New Dr Who

[Loredoctor]

this all sounds good.. but i have no idea where to start.. should i start with the series that was done in about 2005?? or is this a comletely new Remake of the same series or a continuation?

If you are going to watch the old series, I highly recommend you start with Jon Pertwee's (the greatest Doctor, in my opinion) first season. Inferno is an absolute masterpiece, and the best story ever done. It might also help you watch a certain two-parter coming in this season, as it will likely reference Inferno, and Silurians (in the same Pertwee season).

[Menolly]

If you are going to watch the old series, I highly recommend you start with Jon Pertwee's (the greatest Doctor, in my opinion) first season.

So glad I got to meet him at a convention back in the '80's.
A true gentleman in every way.

As far as the old series goes, Pertwee's tenure is the first of the Doctor's escapades that is readily available, yes? I've seen and heard of very few Hartnell and Troughton series being available. Are they anywhere?

[Loredoctor]

I met Pertwee in 1990, and he struck me as a gentleman, too. I think the world of him.

Now, much of Hartnell's era is still available - albeit on television, and to a lesser degree, on dvd. Troughton lost the most stories, but what remains is pure gold. I highly recommend watching Tomb of the Cybermen. Again, tv and dvds are your best options. Well, only.

[Loredoctor]

I watched the Beast Below last night, and overall I was very impressed. However, echoing Murrin's concerns I took issue with the way the Smilers were represented. They didn't seem to do much other than grimace. At the finale, in the Tower dungeon, the smilers were not a threat at all - despite the Doctor and Amy's actions. What was the point of feeding the children to the Star Whale if the authorities knew that it wouldn't eat them? Finally, the ship apparently had no vibration, despite the fact that the Star Whale was 'swimming' beneath it. I wasn't too keen on the Queen with two guns running around shooting stuff.

However, I loved the premise, the Star Whale, the atmosphere of the place, and the Doctor's reaction to Amy's choice. Also, the voting system was wonderful (ignoring the plot hole).

[Queeaqueg]

Watched Time of the Angels and I really liked the episode can't wait for the conclusion. Rather have the Angels as teh Doctors main arch enemies now rather than the overused Darleks

[sindatur]

Watched "The Beast Below", and I agree with Loremaster, I enjoyed it, and not sure why many were disappointed with it. It even had a nostalgic reminiscence of the Tom Baker story "The Creature from the Pit" in some aspects. Also, with Amy Pond's question if the Doctor had ever been a father, and his refusal to answer it, it's another possible clue to my theory that River Song is the Doctor's daughter

[Sunbaneglasses]

Watched Time of the Angels and I really liked the episode can't wait for the conclusion. Rather have the Angels as teh Doctors main arch enemies now rather than the overused Darleks

Cheated and watched it via the internet, my favorite new episode yet, can't wait for pt 2 either.

[Montresor]

I quite liked The Beast Below. There were some glaring plot issues, which have been mentioned, but I found it didn't bother me enough to stop the suspension of disbelief which is basically inherent to Doctor Who. The episode had some nice atmosphere, and the central concept was quite good. There was an element of folk tale logic to accept one thing and ignoring the contradictions, but I've always liked that kind of story-telling.

Also, with Amy Pond's question if the Doctor had ever been a father, and his refusal to answer it, it's another possible clue to my theory that River Song is the Doctor's daughter

I think it's more likely that she is/will become/was the mother of his children. Not that I am saying this is a certainty, of course. My reasons for thinking this are - at the end of the Silence in the Library story, she is left in the alternate world with some children to tend for. She also happens to know the Doctor's name and, as a reason for why, I believe it's likely that she whispered in the Doctor's ear that they had children. Hence the allusion to it at the end of the story (as if these were projections of the children she had).

I'd hate to think it's his daughter...what with all the sexual banter they shared in the Silence in the Library story

[I'm Murrin]

Having watched the latest episodes (the Angels two-parter), some speculation:

Spoiler

I think it is pretty clear what the subtext was regarding "who" - River Song is the woman who killed the Doctor.

The banter at the end was very much reminiscent of those classic hero/villain relationships, where they were at some point in the past good friends, and still see good things in one another, but their paths went differently and they wound up opposing each other. Hell, the whole story of the villain being released from prison to help with a larger threat is part of that old trope. (The only examples I can bring to mind right now of the relationsip are Magneto & Xavier, and Bruce Willis & Samuel L. Jackson's characters in M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable).

So River meets the Doctor, and they travel together for some time. He teaches her everything he knows. Why would he do that knowing what she is going to do? It seems they're telling him a lot of information that would alter his future. Perhaps they're not planning to run the original story to its conclusion - the Doctor's realisation, repeated at the end, that time can be rewritten, suggests perhaps that whatever happens between him and River Song could be undone.


My wild prediction: We'll see more of her in a few episodes, what she eventually does to the Doctor will be pieced together, and finally we'll get a full story in some form that shows what would unfold in more detail, but in the same episode time will be rewritten to remove River Song, reset Amy Pond to have never met the Doctor, and eliminate the crack in the universe.

Why do I think this? Because it's the easy way out. To play out the story as suggested in River Song's backstory requires a much longer game across multiple Doctors, which I don't think the writers will do (and may not even be capable of, given how free they are being with information in the current episodes, instead of doing what River suggests and letting us "live it").

[Zahir]

I'm hoping that the whole River Song story will play out over more than one season/series.

And a tiny spoiler for next week--VOLUPTUOUS VAMPIRE VIXENS IN VENICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Loredoctor]

Montresor, what did you think about Victory of the Daleks?

[Sunbaneglasses]

Flesh and Stone was a very intriguing episode indeed!

Spoiler

anyone else notice that The Doctor lost his jacket but when he reappeared to comfort Amy he was wearing a coat? I do not believe this to be a mistake

.

Spoiler

And I do not feel that the last scene with Amy ruined the episode as some have said. Shit like that happens in real life, and I am sure that it plays into the grander scheme of the story arc. It was not just gratuitous sexuality.

[Montresor]

Montresor, what did you think about Victory of the Daleks?

I liked it. It felt a bit like it was done just for sheer entertainment value, but I didn't mind that so much. It was refreshing to see

Spoiler

the Daleks win.

but I wasn't really keen on

Spoiler

the new look Daleks.

Smith really shone in this one.

[I'm Murrin]

I wish the writing wasn't always so sloppy on this show. Sometimes it just seems lazy.

Vampires of Venice was alright, but the "perception filter" idea and the dramatic ending they went for didn't play well together. The perception filter idea works to explain the vampire traits, but an ordinary disguise was needed for the ending to make any sense. Sloppy.

Sloppy editing, too. Near the end, we see a couple of shots of the Doctor on his way up the tower, then it cuts to Amy and Rory. When they arrive at the school, the Doctor is back in the throne room, and after he gives them instruction, it cuts to him in the tower again. Special effects mistake in the tower, too. After he stops the bell, he is next to the windows. CGI clouds in one, bright sunlight lighting the stone beside the other. Sloppy.

[Loredoctor]

Montresor, what did you think about Victory of the Daleks?

I liked it. It felt a bit like it was done just for sheer entertainment value, but I didn't mind that so much. It was refreshing to see

Spoiler

the Daleks win.

but I wasn't really keen on

Spoiler

the new look Daleks.

Smith really shone in this one.

They do need to make the new Dalek designs slimmer in the back. I really do prefer the 2005 design. However, I am sure I will grow to like the new ones.

[Montresor]

They do need to make the new Dalek designs slimmer in the back. I really do prefer the 2005 design. However, I am sure I will grow to like the new ones.

I agree. It's not a tragic design . . . it's serviceable. A slimmer back, and perhaps a slightly 'messier' look like the 2005 version. Most people seem to have reacted to the new look with the same feelings, so I wouldn't be surprised if these new Daleks turned out to be leader types.

I'm just hoping that the Daleks become an empire again, rather than a threat which supposedly gets wiped out evey time the Doctor runs into them.

[Zahir]

I've seen the next few episodes...

"Vampires in Venice"

Spoiler

was a lot of fun, not least the new companion--Rory! The sheer fun of the vampires, as well as the in-joke of a character named Isabella (ha!) was also a set-up for whatever this mysterious Silence might be...

"Amy's Choice"

Spoiler

is one of those fans will probably love or hate. While we probably knew how the story would end (in some ways) it is also true that the acting saved it. Plus there's the disturbing bit of insight into the identity of the Dream Lord.

I'm quite enjoying the show!

[stonemaybe]

A question for the experts:

What connects a roman centurion to daleks, cybermen etc? was there ever an episode where the romans (or someone who looked like romans) were the baddies?

[Loredoctor]

A question for the experts:

What connects a roman centurion to daleks, cybermen etc? was there ever an episode where the romans (or someone who looked like romans) were the baddies?

The first Doctor had a story called the Romans - set during Nero's time. No aliens in it - purely historical.

Watched the first Silurian story last night. Very well directed, just not sure about the new design. Miss the old voices and the alieness of the old Silurians. But I enjoyed it.

[I'm Murrin]

This series of Doctor Who is a big retcon series. The hole in time swallowing up things from the past and erasing their existence, pivotal moments where the future can be changed, they're reworking the past and future of the Doctor Who universe in quite a large way.

Still interested to see how the hole-in-the-universe thing will be resolved, and still have no idea why the Doctor took Amy and Rory away from the day it was going to happen to have minor adventures rather than investigating.

I thought the cataclysmic event would be the Doctor's destruction, and it will be caused at least in part by River Song. The latest episode suggests the destruction of the TARDIS, which I suppose could occur without the Doctor's end and still be cataclysmic, and potentially removes the requirement for a way to alter time to be found. Wait and see, I guess.


The voiceovers in Cold Blood didn't really work so well. In the negitiation scene they just covered things that should have just been given in dialogue without feeling so intrusive, and I expect once that bit was added to cover a hole in the scene they put the bookend portions in to make it fit and seem like a thematic device. Weak writing being covered by adding unnecessarily, rather than being fixed.