|
Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 3, 2018 22:05:46 GMT
Inspired by youtuber Stubagful (who did this but with all Moffat stories: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt6lzpPTUbk), offer a snappy, one-two sentence thoughts on Chibnall's Who episodes. - 42
- The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
- Pond Life (2012 mini-episodes)
- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
- The Power of Three
- P.S. (2012 mini-episode)
- for the hell of it, the last three minutes of Twice Upon
|
|
|
Post by sherlock on Jan 3, 2018 22:13:38 GMT
With the caveat of not having seen these episodes for some years.
42: Creative and underrated. A solid episode all considered.
The Hungary Earth/Cold Blood: A decent take on the Silurians. Alright overall.
Pond Life: Fun bit of filler.
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: Honestly can't remember much of this.
The Power of Three: Good story till the ending, which is rushed and fails to deliver on villain front.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 22:42:03 GMT
42 - Loved it. The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood - good. Pond Life (2012 mini-episodes) - not seen it. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Cleopatra! Dinosaurs! Great fun. The Power of Three - pretty good. P.S. (2012 mini-episode) - not seen it. for the hell of it, the last three minutes of Twice Upon - ompossible to make any judgement.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 3:05:27 GMT
Let's see...
I really enjoyed 42. A simple premise, reminiscent of Sunshine, but hauntingly executed with a genuine sense of danger for everyone involved. Where did Graeme Harper go after The Sarah Jane Adventures?
The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood - Fairly solid, although I think it's the first story that really demonstrated how there needs to be an additional component to the peacemaking story between humans and Silurians nowadays. Well-trodden ground, but worked well. There are little human touches, particularly with the Silurians, that make various aspects of the story click (Restac mourning her sister and her farewell: "You're a good scientist, Malohkeh, but this is war.").
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - A gleefully pulpy premise (very Buckaroo Banzai like much of the era), executed with some logical worldbuilding, efficient plotting and does what it needs to do for the allotted forty-five minutes. It's fine.
The Power of Three - Can't deny that it's well executed, but Who as a sitcom wasn't what I was really looking for in the show. Definitely the best use of Kate Stewart since Downtime though; a scientist who has well and truly outgrown her father's shadow (I wish she could've stayed like that).
Twice Upon a Time - No painful gags ("Kidneys! Don't like the colour."), imperilled Doctor. Generally positive.
|
|
shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,677
|
Post by shutupbanks on Jan 4, 2018 4:55:54 GMT
I loved 42: from the title (linking it to the length of the episode, the Kiefer Sullivan show, contrasting the answer to the meaning of life, etc with trivia questions) to the delivery of the story and the links it had to the wider story arc.
Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood had some great moments and some terrific guest characters but for various reasons (timing, service to the season arc) didn't quite deliver.
Dinosaurs On A Spaceship was just a great fun romp with a couple of moments that really took you out of the fun and gave you a bit of a chill.
Power Of Three - fab episode right up until the last five minutes when it suddenly seemed to realise that there was an ending in sight and it needed to finish - but rushed and imperfect endings are a problem that we've had to deal with since the show came back - mind you, Classic Who quite often fumbled its endings too, but if I've got an issue with recent Who (and I'm quite the Moffat fanboy, so this is a big admission for me) it's that many episodes could deal with a few extra minutes or some trimming in the earlier moments in order to be properly resolved.
Twice upon A Time - not even going to bother to comment except for the fact that for the first time we seem to have a Doctor who has regenerated with their faculties intact: the "Oh, brilliant" suggests (I'm open to be disproved, however) that she has kept her marbles, comparatively, which makes a nice change.
I think you can also take his non-Who work into consideration, as well - I know it's against the spirit of fandom to do so, but... - for this. I know that RTD had worked on some shows that were radically different from Who but brought a lot of those sensibilities with him, as did The Moff. So I'll be interested in seeing what The Chib/ CC/ whatever fun nickname we come up for him (Chinball just isn't doing it for me) brings to the table from other shows he's worked on.
|
|
|
Post by constonks on Jan 4, 2018 7:58:38 GMT
Looking back, I'd say Dinosaurs is fun, the Silurian two-parter was decent and I loved The Power of Three when it aired but, yeah, the ending is garbage. Pond Life is inconsequential but a good hype-up for Series 7. As for 42, I've forgotten nine-tenths of it. I'll have to watch the whole lot again I think.
As for his other work, I liked Broadchurch quite a bit but the problem with it is that ocassionally things just *happen*. The investigation of season one is resolved with a confession, not detection - and as a result, all but the first and last episodes are rendered a bit pointless, mystery-wise. Perhaps it's not meant to be about the plot, though, and more about the characters - as on that score, it's a success.
|
|
|
Post by relativetime on Jan 4, 2018 9:05:46 GMT
42 is definitely underrated - overshadowed only by the brilliance of Human Nature/The Family of Blood and Blink.
Hungry Earth/Cold Blood are pretty good. All of Series 5 except Victory of the Daleks is at least pretty good, actually.
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is another episode that I think is a bit underrated. It introduced some of the best side characters of the Eleventh Doctor years besides the Paternoster Gang in my opinion and I'd love to have some further adventures with them on audio. Maybe he'll even pull a trick out of Moffat's book and bring back some of them, though I doubt it. Overall, it's just a fun episode really.
I agree that The Power of Three had a pretty rushed conclusion, but it has some really memorable moments with the TARDIS team and Rory's father that make up for it.
P.S. was absolutely heart wrenching. It's an absolute must-watch in my opinion.
Not much to say about the brief bit at the end of Twice Upon A Time, but I do like Chibnall's approach. I'm not really sure what I was expecting in that moment, but it just really fit. I like how it's much more subdued than the previous two post-regenerations and that it depends more on the direction than any of the other modern regenerations. I think it's too early to say what the first episode is going to be like, but we're off to a good start.
As for his work on Torchwood, he did have some misses in Day One and Cyberwoman as well as some I just didn't particularly care for such as End of Days, but Countrycide hit the mark for me and his work in Series 2 was significantly better - particularly in Adrift and Fragments.
In review, I think Chibnall's strength lies in his characters which has arguably been Steven Moffat's weakest area (though I thought he did a pretty good job myself). He can pull at your heart real well and he can make some pretty memorable characters - Captain John Hart, anyone? He also has a good sense for writing to his actors' strengths and giving them plenty of moments to develop. When he does a character focused episode like Fragments or P.S. he can surpass Moffat and Russell T. Davies. He can write a really fun, enjoyable, and engaging plot too, but I think that's where he's weakest - sort of like Russell T. Davies.
So, overall, I think Chibnall's style would be more comparable to Russell T. Davies than to Steven Moffat, though I think Chibnall has his own strengths that will set his era apart from any other. I'm excited to see what that may be.
|
|
|
Post by thethirddoctor on Jan 4, 2018 11:17:41 GMT
- 42
- The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
- Pond Life (2012 mini-episodes)
- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
- The Power of Three
- P.S. (2012 mini-episode)
- for the hell of it, the last three minutes of Twice Upon
42 - Don't remember enough about it. The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood - Nothing startling. Nothing memorable. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Stupid self indulgent, plot hole ridden. The Power of Three - Very slow and dull. Rushed ending. P.S - Not sure if I've seen them. If I have, nothing memorable. TUAT - Insufficient data.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 12:25:42 GMT
- 42
- The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
- Pond Life (2012 mini-episodes)
- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
- The Power of Three
- P.S. (2012 mini-episode)
- for the hell of it, the last three minutes of Twice Upon
42 - Don't remember enough about it. The Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood - Nothing startling. Nothing memorable. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Stupid self indulgent, plot hole ridden. The Power of Three - Very slow and dull. Rushed ending. P.S - Not sure if I've seen them. If I have, nothing memorable. TUAT - Insufficient data. Hmmmm. Plot holes, you say?
|
|
|
Post by thethirddoctor on Jan 4, 2018 13:16:26 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 13:28:35 GMT
Why would I read that? If you need to tear apart an episode to get any enjoyment out of it, surely you'd be better off devoting your time to something else?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2018 13:32:39 GMT
Why would I read that? If you need to tear apart an episode to get any enjoyment out of it, surely you'd be better off devoting your time to something else? So true. My rule of thumb is that if I don't notice plot holes when I am watching an episode then the episode has done its job of entertaining me. It is easy to pull things apart after the fact with over critical joyless analysis.
|
|
|
Post by mark687 on Jan 4, 2018 18:18:50 GMT
42 (Average but not terrible)
Hungry Earth/ Cold Blood (Hungry is ok but I get visions of Moffatt saying "There's not enough Amy" and Chibnail badly overcompensates for it in Cold)
Pond Life (Silly filler material but that's what its meant to be)
Dinosaurs (Brian is excellent, princess and the Hunter are good. Hate the Robots [but then again I don't like Mitchell and Webb] and does the Doctor go too far? No because Solomon was a vicious piece of work IMO.)
Power of Three ( UNIT reintroduction is very good, Berkoff is such a waste of talent as the villain though and I was sick to death of the Ponds since Asylum.)
PS (Should've been filmed its a nicer coda ending then the Ponds deserved though.)
Regards
mark687
|
|
|
Post by mrperson on Jan 4, 2018 20:54:18 GMT
I liked Hungry/Cold
Dinosaurs was a good comedy episode.
The rest.......meh
|
|
|
Post by nucleusofswarm on Jan 13, 2018 1:24:45 GMT
Why would I read that? If you need to tear apart an episode to get any enjoyment out of it, surely you'd be better off devoting your time to something else? I'm sure this is not what you meant, but that does come off as a tad reductivist. Blind adoration of something is surely as bad as blind hate.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2018 10:09:56 GMT
Why would I read that? If you need to tear apart an episode to get any enjoyment out of it, surely you'd be better off devoting your time to something else? I'm sure this is not what you meant, but that does come off as a tad reductivist. Blind adoration of something is surely as bad as blind hate. I'm easily pleased, you mean? You're right, that's not what I meant. Doctor Who is about the only thing I watch on television, because I find most other things mind-numbing and tedious. If I enjoy an episode of Doctor Who, which I usually do, I don't feel the need to go trawling across the internet to find clever people's listings of reasons why I shouldn't enjoy it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2018 14:28:00 GMT
From what I understand, 42, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Power of Three were all late commissions that Chibbers had to write and deliver very quickly. And, according to one Gareth Roberts, The Power of Three's first draft was excellent, but somehow became too long by the final draft so the (naff) ending had to be cobbled together in the edit.
So hopefully that provides some context as to why some of us on here aren't particularly enamoured with his past Who work.
In that case, his Torchwood series 2 stuff is probably the best for illustrating the kind of drama we'll be getting under him for series 11.
|
|
|
Post by barnabaslives on Jan 13, 2018 16:18:58 GMT
Twice upon A Time - not even going to bother to comment except for the fact that for the first time we seem to have a Doctor who has regenerated with their faculties intact: the "Oh, brilliant" suggests (I'm open to be disproved, however) that she has kept her marbles, comparatively, which makes a nice change. ^This.
|
|