Pros & cons of time travel, multi-Henry 'specials', Moffat story structure, senses of self, dual storylines, child fantasies, whether we're different people as we age, & the show's overall plan are discussed in this review of the second episode of The Time Traveler's Wife.

(00:00:00) Introductions & perspectives

(00:04:55) Clare in the TV show

(00:11:59) Dual storylines

(00:16:11) Time travel life metaphors

(00:19:45) Are different Henrys different characters?

(00:22:38) Young Clare & structure

(00:25:00) Different Henrys & story structure

(00:33:14) Stylistic dialogue

(00:34:37) Henrycest

(00:40:22) The episode's timey-wimey ending

(00:45:17) A tangled relationship

(00:49:14) Avoiding time travel clichés

(00:51:01) Multi-Henry influences

(00:54:56) Our child selves

(00:58:53) Always crashing in the same car

(01:01:19) Henry characterisation

(01:07:01) How many seasons will the show have?…

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Timey-wimey romance, Steven Moffat's influences, romantic ideals, forming yourself around another person, fated love, genre & gender, Doctor Who linkages, structural gimmickry, heightened dialogue & more gets discussed in this review of the first episode of The Time Traveler's Wife.

(00:00:00) Introduction, & what it's about

(00:06:27) Why is Moffat adapting this?

(00:09:02) Time travel love metaphor + age determinism

(00:17:17) Is the show confusing?

(00:19:33) Nudity in the show + Henry's personality

(00:23:06) Acting different versions of Henry

(00:28:18) Romantic ideals, & reshaping partners

(00:32:49) Moffat's views on writing

(00:35:29) Time travel genre & gender

(00:42:56) Love, loss, mortality, loneliness

(00:46:04) 'Structural gimmicks'

(00:51:33) What's to come?

(00:53:26) Final thoughts…

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David Tennant is back…but just what does that mean? We discuss Tennant and Catherine Tate’s return, and Russell T Davies’ casting of a new Rose. We talk exorcising the past, leak literacy, fanservice friction, character stasis, the interaction of Chibnall’s outgoing centenary and RTD’s opening anniversary, universe contraction and expansion, new costumes, and who is driving Doctor Who. The first half of this discussion looks at these public announcements and what they signify, and the second half explores the nature of leaks, spoilers, and digs into why these announcements surprised some fans less than others.

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:40) The Tennant, Donna, Rose announcements

(00:12:08) Tennant's new costume

(00:17:40) The press release + nature of returning characters

(00:30:30) Throwaway lines as gospel + small universes

(00:36:02) The press release + multi-Doctor specials

(00:48:54) Anniversaries and change + 'special' Doctors

(01:01:05) Our new Rose

(01:13:59) The nature of leaks

(01:12:03) Who makes Doctor Who?

(01:30:37) Leak discussion (main leaks)

(02:04:04) Leak discussion (separate leak)…

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We discuss the opening move of Russell T Davies' second era as showrunner, the casting of Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor. Beside the star himself, we talk about the telos of the show, the way castings get announced, the way fandom processes castings, the messages and meanings of this casting, optics and intent, and our hopes and fears for this era to come.

(00:00:00) Introduction & first thoughts

(00:02:19) How the reveal was done

(00:14:43) Examining the press release

(00:22:04) Casting

(00:27:26) The gender of the Doctor

(00:41:34) How RTD imagines characters

(00:44:10) Companion primacy, actor oxygen

(00:49:51) Ncuti Gatwa's acting & audience

(00:58:13) How fandom processes Doctor castings

(01:04:41) Hopes for RTD2

(01:17:01) Men in TV

(01:29:52) Current conclusions…

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Companionzoning, violence & moral standards, scene compartmentalisation, Thasmin, spectacles of pacifism, companion contempt, repetition, historical attitudes, & more!

(00:00:00) Intro & favourite dialogue

(00:04:23) Runtime

(00:06:42) Topics to get into

(00:08:09) Repetition, sacrifice, passivity

(00:13:48) Violence and pacifism, humour and expectations

(00:18:55) Dan and the motions, Resolution comparison

(00:24:52) Thirteen’s phrases

(00:28:12) ‘You’re like a kid sometimes’, the original The Sea Devils

(00:36:39) Sea Devil/Silurian ‘solution’, culture

(00:43:00) Historical figures, treatment of history, costumes, cultural assumptions

(00:57:31) Fearmongering

(01:02:41) Thasmin: do we believe the Doctor? Queer, romance

(01:18:33) The writing

(01:27:04) The direction

(01:33:56) Characterisation integration

(01:39:05) Chibnall interview

(01:49:23) How eras treat past eras

(01:56:44) Final thoughts…

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Thasmin, intent, improvisation, late in the game storytelling, time loops in and out of the show, entitlement, inspirational speeches, fandom narratives, shipping, & more!

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:02:08) What we liked

(00:13:43) Improv, the trailer, comedy, repetition

(00:19:43) Time loops, the episode’s premise

(00:32:01) Nick, exes, entitlement

(00:44:07) Jack, Jeff, & Karl

(00:48:57) 13’s plans, spatial geography, direction

(01:01:06) The Doctor’s Speech

(01:15:15) Daleks, explosiveness, morals, hypocrisy

(01:27:23) Avoidant criticism, folk memory, incuriosity

(01:35:23) Fandom focus on writers

(01:51:39) Narratives in and around the show

(02:10:10) Thasmin: context

(02:19:40) Thasmin: discussion

(02:34:06) Thasmin: shipping culture

(02:47:27) Thasmin: endings

(02:55:19) Thasmin: perspectives

(03:06:21) Thasmin: fandom

(03:14:44) Thasmin: importance

(03:26:16) Thasmin: comparisons

(03:31:33) Thasmin: regression

(03:41:17) Final observations…

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Spooky Christmas mysteries, comedy meeting horror, class & labour, emotional paradoxes, evolution of Doctor Who, writer instincts, aural imagery, narrative traps, genre expectations, magic time brainwashing, & more!

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:04:40) McGann’s acting + the 8th Doctor & Charley

(00:10:55) Comparisons to other Doctor Who stories

(00:17:43) Visualising the story

(00:22:36) Edith & class

(00:34:59) Structure of the story

(00:40:08) A dark Christmas + 2002 context

(00:47:38) Comedy & horror

(00:53:58) Companion relationships

(01:02:03) Mystery genre + haunted houses

(01:08:34) Story rules + magic time brainwashing

(01:12:39) Other versions of this story

(01:23:51) Edward Grove & life

(01:29:22) Shearman quotes

(01:35:04) Stories making sense

(01:43:17) Accessibility: when can you hear this story?

(01:48:38) Horror moments + cover of the story…

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Chibnall comments, character arcs, emotional storytelling, maximalist Who, can-kicking, deflection discourse, tautological morality, fandom perspectives, incuriosity, 13 & Yaz, avoidance, serialisation, & more!

(00:00:00) Intro, & what we liked

(00:09:23) Purist Chibnall, was the finale a surprise?

(00:10:51) Chibnall’s comments on Flux, & emotional arcs

(00:23:05) What was the story of Flux?

(00:31:12) Thasmin, romance, queerbaiting, third wheels

(00:37:32) Bel and Vinder’s story

(00:44:57) Avoidant storytelling, technobabble, companion iconography

(00:51:29) Use of the Ood

(00:53:00) The Division & Tecteun, lack of resolution

(00:57:06) Man with a plan: five-year plan, stories planned out?

(01:08:44) Azure’s speech, Doctor/villain morality, life ideologies

(01:20:48) ‘Time’ the person, four knocks, regeneration, emotional equilibrium

(01:24:54) Why write it like this in the first place?

(01:30:54) ‘It’s not that deep’, & musings on fandom

(01:48:07) ‘Wasn’t that enough? It did do what we expected.’

(01:52:38) ‘This is new, serialised storytelling. Don’t judge it the same way!’

(02:05:29) ‘It was very deep. You didn’t understand it.’

(02:11:10) ‘It was full of ideas, it was Doctor Who’, & time in our lives

(02:17:37) ‘Your real problem is with something else.’

(02:21:08) ‘You are judging it too early.’

(02:25:41) ‘There are only 3 episodes left, is it worth complaining?’

(02:27:27) ‘Journey before destination’, fanedits, the three showrunners

(02:42:24) ‘It was filmed during a pandemic’, & episode comparisons

(02:50:11) ‘The ratings!’

(02:52:29) ‘It’s similar to a past thing, therefore…’, & hypocrisy

(02:56:21) The Karvanista, Bel, & Vinder trio

(02:58:12) Di, Passenger, & genocide

(03:03:35) Dan, Di, Liverpool, change, & story reactivity

(03:08:21) Final observations: spooky houses, matter, emotional backbone, lanyards

(03:18:06) Outro…

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Moral infection, 2018 nostalgia, UNIT & fanservice, phone-watching, multiverses & mythology, timeless motherhood, coherence & contractions, rhythm & legacy, and more!

(00:00:00) Intro, & what we liked

(00:04:00) The role of Aswok

(00:07:06) Explaining the episode

(00:14:16) Complicated plots, incoherence, contractions

(00:22:33) Connections, rhythm, structure, pacing, serialisation

(00:28:08) UNIT callbacks & payoff, judging too early

(00:36:19) Chibnall’s intentions with Kate & UNIT

(00:43:49) Timeless Motherhood, Bel & Tecteun

(00:51:13) Space laws

(00:53:58) Acting

(00:57:36) Yaz, Dan, Jericho

(01:02:52) Thasmin

(01:04:37) Williamson, Sontarans, surprises

(01:07:47) Multiverse, influence

(01:14:57) Swarm & Azure, space & time, particles, exposition

(01:24:45) Norse mythology, Aswok’s set

(01:30:02) The Division, opaqueness

(01:33:03) Who the show is for, phone-watching

(01:47:27) Questions of legacy, RTD’s return…

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Temporal menace, disparate apocalypses, Angelification, conceptual threats, tonal control, mindfulness amongst serialisation, cliffhangers, exposition, & more!

(00:00:00) Intro, & what we liked

(00:04:21) The runtime, & the village plot

(00:07:22) Claire in the Flux premiere

(00:10:09) Angel concepts, Angel cops

(00:16:47) Angel setpieces

(00:18:54) Space village, conceptual threats

(00:21:08) Hide, standard structures

(00:23:05) This episode ‘pre Flux’

(00:26:37) Imaginary and literal Angelification

(00:30:27) Giving characters jobs

(00:35:11) The overarching Flux plot

(00:45:07) Bel & Vinder, Passenger & Angels

(00:52:01) Jericho & Belsen, Claire & Bob

(00:56:27) Usage of the Angels & the status quo

(00:59:08) The cliffhanger

(01:06:38) Mid-credits scene, showrunner shadows

(01:14:44) Outro…

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