[TV] The Doctor Who Thread

I fell off on Doctor Who and stopped watching after Skyfall Part 1. I loved Whittaker in the role, but the writing was atrocious and I couldn't keep interested. But I decided to tune in for the finale and Jodie's send off. At the very least, It thought whatever Davies teased in the cliffhanger would be worth watching.

I'm glad I did because for all the issues I had with Chibnall's run as showrunner, he absolutely stuck the landing. It was a HECK of a finale, a fantastic send-off for Whitaker, and that cliffhanger has me super excited again.

More thoughts behind the spoiler cut.

-This was a fantastic episode for both Whittaker and especially Sacha Dhawan, who plays such an amazing Master. I don't know if that's the last we see of him as The Master, but he's been great in what I've seen here and in clips.

For Whittaker, though, she had an amazing final moments to save the day. And I really liked her send off. She didn't get a grand speech like previous Doctors, but instead, her "speech" was from her "fam," the group of previous companions. Which for her character, I thought was a great touch, because she was all about her "family."

She might not have gotten a big speech like Smith or Capaldi, or a near operatic send-off like Tennant, but I would argue her regeneration, in terms of visuals, was hands down the best. And FINALLY, a regenerating Doctor regenerates outside the TARDIS again.

-Loved the appearances of the previous Doctors. It was a nice touch, too, that when The Master became the Evil Doctor, much of what her wore was the costumes of the Doctors that appeared in the episode. I surprisingly got a little teary eyed when the Fifth and Seventh Doctors had a brief reunion with their respective companions. I didn't start watching Doctor Who until the 2005 reboot, but I've seen enough clips of the older stuff to appreciate those touching reunions.

-I barely know either of their characters, but I ship Ace and Graham so hard from their brief meeting.

-DAVID TENNANT. What? WHAT? WHAT!?
 
I've learned that the vast majority of Classic Who is available on Tubi. Free streaming platform if you've never used it.

One key episode missing is The Unearthly Child, the first ever episode. Apparently, a rights issue is preventing them from including it.

But everything ELSE appears to be there, from the First Doctor, William Hartnell, all the way up to the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.
 
No Eighth Doctor on? Are hey somewhere else?
That's the 1996 movie, with Paul McGann's first and only televised outing as the Eighth Doctor (aside from one brief mini episode return and a healthy run of audioplay adventures).

As far as i know, it's not available to stream anywhere.
 
As far as i know, it's not available to stream anywhere.
And because it started late the day I recorded it, I'm missing the ending.

However, according to my wife (who is currently plowing through every available Dr Who EVAR with my son), she thinks when they watched it, it was on archive.org.

--Patrick
 
I've learned that the vast majority of Classic Who is available on Tubi. Free streaming platform if you've never used it.

One key episode missing is The Unearthly Child, the first ever episode. Apparently, a rights issue is preventing them from including it.

But everything ELSE appears to be there, from the First Doctor, William Hartnell, all the way up to the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.
Right issues are stopping the BBC from showing it. At the time it was made the Beeb were allowing the Doctor Who scriptwriters to keep the copyright over some elements of what they wrote (which is why the Terry Nation Estate owns the Daleks instead of the BBC) and the son of the writer of the first 4 episodes insists that since he inherited those copyrights they can't show them without licensing his rights. He says that he made a reasonable offer to let them license the episodes, but since he also compared that offer to how much the BBC are paying Gary Lineker (BBC's highest paid presenter) to talk about football & he's said that his will bequeaths those rights to someone he's describing as "an enemy of the BBC" I have my doubts about just how "reasonable" that offer was.

Oh, and 10 years ago during the 50th anniversary he tried to claim ownership over the TARDIS. Unlike for these episodes, the BBC was definitely willing to go to court over that and had documentation proving it predated his father being hired to write the script for the first episode, so I think he dropped it (I can't find any record of a court case about it anyway).

No Eighth Doctor on? Are hey somewhere else?
That's the 1996 movie, with Paul McGann's first and only televised outing as the Eighth Doctor (aside from one brief mini episode return and a healthy run of audioplay adventures).

As far as i know, it's not available to stream anywhere.
That was a coproduction with 20th Century Fox & Universal so the rights for that are partially held by NBC and either FOX or Disney.
 
Just finished THE STAR BEAST episode. And what can I say?

I loved it.
I LOVED IT
I LOOOOOOOOOVED IT.

I laughed, I cried, I cheered. It's like the show was completely redesigned and yet just old enough to feel familiar. And a clearly MUCH bigger production budget.

It was absolutely silly and ridiculous as good Doctor Who should be. But it also gave room for the characters to breathe in between the explosions.

It's also probably more progressive than it's ever been in the best of ways.

I fell off on Doctor Who after Whitaker's first season. She was great, but the writing just didn't do it for me.

This? This did it for me.

Doctor Who is back, baby! I can't wait to see what Davies and especially Ncuti Gatwa (once he arrives) have in store for us.

I'll happily enjoy Tennant for now, mind you. He was right back to being The Doctor like he never left. I was ready for him to go at the end of his run, but I'm happy to see him back in all his glory.
 
I’m happy to have Donna back, even for just three episodes. She’s officially moved up to being my all-time favorite companion (sorry, Sarah Jane, but I still love you in second place!). Catherine Tate has been amazing, especially in Wild Blue Yonder.
 
Not a strong first outing for Gatwa’s Doctor. “Rope science” is one of the laziest attempts I’ve seen from when Dr. Who explains magic/fantasy as actual technology. Gatwa still needs to grow on me as he’s quirky in cool way that just seems generic so far. Same with Ruby as as she comes off more as just a one episode worthy character and not as a strong companion like Amy or Donna. I was a little thrown off by the musical number that showed up, but I wouldn’t hate the idea if future episodes with this actor all have a musical element to them.
 
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