When the doctor was saying "the system is not the problem" I could actually feel her free will being overridden for the BBC to possess her body and speak through her.
Not to mention the Doctor condemns Charlie for killing people to prove his point whilst defending the Kerblam system which... killed someone to prove its point to Charlie
my take for kerblam killing kira is that the system was still doing tests that charlie himself set up (thats why dan is taken by the kerblam men, because hes still testing for some reason) so I think the test would have happened regardless of kira due to charlie hacking the system, the system mearly picked someone close to charlie rather than just some other random person so that it would hopefully teach him a lesson
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems. Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
Yeees, this. She was absolutely innocent and was not even in a relationship with him. This is when the companions should have started shouting at the Doctor, the reason the Doc keeps humans around. Instead they smile and nod.
@@gallohalt The Doctor literally says the system did it to teach him a lesson, and she cited that as a sign it has a conscience if I remember correctly. She admires it for it, and that's some chilling alien ethics that should have been acknowledged at least.
What got me in this episode was the Doctor's reaction to the packing girl's work ethic, treating her enthusiasm for doing work that is both soul crushing and pointless as the way all workers should see it. It's the classic "be grateful you have a job at all" shit that you'd think we'd be past after over a century of worker's rights movements fighting against it.
Kerblam stopping Operations for a month while only paying their employees for two weeks is nasty. "Here's two weeks off with pay! Followed by two weeks of no pay so you can't survive! Insert evil laugh here! "
I didn't even notice rhat in Kablam, they shut down for a month and only offered 2 weeks paid leave, Holy shit. What are they supposed to do for those other 2 weeks? Find jobs on the planet with 90% unemployment?
The two weeks of unpaid is more so that the company can inform them of their two weeks leave... as in leaving the company. There is still that 90% to re-exploit and have them sign back on. It doesn't matter if they treat their employees awful if they are the only company people can work for. An entire planet monopoly ruled by a rich uncaring elite is considered the good ending in this awful season.
@@qwefg3 If there is a sole employer that technically is a monopsony. I'm only sharing because it is a fairly new word to me as well, but a monopsony is a market in which there is only one buyer, and since the product a worker sells is their labour, if there is but one employer there is only one buyer they can sell their labour to.
Recently I went through DW Fanshow of "Oxygen" (Interview of Jamie Mathieson) and I found these facts that can prove the importance of the show runner: 1. When Mathieson wrote the line of capitalism, he thought it would be edited out. He was surprised that "they" (show runner & executive producer etc.) kept it on screen. 2. Mathieson's first draft was just something like space zombies chasing the survivors. It was Moffat who left a note on his script: "What if the monster of this episode is in fact the suit, with corpse in it?" And then Mathieson rewrote the whole episode. I was actually surprised by this fact, since I thought "fighting the suit" fits so well in the theme of this episode that I presumed it was the starting point of Mathieson's script. It was actually Moffat who grasped the whole anti-capitalism idea of Mathieson, and pushed it out in a more expressive and concentrated way. Maybe it was the thing that Chibnall was missing. He just doesn't have that insight to make Doctor Who as sharp as it used to be. It's just... lame.
Tbh that doesn’t surprise me. The best thing about Doctor Who - and most political tv - is that most of the politics involved revolve around a story, not a story revolving around politics, unless the show is purely political like Years and Years. Chibnall revolves his stories around politics and it’s so easy to see given that his ideologies don’t flow with the stories.
proving that Moffat isn't the Showrunner From Hell some are making him out to be. I wonder if there are more of these behind the scenes strokes of genius by Moffat about which we have no idea 🤔
@@yack916 I think he had too much on his plate. Which makes me wonder: can any showrunner be good? Moffat is clearly intelligent, writes witty dialogue, is an out of the bix thinker, and is conscientious about story crafting when he has time to invest in it - and he is still producing masterpieces during his tenure - Heaven Sent and World Enough and Time to name but two, but the fact that even he kind of screws up being a showrunner makes me think the showrunner model is wrong!
@@markpostgate2551 I do sometimes wonder if maybe separating the job into producer and script editor again might actually work better than the combined job of a showrunner, for the exact reason you mentioned
The thing that blew my mind about “Kerblam!” (no dad joke intended) was how the “two weeks paid leave” line came right after the “we’re shutting down our operations for a month.” Like, there’s one reading of that line where the two weeks paid leave are now a benefit for future employees to take at their leisure, which… bare minimum, right? Especially after everything, it’s the absolute least they could do, but it’s a start. It’s a “start” in the same way that standing up and saying “I will now do the dishes!” is technically a start, but it’s a start. There’s another reading, though, which is the mind-blowing one. They shut down the plant for the month, and gave everyone two weeks paid leave. So, basically, it’s “we’ll be depriving you of your only source of income for two weeks instead of four!” If that’s the case (and - mind you - there is zero compensation, training, or any other discussion about what employees should do while the plant is closed.) It’s an idea you can only think is good if you’ve never worked paycheck-to-paycheck, like most of their human workers clearly do.
Right?? My immediate thought was “so you’re only paying your workers for 2 of the 4 weeks they’re being stood down from work? And that’s supposed to be a good thing??”
@CooP-dg7kyhave you ever worked a job in your life? Not being able to get paid for work for 2 weeks is a big deal. My factory closes 2 weeks for Christmas and new years, but it’s paid vacation. There would be talks of unionization if they demanded 2 weeks unpaid.
Yes. My workplace (which is quite large and covers the full range of blue-grey-white collar) shuts down between X-mass and new year. But we still get paid, and it isn't deducted from our accrued leave, either.
Dude, I wrote a 20ish page paper criticizing Chibnall's politics during his DW run (where I briefly compared Kerblam and Oxygen) for my graduate writing assessment in college so I've spent this entire video nodding so hard my neck hurts! Great one!!!
When I started reading your comment, I thought you were going to say you'd sent it to the BBC or the Radio Times! I hope you got a good tesult from all that work.
my jaw DROPPED when i watched kerblam! because i was so shocked at how utterly bought and paid for it was. even before the nightmare of an ending you know it's going to be depraved because of the way 13 talks about how cute and wonderful the brand is instead of immediately seeing through its marketing tactics and to the exploitation at its heart (as you could expect most any other doctor to do), but i also remember being so baffled at the way that the show treats the only possible antidotes to 90% unemployment and epidemic poverty as either 'more employment' (the good choice) or 'kill all humans' (the bad choice). like, nobody here can seriously think of another option?? nothing at all comes to mind???
It was so gross how they paint Charlie as being some incredibly misguided activist. It just felt so "aren't those liberal kids so stupid with their whole 'abolish the system' thing? Just straw-manning the fuck out of any opposition to capitalism.
it's wild because right off the bat you can just TELL this is out of character for the doctor. i can so easily imagine literally any other doctor getting that message and walking into kerblam and looking around suspiciously and treating all the exces with either suspicion or outright hostility. and jodie's doctor looks like she's at freaking disneyland. it's a WAREHOUSE. it's so goddamn out of character i'm convinced no one involved in the production of that episode has watched the show
It’s interesting, because if you wanted to draw another parallel, you could look at how the 12th doctor handles Bonnie in the zygon 2 parter. Bonnie’s rebellion is a grab bag of tropes, ideologies, and imagery taken from different “revolutionaries” and “terrorists” all across the political spectrum. But rather than dismissing her the way 13 dismisses the terrorists in kerblam, the doctor empathizes with her as “a troublemaker” like him, and lets her keep her memories in the negotiation while Kate stays in the dark. The 2 parter as a whole is hardly “leftist”, doling out a pretty traditional “why can’t we all get along” philosophy that easily aligns with liberalism. But its actual commitment to its anti-war rhetoric, and in general just genuinely great script, still has that anti-authoritarian flair that defines so much of the best Dr. Who
The Zygon Inversion was the first time I saw Peter Capaldi as a legitimate Doctor. In Season 8, I felt like I was watching the Valeyard (seriously, watch Michael Jayston gaslight Colin Baker in Trial of a Time Lord and tell me Capaldi wasn't like that), which would have been brilliant if not for the fact that the Valeyard clearly wasn't meant to be part of the story. In Season 9, I could sense Capaldi desperately scrambling to repair the Doctor after he fucked him up in his first season. Thing is, on paper, the 13th Doctor (yes, Capaldi's the 13th, not the 12th) could have been the greatest incarnation, PERIOD. The "Am I a good man?" story arc was very well written and if Sir John Hurt had been handling it, he would have played it like a man who's genuinely questioning himself, not a sociopathic misanthrope who's trying to validate his shitty behaviour. Heck, Hurt would even have delivered those mean spirited jabs towards Clara like they were an inside joke between them due to the fact that, through her echoes, Clara has technically been with the Doctor since William Hartnell's era. Capaldi delivered them like a jealous ex-boyfriend who wants Clara to feel like she's not good enough for another man. He could have handled Day of the Doctor but Hurt would have been much better as 13. By the time the Zygon 2 parter arrived, I was only watching Doctor Who because I cared so much about Clara. When the Doctor finally showed up with his admittedly awesome anti-war speech, I wasn't in a "Yay, the Doctor is back!" state of mind. I was in a "Where the fuck have you been for the last 21 episodes?" state of mind.
@@tomnorton4277 i dont like Capaldi's mean remarks that much either and think they could be better done, mostly because they feel like Moffat desperately screaming at the viwer in hopes the "Am I a Good Man?" arc became as obvious as possible. But even then i think its a bit disingenuous to not take in consideration that in series 9 one of the big themes was how their relationshio was toxic and that they needed to either change it or end it.
@@newave3270 I know Clara and the Doctor's relationship became toxic. John Hurt could have handled the same story arc without being an asshole though. For example, if Hurt was doing the scene where the Doctor vented about Clara betraying him, he would have delivered it with quiet disappointment, not self-righteous rage.
@@tomnorton4277 Did you just say that Capaldi fucked The Doctor up then scramble around to fix him? What are you on? Ketamine!?!?! Peter Capaldi is nothing short of mesmerising. Heaven Sent is one of the most amazing pieces of TV or film ever. He never fucked him up.
@@tomnorton4277 you’re entitled to your opinion but i heavily disagree. the doctor showing negative character traits such as ugly, hard to look at anger is what makes him interesting to me. ten is most compelling when’s he’s selfish and arrogant and throwing a tantrum, and twelve is MADE interesting by his somewhat cruel personality melting into a mellower one. i think it’s expressed perfectly that his rough exterior is an act too. if he was nice all the time and didn’t get pissed that clara betrayed him, he wouldn’t be very interesting at all.
One correction: I don't think it was said anywhere that the planet in Kerblam had 90% unemployment. Early in the episode they said that the law was that 10% of workers have to be actual people, and then later the villain says "10% of people get to work" because he obviously doesn't understand his own plot
I was hoping she'd reuse the third Doctor's Venusian karate and kick some ass, that would have helped undercut the whole 'too woke' narrative that started before her first episode even aired... :) But alas, it was not to be...
@@na5794that's not how show casting or contracts work. for the former, she doesn't get to read the script for the entire series, she gets bits and pieces, basic themes ect. and they have no obligation or reason to be specific until they choose her for the role. for the latter, we have no idea what her contract was, she may not have been able to end her run after one season. In fact considering how things went with the 9th doctor I'm guessing the BBC is pretty careful about getting contracts beneficial for them nowadays. Besides it is good for her career either way. It's one of the biggest roles she's been in so it's a no brainer unless there's massive red flags before you've signed anything, which I highly doubt was the case.
"Imagine if the 10th Doctor just set up a 'clap for the cat nurses' thing every Friday morning instead of solving the fundamental issue of using the Flesh. That would have made the episode so much better" - Chris Chibnall 2020 (Real)
I always thought the issue of the flesh was a bit strange, like, the real issue is just that they were wrong about them not having a real mind: if they were correct then there really wouldn't be any issue. Not that it's not a very enjoyable episode, but I feel like the premise isn't really as deep as it makes itself out to be.
The issue with rhe flesh for me was that the doctor went to the flesh factory place to find out if the flesh was sentient or not but that didn't seem to effect the way he treated them in the finale at all.
@patrickking3124 I think they're talking about the Flesh from series 2, the people grown in tubes for the purposes of being ill all the time, rather than the Rebel Flesh, which was a story that mostly worked by itself, but not in the context of the rest of the series which seemed to throw away the whole moral of the story. Ironically, though, for however much people moan about Chibnall's writing, I thought the flesh was just a weak clone of one of Chibnall's own stories, the Hungry Earth two-partner. I actually don't mind a lot of Chibnall's stories, but like with Moffat, I'm not sure he was the best idea for a showrunner. But I guess that's generally considered a hot take because people on the internet don't have much of an opinion on anything between all the way bad, all the way good or all the way mid when it comes to an individual.
@sp00ky_guy the point is that they turned a blind eye to the issue out of convenience. It took the doctor a couple of hours to figure out that the flesh were sentient. The
@sp00ky_guy the point is that they turned a blind eye to the issue out of convenience. It took the doctor a couple of hours to figure out that the flesh were sentient. The
7:19 is a point worth stressing. Since Doctor Who is political it is important that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Good sci-fi asks tough and uncomfortable questions, but doesn't get dogmatic with answers either. It hypothesizes a demonstrative model for examination.
This. So much this. The show used to outline questions, show the doctors own solution but never state if he was right or wrong. Only show it. Chibnall asks a question, doesnt wait for an answer but GIVES the answer, says its correct and slaps you in the face if you disagree.
Mind you, the trailer for Jodie's Doctor was, 'glass ceiling gets broken, Jodie's all "oops" and the ad all but nudges you in the ribs being all, "Geddit! Geddit ya geddit ha ha ya geddit doncha? Doncha geddit?"
Oxygen is definitely a great story and Series 10 was utterly underestimated. I tried to forget what happened in 13 era, but watching this video remind me her speech in Kablam and I got angry again (thanks a lot). That's not the doctor I knew. Great video and a rather neglected point of view. I would love to hear you talking more about Doctor Who.
The Monk trilogy ruined a lot of series 10. 3 part story - first episode really promising, and then it proceeds to get worse and worse until the last episode makes it all feel like a waste of time. If they are going to do a three part story invest time in crafting the third part or you retrospectively harm the two previous episodes. There are other bad episodes in series 10 but the last part of the Monk trilogy inflicts the most damage because it effectively ruined three episodes.
@markpostgate2551 Since RTD's first turn, I've felt that the series often ruins good stories with rushed, unsatisfactory endings. A bad anding makes a bad story, I don't care how good it was at the start. Nobody watches ¾ of a story then is content to have it all turn to crap.
For an era which initially caught a lot of flak for being political (dr is a woman, poc exist,) it really was the least ideologically sensible of them all. Truly a Liberal moment of painting pride flags (yaz and the doctor's almost-relationship, for instance) on a missile (any stab at a political dialogue outside of the most bland approach possible, like arachnids in the UK)
It's "paint by numbers" and box ticking politics. It seems like it's separate to the story but not actually part of what's going on. If that makes sense.
There's politics of appeal and politics of critique. That era existed only to appeal, not to say anything of its own. Just saying stuff like "women exist, poc exist, queer people exist (but you don't get to see them actually be explicitly queer)" might have been saying something in the '50s, but not anymore. No one is expecting Doctor Who to have the most high minded, complex and fleshed out political critiques but it has proven it can do far better than simply showing women, poc and (kinda, not really) queer people existing and waiting for applause.
I personally was most frustrated with how painfully overt the politics was. It's like Doctor Who put on a suit made of "The Right Ideas" and pranced around singing a song about how great it is. It feels self-congratulatory. I just watched an episode of Star Trek TNG about the Enterprise encountering an old version of itself magically zapped out of a conflict. Because it was zapped out of this conflict it changed the timeline and a massive war had broken out between the Klingons and the Humans killing billions. Sending the old Enterprise back to the past would probably put the timeline back to normal but would certainly result in the entire crew and the ship being *very* destroyed. The episode plays with utilitariansm as Picard weighs the potential undoing of billions of deaths with the certain deaths of a hundred or so. The episode tries to make it clear that both options are bad but that ultimately the opportunity to save billions is just too much to pass up. It's pretty clear what the episode was playing with but it never felt like it was patting itself or the characters on the back for having such a good idea. Picard just makes the call and that's it. The Doctor Who writers just couldn't do that. It always felt like they were gloating because they're on "the right side".
Yaz's arc felt so incredibly "slap some diversity on it" to me. Yes, she's a cop, but she's *flips through notes* Muslin and uh *squints* gay! It just felt like some shit Disney would do, like in that movie "Onward" with Chris Pratt where that one cop is a lesbian (alluded to in one line) played by a black woman. Not to mention Ryan trying to open up about being racially profiled by cops in "Rosa" and Yaz's response was literally "not me though."
I hate it to an additional level, because The Doctor's *_ENTIRE_* concept is the only way to tactfully perform a race/gender swapped character! Keep the core traits the same, keeping the character recognizable, but change other aspects to make them a notably different character from the original. That prevents the swap from being a lazy, purposeless choice. And somehow, in the series literally built for that, Chris Chibnall messed it up.
"Jamie Mathieson should have been showrunner" - Never has there been a more correct take! It was a crime Chibs was chosen over Jamie, especailly when Jamie had already established plot points in the previous series that could have been the back bone for over arching plots. We can only hope that Jamie returns for RTD2 and that Russel allows Jamie a chance at being the future show runner!
Possibly, but "this person has written the best episodes of the past few series so they should run the whole show" is exactly how we got Moffat. Maybe there should be some other criteria.
I'm never going to get over it. Kerblam was explicit about how automation means that the work doesn't need doing by humans, but the economic system stayed the same so the vast majority of people live in horrific poverty. And then the happy ending is that some more people will get to do the pointless drudgework that doesn't need doing. And the Doctor's just okay with that. I'm still mad about it. At the time I thought "They probably didn't mean that. It's probably just meant to be a twist that's gone horribly wrong." But it's festered over the years and become a deep wound in my soul. I just. How could they do that to Doctor Who? How?
If you read issac asavonovs robot series. A lot of the story is the fact the robots are putting people out of work. I. Robot is the short stories then the caves of steel starts the first era of the galactic empire.
“If any of you make fun of me for still being a Doctor Who fan in 2022 I will cry.” King I’m literally watching this wearing a shirt with John Simm’s Master’s face and the words ‘Vote Saxon’ on it you are preaching to the fucking choir here
When politically-charged stories are written well, it's often done in a way that a casual viewer doesn't even realise it's happening. A Conservative can find themselves agreeing with a more left-wing ideology because the story guides them to that conclusion. The reverse is also true. Doctor Who has invariably been left-wing and anti-establishment (until Chibnall who either completely missed the point of the show or intentionally undermined it), but due to the stories being allegorical and just subtle enough about it, it never alienated viewers. Chibnall Era who misses the mark to a hilarious degree. Everything is viewed as unambiguously good or bad, even when what is being presented as good is often dubious at best, and morally reprehensible at worst. But it very confidently preaches its message as blatantly as possible to the audience. A right-winger will likely watch this era and complain about the show being woke (even if it always was), and a left-winger will roll their eyes because of the shallowness of the politics involved. Yes, we know racism is bad. We know destroying the environment is bad. Yes, we know that letting a creature painfully suffocate to death is better than putting it out of its misery quickly and painlessly... wait what?
What you described IS the difference between progressive and woke. Progressive is the deep, nuanced, and intelligent handling of all of these concepts and societal issues etc. Woke is the lazy, shallow, insincere attempt at appearing progressive. Or just a braindead way of presenting a progressive take.
Conservative here. I have loved Doctor Who since my discovery of it starting with Eccleston. Seasons 11 and 12 have left a sour taste in my mouth, despite Jodie Whittaker being phenomenal, so I haven't watched Season 13 yet. I have loved Star Trek since I could walk, and have seen every series except Discovery. Picard Seasons 1 and 2 have left a similar sour taste in my mouth (thank goodness for Season 3, and now the wonders of SNW, Lower Decks, and Prodigy). I guess what I'm merely trying to say here is... I agree with you. These series, that have been so political from my view point, have been some of my favorite television of all time because they tell their stories in such a way as to be subtly allegorical using wild adventures as the backdrop. Often, the moral questions are actually difficult to answer with lots of nuance. When the stories are so on-the-nose, it's exhausting and off-putting. When the setting is modern day LA or London, and the big baddy is a Trump caricature or immigration control, there's no moral questions. It's just the writers' ranting on modern society. Lastly, the online discourse has gotten so polarizing that I feel like I'm not even welcome anymore in these circles. I want to watch the Doctor save the day traveling through time and space, not talk about the evils of capitalism set in the modern day. I want to see a future where social justice has won out so that diversity isn't even a topic because it's the default in society, not have it being the center of conversation repeatedly. For these opinions, I am told to bugger off. It's just... sad.
@@kerryhess3641 Centre-left myself (I previously just called myself left-wing but the goalposts moved while I didn't) and I get a similar situation. It's hard to have meaningful discourse and criticise the presentation of a progressive topic without being accused of opposing the topic itself. I personally didn't like Jodie in the role at all, but I always had to jump through hoops to avoid being called a misogynist for this take, when my reasoning is that I think she was simply miscast. I ended up skipping season 13 as well. Nuance and media literacy is unfortunately lost on the Internet these days. As are the days of people from the left and right side of the political spectrum engaging in civil discourse and debate without resorting to demonising the other side. Social media has made everyone political while simultaneously eroding the concept of politics as a spectrum.
Seeing morals as black and white is not a political issue. One would argue left wing ideological tend to do that more. The problem of seeing issues as either unambiguously good or bad is purely the writers flawed understanding of topics. Not the politics.
okay yes thank you i’m also a capaldi fan and one of the 6 people you mention who loved those seasons. i stopped watching when he left because i thought i “grew out” of liking it but in truth when i watched newer episodes it just didn’t feel the same as 10/11/12. this video explains why so well. also ur killing it on tiktok my guy
Glad to see someone say this, It's annoying to see this era try to tout itself as progressive while being far less political than the rest of the door show.
Ok, but remember that episode of the 13th doctor when they go back to the Partition of India and AT NO POINT they mention how this is caused by British imperialism and shit?
Very well done video. Hit the nail on the head with why S11 felt so bland in comparation to what came before, S10 was truly a masterpiece and its shocking its only just starting to get the praise it deserved.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems. Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
The Space Amazon episode left me so sickened I've literally not watched a second of Who since the night it aired and constantly feel... very weird about that fact.
Series 10 is underrated. The fact that it manages to basically put a bow on the season 1 to 10 run as a complete narrative at the same time is just... man, needs to be talked about more.
6:14 would just like to note: The actual statistic quoted in the show is "10% of workers need to be people" That means that *_at any given workplace,_* the workforce must be 10% human NOT that only 10% of the population are employed, as Charlie later states in the episode Just... Another issue with chiball's writing in this episode
I can't understand how a showrunner can also be a scriptwriter for it. The Showrunner is already a producer and script editor. He is therefore responsible for deciding if his scripts are in keeping with the tone of the show and any good in their own right. How the heck is that supposed to work?
I literally stopped watching Doctor Who for the first time since 2005 after Kerblam and didn't pick it back up until Power of the Doctor. I was already finding the Chris Chibnall era to be really boring in general, but the capitalist apologia and incoherent vilification of workers in Kerblam put me off of the rest of the era completely.
At this point I have watched more criticism on Chib nibb's era than the show itself, heck I have probably watched videos criticizing kerblam more than the actual era... That line really pisses me off every time I hear it "The systems aren't the problem, how people use and exploit the system that's the problem". I think what annoys me the most is how it sounds like it could be correct, coming from a good actress and someone as confident as the Doctor but it couldn't be any further from the truth. 13's run has just been a fucking masterclass on completely misunderstanding The Doctor. Like how she hates guns because ew gun or how letting something die slowly and painfully is better than quick and painless. So dumb.
@@chaserseven2886 That's strange you seem to be able to read yet you didn't read the whole part I wrote when talking about the Doctor and guns.... The Doctors hates guns yes the issue I have is *why* she hates guns. The Doctor has used guns before... yet 13 acts like guns are always bad. Like in 13s first season when one of her companions uses a gun to fight off robots... and apparently that is a bad thing? Because guns are bad. Cut to the countless times other companions people with the doctor have used guns. That isn't why the Doctor hates guns. That is a misunderstanding of a core characteristic of the doctor.
Kerblam didn’t need to be shut down and people didn’t need “better job prospects”, they needed UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME!!! like please??? The entire society doesn’t need anyone working, the jobs are clearly all automated and the only reason there are human employees are because of quotas. The solution was not restart capitalism, the only acceptable solution was to let all the humans go, let the automated warehouse run itself and institute a universal basic income.
I watched "The Sunmakers" again last night. It certainly stands the test of time. And before anyone mentions the tacky corridor sets, I've worked in places that make those sets look like Buckingham Palace.
Verity Lambert was angry enough about the idea of The Doctor working for the military. God knows what she would think about that dreadful "the systems are not the problem.." drivel.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems. Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
absolute facts were said in this episode. every time i had to hear the words "systems aren't the problem" i internally cringed so bad i think my soul went back to hell
I agree that saying that systems are never the problem is idiotic, but it's also necessary to remember that the system is not ALWAYS the problem. do you know what would happen to a company such as Kerblam in today's world? Today's system? The second any of this mess gets out, the company is going to get sued left and right and it's going to be driven to bankrupcy, probably completely closed due to so many violations that they would take a year to just recite. The upper management, that's a more complicated situation, since a company can't just pack up and run away but people can. Would you, then, blame Kerblam on "the evils of capitalism"? If the company does something illegal, it's not exactly the fault of the system that the company did that. The system is then simply obligated to bring consequences to the company. All of Europe's experience tells us: capitalism with social policies and proper regulations, aka social democracy, is the best system we know so far. Which, btw, is why I would never vote for conservatve right-wing. But also never vote for the communist party (which, yes, exists in the Czech Republic where I live.
@@quantumvideoscz2052piss off liberal. Companies do the things we saw in those episodes in the real world all the time. The biggest consequences they ever get for them are pointless fines. Remember Deepwater Horizon? The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Largest oil spill in history, caused enormous amounts of environmental damage and killed hundreds of thousands of animals, and resulted in horrendous health issues for untold number of people living in the area. … the total amount that BP had to pay in fines and clean up fees amounted to less that three months of the revenue that they were making at the time. That’s how the system (capitalism) works. The cost of doing the crime is less than the cost of avoiding/preventing the crime, and the only thing that businesses are interested in is money. The system is encouraging them to commit crimes against humanity/the environment.
@@quantumvideoscz2052 sorry to be the one to tell you this but there are plenty of kerblam's around today. the dawn of the internet and surveillance capitalism has only added to the concealment of exploitation, but it very much still exists, because of, and enabled by capitalism. every single social networking site has access to your data, and can manipulate it, if you just enable cookies or accept terms and conditions when creating an account. via your youtube account that you're using, google is monetising your data and profiling you. whether you are aware of it or not, the internet is a marketplace and you are treated as a commodity. this is the defining feature of the system. truly, I cannot stress enough how the internet is built to function exploitatively. your point about European social democracy is also flawed. most social democracies are built on imperialism, they're just as susceptible to economic crises as more libertarian forms of capitalism. workers are disproportionately taxpayers instead of capitalists, and wealth inequality remains and continues to grow. workers remain disenfranchised economically, regardless of the limited extent to which they are socially liberated. exploitation of workers abroad often finances the economy. they are typically completely or virtually disenfranchised, beyond imagination. being able to sue is complicated by this set-up, as borders and laws are complicated (this I'd like to highlight, is no coincidence and part of the exploitative nature of capitalism). not to mention that legal literacy is inaccessible to the working class, let alone the poor working class of colour outside of the western bubble. many people have no other option but to work in poor conditions. something can be legal and morally wrong. i don't mean to state the obvious, but I think it's important to make that clear. and the reverse is also true, laws can, and often do, target the marginalised under capitalism. also, I know that the Czech republic has an awful history with Soviet communism and colonisation, which I'll admit you're much better positioned to speak on than me, a Brit. Communism can be masqueraded by capitalism. Stalin, Mao, Putin, etc. a universal between Communist dictators is their clinging onto the notion of private property, of political power, of the capitalism entrenched inside their heads, manifest in totalitarianism. I think the evils of capitalism can be more shifty and subtle than the blatancy of Kerblam's allegory, and while I'd agree that social democracy functions better than other systems, it's by no means non-applicable to the metaphor of the episode.
@@quantumvideoscz2052 you mean like how Amazon has been shut down after people died in their warehouses and everyone else wasn't allowed to stop? or when FEDEX got shut down for refusing to install AC in their trucks, leading to several hospitalizations just last summer? That's not US exclusive either, workers collapse of exhaustion in amazon warehouses in Spain and their coworkers are not allowed to leave their positions to help or their contract won't be renewed. Capitalism is a disease, money is the only law in it.
A system that _can_ be exploited is a system that _will_ be exploited. And therefore, that avenues of exploitation exist within a given system _make the system _*_problematic._*
@@timewarpdrive77 for example in kablam the doctor sides with space Amazon and says shit like the system isn't broken people just abuse it And in spy fall part 2 she's racist
nice echo chamber, but has it filled up so much in there for you that you can't see other parts of show do a complete 180? We can play a blame game but, reality is the whole season is a mess.
I was literally just having this conversation with a friend the other day. Doctor Who has ALWAYS been political, tending to veer towards social justice. The Doctor is a defender of a humanity and a voice for those without one. The problem with the Chibnall era wasn't the actors, and even the concepts behind the stories weren't all bad, but the execution was very awkward. The Chibnall era is marked by a certain blandness that's really a disservice to the actors present. We see glimpses of it in the SpyMaster and his camp antics and being absolutely bleeding BONKERS, or in 13's more manic moments that will violently swing into her being very protective of her inner workings. But the social messages were both heavy handed and all over the freaking place. Nothing felt natural, and everything felt bland and forced and in a show as grandiose as Doctor Who, bland is almost worse than bad. There were things I greatly disliked about the Moffatt Era, mostly because the stories around Amy and Clara felt like he was converting all his Doctor Who fanfics into screenplays, but at least it made me feel something and it's because he was taking risks with the story, taking it to places it hadn't been before in an effort to push forward and change, and the moments it did work, it REALLY worked. Chibnall just played it bland and safe and it only really got good and engaging with Flux and the Power of the Doctor.
9th Dr: I will dismantle this entire news station don't think I won't 13: Amazon is good actually Scifi has always been used as a metaphor for social or political issues of the time. And sometimes it's done Badly.
What I will say in defence of this episode, the BBC and Amazon Prime were making Good Omens together, and that partnership would have taken place right around the time this episode would have been going into production or at least very close before. A lot of the shit political takes in this episodes do feel incredibly rushed and forced, so my personal belief was that this was originally very anti-Amazon and the BBC told them "make it less anti Amazon so we don't offend them" and this is all they could think to throw in. The anti-Amazon stuff feels a lot more thought out, a lot more based in reality, I worked for Amazon the same year that episode came out, and you would be surprised just how accurate a lot of that depiction was, take out the space robots and replace them with agency representatives in hi vi's and its scarily close. You don't get that close without either having experience with it or without putting incredible amounts of research into it. It's clear the anti-amazon stuff in the episode was deliberate. Then we get the bubble wrap guy and his motivations feeling kinda thrown in? That's my personal thought on why it went the way it did in that specific episode. The rest of the series is absolutely just his weird wishy-washy centrism tho, man has got to be the most lib-dem man in existence
I think Planet of the Ood is another great episode. The Doctor doesn’t even consider the ethics behind a slave race species when he first meets them, and essentially treats them like lost cargo in the Satan Pit. Then when Donna questions it, he says her clothes probably came from earth sweatshops, and she’s probably never questioned that either Then they look into why the Ood are rebelling, realise just how fucked up the organisation is, set the Ood free and shed no tears for the Capitalists who had the chance to stop, but didn’t want to lose their business It doesn’t shy away from the real-world allegories and unlike both Oxygen and Kerblam, The Doctor actually realises he’s complicit in an unethical system and decides to change it. In Oxygen he’s against it from the start, and in Kerblam she’s cool with it. But irl, people are complicit in unethical systems that they don’t think about every day. So the orb squid one is realistic
I think you've explained why I hate Chibnall's shows very well. I've often maintained that it was not Jodie Whittaker's fault. The characterisation was off and her companions were cardboard boxes, I mean Yaz wasn't so bad but I could never believe she was a policewoman. The doctor comes from another planet, much as they love earth, it's hard to hear them talk about isms in any terms other than weird earth customs they never really got their head around. Consistency of character is important. Suddenly the doctor turns into a well-meaning schoolteacher. Just no.
This video is so much better than your previous ones (causal watching-wise) the comedy really makes it flow better and the inclusion of facecam makes this much more personable 🥰
Seriously, I know The Sun Makers was written by a conservative, but it might have ended up being the most leftist story of the series. There are amazing political stories in the history of the show, and Kerblam! is an insult to not only all of them, but the bloody previous regeneration as well. Chibnall-era morals are shit, and so are is the Chibnall-era liberalism (look at Rosa if somehow Kerblam! doesn't convince you, it's disgraceful how he does politics), and it's nice to see someone talk about this aspect of the show's devolvement. Say what you will about RTD's writing, but he understands where the Doctor is ideologically, and I can only hope he has kept his understanding this past decade.
@just.a.little.nobodydontmi9350 The Rosa episode contained several factual errors. The actual event is well documented on many sites and is easily researched. The writing is heavy handed and the ending is basically a schools TV history lesson tacked on to the story. Compare the way that was done to the concise summary of how the First World War started at the end of Human Nature/Family of Blood. Also, the events in Montgomery were portrayed as being more significant to global history than they were. Few countries operated segregation in the way the USA did and racial conflicts in other countries were against social problems, attitudes and prejudices within those countries and their governments' apathy to or tacit approval of them rather than specific legislation. The story implied that black people who protested in Europe and Africa wouldn't have done so without an American to show them the way, and made a very complicated situation seem very simple. And the dialogue was really poor. Ryan's repeated use of Dr King's full name when addressing him, for example, was ludicrous.
@@just.a.little.nobodydontmi9350 Perhaps I don't understand UK politics... But you're surprised that the conservative is criticizing big-government authoritarianism? The Sun Makers is about excessive taxation being bad, which is the opposite of the socialist policies that Labour typically represents. (Though both parties seem to have the same policies these days.)
really well put dude!! there's a lot about the 13 era i do like (i think whittaker's very talented, she's just given shit to work with), but it always gets held back for me because they never actually commit to anything--politics wise, characterization wise, relationships wise, etc. I loved series ten so much because it had stuff to say, and it said it. also, tangentially, seeing bill being a brilliant and funny and competent openly gay woman helped me so so so much when i was coming to terms with my sexuality, and i just don't feel the same with the wishy-washy (haha) "representation" in the chibnall era. my theory is that the chibnall era is built to be as profitable to as many people as possible. they'll make the doctor a woman, to satisfy the feminists, but then make the show so centrist that others will keep watching. we'll make a side character gay, but then immediately kill them off. we'll make a companion gay, but not until her third to last episode. hell, even thirteen's outfit! iirc originally, whittaker said she'd wanted a costume that would be easy to cosplay. but if you look at her now, she looks like she was built to be an action figure. it's just... very exhausting. i hope rtd makes this show as gay and trans and leftist as he possibly can. (this got long, i'm sorry! anyway. great video, hope you talk more about dr who in the future!)
I wrote a dissertation on feminism in classic Who for my MRes. Comparing the state of feminism in the country to the portrayal of women at the time in the series. It was my way of reducing the amount of research I'd have to do in order to negate the effect of some longterm health problems. That was in 2010. A couple of my essays in the run up involved socialist analysis of the series vs. capitalist and other frameworks. As an academic and an avid fan from the age of 3 I never thought I'd see the day when the Doctor became a pro-capitalist apologist. Pro-establisment wasn't uncommon and for the third Doctor it was almost a way of life but even then he railed against corporate greed and beauracratic apathy. Yet another reason to despise the Chibnall era though my main gripes are still the unseen destruction of Gallifrey with a stroke of his pen followed by the insistence that we shouldn't care because the Doctor was never really from there.
If they're shutting the factory down for a month but only giving out 2 weeks of paid leave, does that mean that the workers are getting a total of 2 weeks pay over slightly more than 4 weeks time? If basically everybody is one missed payday away from starving then they've now put everybody exactly at that point. That discrepancy only makes the workers more desperate and as such more exploitable.
12:35 IIRC wasn’t the absorbaloth designed by a child fan and put into the show. If so then yes I love the absorbaloth just for how stoked that kid must of felt seeing their creation on screen
If Doctor Who history has taught me anything, it's that the Best is ALWAYS followed by the Worst. Earthshock? Time Flight. Caves of Androzani? Twin Dilemma. Heaven Sent? Hell Bent. Peter Capaldi? Jodie Whitaker.
You know, 2 weeks' paid leave while their workplace is shut down for more than twice that time is probably going to kill them. It's like the remains of East India Company was reborn with some of the Amazon infrastructure and was like, "How hard can we exploit people within this age of space travel?" the EIC part suggests "We can take over a planet and make the populous only work for us," and then the Amazon part says "and we make them all work really dull jobs in the warehouse!" That is what the company Kerblam is like. Edit: I'm so glad you got a sponsorship from the Zarbi.
I disagree with the notion that Kerblam works. I mean, I don’t understand any of the decisions that Kerblam (the company) makes. Like, the only reason they have human employees is because they have to by law. I mean, why do they actually give them something to do? Why not just have them sign in and out? Also the law states that 10% of the workforce have to be human, how do you count how many non-human employees you have? Why does their solution include introducing more humans to the company? Surly Kerblam would try to use the incident as an excuse to lobby against the 10% quota while actively trying to remove human workers’ access to the fulfillment process…
On the last day of Chibnall's rule I return here to bash my head against explosive bubble wrap for the last time. Please don't stop making videos! Very entertaining and love your attitude!
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems. Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
Another good comparison to kablam is the sunmakers (Tom Baker) where the doctor gos to pluto (which has been turned into mining colony, won't say why or how as its the main hook of the opisode) he starts a general strike before breaking into the leaders Palace and declaring on television that "the peoples revolution has come", I haven't spoiled much so go watch it if u haven't already its one of my favourite stories in dw
13:30 literally cheering and pumping my fists to see someone else acknowledge that Jamie Mathieson absolutely fucking WHIPS and wrote pretty much all the best stories the Capaldi era has to offer you're so fucking right for that thank you
I watched Season 10 on broadcast, and I agree - it is one of the strongest seasons. Chibnall's Who was lacking in so many ways, but absolutely in the treatment of the Doctor and the general 'it'll do' attitude that seemed to permeate from the writing to the performances. Time Flight and Timelash are The Caves of Androzani by comparison!
Finally someone who gets it. I have been watching New Who since the start. I got hooked along with my son back when Eccleston first put on the black leather jacket. Since Chibnal taking over I have had the feeling that the god awful jacket Whittaker bounds around in is missing a big fat pointless Lib Dem rosette on its lapel. Nicely done young man.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems. Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
If you feel like that, now extrapolate to "some" other family men like me and of course I watched from 2005 onwards with my son, but less of Capaldi and lesser Whitaker. 🤔 😬
I'd never noticed just how bad that coat is until your comment. I was always too distracted by the pre-school TV presenter costume under it. Imagine 13 and 6 in the same show. "Rainbow" does "Who".
Glad I checked out this video. I haven't had any interest in Dr Who since about 5 episodes into the Chibnal Era. I had been excited about female doc. But he killed my love of the show. Hopefully my love can regenerate with him gone.
Immediate like for the "so if you saw the title of this video and thought I was just gonna rant for 2o minutes about how 'the saw agenda has ruined doctor who forever' then congradulations you've been click baited! Now go away." Hell yeah.
It's funny that somebody who loves Classic Who as much as Chibnall does, never seemed to actually understand what Classic Who was trying to say (see: retreading 3's Silurian story but with 11, the Sontaran/Sea Devil redesigns in Flux, undoing Missy's character development and bringing back the Master's shrink ray, adapting the Cartmel Masterplan, the Classic companion/multi-Doctor fan-fest that overshadowed Jodies regeneration)
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems. Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
I have watched two of your videos and I think you are already my favourite TH-camr. The moment I get a notification saying you have posted another doctor who video, will be a very happy day
I cannot believe a) I apparently did not process that speech at the end of Kerblam because holy fucking shit WHAT, and b) you're actually making me want to rewatch series 10 which I haven't seen since airing and literally don't remember at all. Do I have a vendetta against Moffat? Yes! But now I'm CURIOUS. Also yes I do like ten and rose and yes I do unironically adore Fear Her as an episode, do not come for me
I love how people use the worthless term "woke" to criticise this era when in reality, it's got to be the least "woke" era of them all (relative to the time period it aired in, of course). No other Doctor Who era has ever had the sheer brain necrosis required to go "capitalism good".
I feel bad that I can't recall much of Capaldi's time as the doctor. There were some writing aspects from the Clara era that just made me not a fan overall. Also people saying that the show is too political "now" is like when people tell punk bands to "stick to music" lol I appreciate the insight created through a video discussing this. I agree that not enough cover this specific aspect, though there was a long af video I watched basically highlighting how 13's episodes tried to copy older episodes' pacing and jokes etc and fell flat because of lack of character depth and the like. It's not the same topic as yours but the same points were kind of made: trying to bring something to light while missing the actual point; in this case the point was who was actually the bad guy
In fact we've literally had episodes where the doctor was dissatisfied with how the people in power made choices in the end. Sometimes they were resolved (like with Harriet Jones) but others were subtler (like when Capaldi's doctor said something like "maybe not all of the good ones survived" in the episode where they were covering graffiti and the aliens were in 2D space). Even in situations where they can't / don't do anything, they still made a point of correctly stating who was wrong
It's very interesting to see a young man like you talking about doctor who stuff from when I was a little tot, I mean, I was like 4 when I watched "the brain of morbius" and that scene of the brain falling to the floor still haunts me to this day! Lol Cheers
@@Benjiesbeenbetter. Yeah I thought so... How old were you when you saw that? 😅 Poor Condo. I was shocked when he found out where his missing hand was 😳😬
@misterlau5246 I was 11. There was a big fuss over the blood shown when Condo got shot. It was the rule at the time that when anyone got killed on the series, no blood would be seen. Yes, poor guy.
Good writers teach good lessons AND give a good story, They make social issues and politics known whilst still keeping the viewer entertained. Chibnal is all politics and no fun
ngl hearing someone say "remember karli morgenthau" in a video from a year and a half ago REALLY messed up my perception of time. I am now acutely aware of my own mortality. Thanks a lot owen
Excellent and very entertaining throughout. I must confess I already completely agree with all your points of view on the politics, so I was primed, but I still want to genuinely thank you for making me aware of 'Oxygen', Series Ten of Dr W, and the quality of Peter Capaldi, which I clearly didn't recognise while it was available. Well done anyway. Top notch work.
i always thought the "make a complaint" line was meant in a bit of a joke, further emphasized by the fact six months after being dropped off at the head office, capitalism ended seemed to imply revolution
No mention of The Sun Makers and Colony in Space? Doctor Who has always been a critic of establishment in general relative to its time of production. That's why it is so sad to see it being so sycophant to it with the later stuff. What's the point of science fiction or works of art at all for that matter, if it doesn't get us to raise awareness, expand our minds and thinking, or just simply question things which we never would have before? Also Frontier in Space seems very relevant lately if you catch my drift.
It’s been a while since I’ve watched a video analysis on TH-cam and agreed with every single word (and view) said by the poster. Blimey, we even agree on Twelve being the best Doctor and season 10 one of the greatest seasons ever ((if not the greatest…). I’m glad I found this channel!
When the doctor was saying "the system is not the problem" I could actually feel her free will being overridden for the BBC to possess her body and speak through her.
Not completely wrong
You can see the ghost of Bezos decending to puppet her into saying that shit if you look hard enough
The Doctor defending a company who don't value human life is the biggest blasfemy i have ever seen.
You’d almost think JK broke into the writing room
@@chaserseven2886yes Wtf, what is wrong with you?
Not to mention the Doctor condemns Charlie for killing people to prove his point whilst defending the Kerblam system which... killed someone to prove its point to Charlie
my take for kerblam killing kira is that the system was still doing tests that charlie himself set up (thats why dan is taken by the kerblam men, because hes still testing for some reason) so I think the test would have happened regardless of kira due to charlie hacking the system, the system mearly picked someone close to charlie rather than just some other random person so that it would hopefully teach him a lesson
@@gallohalt Exactly. In fact it was specifically not supposed to pick her. It was fighting against him. Still bad.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who
maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems.
Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
Yeees, this. She was absolutely innocent and was not even in a relationship with him. This is when the companions should have started shouting at the Doctor, the reason the Doc keeps humans around. Instead they smile and nod.
@@gallohalt The Doctor literally says the system did it to teach him a lesson, and she cited that as a sign it has a conscience if I remember correctly. She admires it for it, and that's some chilling alien ethics that should have been acknowledged at least.
What got me in this episode was the Doctor's reaction to the packing girl's work ethic, treating her enthusiasm for doing work that is both soul crushing and pointless as the way all workers should see it. It's the classic "be grateful you have a job at all" shit that you'd think we'd be past after over a century of worker's rights movements fighting against it.
Oh no it still exists and it’s another reason despite my disabilities that I don’t work
Of course we are not past it. We are still being told this propaganda regularily to this day.
“Enjoy working as the fact that you got a job is your incentive to work that job” - how every communist assumes workers think
Well, who do you think cut your clothes?
Probably children from Bangladesh who got treated in the worst conditions.
Kerblam stopping Operations for a month while only paying their employees for two weeks is nasty. "Here's two weeks off with pay! Followed by two weeks of no pay so you can't survive! Insert evil laugh here! "
I didn't even notice rhat in Kablam, they shut down for a month and only offered 2 weeks paid leave, Holy shit. What are they supposed to do for those other 2 weeks? Find jobs on the planet with 90% unemployment?
The two weeks of unpaid is more so that the company can inform them of their two weeks leave... as in leaving the company.
There is still that 90% to re-exploit and have them sign back on. It doesn't matter if they treat their employees awful if they are the only company people can work for.
An entire planet monopoly ruled by a rich uncaring elite is considered the good ending in this awful season.
@@qwefg3
If there is a sole employer that technically is a monopsony. I'm only sharing because it is a fairly new word to me as well, but a monopsony is a market in which there is only one buyer, and since the product a worker sells is their labour, if there is but one employer there is only one buyer they can sell their labour to.
starve i guess. that's capitalism for you
@@ishathakor That's life. You don't work, you don't eat. Think it'll be any different under communism?
@markpostgate2551 I thought this must be a new term, but it's 90 years old. Very intetesting, thanks.
Recently I went through DW Fanshow of "Oxygen" (Interview of Jamie Mathieson) and I found these facts that can prove the importance of the show runner:
1. When Mathieson wrote the line of capitalism, he thought it would be edited out. He was surprised that "they" (show runner & executive producer etc.) kept it on screen.
2. Mathieson's first draft was just something like space zombies chasing the survivors. It was Moffat who left a note on his script: "What if the monster of this episode is in fact the suit, with corpse in it?" And then Mathieson rewrote the whole episode. I was actually surprised by this fact, since I thought "fighting the suit" fits so well in the theme of this episode that I presumed it was the starting point of Mathieson's script. It was actually Moffat who grasped the whole anti-capitalism idea of Mathieson, and pushed it out in a more expressive and concentrated way.
Maybe it was the thing that Chibnall was missing. He just doesn't have that insight to make Doctor Who as sharp as it used to be. It's just... lame.
That’s really interesting and a good insight.
Tbh that doesn’t surprise me. The best thing about Doctor Who - and most political tv - is that most of the politics involved revolve around a story, not a story revolving around politics, unless the show is purely political like Years and Years. Chibnall revolves his stories around politics and it’s so easy to see given that his ideologies don’t flow with the stories.
proving that Moffat isn't the Showrunner From Hell some are making him out to be. I wonder if there are more of these behind the scenes strokes of genius by Moffat about which we have no idea 🤔
@@yack916
I think he had too much on his plate. Which makes me wonder: can any showrunner be good? Moffat is clearly intelligent, writes witty dialogue, is an out of the bix thinker, and is conscientious about story crafting when he has time to invest in it - and he is still producing masterpieces during his tenure - Heaven Sent and World Enough and Time to name but two, but the fact that even he kind of screws up being a showrunner makes me think the showrunner model is wrong!
@@markpostgate2551 I do sometimes wonder if maybe separating the job into producer and script editor again might actually work better than the combined job of a showrunner, for the exact reason you mentioned
The thing that blew my mind about “Kerblam!” (no dad joke intended) was how the “two weeks paid leave” line came right after the “we’re shutting down our operations for a month.”
Like, there’s one reading of that line where the two weeks paid leave are now a benefit for future employees to take at their leisure, which… bare minimum, right? Especially after everything, it’s the absolute least they could do, but it’s a start. It’s a “start” in the same way that standing up and saying “I will now do the dishes!” is technically a start, but it’s a start.
There’s another reading, though, which is the mind-blowing one. They shut down the plant for the month, and gave everyone two weeks paid leave. So, basically, it’s “we’ll be depriving you of your only source of income for two weeks instead of four!” If that’s the case (and - mind you - there is zero compensation, training, or any other discussion about what employees should do while the plant is closed.) It’s an idea you can only think is good if you’ve never worked paycheck-to-paycheck, like most of their human workers clearly do.
Right?? My immediate thought was “so you’re only paying your workers for 2 of the 4 weeks they’re being stood down from work? And that’s supposed to be a good thing??”
@@liesbeneathoureyes They're always going to tilt it in their favor. :P Can't believe it's a "resolution" to a Doctor Who episode.
@CooP-dg7kywhat? The teachers are salary. They’re paid regardless. What you talkin bout?
@CooP-dg7kyhave you ever worked a job in your life? Not being able to get paid for work for 2 weeks is a big deal.
My factory closes 2 weeks for Christmas and new years, but it’s paid vacation. There would be talks of unionization if they demanded 2 weeks unpaid.
Yes. My workplace (which is quite large and covers the full range of blue-grey-white collar) shuts down between X-mass and new year. But we still get paid, and it isn't deducted from our accrued leave, either.
Dude, I wrote a 20ish page paper criticizing Chibnall's politics during his DW run (where I briefly compared Kerblam and Oxygen) for my graduate writing assessment in college so I've spent this entire video nodding so hard my neck hurts! Great one!!!
Also Capaldi absolutely IS the best doctor and series 10 is likely the best dw's ever seen. You get it
When I started reading your comment, I thought you were going to say you'd sent it to the BBC or the Radio Times!
I hope you got a good tesult from all that work.
Wait would this article be publicly available somewhere? Because I would love to read it
@@neifert7same!
Do you have it posted anywhere?
my jaw DROPPED when i watched kerblam! because i was so shocked at how utterly bought and paid for it was. even before the nightmare of an ending you know it's going to be depraved because of the way 13 talks about how cute and wonderful the brand is instead of immediately seeing through its marketing tactics and to the exploitation at its heart (as you could expect most any other doctor to do), but i also remember being so baffled at the way that the show treats the only possible antidotes to 90% unemployment and epidemic poverty as either 'more employment' (the good choice) or 'kill all humans' (the bad choice). like, nobody here can seriously think of another option?? nothing at all comes to mind???
Me, for all of three seconds: "Amazon? The Doctor's going to take down space Amazon?"
Me the rest of the episode: *squints suspiciously*
@@fibanocci314even better, the doctor is going to shill for amazon
It was so gross how they paint Charlie as being some incredibly misguided activist. It just felt so "aren't those liberal kids so stupid with their whole 'abolish the system' thing? Just straw-manning the fuck out of any opposition to capitalism.
it's wild because right off the bat you can just TELL this is out of character for the doctor. i can so easily imagine literally any other doctor getting that message and walking into kerblam and looking around suspiciously and treating all the exces with either suspicion or outright hostility. and jodie's doctor looks like she's at freaking disneyland. it's a WAREHOUSE. it's so goddamn out of character i'm convinced no one involved in the production of that episode has watched the show
It’s interesting, because if you wanted to draw another parallel, you could look at how the 12th doctor handles Bonnie in the zygon 2 parter. Bonnie’s rebellion is a grab bag of tropes, ideologies, and imagery taken from different “revolutionaries” and “terrorists” all across the political spectrum. But rather than dismissing her the way 13 dismisses the terrorists in kerblam, the doctor empathizes with her as “a troublemaker” like him, and lets her keep her memories in the negotiation while Kate stays in the dark. The 2 parter as a whole is hardly “leftist”, doling out a pretty traditional “why can’t we all get along” philosophy that easily aligns with liberalism. But its actual commitment to its anti-war rhetoric, and in general just genuinely great script, still has that anti-authoritarian flair that defines so much of the best Dr. Who
The Zygon Inversion was the first time I saw Peter Capaldi as a legitimate Doctor. In Season 8, I felt like I was watching the Valeyard (seriously, watch Michael Jayston gaslight Colin Baker in Trial of a Time Lord and tell me Capaldi wasn't like that), which would have been brilliant if not for the fact that the Valeyard clearly wasn't meant to be part of the story. In Season 9, I could sense Capaldi desperately scrambling to repair the Doctor after he fucked him up in his first season. Thing is, on paper, the 13th Doctor (yes, Capaldi's the 13th, not the 12th) could have been the greatest incarnation, PERIOD. The "Am I a good man?" story arc was very well written and if Sir John Hurt had been handling it, he would have played it like a man who's genuinely questioning himself, not a sociopathic misanthrope who's trying to validate his shitty behaviour. Heck, Hurt would even have delivered those mean spirited jabs towards Clara like they were an inside joke between them due to the fact that, through her echoes, Clara has technically been with the Doctor since William Hartnell's era. Capaldi delivered them like a jealous ex-boyfriend who wants Clara to feel like she's not good enough for another man. He could have handled Day of the Doctor but Hurt would have been much better as 13.
By the time the Zygon 2 parter arrived, I was only watching Doctor Who because I cared so much about Clara. When the Doctor finally showed up with his admittedly awesome anti-war speech, I wasn't in a "Yay, the Doctor is back!" state of mind. I was in a "Where the fuck have you been for the last 21 episodes?" state of mind.
@@tomnorton4277 i dont like Capaldi's mean remarks that much either and think they could be better done, mostly because they feel like Moffat desperately screaming at the viwer in hopes the "Am I a Good Man?" arc became as obvious as possible. But even then i think its a bit disingenuous to not take in consideration that in series 9 one of the big themes was how their relationshio was toxic and that they needed to either change it or end it.
@@newave3270 I know Clara and the Doctor's relationship became toxic. John Hurt could have handled the same story arc without being an asshole though. For example, if Hurt was doing the scene where the Doctor vented about Clara betraying him, he would have delivered it with quiet disappointment, not self-righteous rage.
@@tomnorton4277 Did you just say that Capaldi fucked The Doctor up then scramble around to fix him? What are you on? Ketamine!?!?!
Peter Capaldi is nothing short of mesmerising. Heaven Sent is one of the most amazing pieces of TV or film ever. He never fucked him up.
@@tomnorton4277 you’re entitled to your opinion but i heavily disagree. the doctor showing negative character traits such as ugly, hard to look at anger is what makes him interesting to me. ten is most compelling when’s he’s selfish and arrogant and throwing a tantrum, and twelve is MADE interesting by his somewhat cruel personality melting into a mellower one. i think it’s expressed perfectly that his rough exterior is an act too. if he was nice all the time and didn’t get pissed that clara betrayed him, he wouldn’t be very interesting at all.
One correction: I don't think it was said anywhere that the planet in Kerblam had 90% unemployment. Early in the episode they said that the law was that 10% of workers have to be actual people, and then later the villain says "10% of people get to work" because he obviously doesn't understand his own plot
Yeah, the number of unemployed may be higher, but with the individual robots, it probably still is a large number of people.
it really sucks for jodi because she is such a good actor! I wish she was given better stuff to work with.
I can almost see her soul. Leave her body for that speech.😅
This failure of a Doctor is not her fault by any means.
I was hoping she'd reuse the third Doctor's Venusian karate and kick some ass, that would have helped undercut the whole 'too woke' narrative that started before her first episode even aired... :)
But alas, it was not to be...
That’s like saying Brie Larson is a good actress. She knew what the material was and accepted it, because she wanted to clout over the quality.
@@na5794that's not how show casting or contracts work.
for the former, she doesn't get to read the script for the entire series, she gets bits and pieces, basic themes ect. and they have no obligation or reason to be specific until they choose her for the role.
for the latter, we have no idea what her contract was, she may not have been able to end her run after one season. In fact considering how things went with the 9th doctor I'm guessing the BBC is pretty careful about getting contracts beneficial for them nowadays.
Besides it is good for her career either way. It's one of the biggest roles she's been in so it's a no brainer unless there's massive red flags before you've signed anything, which I highly doubt was the case.
"Imagine if the 10th Doctor just set up a 'clap for the cat nurses' thing every Friday morning instead of solving the fundamental issue of using the Flesh. That would have made the episode so much better"
- Chris Chibnall 2020 (Real)
I always thought the issue of the flesh was a bit strange, like, the real issue is just that they were wrong about them not having a real mind: if they were correct then there really wouldn't be any issue.
Not that it's not a very enjoyable episode, but I feel like the premise isn't really as deep as it makes itself out to be.
The issue with rhe flesh for me was that the doctor went to the flesh factory place to find out if the flesh was sentient or not but that didn't seem to effect the way he treated them in the finale at all.
@patrickking3124 I think they're talking about the Flesh from series 2, the people grown in tubes for the purposes of being ill all the time, rather than the Rebel Flesh, which was a story that mostly worked by itself, but not in the context of the rest of the series which seemed to throw away the whole moral of the story.
Ironically, though, for however much people moan about Chibnall's writing, I thought the flesh was just a weak clone of one of Chibnall's own stories, the Hungry Earth two-partner.
I actually don't mind a lot of Chibnall's stories, but like with Moffat, I'm not sure he was the best idea for a showrunner. But I guess that's generally considered a hot take because people on the internet don't have much of an opinion on anything between all the way bad, all the way good or all the way mid when it comes to an individual.
@sp00ky_guy the point is that they turned a blind eye to the issue out of convenience. It took the doctor a couple of hours to figure out that the flesh were sentient. The
@sp00ky_guy the point is that they turned a blind eye to the issue out of convenience. It took the doctor a couple of hours to figure out that the flesh were sentient. The
7:19 is a point worth stressing. Since Doctor Who is political it is important that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Good sci-fi asks tough and uncomfortable questions, but doesn't get dogmatic with answers either. It hypothesizes a demonstrative model for examination.
This. So much this.
The show used to outline questions, show the doctors own solution but never state if he was right or wrong. Only show it.
Chibnall asks a question, doesnt wait for an answer but GIVES the answer, says its correct and slaps you in the face if you disagree.
Mind you, the trailer for Jodie's Doctor was, 'glass ceiling gets broken, Jodie's all "oops" and the ad all but nudges you in the ribs being all, "Geddit! Geddit ya geddit ha ha ya geddit doncha? Doncha geddit?"
Oxygen is definitely a great story and Series 10 was utterly underestimated. I tried to forget what happened in 13 era, but watching this video remind me her speech in Kablam and I got angry again (thanks a lot). That's not the doctor I knew.
Great video and a rather neglected point of view. I would love to hear you talking more about Doctor Who.
The Monk trilogy ruined a lot of series 10. 3 part story - first episode really promising, and then it proceeds to get worse and worse until the last episode makes it all feel like a waste of time. If they are going to do a three part story invest time in crafting the third part or you retrospectively harm the two previous episodes. There are other bad episodes in series 10 but the last part of the Monk trilogy inflicts the most damage because it effectively ruined three episodes.
@markpostgate2551 Since RTD's first turn, I've felt that the series often ruins good stories with rushed, unsatisfactory endings. A bad anding makes a bad story, I don't care how good it was at the start. Nobody watches ¾ of a story then is content to have it all turn to crap.
For an era which initially caught a lot of flak for being political (dr is a woman, poc exist,) it really was the least ideologically sensible of them all. Truly a Liberal moment of painting pride flags (yaz and the doctor's almost-relationship, for instance) on a missile (any stab at a political dialogue outside of the most bland approach possible, like arachnids in the UK)
It's "paint by numbers" and box ticking politics. It seems like it's separate to the story but not actually part of what's going on. If that makes sense.
There's politics of appeal and politics of critique. That era existed only to appeal, not to say anything of its own. Just saying stuff like "women exist, poc exist, queer people exist (but you don't get to see them actually be explicitly queer)" might have been saying something in the '50s, but not anymore.
No one is expecting Doctor Who to have the most high minded, complex and fleshed out political critiques but it has proven it can do far better than simply showing women, poc and (kinda, not really) queer people existing and waiting for applause.
I personally was most frustrated with how painfully overt the politics was. It's like Doctor Who put on a suit made of "The Right Ideas" and pranced around singing a song about how great it is. It feels self-congratulatory.
I just watched an episode of Star Trek TNG about the Enterprise encountering an old version of itself magically zapped out of a conflict. Because it was zapped out of this conflict it changed the timeline and a massive war had broken out between the Klingons and the Humans killing billions. Sending the old Enterprise back to the past would probably put the timeline back to normal but would certainly result in the entire crew and the ship being *very* destroyed. The episode plays with utilitariansm as Picard weighs the potential undoing of billions of deaths with the certain deaths of a hundred or so. The episode tries to make it clear that both options are bad but that ultimately the opportunity to save billions is just too much to pass up.
It's pretty clear what the episode was playing with but it never felt like it was patting itself or the characters on the back for having such a good idea. Picard just makes the call and that's it. The Doctor Who writers just couldn't do that. It always felt like they were gloating because they're on "the right side".
Yaz's arc felt so incredibly "slap some diversity on it" to me. Yes, she's a cop, but she's *flips through notes* Muslin and uh *squints* gay! It just felt like some shit Disney would do, like in that movie "Onward" with Chris Pratt where that one cop is a lesbian (alluded to in one line) played by a black woman. Not to mention Ryan trying to open up about being racially profiled by cops in "Rosa" and Yaz's response was literally "not me though."
I hate it to an additional level, because The Doctor's *_ENTIRE_* concept is the only way to tactfully perform a race/gender swapped character!
Keep the core traits the same, keeping the character recognizable, but change other aspects to make them a notably different character from the original. That prevents the swap from being a lazy, purposeless choice.
And somehow, in the series literally built for that, Chris Chibnall messed it up.
"Jamie Mathieson should have been showrunner" - Never has there been a more correct take! It was a crime Chibs was chosen over Jamie, especailly when Jamie had already established plot points in the previous series that could have been the back bone for over arching plots. We can only hope that Jamie returns for RTD2 and that Russel allows Jamie a chance at being the future show runner!
I want to see the Minister of War!!
Rumor is he's a massive jackass, at least during conventions. That and his lack of showrunning experience is probably what killed his chances.
@@prof.evilpictures8696 Same but that was Toby Whithouse
Possibly, but "this person has written the best episodes of the past few series so they should run the whole show" is exactly how we got Moffat. Maybe there should be some other criteria.
@@Dracinard Moffat continued to prove he was good though.
I'm never going to get over it. Kerblam was explicit about how automation means that the work doesn't need doing by humans, but the economic system stayed the same so the vast majority of people live in horrific poverty. And then the happy ending is that some more people will get to do the pointless drudgework that doesn't need doing. And the Doctor's just okay with that. I'm still mad about it. At the time I thought "They probably didn't mean that. It's probably just meant to be a twist that's gone horribly wrong." But it's festered over the years and become a deep wound in my soul. I just. How could they do that to Doctor Who? How?
the words you use to describe Your betrayal is exactly how I feel about how to train your dragon three 😢 well said.
If you read issac asavonovs robot series. A lot of the story is the fact the robots are putting people out of work. I. Robot is the short stories then the caves of steel starts the first era of the galactic empire.
The first story that coined the word "robot" had that as the entire problem, Rossum's Universal Robots in 1927.
I would _LOVE_ if a new showrunner went back to kerblam and showed how the doctor only made the problem worse, if she did anything at all
It's nothing but a bad dream that is still going on, but maybe the next actor/writers team will wake us up and bring back the real Doctor...
“If any of you make fun of me for still being a Doctor Who fan in 2022 I will cry.” King I’m literally watching this wearing a shirt with John Simm’s Master’s face and the words ‘Vote Saxon’ on it you are preaching to the fucking choir here
There’s always Big Finish. They’ve been keeping me and many, many fans going since 2018.
Cool shirt
When politically-charged stories are written well, it's often done in a way that a casual viewer doesn't even realise it's happening. A Conservative can find themselves agreeing with a more left-wing ideology because the story guides them to that conclusion. The reverse is also true. Doctor Who has invariably been left-wing and anti-establishment (until Chibnall who either completely missed the point of the show or intentionally undermined it), but due to the stories being allegorical and just subtle enough about it, it never alienated viewers.
Chibnall Era who misses the mark to a hilarious degree. Everything is viewed as unambiguously good or bad, even when what is being presented as good is often dubious at best, and morally reprehensible at worst. But it very confidently preaches its message as blatantly as possible to the audience. A right-winger will likely watch this era and complain about the show being woke (even if it always was), and a left-winger will roll their eyes because of the shallowness of the politics involved. Yes, we know racism is bad. We know destroying the environment is bad. Yes, we know that letting a creature painfully suffocate to death is better than putting it out of its misery quickly and painlessly... wait what?
What you described IS the difference between progressive and woke. Progressive is the deep, nuanced, and intelligent handling of all of these concepts and societal issues etc. Woke is the lazy, shallow, insincere attempt at appearing progressive. Or just a braindead way of presenting a progressive take.
@@quantumvideoscz2052 honestly, that is the best way of describing woke I've heard. Well put
Conservative here. I have loved Doctor Who since my discovery of it starting with Eccleston. Seasons 11 and 12 have left a sour taste in my mouth, despite Jodie Whittaker being phenomenal, so I haven't watched Season 13 yet. I have loved Star Trek since I could walk, and have seen every series except Discovery. Picard Seasons 1 and 2 have left a similar sour taste in my mouth (thank goodness for Season 3, and now the wonders of SNW, Lower Decks, and Prodigy).
I guess what I'm merely trying to say here is... I agree with you. These series, that have been so political from my view point, have been some of my favorite television of all time because they tell their stories in such a way as to be subtly allegorical using wild adventures as the backdrop. Often, the moral questions are actually difficult to answer with lots of nuance. When the stories are so on-the-nose, it's exhausting and off-putting. When the setting is modern day LA or London, and the big baddy is a Trump caricature or immigration control, there's no moral questions. It's just the writers' ranting on modern society.
Lastly, the online discourse has gotten so polarizing that I feel like I'm not even welcome anymore in these circles. I want to watch the Doctor save the day traveling through time and space, not talk about the evils of capitalism set in the modern day. I want to see a future where social justice has won out so that diversity isn't even a topic because it's the default in society, not have it being the center of conversation repeatedly. For these opinions, I am told to bugger off. It's just... sad.
@@kerryhess3641 Centre-left myself (I previously just called myself left-wing but the goalposts moved while I didn't) and I get a similar situation. It's hard to have meaningful discourse and criticise the presentation of a progressive topic without being accused of opposing the topic itself.
I personally didn't like Jodie in the role at all, but I always had to jump through hoops to avoid being called a misogynist for this take, when my reasoning is that I think she was simply miscast. I ended up skipping season 13 as well.
Nuance and media literacy is unfortunately lost on the Internet these days. As are the days of people from the left and right side of the political spectrum engaging in civil discourse and debate without resorting to demonising the other side. Social media has made everyone political while simultaneously eroding the concept of politics as a spectrum.
Seeing morals as black and white is not a political issue. One would argue left wing ideological tend to do that more. The problem of seeing issues as either unambiguously good or bad is purely the writers flawed understanding of topics. Not the politics.
okay yes thank you i’m also a capaldi fan and one of the 6 people you mention who loved those seasons. i stopped watching when he left because i thought i “grew out” of liking it but in truth when i watched newer episodes it just didn’t feel the same as 10/11/12. this video explains why so well. also ur killing it on tiktok my guy
Same
Exactly!!!!!! Well said!
Glad to see someone say this, It's annoying to see this era try to tout itself as progressive while being far less political than the rest of the door
show.
it really was "that episode where the Doctor joins the Pinkerton detective agency"
Ok, but remember that episode of the 13th doctor when they go back to the Partition of India and AT NO POINT they mention how this is caused by British imperialism and shit?
Very well done video. Hit the nail on the head with why S11 felt so bland in comparation to what came before, S10 was truly a masterpiece and its shocking its only just starting to get the praise it deserved.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems.
Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
The Space Amazon episode left me so sickened I've literally not watched a second of Who since the night it aired and constantly feel... very weird about that fact.
Series 10 is underrated. The fact that it manages to basically put a bow on the season 1 to 10 run as a complete narrative at the same time is just... man, needs to be talked about more.
Yeah but it’s definitely not as good as this TH-camr described it
6:14 would just like to note:
The actual statistic quoted in the show is "10% of workers need to be people"
That means that *_at any given workplace,_* the workforce must be 10% human NOT that only 10% of the population are employed, as Charlie later states in the episode
Just... Another issue with chiball's writing in this episode
I can't understand how a showrunner can also be a scriptwriter for it. The Showrunner is already a producer and script editor. He is therefore responsible for deciding if his scripts are in keeping with the tone of the show and any good in their own right. How the heck is that supposed to work?
We went from The Sun Makers, where the Doctor led a workers' revolution to take down the corporation which owned Pluto, to this.
I literally stopped watching Doctor Who for the first time since 2005 after Kerblam and didn't pick it back up until Power of the Doctor. I was already finding the Chris Chibnall era to be really boring in general, but the capitalist apologia and incoherent vilification of workers in Kerblam put me off of the rest of the era completely.
Yeah, that’s basically what I did too. I think I tried one or two more episodes after Kerplam, but it became quickly clear that was the nail.
@@McKaySavageSadly, neither of you missed much....🙁
I’m currently watching through S11 now, I’m on the final episode of it, and I’m finding it REALLY hard to continue watching.
Yeah the best satire is when you have your main character monologue your politics directly to camera
At this point I have watched more criticism on Chib nibb's era than the show itself, heck I have probably watched videos criticizing kerblam more than the actual era...
That line really pisses me off every time I hear it "The systems aren't the problem, how people use and exploit the system that's the problem". I think what annoys me the most is how it sounds like it could be correct, coming from a good actress and someone as confident as the Doctor but it couldn't be any further from the truth.
13's run has just been a fucking masterclass on completely misunderstanding The Doctor. Like how she hates guns because ew gun or how letting something die slowly and painfully is better than quick and painless. So dumb.
lol the doctor always hated guns wtf are you talking about
@@chaserseven2886 That's strange you seem to be able to read yet you didn't read the whole part I wrote when talking about the Doctor and guns....
The Doctors hates guns yes the issue I have is *why* she hates guns. The Doctor has used guns before... yet 13 acts like guns are always bad. Like in 13s first season when one of her companions uses a gun to fight off robots... and apparently that is a bad thing? Because guns are bad. Cut to the countless times other companions people with the doctor have used guns.
That isn't why the Doctor hates guns. That is a misunderstanding of a core characteristic of the doctor.
Kerblam didn’t need to be shut down and people didn’t need “better job prospects”, they needed UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME!!! like please??? The entire society doesn’t need anyone working, the jobs are clearly all automated and the only reason there are human employees are because of quotas. The solution was not restart capitalism, the only acceptable solution was to let all the humans go, let the automated warehouse run itself and institute a universal basic income.
At this point a post scarcity utopia isn’t off the cards
I love Oxygen - I also adore "The Sunmakers" and think it's one of the best political stories of all time and it certainly doesn't sit on the fence...
I watched "The Sunmakers" again last night. It certainly stands the test of time.
And before anyone mentions the tacky corridor sets, I've worked in places that make those sets look like Buckingham Palace.
Verity Lambert was angry enough about the idea of The Doctor working for the military. God knows what she would think about that dreadful "the systems are not the problem.." drivel.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems.
Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
Thank god you started the way you did. I'm so sick of people not acknowledging that Doctor Who has already been political
Quite. There's a difference though between 'political messaging' and 'proselytism'.
absolute facts were said in this episode. every time i had to hear the words "systems aren't the problem" i internally cringed so bad i think my soul went back to hell
I agree that saying that systems are never the problem is idiotic, but it's also necessary to remember that the system is not ALWAYS the problem. do you know what would happen to a company such as Kerblam in today's world? Today's system? The second any of this mess gets out, the company is going to get sued left and right and it's going to be driven to bankrupcy, probably completely closed due to so many violations that they would take a year to just recite. The upper management, that's a more complicated situation, since a company can't just pack up and run away but people can.
Would you, then, blame Kerblam on "the evils of capitalism"? If the company does something illegal, it's not exactly the fault of the system that the company did that. The system is then simply obligated to bring consequences to the company.
All of Europe's experience tells us: capitalism with social policies and proper regulations, aka social democracy, is the best system we know so far.
Which, btw, is why I would never vote for conservatve right-wing. But also never vote for the communist party (which, yes, exists in the Czech Republic where I live.
@@quantumvideoscz2052piss off liberal. Companies do the things we saw in those episodes in the real world all the time. The biggest consequences they ever get for them are pointless fines.
Remember Deepwater Horizon? The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Largest oil spill in history, caused enormous amounts of environmental damage and killed hundreds of thousands of animals, and resulted in horrendous health issues for untold number of people living in the area. … the total amount that BP had to pay in fines and clean up fees amounted to less that three months of the revenue that they were making at the time.
That’s how the system (capitalism) works. The cost of doing the crime is less than the cost of avoiding/preventing the crime, and the only thing that businesses are interested in is money. The system is encouraging them to commit crimes against humanity/the environment.
@@quantumvideoscz2052 sorry to be the one to tell you this but there are plenty of kerblam's around today. the dawn of the internet and surveillance capitalism has only added to the concealment of exploitation, but it very much still exists, because of, and enabled by capitalism. every single social networking site has access to your data, and can manipulate it, if you just enable cookies or accept terms and conditions when creating an account. via your youtube account that you're using, google is monetising your data and profiling you. whether you are aware of it or not, the internet is a marketplace and you are treated as a commodity. this is the defining feature of the system. truly, I cannot stress enough how the internet is built to function exploitatively.
your point about European social democracy is also flawed. most social democracies are built on imperialism, they're just as susceptible to economic crises as more libertarian forms of capitalism. workers are disproportionately taxpayers instead of capitalists, and wealth inequality remains and continues to grow. workers remain disenfranchised economically, regardless of the limited extent to which they are socially liberated. exploitation of workers abroad often finances the economy. they are typically completely or virtually disenfranchised, beyond imagination. being able to sue is complicated by this set-up, as borders and laws are complicated (this I'd like to highlight, is no coincidence and part of the exploitative nature of capitalism). not to mention that legal literacy is inaccessible to the working class, let alone the poor working class of colour outside of the western bubble. many people have no other option but to work in poor conditions.
something can be legal and morally wrong. i don't mean to state the obvious, but I think it's important to make that clear. and the reverse is also true, laws can, and often do, target the marginalised under capitalism.
also, I know that the Czech republic has an awful history with Soviet communism and colonisation, which I'll admit you're much better positioned to speak on than me, a Brit. Communism can be masqueraded by capitalism. Stalin, Mao, Putin, etc. a universal between Communist dictators is their clinging onto the notion of private property, of political power, of the capitalism entrenched inside their heads, manifest in totalitarianism.
I think the evils of capitalism can be more shifty and subtle than the blatancy of Kerblam's allegory, and while I'd agree that social democracy functions better than other systems, it's by no means non-applicable to the metaphor of the episode.
@@quantumvideoscz2052 sorry edited for paragraphing
@@quantumvideoscz2052 you mean like how Amazon has been shut down after people died in their warehouses and everyone else wasn't allowed to stop? or when FEDEX got shut down for refusing to install AC in their trucks, leading to several hospitalizations just last summer?
That's not US exclusive either, workers collapse of exhaustion in amazon warehouses in Spain and their coworkers are not allowed to leave their positions to help or their contract won't be renewed.
Capitalism is a disease, money is the only law in it.
A system that _can_ be exploited is a system that _will_ be exploited. And therefore, that avenues of exploitation exist within a given system _make the system _*_problematic._*
When people complain that chibnall was too woke when it was the most right wing era of the show
💯
Huh?
@@timewarpdrive77 for example in kablam the doctor sides with space Amazon and says shit like the system isn't broken people just abuse it
And in spy fall part 2 she's racist
B-but it... er... it had a woman in it! HORRIFYING."
nice echo chamber, but has it filled up so much in there for you that you can't see other parts of show do a complete 180? We can play a blame game but, reality is the whole season is a mess.
I was literally just having this conversation with a friend the other day. Doctor Who has ALWAYS been political, tending to veer towards social justice. The Doctor is a defender of a humanity and a voice for those without one. The problem with the Chibnall era wasn't the actors, and even the concepts behind the stories weren't all bad, but the execution was very awkward. The Chibnall era is marked by a certain blandness that's really a disservice to the actors present. We see glimpses of it in the SpyMaster and his camp antics and being absolutely bleeding BONKERS, or in 13's more manic moments that will violently swing into her being very protective of her inner workings. But the social messages were both heavy handed and all over the freaking place. Nothing felt natural, and everything felt bland and forced and in a show as grandiose as Doctor Who, bland is almost worse than bad. There were things I greatly disliked about the Moffatt Era, mostly because the stories around Amy and Clara felt like he was converting all his Doctor Who fanfics into screenplays, but at least it made me feel something and it's because he was taking risks with the story, taking it to places it hadn't been before in an effort to push forward and change, and the moments it did work, it REALLY worked. Chibnall just played it bland and safe and it only really got good and engaging with Flux and the Power of the Doctor.
9th Dr: I will dismantle this entire news station don't think I won't
13: Amazon is good actually
Scifi has always been used as a metaphor for social or political issues of the time. And sometimes it's done Badly.
I will say I don't think it's just 13 that has this issue, I can't remember everything but im p sure Moffat had some similar issues
Have you ever watched The Fall of Doctor Who by Jay Exci? It's a 5 hour video essay on the newest seasons' issues.
if by “watched” you mean “have seen half of it and vowed to finish the whole thing some day” then yes
@@orowenyt I have never been a DW fan and I sat through all of it bcs it was pretty good
@@ViperOnRR that video made me start watching the show.
@@orowenyt Highly recommend it, I listened to it in the background whilst playing Minecraft
I have watched it three times 😂
What I will say in defence of this episode, the BBC and Amazon Prime were making Good Omens together, and that partnership would have taken place right around the time this episode would have been going into production or at least very close before. A lot of the shit political takes in this episodes do feel incredibly rushed and forced, so my personal belief was that this was originally very anti-Amazon and the BBC told them "make it less anti Amazon so we don't offend them" and this is all they could think to throw in. The anti-Amazon stuff feels a lot more thought out, a lot more based in reality, I worked for Amazon the same year that episode came out, and you would be surprised just how accurate a lot of that depiction was, take out the space robots and replace them with agency representatives in hi vi's and its scarily close. You don't get that close without either having experience with it or without putting incredible amounts of research into it. It's clear the anti-amazon stuff in the episode was deliberate. Then we get the bubble wrap guy and his motivations feeling kinda thrown in? That's my personal thought on why it went the way it did in that specific episode. The rest of the series is absolutely just his weird wishy-washy centrism tho, man has got to be the most lib-dem man in existence
I think Planet of the Ood is another great episode. The Doctor doesn’t even consider the ethics behind a slave race species when he first meets them, and essentially treats them like lost cargo in the Satan Pit. Then when Donna questions it, he says her clothes probably came from earth sweatshops, and she’s probably never questioned that either
Then they look into why the Ood are rebelling, realise just how fucked up the organisation is, set the Ood free and shed no tears for the Capitalists who had the chance to stop, but didn’t want to lose their business
It doesn’t shy away from the real-world allegories and unlike both Oxygen and Kerblam, The Doctor actually realises he’s complicit in an unethical system and decides to change it. In Oxygen he’s against it from the start, and in Kerblam she’s cool with it. But irl, people are complicit in unethical systems that they don’t think about every day. So the orb squid one is realistic
I think you've explained why I hate Chibnall's shows very well. I've often maintained that it was not Jodie Whittaker's fault. The characterisation was off and her companions were cardboard boxes, I mean Yaz wasn't so bad but I could never believe she was a policewoman. The doctor comes from another planet, much as they love earth, it's hard to hear them talk about isms in any terms other than weird earth customs they never really got their head around. Consistency of character is important. Suddenly the doctor turns into a well-meaning schoolteacher. Just no.
Another thing. Yaz is supposed to be 19. Like what the fuck? The actress is in her thirties. Yaz doesn't act at all like a 19 year old
you did get me with the fake audible read, I gasped.
im just saying that tenth and rose would have destroyed that place
On god
This video is so much better than your previous ones (causal watching-wise) the comedy really makes it flow better and the inclusion of facecam makes this much more personable 🥰
Seriously, I know The Sun Makers was written by a conservative, but it might have ended up being the most leftist story of the series. There are amazing political stories in the history of the show, and Kerblam! is an insult to not only all of them, but the bloody previous regeneration as well. Chibnall-era morals are shit, and so are is the Chibnall-era liberalism (look at Rosa if somehow Kerblam! doesn't convince you, it's disgraceful how he does politics), and it's nice to see someone talk about this aspect of the show's devolvement. Say what you will about RTD's writing, but he understands where the Doctor is ideologically, and I can only hope he has kept his understanding this past decade.
wait what the sun-makers was written by a tory?? the entire thing is so labour i loved it
and do explain about rosa, i'd be interested to hear what you mean
@just.a.little.nobodydontmi9350 The Rosa episode contained several factual errors. The actual event is well documented on many sites and is easily researched.
The writing is heavy handed and the ending is basically a schools TV history lesson tacked on to the story. Compare the way that was done to the concise summary of how the First World War started at the end of Human Nature/Family of Blood.
Also, the events in Montgomery were portrayed as being more significant to global history than they were. Few countries operated segregation in the way the USA did and racial conflicts in other countries were against social problems, attitudes and prejudices within those countries and their governments' apathy to or tacit approval of them rather than specific legislation. The story implied that black people who protested in Europe and Africa wouldn't have done so without an American to show them the way, and made a very complicated situation seem very simple.
And the dialogue was really poor. Ryan's repeated use of Dr King's full name when addressing him, for example, was ludicrous.
@@just.a.little.nobodydontmi9350 Perhaps I don't understand UK politics... But you're surprised that the conservative is criticizing big-government authoritarianism? The Sun Makers is about excessive taxation being bad, which is the opposite of the socialist policies that Labour typically represents. (Though both parties seem to have the same policies these days.)
@just.a.little.nobodydontmi9350
Keep in mind the villain is literally taxation.
really well put dude!! there's a lot about the 13 era i do like (i think whittaker's very talented, she's just given shit to work with), but it always gets held back for me because they never actually commit to anything--politics wise, characterization wise, relationships wise, etc. I loved series ten so much because it had stuff to say, and it said it. also, tangentially, seeing bill being a brilliant and funny and competent openly gay woman helped me so so so much when i was coming to terms with my sexuality, and i just don't feel the same with the wishy-washy (haha) "representation" in the chibnall era.
my theory is that the chibnall era is built to be as profitable to as many people as possible. they'll make the doctor a woman, to satisfy the feminists, but then make the show so centrist that others will keep watching. we'll make a side character gay, but then immediately kill them off. we'll make a companion gay, but not until her third to last episode. hell, even thirteen's outfit! iirc originally, whittaker said she'd wanted a costume that would be easy to cosplay. but if you look at her now, she looks like she was built to be an action figure. it's just... very exhausting. i hope rtd makes this show as gay and trans and leftist as he possibly can.
(this got long, i'm sorry! anyway. great video, hope you talk more about dr who in the future!)
I wrote a dissertation on feminism in classic Who for my MRes. Comparing the state of feminism in the country to the portrayal of women at the time in the series. It was my way of reducing the amount of research I'd have to do in order to negate the effect of some longterm health problems. That was in 2010. A couple of my essays in the run up involved socialist analysis of the series vs. capitalist and other frameworks. As an academic and an avid fan from the age of 3 I never thought I'd see the day when the Doctor became a pro-capitalist apologist. Pro-establisment wasn't uncommon and for the third Doctor it was almost a way of life but even then he railed against corporate greed and beauracratic apathy. Yet another reason to despise the Chibnall era though my main gripes are still the unseen destruction of Gallifrey with a stroke of his pen followed by the insistence that we shouldn't care because the Doctor was never really from there.
If they're shutting the factory down for a month but only giving out 2 weeks of paid leave, does that mean that the workers are getting a total of 2 weeks pay over slightly more than 4 weeks time? If basically everybody is one missed payday away from starving then they've now put everybody exactly at that point. That discrepancy only makes the workers more desperate and as such more exploitable.
Yaz saying that Rosa Parks is why she became a police officer is a perfect encapsulation of the terrible politics of this era.
And a surface read of that confession is that she wants to keep people oppressed.
12:35 IIRC wasn’t the absorbaloth designed by a child fan and put into the show. If so then yes I love the absorbaloth just for how stoked that kid must of felt seeing their creation on screen
Yes, and that kid has a youtube channel! It's called Channel Pup
Very well put, spot on analysis and criticism of a terribly backwards episode
If Doctor Who history has taught me anything, it's that the Best is ALWAYS followed by the Worst. Earthshock? Time Flight. Caves of Androzani? Twin Dilemma. Heaven Sent? Hell Bent. Peter Capaldi? Jodie Whitaker.
You know, 2 weeks' paid leave while their workplace is shut down for more than twice that time is probably going to kill them.
It's like the remains of East India Company was reborn with some of the Amazon infrastructure and was like, "How hard can we exploit people within this age of space travel?" the EIC part suggests "We can take over a planet and make the populous only work for us," and then the Amazon part says "and we make them all work really dull jobs in the warehouse!" That is what the company Kerblam is like.
Edit: I'm so glad you got a sponsorship from the Zarbi.
I disagree with the notion that Kerblam works. I mean, I don’t understand any of the decisions that Kerblam (the company) makes.
Like, the only reason they have human employees is because they have to by law. I mean, why do they actually give them something to do? Why not just have them sign in and out? Also the law states that 10% of the workforce have to be human, how do you count how many non-human employees you have? Why does their solution include introducing more humans to the company? Surly Kerblam would try to use the incident as an excuse to lobby against the 10% quota while actively trying to remove human workers’ access to the fulfillment process…
On the last day of Chibnall's rule I return here to bash my head against explosive bubble wrap for the last time.
Please don't stop making videos! Very entertaining and love your attitude!
Clicked on this sooooooo tentatively. Thank you for clearing up my concerns in the first 2 minutes so I could relax and enjoy the rest!
You cannot tell me to drink water and then follow that up with "I will make you watch me...cry" because I fully just choked on my water
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems.
Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
Another good comparison to kablam is the sunmakers (Tom Baker) where the doctor gos to pluto (which has been turned into mining colony, won't say why or how as its the main hook of the opisode) he starts a general strike before breaking into the leaders Palace and declaring on television that "the peoples revolution has come", I haven't spoiled much so go watch it if u haven't already its one of my favourite stories in dw
13:30 literally cheering and pumping my fists to see someone else acknowledge that Jamie Mathieson absolutely fucking WHIPS and wrote pretty much all the best stories the Capaldi era has to offer you're so fucking right for that thank you
This video is the kind of video where I'd want to put some of these quotes on a t-shirt
I watched Season 10 on broadcast, and I agree - it is one of the strongest seasons. Chibnall's Who was lacking in so many ways, but absolutely in the treatment of the Doctor and the general 'it'll do' attitude that seemed to permeate from the writing to the performances. Time Flight and Timelash are The Caves of Androzani by comparison!
Finally someone who gets it. I have been watching New Who since the start. I got hooked along with my son back when Eccleston first put on the black leather jacket.
Since Chibnal taking over I have had the feeling that the god awful jacket Whittaker bounds around in is missing a big fat pointless Lib Dem rosette on its lapel.
Nicely done young man.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems.
Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions,
and the IRS.
If you feel like that, now extrapolate to "some" other family men like me and of course I watched from 2005 onwards with my son, but less of Capaldi and lesser Whitaker. 🤔 😬
I'd never noticed just how bad that coat is until your comment. I was always too distracted by the pre-school TV presenter costume under it. Imagine 13 and 6 in the same show. "Rainbow" does "Who".
Glad I checked out this video. I haven't had any interest in Dr Who since about 5 episodes into the Chibnal Era. I had been excited about female doc. But he killed my love of the show. Hopefully my love can regenerate with him gone.
Immediate like for the "so if you saw the title of this video and thought I was just gonna rant for 2o minutes about how 'the saw agenda has ruined doctor who forever' then congradulations you've been click baited! Now go away." Hell yeah.
"capitalism in space"
I was so expecting the Tim Curry meme to play immediately afterward and then like
"SHIT"
This video is fantastic!
It's funny that somebody who loves Classic Who as much as Chibnall does, never seemed to actually understand what Classic Who was trying to say (see: retreading 3's Silurian story but with 11, the Sontaran/Sea Devil redesigns in Flux, undoing Missy's character development and bringing back the Master's shrink ray, adapting the Cartmel Masterplan, the Classic companion/multi-Doctor fan-fest that overshadowed Jodies regeneration)
Two things.
1) The cat Nurses are fricking awesome and I will fight... the urge to make a slightly caustic YT comment.
2) Excellent work.
Shut down Kerblam for a month? Two weeks pay? No union vote? Well that is pretty low for Dr Who outcomes.
I hope Oreugene wont mind if i spam-a-bit, cause i really want people to know that 'Some More News' shows it's not hopeless cause Doctor Who maybe doesnt but People do cover the Issues and tackle the Problems.
Great examples are his videos on Work, Unions, and the IRS.
God Capaldi is such a gem
That audible thing at the end really got me. Earned yourself a subscriber for that😂
That outro made me cackle. You genuinely did have me going, although to be fair this is the first video of yours I’ve watched.
"Making fun of me for being a Doctor Who fan in 2022"
Me watching in 2023: It only gets better
In 2024 it’s getting to be really fun again! Hopefully
I have watched two of your videos and I think you are already my favourite TH-camr. The moment I get a notification saying you have posted another doctor who video, will be a very happy day
I cannot believe a) I apparently did not process that speech at the end of Kerblam because holy fucking shit WHAT, and b) you're actually making me want to rewatch series 10 which I haven't seen since airing and literally don't remember at all. Do I have a vendetta against Moffat? Yes! But now I'm CURIOUS.
Also yes I do like ten and rose and yes I do unironically adore Fear Her as an episode, do not come for me
I remember enjoying "Fear Her" but thinking that it wasn't really Dr Who. Like "Blink" was great, but always felt more like an unused Buffy episode.
I love how people use the worthless term "woke" to criticise this era when in reality, it's got to be the least "woke" era of them all (relative to the time period it aired in, of course). No other Doctor Who era has ever had the sheer brain necrosis required to go "capitalism good".
It's brain necrosis when you go "socialism/communism good." Capitalism is better than both of those.
I feel bad that I can't recall much of Capaldi's time as the doctor. There were some writing aspects from the Clara era that just made me not a fan overall.
Also people saying that the show is too political "now" is like when people tell punk bands to "stick to music" lol
I appreciate the insight created through a video discussing this. I agree that not enough cover this specific aspect, though there was a long af video I watched basically highlighting how 13's episodes tried to copy older episodes' pacing and jokes etc and fell flat because of lack of character depth and the like. It's not the same topic as yours but the same points were kind of made: trying to bring something to light while missing the actual point; in this case the point was who was actually the bad guy
In fact we've literally had episodes where the doctor was dissatisfied with how the people in power made choices in the end. Sometimes they were resolved (like with Harriet Jones) but others were subtler (like when Capaldi's doctor said something like "maybe not all of the good ones survived" in the episode where they were covering graffiti and the aliens were in 2D space). Even in situations where they can't / don't do anything, they still made a point of correctly stating who was wrong
I'm 49 seconds in to this video and its already gripped me harder than most video essays I've seen. Fantastic start on hooking interest!
It's very interesting to see a young man like you talking about doctor who stuff from when I was a little tot, I mean, I was like 4 when I watched "the brain of morbius" and that scene of the brain falling to the floor still haunts me to this day!
Lol
Cheers
Plop.
@@Benjiesbeenbetter. What happened to you 🥺?
@misterlau5246 I was doing the noise of the brain falling on the floor. It was fairly gross as I recall.
@@Benjiesbeenbetter. Yeah I thought so...
How old were you when you saw that? 😅
Poor Condo. I was shocked when he found out where his missing hand was 😳😬
@misterlau5246 I was 11. There was a big fuss over the blood shown when Condo got shot. It was the rule at the time that when anyone got killed on the series, no blood would be seen.
Yes, poor guy.
Rose "goes-to-a-new-planet-and-immediatley-asks-if-the-aliens-know-what-a-union-is" Tyler would have kicked this doctors ARSE
"Why Peter capaldi is the best doctor" FINALLY SOMEONE WHO AGREES WITH ME I HAVE BEEN PREECHING THIS FROM THE HEAVENS FOR SO LONG THANK YOU
thank you for the 12 defense 😭
Thank you! As much as I love Jodie, I'm so pissed off about this.
your comedic timing is really..... really good. burst out into surprised laughter multiple times and i'm only 4 minutes 15 seconds in
this is an amazing video and well explained but i can't forget the tiktok you confessed to once running a tumblr roleplay blog for the tenth doctor
"Kerblam!"-and specifically That Speech-is when I wrote off Thirteen.
Good writers teach good lessons AND give a good story, They make social issues and politics known whilst still keeping the viewer entertained. Chibnal is all politics and no fun
Peter Capaldi is just... born for it
ngl hearing someone say "remember karli morgenthau" in a video from a year and a half ago REALLY messed up my perception of time. I am now acutely aware of my own mortality. Thanks a lot owen
Excellent and very entertaining throughout. I must confess I already completely agree with all your points of view on the politics, so I was primed, but I still want to genuinely thank you for making me aware of 'Oxygen', Series Ten of Dr W, and the quality of Peter Capaldi, which I clearly didn't recognise while it was available. Well done anyway. Top notch work.
i always thought the "make a complaint" line was meant in a bit of a joke, further emphasized by the fact six months after being dropped off at the head office, capitalism ended seemed to imply revolution
HOLY SHIT THANK YOU for seeing the parallels with Falcon and the Winter Soldier!!
It's sad because the first female incarnation of the doctor couldve been so huge, and instead I skipped 95% of it cause it was boring me to death 😭
Great take, I never thought about it that way. thanks for this video
No mention of The Sun Makers and Colony in Space? Doctor Who has always been a critic of establishment in general relative to its time of production. That's why it is so sad to see it being so sycophant to it with the later stuff. What's the point of science fiction or works of art at all for that matter, if it doesn't get us to raise awareness, expand our minds and thinking, or just simply question things which we never would have before? Also Frontier in Space seems very relevant lately if you catch my drift.
It’s been a while since I’ve watched a video analysis on TH-cam and agreed with every single word (and view) said by the poster. Blimey, we even agree on Twelve being the best Doctor and season 10 one of the greatest seasons ever ((if not the greatest…).
I’m glad I found this channel!