I thought the best moment in this episode was the look on Graham's face just after the Doctor says "We have to not help her." That look of anguish on his face was almost heart-breaking. Bradley...
I thought the best moment in this episode was the look on Graham's face just after the Doctor says "We have to not help her." That look of anguish on his face was almost heart-breaking.
Bradley Walsh is far and away the best actor in this season (and one of the best of the whole modern series since 2005). He's acting rings around the other cast members - including Jodie Whittaker. For me, he has become the emotional lynchpin of this team. Tosin Cole always seems flat, and Mandip Gill is adequate. Whittaker is good, but Walsh is amazing. He brings a much-needed depth to the character of Graham, and provides the emotional centre around which everything else happens. In short: I like him! Unfortunately, he's overshadowing Whittaker, who is nominally the star of the show. He steals every scene they're in together. Maybe she needed to be cast against just the two younger actors - because Walsh is drawing focus the whole time.
The villain didn't really exist as a character. He didn't have any credible motivation, and even his actions were half-arsed. Ultimately, he made no difference to the episode at all. He truly was a neutered criminal, just like the Doctor said. I feel like this character was inserted just for the sake of having a villain.
Harking back to my previous point about the acting... I was left totally flat in the confrontation between the Doctor and the villain among the tanks. When the two of them were standing on tanks, threatening and challenging each other... I didn't feel it. The music tried to carry the moment and tried to convince me this was a scary dramatic scene , but it didn't work because the actors just weren't carrying the load.
It was interesting to see an episode which didn't rely too much on gadgetry. Sure, the villain whats-his-name had some toys, but it's not like they made any real difference. He could act only through ordinary manipulation, and the Doctor's and her companions' actions were all rooted in ordinary human activities: looking up phone books, getting bus timetables, using someone's racism to get him to go back to work, stealing a bus. This was literally and figuratively a down-to-earth episode.
Overall, I got the impression that the whole show was designed to bring us this specific episode. The companions connected to this moment of history just a little too well. A retired bus driver when the episode just happens to revolve around an event on a bus? A black man when the episode just happens to be about racism in American? A white man who married a black woman when the episode just happens to feature a black woman? I wonder if Chris Chibnall decided that the first historical episode of his new series would be about Rosa Parks, and then he designed the characters and back-stories of the companions just to work in this episode. It all fit together just a bit too nicely for him to have created the companions and then decided to do a story about Rosa Parks.
This week I don't really know what I think, haha. It felt weird to watch the Doctor and her gang injected into such a specific event in the US civil rights movement. I know we've had plenty of...
This week I don't really know what I think, haha.
It felt weird to watch the Doctor and her gang injected into such a specific event in the US civil rights movement. I know we've had plenty of Doctor Who episodes featuring historical figures before, but I think I would have preferred a more general story with similar themes set in that time period.
I did appreciate the way they tackled the racism head on, since it's one of those things that some time travel stories forget — certain time periods are dangerous for certain folks. And I liked that details of Yas and Ryan talking about the racism they face in present-day UK.
The motivation of the villain felt sort of flat, but I guess bigotry never makes sense in the real world, either.
Random music thoughts: this was the first time I thought the music was too distracting at certain points. I like soundtracks that tap into emotions, but it felt a bit much to me.
It would have worked better if there had been some personal reason for him to want to change this moment. Bigotry is too vague a motive to do something as specific as this. Maybe the judge who...
The motivation of the villain felt sort of flat, but I guess bigotry never makes sense in the real world, either.
It would have worked better if there had been some personal reason for him to want to change this moment. Bigotry is too vague a motive to do something as specific as this. Maybe the judge who sent him to jail was black. Maybe a key witness in the trial was black. Maybe he missed out on an opportunity (job/woman/military conquest) because a black person "took" that opportunity from him. We needed to hear about something that gave his racism a specific focus, that gave him a personal motive to want to go back in history and keep all black people in their place.
Otherwise, he was just a cypher, a nothing, a strawman racist.
The music barely registered for me. I read a thread where everyone was complaining about it, especially whatever they closed out the episode with. I honestly cannot recall what it was, and why it...
The music barely registered for me. I read a thread where everyone was complaining about it, especially whatever they closed out the episode with. I honestly cannot recall what it was, and why it upset so many people.
As for the episode itself, it felt very Quantum Leap-esque to me.
Mixed feelings about this one. I agree with @Algernon_Asimov that the episode was a bit too shoehorned together. It seemed like they wanted to tell the story of Rosa Parks first and foremost (it's...
Mixed feelings about this one. I agree with @Algernon_Asimov that the episode was a bit too shoehorned together. It seemed like they wanted to tell the story of Rosa Parks first and foremost (it's currently Black History Month), then remembered it was still an episode of Doctor Who so added Generic Time Travelling Bad-Guy #24.
Ryan being overwhelmed by meeting MLK Jr. and cutting through his bluster was a nice moment that made me smile, and the full-on overt racism of the time was appropriately shocking in it's portrayal.
This certainly felt more like a history lesson than an episode of Doctor Who, and I think was aimed squarely at those not familiar with the history (i.e. kids), and one I'd happily show to mine as an entertaining way of learning about Rosa Parks.
Personally I like my Sci-Fi a little less on the nose, but this episode was never meant to appeal to that kind of viewer and that's fine. It's important history that everyone should learn about, and I don't mind so much that it's telling was given priority over making sure that the nominal villain had more motivation than just being a racist.
A history lesson for kids mixed with a bit of scifi is the original conceit of Doctor Who.
This certainly felt more like a history lesson than an episode of Doctor Who, and I think was aimed squarely at those not familiar with the history (i.e. kids),
A history lesson for kids mixed with a bit of scifi is the original conceit of Doctor Who.
Sure, but that's rarely been the case in the modern era which is why this one sticks out for me, especially with how clearly all the 'lessons' were presented. I was half expecting the episode to...
Sure, but that's rarely been the case in the modern era which is why this one sticks out for me, especially with how clearly all the 'lessons' were presented. I was half expecting the episode to pause and tell me to turn to page 75 in the textbook.
I don't have an issue with that, it was just very noticeably not in the modern Doctor Who style.
Something I haven't seen anyone mention in the last 2 threads, is anyone else bothered by parts of the cinematography? I'm not talking about the quality the show is being shot at or anything like...
Something I haven't seen anyone mention in the last 2 threads, is anyone else bothered by parts of the cinematography?
I'm not talking about the quality the show is being shot at or anything like that (it looks fantastic in general), yet it seems like they've changed the lenses or perspective to be a bit more personal and close-up. For some reason this change seems to stick out to an annoying degree for me.
Hopefully it's a temporary thing I'll get used to, and it does seems to be a bit better in these 2 latest episodes. Maybe it was just the pilot that made me feel this way.
UPDATE:It does get better, seems it was mostly the pilot.
I thought the best moment in this episode was the look on Graham's face just after the Doctor says "We have to not help her." That look of anguish on his face was almost heart-breaking.
Bradley Walsh is far and away the best actor in this season (and one of the best of the whole modern series since 2005). He's acting rings around the other cast members - including Jodie Whittaker. For me, he has become the emotional lynchpin of this team. Tosin Cole always seems flat, and Mandip Gill is adequate. Whittaker is good, but Walsh is amazing. He brings a much-needed depth to the character of Graham, and provides the emotional centre around which everything else happens. In short: I like him! Unfortunately, he's overshadowing Whittaker, who is nominally the star of the show. He steals every scene they're in together. Maybe she needed to be cast against just the two younger actors - because Walsh is drawing focus the whole time.
The villain didn't really exist as a character. He didn't have any credible motivation, and even his actions were half-arsed. Ultimately, he made no difference to the episode at all. He truly was a neutered criminal, just like the Doctor said. I feel like this character was inserted just for the sake of having a villain.
Harking back to my previous point about the acting... I was left totally flat in the confrontation between the Doctor and the villain among the tanks. When the two of them were standing on tanks, threatening and challenging each other... I didn't feel it. The music tried to carry the moment and tried to convince me this was a scary dramatic scene , but it didn't work because the actors just weren't carrying the load.
It was interesting to see an episode which didn't rely too much on gadgetry. Sure, the villain whats-his-name had some toys, but it's not like they made any real difference. He could act only through ordinary manipulation, and the Doctor's and her companions' actions were all rooted in ordinary human activities: looking up phone books, getting bus timetables, using someone's racism to get him to go back to work, stealing a bus. This was literally and figuratively a down-to-earth episode.
Overall, I got the impression that the whole show was designed to bring us this specific episode. The companions connected to this moment of history just a little too well. A retired bus driver when the episode just happens to revolve around an event on a bus? A black man when the episode just happens to be about racism in American? A white man who married a black woman when the episode just happens to feature a black woman? I wonder if Chris Chibnall decided that the first historical episode of his new series would be about Rosa Parks, and then he designed the characters and back-stories of the companions just to work in this episode. It all fit together just a bit too nicely for him to have created the companions and then decided to do a story about Rosa Parks.
This week I don't really know what I think, haha.
It felt weird to watch the Doctor and her gang injected into such a specific event in the US civil rights movement. I know we've had plenty of Doctor Who episodes featuring historical figures before, but I think I would have preferred a more general story with similar themes set in that time period.
I did appreciate the way they tackled the racism head on, since it's one of those things that some time travel stories forget — certain time periods are dangerous for certain folks. And I liked that details of Yas and Ryan talking about the racism they face in present-day UK.
The motivation of the villain felt sort of flat, but I guess bigotry never makes sense in the real world, either.
Random music thoughts: this was the first time I thought the music was too distracting at certain points. I like soundtracks that tap into emotions, but it felt a bit much to me.
It would have worked better if there had been some personal reason for him to want to change this moment. Bigotry is too vague a motive to do something as specific as this. Maybe the judge who sent him to jail was black. Maybe a key witness in the trial was black. Maybe he missed out on an opportunity (job/woman/military conquest) because a black person "took" that opportunity from him. We needed to hear about something that gave his racism a specific focus, that gave him a personal motive to want to go back in history and keep all black people in their place.
Otherwise, he was just a cypher, a nothing, a strawman racist.
The music barely registered for me. I read a thread where everyone was complaining about it, especially whatever they closed out the episode with. I honestly cannot recall what it was, and why it upset so many people.
As for the episode itself, it felt very Quantum Leap-esque to me.
Mixed feelings about this one. I agree with @Algernon_Asimov that the episode was a bit too shoehorned together. It seemed like they wanted to tell the story of Rosa Parks first and foremost (it's currently Black History Month), then remembered it was still an episode of Doctor Who so added Generic Time Travelling Bad-Guy #24.
Ryan being overwhelmed by meeting MLK Jr. and cutting through his bluster was a nice moment that made me smile, and the full-on overt racism of the time was appropriately shocking in it's portrayal.
This certainly felt more like a history lesson than an episode of Doctor Who, and I think was aimed squarely at those not familiar with the history (i.e. kids), and one I'd happily show to mine as an entertaining way of learning about Rosa Parks.
Personally I like my Sci-Fi a little less on the nose, but this episode was never meant to appeal to that kind of viewer and that's fine. It's important history that everyone should learn about, and I don't mind so much that it's telling was given priority over making sure that the nominal villain had more motivation than just being a racist.
Spot on. This is very much a message show - which is unusual for 'Doctor Who'.
A history lesson for kids mixed with a bit of scifi is the original conceit of Doctor Who.
Sure, but that's rarely been the case in the modern era which is why this one sticks out for me, especially with how clearly all the 'lessons' were presented. I was half expecting the episode to pause and tell me to turn to page 75 in the textbook.
I don't have an issue with that, it was just very noticeably not in the modern Doctor Who style.
Something I haven't seen anyone mention in the last 2 threads, is anyone else bothered by parts of the cinematography?
I'm not talking about the quality the show is being shot at or anything like that (it looks fantastic in general), yet it seems like they've changed the lenses or perspective to be a bit more personal and close-up. For some reason this change seems to stick out to an annoying degree for me.
Hopefully it's a temporary thing I'll get used to, and it does seems to be a bit better in these 2 latest episodes. Maybe it was just the pilot that made me feel this way.
UPDATE: It does get better, seems it was mostly the pilot.