After (approximately) ten weeks of teasing, Andrew and D. Bethel finally talk about the newest series of Doctor Who, which not only introduces Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor (as well as her substantial crew) but also new showrunner, Chris Chibnall, and his team to bring the world a fresh look at a 55 year-old character.
Since they had so much to discuss, an entire “Shortcast” (despite it being basically the length of an entire episode) was dedicated to talking about the finale of the latest season of Doctor Who. SPOILERS BEWARE. NON-DOCTOR WHO FANS BEWARE (come back next week). Much talk is made about Stephen Moffat’s tenure as showrunner, the themes of the finale, and what Andrew and D. want out of the teased Christmas special.
NOTICE:
Click the image for more information.
D. Bethel will be exhibiting at the inaugural Sac Indie Expo in Sacramento this weekend. He’s looking forward to it not only because he gets to chat and hang out with fans and other local creators, but also due to the fact that the event is being held a phenomenal local brewery, Big Sexy Brewing Company. SIE will be on Saturday, July 15 from 12-5pm. It’s free to get in, so if you’re in the area, you have no excuse to not go.
WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew learns about the seedy underbelly of LEGO knock-offs while Dan preps for the upcoming Wonder Woman movie by watching the 2009 animated film.
DOCTOR WHO KNEW?: Dan and Andrew discuss their skeptical praise for the current series of Doctor Who. Five episodes in and all episodes have been undeniably good so far. Should they be waiting with baited breath for the show to stumble as it has done for the last five series? Or should they let their freak flag fly once again?
WAKING LIFE: Remedy Entertainment’s 2010 sleeper hit, Alan Wake, was summarily pulled from all digital storefronts last weekend due to the lapsing of the licenses paid for music featured in the game. It’s a strange situation considering exactly how many games––even those released before Alan Wake––use licensed music and are still available for purchase.
LINKS:
Visit our website at forallintents.net and leave your thoughts as comments on the page for this episode.
For the first time since the show returned in 2005, Doctor Who showrunner, Steven Moffat, has hired a writer whose resumé includes a story from the classic era, meaning its unbroken run from 1963 to 1989. The BBC announced in an upcoming issue of the official publication of the show, Doctor Who Magazine, that Rona Munro will be writing an episode for series/season 10 titled, “The Eaters of Light.” Though the show has brought back a director and actors from the classic run, this is the first time a classic Who writer has been commissioned to write for the revived show.
“Survival” DVD cover. If “The Eaters of Light” has cheetah people and cans of Nitro-9, Andrew and Dan will be happy. Source: BBC
Munro has the distinction of writing the final serial for the classic run, the Seventh Doctor story, “Survival,” in 1989 which sent the show––with an addendum by script editor at the time, Andrew Cartmel––into what has been called “The Wilderness Years,” meaning the span of mostly Who-less time between 1989 to 2005. Despite the views of some who felt she may have been “slumming” by writing for the dying show, she has said it was her “dream job” despite being “a mournful time in the show’s history.”
Cartmel brought Munro to the show in 1989 because of her impressive history writing for the stage and film, which was an important decision for a series that was remarkably lacking in female representation in production. This is even more remarkable in the face of the fact that the show was basically created by a woman, Verity Lambert. The modern iteration of the show has drawn the same criticism from many fans and critics––even notable Who writer and fan, Neil Gaiman, has called it out. In the last few years, Moffat has made some steps to remedy the situation. However, as of 2015’s series 9, a total of only five women have written for the show out of the 90-plus hires made since 1963.
Rona Munro (above) is also Scottish, which speaks to the general Scottish takeover of Doctor Who. Photo: Laura Braun for The Telegraph
Of her series 10 episode, Munro is enthusiastic, noting that she tried to capture what made her a scared but rapt fan as a child:
When I was very small and watching the First Doctor, I had a special cushion known as “Rona’s Doctor Whocushion.” I would hide my face in it when the Daleks or other monsters appeared on screen! “The Eaters of Light” is my version of other stories that have haunted me for almost as long.
Series 10, it should be noted, has been slated to be Steven Moffat’s final as showrunner. He has been at the helm since series 5 in 2010 and has been very controversial among the fan base even as his tenure ushered the show into becoming a worldwide phenomenon (especially with Matt Smith in the role of the Doctor) as well as covering the well-regarded 50th anniversary story, “The Day of the Doctor,” which brought David Tennant back to his role of the 10th Doctor alongside Matt Smith.
Week in Geek: Andrew discusses his participation in a recent Seattle Megagames event while Dan gushes about the Wayforward Technologies remake of A Boy and His Blob.
Regeneration: Doctor Who showrunner since 2010, Steven Moffat announces his plans to leave the show after series 10 in 2017. Furthermore, his replacement has been revealed to be Chris Chibnall, an accomplished writer in his own right. But is this a big deal? Dan and Andrew discuss the implications.
I Vant to Roll Your Die: Andrew and Dan investigate why Dungeons & Dragons‘ return to Ravenloft, in a new adventure titled, “Curse of Strahd,” is a big deal, or, at least, why it’s interesting.
Feel free to leave a comment on this week’s topics at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook and Google+ pages. You may also e-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail.com. If you like the show, help it out by leaving a review on the iTunes store.
For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.
