And sadly, since I haven't seen "Smith and Jones", it's best I don't listen to this and future podcasts until I catch up with my Doctor Who viewing.
But I'm sure some of the other boys will have stuff to say!
For the first time in the history of the podcast (other than the Runaway Bride), we've got a new episode of honest to goodness Doctor Who to talk about. Smith and Jones, the first episode in Who's third season, premiered on Saturday night in England and aired shortly thereafter on computer screens throughout North America and the rest of the world. We lay down our thoughts on the show (hint: we liked it), new companion Martha Jones, various bits of anciallary promtion for the show, and our rampant speculation as to the nature of upcoming episodes, based on the tin fragments of scenes we've been spoon-fed thus far. And there's 12 more episodes to go! Huzzah! (feed, web, direct download)
And sadly, since I haven't seen "Smith and Jones", it's best I don't listen to this and future podcasts until I catch up with my Doctor Who viewing.
But I'm sure some of the other boys will have stuff to say!
Just a technical comment here... I'm not sure why things are going downhill but this is almost impossible to listen to... there are serious echoes for Steven... far worse than before... sometimes Warren is talking over Steven... then there's these bits of silence intermixed...
Warren, are you using the built-in mic/speakers on the Macbook? That might explain the echo as Audio Hijack (if you're still using it) is picking up the signal twice... once when Steven speaks, and again from the playback through the built-in speakers fed back through the internal mic.
Sorry guys, I can't listen to it as it stands.
As a result of not knowing what Warren & Steven have to say about Smith and Jones, I'll throw in a couple sticking points I found with the plot.
SPOILER ALERT -- This is where Jean-Paul should stop reading. =)
The first one was when Tish called Martha and mentioned the rain was going up... Tish was still a good couple or three blocks away, it seems implausible she's see enough rain detail to see which direction it was going.
The second was when the hospital was transported to the moon, we (sort of) see the mess of cables and such underneath where the building used to sit (on the wide shot showing the Thames, the London Eye, etc.). So, uh, where does the hospital get the power for all the lights and equipment that *never* stops operating? That's gotta be one heck of a generator they've got in there!
The third was the impossibly strong straw that was (twice!) used to pierce someone's skin. Has anyone actually tried to puncture another human with a straw? Well, probably not, but I don't see it working.
The Judoon sounded a lot like the Vogons from Hitch Hiker's Guide... that's not a critique though, just a statement. Although I've chided RTD about his penchant for idea theft in the past, I won't do so here as it's probably coincidental at worst, or my overactive imagination at best.
I was looking forward to the death of the sonic screwdriver, which we indeed got... but why did they have to bring it back? That being said, it really makes a lot more sense for the Doctor to have more than one and replace them as needed rather than only having the one back in Davison's day and having no means to obtain/build another.
And another crappy radiation gag? Ugh. And someone named B. Stoker being a plasmavore victim? Sigh.
The camp was a little extreme, and frankly I find it distressing that it bothers me since so much of the series as a whole relies on camp. But the jokes, the shoe situation, DT's first lines, etc... it all seemed a little much.
That pretty much wraps it up other than I really am sick of the whole companion family strife angle. Didn't we have FAR too much of it with Rose and her family? I certainly thought so. I realize the point of it all (to keep the show grounded, to ease with the audience identifying with the human companion, etc.) but please... three or four lines from Tegan in Logopolis about her Auntie Vanessa was too much family strife... or Adric's issues with his brother... another season (or more) of it will just wear on me and make me even more bitter.
Overall... well, I didn't hate it. I cheerfully sat through it a second time, which is not something I can say about many RTD-penned episodes. Plot holes and camp aside, I'd definitely have to give it a passing grade. Let's say 2.5/5. Pacing was fairly good, direction was decent (though I'm not familiar with Charles Palmer to see how capable he is), and any acting issues I had could easily be blamed on the script more than the actors.
I am not looking forward to Gareth Roberts' work next week though. Invasion of the Bane was all over the place, I'd prefer to have him kept away from DW. Similarly I'm hoping Chris Chibnall shows us FAR better work with 42 than he showed us on Torchwood otherwise I'll have some not-so-nice things to say in 6 weeks time.
Just to make sure it's not just me going crazy (crazier?) I asked Jean-Paul to listen to the first couple minutes of this podcast (where there were no spoilers), and he too found it very difficult to listen to it.
1:05:58 AM chrisburgess42: download the podcast
1:06:04 AM chrisburgess42: listen to the first 2 minutes or so
1:06:08 AM chrisburgess42: (there are no spoilers)
1:06:19 AM chrisburgess42: and see if you can even stand the poor quality
1:06:25 AM jeanpaulonaim: K...
1:07:44 AM chrisburgess42: i've stopped listening
1:07:50 AM chrisburgess42: i made it to about 2 1/2 minutes in
1:10:37 AM jeanpaulonaim: They also sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.
1:10:41 AM chrisburgess42: heh
1:10:49 AM chrisburgess42: steven in particular is high-pitched, yeah
1:12:06 AM jeanpaulonaim: A little like a Gundan from Warrior's Gate in tonal quality, too, what with the feedback.
1:12:24 AM jeanpaulonaim: Fairly painful to listen to, yes.
1:13:01 AM chrisburgess42: heh k
1:13:04 AM chrisburgess42: so it's not just me
The compensation gag was Ok, but the straw for sucking blood with is silly.
The power and lighting is questionable, I'm guessing that is a question of suspension of disbelief.
I'm also not interested in the home life of the companions. my own family life doesn't interest me why should I be interested in someone else's, especially a fictional one.
the Jodoon reminded me more of the Justice machines from the Stones of Blood episode. The Vogons are a lot more comicl and funny even in the movie.
Warren, Chirs is right this podcast has the worst sound quality to date. Steven sounds a human that has been taken over my an alein in one of those old B movies of the 60's.
What a got dang shame! Having no clue about the recording process, I can only blame myself for the poor quality of this week's episode. Oh, and I apologise for the audio problems, too.
As far as the sound goes, I'm using Wiretap Pro, and it records sound off of the Gizmo Project (Steven) and myself (Logitech USB mic). I'm in a room that might be a little echo-y, so I'll change venues for the next podcast. But the likely culprit is the VOIP signal from Steven's end, and there's not a lot we can do about that. The talking over and silences were partly my fault..I was feeling a little under the weather.
So I guess we'll try to address what we can next week, and the rest is in the hands of the bandwidth gods.
With Wiretap the recording is not the problem. The first episode you used it sounded the best to date quite frankly. My best guess, if you're using a headset, is the culprit is Gizmo. The room you're in would be irrelevant since your headset likely uses a noise-cancelling mic, and Wiretap is recording from the software directly rather than what gets passed through the speaker. That being said, it never hurts to try as many solutions as possible.
Perhaps find some time and do some test runs with other voice apps (there's no shortage out there, even cross-platform since Steven insists on Windows, eww) and compare results. RFS #29 is just unbearable to try to listen to, presumably there's no place to go but up for quality...
There's a rumour going around (Outpost Gallifrey is bubbling over with it) that we may just re-record the Smith und Jones podcast. Stay tuned....
I've just finished watching the uncut version of Graham Norton's chat show (I guess the one they air late in the week, the 30-minute one, is cut down, then the uncut version airs Sunday night; the uncut one is 44 minutes long) and as wonderful as the short version was, the long one is loads better. The thing is non-stop laughs and Tennant is a riot. Anyone able to get their hands on it definitely should do so, you'll LOVE it.
And yes Mike, I might let you grab a copy of it next time I see you. Unless we show it on the 22nd at the premiere party like I'm thinking should be done. =)
Oh, and I've never been much for fan forums (I'm in the minority here, as I know Steven and Jean-Paul are regular OG forum readers, and I know Mike participates on loads of SF forums) but I finally bothered to join the OG forums this past weekend. I went there tonight, purely out of curiosity, and searched for 'radio free skaro' to see how well the word might be getting out there about the podcast... and I don't know if it's Firefox or what, but the search function returns a blank page and nothing else... and Safari just craps out. So, I'm none the wiser! =)
Hah....well, on average about 90 people (or podcast clients) download the show, and there's what....5 of us? I think mostly the word got out on podcast alley, and probably itunes now as well. I sadly have yet to register on the OG forums, though I really should in order to promote the show.
As for re-recording, soon hopefully....let's try Skype and see where that gets us. Since we aren't recording within the program, we aren't tied to the Gizmo Project by anything other than habit. I was struck down with what Im guessing is a flu of some sort, so I wasn't able to re-record last night....but I'll give it my best shot soon. Or you guys could just take pity on a man providing a free show despite illness and a busy schedule and just wait for the next one (where we could summarize our Smith and Jones thoughts off the top.) :)
I don't think anyone's asked for a re-record, and in fact I think that's probably far too much effort to go through (even with this being the shortest podcast in a long time, what with all the retrospective episodes). I merely suggested alternate voice communication software to make the thing bearable to hear... and also how when you first used Wiretap it sounded the best ever that one time. You were using Gizmo back then, so Gizmo can obviously be reliable. Maybe there's some other X factor in there screwing things up.
Nonetheless, a summary of the Smith and Jones stuff on the podcast for The Shakespeare Code sounds like a better idea than redoing #29 altogether... as long as #30 can be understood without severe straining. =)
As for the OG forums, you'd not be the only one plugging a podcast there... in a brief glance I saw several others advertising podcasts and/or websites (and we're not talking known ones like Podshock). I think it's a great outlet for promoting the show, but you'll be up against a lot of others plugging similar products (not that you're not in the same boat with iTunes or podcast alley or anywhere else, of course).
Oh, and because the spam filter ate the comment last night, the uncut version of Sunday's Graham Norton is on YouTube. Search for "graham norton david tennant" (that's what I used anyhow) and all 5 parts are the only results.
I've already put up a podcast plug in the podcast section of the OG forum. To date, I have received roughly zero replies. Either everyone is dumbstruck by it, are no one has seen my comment.
Now there's going to be a swirl of controversy with the next podcast. Is it #29, mark II? Or #30? What of the episode guides? What, I ask you? I ain't gonna sleep for a week now.
Time to start authoring a Star Trek-level continuity bible so the "enthusiasts" don't fight about it for the rest of eternity...
82 episodes!
83 episodes!
(I vote we shoot all Star Trek fans... yay!)
Or, since he's a fairly public figure in the DW world, perhaps email Paul Cornell and give him a heads-up for when he writes the Radio Free Skaro Discontinuity Guide...
It was actually 79 episodes.....god, why do i even know that?
I don't think that we should shoot ST fans I think that they should be thrown into the Time Lash.
He's one of them! Git 'im!
Most people depart with a scream....mwah-hah-hah!
Also, my computer robot may have been at fault for our podcast sound troubles. I closed down my bitrorrent program, but noticed a couple days later that there were many others going on that I did not know about....if that makes any sense. Anyway, long story short, my bandwidth was tied up much more than I thought it was.
Ahhhh. We'll switch to skype, make sure both of us are connected by ethernet to our routers, and shut down everything extraneous. A pre-podcast reboot might be an idea as wel, for both of us. Macs ain't holy either, my friend the spinning beachball shows up every once in a while, even on this dual core slice of 17-inch loveliness.
Oh, yeah, and ENOUGH with the races from impossibly old times! Either give us a payoff or stop it!
As far as pop culture goes, remember that back in the old days, even as far back as the 80's, everyone wasn't drenched in the stuff the way we are now. There's the odd cringer, like th"who you gonna call" bit from Army of Ghosts, but I'll cut new Who some slack for making the odd reference to popular stuff. As for the gay joke "57 academics jut pumped the air with their fists," I laughed out loud at that one. I agree this one was a little silly, but I stll quite enjoyed it. And I call BS on the show's roundabout explanation of why Martha wasn't treated like a second class citizen, but I'm giving up on complaining about it. Like I said in the Podcast-which-shall-no-be-named last week, it's not accurate, that bugs me a bit as an avid history buff, but the show is a fantasy to begin with. And you can make the argument that since Britain is a far more multicultural society than it's ever been, kids watching are just going to take a bunch of different races hanging together as a given, and despite historical inaccuracy, that's overall a good thing, especially in a show that's by nature unrealistic and generally plays fast and loose with history, and always has.
I can't in any good conscience cut DW slack for even the odd pop culture reference if only because I hate when any shows/movies date themselves so blatantly (when they could avoid doing so and be more timeless). The old series did it all the time with its social commentary, but there's a huge difference between trying to remember when the tax issues parodied in The Sunmakers were rampant versus when book 7 of Harry Potter was in the news. Okay, that's stretching it a bit since what you remember is going to depend on your interests and capabilities, but I think there's a grain of logic in there somewhere.
As to the race issue, well, Britain is celebrating its bicentennial of abolishing slavery, but I hardly think the culture would have been overly friendly to people of colour at the end of the 16th century. Shakespeare himself would have been quite tolerant I would think, given he's used people of colour as title characters in major plays (eg. Othello), but not society as a whole. Heck, nowadays there's still a major race issue in the UK. You've not only got the in-fighting between whites (eg. protestant vs catholic in Ireland, or the class system in general, or even the north vs. south hatred), but there's rampant racism throughout the culture (a lot of it against asians, who we would refer to as East Indians in Canada). There's even a huge surge in the white supremacy/neo-Nazi school of thought among the younger folks these days.
Ultimately even though I don't know if I agree with it, I dig your utopic notion of kids seeing multiple races together in harmony as a given, it's a wonderful thought. I do wish I knew more about race relations in the Elizabethan era. Perhaps tonight after the curling finals and Easter dinner I shall do some research and educate myself.
Pop culture references : off the top of my head, The Doctor quotes both the Beatles ("It's been a hard day's night") and Hitchhiker's Guide (" Who was it that said Earthmen never invite their ancestors round to dinner?") in "Ghost Light".
Umm....Jon Pertwee in "Inferno", seeing Greg Sutton's less than enthusiastic reaction to the TARDIS console, says something to the effect of "What did you expect? A rocket ship with Batman at the controls?"
I would suspect that WS was quite tolerant. There are a number of Sonets that he wrong which are discript as being about the Dark Lady. Someone who is discribed as having dark hair and Dusky skin tone.
Steven, thanks for the references. I figured you'd be the best to come up with a few. =)
So that's about 4 so far out of 26 years from the classic series... and 3 in about a year and a bit from Tennant's Doctor (also counting Christmas Invasion and the HHGTTG reference there).
As for Shakespeare's sonnets, while I studied more of his plays than I care to remember in high school (ah, Old Scona... right Warren? =) ), I never did study his sonnets.
Yup, Old Scona was indeed my alma mater. Neeeeerrddddddddsss!! :)
I didn't study much of anything in high school, other than Dr Who. :)
To this podcast...and nowhere else. :)
No wonder you are penniless and destitute, doomed to wander the Streets on BC for all time. muttering incomprehensible line from DW, Such as Harry Sullivan is an Idiot! God whats that suppose to mean really.
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