Chartfridays

Anyone know what time the by-election result is supposed to be announced?

Can see you the Tories holding this by virtue of a split Lib Drm / Labour alliance. The comment on futility of a progressive alliance is wrong, the idea is it let's parties agree where to stand down to avoid this situation wherethry both think they have claim as best alternative

He won't. They might.

They've had enough of experts.

It's not pointless, it gives context to where the show stands against hits own history, and as it's one of the few shows were able to do this with it's pretty good to do. Even if you narrow it down to Seasons 27-39/Series 1-13, you soon see that it's comfortably the lowest rated new series. Of the new who doctors who've played more than one series*: Tennant gained 0.34m viewers - or increased by 4.41% Smith lost 0.47m viewers in his era or decreased by 6.08% Capaldi lost 1.80m viewers in his era or decreased by 24.79% Whittaker's lost 3.08m viewers in her era or decreased by 38.69% (Using regularly series*) - If that doesn't show you the state of the show at the moment nothing will. Also why RTD certainly won't want to kill the shows, he's got a difficult job in avoiding doing so.

Why shouldn't they cater their schedule to one of their longest running and biggest flagship shows to avoid it getting embarrassing ratings and flopping? The show is a British institution (well was until the 13th doctor). If they don't do something it could quickly end up the embarrassment it became in the 80s. I wasn't suggesting they move their entire schedule around Doctor Who, I was suggetsing they move Series 14 around their annual schedule. Call the Midwife is scheduled for January in 2022 anyway so a year later would seem reasonable as January 2023. Line of Duty isn't due to be on screen til 2023 and you'd imagine they'd one to get it out around then anyway. Putting Doctor Who in that sort of slot. It led into the Strictly results though, which consistently underrates the main show. It seems like cancellation is within grasp for with those Season 39 figures, if Season 40 is anywhere near as bad. And let's be honest that wouldn't be the worst thing - I ended up watching this series on iplayer after it had finished - the first time I've not watched episodes live when I've had the option since the show came back on air and that's largely to do with the timeless children bollocks.

Just for a bit of contest 78k is 0.11% of the UK population. Practically nobody.

Season 39 of Doctor Who also known as Season One of Doctor 'We Know All About You' is currently on course to be the third worst rated series of the show and the worst rated of the entire new series. 11.21m - Season 17 11.08m - Season 14 10.46m - Season 2 10.14m - Season 13 10.00m - Season 12 09.24m - Season 19 08.98m - Season 15 08.87m - Season 10 08.78m - Season 11 08.61m - Season 15 08.30m - Season 9 08.08m - Season 1 08.05m - Season 30 (Series 4) 07.96m - Season 8 07.96m - Season 37 (Series 11) 07.95m - Season 27 (Series 1) 07.73m - Season 31 (Series 5) 07.71m - Season 28 (Series 2) 07.65m - Season 3 07.55m - Season 29 (Series 3) 07.52m - Season 32 (Series 6) 07.44m - Season 33 (Series 7) 07.26m - Season 34 (Series 8) 07.23m - Season 5 07.17m - Season 7 07.14m - Season 21 07.12m - Season 22 07.10m - Season 4 07.03m - Season 20 06.38m - Season 5 06.03m - Season 35 (Series 9) 05.82m - Season 18 05.46m - Season 36 (Series 10) 05.40m - Season 38 (Series 12) 05.34m - Season 25 04.94m - Season 24 04.88m - Season 39 (Series 14) 04.81m - Season 23 04.15m - Season 26 If the BBC genuinely want to save Doctor Who it needs some creative scheduling, the next series could stay on a Sunday night with it being surrounded by hits. If we assume it's coming back in 2023 early in the year then maybe: 18.00 - News 18.25 - [Popular Game Show maybe House of Games/The Wheel] 19.10 - Doctor Who 20.00 - Call The Midwife 21.00 - Line of Duty They could even show Classic Who as a lead in to the main show instead of the game show, trying to entice older viewers to stick around for the new version.

Yup, they definitely seem scarier than some of the modern who Daleks, who are honestly a complete joke at times (not least in Series 13)- and I agree about the collective goals, as mentioned above they seem to have a real purpose and edge, much missing in the 'kill everything' version of the modern series. For a 7 part story to only be disappointed by a single episode is pretty impressive, and it's not like it was a bad episode, just a lot of the things about Classic Who that take some adjustment too were present at the same time - the slower pacing being the main bugbear. And yes, I'm aware this is where Dalek mania began, and I can see Rollo's point about the show not necessarily surviving anywhere near as long as it did and now has without the Daleks.

The difference between the local lockdowns and tier restrictions were pretty miniscule, as someone who lived through both. Neither can realistically brought back in anyway as they're so unpopular - and so easily circumvented. It's going to be a national level of restrictions or nothing.

Brecel best Higgins 9-5 in the Scottish open final

Looks like the press have a hell of a lot more than they've let on and intend to drip feed it. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/extr...s-xmas-25699183

The law might have changed, but people's behaviour hasn't and likely won't. I've barely seen anyone wearing masks for the past week - essentially since the party news came out - except on trains where people are probably worried about some over officious BTP warrior, most shopkeepers aren't challenging anybody (they've just perspex up to keep themselves protected and seem happy to let the public kill each other off as long as they're spending money rather than challenge people over it, and to be honest as someone whose worked in customer service, specifically enforced rules people didn't agree with (thankfully before Covid) I don't blame them one bit - most aren't paid enough) Disgusted at Labour voting this through rather than abstaining/going against it though.

I agree with you Severin about liking the Doctor being different to later incarnations, and Bill Hartnell is clearly a good actor enjoy himself in portraying the kind of slightly mean-spirited version of the doctor throughout these early episodes, and we do see a softer side to him - both within An Unearthly Child (when captured with Ian) and in The Daleks when he talks to the Thals about their history. The Daleks 21 December 1963 - 1 February 1964 (7 x 25) Season 1: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara As Terry Nation’s invention of a Dalek lights up the screens for the first time in this marathon, it’s hard not to be in awe of what are truly magnificent creatures. The story takes a while to set itself up, it has to be said, but is eminently watchable for the first few episodes. The First Doctor’s mean-spirited and belligerent nature is on full show here as he develops a ruse by seemingly breaking the tardis (removing the very important fluid link, which is strangely reminiscent of a light bulb). Aside from that we get a relatively classic war on a alien planet storyline, with our first introduction to the legendary Skaro, which has left it’s two races in opposite directions - the Thals who have becoming pacifistic farmers and the Daleks - who now really on radiation to live and exist inside their technological hub of a city. The menace of these robot killing machines is fairly well played and Daleks = nazi overtones are layed in about as subtlely as any of the political bent in the Chibnall era. However the crucial difference here being that this is entertaining, both sides of the argument are presented fairly and there’s a progression of plot instead of ‘don’t do this it’s bad, here’s how you should think’. The audience are credited with a modicum of intelligence, despite being mainly aimed at kids. There’s some good companion development - Susan being trusted to go off alone and establishing contact with the Thals, Ian and Barbara being given agency to interact with the Thal people and find their way through. The bit where Ian shows the Thals they will fight for certain things starts to give us a better sense of the kind of man he might be in these stories. And crucially with the Doctor and Susan’s kidnap, despite the Doctor’s admiration of his own brilliance seconds before becoming undone by his own hubris, we get a chance to see Ian and Barbara serve as the rescuers. I like the thread of Ian pretending to be a Dalek as well, again there’s a sense of plot and character progression here for everyone to some degree or other, even the Thals once Temossus dies. All in all it’s a relatively enjoyable serial to watch through, however like the previous story it could easily have been trimmed back, at times the episode The Ordeal really does live up to its name as ropes are slung about in rocky tunnels and the cast trudge through the lake. The scenes where The Daleks kill people despite using what would now be considered rudimentary special effects look brilliant and genuinely scary, at least shocking as they kill with reckless abandon. Considering it's in black and white, the scenery looks good with the city (presumably a model of some sort and a good one at that), as well as the petrified forest and the swamp with the living creatures. Similarly the reveal of the living thing inside the Dalek shell is well done, and thankfully something that's never been tampered. It's nice of Terry Nation to attempt to give us some backstory to the development of the killing machines with the war as the background, even if future writers often ignore it. It's also really nice to see The Daleks actually fighting for their own survival, rather than for the sake of killing despite the fact that the dislike for the unlike is brought up.

So further to the discussion in the Doctor Who threads I thought this might be worth doing. I've recently started on my journey through Classic Who (up to The Daleks, so this first one's a catch up review) to give my unfiltered thoughts on the original series as I watch them. Honestly, don't expect great in depth critiques here, more just spewed thoughts as the sheer number of episodes to get through means watching quite a few back to back at times to finish this in any reasonable period. An Unearthly Child 23 November 1963 - 14 December 1963 (4 x 25) Series 1: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara So this is where it all began then? This has the distinction of being one of the handful of Classic Who stories I’d seen before embarking on this little journey to watch the lot in order (the mad right of passage for all serious Doctor Who fans). We’re introduced to the first TARDIS Team. The exceptional child in class who sparks the curiosity of her two teachers so much they stalk her back to her home - or rather the junkyard listed as her address. Professional standards might have a thing or two to say about that one these days, and there’s certainly a breach of current data regulations. Her insistence on the dimensions of time and space and the fact that she's thinks some chemistry experiments are pointless being the dubious grounds for this excessive curiosity. The fact they did helps us move to the good stuff in the plot as we’re introduced to Susan’s ‘grandfather’. It’s soon apparent that being somewhat strange is a family gene in this neck of the woods as the cantankerous old man ridicules the two humans, who are clearly beneath him. And cue the swinging open of the doors to the police box revealing a gigantic open space. Even as someone who has both seen this episode before, and seen the reveal of the ‘bigger on the inside’ trope many times in the new series, seeing Ian and Barbara’s reactions be so well written is great. Ian really plays the role for the viewer in this situation, and is gradual acceptance that this is believable after all. One of the most magical things about Doctor Who for me has always been the ‘invitation’ - from the moment Rose was asked ‘by the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?.’ Unfortunately no such magic here the ' kindly ‘would you like to see the universe?’ approach has certainly not been refined here though. The method of introducing the companions is unbelievably heavy handed to modern eyes, akin to kidnap as he’s so concerned they’d blab out him and Susan. The rest of Unearthly Child is serviceable, if not brilliant. The cavemen dialogue is amusing for about two scenes before it becomes a little irritating. However there’s some great stuff in - The Cave of Skulls is friendly, Hur’s confusion to Barbara’s mothering tendencies towards Za is played well and the politics between the cavemen over the leader being whoever can make fire is well played - a beautiful illustration of that chestnugget that politics always boils down to who has the shiner new toy, and manipulative liars and wanna be despots have always existed - portrayed so well in Kal, as he stones the old woman but gets undone by his own blood-stained knife . The pay off with use of the dead skulls after being held in the capture of gratitude, to manage the escape plot is well-written, and logical which is not something that can be said for many new series that get out of jail cards that were used. All in all the serial left me feeling like I definitely want to get to know the characters more. The acting from the core cast of four is strong enough, and the cavemen actors do a good job with their generally one-dimensional characters. I honestly do think it could have been trimmed substantially to three episodes and retained all it’s key plot points. The cliff-hanger however is probably the best part of the last three episodes as we’re let in on the radiation secret, and I can certainly see how that would have whet the appetite for the next story that is The Daleks. It does however strike me as an odd choice of starting point for a show that has permission to anywhere in time and space to go to Cavemen earth. It’s not the most exciting of time periods of Earth, and you’ve a theoretically unlimited number of planets to explore. Most of the interest here comes from the four being out of place amongst the Cavemen, but you do have to wonder if writing the story on another planet with a bunch of pig-thick aliens would have been vastly different, and perhaps could have been slightly more interesting. Clearly this was done for relatively logistic reasons, as it allowed fairly basic sets to be utilised and a relatively small cast of characters.

If anyone would actually be interested in it then I'd be happy to review each serial. Probably in a casual manner rather than in depth though. I've seen the odd episode when they've been repeated (An Unearthly Child, Spearhead from Space and a few fifth doctor era ones and yes the acting struck me as a bit cranky at times and the plots sometimes dodgy, but it was surprisingly engaging what I did see) but I really want to see how it all fits together in order it was made.

Doctor WhoSeries 13 Overnights / 7 Days Episode 1 - 4.43m - 5.81m Episode 2 - 3.96m - 5.02m Episode 3 - 3.76m - 4.60m Episode 4 - 3.45m - 4.51m Episode 5 - 3.82m - 4.73m Episode 6 - 3.58m - 4.61m The uptick for the last two episodes points to a sizeable minority catching up

I suppose as more people from that generation have kids it might help the show rekindle some of it's viewership. I know quite a few of people my age are starting to have kids. That could pave the way for a serious revival in the late 2020s era. However that requires the show actually targeting itself at the kids again instead of the long term middle aged Classic fans. One of the big things with the 2005 relaunch was that a lot of parents who'd watched the original series (mine included) were watching it with their kids who were getting into the new show. But that's probably one of the shows biggest issues, that idea of the family all sitting round a table together is dying off. Doctor Who being a bit of an exception in maintain that into the 2010s. It's interesting that the gap between the end of the original one was 16 years and the new series has now been running for 16 years. I think the big difference is whereas you say it never captured the Classic magic, most of us would say nothing since Capaldi took over has captured the initial new series magic. I've mentioned elsewhere I'm about to start working through the classic ones, so we'll see if I rate them above or below the New Series by the end.

Starmer will address nation tonight. Gonna be mighty embarassing if that beats Boris

On the point of the RTD generation aging out of it. I was 9 when the first series aired. I think a lot of us still hold affection for the early series and alot of the more casual viewers of our generation could be tempted back. The show was massive with us and apparentlythe demographic the show most struggles with now

6.5m overnight for the IAC final. Absolutely dreadful by it's high standards. 13.1m for Boris's narcissism broadcast. 4.3m C4 peak for F1 final.

Meduza and Paul Woolford

With series 13 now finished and attention turning to the last 3 Thirteenth Doctor and Chibnall episodes and the 2023 return of Russel T Davies (an army of Whovians rejoice in unison 😂). I'm looking forward to the NYE episode now that it seems the timeless child arc has been put to bed we might get some old fashioned adventure back. At least it won't be a full gap year in Moffats years. However RTD coming back is the big news however we spin this. Honestly think it's incredibly brave for him to do so. Whilst RTD is unlikely to ever publicly come out and trash Chibbers work he did say he'd never come back and here he is. I find myself leaning into the fact it's a rescue mission and by the end of Series 14 / Season 40 we'll likely have an idea of whether it is or not - if we get a 'great reset' then probably yes. For me there's a small number of key points that must be addressed: 1. Return of Standalone Stories (2/3 part max and no big serial plots - Bad Wolf - yes / Flux no. 2. The Division decanonised with Gallifrey and the time lord's brought back. I'd settle for the doctor coming from Gallifrey's sister planet in the other universe. 3. New monsters, genuinely scary new monsters. The kind of stuff that'll make kids have nightmares, like the weeping angels and are you my mummy. 4. Rest The Daleks and the Cybermen. The shows way too reliant on them. 5. Avoid 'grand' personal stories about the Doctor and go back to basics. Pull the show out of it's own arses and make it about the mad man in a box and his companions (dump the word friends) again rather than about the superhero style Doctor.

Trying to change the narrative. The problem is he's so up his own arse he think it'll work. Friday morning could be interesting if he loses the by-election, a January leadership contest?

Boris seems to think the BBC exists to serve him rather than the public...