Ep. 98 - Blink Doctor Who Commentary [Transcript]

Jan 29

William (00:00.966)

Oh, I'm so... Oh, gosh. How long you been sitting on that one?

Cody (00:03.411)

Hoo, hoo, hoo. Literally 10 seconds ago, it just kind of came to me.

William (00:10.058)

Oh, okay. Okay. Well, we, um, tonight we're at It's TV Club and we're watching CSI. Uh, I've got my sunglasses on. No, no, no. Hey guys, welcome back. This round's on me. A doctor and a lawyer have walked into a bar and I mean, would you call it movie night?

Cody (00:18.613)

Yes, clearly

Cody (00:22.571)

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Cody (00:34.019)

I mean, honestly, this should be a movie.

William (00:37.59)

I mean, cinema grade quality storytelling we'll be playing on our screens. There you go, there you go. Yeah, yeah, this is, we'll call it commentary night. Commentary night. I've been really excited about this one. Tonight we are watching season three, episode 10 of Doctor Who. I don't know if we've referenced this.

Cody (00:43.163)

It's an honorary movie in my heart. W- Hahahaha. Yes.

Cody (01:02.267)

And we're not gonna give you any other context besides that. We're just gonna get started with the episode, and you just have to know the number right off the bat to know what we're talking about.

William (01:06.104)

Yes.

William (01:12.532)

Season 3, episode 10. I will give you the title if you go looking for it. This episode of Doctor Who is called Blink. And there is a very specific reason why we are watching this. Cody, when was that you introduced me to this episode?

Cody (01:21.647)

Yes.

Cody (01:27.023)

So long story short, my roommate and my senior year of college, Alex Cass, shout out to him if you're listening, introduced me to Doctor Who. And I was going through the series and then I went, then Blink happened and I got to season three of Blink. And I watched it.

And I, and Doctor Who is one of those things that's been going on for so long, there's so much material. What's the perfect way to get people into the show? And I don't think the pilot episode from Chris Eccleston is the way to do it, because beautiful, beautiful jank. But yeah, those early days, especially the farting aliens, in those later episodes, like Chris Eccl- they-

William (01:57.708)

Mm-hmm.

William (02:01.879)

Yeah.

William (02:07.298)

Mannequins?

William (02:12.303)

Oh, yeah

William (02:17.682)

Oh gosh. Uh...

Cody (02:22.079)

They went through some rough patches. In the-

William (02:23.922)

You do realize that one of the Slovene that took over parliament is May in Ted Lasso, the barkeep.

Cody (02:32.159)

Yes, yes, I did know that. I did.

William (02:35.35)

That's just... I... What a glow up to go from playing a farting alien who unzipped her forehead to playing like this basically Gandalf the White of the Ted Lasso Show. Yes, there is. But I mean, you and I have talked about this before. We... There is a lot of charm in the jank in the early days. And...

Cody (02:54.691)

Well...

Cody (03:00.955)

Yes, there's a lot of charm in it, but if you're going to introduce, if you're gonna get someone intrigued, you need that one episode to be like, Oh, tell me more. Like, there are three episodes of Deep Space Nine, I tell people, these are the ones to watch to be interested. And if you, if, if you don't watch them, if you watch them and you're like, eh, it's okay, then I bless and release you. But if you're not intrigued, if you are intrigued, then I'm like, oh, you've just entered a whole new world.

William (03:07.835)

Oh yeah.

William (03:16.61)

Gotcha. Okay.

Cody (03:30.479)

Um, but blink is one and I think the magic of blink, it is the introduction of the weeping angels. It follows a one of probably the best villains to, to come out of new who knew Dr. Who that was the best villains coming to Newton. Now I will say, I don't think they've, I think this is also their best appearance in new who.

William (03:38.914)

Hmm.

William (03:47.22)

I would agree.

William (03:55.646)

Yes, and I'll tell you why later.

Cody (03:59.151)

Yep, their best appearance in New Who. And also, if it doesn't necessarily follow the Doctor, it follows the companion he should have had. And also, so it's a self-contained story, it's a standalone story, and it's just a masterclass in storytelling and camera work, and just an excellent premise, and terrifying.

William (04:27.548)

Oh yeah.

Cody (04:29.66)

And I referenced this episode in Table Talk as my favorite scary movie. Like, just this episode. Yeah, just this episode. And I introduced it to you and then you were like, okay, tell me more. And then we both became fans ever since. Yep.

William (04:35.414)

Huh? Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

William (04:46.042)

Oh yeah. Yeah, we went back through and it was kind of pitched to me as watch this episode. I ended it. And I remember we were we were sitting on the bed at our grandmother's house when we watched this. And I turned to you and I was like, that was amazing. He goes, remember that. Remember how amazing that was, because the writer of that episode becomes showrunner in season five.

Cody (04:59.733)

Mm-hmm.

William (05:16.99)

Remember that. Push through, my brother. Push through.

Cody (05:17.153)

Yes he does. I also said remember that as you push through season 1 because that takes a while to get used to it. I love Chris Acklsten. Like love Chris. Yes.

William (05:29.031)

Yeah. So I do too. I do too. And I'm glad that the fans have kind of made known that even though you had a bad experience, we loved you as the Doctor and he has come back to do.

Cody (05:44.28)

His big Finnish audio work is... Mwah! Chef's kiss.

William (05:47.974)

That's great. That's great. OK, well, this is 43 minutes and 55 seconds long. So let's get started. We're going to count down three to one. Play is when we're both going to press the play button and we're going to watch this together. And I'm just I'm so excited. I haven't watched this episode in probably eight or nine years. It's.

Cody (06:10.223)

Oh, nice. Okay.

William (06:13.182)

It has this lore in my head and I've been afraid to go back if by chance it's not as good. I'm just like, I'm gonna hold it on that. And I am optimistic that it is going to stay up there on that pedestal tonight. So we're in a hit play. We both, as far as streaming were to find this, I'm not entirely sure. We are both,

Cody (06:27.819)

Fair enough.

Cody (06:34.023)

Well, we will, I will say this. David Tennant's new specials and new who is coming to Disney Plus next month. So, yeah, November end.

William (06:44.878)

Whoo, okay. Yeah, and that's, it felt very timely to watch this one now because the doctor in this episode is actually coming back. So we've got it, the return of David Tennant. Yes, so on the count of three, counting down from three, two, one, play.

Cody (06:56.243)

with the return of David Tennant.

Cody (07:14.219)

Creepy Victorian manner.

William (07:17.612)

which is just modern-day England.

Cody (07:20.015)

England. Just England. Like.

William (07:24.61)

I could not agree more. This is the companion the doctor should have had.

Cody (07:27.547)

Sally Sparrow.

Cody (07:31.579)

Like, big finish, hire her for her own show. Like, give her own show.

William (07:39.638)

Sally Sparrow. I mean, Tennant's coming back, but I know he just loved the role, but Carey Mulligan has gone on to do.

lot of really great work.

Cody (07:52.691)

Mm-hmm. Like, the beautiful thing about Big Finish is that their whole motto is, you give us the cast, we'll give you the story. So it's whatever hodgepodge of casts that they can bring together, they will make actually a very compelling story out of it. So they could do a whole series with Sally Sparrow. Beware.

William (08:14.158)

I feel like I would thrive at Big Finish. Again, it's being creative with a limit or under a certain premise. Beware the weeping angels. I just got chills. Oh, and Duck.

Cody (08:20.187)

Oh yeah.

Cody (08:25.139)

weeping angel. Oh and duck for real. Oh really duck.

Cody (08:37.855)

Sally, ooh, what is this about?

Cody (08:43.699)

Her name is underneath a wallpaper of an old house.

Cody (08:51.215)

Excellent timing there, Doctor.

Cody (09:02.526)

Ah.

William (09:03.117)

Ugh.

Cody (09:05.671)

Imagine being the guy who has to wheel these into the warehouse and turn out the lights.

William (09:09.586)

Right?

William (09:15.658)

And you'll know why here in a second, not to spoil anything.

William (09:22.966)

Love, The Doctor.

Cody (09:26.655)

doo doo, doo doo. I remember just when the first David Tennant Big Finish special that I listened to, and I heard this incarnation of the theme, I just chills went down my spine. I'm like, they're back! They're back! And it was David and Donna.

William (09:40.757)

Oh.

William (09:50.794)

What are your hopes for Donna?

Cody (09:53.823)

redemption. Like, her memory's back and she can have a life fully whole. Yes.

William (09:58.23)

So, Blink, by Steven Moffat.

Cody (10:05.163)

Steven Moffat. He is a character that elicits a lot of strong emotions.

William (10:07.575)

This was.

William (10:11.741)

Right?

Cody (10:17.579)

They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't blink.

Cody (10:32.027)

I will say the one thing that has dated this episode is the fact that they're using DVD technology to communicate things. But you know, it is what it is.

William (10:39.394)

Yeah, well.

William (10:46.623)

Maybe not with the flip phone.

Cody (10:48.844)

True.

William (11:01.086)

I broke and entered your house.

Cody (11:06.403)

See, this doesn't make her a great companion. She's already, like, on the doctor's radar.

Cody (11:19.435)

At the end of the day, we think we would be the Doctor's companion, when really we're that guy.

William (11:23.817)

I'm not sure but I'm really hoping it. Am I wearing pants?

Cody (11:27.667)

Hahahaha

William (11:41.762)

So for those of you who have watched Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, Steven Moffat was the writer and primary show runner.

Cody (11:47.728)

Yes.

Cody (11:53.588)

Yes.

Cody (11:59.109)

Mm-hmm.

And yeah, and he was an early writer in Doctor Who and then ran the show from season five to season 10 with through the Matt Smith years and the Peter Capaldi years. He left with Jodie Whittaker and now the original showrunner Russell T Davies is back to do season 14.

William (12:12.032)

Yeah.

Cody (12:29.587)

Which it, you know, you know what's wild is, is that more time has now passed between the start of New Who and now, than when it was off the air between Classic Who and New Who.

William (12:31.414)

Ugh.

Cody (12:47.615)

So it's been back longer than it's been away.

William (12:52.862)

and the weeping angel has gotten closer to the house.

Cody (12:56.526)

Mm-hmm.

Cody (13:04.755)

You had a... 69.

William (13:06.05)

in 1969. This, the timing on this.

Cody (13:17.415)

A burglar who rings the doorbell.

Cody (13:27.046)

and she turns.

Cody (13:33.855)

There's like a...

I've seen this actor before.

He's in some Agatha Christie thing that Michelle's watching.

Cody (13:48.999)

Which, you know, for what it's worth he looks like an Agatha Christie character.

William (13:56.374)

She's hearing this.

Cody (13:58.567)

Yeah, and she knows to write the letter.

Cody (14:11.103)

bit complicated. Yeah.

William (14:13.228)

Cody (14:22.151)

Ooh. Mm-hmm. Ha ha ha.

William (14:22.316)

Ah, ah, ah!

Cody (14:28.932)

The use that they... the way that they use camera work... They're not moving, but they use camera work and careful shots to show that they're moving. Just top notch.

William (14:33.793)

Oh my gosh.

Cody (14:50.831)

Moffat is at his best with restraints, I will say.

William (14:53.806)

to.

Cody (14:57.683)

Because I think this episode was more of like a... They needed to work on the budget. They needed a lower budget episode, so that's why they hired mostly no-name actors. At least at the time.

William (15:15.35)

Was that his grandmother?

Cody (15:17.501)

Yes.

William (15:19.326)

His grandmother, Kathy Nightingale, told him to deliver that letter at that exact date, and...

Cody (15:26.203)

and she goes back to the 1920s.

William (16:07.046)

Oh yeah, there you go.

Cody (16:07.859)

Yep. Mm-hmm.

Cody (16:14.635)

I feel like, you know, both Steve Rogers and these characters would have a hard time, like, with history. Having to relive these events.

William (16:16.578)

December 5th, 1920.

Cody (16:38.631)

Well, she adopted the fashion rather well.

Cody (16:44.435)

I wonder if she kept those jeans to be like, I hate 1920s clothes, I need to wear my jeans.

Cody (16:56.872)

1987.

Cody (17:18.387)

So context for anybody who may not have seen this episode. The Weeping Angels are, they're vicious creatures. Yeah. They're essentially, vicious creature that when you look at them, they turn to stone. And then when you don't look at them, they are wicked fast and they can move and they kill you by essentially shuttling you back into the past and stealing you of the life that you should have had.

William (17:25.882)

And I think they end up being explained. Uh...

Cody (17:47.771)

so not even the doctor can go back and recover you from the past.

William (17:52.867)

It basically like feed off the potential energy of the life you

Cody (17:57.058)

You should have had.

And right now, they have the doctor's tortoise key. And that's where he gets tied in.

William (18:08.06)

This this is the masterful part of this episode. Yes. I know that it was basically budget constraints To just essentially make the foam statue and But the fact that

Cody (18:08.107)

Ha ha.

Cody (18:15.292)

Mm-hmm.

Cody (18:21.316)

Mmm.

William (18:28.11)

Oh, the fact that the weeping angels only move, they turn to stone when you look at them and they only move when you're not and they hide their movements with camera cuts, I think gets into your subconscious and you're you almost feel like

Cody (18:28.335)

Ugh.

Cody (18:34.279)

when you're not looking at them.

William (18:49.717)

that you're here because they don't move when you look at them.

Cody (18:51.399)

Well, like, the psychology of horror is that you want to look away. Well, Steven Moffat flips that on its head by saying you can't look away or otherwise they will win. Yeah, they will win. So you're sitting there. The beautiful thing about it is, even when the camera is on the weeping angel, this is the masterpiece of this episode.

William (19:06.292)

Yeah.

Cody (19:20.563)

The angels don't move, meaning you're technically a participant in the episode. Yes. It's brilliant.

William (19:25.33)

You're a participant? Yes!

Cody (19:42.631)

Moffat is at his best when he has a premise to work with and constraints around him. Moffat is at his worst in character writing and melodrama, in my opinion.

William (19:49.25)

Yeah.

William (20:02.946)

And even she was walking away and the angel wasn't moving because we were looking at it.

Cody (20:05.875)

The angel was moving because we were looking at you. Yeah.

Cody (20:14.919)

Bantus DVD Store.

Cody (20:25.089)

I always kind of get a little thrill whenever I'm in a place and I see a box TV Just makes me happy to see about box TV stolen act abuse

William (20:30.271)

Right.

Cody (20:55.903)

The fact that he's having a conversation through a DVD and then when it finally worked is just...

William (21:02.541)

It's just.

Cody (21:04.396)

Ah, so good, so good.

William (21:17.462)

Hahaha!

Cody (21:18.283)

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Cody (21:27.895)

Aww, lost a sister.

Cody (21:40.851)

Yeah. And in the smartphone age, this conversation would not have happened.

Cody (21:56.423)

Is she ill? Am I ill? No? Yeah, we're that guy.

William (21:57.09)

Ha ha!

Cody (22:06.727)

not what you think it is. One of the more infamous lines of Doctor Who, the definition of time.

Cody (22:25.323)

I love the concept of a DVD Easter Egg. Did you ever look through DVD Easter Eggs and found DVD Easter Eggs? You know what's one of the best ones? Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo had some great Easter Eggs.

William (22:32.671)

Oh yeah, yeah.

William (22:38.757)

Now.

Cody (22:52.871)

and even the publisher knows.

Cody (23:19.371)

spooky isn't it? I mean people who hang out on the internet, they're just weirdos, right? Yeah, they're just...

William (23:19.534)

Hehehe

William (23:26.754)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And especially discuss things like TV shows.

Cody (23:32.523)

TV shows, DVD extras, just weirdos.

William (23:36.309)

Ah.

Cody (23:38.515)

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

Cody (24:03.763)

I love mysteries like this where you have to go through like old records, old records and things.

William (24:06.336)

or two.

Cody (24:16.332)

There was an episode of Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles where the lead Terminator character was investigating a Terminator that showed up in the 1920s. And they had to go through like old archives and old records to find this guy.

William (24:26.008)

Ah.

Cody (24:37.319)

It's what I want to do when I'm in a county clerk's office looking up deeds. Is solve mysteries like that.

William (24:43.458)

Haha, yeah. Maybe just find one.

Cody (24:47.773)

Yeah.

William (24:50.565)

Ugh.

Cody (24:59.359)

And the fact that later on, I feel like the Statute of Liberty being a Weeping Angel was a little much, but...

how else, you know, you're gonna assure that no one's not going to look at it.

Cody (25:21.042)

Oof.

Cody (25:36.424)

There's something sad about this character.

William (25:41.614)

about that character about... uh... her friend?

Cody (25:47.003)

Her friend too, but this character kind of knows where the end of the story is happening. It just kind of happened to her character. So it's like, oh, she's got to rebuild her life, but she ended up having a good life. But this guy goes back to 1969 and then it's just, oh, he knows that at this point in 2008, that's where it ends. Ends for him.

William (25:57.504)

Yeah.

Cody (26:14.992)

Ah, the TARDIS. Fun fact, there's a TARDIS Easter Eggs on Google Maps.

William (26:20.906)

Yeah, you can go into it, yeah.

Cody (26:22.183)

You can go inside of it. I always get like a little nervous when I go inside of it, because I feel like I'm like something's going to like pop out. I'm like, it's going to be a jump scare.

Cody (26:54.631)

Life is short and you are hot. I appreciate his forwardness.

Cody (27:13.791)

She's had a weird day, lost her friend to a psychopathic rock alien. Um, now got a date.

William (27:18.99)

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Cody (27:29.587)

Sally Sparrow, Nightingale, okay. I see what themes you're playing with. Playing with a... Moffat?

Cody (27:47.067)

In our church, there was a... When we have to go to...

William (27:49.546)

And the f- Oh.

Cody (27:52.911)

When we have to go to the youth room, there was a utility closet with Nativity characters. It scared the dickens out of me sometimes.

William (27:53.73)

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself.

William (28:03.177)

Hahaha!

Cody (28:13.119)

Don't do it.

Cody (28:22.51)

And...

Cody (28:27.956)

He's gone.

Cody (28:41.828)

Filming in the rain is always good. It helps with camera work.

Cody (28:50.667)

There's a look to these 2000s British shows that made them 2000s British shows. Yeah.

William (28:57.354)

Uh, yeah. That was the big change going from season three to season four. Like they went to, they went digital, they went to high def.

Cody (29:03.779)

Lee even then like that was four to five when Matt Smith that's when it went high def

William (29:12.538)

That's true, that's true. After Tenet's third season.

Cody (29:14.439)

Yeah, I think some of the specials were high def. Like one of David Tennant's specials were high def, but those were given like movie budgets, or at least BBC movie budgets.

Cody (29:37.669)

Don't go swimming for half an hour after time traveling.

Cody (29:44.4)

Oh, he's so young

Cody (29:59.839)

I mean...

Weeping angels are the only... ..

William (30:08.436)

That perfectly encapsulates the doctor. Just nod when he stops her breath.

Cody (30:15.472)

It goes bing when there's stuff. Also can boil an egg.

Cody (30:37.279)

Mmm.

Very, very sorry. It's gonna take you a while.

William (30:45.142)

He kept the number. All of those years.

Cody (30:53.459)

I would've.

Cody (30:59.175)

I think Cathy got the better end of the stick on this one. Because at least when she got traveled back, she got traveled back to history, if you will.

Cody (31:14.611)

if she can experience things that...

William (31:15.438)

So, 69 to then, what is that, 48 years?

Cody (31:20.265)

Well, at this point, it would be 38 years in 2008.

William (31:25.774)

Oh yeah, I can math. Ha ha.

So I mean, that would put him, yeah, roughly around that age.

Cody (31:43.263)

Hmm.

Cody (31:47.583)

Her name was... He had a type. Women named Sally.

Cody (32:03.296)

Would it though, would it? It's Doctor Who.

William (32:07.742)

I feel like that's like Neil Ipatel's disclaimer, NBC is an investor and whatever. That's the doctor's disclaimer. It might tear a hole in the fabric of space time.

Cody (32:20.519)

Yeah.

Cody (32:33.532)

if it is.

Cody (32:45.109)

Ah, he's the man who put all those in the DVDs.

Cody (33:11.179)

I wish... I wish we had more time with her.

Cody (33:18.815)

She's my favorite companion in the way that Chris... John Hurt is my favorite doctor. I wish I had more time. John Hurt, rest in peace.

William (33:19.03)

I mean...

William (33:42.597)

Gosh.

Cody (33:43.857)

Uhhhhhh

Cody (33:48.935)

We read a story in class about a woman who had one last thing to do before she died. She got caught in a snowstorm and couldn't do it and lived three months longer in order to finish this job. It's like, ugh. It was laundry too.

I felt so bad for her, she cared about laundry that much.

Cody (34:20.575)

rain stops. Yeah, don't want to know when I die.

Cody (34:28.551)

I wanna live to the ripe old age of 97 and even then, I want it to be like, heated what?

William (34:35.21)

become Minister of Magic and have 12 children? What was that, Trelawney's prediction over Harry whenever he ends up taking up her?

Cody (34:40.755)

Hahaha

Cody (34:47.771)

Now he's like, I have lost two people I... ..just met.

William (35:02.958)

Hahaha!

Cody (35:03.755)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Cody (35:10.515)

I mean, he is the owner of a DVD store.

William (35:15.502)

Hehehehe

Cody (35:17.217)

I knew you were living school news.

Cody (35:26.535)

Mmm. Slightly better picture quality. Oh, we know people like that one.

Cody (35:54.131)

They always say that. Yes they do.

Cody (35:58.676)

Ugh.

Cody (36:15.072)

Cody (36:28.855)

I've got a soft spot in my heart for Martha. I know she had to follow up Rose.

Cody (36:45.727)

38 years.

Cody (36:54.771)

complicated. Tell me.

William (37:02.638)

I love her. Ugh.

Cody (37:03.787)

I guess. Oh, can you imagine the two of them and Donna together? Like Sally and. Donna.

William (37:10.978)

I just...

Cody (37:17.011)

big bowl of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

Cody (37:45.1)

Next political statement.

Cody (37:55.683)

Hit the net. Oh, remember when we called the internet the net.

William (38:33.887)

I want that on my t-shirt.

William (39:26.491)

that right there was important.

Cody (39:29.483)

greatest asset is the greatest curse.

Cody (40:05.195)

blink and you're dead.

William (40:20.95)

The fact that his half of the conversation was written.

William (40:30.094)

BLEH

Cody (40:31.039)

written beforehand.

William (40:33.542)

No, it was written and it applied to two different conversations. Like the second half of it worked for the first conversation and then the whole thing worked for the second.

Cody (40:59.535)

Mmm.

Cody (41:32.095)

You wait here. Yeah, I would be dead by this point.

William (41:37.091)

Yeah!

Cody (41:40.711)

You wink, don't wink.

Cody (41:49.131)

still as good as you remember? Ha! Uhhh...

William (41:51.274)

Ah! Yes!

Cody (42:01.739)

Walk, walk, back, back up, back up.

Cody (42:12.335)

Welcome back up, back up please. I know how this episode ends, but I'm still feeling really feeling tense.

Cody (42:28.124)

Now...

Cody (42:32.423)

Run!

Cody (42:46.435)

Imagine what the transit must have been like. Like trying to carry the blue box across London to this house.

Cody (42:56.556)

All of a sudden someone turns around and sees just a bunch of angels carrying a blue box.

William (43:14.274)

Yeah, oh.

Cody (43:15.9)

Mm.

Cody (43:22.067)

And if you notice...

Cody (43:28.063)

their backs turned on some.

and we're looking at them.

Cody (43:36.281)

Ugh.

Cody (43:45.283)

to master class.

Cody (43:50.271)

Get in there.

and they're not moving, and they're in there.

William (43:58.55)

Because we were still out there!

Cody (44:08.347)

Oh, the round things. I love the round things.

William (44:14.969)

control disc.

Cody (44:25.264)

Of course the Doctor would have a DVD player.

William (44:28.598)

Well yeah, of course you would.

Cody (44:30.388)

Hmm?

William (44:33.151)

and this.

William (44:38.838)

The fact that they are on opposite sides of the box.

Cody (45:01.007)

Ugh.

William (45:02.718)

and they are looking at each other... and it froze them!

Cody (45:04.949)

Mm-hmm.

Cody (45:08.384)

Uh huh.

William (45:14.718)

I can't with this episode.

Cody (45:17.748)

So good.

Cody (45:32.083)

now?

Cody (45:36.955)

I would get, I don't care if they can't move right now. Just get out now and then nuke it from orbit just to be sure.

William (45:41.782)

Get out! I just-

William (45:47.854)

Cody (46:31.987)

Hey.

William (46:39.166)

Is it weird? Yes, they had DVDs, they had big box TVs, they had flip phones, but those plastic translucent manila folders or like the folder with the twisty on it, the fact that it was purple and translucent dates this more than the technology ever did for me.

Cody (46:52.872)

Uh huh.

Cody (46:56.715)

Cody (47:02.827)

It's weird though, when I first watched this show, like, it was Matt Smith's era was coming to an end. So it wasn't too terribly far removed.

William (47:17.358)

And of course he has a bow and arrow. Of course he does.

Cody (47:19.32)

I want to know why.

Cody (47:34.139)

Migration started. Hmm. Alien ducks. Evil alien ducks.

Cody (47:52.747)

20 minutes to hatching.

Cody (48:10.079)

Four things, four things in a lizard.

William (48:12.054)

Four things to the lizard. Band name, called it.

Cody (48:16.877)

I think that's I think that's the bad name for our podcast spin-off band for things in a lizard

Cody (48:33.17)

Aww.

Trauma brings everyone together.

William (48:45.646)

Sparrow and Nightingale, aww.

Cody (48:45.863)

Sparrow and Nightingale.

William (48:52.042)

Yeah, they had to throw this little tidbit at the end.

Cody (48:56.337)

Yeah.

William (48:57.526)

just to make me question my entire existence and run through graveyards.

Cody (49:04.063)

Yeah

Cody (49:18.547)

I wonder if any crazed Doctor Who fan tore down a statue after this episode.

Alright. Oh. Derek Jacoby.

William (49:29.079)

Oh, beautiful.

Cody (49:36.187)

the next time, the next time preview of Derek Jacoby as, as the War Master.

William (49:40.2)

his master.

Yeah.

Cody (49:45.756)

Love that man.

William (49:47.51)

Well, this is, if you have ever considered getting into Doctor Who, couldn't recommend this episode enough. Steven Moffat ends up, like we said, running the show. And his run with Matt Smith has one of my favorite character arcs in television. Just full stop.

Cody (49:51.466)

Well...

Cody (49:55.174)

Yes.

Cody (49:58.517)

Mm-hmm.

Cody (50:10.067)

I personally had a harder time with the Matt Smith era. I had a harder time with the clean break that it had from David Tennant. I was still mourning David Tennant. I didn't buy Matt Smith as the Doctor until the Van Gogh episode, which is just a masterpiece of an episode right there.

William (50:14.175)

Uh-huh.

William (50:21.998)

Yeah.

William (50:33.598)

That's another one, yeah. I was that way with Peter Capaldi. It wasn't until basically his last season that I was like, okay, I get it now. I get it now.

Cody (50:37.768)

Really?

Cody (50:45.519)

I with Peter Capaldi I will say this there is just this masterful speech then what I bought him but I still think the arc his season eight arc was okay though missy is the Queen missy is

William (51:06.776)

I have we have a little people book email the little people's it's like these little cartoons that are drawn to basically look like just primary shapes and colors of Capaldi's doctor and missy

Cody (51:17.597)

Yeah.

Cody (51:21.431)

I mean... I ship it. I- Hahahaha

William (51:24.848)

I just... it's...

Like, a little people book of this, and then you read it and you're like, it makes so much sense. Yeah.

Cody (51:35.93)

I like Moffat in my opinion

I think, unfortunately for Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker, people are remembering him fond- remembering him fonder than they did at the time.

William (51:53.159)

Uh, one of those like history will be kind to scenarios. Yeah.

Cody (51:56.091)

I think history is a lot kinder to him, mainly because for what it's worth, Chibnall and Jodie Whitaker did not work for a lot of people, myself included. But-

William (52:07.614)

We still haven't finished her run yet.

Cody (52:10.875)

I haven't even finished season 12. I watched a regeneration episode because I'm like fresh start is coming. So I'm gonna Watch the regeneration episode. I Kind of gave up but that's not too bad mouth Jodie Whitaker the actress or Christian old man It just didn't work for me. It was similar. Yeah, just didn't work for me, but You know Moffat

William (52:17.28)

Yeah.

Cody (52:36.455)

I make a lot of comparisons, not completely unfounded and not with the express intent to needle certain people, but I make a lot of comparisons between Steven Moffat and Chris Nolan. I've often called Steven Moffat TV's Chris Nolan because both of them like the gimmicks of their stories.

William (52:50.527)

I know where this is going!

William (52:55.458)

Yeah.

William (52:59.214)

Heheheheheheheheheheh

William (53:05.422)

True, yeah, yeah.

Cody (53:06.835)

They like the gimmicks of their stories. They like overly complicated plot that when you really think about it, kind of falls apart at the last, falls apart if you think about it too hard, which is why at a certain level, you just kind of have to enjoy the ride. Um, Dr. Who is more conducive to things falling apart in, in terms of plot holes and storytelling, because there's only one rule in Dr. Who.

William (53:20.258)

Yeah.

Cody (53:31.647)

There are no rules in Doctor Who, and if there are say there are rules in Doctor Who, they will be broken. At some point.

William (53:37.294)

And they have put forth rules like wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, and the doctor lies.

Cody (53:43.259)

Timey-Wimey, yes. Yes. And it's... It's one of those things where, you know, in terms of season long arcs, he got so ingratiated with the season long arcs, I don't... It was a mixed bag for me in how well they worked. However, standalone storytelling, standalone episodes...

Steven Moffat is a master. And many of his standalone stories.

William (54:16.486)

I would completely agree. And with this episode especially, I know that was budget restraints. There are later episodes where you as the viewer see the Weeping Angels move through CG. And the moment that happened, they lost all of the gravitas for me. I loved the episodes where they have to work inside that constraint. I think I've talked about the episode with Donna before where they go to the diamond planet.

Cody (54:43.711)

Mm-hmm.

William (54:44.13)

and tenants on that shuttle and the villain of that episode is conveyed through the dialogue between the people on the shuttle. It's just so wonderfully done and you can tell that they probably repurposed that shuttle from some other cancelled sci-fi show in the BBC and they made a terrifying villain that you never see that is only brought forth through the acting of the characters.

Cody (55:04.588)

hahahaha

Cody (55:11.227)

Mm-hmm. I've got to rewatch her season especially with her coming back. Oh the

William (55:16.11)

Yeah, yeah, but I know that kind of, that wasn't as long as our movie commentary episodes, but this kind of fits right in with the typical length of our episodes. Thank you for joining me for commentary.

Cody (55:25.532)

Yes.

Cody (55:29.635)

Well, can I, may I ask what I may ask one question before we go? What do you hope for the future? What do you hope happens with Doctor Who moving forward? It's a new era or it's a new old era.

William (55:33.57)

Sure.

William (55:41.538)

Yes, I... I feel like I need to get caught up before I make that request.

Cody (55:49.731)

Okay. I-

William (55:51.33)

because I need to see where it landed before I say whether or not I feel like it's missed the mark or where I feel like it should go.

Cody (56:01.479)

will say this it's not that there's a lot of things about Jodie's era that I did not like but the thing that I want is something that I have wanted since my first ever episode of Doctor Who which was Donna losing her memory yes I knew it was coming

William (56:22.262)

That was your first episode?

William (56:27.456)

Ah!

Cody (56:30.083)

I knew it was coming when I watched the show. I had a philosophy through science fiction class, and we watched that episode in class. I had no context at the time.

William (56:30.638)

Aha.

William (56:42.399)

Oh my gosh.

Cody (56:44.075)

I had no context to that at the time. A. ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................

William (56:46.819)

You almost river-songed Donna. Like, the ending was your beginning. And then you went back and met her and, oh my.

Cody (56:51.719)

Exactly. And so when I got to her season, I'm like, I'm prepared. I'm prepared. I know this is happening. My heart is prepared. Insert narrator, his heart was in fact not prepared. And I have asked for it. I have had fan theory since the Peter Capaldi era.

William (57:03.543)

Nope.

William (57:07.948)

Hahaha!

Cody (57:16.351)

because Peter Capaldi was in the David Tennant Donna season as the centurion in that Roman episode in Pompeii. In Pompeii, yes. And they even referenced it during Peter Capaldi. They referenced it. And I have wanted this to be fixed because in my opinion, the worst thing Russell T. Davies did...

William (57:23.398)

and pa- no that's Pompeii. Yeah.

William (57:32.286)

Yeah. I've seen this face before, yeah.

Cody (57:45.627)

in a show run of the Doctor is what they did to Donna. Because at the end of the day, she had the most remarkable character growth.

William (57:48.94)

Yeah.

Cody (57:57.723)

of any characters that I've sat in fiction. She becomes, goes from this vain, selfish, selfish woman to the most important woman in the universe who would lay down her life for the universe. And to take that all the way and to revert her back to that state, I would have been happier had she died at the end of that season. I would have been happier if she died at the end of that season. And so I have, no joke everybody, asked Big Finish to retcon that.

William (58:17.431)

Yeah.

Cody (58:27.371)

I have messaged Big Finish and the fact that David Tennant is back, that Donna is back and that she remembers. Please, Russell T Davies.

William (58:27.662)

Of course you have. Of course you have.

Cody (58:43.263)

Let it be. Like, I don't expect her full-time companion. I just want her to know and to live with the rest of her life. Knowing. It's all I want. It's all I want. Fix Donna. Please.

William (58:55.79)

Like, wibbly wobbly, wobble it please, please. Yeah. I feel like this has been on par with Cap and Peggy's dance for you. Like the just sheer force of your manifestation will.

Cody (58:59.467)

Please! Like!

Cody (59:06.755)

Yes. I-

Cody (59:14.424)

I mean, like, it... Yes. I think the fi-

William (59:16.014)

Can we watch the specials together, please? Because it's, and it's weird that even into adulthood, some of my fondest memories of you, you're like racking sobs. Now, it was pure joy when Cap and Peggy got to dance, but I was like levitating in my chair. I was so excited for you.

Cody (59:30.607)

Hahaha

William (59:42.314)

Like the dance and just the sheer abandon with which the tears flowed from your face. Like if Donna gets her memories back and she makes it, I just, I wanna watch it with you.

Cody (59:53.148)

It's-

Cody (59:57.875)

because that means the story doesn't have to end. Even on television, there are other avenues to tell the story, and there are other avenues to tell the story, and I just, Katherine Tate is a delight. I mean, half the reasons I love the DuckTales reboot so much is that we get Katherine Tate and David Tennant in the same show again.

Oh. Heh.

William (01:00:23.563)

Oh, it was like, it's like they're back together. I love it.

Cody (01:00:27.039)

They're, I mean, they're best friends in real life. And the thing that I latch onto the most is when you can tell that these characters' relationships transcend the screen, and those two are best friends in real life, and I love it so much. So-

William (01:00:36.031)

Yeah.

William (01:00:40.77)

Yeah.

William (01:00:45.458)

That's that's why a quiet place worked so well because of john krasinski and amily bunt like they played a married couple and they're a married couple so the chemistry was real and um, but Yeah, i'm looking forward to getting caught up and to partaking in the specials with you But I think with that I am going to head out of here I will pick up the tab since you agreed to watch this with me I don't know. I was like twisting your leg and you came kicking and screaming the entire time, but

Cody (01:00:52.288)

Mmm.

Cody (01:01:12.063)

hahahaha

William (01:01:15.002)

If you liked this episode come let us know on social media if you didn't come let us know on social media engagements engagement Algorithm up there. We do have a pretty great Facebook group But if you want to support the show patreon.com slash doctor and lawyer we have a lot of really fun tears over there and We just we appreciate you listening. We've gotten a bunch of new listeners here recently like our metrics have kind of shot up So thanks for joining us

Cody (01:01:24.789)

hahahaha

Cody (01:01:43.732)

Yes.

William (01:01:44.718)

And I think with that, I'm going to head out of here. I am William.

Cody (01:01:49.705)

I'm Cody.

William (01:01:51.154)

and we will catch you guys next week. Bye!

Cody (01:01:53.631)

Bye!

Alex Christian

Ep. 98 - Blink Doctor Who Commentary [Transcript]

Ep. 97 - Guess Who Round 2 [Transcript]

ONE HUNDRED [Transcript]