After Victory of the Daleks aired I was one of many people who objected to the
new Dalek design. It seems the strength of feeling against these multicoloured monstrosities is even stronger than first thought.
Sinister Incorporated (”an organisation dedicated to achieving total world domination through the use of political subversion, devious scheming and nuclear weapons”) has now set up a petition to ditch the hunchbacks and bring back our beloved classic pepperpots.
The Campaign For Real Daleks (CamDal) says:
[The new] design leaves much to be desired. Gone are the sleek sculpted lines of the Daleks we saw in the 2005 series revival (themselves based heavily on the original designs from 1963), replaced by a gaudy plasticky design with colours reminiscent of the Power Rangers and huge mid-sections that make the Daleks resemble bumper cars.
If you agree then join me in signing the campaign petition. Even if you don’t support Doctor Sinister’s plans to take over the globe.
April 22nd, 2010
Doctor Who, News |
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Warning: Spoilers for Victory of the Daleks follow.
When Steven Moffat took over the realms of Doctor Who he expressed fear that he might “break” the show. He hasn’t done that but, judging by Victory of the Daleks, he has broken the Doctor’s most formidable enemy. The Daleks have been transformed from terrifying killing machines to hunchbacked figures of fun.
There have been a lot of design changes to accompany the start of Matt Smith’s era in the Tardis and stamp Moffat’s vision on the show. On the whole I like them – I’m even one of those who likes the new theme music. But this reworking of the Daleks is a disaster. OK, Moffat probably didn’t design them personally – but he would have had to ok them. Instead of ticking the box marked “Approved” he should have ticked the box marked “Burn these abominations and never speak of this again”.
The new design is ugly, the key word being “chunky”. In the past I’ve been able to forget the operator inside – with this design you can’t avoid imagining not just the operator but a couch for him to sit on along with a TV and games console for shooting breaks! This chunkiness extends throughout the design, especially the ground skirt and central band. Perhaps a clue to the design philosophy is given by the size comparison with the old Daleks: the theory seems to be that “bigger is better”. In this case bigger is just crass.
And the colours. Oh my god, they look like something out of a sweet shop. These new Daleks would make great Christmas tree decorations. Daleks should have a palette made up from black, greys and metallic shades. Yes, there have been coloured Daleks in the past but usually in the movies or as “specials”. A rainbow assorment of Daleks strikes me as simply an excuse to sell more merchandise. Well I won’t be buying it.
And double jointed Daleks that can look round corners?!? Please tell me this is a belated April Fool joke.
What makes this destruction of the greatest Who monster even worse is that the design for the RTD era was absolutely beautiful. Seeing the last three of these in the universe exterminated by their inbred replacements was a painful experience.
Yes, these new Daleks are scary – but for all the wrong reasons.
April 18th, 2010
BBC, Doctor Who |
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Well that didn’t take long. The paint is barely dry on Matt Smith’s new Tardis and already collectible Eleventh Doctor merchandise is on the way.
Character Online has announced two Dr Who sets. The first is the new Doctor’s new sonic screwdriver which has “spring loading extending action” and “Light & sound effects”. Personally I’d rather Steven Moffat had got rid of the sonic screwdriver for good – it’s too easy a device for lazy writers – but I suppose some people will buy it.
More interesting to me is the Eleventh Doctor Crash Set pictured here. This twin pack features two five inch action figure Smiths. One is in his new costume, the second model wears the “Raggedy Doctor” version of the of David Tennant costume. Personally I prefer the Raggedy Doctor look, perhaps because it’s the way I usually dress.
Both sets have a list price of £14.99.
April 6th, 2010
Doctor Who, News |
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Short review: Fantastic
Longer review:
there’s no denying that The Eleventh Hour was very light plotwise. But then the episode wasn’t about the story, it was about introducing the new Doctor, the new companion and the new Steven Moffat led era. In this the show succeeded superbly whilst also setting up the series five plot arc. Most importantly The Eleventh Hour gave us a feel for what Doctor Who will be like under Moffat’s leadership, and I for one liked what I saw.
Let’s start with the key question: was Matt Smith the right choice as Doctor? It’s still too early to tell, as The Doctor says himself he’s not quite done yet. But he certainly has the potential. A little too manic for my tastes perhaps but I can get used to that. The main thing is that he definitely is The Doctor, the final face-off proved that. There was that one line on the roof that sealed it for me and probably for many others as well.
Is Matt Smith the new David Tennant? Of course not, and he shouldn’t be. Will he be a great Doctor? It’s far too early to tell. Will he be a good Doctor? Yes, definitely.
The atmosphere of the story managed to combine both laugh out loud funny with pretty darned scary. And for the adults not only did we have sexily dressed Karen Gillan plus Matt Smith stripping but a number of lines that would (fortunately) have gone way over the heads of the kids (dressing up games anyone?). Given the pacing of the whole show there were probably more that I missed. I’m looking forward to watching the episode again to find them.
For old timers like myself the new arrangement of the theme tune was a delight, bringing back memories of the classic era whilst also having a contemporary feel. The vortex effect was good, although the Tardis CGI did look a little cheap. The new console room isn’t as radically different as I’d expected but will serve its purpose. Some of the “steampunk” is a bit silly – I actually had to check they weren’t using Susannah from Lancashire’s design!
Minor quibbles aside, The Eleventh Hour was thoroughly enjoyable and reassuring. I started watching with high hopes but also feeling very nervous. By the end of the episode I was extremely happy and feeling a lot more confident about the show’s future.
Roll on next week!
April 3rd, 2010
BBC, Doctor Who, News, Reviews |
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This post was an April Fool. It is not true.
Bad news for all of us who were looking forward to Matt Smith’s first appearance as The Doctor this weekend. The new series five of Dr Who has been postponed, probably until the summer.
The problem is the upcoming General Election, which Gordon Brown is expected to call either today or Tuesday. The Beeb are concerned that much of The Eleventh Hour – even the title – could be construed as political commentary. With an election looming this could be seen as taking political sides.
A source close to the show said:
There’s always been political undertones to Doctor Who, from attacks on Margaret Thatcher in the ’80s to the Belgrano reference in The Christmas Invasion. Ironically The Eleventh Hour had no deliberate political intent.
A spokesperson for the BBC has confirmed that series five of Doctor Who will indeed be postponed:
We regret that the show will not now be broadcast from Easter weekend. No new start date has been decided but it will be some time after the election. We realise that this will disappoint fans but under the BBC Charter and the Representation of the People Act we have a legal duty of impartiality.
We hope fans of Doctor Who will understand our decision. It’s well worth waiting a few for more months for the new series. We’re especially pleased with the entirely apolitical episode where CyberLeader Gordon Brown is deleted by his fellow Cybermen and the one where David Cameron takes over from Davros as leader of the Daleks. There’s also new enemy for the Doctor in the shape of Nick Clegg as The Doctor’s stepbrother “Nick Who?”
It’s not yet known what will happen to broadcast dates in other countries, however BBC Gallifrey still plans to show The Eleventh Hour last April Fool’s Day.
And if you believed a word of this tripe then more fool you. Enjoy the Eleventh Hour on Saturday as planned.
April 1st, 2010
Doctor Who, News |
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