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One simple fix could've made the Weeping Angels so much scarier...
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00:00Over the last 60 years, Doctor Who has given us some amazing characters and some truly
00:05astonishing stories, from one-off belters like Blink to more complex
00:10storylines that span across multiple seasons, such as the River Song story arc.
00:15These moments remind us just how astonishing this Wibbly Wobbly series can be.
00:20But it goes without saying that with that many decades worth of content, there are always
00:25going to be moments that don't quite hit the mark.
00:27Well, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with Who Culture.
00:30Here with 10 Simple Fixes That Would Have Improved Doctor Who.
00:34Number 10
00:35He filmed the Doctor and River's confrontation at the same time as the impossible astronaut.
00:40When Series 6 opened with a mysterious astronaut rising from Lake Silencio and shooting
00:45the Doctor dead, there was universal confusion as to who was in the spacesuit.
00:50By the way, the Doctor was the same.
00:50By the time the Wedding of River Song aired, the pieces had been put together to reveal
00:53that it was River.
00:55He was trapped in a pre-programmed suit by the Silence.
00:57Now, the impossible astronaut version of that...
01:00This scene was filmed on location in Utah, but the Wedding of River Song version was...
01:05This scene was filmed on location in Utah, but the Wedding of River Song version was...
01:05This scene was filmed at a later date in a studio with the use of a green screen.
01:09And a rather shoddy...
01:10Green screen at that, with these really unconvincing visuals distracting from what should have been...
01:15The most engaging and emotional moment of the entire series.
01:19And that's not too many...
01:20attention, the blatant lack of continuity.
01:23Now in the original version...
01:25The astronaut opens the visor with one green-fingertipped gloved hand.
01:30The astronaut opens it with two hands, which suddenly change colour from green to clear.
01:33The Doctor's hair is completely...
01:35The reflection in the visor is also different, and the mountains in the background are...
01:40different between the two shots.
01:42Now, there's a really simple fix to these issues.
01:44Film both...
01:45There are two versions of that scene whilst on location in Utah.
01:48Understandably...
01:50There were some very valid reasons why they didn't do this.
01:53Firstly, both episodes...
01:55...had different directors, but for a tiny little scene like that,
01:58that really shouldn't have made much of a difference.
02:00But more importantly, there was a real fear of spoilers being leaked, as f*****g
02:05fans had spotted the filming in Utah, and they really didn't want that reveal of who was
02:09in the spacesuit too...
02:10...to be leaked, and obviously we all know how River Song feels about spoilers.
02:14Number nine...
02:15...actually show Jack's resurrection abilities in Revolution of the Daleks.
02:19When Captain...
02:20Jack Harkness first took that second breath of new life in Parting of the Ways, it...
02:25...opened a new chapter in the Time Agent's life.
02:27From that moment on, he could no longer die.
02:30Or rather, he couldn't stay dead.
02:32His ability to resurrect himself became a handy...
02:35...tool when trying to force the hand of a menacing alien, or to trick his way into...
02:40...or out of places he shouldn't be.
02:42That iconic gasp of new life became the character...
02:45...signature move, being showcased at least once in almost every episode of Doctor Who he appeared.
02:50Imagine then, the disappointment fans felt when Captain Jack made his long awa-
02:55...and highly anticipated return in Revolution of the Daleks...
02:58...only to remain a lo-
03:00...alive and kicking throughout the entire runtime.
03:02Now, it's fair to say that fans were expecting him to-
03:05...dramatically die and come back to life at least once during that episode.
03:08And he even spoke to...
03:10...Gaz, Graham and Ryan about his resurrection abilities.
03:13Which really felt like Chris Chibnall...
03:15...was setting that seed ready for a future scene.
03:17But that scene never came.
03:19Captain-
03:20Captain Jack's deaths are among his most iconic moments in Doctor Who...
03:23...and it was actually quite disappointing...
03:25...when another one wasn't delivered.
03:26And considering how many Daleks were in that episode, it was-
03:30...that would've been pretty simple to script one.
03:32Number 8.
03:32Tone down the design of the new-
03:34...parallel-
03:35...paradigm Daleks.
03:36The Daleks are as iconic to Doctor Who as the TARDIS and the T-
03:40...titular Time Lord.
03:41The evil foe that torments the Doctor throughout their life.
03:44Always-
03:45...wreaking havoc and always finding a way to survive.
03:48The most important element of an-
03:50iconic symbol like this is a maintained design across the decades.
03:53Although there have been-
03:55...some minor alterations to the Daleks' design over the years-
03:58...the overall layout remains the same.
04:00...metallic casing, round nose and toilet plunger arms.
04:03The most daring upgrade-
04:05...came in Series 5 with the new-
04:06...paradigm Daleks.
04:08And while the overall shape remains-
04:10...the bright new colours and larger size-
04:12...did not receive praise from fans.
04:15Placed next to even the World War II camouflage design, these bold giants seem too-
04:20...chearful and lacked the steely cold aura of these soulless creatures.
04:24Now-
04:25...the simple solution here would have been to stick more closely with what worked.
04:29Making-
04:30...the new-paradigm Daleks just slightly less vibrant and slightly less...
04:34...chunky.
04:34...e-
04:34...even Stephen Moffat admitted that these were a mistake.
04:38He said,
04:38...when I looked at them in-
04:39...person, I thought,
04:40...my god, the new Daleks are awesome.
04:43They're so huge and powerful-
04:44...they're brilliant.
04:46But I learned a grave lesson, which is that when you put them on screen-
04:49...of course, they don't look bigger, they just make all the other Daleks look smaller.
04:53Even the man respons-
04:54...for this new design can admit that it was a mistake, then you know that it didn't work.
04:59And-
04:59...and it is no surprise, then, that these Skaro Skittles were barely seen again after the-
05:04...
05:26you
05:32...
05:32...
05:33…
05:33...
05:34...
05:34...
05:34…
05:34and the weeping angels you had carvenista dan and diane you had the
05:39ontarans you had tec tae yun you had the division and that's just a few all of those may
05:44plot lines going on it just felt like everything was incomplete or at least
05:49rushed to an ending and with regards to those big bads swarm azure and the grand
05:54serpent it probably would have been better for the series to have a single consistent
05:59memorable villain as opposed to those three characters who all fell short of them
06:04arc the best candidate would have been swarm since azure felt more like a henchman anyway
06:09swarm definitely had potential to be a truly remarkable villain but was seemingly dismissed
06:14in exchange for the grand serpent halfway through the series so it was a bit jarring to say the least
06:19to suddenly be introduced to this whole new seemingly disconnected story about the origins of
06:24unit right in the middle of all those other storylines and even worse the grand serpent was just
06:29left on an asteroid at the end of the series almost as if chris chibnall didn't know what to do with him
06:34now imagine that same plot line but with swarm who we'd already spent two episodes
06:39getting to know as the mastermind instead of the grand serpent the audience probably
06:44would have been more engaged with that and then that plot line would have felt more closely linked
06:49to the main events of the series number six don't shoot the absorber off
06:54in broad daylight lover monsters is considered almost universally one of my
06:59the modern who's weakest episodes the first of many stories to follow the doctor companion
07:12you
07:04some applauded the offbeat
07:09structure of the episode while others criticized it for feeling like a parody rather than a pro
07:14proper episode of the show now the overall storyline actually showed great potential
07:19but the main gripe viewers had was the questionable design of peter k's absorber loss
07:24extremely grotesque in premise but rather laughable and false looking in it
07:29execution now it must be acknowledged that this creature was designed by the winner
07:34of a blue peter competition but still one cannot help but criticize the final master
07:39piece now of course in the classic era of doctor who the costumes and makeup were much simpler
07:44and they lacked the budget or the technology of modern visual effects but you would
07:49think that a creature that was created in the same year as the oud and the clockwork men would be just slightly
07:54more refined but there is one simple fix that would have at least helped to make
07:59the absorber off just be a little bit more intimidating and slightly less rubber looking
08:04feedback so far too if you want to shoot those scenes with more shadows and dimmer lighting by simply adding an
08:09element of ominous mystery and darkness, the Absorbloth could have actually been much scarier.
08:14At the very least, they could have given him some pants. Number five, give Dalek a different
08:19episode title. It was only a matter of time before Russell T Davies would bring the Daleks
08:24into his 2005 reboot, and the 9th Doctor episode, aptly titled
08:29Dalek, marked the much-anticipated return of Doctor Who's most iconic
08:34monster. The episode centred around the last surviving Dalek of the Time War, and the consequ-
08:39of it absorbing energy from Rose in order to repair itself. The premise of an emotion-
08:44of this cold machine, developing compassion and hopelessness in the wake of a long, devastating
08:49war,
08:49was a great avenue to explore with the Daleks, and the episode did a remarkable job of-
08:54switching those dynamics around to show the Doctor as the merciless monster rather than
08:59the Dalek.
08:59What was slightly disappointing though was the lack of mystery or surprise surrounding
09:04the epi-
09:04The big reveal of the Dalek is treated like some massive twist, but it's lit-
09:09The big reveal of the Dalek is treated like some massive twist, but it's lit-
09:09literally there in the title, and that left nothing up to the imagination and kind of ruined
09:14that big reveal-
09:14Imagine that same episode, but with a more ambiguous title-
09:19Something that hints towards that big surprise, but also maintains an innocence, like-
09:24Metaltron, or something like that. Now, really it's an unrealistic change to-
09:29Because it would have been foolish for them to hide the Daleks in the lead up to-
09:34But just imagine how chilling it would have been to have learned of-
09:39The Daleks' survival in the exact same moment that the Doctor does.
09:43Number 4-
09:44Interesting-
09:44Introduce Mel's before Let's Kill Hitler.
09:46Let's Kill Hitler was an episode filled with-
09:49Not least of all the revelation that Amy and Rory's childhood best friend-
09:54Mel's-
09:55Was in fact their long-lost daughter, Melody Pond, aka Riverside-
09:59Towards the beginning of the episode, we were treated to a montage that showed the trio growing up together-
10:04And the parental role that Amy and Rory still managed to play in Melody's life, as well-
10:09As well as the strong interest Mel's took in the Doctor. Although it is often easy to forget-
10:13Of course-
10:14The Doctor's companions had a whole life before they met this madman with a box, and so-
10:19It was great to see them hanging out with their more normal friends. What didn't make sense though-
10:24Is that Mel's is supposedly Amy and Rory's oldest and closest friend-
10:29And yet the audience had never seen her before Let's Kill Hitler. Now although her-
10:34Absence from their wedding was explained away with her saying that she doesn't do weddings, it did them-
10:39And make it hard to believe that she was as close to them as they proclaim. And there's a really-
10:44Simple fix for this, which would have been to just add a brief scene between the three of them at the-
10:49Beginning of the series. And there was the perfect opportunity for this at the beginning of the impossible-
10:54Astronaut when we saw Amy and Rory in their everyday life before they went to-
10:59So why not add a birthday party scene? Or a dinner? Or-
11:04Even just a shot of Mel's leaving their house before the postman arrives with the invitation from-
11:09The doctor? Hell, even just mentioning her name would have at least been something.
11:14Number 6-
11:14Number 3-
11:15Have the 13th Doctor reassure Graham with a hug. The closing moments-
11:19Reports of Can You Hear Me included a touching, heartfelt moment between the 13th Doctor and-
11:24Graham. Or more accurately, Graham opened up to the doctor about the fear of his cancer coming back-
11:29And the doctor just shuffled away awkwardly. By her own admission, she can be socially awkward-
11:34And we know that the doctor has a history of struggling with acts of affection. See Eleven's wavy hand-
11:39When River kisses him for the first time, or Twelve saying he's not a hugger in deep breath. But this-
11:44This particular moment just felt rather insensitive and actually resulted in the BBC receiving-
11:49Multiple complaints about the way in which the doctor responded to Graham's confession.
11:54And eventually they issued a statement which explained-
11:56The intention of this scene was to acknowledge-
11:59How-
12:00How-
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12:04How-
12:05How-
12:06How-
12:07How-
12:08How-
12:09How-
12:10How-
12:11How-
12:12How-
12:13How-
12:14How-
12:15How-
12:17How-
12:18How-
12:19How-
12:20How-
12:21How-
12:22How-
12:23How-
11:59How-
12:00How-
12:02How-
12:04people don't always have the right words to say at the right time by showing the doctor struggle
12:09to find the right words the intention was to sympathize with all those who may have found
12:14themselves
12:14in a similar position in this particular situation we can't help but feel that it would have been
12:19more appropriate for the doctor to just simply give graham a hug no additional dialogue was
12:24needed just a simple gesture to let him know that he has people who care about him and actually
12:29it could have been a moment to show growth in the doctor heeding 12's departing instructions
12:34to laugh hard run fast be kind i mean what's kinder than giving graham a hug
12:39in his moment of need number two don't show the weeping angels moving the weeping angel
12:44are without doubt some of the scariest monsters in doctor who the entire
12:49premise of a statue hunting you in the dark and killing you with time is arguably
12:54more terrifying than just a grotesque creature with a gun one of the most intimidating elements
12:59of the angels is the way they approach their victims jumping forward with each flash
13:04of darkness as their mouths widen and their arms raise part of the fear factor comes
13:09from never actually seeing them physically move when light shines upon them they are still
13:14as a statue yes pun intended and so we only ever see them progress
13:19forward in unseen jumps that is until the series five episode flesh and stone
13:24although the majority of the episode does show the angels moving in their normal way there's one
13:29moment where we see them slowly turning their heads as they approach amy now arguably the
13:34reason that we can see them moving here is because amy has her eyes closed and so technically
13:39they're unseen but for the audience this kind of ruined that ominous element of how
13:44they move and merely reminded us that they're just performers in costumes so the simple thing
13:49here would have been to maintain that ambiguity of the weeping angels simply remove
13:54those scenes of the slow human-like movement and make better use of
13:59flashes and faster cuts to build up that tension even further when the weeping angels
14:04attack the audience needs to feel like they cannot blink but all this scene really did is make
14:09them roll their eyes number one the tenth doctor visits joan redfern not
14:14her great-granddaughter the final moments of the end of time saw the tenth doctor embarking
14:19on a farewell tour revisiting his friends and companions for one last time before
14:24he regenerated now most of the people in that lineup made absolute sense friends
14:29that have played important parts in his tenth life but there is one amongst those that
14:34that doesn't make sense and that is the great-granddaughter of joan redfern now of
14:39course joan redfern played a very important part in the short-lived human life of johnson
14:44smith and it cannot be denied that the doctor experienced great feelings for her whether those
14:49final feelings were that of continued love or the guilt of breaking her heart remains to be seen
14:54perhaps it's both so of course it does make sense that in his final hours he'd wish to learn what became
14:59of her whether she was happy whether she remembered the time they shared together but what does
15:04make sense is that he sought these answers out from her great-granddaughter rather than from joan
15:09herself now there are some who believe that this scene should have been removed entirely but there are
15:14two simple fixes that could have at least made it make more sense
15:17firstly the doctor
15:19doctor has a time machine so why not simply travel back in time and find out
15:24those answers for himself he needn't have interfered just observed from afar or
15:29if traveling back in time was too risky why not visit joan as an old lady we've
15:34seen a similar concept to this in a deleted scene from the unicorn and the wasp when the doctor
15:39and donna visit an elderly agatha christie now this would have removed that risk of inter
15:44interfering with her timeline and altering her life but it would have given ten the closure that he
15:49needed instead he questions a woman who couldn't possibly know how joan truly felt
15:54which just was very odd and that concludes our list if you think we missed any then do let us know
15:59in the comments below and while you're there don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification
16:04bell so you never miss a who culture video also head over to twitter and follow us there and
16:09i can be found across various social medias just by searching ellie little child i've been
16:14with who culture and in the words of riversong herself goodbye sweeties
16:19you
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