Saw The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. Any wariness i might have had for the Chibnall era is gone now. 42 made me a bit ehhhh on him but this is peak Doctor Who. First episode was already pretty good, but part 2 was great. Maybe a bit too much ‘someone calls out someone on the last second and then Amy doesnt get killed’ but also, that’s the camp nonsense i’m expecting. It’s a part of the DW experience, i’ll let it pass.
Surprised it has such a low score. Maybe it’s because it’s my first Silurian TV story, because I liked Bloodtide a lot as well. Tell me if these just rehash old Silurian tropes lol. Btw i dont know if i will ever be over Rory’s death. Im sure he’ll come back but that was still an omg crying emoji moment for me.
9 Likes
Agree, I know the common criticism is that it’s basically ripping off Classic Who stories but I always felt the hatred for Hungry Earth/Cold Blood was unfair, it’s really a pretty solid story
10 Likes
It was my eldest’s favourite for years - although they would only ever watch the second part and we watched it a lot!
8 Likes
It is a pretty solid story - that is why they totally ripped it off from Classic Who 
I don’t hate the story, though I don’t think it is anywhere near as good as other stories in that series. What I do hate is the redesign of the Silurians, the design is fine but removing the Third Eye and it’s powers is so baffling to me - they are not the exact same as Sea Devils. It takes an interesting villain and make them totally bland and generic in my eyes. Plus the masks looks kind of stupid
9 Likes
Ah yes, the drums. But even that doesn’t negate my point. I mean, during the regen scene at the end of “Utopia” he explicitly says “Still, if the Doctor can be young and strong, then so can I.” He can’t abide the idea of being outdone by the Doctor. Anything the Doctor does, the Master has to do better or turn against him. In “The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords” he even has his own companion. He is doing everything he can to outdo the Doctor by playing the Doctor’s ‘games’ as he sees them. Admittedly, this breaks down somewhat in “The End of Time” (yes, I know how much you love that story ) but, by this stage, the Master is very much broken. And in his final scene, he’s back to outdoing the Doctor (in his mind). He belittles the Doctor’s efforts; “You never would, you coward!” and pushes him aside to battle Rassilon himself. Yes, part of this is his hatred for what was done to him but I do think it’s also (in the Master’s mind, at least) in part him doing what he feels the Doctor couldn’t.
9 Likes
I really do love Simm’s portrayal (and Moffat’s writing of Simm’s Master) in “World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls”. If it wasn’t for the parading of modern stompy cybermen in the last episode (the Mondasian cybermen would have worked all the way for me - so much creepier and in keeping with the body horror messages of the story) then this would have been pretty much flawless as a finale for me.
9 Likes
Watched Episode 1 of The Moonbase this morning and I was impressed by the animation. Obviously going for something as close to the existing episodes as possible which is definitely the right approach if you aren’t animating all of the episodes (like later releases). A few too many bits of just static shots of set or characters because there’s nothing on the soundtrack to indicate what is actually happening.
The Cyberman looked impressive at the end though.
9 Likes
Watched Episode 4 of Planet of the Spiders over lunch.
5 Likes
Finished watching every single Minisode on the website plus all the TARDISodes. All 67. Moffat especially seemed to like them haha
12 Likes
I loved how many minisodes there were under Moffat, and really miss them now!
7 Likes
Yes, @BillFiler I’m with you on this. “The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood” is perfectly fine TV and not a bad story on its own but… “Doctor Who and the Silurians” is, I feel, so much the richer and more interesting. Moreover, I fully get why there was a redesign. The desire to get more expression from the actors etc. does make sense (much as I love the originals, they aren’t at all emotive in a physical sense). However… that third eye was such an interesting and different piece of design that it is such a shame to have lost it. I think, with a little tweaking, it could easily have been incorporated into the new design and would have kept a unique feature, making them (as you correctly say) less generic and more interesting.
That said, the eye only had interesting abilities in “Doctor Who and the Silurians”. By the time of “Warriors of the Deep” it had become nothing more than the equivalent of a Dalek ear lamp, with the sole aim of letting you know which Silurian was supposed to be speaking. Give us the eye. Give us the metal melting, force field generating, hypnotic eye. We wants it! We neeeds it!
And please don’t get me started on the taxonomic crimes of naming this marvellous species Homo reptilia. Given that genus Homo is exclusively mammalian, it’s totally inappropriate. Something more like Reptilio sapiens would be far far better (and more taxonomically accurate).
11 Likes
I wonder if what we call Silurians are related to the Tuatara? The Tuatara is an ancient species from New Zealand that isn’t actually a lizard but instead belongs to the order Rhynchocephalia which dates back to the Triassic period. The most interesting thing about the Tuatara, and thus how it’s a contender for relations to the Silurians, is its third eye. From Wikipedia: “Like some other living vertebrates, including some lizards, the tuatara has a third eye on the top of its head called the parietal eye (also called a pineal or third eye) formed by the parapineal organ, with an accompanying opening in the skull roof called the pineal or parietal foramen, enclosed by the parietal bones. It has its own lens, a parietal plug which resembles a cornea, retina with rod-like structures, and degenerated nerve connection to the brain. The parietal eye is visible only in hatchlings, which have a translucent patch at the top centre of the skull. After four to six months, it becomes covered with opaque scales and pigment. It likely serves to regulate the circadian rhythm and possibly detect seasonal changes, and help with thermoregulation.” Thus the scientific name of Sphenodon sapiens might be more appropriate as Sphenodon is the genus of the Tuatara.
12 Likes
I applaud this lovely post! Decent quality taxonomy at work. I would, however, respectfully suggest that there is too much difference between genus Sphenodon and our Silurians. Close relative? That, I’m happy to accept. Same genus? On the degree of morphological difference, this is extremely unlikely. I think order Rhynchocephalia is an excellent call but would still suggest that a new genus would be entirely warranted. I proposed Reptilio purely on the basis that it’s easy enough for lay people to understand and yet is not currently a recognised genus name for any reptile.
Had Doctor Quinn had his way, he might have named them Silurius quinnus but we know better! 
13 Likes
Finished the last two episodes of Planet of the Spiders.
7 Likes
My husband took this photo of a scary statue we saw in a hotel, and we got into discussions about Weeping Angels only to find my sister had never even heard of them!!
So this week I’m determined to show her (and her 10 & 12 year old kids) Blink and if they like that, more Weeping Angels stories. Love them!
16 Likes
That’s an excellent photo, highly evocative of the Weeping Angels and yet different. One thing I loved about “Blink” was the implication, at the end, that any statue could be an Angel yet, barring the Statue of Liberty (didn’t work for me) and the cherubs (I thought they were brilliant), all Angels look the same. It’s time to shake things up again in that department. Perhaps your hotel statue is of more elevated rank within Angel society (is there such a thing?), thus appears different?
11 Likes
I get why they make them all look the same - brand recognisability - but yes, we need more diverse Weeping Angels! Male ones too! What if the statue of David were an Angel? 
10 Likes
That’s the thing. They can still mostly look the same (the rank and file) but, to keep the viewer on their toes, different forms (with different roles, but all as deadly) could really open up possibilities… and get kids looking askance at all statues once more.
7 Likes
That’s the sort of thinking that lead to Moffat making the Statue of Liberty an Angel…
And does your sister live in a cave?
And do we need social services on alert in case the children are traumatised by being forced to watch one of the scariest things ever?
8 Likes
