Here it is: our final podKast before Doctor Who Series 8 changes the show forever! Previewing the 12-episode run this week is Christian Cawley, James McLean and Brian Terranova, who are literally chomping at the bit to watch and enjoy Deep Breath on Saturday!
So, you know the topic – but what else is in store? Well, we cover the full confirmed list of episode titles and writers, the leaking of Doctor Who Series 8 episode Robot of Sherwood on Bittorrent, press (and our own) reports that Jenna Coleman is leaving Doctor Who, and as ever we have our trio of recommendations.
Finally, don’t miss the details for the big news: next week’s podKast will be recorded LIVE on Google Hangouts and we’ll be inviting feedback and discussion from our listener(s)!
Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 28 Shownotes
- All of Doctor Who Series 8 (Season 34)
- Robot of Sherwood leaked on Bittorrent
- Jenna Coleman leaving?
- New Doctor Who Series 8 opening titles
- Recommendations: The Five Doctors
, The Time of the Doctor, The Classic Doctor Who DVD Compendium.
The Kasterborous PodKast theme tune is arranged by Russell “Doctor” Whogo.
in any case: ep 5 is out now.
James could you of answered your own question on the podcast this week. When being asked why S Moffat has got a co-write on 3 stories written by other people this season, where he hasn’t in the past 3 seasons you tried to guess at the reasons; what they could be and why he would get a co-write credit but then later when asked about the new ( companion-character? ) of Danny Pink you said you’d heard the character, how he was written and the reason he was there in the stories at all had been massively re-written at the last minute and presumably by Moffat!?. I don’t think it’s any co-incidence that the 3 stories he’s been given a co-write on are at the start of the season where any massive re-think and re-write of a pivotal character would take place, hence the co-credit me thinks. Yes i know Gattis story isn’t a co-write but then again is the said character even in that story and even if he is maybe the character isn’t pivotal to the story in the same way it is to the others. Just guessing, like everyone else at mo and don’t have any inside info or fore-knowledge or want any; it’s just a theory but is one i think that would explain why Moffat is suddenly after 3 seasons in is starting to get a co- written credit and any professional writer worth his salt wouldn’t like what he thinks as his own work and ideas to be thought of as anything else. Great podcast this week, as usual and you where all bang on about bragging rights and spoilers!. Their idiots pure and simple and they would spoil everything to everyone if they thought it made them look and feel important. It’s a shame the series we all love seem to attract a lot of people with this kind of attitude. As for the subject of the new Doctor’s face and why he looks like that now, it’s obvious. The timelords gave him his new regen-cycle and cus they did they could also decide what he looks like and they made him look like that to give him a clue of how to find them and release in the future. Again no inside info and i haven’t seen any of the forth-coming stories yet just looking at it logically and how Moffat would maybe like to bring this subject matter into the stories to build a bit of intrigue and drama. Keep up the good work and will look forward to hearing what all 3 of you have to say about the 34th season!! ( sorry am old school! ).
In regards to the writing credit – the only issue we felt was of interest was rumours that the writers weren’t happy about it. If it was a straight collaboration at a late stage, one could say that might be a fair reason, but the fact there sounds like there was a bit of upset, suggests it might be an unorthodox move. I would tend to think any late re-writes done by a show-runner to fit format would be considered a script edit if the story has gone to script. I believe there have been a few late re-writes at script stage.
But as you say, it’s speculation. Only people who can say for sure are those directly involved.
Yes looking forward to see what they do. Speculating is fun. Interesting idea on his face, not considered that. Pre-choosen for a reason. Nice idea!
Really sad to hear Jenna may be leaving the show after this series. Suppose I have a bit of a crush (albeit platonic) on her myself – there’s something incredibly likable about Clara. It’s something about her expressiveness, not so much in delivering her own lines, but in the way she reacts to the Doctor & other characters. I find myself watching Clara as other characters speak & Jenna’s expressions convey a certain sweetness. For instance in the episode, “The Rings of Akhaten” when Clara & the little girl first meet & are hiding together, as the little girl tells her story Clara gives her this little smile that seemed to convey genuine affection. Jenna is just so believable in the role. In a lot of ways she reminds me of a young Elizabeth Sladen.
Wow. So who overdosed on the grumpy pills last weekend?
I’ve listened to a number of podcasts looking forward to the new series. They’ve looked at the new directors, at the guest stars, at the hints of new approaches, and dissected the episode titles to work out what’s going to happen, which old adventures are being revisited.
What does the episode list provoke from the PodKast? A long grumble about Steven Moffat getting co-writer credit on episodes that he, er, co-wrote. Does it not occur to you that he might be tired of not getting credit where credit is due? Does it not occur to you that RTD could/should have done the same? Does it not occur to you that this might be a good thing: that this hands-on approach might mean more consistent stories, tones and characters? Might we be spared the nightmare of Neil Gaiman’s episode, with its poorly-written, undeveloped guest characters and a companion who was suddenly an expert on military strategy?
We even got James talking about unions. Good grief. What will the butler say?
Then it was “let’s look out for the Moffat mistakes”. Yes, that’s it. A nice, positive approach to the new series. Everyone in Cardiff must be glowing at such constructive remarks.
So, on to the new title sequence. Apparently, it’s based on the fan one we all saw a few months ago. Everyone likes it, it seems to me, except for you. Apparently clock mechanisms don’t adequately convey a show about time travel. The main reason you don’t like it, though, is that Steven Moffat does like it and has adapted it for his show. And Steven Moffat, of course, “doesn’t have taste” and has to be “dressed by his wife” or he’d be wandering around in motley. It wasn’t contradicted, so I have to assume that you all agree. I’ve heard some ridiculous things said about the man, but this really is the worst. I’ve never thought of this as an anti-Moffat podcast before, but because you were all being Captain Grumpy for the day, it seems the truth has come out.
You know, you don’t have to watch this programme. It isn’t compulsory. If watching it is going to be so unpleasant for you, if you can’t look forward with open minds without grumbling, if you can’t summon up even the tiniest bit of enthusiasm, then take a break until Mark Gatiss takes over and give it another try.
Hi Mark. Sorry to have left you disappointed with the podKast.
I’ll attempt to address your points in order:
We already discussed various directors and guests in previous podKasts.
There was no “long grumble about Steven Moffat getting co-writer credit”. There was a discussion about whether he should have recieved co-writer credits on episodes that were announced as being written by other writers. Our point of view in this segment is outlined explicitly, however, so I’m not going to waste time with this point any further. If you couldn’t bring yourself to actually listen to what we were saying instead of rallying against what you perceived we said, then it is quite pointless.
I think it was Brian who said he would be looking for mistakes.
As I recall, I appreciated the intro, and I can tell you that I like it a lot more now.
“The main reason you don’t like it, though, is that Steven Moffat does like it and has adapted it for his show.” That’s out of order.
“Steven Moffat, of course, “doesn’t have taste” and has to be “dressed by his wife”” – an amusing joke? Brian is a funny chap. I’m certain he didn’t portray that as fact.
“I’ve never thought of this as an anti-Moffat podcast before, but because you were all being Captain Grumpy for the day, it seems the truth has come out” – we’re not anti-Moffat and never have been. We are, however, pro-Doctor Who, and if we perceive that there is something not quite right, we’re going to say so. We’re not sponsored, we don’t enjoy freebies, we’re independent and fiercely proud of that fact. Your interpretation is spurious at best, trolling at worst.
We’re quite aware of the power of the off switch. We’re also extremely enthusiastic about Peter Capaldi, which I know for certain is quite clear listening to this and our previous podKasts (the past 6 podKasts have all focused on Capaldi.)
Finally, Mark Gatiss isn’t taking over. 😉
“What does the episode list provoke from the PodKast? A long grumble about Steven Moffat getting co-writer credit on episodes that he, er, co-wrote. Does it not occur to you that he might be tired of not getting credit where credit is due? Does it not occur to you that RTD could/should have done the same? Does it not occur to you that this might be a good thing: that this hands-on approach might mean more consistent stories, tones and characters? Might we be spared the nightmare of Neil Gaiman’s episode, with its poorly-written, undeveloped guest characters and a companion who was suddenly an expert on military strategy?”
– I think you’re missing the point. We were responding specifically to rumours some writers were unhappy with a co-credit with Moffat – that specifically infers, that in their view, he’s not a co-writer. Whether that’s a fair appraisal, we don’t know, but on the basis it is, it’s worth a debate, and if it is true, worth a grumble. By and large, that is not how the British industry works, which is why I mentioned unions and precedents. The negativity comes from the situation, not us, though I really find it hard to find a positive angle there.
As for tone/consistency/characters, that’s what a script editor brings. Script editor doesn’t get a writers credit – he’s there to supervise the scripts and offer writer feedback. RTD and Moffat script edit, it doesn’t mean they should automatically get a credit as writer. As for Nightmare in Silver, from what I understand that WAS heavily re-written to fit Moffat’s new series arc. Part of the reason I think it feels a mess is because of those changes required to fit it into the season. I don’t think Gaiman can be blamed for those.
“We even got James talking about unions. Good grief. What will the butler say?”
– That got me smiling!
“Then it was “let’s look out for the Moffat mistakes”. Yes, that’s it. A nice, positive approach to the new series. Everyone in Cardiff must be glowing at such constructive remarks.”
– As Christian says, I don’t really care whether they do or they don’t. We will report and debate based on what we hear.
We’ve very, very supportive of their choice in Capaldi, we’ve all pretty favourable to Jenna, and be sorry if she goes. We’ve all looking forward to it – and I think Moffat’s choice in tone is a sound one for the new series, based on what I hear. We just report and talk about what we hear. There’s no fan-territory with any of us. If we like something we’ll say, if we don’t, we don’t. I was a little middling on Time of the Doctor when it came out, I’m happy to say, as I did this week, I enjoy it a lot more now.
You can find negativity in the podkasts, sure, just don’t ignore the positives in trying to force the assertion it’s ALL negative. 🙂
Update on the co-written credit debate to James ( who kindly responded before) and all others at Kasterborous Towers;lol. Heard a interview with P Ford where he stated that he wrote his up coming Dalek story before S Moffat had even written the season opener. Moffat prob being busy with Time and Sherlock at the time. That Moffat gave him the idea ( not unusual in itself i know ) and then re-wrote a lot of it because at the time of writing Ford didn’t even know Capaldi had been cast, so Moffat re-wrote the entire script to bring more of capaldi’s interpretation to it. Am only guessing but the other co-credits could be for a similar reason, to completely re-write the character of the Doctor in them more in Capaldi’s image. It would explain why he’s not a co-credit on Gattis’s script, he was in on the casting process. I know what you’re going to say James, that the interesting thing here isn’t the co-credit but the perceived anger of the 3 writers in question. Maybe they presumed they would still get sole billing regardless of how much Moffat re-wrote their stories, maybe they all presumed too much; maybe he told them all that?!. Later on to re-write the character of the new Doctor, Moffat maybe thought while am completely re-writing these for character purposes, Doctor and D Pink i might as well completely re-write them, to make them as strong as possible. At the end of these re-writes maybe they no longer resembled the originals anymore than The Ark in Space or City of Death did after Holmes and Adams had completely re-written them. Just a thought/musing again and don’t really know anything for sure but like i said before any writer worth his or her salt wants what they perceive to be their work to be credited just as their work.!
Okay. I misremembered who Brian suggested dresses Steven Moffat due to his lack of taste. Perhaps I just got an inference.
I listened to the podcast again, which wasn’t something I wanted to do. I still get an overwhelming sense of negativity from something billed as a Season 8 preview. I prepared a long, point-by-point reply, but then realised that no one’s going to be interested in reading about this spat. Your hysterical reaction to my opinions says it all.
I know it was meant as a ‘joke’, but the taste comment really wasn’t: it was nasty, snide. And, in my opinion, demonstrably untrue. It’s the sort of thing that should have been edited out. Those people who infest the internet making rude comments about people? Who go on forums (sometimes signing up specially) to say ‘Moffat stinks’, ‘Doctor Who is [insert epithet of choice here], ‘Moffat can’t write’? That’s you. And you have the gall to suggest that I’m ‘trolling’.
Kasterborous was my first Doctor Who podcast. It was listening to you that made me wonder if there might be other Doctor Who podcasts out there. There are. If I’m not enjoying yours any more (and it’s been annoying me more and more over the last few months) then it’s time I leave you to it. Hope you had fun on the live show.
And to James’s butler: just stick with it, Brother. The Revolution might still come.