Comments on PaulCornell.com: Doctor Who: Jackie Tyler Leaves the TV On

I think that's from 'The Christmas Invasion', wh...

2007-01-31T22:27:00.000Z

I *think* that's from 'The Christmas Invasion', when the Doctor's ill in bed, but I could be wrong. Just as well I monitor comments on ancient posts!

hello. my son is a huge Dr who fan and spent the x...

2007-01-31T22:24:00.000Z

hello. my son is a huge Dr who fan and spent the xmas holidays entertaining me by informing me that 'when Jackie Tyler found out the doctor had 2 hearts she said "has he got anything else two of?!"' before pulling a comedy Norman Wisdom-type face.

can I ask which episode this clip is from as I have to see it for myself!

That's a really wonderful review. We seem to have ...

2006-08-15T17:25:00.000+01:00

That's a really wonderful review. We seem to have come to the same conclusions. Great stuff.

It's been pointed out to me that this looks rather similar to your post. But I wrote that review before I'd seen your post (well, the important bits had been cobbled together, anyway) and your post says pretty much what I wanted to say far more succinctly.

I think you should give it a try, yeah.

2006-07-27T09:57:00.000+01:00

I think you should give it a try, yeah.

Have you seen Life on Mars/what's your opinion of ...

2006-07-26T19:16:00.000+01:00

Have you seen Life on Mars/what's your opinion of it, if so?

It just started showing here in the US of A this week, but I've heard lots of favorable words about it...should it be appointment TV?

And what a lovely blog you have. Cheers.

2006-07-21T08:26:00.000+01:00

And what a lovely blog you have. Cheers.

phenomenal site! can't wait to dig through the arc...

2006-07-21T04:33:00.000+01:00

phenomenal site! can't wait to dig through the archives...

(I'm an american, but I recently listed my favorite 50 shows of all time on my blog, and the good doctor finished 2nd..)

Greg

And relax.

2006-07-19T19:20:00.000+01:00

And relax.

Look, if you chaps have got something to say, why ...

2006-07-19T12:24:00.000+01:00

Look, if you chaps have got something to say, why not just spit it out?

I know, because it's impolite.

Come again?

2006-07-19T10:21:00.000+01:00

Come again?

I have to say that last remark leaves an unpleasan...

2006-07-19T10:09:00.000+01:00

I have to say that last remark leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth.

No reason, I just have to say it.

Alex: well, Galactica is military SF, but that gen...

2006-07-19T08:45:00.000+01:00

Alex: well, Galactica is military SF, but that genre, in my experience, usually makes reference to, indeed revels in, all the grey areas of war. Perhaps you're thinking it's more gung-ho? I'll blog about Galactica sometime rather than go on and on here. And you're right, it was odd that all of Elton's people were straight, but given the paving stone, their relationships were definitely non-mainstream. Coz: I was deliberately not taking sides in the 'old fans want to take it back to the past' row, I see both points of view, and was presenting a new angle. Martin: that sucks.

What I disliked about "Love and Monsters" was that...

2006-07-19T06:02:00.000+01:00

What I disliked about "Love and Monsters" was that here several people were killed pretty nastily and it all lead up to an oral sex joke.

I had similar problems with the episode which guest starred queen Victoria, where you had Rose and the doctor behaving like it was all a big joke while people were slaughtered all around them.

Love & Monsters was good. It might have been m...

2006-07-18T19:49:00.000+01:00

Love & Monsters was good. It might have been my favourite except that Doomsday got in the way, so too did School Reunion but the whole lot were beaten back my The Girl in the Fireplace.

At any rate L&M weren't at the bottom of my list, and I thought it was carried off wonderfully.

I do see what you mean though, there are some people who just cant understand that time has moved on. Yes we'd all be quite happy to watch a carbon copy of classic who (now which era do you define as classic..?) but I doubt non-fans would and if we were honest with ourselves would we really?

Like it or not we have moved on too. Its one thing to bung a DVD of Classic Who on and watch it (yes you know you notice the slow bits admit it) but turning on the TV to see something NOW means something, if its done well, that looks like New Who. And lets face it RTD and the team are doing it very well.

I find it somewhat frightening to go on to a fan site and find people posting that they wont watch the Christmas Special because of Ms Tate, or that Martha Jones might turn out to have baggage like Rose (I will miss Jackie probably more than I'll miss Rose (sorry Billie)). I mean if these people consider themselves fans where are we going.

Luckily the general public see the plus points to the new style; the heart that came with Rose's 'Baggage'; the faster pace (yeah OK the sonic screwdriver is getting more powerful than Master H Potter's wand); and the sheer ooomph that has been captured by RTD & Co.

So for those stuck in the 70's there are always DVDs and UK Gold, for everyone else there's BBC1 Saturday evenings (well there will be again next year)

Kev

Thanks for posting your outlook on where Doctor...

2006-07-18T18:48:00.000+01:00
Thanks for posting your outlook on where Doctor Who and its fans are now, Paul. There's something about the way that the programme is constructed at the moment that makes it very difficult for me to 'take sides' against it, which can only be for the good. I know lots of people who find the new series too sentimental/plotless/what have you - but I've never yet found that my reservations about any aspect of the series have stopped me enjoying it.

Good news about your confidence in Robin Hood - and it's also good to see Peter Fincham giving it prominence in the press launch for BBC 1's autumn schedule today.

Happy Birthday, Paul! On my behalf, please hoist ...

2006-07-18T15:29:00.000+01:00
Happy Birthday, Paul! On my behalf, please hoist yourself into the air by your arms and legs and give yourself an appropriate number of The Bumps, then go down the pub and buy yourself a pint :)

What a lovely article, and an insightful argument,...

2006-07-18T14:18:00.000+01:00
What a lovely article, and an insightful argument, though I don't go with every word (people like you and Russell raving about Battlestar Galactica keep encouraging me to give it a try, but its 'US navy in space' feel still leaves me cold. What's the secret?). The Victorian gentlemen's club made me smile; is that because so many of us were kids who read a lot, or because that's how the Doctor always spoke? And if so, in a couple of decades' time, will the dividing line between fans who've grown up and joined 'fandom' be between those who sound a bit matily Mancunian and those affecting a bit of Mockney? "Doctor Jekyll’s potion becoming available on the NHS" made me laugh, too. You're not immune to Victoriana yourself.

I wouldn't say Love and Monsters was quite my favourite of the season (probably the final story, for the beautiful closing sequence and the inspired way to jog us all out of moping... Oh, all right, and the Daleks, obviously), but it's certainly one of the handful that blew me away. My other half loved it, too, though he sighs a little at how much I'm still playing ELO afterwards (did you see the concert on BBC4 last week? The continuity announcer introduced Don't Bring Me Down before it as "Elton's favourite". No explanation - she just assumed everyone had watched Doctor Who and would remember. Woo hoo).

Besides, on old Prof Quatermass' birthday, I'd say to anyone complaining that Love and Monsters isn't traditional enough: the end's borrowed from The Quatermass Experiment again. How trad is that? ;-) I suspect it may depend on whether you think the climax of that is about the 'monster' or about its appeal to humanity...

Watching the whole season with friends on Saturday, the expected slagging-off didn't materialise, though several people laughed that a fan group was entirely heterosexual. Possibly even our sole straight guest (I'll have to ask him).

That comment about fans on message boards talking ...

2006-07-18T12:41:00.000+01:00
That comment about fans on message boards talking like they're in a Victorian gentlemen's club was so true it had me bursting out laughing.

LOL how did that even start out!?

jack.

In many ways i felt that 'the Girl in the Fire...

2006-07-18T09:56:00.000+01:00
In many ways i felt that 'the Girl in the Fire Place' was the best episode this year and in fact if it had been told with the Love&Monsters style, i.e we only see Doctor Ten when she sees the Dr, it would have been truer to the concept and even better.

For me the problem with Love&Monsters was partly a continual frustration, that in a series that reintroduced Sarah Jane, there was, in keeping with 'Rose' no mention of previous Doctors. All the time he spent at UNIT and theres not one photo lying around. In fact i was surprised Doctor Nine got a mention.

That and the continual linear nature of a time traveler. The Doctor was there when his mum died, ok, but of all the Doctors in all of time, iot was this one, and when did that happen exactly?

Great post, Paul. I find those "Doctor Who"-is-now...

2006-07-18T09:34:00.000+01:00
Great post, Paul. I find those "Doctor Who"-is-now-mainstream moments both strange and endearing - hearing a young girl nag her mum to be allowed to watch the DVDs of Doctor Who again, mentioning that there's a new series called "Torchwood" to a casual aquaintance and them going "Oh, yes, that's what destroyed the Sycorax in Doctor Who, wasn't it?" and so on.

Happy Birthday, by the way!

I always relate to people by their avatars, so now...

2006-07-18T09:07:00.000+01:00
I always relate to people by their avatars, so now I feel like I'm getting mail from the ITC Robin Hood. My mental picture of the sleeping Merry Men was in black and white.

Understood. And certainly not my intent to put you...

2006-07-17T23:32:00.000+01:00
Understood. And certainly not my intent to put you on the spot.

Cheers for now.

Robin and all the merry (sleeping) men of sherwood.

Robin, that's a bracing mixture of wait and see an...

2006-07-17T21:11:00.000+01:00
Robin, that's a bracing mixture of wait and see and it's not my job to comment. It's not my birthday until midnight, so no gifts as yet! Caroline's out at rehearsal, and may come back with a decision on that band name. And it's weird, but, didn't we all want the Daleks to win? 'So,' said my wife, 'you're rooting for fascism over cold emotion?' I could only mutter than Daleks are more fun.

I really enjoyed Love & Monsters - Marc Warren...

2006-07-17T15:39:00.000+01:00
I really enjoyed Love & Monsters - Marc Warren was fantastic and anything that majors on Mr Blue Sky by ELO is bound to be fab - but I haven't made my mind up yet about my favorite episode, I also really enjoyed School reunion and the last two.

I did like that alternative ending - very Pythonesque. And i also liked the rather camp Newman and baddiel dialogue between the Daleks and Cybermen.

---------------------------------

Dalek: You see that globule of spit on the floor?

Cyberman: Yes.

Dalek: That's your Cyberleader, that is ...

---------------------------------

More important is the fact that the Doctor is compelling viewing again and that it has brought quality family drama back to the mainstream.

Saturday night watching the Doctor has become a family event in our house and my younger two are every bit as excited as I used to be on a Saturday evening. (They really should bring back those Pink panther cartoons beforehand as well ;-) )

Apart from The West Wing and some of the new comedies like Green Wing there isn't much on the TV that is a 'must watch' nowadays.

Glad to hear the Festival went so well. Howabout 'The Follies' as a band name - a bit Faringdon, a bit folkie, a bit rock 'n' roll ...

Comments on PaulCornell.com: Doctor Who: Jackie Tyler Leaves the TV On

I *think* that's from 'The Christmas Invasion', wh...

hello. my son is a huge Dr who fan and spent the x...

That's a really wonderful review. We seem to have ...

It's been pointed out to me that this looks rather similar to your post. But I wrote that review before I'd seen your post (well, the important bits had been cobbled together, anyway) and your post says pretty much what I wanted to say far more succinctly.

I think you should give it a try, yeah.

Have you seen Life on Mars/what's your opinion of ...

And what a lovely blog you have. Cheers.

phenomenal site! can't wait to dig through the arc...

And relax.

Look, if you chaps have got something to say, why ...

Come again?

I have to say that last remark leaves an unpleasan...

Alex: well, Galactica is military SF, but that gen...

What I disliked about "Love and Monsters" was that...

Love & Monsters was good. It might have been m...

Thanks for posting your outlook on where Doctor...

Happy Birthday, Paul! On my behalf, please hoist ...

What a lovely article, and an insightful argument,...

That comment about fans on message boards talking ...

In many ways i felt that 'the Girl in the Fire...

Great post, Paul. I find those "Doctor Who"-is-now...

I always relate to people by their avatars, so now...

Understood. And certainly not my intent to put you...

Robin, that's a bracing mixture of wait and see an...

I really enjoyed Love & Monsters - Marc Warren...

I think that's from 'The Christmas Invasion', wh...