BBV: Whoniverse-adjacent TV content

Television
89

When to Die - 1/10

Directing, acting, special effects, shot continuity, audio effects, casting, scripting, shot composition, props…

Apparently 20 years is how long it takes to lose all film making skill. I’m trying to think of a single thing that this film did well, and I’m coming up completely blank.

Where the previous four PROBE films had a cast that brings you in, well built suspense and horror, some great shots and effects, this film surprises you by doing, well, not that.

The best moments were the most emotionally important parts of the film because they screwed them up so badly you just couldn’t help but laugh. I’m sure this would be a great watch with friends and some beers, but for actually being a compelling story… Yeah, it’s a 1/10

7 Likes
90

This one has always intrigued me but the recasting of Liz Shaw and the way it was so delayed and separate from the originals has always put me off actually buying it.

6 Likes
91

On the one hand, it’s awful, I can’t reccomend watching it at all

On the other hand, if you’ve got some friends who like doctor who and you want to drink with and laugh at how badly made a shitty film is together, it’s probably good for that

8 Likes
92

Um, well, I’ve got some friends who like Doctor Who…

Yeah, that’s about where I peter out there.

8 Likes
93

I guess Minor Spoiler Warning for Portents of Doom, but lets be honest, no-one cares about spoilers for this

Portents of Doom is so bad it’s good.

Unlike When To Die, this is one I can actually reccomend watching to laugh at because it’s just so so funny completely unintentionally, and it’s mercifully short.

Baggs can’t act, and unlike the other case files where the format at least slightly hides that, it’s just on full display here. Another thing on full display is that Baggs wrote this as he has the only other actor they could get to star constantly complimenting and flirting with him.

Speaking of constant flirting, the other character that’s doing that flirting is Solomon, who viewers of previous BBV work may recognise as the true name of The Stranger, is here seemingly doing his best Captain Jack Harkness impersonation, at least I think that’s what the character is meant to be. I’ve only seen the first episode of The Stranger so far, but it’s a very far departure from how he was characterised over there. I mean, sure there’s a lot of difference between Hartnell and Ncuti’s doctors, but this is just even moreso than that.

And then there’s the production… Bad effects (some solid ones and some where they’ve masked it by making the image quality flicker when they happened which was a fun workaround, but mostly just awful), clear use of stock photos and videos (two times there’s a call from someone and it’s so obviously a video playing on a stock photo), poor location scouting/shooting (It’s set in london… but there’s a ‘Missing Cat in Southampton’ poster very clearly readable in frame), 0 care for props (Solomon is just using a literal smart phone, and they expect you to pretend it’s future tech) and the shot continuity is awful (there’s one point where Baggs is trying to get into a building and getting frustrated that it’s locked… and in one shot it’s just open behind him)

Other fun things to note, Baggs tries to imply that PROBE has contacts at Torchwood 3, and I can’t for a second believe that Torchwood would take PROBE seriously, especially the season 8 team, and also there’s one bit where the alien impersonates Baggs to get at Solomon (because they couldn’t get more than those two actors), and Solomon says “Clever, disguising yourself as someone I care about” when they literally met like 20 minutes ago.

All in all, go in know it’s bad, and just laugh at it.

2/10 for quality, 8/10 for entertainment

6 Likes
94

I noticed that in the trailer and thought it was… an interesting choice :crazy_face:

3 Likes
95

Oh my that looks terrible! I mean it actually looks worse than some of the stuff that came out in the 90s.

I think, though, the thing that bothers me the most about these latest offerings from BBV is that they are clinging on to the Doctor Who franchise by their copyright-dodging fingertips and it just feels hugely disingenuous.

And this is bearing in mind I loved their Wilderness Years output.

5 Likes
96

Oh no yeah, it’s them desperately clinging on to any relevance

4 Likes
97

God, going from one Stranger outing to another, it’s just so clear how much they just lost their way with things when the revival happened

I’d seen that infamous shot from More than a Messiah, and because of it I wasn’t really expecting much from the script but that was genuinely just so heartfelt and well acted, with some interesting sci-fi concepts in there too.

Baker and Bryant are great (not technically but lets be honest they’re actually just) returning to their roles, and Aldred is great as the planet’s consciousness, I love her interactions with Baker here. I also think the side-cast is pretty solid too, you’ve got a believable ‘villain’ who eventually ends up seeming like just a mentally unwell older man.

There’s a lot of heart to the story, and it’s one of those wilderness exploits that I’ve surprised myself by how much I’ve enjoyed it

8/10

6 Likes