Managed to binge through The Space Museum. The atmosphere of the first episode stands out, the mystery of the crew having no impact on the world around them and finally the shot of their seeming doppelgangers in the display cases. Vicki definitely comes off best late in the story in how she gets the Xeons to revolt. It’s refreshing to see the TV show tackle a timey-wimey plot in that they’re actively working to avoid being exhibits, and questioning whether their actions are leading to or away from this outcome.
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Today’s Double Bill:
The Runaway Bride
followed by
It Takes You Away.
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Was the 
Guide Randomiser in use here?
Seems an ‘odd’ pairing 
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Well, the TARDIS did take Donna away in the Runaway Bride…
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No, the first one is for TV Club next week.
And the second one is the next story I need to complete in the 13th Doctor chronological marathon 
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Is it? Good job you reminded me!
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You’re welcome 
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Oh were back to Doctor Who in the TV Club? Noice! 
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Yes, it feels great, doesn’t it! On to Series 3!
And I used the handy schedule by @DarthGallifrey, by the way. I’m not that good at keeping track 
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I don’t love it. But I can never hate anything with this TARDIS team.
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The Tsuranga Conundrum!
For reasons I cannot begin to comprehend, people are very mixed to negative on this episode, and all I can tell you is that from the day it first aired, my girlfriend and I thought Pting was both a brilliant idea and a very well-rendered little CGI guy. I love that he is not a villain or even a monster, just one hungry toxic little gremlin looking for a snack (who may have been built rather than born, a very intriguing dangling thread). I’ve always thought another villain could use Pting as a distraction while they get on with their real evil scheme, because you really do have to get him fed and off your ship very quickly before everyone dies. Missy etc throwing a Pting into a situation to cause chaos while they steal something would be very fun.
And this is one of my favorite Jodie performances, it’s hard to express why I love her stopping to explain hard science concepts with a giant grin on her face so much, but it’s a huge part of why she’s my favorite. I also like her being selfish at first, nearly every Doctor would’ve started from that same place of “we have to get back to my TARDIS right now,” but not all of them would so quickly recognize they’re endangering everybody else. Very good character stuff for Ryan, even if the male pregnancy bit is a peculiar way to riff on this episode’s Alien influence.
I particularly love the shot of Pting slowly passing by the camera, happily and contentedly full of exploding energy. The Doctor also casually mentions having seen all 900 casts of Hamilton, and I had to pause and spend some time working out which previous incarnation would have been obsessed with Hamilton (feels 10-ish, no? He’s perhaps the most “musical theater” Doctor haha). And the production design of the ship is excellent, it’s like the cinematic platonic ideal of an 80s Doctor Who spaceship set, imagine if Warriors Of The Deep looked this good!
Not my full favorite from this series, and yet Pting is the only Doctor Who Funko Pop I’ve ever bought, we are a very pro-Pting household haha. It’s a 3.5 story with a bonus point for the lil gremlin. 3.75/5
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If the new 13DAs don’t realise that “P’tings” script that Chibnall had planned out, I’ll be sorely disappointed. I’m a bit mixed on the episode but I do really like these little guys
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It’s time to survive the Flux![1]
I’m watching survivors of the flux, if that wasn’t obvious from my amazing joke
↩︎
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I’m kinda in a bit of a quandary with all of these “Currently” topics (reading, watching, listening, playing). I’ve got lots of stuff I want to read/watch/listen/play, but never enough time or gumption to do so.
This is one where I’ve got lots of stuff sitting beside me to watch. I’ve been watching bits and pieces of the Tom Baker era coupled with Behind the Sofas for my feedback/comment emails I send to the Doctor’s Beard Podcast[1]. I want to start a rewatch of the Peter Davison era (partly to follow along with the podcast, partly in order to start a Fifth Doctor timeline journey for The Fifth Doctor Era topic which I want to write reviews for). I’ve got the Tenth Doctor era I want to continue on for both the Television > TV Club threads and to be able rate everything for those badges (and of course then the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor eras too). My next episode here is The Girl in the Fireplace. I’ve got a slow burn Classic rewatch that I’ve started with the next episode there being The Forest of Fear (An Unearthly Child Part 3). I’ve got my slow Thirteen rewatch that I want to get back to with the next episode being Arachnids in the UK[2]. I’ve also got my Torchwood first time watch where the next episode is Adam. I also have Season 2 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sitting beside too. I kinda want to cherry-pick that[3] so I can jump into Season 3, which I think I’ve only seen the first few episodes.
The problem with the Currently Reading and Currently Watching lists, is that they require time to sit down and watch/read. Unlike Audio where I can listen while doing other stuff. Ah well, sometimes it’s just nice to vent.
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“A Tear, Sarah Jane?”
Planet of the Spiders is… not great, from Tommy’s (not-actually-but-come-on) autism, especially with it getting cured, the strange almost fetishisation of Asian culture, the far-too-long runtime, the half episode car chase, etc etc, there’s a lot to not like here.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some things that are great, the puppetry is of course hillarious, but I do also really like that this feels like a best-of of the era. I love that we get to see the oft referenced Metebelis 3, I love that we start with a letter from Jo, I love Yates’ kickstarting the plot despite not being in UNIT, the era gets a really nice showcase and I do love that.
But then the plot itself, even ignoring the issues I’ve already mentioned (which, you definitely shouldn’t, those are some big issues), it doesn’t feel like a finale really should, there’s just something missing, something that probably has to do with Delgado’s unfortunate passing. Obviously Delgado passed well before this story, it’s not like it had to be re-written around his absence, and yet… there’s still a giant Master-shaped hole in this finale, it doesn’t feel like the celebration it really wants to be because of that.
All that said, the final scene does just work spectacularly, from Three’s final line, to The Brig’s sigh - ‘Here we go again’ indeed.
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Watching Adam, more to follow in Trying out Torchwood Again.
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I just remembered “Sue Tech” and got mad all over again 
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I just finished series 12 (rewatched most of it, but the last two episodes were new to me). “Can You Hear Me” is basically “The Nightmare Man” but worse imo. Thirteen at the end of that episode wins the award for “most autistic-coded character where no writer has made it canon.” Although I’m not a big fan of the Timeless Child reveal, I’m sort of mellow about it since I already knew that it happened, and I didn’t watch it as it aired. There have been way more infuriating things in Doctor Who since that arc that most of my nerdy frustration is directed towards. I love Sacha Dhawan as the Spy Master, and Jodie Whittaker as Thirteen was fabulous as always.
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Chibnall wrote 13 with autistic traits on purpose!
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