Galactic Suburbia Episode 24

[girliejones]

There’s a new episode up! Grab it from iTunes or stream it on the site. You will be able to direct download it tomorrow.

EPISODE 24

In which we flit over the first shortlist of the year and some charitable links, sweep though a fortnight of culture consumed, and then leap with both feet into the pet subject of Inside Indie Press.

News

BSFA Awards

Comments

[angriest]

I think if you haven't ever really tried Doctor Who, you definitely should. It's the best television show ever made anywhere in the universe absolutely ever.

If, however, you've tried it a bit and don't like it, then why watch more?

[girliejones]

I've watched a lot of the old series. I didn't really fancy new Who.

[angriest]

I think it's worth checking out last year's Who if you haven't already, just because it's a new producer and Doctor, and that often brings about fairly bold changes in style and tone. You might like that more than the Russell T Davies stuff of 2005-09.

[cassiphone]

I think it's absolutely fair to dismiss New Who as not for you if you've tried it and don't like it, HOWEVER despite our difference of opinion on the Shearman Dalek episode, I do think that if you haven't seen any New Who written by Moffat then you haven't really seen a wide enough range to make an informed decision.

He's written 1-2 episodes per season before the most recent season 5 in which he took over as showrunner, and they are generally regarded as some of the best ever. I certainly think that they are (along with Human Nature/Family of Stone by Paul Cornell, and Midnight by RTD) the best of the David Tennant episodes. I really think you'd enjoy The Girl in the Fireplace. Though if you're going to watch Blink, don't do so when it's dark and you're alone.

[girliejones]

I think I've seen Blink? But will need to check.

For me, not a diehard Who fan, I watched enough that made me disinterested in the show. I find it funny that people defend different writers as though the entire thing is entirely a different show if someone else is writing it - is it that lacking in cohesion?

BUT I will try the Moffat episodes and reserve further judgement til then.

[cassiphone]

It's not that it's lacking in cohesion, but Doctor Who is far more of an anthology series and one with a wider variety of styles and story types than most SF. I think we credit the writers far more than in any other SF series I know of - Joss Whedon is celebrated for his showrunner shows but often I know I don't actually pay attention to which episodes he writes versus those written by others.

The payoff of course is that it is for the most part not a show that needs to be watched in strict chronological order.

It is definitely a show that reinvents itself regularly - the new season 5 is effectively a stylistic reboot and may be more to your tastes in that it is more of a boxset kind of show, and it has a lot of differences, as Grant said, to the RTD era. There's certainly a lot more character development in it that I really enjoyed, and it captures a lot of what I love about the classic series, but in a very different way.

And if you don't love it, I'm sure there will be another Doctor Who along in a few years!

[girliejones]

LOL. Well stay tuned. I guess