Chameleon Circuit
September 18, 2011 3:33 PM   Subscribe

An awful lot of running Chameleon Circuit are a band formed to record songs about Doctor Who, in much the same style as Harry and the Potters.

Assembled by British vlogger and musician Alex Day and YouTube celebrity Charlie McDonnell, Chameleon Circuit have released two albums, Chameleon Circuit and Still Got Legs, based (closely) on episodes and themes of the rebooted Doctor Who. Songs include:

Type 40

An Awful Lot of Running

Blink

Bonus reel: Charlie McDonnel visits the filming of the most recent Christmas episode of Doctor Who, in digital content from Doctor Who Confidential.
posted by running order squabble fest (24 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
sort of previously!

I adore these guys enormously but am not into Doctor Who very much, so the music doesn't really do it for me.
posted by elizardbits at 3:46 PM on September 18, 2011


Yay! I was just wondering when somebody was going to make a DW thread again. It's like we haven't had one all of this half of the season!
posted by Navelgazer at 3:59 PM on September 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


So these are fun (I'm particularly liking "Count the Shadows" right now) but have they done anything in the Smith era? I'd love to hear them play with The Silence or some of the musical motifs of Eleven.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:10 PM on September 18, 2011


Nevermind. Found it.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:14 PM on September 18, 2011


The Big Bang 2
posted by Coaticass at 4:28 PM on September 18, 2011


Do they have a song about how every damn episode as of late ends in me drowning in my own pool of tears?
posted by Dr. Zira at 4:41 PM on September 18, 2011 [4 favorites]


Do they have a song about how this season kind of sucks? Because this season kind of really sucks.

The continuity machine has swallowed the fun random feeling Who normally has. Which would be ok, if the overarching storyline were good. It's too overcomplicated and all-encompassing.
posted by graventy at 4:52 PM on September 18, 2011


They were considering using a female vocalist in the band, but they left her waiting too long.

And this season shows just how hard it is to make a chameleon circuit work on a continuity machine.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:56 PM on September 18, 2011


It's like we haven't had one all of this half of the season!

Ahem. Ongoing, and complete with discussion of this season kind of really sucking.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:56 PM on September 18, 2011


Dr. Zira: No shit. And they seem to have the promo department in on the act, too, marketing major character episodes as standalones. All three leads have been breaking my heart these past few weeks.

As for mythology (SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY) well, let's just say that this show has ruined my productivity lately with my need to discuss theories. (AGAIN, SPOILERS FOR "THE GOD COMPLEX"!) At the beginning of the season, Amy and Rory are at home, with no way of contacting the Doctor, and have been there for an indefinite amount of time. They are called out by the mysterious invitations to Lake Silencia, where they meet up with The Doctor and break out the champagne. We then discover that The Doctor has been running for 200 years since he last saw them, and that he called them there to watch him die.

And then, "The God Complex" ends with him leaving Amy and Rory at home, indefinitely, with no means of contacting him, and the Doctor running off, distraught, knowing that his death is coming sooner or later now.

So... are we back at the beginning of the season, now? And if so, how? Was it a new home the Doctor was giving them along with the new car? (The scene feels deliberately ambiguous about this, to me.) And how can that work when Amy references River being her daughter at the drop-off pont, while only learning about her pregnancy at Lake Silencio (or there abouts)?

Oh, also the Doctor was notably chowing down on an apple last night, as well as solving a Rubik's Cube, two things he has called "rubbish" in the past. What is going on?

On the more solid emotional ground, I'm glad that there's no way we've seen the last of Amy and Rory, as both of them, but Rory in particular, have been growing like crazy this season (which I'll have to respectfully disagree with some of you about - it hasn't been perfect, but the highs have been amazingly high) At this point I'm watching more for Arthur Darville than for anyone else, even as I love all three leads, and I couldn't wait for Rory to be gone last season.

Quite an accomplishment, really.
posted by Navelgazer at 5:03 PM on September 18, 2011 [4 favorites]


So... are we back at the beginning of the season, now? And if so, how? Was it a new home the Doctor was giving them along with the new car? (The scene feels deliberately ambiguous about this, to me.) And how can that work when Amy references River being her daughter at the drop-off pont, while only learning about her pregnancy at Lake Silencio (or there abouts)?


I don't think they would have forgotten anything - he's just dropped them off in their own time and given them a car and house, the same way he gave his last companion a winning lottery ticket; acquiring money is something it's childishly easy for him to do, but which he usually doesn't bother with.

I did like the double meaning in "The God Complex" - it's a literal complex to hold the Nimon-analog, who was worshipped as a god, but it's also the Doctor's God complex and Amy's God complex re: the Doctor - but it was a bit odd that the former was only exposed at the end, so you just assumed it was the latter throughout.

(re: the Doctor's God complex, I did like that "Nobody else dies today!" was followed by most of them dying.)

I'm sort of amazed that Amy's faith survived the Doctor failing to rescue Melody, with the result that she was raised as a traumatized killing machine - having grown up alongside her doesn't feel like it totally makes up for that. Likewise the fibbing about the possibility of rescuing Old!Amy, althoughYoung!Amy was unconscious and Rory was more bothered by that...
posted by running order squabble fest at 6:03 PM on September 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


running order squabble fest, my bigger issue is that it seems like The Doctor drops them off in the situation which leads to the opening scenes of the season. A situation which didn't make sense in context and doesn't make any more sense now. If, at the beginning of "The Impossible Astronaut," Amy and Rory were just living a domestic life after having already been dropped off by The Doctor, why the weirdness from Amy this second time that it's happened, without any mention of the first time? If this is the first time he's dropped them off, then how do they know everything that happened afterwards? This looks like a weird time-loop that isn't explainable, yet.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:14 PM on September 18, 2011


I may need to go back to "the Impossible Astronaut", but I thought the cycle was:

1) Doctor drops off Rory and Amy in Leadworth at some point after "A Christmas Carol" in their personal timelines. They live a domestic life for a period of time, with the 21st century and their timeline moving at the same speed.
2) Rory and Amy go to Utah, meet old Doctor. Old Doctor dies. Rory and Amy rejoin the Doctor.
3) Rory and Amy and the Doctor have adventures, culminating in "A Good Man Goes to War".
4) After "A Good Man Goes to War", Amy and Rory go back to Leadworth, a little later in the 21st century and about a year later in their personal timelines. The Doctor goes in search of Melody, and fails to find her.
5) An equal amount of time later in both the 21st century and Rory and Amy's timeline, they re-encounter the Doctor, and rejoin him for "Let's Kill Hitler"
6) The Doctor, Rory and Amy have adventures, culminating in "The God Complex".
7) Doctor drops Rory and Amy off after adventures, a little later in the 21st century than they left in (5), without crossing their linear timestreams. At some point between the death of the Nimon-analog and Rory and Amy's return to Earth in the Doctor's linear time stream, the Doctor buys them a home and dream car without their knowledge.

So, 7) is a little later in the 21st century than 5), which is a little later than 1), although more time has passed for Rory and Amy, probably, in the Tardis than in the 21st century (that is, in the course of the whole 11 episodes they pass more time than elapses on Earth between 1) and 7). Does that make sense?
posted by running order squabble fest at 6:53 PM on September 18, 2011


Sure, it makes sense, and that's clearly how we're supposed to see things, but my spidey-sense is tingling about it all. I'm something of a story-theorist, which in this case means that I might be seeing things that aren't there. But in your chain of events, The Doctor has twice dropped them off before "The God Complex," which doesn't match Amy's reaction in that scene. That plus the call-back with Rory bringing out the champagne makes me curious, is all. I think we're being played with.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:06 PM on September 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Spoilerville!

Navelgazer, I've been wondering about the same thing. I'd like to see a screenshot from the first episode of the season, to figure out if it is the same house. I don't have access to that episode anymore, but, I very clearly remember thinking, "Huh. Their house is blue. Wait -- where'd they get a house? And such a blue one at that!"

That's too big a deal to be ignored, I think. But, at the same time, I can't figure out how to make all the timeywimey stuff make sense, if we assume that the first episode of the season occurs after this last one. Unless, that is, there's some gap between Let's Kill Hitler and this episode, which would allow for time traveling. (Given how, in LKH, Amy and Rory clearly knew all about Melody.)
posted by meese at 7:58 PM on September 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Navelgazer: "At this point I'm watching more for Arthur Darville than for anyone else, even as I love all three leads, and I couldn't wait for Rory to be gone last season.

Quite an accomplishment, really.
"

This season for me has been all about Rory as being established as the adult of the group who's just there babysitting the kids to protect Amy; meanwhile, Amy's immaturity, fed by her stunted childhood, is starting to grate upon my soul. For example, take last week's episode: You mean Rory can patiently wait for 1800 years, but make Amy wait 40 years and she gets bitter?

But next week: CRAIG! GO CRAIG!
posted by Dr. Zira at 8:02 PM on September 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


...Oh, and this band is awesome. Thanks for posting!
posted by meese at 8:04 PM on September 18, 2011


meese: it's not the same house judging by the door, but I chalk that up to simple continuity errors.

In "The Impossible Astronaut," we only see the house from the interior, and there is a shot through the door, which has a large window in it. In "The God Complex," the door is all wooden, and TARDIS-blue, but the house is only seen from the exterior.

(Yes I'm a geek who explored this last night.)

Again, I don't think the difference means anything. I think it was just an error, or poetic license. Even if it wasn't I don't know what we are supposed to glean from it.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:12 PM on September 18, 2011


I have kind of a big internet crush on LittleRadge. He's my favorite ever nerdfighter. That being said, I like the idea of Chameleon Circuit, but ironically, even though I like Doctor Who way more than Harry Potter, I just don't dig the music that much. The raw punk rock of Harry and the Potters really does it for me. Musically, these guys, not quite so much.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:54 PM on September 18, 2011


Perhaps Parry Gripp's Doctor Who song may be more to your taste PhoBWan? Like I needed an excuse to post that, haha.
posted by Coaticass at 3:37 AM on September 19, 2011


They were considering using a female vocalist in the band, but they left her waiting too long.

I'm sure this is a Dr. Who-related joke of some kind, but since I don't watch the show, I figured I'd link you to Everything is Ending anyway, which does have a female vocalist.
posted by litnerd at 5:45 AM on September 19, 2011


You mean Rory can patiently wait for 1800 years, but make Amy wait 40 years and she gets bitter?

57-year-old looks 21!

Mom reveals amazing Tardis time-stream anchor trick to make wrinkles disappear!

Doctors hate her She hates the Doctor.
posted by randomination at 9:20 AM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


Perhaps Parry Gripp's Doctor Who song may be more to your taste PhoBWan? Like I needed an excuse to post that, haha.

OMG THAT IS SO GOOD!

I mean . . . perhaps it would.

I love Parry Gripp so so much.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:30 AM on September 19, 2011


You know, that sounds a lot like Nerf Herd...ah.
posted by running order squabble fest at 5:58 AM on September 21, 2011


« Older 3D liquids   |   "You must love your mother very much." Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments