Hello All,

Just thought I would share this cheeky little clip from last night's Newzoids show on ITV. If you haven't seen it its a satirical shows using puppets a la Spitting Image.

As they are having a dig at the writing for Sherlock and Doctor Who it did make me wonder if writers only ever have one style which is constantly recycled throughout different shows ?.

The sketch picks up on the similarities between the main characters of Doctor Who and Sherlock so are the writers really lazy or have they found a populist style that appeals to the audience ? Discuss !

https://youtu.be/S7U7bvOodaI

I am enjoying Newzoids. Its like having Spitting Image back again! Its an interesting sketch, too.

If you look at The Eleventh Hour, you can clearly see Steven Moffat introducing a new production style for Doctor Who that he later transferred to Sherlock instead.

I think the similarities between the 11th and 12th Doctors and Moffat's Sherlock are also very interesting. Personally, I think the Newzoids writers nailed it!

Any writer with a talent or flair of their own will develop a distinctive style and recognisable authorial 'voice' over time. It's to Moffats credit that this is the case. Same can be said of RTD and outside of DW someone like Joss Whedon- to the extent that 'Whedon-esque' is a frequently used expression. I personally would be more suspicious of any writer or director that was able to produce work without it having their distinctive stamp on it- that suggests hack work. Plenty of those about.

Haven't seen Newzoids much but I'm sure such a sketch appearing on a third rate Spitting Image knock off is a delightful irony not lost on those with an appreciation for such things.

I like Jon Culshaw but this is badly written. For starters, it's 'The Doctor', not 'Doctor Who'. I don't know if Jon Culshaw wrote his material here or not but it is disappointing if he did given he is a Whovian.

Well, I thought it was funny.

Not a bad sketch - the Capaldi puppet was very good, and Jon Culshaw (presumably) nailed the voice pretty well. Not so sure about Cumberbatch, neither the puppet nor the voice seemed right to me.
Newzoids isn't as hard hitting as Spitting Image and I'm not keen on the CGI mouths, but the sketches are generally pretty funny, with Prince Philip handing over the title of Offender Of The Realm to Jeremy Clarkson being my favourite last night. The Farage song was good too, in the style of the classic Spitting Image songs.
I just can't imagine what ITV was thinking sticking it on at 9pm on Wednesdays - what a weird slot for this show.

I've only watched the odd sketch here and there because my Mum hates puppets (at times, I wonder if she's actually scared of them - don't laugh) but from what I have seen, the quality looks like it varies quite a bit. The Broadchurch sketch was hilarious but this one suffered from obvious mistakes such as the line about trying to kill 'both Sherlock and Doctor Who'.

Me too. The man announcing his own off-screen death made me laugh out loud.

That's called Pupaphobia and is a recognized fear and not something to be scoffed at. I had a Great Aunt who was physically sick from accidentally watching a few minutes of Thunderbirds once and she always banned Fraggle Rock from being on in the house. When I won a felt Crocodile Hand Puppet from the fair she took it into the back garden and burnt it while chanting in Latin. Scary stuff.

Surprisingly accurate.

My Mum had a similar reaction to The Muppets. She hated Thunderbirds too (although she likes the current rebooted CGI version).

That was fun.

Puppets, fine. Some Ventriloquist dolls can creep me out a bit. Still, thinking Dead of Night, Magic and even The God Complex that's not uncommon. With Ace on Clowns too!

Blimey. It's taking the piss for starters. *rollseyes*

Loved this when I saw it, really hit the nail on the head.

What?!

And aren't you allowed to watch telly without your mum being by your side?

If only the same were true of the Internet.

I really don't get why some fans get all riled up by "Doctor Who". It's not accurate, granted, but then who cares? It's just a shorthand for many people (in the media, for example, it's easier than saying "the Doctor" - and then maybe having to clarify, "from Doctor Who"), and many actors and people have referred to the character as "Doctor Who" right from the very beginning in 1963. It's not a big deal, although it is fun to watch some fans blow their heads off about it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch Doctor Who in Doctor Who and the Silurians.

Me too actually


Yes- the gimmick of telling the audience what they are looking at
( Sherlock) and the over reliance on the sonic screwdriver had me thinking 'ouch- how true' but purely my POV

Nor me. I think the name is 'The Doctor' (with capitalised 'The' too) but that looks a bit nerdy, so I only tend to capitalise the word 'Doctor'. As for speaking to people about it, I think referring to "the Doctor" in the company of casual viewers makes you sound a bit weird too, like those Michael Jackson fans who keep (kept?) talking about "Michael", as though they knew him. It has the air of the apostle about it. So I'm fine with "Doctor Who".

Ultimately, Doctor Who is a very British thing, and that includes ripping the piss out of it, especially the fanwanky stuff and weirdos who wander around in hats and scarves, even if you're a nerdling fan yourself, attend conventions in hats and scarves and chase the cat around the room with your remote control Dalek.

People like that ought to be locked up, and get placed in stocks in Trafalgar Square every St George's Day, whoever they are...

It's very lonely so I like to do it as little as possible. I only watch TV on my own (the rest of my family always watch TV together because they outright refuse to watch on their own - unless my Dad wants to watch a Football match, in which case sometimes he watches it in the conservatory without anyone else). if it's something I really want to watch and Newzoids doesn't fit that bill for me.

Why would they need to clarify? Everyone knows who 'The Doctor' is. You don't get the Doctor introducing himself as 'Doctor Who' in every episode.

Whooooooosh. If you're gunna respond to my point, please try and get the point I was making in the first place.

I don't get why people get so annoyed by the Doctor Who thing either plus Capaladi calls himself Doctor Who in interviews too. I thought it was a funny sketch

I now, they seem to forget that he was billed as Doctor Who through all the early years, and then again in nuWho with 9.

If you are Capaldi's age( and mine) then the chances are you will say 'Doctor Who'.

Not quite. They changed it to "The Doctor" in the end credits when Peter Davison took over the role.

Not to mention, despite what was listed in the credits, he's called 'the doctor' from the first episode.

I tend to think that the whole 'doctor who' listing in the credits was a bit of an error originally by a member of the production team who didn't realise the difference between the characters name and the title of the show, and then after listed that way just because it always was, until finally someone realised how silly it was to have a character who clearly always called himself 'the doctor' listed by a name that wasn't a name at all, but rather the central question of the show and put it right.