The Energon Pub

[AllNewSuperRobot]

I was actually scratching my head by the end of the episode. Technically, to wildly varying degrees, Chibnall did at least address all the plot points that were out there. As for the overall impact/relevance of the cast of Flux..

Dan & Karvanista - 10/10
Jericho - 7/10
Swarm & Azure - 10/10 (7, by the finale)
Passenger - 7/10
Kate Stewart - 5/10
Grand Serpent - 5/10
Cave Man - 3/10 (seemed to be in a different show)
Bel & Vinder - 0/10, Utterly pointless

Also, JazZeke. I guess giving Chibnall the benefit of the doubt, in writing the entire thing himself, didn't pay out after all. At least episode 2 was good...

[Cyber Bishop]

First two eps were good, it went downhill from there.

I'd say watch it, but only so you can say you watched it. I doubt what happened in it will really impact any future storylines.

Thank you, Ill check them out.

[JazZeke]

So Kate Stewart's story fizzled out ... Vinder and Bel were of no importance as a lot of people hoped and well ... is the universe still destroyed or restored? That wasn't particularly clear and I feel like the universe existing or not should have been a bit more clearer ...

Not to mention, not a single one of the new villains had clearly-explained motivations for why they were doing what they were doing. Swarm and Azure? Something something "space shouldn't exist, 'Time' should be free" (whut?) Tecteun? Destroying the whole universe because... the Doctor was in it? Grand Serpent? How did he even get to Earth, and why help the Sontarans?

Also, JazZeke. I guess giving Chibnall the benefit of the doubt, in writing the entire thing himself, didn't pay out after all. At least episode 2 was good...

sassyblackladymm-hmm dot gif

Also, how the smeg was an antimatter wave designed to consume ALL OF REALITY was able to be burned off by a mere bunch of starships? See, that's the problem was quantum bullshit threats, the only way to solve them is with equally asspull-y bullshit, and there's absolutely no drama there.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Best fridge ever?

[AllNewSuperRobot]

[AllNewSuperRobot]

[ZeroWolf]

brillant

[hugo888]

cool

[Burn]

Eve of the Daleks

Chibnall finally does the Groundhog Day episode in Doctor Who. Boring, tired trope ... but hey, it's Chibnall, so what should we expect?

The whole thing came about because The Doctor decided to "reset" the Tardis. Whatever that means, console room still looks like a cave system.

So I guess the big thing to take from this episode is some actual character growth for Yas. Here we have a young lass who is coming to terms with her sexuality, she's confused about how to feel and doesn't know what to do. I'm okay with that, I think it's great that there's an on-screen character that a lot of people are going to be able to relate to.

What I don't like is the Twitter reaction where people who have criticised Chibnall for his entire run up to this point, are now forgiving him for it. Yes, it's good that he's done this for Yas, but at the end of the day people need to remember a couple of things.

• It's Chibnall. He destroyed most of the universe and hasn't bothered to address that (aside from Dan's "you saved the universe the other day" line)
• His run is ending soon.

Can we actually expect a pay off this time? With such a short time remaining and Chibnall's history of forgetting a plot point, I wouldn't be surprised if nothing comes of it.

I also expect that people will be upset when it becomes a one-sided thing. The look on The Doctor's face when Dan told her about Yas was the look of someone not looking too pleased.

Overall it was barely even a filler episode. It just was. Still a lot of questions left over from Flux and now he's set his sights on another classic villain. Yay.

[ZeroWolf]

You sound like you're expecting it to be a one sided thing, I've got a feeling of a rushed confession. I've seen many on twitter acting like it is very much a two way street.

I really had hoped that the doctor shacking up with a companion story line was dead and gone.

I'm on the fence about the sea devils return, although setting it in the far east is a good move considering the Japanese style armour they gave the sea devils in Warriors of the Deep

[AllNewSuperRobot]

If I wasn't rightly cynical of such things. I'd say the Doctor's reaction to speaking with Dan would foreshadow that she might knowingly regenerate into a man.

The Sea Devils, I'm also on the fence with. On the one hand, good to see they finally made into Nu Who. On the other, they don't seem to have had the same visual upgrade as the Silurians or Ice Warriors.


As for the episode... Sigh, it was ok.
Dan just casually walking around the Dalek to avoid the gunstick actively annoyed me. Nu Who has truly stripped the Daleks of any and all menace. The part wherein the Doctor said how deadly they are, simply doesn't line up with any Nu Who story since Dalek.

[ZeroWolf]

Problem was the power creep with the Nu Who daleks, yes they were able to fly in the last of the old series but they could still be defeated (like by Ace or a rpg launcher). The Nu Who would building told us that the Daleks were nigh on invincible with the force fields and what not, in an effort to make us scared of them

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Which just like the RTD Cybermen, did the opposite. World Enough in Time and Spare Parts ala Big Finish, are the best modern Cyberman stories. Why they worked and Nightmare in Silver didn't, is for the exact same reason. They stripped back all the excess and let the core concept speak for itself. In the case of the desperate survivors of Mondas - Body Horror.

In the case of the Daleks, I'd say what they stand for is their hook. Not disposable war fleets and Gatling lasers. That's why Dalek worked. One lone Dalek carried more menace than the thousands on display in stories like Journey's End. Also where this story lost me was when the additional Daleks showed up. It ceased to be a 'cat and mouse' type story at that point.

[Burn]

You sound like you're expecting it to be a one sided thing, I've got a feeling of a rushed confession. I've seen many on twitter acting like it is very much a two way street.

It's exactly what I expect. Twitter reactions are generally hopes and dreams, it's what they want so it's what's going to happen. I've yet to see any real indication that The Doctor shares those same feelings. She's given Yas the brush off on more than one occassion when Yas has pressed her for more information about what's going on. It's dismissive and disrespectful, if Chibnall then expects us to believe The Doctor feels the same way, then it's going to be forced. (But this is Chibnall sooooo....)

Dan just casually walking around the Dalek to avoid the gunstick actively annoyed me.

I felt the opposite. It made me like Dan even more as a character. Yeah, a Dalek could easily have stopped him sooner realistically, but given everything Dan has done since he was introduced, it just made me like him emore.

Nu Who has truly stripped the Daleks of any and all menace. The part wherein the Doctor said how deadly they are, simply doesn't line up with any Nu Who story since Dalek.

Problem was the power creep with the Nu Who daleks, yes they were able to fly in the last of the old series but they could still be defeated (like by Ace or a rpg launcher). The Nu Who would building told us that the Daleks were nigh on invincible with the force fields and what not, in an effort to make us scared of them

Daleks, by their very nature, should easily be able to defeat The Doctor, it's why they get built up, to scare new fans and to stop us old farts from rolling our eyes, hence the introduction of the gatling lasers, even though they didn't really do much more than a standard single shot.

But then they get built too much and have to be stripped back so The Doctor can win the day. They need a break, they need a valid legitimate reason to be missing for so long (so they weren't all wiped out in the Flux that much we know).

That being said, I did find the Daleks in this episode to be more "menacing" in what they were saying. They had a more serious "we're not **** around" tone, they anticipated the bipedals move in the next loop and planned accordingly, they were more than happy to deliver a few no-nonense lines (Daleks do not collect stuff). If we can get more verbally threatening Daleks like that in the future, I'll be happy.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Dan just casually walking around the Dalek to avoid the gunstick actively annoyed me.

I felt the opposite. It made me like Dan even more as a character. Yeah, a Dalek could easily have stopped him sooner realistically, but given everything Dan has done since he was introduced, it just made me like him emore.

I get that. It is in fact a great Dan moment. But an awful Dalek moment. The implication for that scene being when using the Gatling laser, they can't move their right arm?

Nu Who has truly stripped the Daleks of any and all menace. The part wherein the Doctor said how deadly they are, simply doesn't line up with any Nu Who story since Dalek.

Problem was the power creep with the Nu Who daleks, yes they were able to fly in the last of the old series but they could still be defeated (like by Ace or a rpg launcher). The Nu Who would building told us that the Daleks were nigh on invincible with the force fields and what not, in an effort to make us scared of them

Daleks, by their very nature, should easily be able to defeat The Doctor, it's why they get built up, to scare new fans and to stop us old farts from rolling our eyes, hence the introduction of the gatling lasers, even though they didn't really do much more than a standard single shot.

But then they get built too much and have to be stripped back so The Doctor can win the day. They need a break, they need a valid legitimate reason to be missing for so long (so they weren't all wiped out in the Flux that much we know).

That being said, I did find the Daleks in this episode to be more "menacing" in what they were saying. They had a more serious "we're not **** around" tone, they anticipated the bipedals move in the next loop and planned accordingly, they were more than happy to deliver a few no-nonense lines (Daleks do not collect stuff). If we can get more verbally threatening Daleks like that in the future, I'll be happy.

The Dalek's lines were good. I do like they are giving them personality once again, beyond just henchmen for Davros. The Flux thing didn't make sense to me, for the Daleks. Unless I missed something, they can time travel ala the Time War. The Flux event happened in present day. So surely they could have just fled to a later time?

[JazZeke]

This was probably Chibnall's best Dalek story, but that bar is embarrassingly low. But the man can't even keep his apocalypses consistent. Still no explanation as to how the Earth has a sun after the Flux destroyed the rest of the solar system.

Also, having Yaz just repeat Martha's gimmick doesn't automatically make her more interesting. Or interesting at all.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

This was probably Chibnall's best Dalek story, but that bar is embarrassingly low. But the man can't even keep his apocalypses consistent. Still no explanation as to how the Earth has a sun after the Flux destroyed the rest of the solar system.

I know Dan's "You saved the universe last week" line has bugged a lot of people online. Especially considering, unless the Flux was reversed offscreen, no she didn't.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

[JazZeke]

I got a purely self-indulgent commission of my old Beast Wars OC in an axe battle with my favorite Doctor...

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Very nice. Gives me Nick Roche vibes, which is certainly a compliment.

It's funny I was looking through a folder of my old OC drawings not too long ago. Basically a repository of 20-ish years of drawings, doddles and reference materials. I add to it from time to time. My Beast Wars fanfic pics are all in there. I recently sketched out some concept designs for my OC Doctor, too. The first character I've written something for, before drawing them.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston and Peter Capaldi 'to return for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary'

David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston and Peter Capaldi are set to return to ‘Doctor Who’ for the show's 60th anniversary.

Returning showrunner Russell T Davies will mark six decades of the sci-fi series by attempting to bring back a number of stars who portrayed the Time Lord – including Matt Smith – in a special inspired by the 20th anniversary episode.

A source told The Sun newspaper’s TV Biz column: “The BBC wanted something unique to mark six decades of 'Doctor Who' and while getting all the former Time Lords together will be a challenge, it’s one Russell might just achieve.”

Russell led the revamp of the BBC sci-fi show in 2005, after its original run ended in 1989.

The source added: “After all, he was the man responsible for signing up Christopher and David back in 2005, and he is one of the few people who might convince them to be a part of the show again."

The rumoured idea for the “landmark” episode is inspired by the the 1983 celebration of two decades, titled ‘The Five Doctors’, which saw the first five Doctors come together.

It starred Richard Hurndall – who stood in for the late William Hartnell, the First Doctor – Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davison.

The insider added: "It remains to be seen if he can achieve an exact copy of 'The Five Doctors', but he will certainly want to capture some of the spirit of that landmark episode in these specials.”

[JazZeke]

Wow, Eccleston, that's great! I hope they bring McGann in too, at the very least. They probably don't have the budget to deep fake the older Doctors, but some creative cameos would be nice.

[ZeroWolf]

Wow, Eccleston, that's great! I hope they bring McGann in too, at the very least. They probably don't have the budget to deep fake the older Doctors, but some creative cameos would be nice.

They could use the actor they hired to be the first doctor again.

[AllNewSuperRobot]

Following on from the above, this bit of food for thought.



Personally, I think no. Big Finish is one thing. But to slap a wig on the son of Pertwee or Troughton just seems wrong to me.

The characterisation of the 1st Doctor in Twice Upon Time was bad. But the fact is Hartnell being recast had already been a thing. Plus it is acceptable given how important he is to the show and lore.

[ZeroWolf]

True, it's a hard line to walk. I'd say it would all hinge on rhe story.