked on at the end. Also the BBC seem so proud about the speech that they made video where they praise themselves my saying that fans are calling the 13th Doctor “Space Greta Thunberg” which I’m sure no one outside the BBC has said and has also annoyed a lot of people as the video has a lot of dislikes and a lot angry comments. You can’t compare yourself to someone like Greta Thunberg who IS actually doing something about Climate Change and Global Warming.
The characters were bland and boring, the pacing was way to fast, character decisions a lot of the time made no sense (seriously why did the kid leave the safe room at the end of the episode) and the editing was really bad.
Doctor Mysterio
January 15th, 2020 - 10:31pmCan’t say I entirely agree about Jodie. She’s a good actress but just isn’t being given the material (or direction) to work with. I don’t think anyone could have read some of her lines in this episode with any conviction.
I also don’t think that the big ensemble cast helps, it leaves them all with not a lot to do. (Not that these new writers seem to know what to do with the Doctor when she is involved in the plot…)
It’s also true to say the Bradley Walsh is stealing the show, much in the Frank Skinner or Bernard Cribbins did, or even Matt Lucas to an extent. When you have talented people on the show, and like it or not, Bradley Walsh is a star name, they stand out as good. Especially if the story requires comedy and tragedy. That’s why they have been around for so long and had such a varied career – they are good at what they do. But when others in the show can’t always compete it becomes an issue. Personally, I’d like to see the Doc and Graham go off without the kids and see the universe. This would be an interesting dynamic and free up time and plot. We’ve much more to see from Jodie – let’s just hope she’s given something meaty to work with.