Topic: The TV Show Thread

I finished The Mandalorian. Some very good moments for the last episode, but a really weak start with one particular scene that was just a bit too 'Taika Waititi'. Tried way too hard for a passage of dialogue that just didn't need to be there and came across as a fan-film (because fan-films have already done similar several times over). The episode does improve dramatically after this though as TW's influence seems more constrained by the story at hand.
All told though - an excellent series! Really looking forward to more.

New Doctor Who - was alright. More of the same for 13 really, but the production values have had another bump and it was a good episode with a surprise that I genuinely didn't see coming (that is also a bit of a shame). Looks to be the start of one of the leaked plot arcs for the series.

Dracula - well, it's very Gatiss. As loose and self-indulgent an adaptation as you'd expect from him and Moffat. It is a good enough take on the source for the most part and the practical effects work is commendable; however, too much of the dialogue is cringe-worthy and written from a modern perspective - right from the start. It makes a nice looking period production feel unnecessarily clunky when the rest of the script is more period.

@KALofKRYPTON on Doctor Who i have to kinda disagree a little, i thought that one episode was better than the whole of the last series put together, the writing was better, the acting was better and the overall feel was better, it felt more "Who" than the series has in a while

of course it could be due to the fact Chibnall isn't in sole control anymore, i know he wrote it but did you notice in the opening and ending credits the new executive producers, i think those rumours about the BBC bring in new people to "help" him were true because we know for a fact it wasn't his idea to bring that person back or any classic monsters in fact because he said he would never do that, if i remember correctly he once said that he wanted nothing to do with the old Who and wanted to do it his way and look how well that turned out

@FullbringIchigo Really? It felt supremely samey to me. My assumption on the aliens (cybermen) may not bear out - but the retread is a bit of a shame and what is going to set up what Chibnall wants to do with the mythos.
Moffat was the same when he started, he didn't want to use any original monsters either...

I think the behind the scenes production rumours were bogus to be honest, just look at the slate of writers that have bought on board, they're all very much Chibnall choices and it very much seems like it may be JW's call on working with only Tennant for a crossover episode - so I think it's still very much Chibnall's show.
Not using Michelle Gomez is also testament to that. .

@KALofKRYPTON well to be fair on that last one her version of the Master died so it makes sense for her not to be there, now how she regenerated into this new one is something i want to know because i'm pretty sure she was completely dead at the end of series 10

as for Jodi only wanting to work with Tennant well i'm pretty sure she said Smith and Tennant not just Tennant but then again she has worked with them before AND taking into account most are too old now plus Eccleston doesn't ever want to come back who else could she do a team up with McGann,, Tennant, Smith and Capaldi are all that's left so there ain't many options anymore (sadly)

unless they do a animated series, which would be awesome

also writers are different to producers, the producers are the ones in charge and Chibnall isn't sole producer anymore and he was last series so i think BBC bringing in some new people to sort it out might be true

@FullbringIchigo Chibnall is the showrunner, like Moffat and Davies before him. He dictates the overall look, feel and direction for the show. He's still front and center. The rumours of production strife also had Chibnall and Whittaker out the door - which would at the very least, be supremely embarrassing for the BBC.

Nope, just Tennant. Apparently Smith and Capaldi were approached but declined; Smith on the basis of the story and Capaldi due to scheduling.

@KALofKRYPTON i would say at the end of the day it's the BBC that decides to overall look, look feel and direction, if they are happy with what he is doing then they wouldn't interfere but if they wasn't they would and i think they did, hence the new producers and the year long gap

as for them leaving i never believed that, i know a lot of people did but it would have been a PR nightmare to just drop them after one series and the BBC can't afford that, better to place a overseer there and make sure he doesn't go too far (which is what i think they did)

also the viewing numbers are in and currently it's sitting at just under 5 million, that's...not good

@FullbringIchigo Nothing has changed though. They've used a slightly improved budget on location filming and upgrading the TARDIS a bit. I watched through most of last season recently, it really isn't markedly different.

Other than a swift regeneration and regime change should the figures not improve - I really don't see the BBC even attempting to make any significant changes to the current Doctor Who series to 'right the ship'.

@KALofKRYPTON it's not the lowest numbers to be fair ( i think Capaldi had the lowest numbers of new Who) but a lot of people gave up during the last series and i don't think they have done enough to bring them back, they have improved it though

@LN78 @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @Ralizah Thanks for the healthy dose of reality, folks!

@KALofKRYPTON I really enjoyed Dracula. Like you say, it is Gatiss all over but that is definitely no bad thing!

I had no problem with the dialogue at all either but did enjoy the few dark humorous lines in there. The guy playing the Count is fantastic and the main nun is brilliant too. I'm looking forward to part two tonight.

I also finished watching the BBC's version of His Dark Materials over Christmas.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and thought the cast were great. The CGI was well done without being too over the top as well. The parallel story was a bit odd and seeing as the series was the first part of the trilogy it felt a little underwhelming at the end as it didn't really feel like the end of a series with so much still to tie together.

@Thrillho I've been watching that also. I've only got a couple of episodes left. I've only found it ok though, nothing special or anything like that. Not quite sure why but it's I've just been watching it just get to the end, and not because I've been enjoying it. 🤷‍♂️

Finished Dracula last night.

I've seen (and enjoyed) my share of self-indulgent tripe in my time - but Gatiss and Moffat really have topped it all.

That was terrible.

I take my hat off to Dolly Wells, she is by far the highlight of the whole thing; and indeed was her character Agatha Van Helsing - who could have made quite a good anchor for a supernatural monster anthology series of some sort, perhaps even with elements of this mess of an adaptation.

@KALofKRYPTON The first episode was great, the second good, but by god the third one was awful. I’ve not seen many positive things about that final episode and rightly so.

@Thrillho The first was probably the better one of the three, but none of them were particularly good.
Overall that is truly one of the worst adaptations of anything I've seen recently.

Another one I watched on Netflix in the post-Crimbo period was Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer which was just a bonkers three part documentary.

These real life crime pieces can get dragged out a bit but this was well paced, the right length, and just an utterly crazy story. Well worth a watch.

I only really wanna see Dracula as I note that it is in UHD on the iPlayer.

@KratosMD Conversely - I felt that Legends became a far better thing for the farce and once they'd dispensed with Rip (casting for which I'll never forgive! )
They manage to largely avoid the morose and formulaic nature of the rest of the Arrowverse shows, which tend to feel like they're all just doing the same thing; apart from Batwoman, that's just straight up terrible.

Started on the newest and final season of The Deuce over the weekend. It remains a fantastic show top to bottom and even in the newest season, the shift to the mid eighties is handled well complete with the much storied rise in HIV/AIDs without feeling cliched. It really is great.

I caught a few episodes of Messiah too - which is a much better thing than I expected.

Doctor Who looks to be going down the path that some spoilers/leaks flagged up. The second episode of the season was quite a bit weaker than the first and felt stuffed to the brim.

@KratosMD I get where you're coming from. Team ups are always a difficult thing to manage - especially with some of the most powerful characters available (Firestorm, Atom) on hand.

I remember the first rumours of a Rip Hunter show, I was really looking forward to it since the showrunners were going all in on The Flash and circulating hubbub about Booster Gold; I was fully expecting something in line with Geoff Johns' 2007 Booster run.
Then Darvill was cast and more details emerged. To say I was bitterly disappointed is an understatement

@KALofKRYPTON did you see the numbers for Spyfall Part 2, they were lower than Part 1 was, if this keeps up it doesn't bode well for the future of the series