Absolutely wretched and devoid of merit in almost every way. Even Chibnall knows that this one sucked, and admitted it was a first draft he had to rush out before the cameras (quite why he was so rushed when S11 had as long a lead time as Moffat had for his first season - starting to be plotted out in the writers' room in 2016 - is another story). But compare this with Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways, or Pandorica Opens/Big Bang, and the downgrade is dismal. Where's the vision, the poetry, the drama, the richness of the character interactions, the respect for the audience? Something to actually SAY?
It is also an insultingly naive/basic treatment of religion that works neither as critique of it nor as dignifying/respecting it, despite trying to split the difference.
I suppose the Arrival-like monolith looks quite nice.
I think there's an interview where Chibnall says he only wrote a season without returning monsters/characters to attract new viewers, and that he really wanted to write more like series 12/13. So you could argue his first big finale with his 'true vision' is Ascension of the Cybermen / The Timeless Children. But they're not much of an upgrade!
Absolutely wretched and devoid of merit in almost every way. Even Chibnall knows that this one sucked, and admitted it was a first draft he had to rush out before the cameras (quite why he was so rushed when S11 had as long a lead time as Moffat had for his first season - starting to be plotted out in the writers' room in 2016 - is another story). But compare this with Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways, or Pandorica Opens/Big Bang, and the downgrade is dismal. Where's the vision, the poetry, the drama, the richness of the character interactions, the respect for the audience? Something to actually SAY?
It is also an insultingly naive/basic treatment of religion that works neither as critique of it nor as dignifying/respecting it, despite trying to split the difference.
I suppose the Arrival-like monolith looks quite nice.
I think there's an interview where Chibnall says he only wrote a season without returning monsters/characters to attract new viewers, and that he really wanted to write more like series 12/13. So you could argue his first big finale with his 'true vision' is Ascension of the Cybermen / The Timeless Children. But they're not much of an upgrade!
I think the title must have something to do with Michael Gove's nonsense phonics. But I don't have a clue whether the writer is for or against.