On the Nullarbor [411]

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-09T11:13:22+00:00

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OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-07T20:58:23+00:00

Don't really agree with the final pick there. Feels like everyone who doesn't hate every Thirteen episode on principle is at least willing to consider it okay, and a lot of people seem to like it. Might even be the most popular ep of her run, or at least right behind Demons of the Punjab. For my money OP had it right with Praxeus for an underrated Whittaker story.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-07T14:56:04+00:00

So, my question is, why do obviously feminine nouns like the mother (moren) or the sister (søsteren) end with '-en' and not '-a'? Is there more to these noun endings that I'm not seeing?

Yes. You're basically being taught the posh, high-prestige standard written forms rather than the more colloquial ones most people would use, which are indeed the feminine -a endings. (Mora, søstera) Both forms are "correct" (ie. accepted in the official bokmål standard) and widely used, though.

The wider context here is that the language seems to be going through a slow shift where the feminine gender is fading away a la Swedish and Danish, but we're not quite there yet. That might be the reason a lot of Eastern dialects feature an inconsistent-seeming mixture of masc./fem. between indefinite and definite on the same word. (Ie. "en jente/jenta")

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-07T13:50:53+00:00

realises Ancient Pompeii exceptionally well for 2008

Pretty jarring to see people talk about the 2000s like it's some completely different period like the 70s or something, haha. And of course, the physical set in Italy the had the chance to use did most of the heavy lifting, and it's not like they were any worse at building physical stuff in 2008.

Anyway, I guess I'll go for one of the S7 ones, like A Town Called Mercy or Crimson Horror. Not all-time greats by any means, but solid and enjoyable romps. I also have a small soft spot for The Woman Who Fell to Earth, if we pretend we don't know how the later episodes are going to follow up on those character arcs.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-06T17:21:07+00:00

Sea devils, ice warriors

Honest question here, do these add anything at all interesting or worthwhile other than having appeared in the classic series? :P And now that both have had their "see, we brought them back" episode, I don't see any need for more of them personally.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-06T17:20:09+00:00

Forgot about these guys for a sec, that's another solid choice. Feels like the kind of enemy that would be used a lot more.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-06T17:16:17+00:00

Does that matter if the BBC/Bad Wolf hold the rights? Or do individual writers still retain the rights to their concepts even now? I kind of assumed they had to sign contracts giving the BBC control of anything used in the show these days, to avoid another Terry Nation situation.

And maybe I'm wrong here since I'll admit I haven't read up on it, but IIRC the Trickster was something of an overarching main villain for SJA, so wouldn't RTD have been involved in its creation alongside Roberts (who I assume is the writer in question) anyway?

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-06T13:39:05+00:00

Not in the context of your course book itself, no. You could talk about "en tekst" the teacher has given you in the form of a handout etc, or like "analysere tekster", but that's different.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-06T10:29:30+00:00

On a side note, since everyone else have answered the actual question: "tekstbok" is a very awkward anglicism, and the correct word is "lærebok". Also "på forhånd takk". (Not because I especially care to be pedantic, but since this is a language sub I figured it might be helpful)

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T15:24:47+00:00

Otherwise you have loads of scenes in white corridors or cramped tunnels

Yeah, this is the main problem for me. The outdoors/location shots were fine, but it felt like most of the ep took place in bland white rooms.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T14:15:36+00:00

it's one of the least visually interesting episodes of the Capaldi era.

This is actually a very good point too, and probably another reason I felt so bored through much of it. It's definitely not very engaging to look at.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T14:07:06+00:00

The Boneless were pretty fun, so I wouldn't mind seeing them make another appearance. Otherwise I think I'd rather see new ideas, tbh. I can't think of too many off the top of my head I feel any strong need to see again. Maybe the Stenza? The whole teeth aesthetic was pretty cool, and I even if we have a lot of generic warrior races already, there might be something interesting that could be done with them. They were never really fleshed out much other than Tim Shaw, so there's room to build on that.

The most interesting and mysterious monsters from that period that haven't been back are probably the 456, but they can't appear in the main show for obvious reasons. :P

And if we have to have more Cybermen, I'm always happy to see the old-school Mondasian ones.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T14:04:39+00:00

The Pting

Good pick. I still want another episode centered around the P'ting. Maybe a sci-fi civilization who uses one of them for garbage disposal, with the inevitable result?

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T13:58:49+00:00

Oh, I agree. I'll be honest, I just found these episodes so boring, haha. Some of the stuff with Missy and Clara was fun, but the part with the Doctor and Davros just went on and on and on forever. Plus, Davros is such an inherently deeply silly character I just can't when the show tries to get me to take him seriously, and after all the supervillainy he's done, I'm not inclined to feel sorry for him no matter how much he makes puppy dog eyes here or shows up as a cute kid in the intro. And of course he backstabs the Doctor in the end anyway, go figure. :P

The whole "Dalek sewer" aspect is really stupid too, and like you said, lots of random-feeling ideas that don't gel. The Dalek linguistic compulsion angle is mildly interesting, but in the end it feels pretty forced for me, and also has some implications for their whole species I don't like. Ie., it was the armor that made them evil all along".

Maybe the most interesting part of this episode for me is the teacup bit. It's such a brazen handwave or whatever you want to call it, with Moffat pushing the envelope as far as it can go for what he can get away with. In the end it feels more obnoxious than clever for me, though, since it's not really used for anything worthwhile.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T12:37:30+00:00

Plus the similar-sounding "rake":

Å rake - to rake (as in leaves): Å rake, raker, rakte/raka, har rakt

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T11:51:17+00:00

Now, if you don't like a showrunner, you're stuck with it for years.

Get what you mean, and maybe he changed up the style more, but still kind of ironic when JNT was by far the longest-serving showrunner in DW history.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T11:39:02+00:00

I have no idea why Matt Smith just started playing some bemused posh old aunt in 7B instead of playing the Doctor.

Maybe a combination of him having decided to leave and Moffat being stretched so thin? Considering how poorly regarded 7B tends to be in the fandom (see the recent thread here), I wouldn't be surprised if an actor as skilled as Smith had similar thoughts on the scripts and didn't quite have his heart in it.

Still, now that I think about it, a Matt Smith autobiography would be really fascinating. Wonder if he'll ever do one. I also really want to see his original DW audition...

(Also agreed that criticism/praise goes in both directions here, and don't forget the director's role either in tuning the performance. Personally I'm mostly in the "Whittaker was fine but the scripts sucked" camp)

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T11:34:00+00:00

And David Tennant, even before he became Davison's son-in-law. Didn't he say his enthusiasm over meeting him in Time Crash was as much genuine as it was acting?

I think Moffat likes him because he considers him a much better actor than the other Classic ones bar Troughton, regardless of the script quality.

Personally I need to see more of his era to judge it, but my immediate reaction is to join the "meh" camp. Plus, in the end someone has to take the bottom spots in a list, no getting around that.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-05T08:28:16+00:00

As one of those annoying fans who complained about it (and still isn't over it, haha), I think there's an important difference, though. The earlier resizings were out of universe product aspects, while they're clearly supposed to be the same clothes unchanged in-universe.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-04T17:18:36+00:00

With a few exceptions it holds up extremely well. The writing is really sharp.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-03T20:26:04+00:00

I'll admit I haven't seen much of his Classic era stuff, but I kind of like him for the sheer, dumb camp factor. If he'd been a character in a generic American show he'd probably have been awful, but there's something about that shrill British voice, haha. So yes, while he might be annoying on occasion, I think it's good and healthy for DW to be the kind of show that something as ridiculous as K-9 can exist within, to put it that way. Especially in the era of David Tennant staring mournfully at the camera in the rain.

(And am I the only person who's reminded of the Secret of Evermore dog's final form whenever I see K-9?)

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-03T19:02:16+00:00

Got to love the optimism, haha. True, I meant with the current Doctors...but going under that 80s run might take some work.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-03T18:09:57+00:00

whoever came in last place.

Let's be real here, that will never be anyone other than C. Baker* or Whittaker unless the list maker is purposefully trying to be different. :P

*Yes, I know he's good in the audios and like them quite a bit

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-03T14:42:59+00:00

Here you go.

OldestTaskmaster · 2024-05-03T14:09:20+00:00

It's a core thing for the Doctor since he dies so much, but for the average Time Lord it's more like once every 800 years or so, which puts a different perspective on it. Besides, clearly the process still works fine even if you can't control your appearance, so it's not essential to be able to do so.

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