Doctor Who 12x10 "The Timeless Children" full reaction
Added 2021-05-25 00:36:56 +0000 UTC"I know this place has blown your mind. Maybe you should return the compliment."
Just a bit of a commentary at the end - I really needed to sit with this one a while and perhaps rewatch, then record more (actual) commentary. I didn't want to delay this video any longer, though, so here it is! Enjoy!
Comments
After reading So Many and yes definitely not all of the comments for the past 2 series. One thing is abundantly clear, at least to me. Like everything, there are always exceptions to the rule or average. Most, but admittedly not all. But for the majority, that I have taken the time to read. Those that have had issues with this stage of the show. They have stated the issue they have with the validity and quality of the writing. They have done this marvelously. Deploying cogently thought out and exceptionally well crafted arguments to support their opinion. Yes alongside more flimsy points of view that perhaps have been deployed to fit the over all argument or just matters of tastes. But most, but certainly not all, that are satisfied with the over all quality. Those points, that I have taken the short time to read. They have tended to be less defined or explanatory. Having said that. I don't believe it's the obligatory job of any fan to articulate very verbosely, why they like the thing they like. There will always be opposing views as art is subjective. But I had hoped to see some more detailed points of view that could effectively oppose my standpoint, that this has on the whole been a significant drop in quality for the writing. I don't know yet if I'll follow many other reactors through this stage.
Daryl
2021-07-17 16:18:05 +0000 UTCMy own issues with Chibnal is not so much the ideas, though I do have severe reservations about the notion the Doctor is not normal by the standards of their own people. For me the message of the Doctor has always been imbedded in what they do, their desire to put right wrongs, to stand up and be counted- to be kind because its right, as opposed to who they are by birth, or that they are super special and unique and not like anyone else. It takes so much away from the character and replaces it with nothing. Anyone can be the Doctor if they refuse to let tyranny hold sway, but no longer, only a superbeing from an unknwon dimension of unknown powers can be. But my main issue is the quailty of the show, from writing and characterisation to editing and directing. Almost all of which can at best be charitably described as workman-like and at worst outright bad. I still dont know how Orphan 55 made the screen at all. But its never reached the hights of good quality writing. And certainly not in comparison to the standards and skills of the writers which have preceded him. There is no Blink, Midnight, no Turn Left, no Heaven Sent or Doctor Falls to name but a few. We are two series in and there is not a single episode that come close to those writing heights.
BobBob
2021-05-28 17:12:16 +0000 UTCWith 53 comments so far and counting, I'm sure you've now got the impression that this story has invoked a lot of passionate opinions amongst the fandom. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it, and the rest of the series, and have no problem with the concept of the Timeless Child. For those who say it has broken so called cannon and lore, I would remind that the show has never really had a particularly consistent lore. In fact, I think the Timeless Child actually restores some of the original mystique about the Doctor. The title of the show is not so much a question about his name, as Moffat seemed to obsess about, but rather a musing about the origins, purpose and motives of this strange alien in a fanciful time machine. They only came up with the idea of re b exertion in tge 3rd year when William Hartnell became too ill to continue in he role. It was 6 years into the original show before we even learned that the Doctor belonged to a race of beings known as Time Lords, and another 8 years before someone came up with the name Gallifrey. Unlike Star Trek or Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who has never had a single creative force who devised an overarching background lore and universe in which to place the stories. If the Master is to be believed and the Doctor is the Timeless Child, I don't think that makes her God like, but rather reinvigorates the mystery around her and her origins. Many people complained that Chibnal was not ambitious enough in series 11 and that the stories were pedestrian. Many of those same people now say in series 12 he has gone too far and is breaking cannon etc. I think he has always had a long-term plan, and I for one am more than happy to go along for the ride. I also look forward to sharing that ride I tandem with you.
Lloyd B
2021-05-28 10:51:38 +0000 UTC
